Sunflower

90

After at least thirty seconds, I managed to pull my eyes away from hi, while slowly pulling my body loose. I made my way back to Natasha, seeing her look at me with the same look she did this morning. I shook my head, making her sigh.

“Still denying it?” she asked, looking at me as I sat down.

I didn’t glance at her. “There’s nothing to deny,” I said, making her sigh again.

“You’re really killing yourself here,” she said, looking at Bucky as he still glanced at me while he was pouring himself juice.

I shrugged. “I’m not.”

In front of us, we heard laughter, making me look up. A smile spread on my lips as I saw Dean standing in front of his father, laughing at whatever he was saying. Steve was telling him a story, which made Dean sit down on the floor in front of him.

“He’s trying,” Natasha said, making me look at her. “He really is.”

I shook my head. “He’s not.” I looked back at Steve. “He doesn’t even stay in a conversation when I speak of Dean. He always either finds a way out or he manages to change the subject. He may act like he’s trying, but he isn’t.”

Natasha frowned. “Then why do you still allow him to be in Dean’s life?” she asked, making me shrug.

“I can’t stop him. It’s his choice which he has to make. Not me.” I stood up, looking at everyone at work. “I’m going to head to my lab and go through those files.”

Before waiting for a response, I walked back to the house, where I sank into my chair, looking at the screen. Somehow I had to manage to keep these files, but how, I did not know. The hard drive was one which was built uniquely for the amount of files. It was easily hundreds of TB storage filled. I slipped another cable into my computer, before sliding the entire hard drive folder on the screen into the open folder. I watched as they slowly started filling a little line.

Yet my mind was also filled with the same questions. Why were so many files on one hard drive? Why were Hydra data on a SHIELD drive? How did they get so much information on us? And why did Hydra need this so badly ten years ago?

After easily three or four hours, I heard Steve enter my lab. I turned around, meeting his eyes.

“Can I help you?” I asked, standing up.

He sighed. “What will happen if you have to be both parents?” he asked, making me frown.

“What do you mean?” I asked, sitting back against my desk.

He took a deep breath. “For Dean. He deserves to have both his parents in his life, and I don’t want him to miss that.”

I gave a light scoff. “He has me. He has Emrys as a father figure. And you are here now. I don’t understand the problem?”

Steve sighed. “Well, Emrys can vanish off when Dean’s older and get a wife with his own kids. And I- well with my job I might not be around all the time?”

I laughed. “Steve, you’re being silly. We’ll be fine. We’re all here to look after him and I don’t think that’ll change soon. Whether you and I live together or not, we’ll still be taking care of Dean. Together.”

Steve sighed but didn’t say anything else. I sat back down on my chair, before spinning around to face the desk again. After a couple of minutes, I heard Steve leave the room, making me sigh.

He was right. But I knew that I’d eventually have to end up with him for Dean’s sake. I didn’t know my parents, but that didn’t mean anything to me. But for Dean, it would be something else.