It is loud. It is so loud from all the gun shots and sirens that all I hear is an intense ringing in my ears. I look up from the ground, my vision blurred. There is blood. A lot of it. And then I hear it. The crying. While staying low to the ground I scan the surrounding area and see her. My little sister. Trapped. Crying. Panic sets in and I go to get up and run. As I stand up I realize that my situation isn't much better than hers. But that doesn't matter. I need to save my sister. I run through the pain, calling her name. We lock eyes and she smiles.
Then the first explosion hits, throwing me backwards onto the ground. Through the ringing there are people shouting. My breathing is panicked but I need to focus. I need to save her. As I'm searching through the dust and the rubble something, or someone lifts me off of the ground, calling my name...
I gasp as I realize that I am in my apartment, on my floor. My cheeks are wet from tears and my body is still shaking from the anxiety of the flashback. Damn flashbacks. I take a deep breath and roll so I am facing the ceiling only to realize that I am not on my floor but in someone's arms. I jump and try to fight my way out, falling to the floor scrambling to the corner. "Leave me alone! You can't take me!"
"Hey! Hey! Calm down! Its me!" I peer through the hair that fallen down into my eyes and see Steve. He crouches down, making himself small and comes closer to me. His eyes are filled with worry, his face twisted with concern. "Its okay, its just me." He assures. Slowly and tentatively he comes closer and I crawl into open arms. He wraps me up and sits back against the wall rocking me as my breaths slowly calm. As I shake he brings me tighter to his chest. After a few moments of silence I sit up and realize what's just happened. Steve walked in on me in the middle of a flashback. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to know and worry." I plead but Steve shushes me bringing me back into a hug.
"Hey, shh. Don't apologize. I wish I'd known sooner." Steve had had his own struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from being frozen in the ice, the battle of New York, Sokovia...but I just couldn't tell him. "How do I tell you something like this though?"
"Well," he started, taking my hand. "You could tell me now." I nod and get up on the couch beckoning for Steve to follow. I snuggle into his embrace and take a deep breath. "Okay, well. There were some uprisings in the city where my sister and I grew up. It was a poor city, you know. And one night I was coming home from the marketplace, I was right across the street when the first shots were fired. I got knocked out of the way and must have been unconscious for a few minutes because when I came to...everything around me was...well...destroyed. There were fires, so much gunfire. But then I remembered my sister was in the house. And—"
I am caught off guard by a sob that escapes from me. Steve pulls me in closer. "You don't have to say anymore. I know how much your sister meant to you." I nod as more sobs wrack through my body. I burrow my face in Steve's chest as he strokes my hair. "I'm sorry Steve." He quickly pulls me up so I am facing him, his eyes looking intensely in mine. "Sorry?" he asks. "You have no reason to be sorry. None of that is your fault. You are a hero for trying to save your sister. Its not your fault."
I nod and rest myself against his chest once again. "Thank you." I hear him chuckle lightly to himself as he pulls me into a tight hug. "How about we have some tea to help you relax and play some cards. You can show me that band that I have on my list."
"Nirvana?!" I ask laughing. "That's not 'lets sit down and have a cup of tea' music. But we'll listen to them tomorrow before you go hit the bag, alright? What we can do is watch the last episode of Star Wars! You haven't seen that yet."
Steve leans down and kisses the top of my head, breathing in the scent of my hair. He smiles at me saying, "It's a date."
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Captain America/Steve Rogers Oneshots
FanfictionSteve. You. Situations. Trigger warning: mentions of blood and violence, description of panic attack/flashback