Always You {Steve Rogers}

thirty one

Aliza's PoV

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, fuck!" A string of curse words tumbled out of my mouth. I winced as I rubbed the antiseptic wipes I was given to clean the cuts on the side of my stomach. Winter went in. I'm surprised he didn't break my leg or something. It's not like anyone cared. I was given some wipes and bandages to clean myself up because apparently I'm a doctor and I should know how to do it myself. Assholes.

I didn't even have the energy to keep my shirt lifted up. My whole body was sore and aching in pain. My throat was dry but as much as I asked for water, all I got was a stern no.

"That looks painful."

I snapped my head up to see Winter standing outside my cage. He had his hands behind his back and didn't look half as terrifying as he did 20 minutes ago. I quickly dropped my top.

"You should know. You're the one who did it to me." I mumbled with conviction.

"Sorry." I looked into his eyes to see that he was being genuine. I felt slightly taken aback by the kind smile on his face but took it because I haven't seen one of those in weeks.

I nodded to show that I had accepted his apology. "What are you doing here?"

He rubbed his hand across his chin as if in contemplation. He stared me up and down before taking a deep breath. "They don't know I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way."

I narrowed my eyes at him, completely baffled as to why he was here and why he didn't want them to know. I couldn't help the small amount of alarm that began rising up inside of me. Was he here to fight me again because at this point, I could hardly even lift my arm up let alone have a rematch with him.

"Again, what are you doing here?"

He looked out the small window on the door behind him before turning around. " I have something of yours."

I furrowed my eyebrows but that was replaced by panic when he opened his palm to reveal my necklace with Steve's shield on it. I scrambled to the front of my cage where he stood with a slightly amused expression on his face. I checked my pockets to find that my ring was still in there but the necklace wasn't.

"How did you get that?!" I shouted. He just chuckled and moved to the panel that was situated near the door of the room. He pressed a few buttons and the glass door to my cage slid open. He stepped inside leading me to the dark corner and sitting us both down on the floor.

"What I want to know is how do you have it? That's Captain America's shield. You're either a hardcore superfan or you're-"

"His girlfriend." I finished off for him. I snatched the necklace from his hands and held it in my own. My fingers ran across the small charm and I felt tears in my eyes as I thought about the man who gave it to me.

"I'm his girlfriend. And he gave it to me not long before I was taken. He said it symbolises that he'll always protect me and because even if he's not there, I can look down and I'll have his shield."

I looked up at Winter who had an unreadable expression on his face. "It was much more romantic when he said it." I quickly sputtered out.

"I'm sure it was." He mumbled as he looked down at his feet.

"Why would you give it back to me? You could have easily given it to the men here and I would have never seen it again." I questioned.

A soft smile made its way on to his face. "Because you need something that keeps you...you. They're going to try and break you but if you have something that holds you back, they'll try their hardest but they won't succeed. As long as you remember yourself, you can't become anyone else."