Loving The Captain

Chapter 16

Cora turned over in bed, shivering, and reached out to find Steve. When her hands felt nothing but an empty pillow and cold sheets, she sat up. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she glanced at the clock. 3:30 in the morning. Steve was an early riser by nature, but this early was a bit extreme even for him.

Getting up, Cora first looked to the master bathroom, the door was open and the lights off, indicating that Steve wasn't in there. Pulling on her silk robe, Cora went out into the living room.

The lights were all off and the living room and kitchen were both empty. Checking in the office and work out room also proved unfruitful.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, Miss?"

"Do you know where Steve is?"

"Captain Rogers is currently down in the gym. Shall I page him for you"

"No, thank you."

Cora went into the bedroom and changed from her robe into a pair of black yoga pants and one of Steve's white t-shirts. She'd never worn anything of his, except his jacket once when they'd been out on his Harley on a fall day. The shirt went down to her thighs, and quite literally looked like it was swallowing her alive. Cora didn't care of course, it smelled like Steve, and was comforting to have on.

On her way out of the door, Cora stepped into her shoes and pulled on a lightweight jacket, zipping it up against the cool air of the hallway. The lights in Bruce's lab were all out, and the hallway reminded her of being in a hotel late at night. All of the sounds that were common during the day were gone and the Tower was cast into an eerie silence.

Once on the elevator, Cora pressed the button for the floor that the gym was located on. Leaning back against the hand rail Cora was grateful that there was no corny elevator music playing to get stuck in her head.

After stepping out of the elevator, Cora approached the gym doors, the steady sound of fists hitting a punching bag reaching her ears. Looking through the glass Cora saw Steve pummeling away on a reinforced punching bag.

His back was to her, and he was wearing a pair of grey sweats and a white t-shirt that matched the one that she was wearing.

Opening the door Cora stepped inside and went to sit on one of the benches. Steve was so lost in his mind that he hadn't noticed the sound of her entering.

She watched in silence as Steve pounded away. His shirt was soaked around his neck with sweat, and she could see his arms and face were covered as well. It dripped down his face from his hair.

Every punch Steve threw was harder than the last, and there was a worn spot beginning to form on the bag. His muscles continued to tense and to bulge, showing fatigue, but still he went on.

That alone spoke for how long he'd been down here. The fact that he was covered in sweat, breathing hard and his muscles showing fatigue.

The serum made it nearly impossible for this to happen, at least not without a great deal of effort. Steve's muscle and bone mass were increased, and his body didn't produce nearly any of the toxins that caused muscles to tire. It enhanced all of his senses. Sight, taste, hearing, smell and touch were all four times stronger than that of a normal person. His metabolism and healing factor were raised as well, which also meant, as Cora had learned, that Steve needed to eat more than other people. If he went too long without eating, he crashed, hard. Tony had worked with Bruce to design special granola bars packed with protein just for Steve when they were on missions.