Romanogers: One shots

Loyalty

Natasha had left him. Abandoned him in Wakanda a week ago without so much as a goodbye or an explanation. As their friends and new comrades turned to ash around them, at their fingertips, she couldn't bare to stay their any longer. She couldn't. She couldn't handle the anguished cries for loved ones, the confusion and fear in peoples features, the heartbreaking expressionless face Steve wore as he tried to keep it together. He was never one to panic, but she could feel it radiating off him, see the fear in his eyes as they faced the complete unknown. But she had to leave him, and she didn't regret it.

He saw all of that, and he was furious. Hurt. Disappointed that after everything they had worked through together, years of building trust into their little team seemed to have all been for nothing. They were meant to be a unit, an unstoppable duo that faced the world with unwavering determination to get their job done. Now, she wouldn't even answer his calls. She had brought out the best and worst in him and vice versa, but with her now gone, it was a solid state of his worst points.

He hadn't slept since the battle, and his muscles ached with fatigue and groaned in protest as he paced the room again, circling it once more. He rubbed the rough beard on his chin, trying to figure this all out, look for any possible solution but he had little to go on, and no partner to communicate it with. Shuri was helping the best she could, but since the kind of Wakanda was now gone, she had other duties to tend to. Thor and the raccoon were trying to find any source of communication from other planets and relms as Bruce and Rhodey were coming up with ideas focused around finding Tony. Steve wanted everyone back. Everyone.

It was surprising how quickly the darkness in his mind was consuming him, the grief and loss setting in quickly when reality started to hit hard. He eventually heaved a sigh and dropped into one of the large chairs, closing his eyes for a moment and willing to think of nothing for just five god damn minutes.

....

He snapped his eyes open some hours later when the sound of a jet door mechanically closing caught his attention. His legs were stiff with the unexpected nap he had taken, his body having shut down to regenerate ached in protest at being woken too soon as he stretched and got to his feet, glancing out at the dark sky above Wakanda. He yawned, looking down towards the launch pad as the glow of the jet's light beams died as it shut down for the night. He looked around at the ground beside it but whoever had returned was already inside.  Steve rubbed his eyes slightly, and moved away from the window to grab a glass of water, which he downed in several gulps before refilling the glass and drinking again. Wiping the droplets from his beard, he mentally admitted defeat and started heading towards his own quarters, glancing at the time on the wall showing it was just past midnight. He could hear Thor snoring at one end of the corridor, and assumed the rest would be in bed also so moved as quietly as he could without making a sound.

As he turned the corner, a faint beam of light underneath the door across from his made him stop.

Was she back?

He frowned, edging towards it and listening for any movement on the other side, hearing nothing. He pondered knocking, seeing if she had decided to return, though he wasn't sure he wanted her too. Not right now. He shook his head, deciding he must be dreaming and that he wasn't ready to be let down again right now. He'd check in the morning and be prepared for the disappointment then.

As he turned to his own door and opened it, the click of the door opening behind him and there was a pause, long and silent as he turned to lay his eyes on her.

Natasha looked up at him, eyes weary with exhaustion and grief much like his own. Her hair was slightly messy, like she had spent hours running her fingers through it in stress or frustration,  and she was dressed in slacks and a hoodie he recognised once belonged to Clint. Her face was expressionless as she stared up at him, and it infuriated him that she couldn't even muster up an apology for disappearing or returning unexpected right there and then.