There's Someone I'm Waiting For (Steve Rogers x Reader)

Chapter 7 - More Tests

|   Stop smiling, girl. I see you.   |

By some miracle, or maybe because it was still very early, there was no one else in the kitchen. Sam had said he'd be about 15 minutes so he could shower after his run so you decided to make a nice breakfast to kill time.

Right on time, Sam walked in and you had two plates waiting at the table. He already looked concerned when he came through the door but his features softened when he saw eggs, sausage, and potatoes. "Ohhhhhhh, you spoil me," he said, giving you a smile and rubbing your shoulder. Seeing that you looked calm helped ease his fears as well.

"Glad to see you, pal," you said.

"So what's going on?" he asked.

"Good news or bad?" you asked.

"Rip the bandaid off... give me the bad news," he said, taking a sip of orange juice.

"He's shrinking," you said, looking at Sam. "He's lost weight and he's lost an inch of height. Bruce has been running tests and he kept him overnight."

Sam's eyes bugged out. "He's shrinking?!"

"Yeah, and Bruce brought in Reed Richards to help," you said.

"Wait... Mr. Fantastic Reed Richards?" Sam asked.

"Oh, that's where I recognized him from," you said to yourself. "So... we don't know anything yet. Steve sent me away because Bruce said he'd be doing lots of testing on him."

"You look okay," he said. "You must be feeling better."

"Well... I'm hoping we get answers now. Maybe there's a chance for improvement." You smiled and then said, "...and in a way, it's like I have him back a little bit already."

Sam looked at you, questioningly.

"He came to see me last night, he found some things in his room... he figured it out..." you said.

"I was there for that part," he said. "I told him to go see you."

"He did," you smiled. "I thought he was mad at first, but he wasn't. He just wanted to know why I hadn't told him and he wanted to know more about... us."

"Why didn't you tell him?" he asked.

"From the way it sounded, he woke up still in love with Peggy. What was I supposed to say?" you said.

Sam nodded. "So what happened?"

"Well, I told him the truth and he felt bad... that was never my intention. He said he wished he could remember how he felt about me before so I gave him all the cards he'd written to me and he read them all..."

"That was a good idea," he said.

"Thanks, It seemed to help him," you took in a deep breath. "I feel so much better today, I feel like I have him back on my team."

Sam reached out and held your hand.

"He said things are going to be different now," you added. "Unfortunately, that's when I noticed something was wrong. He looked shorter - like I wasn't looking up at him quite as much. And his shirt wasn't as tight as usual."

"He does like the tight shirts," Sam laughed.

You laughed too. It felt good to have a weight lifted off you. "Bruce kept him overnight to have him hooked up to monitors and I stayed in there with him."

"Good," he said, sounding relieved. "I didn't tell him much. I was there when he was looking through his sketch book and the letters from you. He asked me if he was seeing you and I just confirmed that. I told him to talk to you."