The Seventh Avenger

Chapter 58: Meet and Greet

"Rough night?" 

Despite the fact that I hadn't been anywhere near close to falling asleep, the unexpected sound of the voice causes me to jerk upwards with fright, my blue eyes rapidly blinking open.

I find myself still lying down across the four chairs of the side of the quinjet that were otherwise empty, the position that I was in causing for the edge of one of the seats to dig painfully into my back. My duffel bag, packed to the brim with everything essential that I was going to need for the next couple of days- including my SHIELD uniform- was still placed on the ground beside my head, the strap flung out towards the middle of the small space. Surprised that no one had managed to trip over it yet, I reach down to tug it back before I then raise my head towards Steve across from me, watching as he sends me a knowing smile.

Phil hadn't been joking when he said that both Steve and I would be shipping off early this morning. Though I had intended to pack and then crash once I had left Tony, I hadn't gotten the adequate amount of sleep that my body was still craving. It had taken everything within me to pull myself up from the bed this morning and lock up the apartment before I had moved downstairs to my Spyder, driving it to the dock. I had reluctantly handed the keys over to another SHIELD agent who would assure me that they would keep her safe in the garage for me before I had then dredged onto the quinjet, where I was greeted by none other than Steve.

In the past eight months that I had known him, I had gotten to know a lot about the man behind the SHIELD. Including the fact that he was an early riser, and chose to go on a long run every morning before the sun had even properly risen. So I hadn't been surprised to see that he was wide awake and alert, and in a rather good mood which contrasted against my tired and zombie-like one. He had taken one look at me before he had directed me towards the chairs opposite to the ones that he was sitting in himself, suggesting that I lie down and try to sleep for some of the trip.

Evidently, I hadn't been successful in doing so. Though I had tossed and turned for the past hour, it appears that sleep was evading me once more.

"Rough week," I mutter, as I begin to pull myself upright. I wince at how stiff my back felt, before quickly bending and turning in an attempt to loosen the knots that had formed there, only slumping back and breathing a sigh of relief once the pain vanishes. With my eyes still closed as I leant back in my seat against the wall, I continue quietly, "I've been busy."

Steve hums in agreement at this. "I know. I think that the two of us haven't properly caught up with one another in the past three weeks, with SHIELD keeping you occupied with missions. I take it that's why you're tired?"

"I went from one mission, straight to another in the span of four hours," I explain, slowly opening my eyes to meet his gaze once more. "And with this mission being as complicated and as important as it is, proper sleep is something that I've been denied off in the past thirty-six hours."

His brows crease with worry at my words. "Is it your condition?" He asks quietly so that only the two of us could hear what it was that he had said.

To get Steve to both trust and open up to me in the past couple of months, it had been required for me to do the same. It had taken some time, but I had eventually told him about my time in captivity and the still long-lasting effects that it was having on me. And he had been as good as any friend would be. He had told me that I should never hesitate to ask him for any form of help if I needed it, and it was this warm and approachable nature of his that I liked so much about him. He would always try to be kind and helpful, despite the fact that he was dealing with some difficult stuff of his own still. But together, we were both slowly working through our problems, and on the road to recovery.