She's Electric ϟ An Avengers Story

d i e z - t is for trauma

Steve and I were the only ones left as everyone else filtered off. He looked at me before his eyes drew to the window; the sun slowly going down and the golden charm of the sky filled the large room and giving an insanely good view.

"Is it not strange to you?" He asked, filling the silence that wasn't awkward, but wasn't entirely comfortable.

"What?" 

"Knowing that just a few weeks ago, an alien army attempted to destroy the city. Or that one day you're normal and then next minute you're..not?" He turned to face me, his hands in the pockets of his trousers. He was wearing his usual; a button down shirt - this one was plaid - tucked into pants that were very complimentary for him.

I looked down, reminiscing the times I had as a young girl without being hunted by SHIELD or HYDRA. My mom and dad were still around back then, so life had been pretty good. Until I fucked it up for everyone.

I coughed slightly, as I tried to hold the waterworks. "I guess. It's harder because I remember what I did."

I was ashamed at what I did that night, to my father and everyone in the building. I still couldn't get used to the overwhelming feeling of guilt, and I probably never would. I had murdered dozens of people, how could I get over it? Steve must have noticed the pain on my face as he walked over and sat beside me on the grey 'L' shaped couch that faced the large windows. "It wasn't your fault. You know that. I know that. It was an accident."

I stood up and threw my hands in the air. "I killed people, Steve! It doesn't matter if it was an accident. I can't apologise, and if I could change it back I would. But I'm stuck for the rest of my life as the one who's only here because she killed people, not because she wants to stop it."

"Does everyone know? The media?" Steve asked, concerned. I shook my head. "I don't think so. My father's company went through a lot of grief to make sure it stayed out of the headlines and didn't ruin their image. They didn't even tell their families. They told them it was something to do with the generator over- heating." The crack in my voice made it clear how emotional I actually was. 

"Hey, you're fine. That was years ago. Nobody apart from the team know, and it will stay that way." He wrapped his arms around me and i did the same, knowing I would probably leave tear stains on his shirt.

"How about we grab that coffee?" Steve pulled away and grabbed his jacket.

I smiled in agreement and we headed outside to the coffee shop. "We'll take my car." Holding the door open for me, he stepped aside and gestured for me to get in.

"Thanks." I grinned, as I slipped into the sleek, black car. "No problem, doll." His small comment made my heart skip a beat as he ran round to the drivers side and jumped in, revving the engine and driving off.

"So when did you move to New York?" I asked him, wanting to know more about him.

"I used to live in Brooklyn with Bucky, before we both went to war. I never really got a chance to come home and when they fished me out of the ocean a few years ago, it happened to be in New York. So I've stayed here since. It's helpful cause Stark's tower is here, and most of our work is here too, but I've never thought about going anywhere else. This is home. This is the only thing I have left from..before. " He smiled at me, flashing his pearly whites as he stopped at a red light.

"What about you? Have you always lived here?"

"No, I lived on the outskirts of London when the accident happened. I was too young to understand what my dad was doing and why we lived there but a few years after his death, I decided on a change. So, I moved to Manhattan, where I met Ellie. I was only going to stay for a while, but she convinced me to live here. I've never really thanked her for that." I laughed quietly, unbuckling my seatbelt as we pulled up at a small cafe on a corner. It was rustic; very American war-time and took a lot of pride in it too.

We walked in, the smell of fresh coffee, food and many voices hitting me as I took a deep breathe and sat down at a window table for two, Steve following.

"This seems nice. You been here before?" I asked him, swinging my legs.

"Yeah, it is. This place has been around for ages; Bucky and I would come here all the time. We planned to come back, but after everything that happened..." He trailed off as I nodded, getting the message.

"You must miss him, huh?"

He nodded. "A lot. We were inseparable, and so close that I can't help but blame myself for what happened. If I had just gotten there a bit quicker, I could've saved him." He looked down at the menu, trying to distract himself. "We just never had time, you know? All these plans we had, all the things we said we would do once we were back just...gone."

"I get it. But it wasn't your fault. I'm sure he knows that too. He'd be super proud of you, Steve." I reached across and took his hands in mine. His gorgeous smile thanked me in return, before a waitress came over to take our orders and breaking the heart-to-heart.

"What can I get you guys?" A girl, by the name of Poppy according to her name tag, danced over to us.

"I'll just take a black coffee, please," Steve ordered, looking at me, "Alexa?"

"I'll have an iced coffee please. Thanks." I asked as I handed over my menu.

"Sure thing. I'll be back shortly." 

"Iced coffee? In winter? Really?" Steve raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hey! Don't look at me like that Rogers, I like my coffee iced otherwise it's too hot to drink."

"Fair enough." He laughed. Poppy came back over with our drinks, and we were left in a comfortable silence. I glanced out the window, admiring the trees that ran along the opposite side of the street. It wasn't until I caught the two men standing on that side, dressed in black and keeping a careful eye out that I noticed another two similar, if not identical men, enter through the cafe door, chiming the bell and oddly patrolling the aisles between tables as if on the hunt.

HYDRA Agents.

It didn't take a genius.

I quickly leaned into the table and whispered to Steve who hadn't registered anything and instead, was idly examining the food menu as if in a trance. My foot instinctively shot out and hit him in the shin.

"Ow! What - "

 "Kiss me."

He immediately looked up, nearly chocking as his eyes widened. "We've only been out for 30 minutes, I don't think we need to rush-"

I grabbed his neck and pulled him in to the kiss. He was tense at first, but his hands soon snaked their way to the side of my face as he relaxed. I tried to ignore the butterfly sensation in my stomach as i waited for the agents to leave the small cafe, making sure we were still hidden significantly by either each other's hands on the large menus. I pulled away slowly, opening my eyes to look at the blonde man who was still in shock.

I nodded to the 4 agents now outside the cafe, looking around. He finally clocked what had happened and sat back. "HYDRA?" He mouthed, not wanting to speak out incase anyone heard. I hummed in response and sat back as well as we both looked at each other and laughed.

"You're not very attentive for an undercover superhero, Rogers."

"And you're not very professional for an undercover superhero, Alexa. "