Hello Captain (Steve Rogers)

Good Night, Sweetheart

Steve's POV
    I could hear Sarah moving around my apartment while I was in the shower. I'd decided that I needed another cold shower before bed, not that it was helping in the least. All of the little touches we shared tonight had a cumulative effect on me; therefore, I was still semi hard when I got out and dried off. I didn't know how I was going to be able to sleep next to her, I was so turned on.

    I pulled on my boxers and a pair of shorts;  I went to pull my shirt on and dropped it on the floor. I picked it up and it was soaking wet. The curtain must not have been all the way shut because there was a puddle on the floor. I used my towel to clean it up and tossed the wet things in the hamper. I shut off the bathroom light and walked into my bedroom.

    Sarah was already sleeping with the lights still on; I must have taken longer in the shower than I thought. I sorted through my emotions and decided it felt right that she was here with me, in my bed. I liked knowing she would be there when I woke up. I hadn't slept well at all last night without her, but I'd been more afraid of hurting her by moving in my sleep; I was so much larger and heavier than her.

I went and checked the door and shut off all the other lights. I found another soft shirt to sleep in and pulled it on before turning off the bedroom lights. I climbed in under the covers and rolled on my side, facing Sarah, who didn't wake up. The night was bright enough that I could see her peaceful face. I guess it had been kind of a long day for her, too, especially since her body was trying to heal. I looked at her until I dozed off.

I woke up to Sarah tossing and turning in the midst of a nightmare. Her breathing was raspy and her eyes were open. I went to touch her shoulder and shook her.

"Sarah? Sarah wake up! You're having a nightmare." At my touch, she scrambled away from me until her back was against the headboard, whimpering, still asleep. I turned on the lamp beside me, hoping the light would help. "Sarah, wake up. Sarah!" She blinked, looking around wildly, gasping for breath. Her eyes focused on me, but she flinched when I stroked her face gently. "Are you okay? You were having a nightmare." I pulled her onto my lap carefully; she was trembling like a leaf, which couldn't feel great on her shoulder.

"Yes." I could barely hear her, so she cleared her throat and tried again. "Yes, thanks for waking me... I haven't... had one like that... in a long time. I'm sorry you had to see that." Her voice was still hoarse.

"It's okay. I get them too sometimes." I kissed her cheek and stroked her face as she leaned into me, the trembling starting to pass. "Do you want to talk about it?" I saw her swallow convulsively and consider for a second before shaking her head.

"Not yet." She shivered hard and let out a small cry of pain.

"Come get under the covers and I'll help you get warmed up." She scooted off me and reached out to grab her water glass. She gulped it down and gingerly crawled under the covers. I laid back down next to her; Sarah crept over until she was laying entirely on top of me, her face pressed against my neck. I felt the last of her trembles subside as she started to relax into me, snuggling into the crook of my neck. She eventually drifted off again and I covered us with the sheets.

*          *             *

Sarah's POV

Today was another long planning meeting. More intel had come in and we were going to have to modify our plan based off of that information. We got done with that at 1500 and I headed down to the hospital floor to have them take my stitches out. They were starting to itch and I couldn't leave them in any longer. The doctor who was on duty was nice. He had been there when they brought me in, so he had thought I was there because I had torn a stitch or something. He was amazed at how healed I was and said it was fine for the nurse to take them out.

Steve came by the office at a little before 1700. I turned stuff off and tidied up. He waited in my office while I went to go change.

"Fury gave me the keys to a Shield car to take for the weekend. We're supposed to take it instead of your car, I guess."

"That's fine. I kind of figured that would be the case since you were coming with. It's probably armored and equipped for any situation we might run into."

He grinned and shrugged, making me laugh. I took his hand and he pulled me into his arms for a kiss. There wasn't anyone around, so I didn't mind. We broke apart at the sound of the door opening, only to see Maria standing there, a shocked look on her face.

"Wow. Wasn't expecting to see that!" Maria said, coming into my office and setting some papers on my desk. 

"Sorry!" I blushed and looked up at Steve, whose face was also quite red.

"Sorry, Maria. I thought you were gone for the day," said Steve, lips quirking.

Maria shook her head, "Don't worry about it. Barton told me he's won at least $100 on bets with Natasha since Monday." She smiled at Steve's disapproving expression, making me laugh. "It's okay, really. I'm happy for you, Steve. You deserve someone who will be good to you, and Sarah needs someone like you, too."

"Thank you, Maria. I'm actually quite relieved glad you're okay with this." He let go of me I'm going to go put our bags in the vehicle and pull it around, Sarah."

"Okay. I'll be down in a bit." I waited for him to leave before turning back to Maria.

"You're sure this is okay? I wasn't really planning on this happening, especially after Monday."

"No one ever plans to meet someone they connect with," she scoffed. "I think you'll be good for him. He needs someone like you to keep him from being too serious. You're willing to be patient with him and help get him used to this century, which he needs - he's been having a hard time adjusting."

"I've kinda noticed that," I said.

"There's no rule against dating colleagues, Sarah. Plus, it isn't hard to see that you already care about him."

I nodded and smiled. "It's hard not to."  I bit my lip before speaking again. "I thought it would be good for him to get away for a couple days, so Steve's coming home with me for the weekend to meet some of Bucky's family."  

"He doesn't know what a vacation is, Sarah. Yesterday was the first time he's actually taken a day off since he joined Shield."

I sighed. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. See you Monday, Maria."

"Can't wait to hear about your weekend."

"Bye." I turned and walked out the door to the elevator. I took it down to the lobby and went outside to meet Steve. He was just pulling up as I got to the curb.

"Hey stranger. Going my way?"

"Hop in, beautiful." He waited for me to get in, "So where am I going?"

*          *

We pulled up in front of my house three hours later. It was after 8 pm and just starting to get dark, so the porch lights were already on; I had Steve pull up into the driveway. My parents heard the vehicle and came outside to greet us. I hadn't told them anything about Steve other than I worked with him, but I was sure it wouldn't take them long to figure it out.