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"You okay?" Steve asked gently, looking over at the blonde in the passenger seat. She had been quiet the entire ride.
"I should be," she said simply.
"It's okay to be upset," Steve said reassuringly.
"I'm not sad. I'm pissed," Elizabeth retorted.
"At Rumlow?" Steve asked, looking over at her again.
"It's funny actually. The way love works in the agency. We've been field partners for over six years. You just kind of assume that someday you'll probably end up together. Maybe even pull a Carter and start a family. But that's just the thing. Girls like me don't get the boy and we certainly don't get a white picket fence," Elizabeth explained, looking out the window, watching as the trees went by in a blur. Steve's face dropped at the mention of Peggy. Elizabeth didn't even realize what she'd said-- that's just what the agency had always called it.
"Is that what you want? A family?" Steve asked quietly. Elizabeth didn't say anything at first. Her face dropped a little, but he couldn't see.
"It wouldn't be fair of me to have a family. I wouldn't be any good at it. I didn't have a family. I don't know how to offer love and affection to anyone else. I try, but I can't. It wouldn't be fair to have a kid and a life if I can't give them the love they need. I don't know how. I know how it feels to be unloved. And I would never force that on someone else-- especially not my own child. The closest thing I have to a family is Natasha, Clint, and Bro-- I have Nat and I have Clint. That's my family," Elizabeth said firmly, trying to mask the sadness in her voice. She looked over her shoulder at Natasha, who was asleep in the backseat.
"For what it's worth, I don't think you'd be bad at it," Steve said kindly, patting her knee gently.
"And Steve-- I didn't say it before, but I missed you when I was gone. It was nice being around someone truly good. I don't meet many people like that," Elizabeth said kindly, looking over at him. Steve smiled gently, looking at the road in front of him.
"This make me part of your little family?" Steve asked, chuckling softly.
"Only if you let me be part of your little family," Elizabeth retorted gently.
"Deal," Steve said, looking over at her with a small smile.
"Why are you so good, Steve? You're talking to a killer and a person who does not deserve to be treated this nicely and you're treating me like family. How is that even possible? I'm not a good person, Steve. You're a good guy. Why are you so good?" Elizabeth asked, her eyebrows furrowed as she ranted her questions.
