Hellish (Steve Rogers Fan Fiction)

T w e n t y E i g h t

SCREAMING^^^

"Which one?" Sloane instantly began to search the faces of the people around them.

"That wasn't the best way to approach the topic, Captain Rogers." King T'Challa sighed gently.

"Benny." Steve answered her question. He watched as she started to step away from their small group so he stopped her, placing his hand on her arm. "Sloane, I don't want you to do anything too drastic-,"

"That man has taken my entire life from me, Rogers." Sloane snapped as she tore her arm from his grip. "I sacrificed everything for him. I lost my family, years that I can't get back, and people that-that I cannot go back to."

"You're going to lose me too if you keep heading down the path you're on." Steve warned her, his voice solemn and quiet.

She searched his eyes, hoping to find some sort of evidence that he was bluffing but she found none. He wouldn't put up with this forever.

Sloane nodded her head as she looked away, biting the inside of her cheek so hard that she tasted blood. Was he worth holding on to? What had Steve ever done for her? Wasn't he more trouble than he was worth?

No, no he was worth every second of every waking day that Sloane was with him. He gave her patience and somewhere that she could turn to for support. He was a safe haven, a safe place that she felt unbelievably comfortable around. He didn't push her for answers most of the time and he encouraged her to be herself.

"Attacking him now is what he expects." T'Challa told her, thinking that Steve's words hadn't worked. "We can wait and get them in a location where there is less of a chance to cause civilian casualties."

"Fine." Sloane crossed her arms and turned away from both men.

"I will go tell Okoye and Ayo of our decision." T'Challa excused himself from the dysfunctional couple and walked away.

"Did you.... Did you decide to not go after your father for T'Challa's reason?" Steve asked, taking a step forwards to be in Sloane's peripheral vision. "Or was it for me?"

When the Red Dahlia was silent, Steve continued. He wanted to give her a reason behind his wanting to know. He needed to know because he would leave if she wanted to continue to fight.

"If it's for him, then I can leave.... Make it easier on the both of us." Steve quickly brushed the tears from his cheeks. "I want to know if what I'm doing here is in vain, Sloane, cause I feel like I'm fighting a never ending battle with you sometimes and-and it's taking everything out of me."

"Everyone around me dies." Sloane whispered, her fingers by her sides twitching as if she wanted to move them but couldn't. "I-I don't-I can't let that happen to you. You're too good for me."

"No way, Sloane." Steve moved to stand in front of her, but she wouldn't meet his gaze. Her eyes were staring blankly at his chest. He cupped her jaw in his large hands and tilted her head up. "Never think that I am too good for you, Sloane."

"All the things I've done—,"

"You did all of it for your father." Steve brought one hand up to brush a few curls back out of her eyes. "You deserve so much better than what's happened to you, Sloane."

She nodded her head, her eyes squeezing shut as tears began to run down her cheeks.

•*•*•

Steve was half sitting up in bed, reading a book he had been trying to read for a while. Sloane was on the bed with him, going through her three different phones.