"Thought you were dead."
The air between you both seemed to thicken, and you were having trouble breathing it in.
He was standing there, having just dropped the newspaper on the cart next to your food, and now he's looking up at you with such a mixed expression. You wanted to run into his arms and just feel his heart thump against yours, but you froze. Your instincts were anything but rusty and you knew this wasn't good. Him being here meant everything you worked so hard to erase, everything you did to get out and keep them safe, was crumbling to the ground.
He raised his eyebrows, expecting more of a response, physical or verbal, than you were giving him and yet, you still couldn't move, still could barely breathe.
Half of you expected SHIELD to storm down the doors any second, but he wasn't in uniform and the longer time ticked on, the more convinced you were that he came alone.
"What're you doing here?" You finally mustered out, suddenly very aware of the holster around your thigh.
His face dropped, not expecting that question.
"What am I-?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing as he shook his head and then peered back over at you, "You really let all of us, let me, think you were shot in some dark basement, alone and scared, only to bleed out hours later in surgery?" He spat angrily and you looked down in shame, but you knew what you did was right, and you would do it all over again if you had to, "What happened, Y/n? Why'd you do..." He gestured around to the room, the city outside, and then finally you, "All this?"
You considered trying to explain the truth, tell him you loved him and those in the tower too much to watch them suffer because of you. Tell him the Kellers were everywhere, their people, their power, and their corruption so deeply imbedded into everything that there was no escape if they believed you to be alive. Word would surface, it already had less than two days after your faked death, that you were the one to bring it all down, and they'd never stop hunting you or those around you. They were manipulative, conniving, and relentless, not to mention beyond violent, so you made a decision.
It was one of the hardest decisions you've ever had to make in your life, but you did it for them, you did it for Steve, you did it for, lack of a more cliché, love.
But he was fuming.
He was confused and hurt and angry, so you couldn't start to explain all that to him, at least not right now, because he wouldn't hear it. He would tell you it was a waste because he was in more pain than the Kellers could ever bring him, but that's only because he was heartbroken, and he wasn't thinking straight.
"The price of freedom is high."
So, you lied.
"That's bullshit!" He yelled, clocking your crap instantly, his face turning almost red, and he threw his arms up before combing his hands through the hair on the back of his head harshly.
You flinched at his words, not used to seeing him this angry since you first met, and he noticed, immediately trying to calm down. He turned away, putting a hand on his hip, and leveling out his breathing.
"...How'd you find me?"
You asked so quietly, he almost didn't hear you, but then his shoulders relaxed, and you knew he had. A ghost of a smile grazed his lips, but paired with his furrowed eyebrows and heavy eyes, it was hard to focus on it as he turned to face you again.
"You left enough breadcrumbs." He smirked, his features relaxing as he took you in for the first time without being blinded by shock and anger.
You looked like sunshine, completely peaceful and full of light. Your hair was up, but enough strands came down to frame your face beautifully, and he preferred you without any makeup, like you were right now, and the robe made you look cozy, comfortable with where you were. Like you were hidden enough by the busy streets of Paris that nothing could touch or harm you ever again. You were smiling and it made him do the same, but your eyes held guilt and sorrow, maybe even some mourning in them.
They told him the stories of what happened in these past five or six months and he hated to see it, but he never wanted to stop looking. He always had a hard time looking away from your beautifully tortured eyes that showed him a bit of your soul because they enraptured him, scared him to death, but also made him feel like he was finally home.
Then guilt washed over him when he realized what he had done.
He was so taken over by grief that when there was even a hint of finding out something more about you, that simple business card with the letters 'SNoCap' handwritten on the back had him spiraling down every road he could find until he discovered what it connected to. He knew it was for him, that much was obvious, but it took him forever to find out it was the encryption passcode for one of your hard drives, and you had dozens.
Then it gave him a video of you.
'Hey, Steve,' It started and you were sitting up in bed, laptop on your lap, and he could hear running water in the background, 'This is so weird,' You chuckled to yourself and he smiled with tears stinging his eyes, 'But I love you and I wanted you to have this, just in case anything ever happened to me,' You smiled sadly, your eyes shiny with tears, but you kept them at bay the entire time, 'I don't want you to think I didn't want a forever with you, I promised you one and I meant it,' You said that seriously, but your eyes were knowing and he knew something was off when you added, 'If you find this video, you're not going to stop, and part of me doesn't want you to. Part of me wants you to sneak away from New York and...' You trailed off, stopping yourself from finishing and that's when he had it, 'But I'm gone and you need to move on, okay?' The water shut off and you looked off screen before you whispered a, 'I love you, darling.'
Then it went black and the world gave him hope.
"I made it easy for you." You teased with a small smirk and he chuckled.
"Doll, you never made this easy," He shook his head with a tiny frown, "But it was always more than worth it."
You offered him a sad smile, it all just hitting you that he was standing right here, less than fifteen feet away, and when he returned it with a cheeky one, you ran over and jumped into his arms.
"Finally." He laughed with tears stinging his eyes as he caught you effortlessly, and you squeezed your eyes shut as you held on for dear life.
"I missed you."
"I missed you too, sweetheart."
