Save me, Steve Rogers

Family

"We've just started up a training programme for new Avengers! Wanda and Sam are both in it. Vision and Rhodey too. Sure you're a few weeks behind, but you look like a fast learner. Fury is right, your ability would be an asset to us. You belong here."

Y/N, Nat and Steve are sat in the main living area of the facility. Fury's proposal had been playing on Y/N's mind all night, making it impossible for her to sleep. She tossed and turned for hours, trying to force herself to sleep; but after only managing a few hours, she got up, to find that Nat and Steve already awake, even though it was barely 6am. She knew straight away they were going to ambush her about joining the team.

"Nat come on, she needs time to think about this." Steve, sensing Y/N's discomfort, tries to get Nat to lay off pestering her about joining. He stands up, hoping to encourage Nat to join him. "Come on a run with me, give Y/N time alone to think about it."

Nat doesn't get the hint, however, and looks incredulous. "What? Steve, we need Y/N. Her and Wanda together? They'd be unstoppable! Look, you go on your run, but this is more important." She turns back to Y/N and Steve makes an apologetic face to her. He sits back down. The least he can do is offer Y/N some support while Nat grills her about signing on.

"Look, it sounds fun, who wouldn't want to be an Avenger? But I've got my own issues that I need to deal with." Y/N looks at Steve, the only person she's spoken about Jax to. Nat, not understanding, just shakes her head.

"I don't get it. We can help you reach your full potential here."

I'm a sitting duck here, she thinks to herself.

"Nat," Steve warns, not wanting her to push Y/N too much. Nat looks at Steve and sighs. She gets up.

"I'll leave you to think about it, but Fury is gonna want an answer soon." She leaves the room, so only Y/N and Steve remain.

"Sorry about her." Steve says, looking sheepish.

"It's fine. Truthfully, I'd love to join you guys. You're like a real family." She falls quiet, and looks away from him, not wanting to remember her own.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Steve asks, softly.

Surprised at his direct question, she looks at him and replies, "To mine?" He nods, but makes it clear that she doesn't have to tell him anything she doesn't want to. She shakes her head.

"It's a pretty depressing story. Maybe another time?" She looks away again, not wanting to see his face, full of compassion. She swallows, and clears her throat of the start of a lump that threatens to form.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." She looks up at him, to see his face has changed to something almost heartbreaking. Steve hasn't thought about his parents in a long time, and he's hit with a massive wave of sadness at what he has lost over the years. Y/N is unsure what to say or do to comfort him, so she slides over to sit next to him and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"My parents died when I was 14. It wasn't anyone's fault, it was just a tragic accident. It changed us both, but Jax the most. And for the worst. We both had our abilities, and I think we just thought that we were invincible. We thought that our parents were invincible too. They made us who we were, after all. That must have meant they were special too, right? But then they got into a car accident." She swallows, hard, to dislodge the lump that had quickly formed in her throat. "Could have happened to anybody." She pauses, steadying herself. "Jax lost it for a while, went into a massive depression. Worse than normal grief. I think that's what triggered him to become who he is today. We didn't have any other family really, and the family we did have didn't want us, so we bounced around different foster places for years. It was really hard, Jax refused for us to be separated. I thought it was out of love for me," she scoffs, "but he was just scared of being alone and powerless. It was shortly after our 18th birthday that a switch just went off in his brain. And that's when this whole thing really started. That was probably one of the last times I ever had proper control over myself." She trails off and tries to get her emotions in check. She will not cry. "He made me do terrible, awful things." She whispers, and it's Steve's turn to put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry." He shakes his head in sympathy. They sit in companionable silence for a while, before Steve speaks. "You know you're safe here. Your brother can't touch you. And we don't judge people on their past. It wasn't you. It was him. You're part of our family now, whether you choose to join the team or not."

"It's a pretty... unique family, to say the least," she laughs. Steve smiles too.

"What?" He jokes, "a couple of assassins, a witch, a man flying around in an iron suit and a 101 year old. Isn't that the standard modern family?" She laughs again at how ridiculous it all sounds.

"Well, I have to admit, you are by far one of the more attractive 101 year olds I've ever met." Steve laughs, going a faint shade of pink.