Into the Snow || A Captain America Love Story

56

Steve

     Tony and the other Avengers stomp into the room, asking what Tori and I are doing. Tori and I are still laughing hysterically while they are demanding why we are.
     "Steve just did something funny," Tori explains, still catching her breath.
     "Did what?" Tony asks. "I didn't think that Steve was capable of being humorous. That's my job."
     "Said something in a weird tone," I chuckle.
     "Okay, I'm not going to ask." Tony says, walking out of the room.
     Tori and I are still letting out our last giggles while everyone follows Tony out. Tori kisses my cheek and crinkles her nose at me.
     "You missed," I sing, remembering the night we went ice skating.
     She pecks my lips and grins playfully.
     "That's not enough," I smirk.
     Tori plants her lips on mine and I kiss back. She doesn't pull away until she needs breath.
     "Better?" she asks.
     "Better," I grin.
     I lean in to kiss her forehead, but there is a crashing sound. I immediately pull away and we rush out of the room, into the living room.
     "What was that?" I demand the Avengers.
     "No idea," Tony responds.
     Tori stares out the window, her eyes filled with fear. I look out, seeing a burning building. Tori rushes to the elevator, followed by us. We sprint outside.
     The city is in chaos. Shrieking citizens flee from the building, screaming for help. I hear my name called by a familiar voice. I turn around to see Bruce running out of the Avengers Tower with my shield. I thank him as he hands it to me and I rush to the enflamed building with Tori.
     Tori runs in front of me, putting out the flames with ice. She helps injured citizens out of the building and I race up the burning stairs. I see a young woman and help her down the stairs. Tori takes her from me and orders me to just bring the citizens down to her.
     I rush up and down the stairs, helping as many people as I can at the same time. Once the last person is down, Tori and I catch our breath on the frozen floor.
     "Steve," Tori asks. "Do you hear that?"
     "No," I say.
     "Follow me," she insists.
     She leads me up the stairs, which are frozen over. We reach the top floor of the building and Tori freezes it.
     "Do you hear it now?" Tori asks.
     I hear a faint cry for help. "Over there."
     We dart across the building connection and into that burning building. Tori puts out the fire and the cries become closer. I sprint to a wall of fallen building parts and push them out of the way. Tori hops in and comes out carrying a child. I peek inside, seeing no one. I hear Tori scream and see more of the ceiling drop around her as I turn around.
     "No!" I scream.
     I dash to the destruction and pull away more ceiling tiles. I see her trying to put out the fire, but failing. She screams again, fire engulfing around her. Some flames touch her, causing burns on her skin. I pull away one more tile and she ducks through with the child in her arms.
     I take the young boy from her arms and help Tori scurry out of the building with me. We go through the completely iced building and stumble through the burning grass and building parts scattered on the street.
     "Where is my mommy?" the boy sobs.
     "I-I don't know," I admit. "What does your mommy look like?"
     "Brown hair like me and a blue dress." the boy informs me.
     Tori and I scan the crowd for the boy's mother.
     "There!" I say, pointing to a brunette woman wearing a blue dress.
     I rush to the woman and hand her the child. She thanks me over and over again, but I notice that it is just me that is there.
     "My pleasure," I quickly say. "He's a good kid."
     I rush to Tori who staggers to me, holding a girl. The girl points to someone in the crowd and Tori puts her down. The girl scurries to a man in a scorched suit, embracing him. Everyone holds their loved ones close, not daring to let them free.
     "Tori?" I ask, coughing from the smoke.
     She continues to stagger toward me, but falls to the ground.
     "Victoria!" I scream, rushing to her side.
     She coughs from the smoke and tries to get back up. I scoop her into my arms and run out of the fire.