Captain's Hart

Chapter 25 Moving Forward

July 2, 2013

"You had to be sassy." Arianna sighed as she scrolled through the headlines on the committee hearing.

The most popular were 'Black Widow stands her ground' and 'Widow bites off committee heads: 'HYDRA was selling you lies'.' There were also numerous quotes from the hearing, the common favorites being 'we're [Avengers] also the ones best qualified to defend it' and 'So if you want to arrest me, arrest me. You'll know where to find me.'

"You're starting to sound like Tony." Arianna grumbled as she read that last quote again for perhaps the sixth time.

"Don't insult me like that." Nat quipped and Arianna rolled her eyes as she pointed out: "Tony's not actually here, he can't hear your comebacks."

"A good opportunity wasted." Nat said as she sighed mock-forlornly.

Steve chuckled as Sam rolled his eyes, although he was also sporting a small amused smile. They were all sitting in Steve's room, waiting for the final clearance for Steve's discharge.

His rapid recovery had thrown the hospital staff- it was always one thing to expect an outcome and then another to be actually faced with it. No-one was really surprised that Steve was fully healed and ready to leave, but the admin was still struggling to file his paperwork in time with his recovery.

"So, what are you going to do now that you're free agents?" Sam asked the group curiously.

Arianna smiled a little sadly while Steve's face turned thoughtful. Nat shrugged as she replied easily: "Wherever the wind blows me. Maybe we'll have another alien invasion."

She gave a sarcastic smirk at Arianna, who just laughed. Steve rolled his eyes, while Sam burst out into gales of laughter. Shaking his head, the man mused: "You lot are crazy."

"Be careful, you're already getting sucked into it." Arianna teased, and Sam grinned.

He answered blithely: "Nah, saving the world? It's too much... drama."

Arianna and Nat grinned while Steve chuckled. At that moment, the doors opened and Steve's nurse walked inside, saying brightly: "Well, Mr. Rogers. If you'll just sign here, you're free to go."

"Thank you, ma'am." Steve answered as he got up.

Arianna and Nat raised their brows as they saw the nurse give Steve a quick once-over while Sam repressed a snort. Arianna also snorted as, when Steve finished signing the paper and handed it back to the nurse, the woman began to open her mouth.

Nat cut in suddenly: "So, Steve."

He glanced over while the nurse looked over, a little jealous as she eyed Nat. Nat gave a Cheshire cat grin as she finished slyly: "Now that you and Ria are planning to move in together, will I be hearing wedding bells anytime soon?"

Steve absolutely started, turning bright red as Arianna wrinkled her nose and Sam burst out laughing. The nurse looked at Arianna, startled, before turning red with embarrassment and hurrying out. Steve spluttered, clearly taken aback: "We're not even moving in together yet!"

"You really shouldn't tease people." Arianna told Nat, and the redhead shrugged as she replied: "I wouldn't have to if you'd just get jealous."

"If I got jealous for every time a girl checked Steve out, I'd be jealous for almost every hour of every day." Arianna pointed out.

"What's going on?" Steve asked, confused, and Sam sighed.

He replied as he patted the Captain's arm: "You know, man, every guy would either want to kill you or kill to be you."