Into the Snow || A Captain America Love Story

43

Steve

     I sit on the helicopter with Tori in my arms. I stroke her hair, whispering that she will be okay. The Avengers all returned, telling us that Harris is dead. Tori has been asleep for a while now, her breathing pattern steady. Tony controls the copter while Bruce checks on Tori every few minutes.
     "Tony, can you go any faster?" Bruce asks, annoyed.
     "I'm trying," Tony says.
     "Can you please tell me what's wrong?" I ask Bruce. "You haven't told me anything."
     "S-She's losing her heartbeat fast. I can't find out why, but she is." Bruce sadly tells me.
     My heart breaks and I sigh worriedly. Tori is not leaving me. I continue to stroke her hair, trying to bite back tears.
     "We're home," Tony announces, landing us at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
     As soon as we hit the ground, we pour out. A medical team rushes to us with a stretcher and I put Tori on it, watching her being pushed away.
"And what did I tell you?" a familiar deep voice says from behind me.
"She is a part of our team, Fury," I hiss. "And I'm not going to leave her to suffer."
"Even after my orders?" he shouts. "They were pretty damn clear!"
"They were," I respond. "But even if you have one eye, you can't be blind enough to not see how much I care about her. How much we care about her."
He stays silent, surprised from my sudden outburst.
"You're right," he says. "I should've sent someone."
     "Question is why did you give us the address?"
     "I couldn't stop you, you were too far. Plus, I knew that Romanoff was trying to be persuasive with me for you. And you could give me some more information."
"The only information I have is that Harris is dead," I say. "He did something to her. One of his serums..."
"The medical team will take care of that," he says. "I'm proud of you. You stood up to me for Stark. No one would even dare to do that."
"I care about her,"
"Clearly," he says. "You can wait for her to get out of the medical room."

•••

I sit nervously in a chair in a hospital room. I stare at Tori, who is still asleep in the bed. She has a neck brace around her neck. I was told by the doctors that she has a few damaged vocal cords and she can't speak for a few weeks. They examined the serum in her bloodstream, confirming that is allows her to produce ice from her hands.
It breaks me to see her in this condition. I've already asked Bruce if it was possible to eliminate the power if Tori didn't want it, but he told me that it was highly unlikely.
     The neck brace just makes her look even worse. Her pale skin matches the white sheets, easily showing that she was hurt. I want her to wake up, so that I can see her smiling face again.
"I'm so sorry," I whisper to her. "I could have been there to stop you, but I wasn't. I'm sorry."
I want her to respond, either punching my shoulder or with a sarcastic comment. I would do anything to bring her back to the state she was in before this happened. I take her unmoving hand in mine, laughing at how that hand can freeze something when it is so warm.
     It is only us in the room. Tony left to talk to Fury and the rest wanted to give us our space with Tori. That is the only thing that we have in common, Tony and I. We care about Tori and we love her in our respectable ways.
     I put a lock of hair behind Tori's ear, showing her beautiful face. My favorite things about her, her smile and eyes, aren't seen.
     "Please wake up soon," I whisper. "I miss you."