Captain's Hart

Chapter 11 One Step Forward

The month following Arianna's birthday was more peaceful than they could have hoped for, with the only noteworthy event being when Clint and Nat came down to celebrate her birthday a few days late. The pair had been on a mission, but Arianna waved off Clint's apologies. After all, it was hardly the first time they'd missed each others' birthdays. The pair had been surprised to hear Arianna had spent her birthday with Steve but didn't comment, which she was grateful for.

Steve had also been assigned his official position in SHIELD. He was in the STRIKE division, and at level 8, he outranked everyone else, making him automatically the team leader for any of the teams put together for missions. Including DELTA.

Arianna had teasingly called him 'boss' for an entire week following his assignment, laughing each time because he'd blush every time. She eventually stopped after he'd begged hard enough, deciding to take pity on him. A part of Steve wondered if he should mind that she could control him so easily, but the larger part of him was too relieved she'd finally stopped to really care.

Despite his new assignment, there had been very little missions and they actually managed to visit Peggy every week. Peggy herself enjoyed the visits, particularly as she watched the pair skirt around each other nervously. Neither really understood why Peggy would sometimes have a very amused twinkle in her eye, or rather they tried not to understand.

For Arianna, it was more subconscious as she simply ignored the occasional fluttering feeling she would get around Steve. She had never been in love before, and didn't believe she was now. Steve had evolved from an admirable hero to a good-natured friend and now perhaps even one of her best friends. He just happened to be good-looking to boot.

It was different for Steve. Like Arianna, he'd noticed her beauty the first time he'd met her, but the more he got to know her the more he saw the beauty inside. And it made his heart race every time she gave him one of her beaming smiles, the few rare times her guard was completely down. But he was still slowly adjusting to life both in the 21st century and in Washington, while juggling his SHIELD duties to deal with his rather bewildering feelings for Arianna.

He was still too uncertain in this world to be thinking of love. Or that's what he told himself. But one day, that changed- and it set in motion the events for the longest year the pair would have to go through.

*********

Jul 4, 2012

Arianna P.O.V.

Of course he was awake.

Arianna groaned in frustration, sulking on Steve's couch. She'd snuck into his apartment bright and early with the intention of waking him up and maybe cooking pancakes for breakfast. But no, he was already up and judging by the freshly washed dishes by his sink he'd had breakfast. And by the time she'd come over at 6 a.m. he had already gone for a morning run.

I really should've known better. Arianna scolded herself. The guy's a solider and recovering from PTSD. I should've known he'd probably wake up at some ungodly hour like 5 a.m. every day. Still, her scolding was not improving her mood, only making her feel more like an idiot.

She sighed and got up, shaking out her limbs a little. No use in sitting moping any longer, and besides she had a busy day ahead of her. Her phone beeped and she checked the text, grinning as she saw the short message. Perfect.

*********

Steve P.O.V.

When Steve returned from his run, he paused at his front door and immediately tensed. He could hear movement inside his apartment and he briefly debated sneaking inside through his window. But as he listened harder he could hear that it was someone tinkering about in the kitchen, making no attempt to hide their presence.