Phantom - [Marvel]

07| Half There

Steve woke up to a sizzling sound. He sat up from the couch and looked at Valeria who was standing in front of the stove.

"Hey." He commented as she jumped a little.

She turned to him and smiled lightly. "Good morning Steve." She commented as she looked at the stove. "I read that Americans enjoy breakfast so I've made some things. I'm working on the bacon. I've got eggs here and toast with jam." She explained looking at the bacon as she flipped it to the other side.

"You didn't have to do that." He commented as she looked at him shaking her head.

"No you were very kind to me last night after-" she stopped looking down. "And I wanted to show you I appreciated your help." She spoke putting the last bit of bacon on a plate and moving it to a table with the rest of the food she had made along with glasses of milk.

Steve looked at the small amount of food and smiled. She really put thought into this but he was confused. She must've been awake for a while.

"Did you get any sleep?" He asked as they both sat down.

She took a breath. "Maybe an hour or so." She told him as she put jelly on a piece of toast.

He nodded taking a bite of some of the eggs. It was all so domestic, it almost made him uncomfortable. Like he was living a normal life when his life really was anything but normal. Part of him enjoyed it but at the same time it didn't sit right. Not to mention she had just found out what happened to her family, yet she acted so calm.

"What's on your mind?" Valeria questioned tilting her head.

"Nothing." He shook his head. "It tastes really good." Valeria smile lightly to him knowing he was thinking something else. She decided not to question it because she was in fact putting on an act of her own. She woke up and had two panic attacks that morning remembering the night of her family's death and how it happened. One was so bad she went invisible for almost an hour before coming back to.

She didn't want Steve to worry about her. He had already worried so much that she didn't want to cause him any more stress. That idea was clearly not working though as she had begun to shake thinking about what had happened that morning.

"Valerie." He spoke as she shook her fork still in a bit of a trance. "Hey." Steve said as he reached for her arm. She dropped the fork and looked at him.

"Sorry just tired." She told him before picking up the fork again.

"How about we train today?" He asked. "It might help you-" He wasn't sure how to finish that sentence.

"You're right." She commented softly.

"I'll meet you there." Steve nodded.

"I'm going to go get dressed." She smiled lightly before going to her room. She could feel herself about to change. The invisibility was on its way.

She rushed into her room and closed the door. She went to grab her clothes but her arm was gone. She could feel it there she knew it was, but it was still shocking to see... or not see rather. She used her hand to grab her clothes, making them seem like they were floating.

She took a breath and started to get dressed. Her heart was racing just from thinking about that day. She wondered if that helped her control it. Maybe in the past, but definitely not right now. She stood in front of her mirror shaking her hand. She took deep breaths trying to get her arm to come back to but it wouldn't.

She decided to put on gloves and she headed down to the room. She saw Steve there. He had also changed, probably grabbing clothes out of a locker or something.

They stayed quiet for a while as Valeria tried to concentrate on only the sparing. She got Steve on the ground for the third time and he sighed.

"You do the same thing every time." She smiled at him. "You have to change your pattern."

"So now you're the one teaching me?" Steve questioned.

"When were you ever teaching me?" Valeria asked in response before Steve nodded lightly. She had a point. Steve got back into position, and they started to go again. Steve ended up catching Valeria off guard and he was able to hit her in her side. She fell but got up.

"That was good. Smart." She spoke laughing lightly as she rubbed her side.

"Yeah yeah." Steve spoke as they started fighting again. He didn't like how she was 'teaching' him. That wasn't what he planned on doing with her.

Sadly for him that was the only upper hand he really got and she got him down again.

"Do you know how you got this good?" He asked as she helped lift him up with ease.

"Um, serum and treatment. Practice I assume." She told him as he nodded. "Nothing specific comes to mind." She added as she looked at her side where Steve hit her. She noticed how the area had disappeared and she quickly pulled down her shirt.

"Are you hurt?" He asked worried.

"No I'm fine." She assured grabbing her water.

"I think you're lying." He spoke as she took a breath. She lifted her shirt a bit to show him the lack of her stomach. "So it's been happening more? I thought you only changed when you were threatened."

"Yeah and when I remember about my parents and siblings too apparently." She told him. "But I don't want to worry you."

"Too late for that." He told her as she sat down.

"This morning I woke up and I wasn't there. I mean I was but my body was just-" she took off her glove to show how her hand wasn't there. "I can feel it but I can't see it and it's been this way for a while."

"So you're family must've been part of your control." He suggested as she shrugged.

"Maybe."

"We can work on it."

"You don't have to help you do know that right?" She asked looking at him.

"I know, but it keeps me busy." He shrugged and she smiled lightly. He was trying to be humble. It showed that he cared and she really appreciated it.

So that what they did. For the next week they trained and Steve tried to help Valeria control what she was feeling. She had made progress, the best part being that she could finally manage to turn the invisibility on on command. The only problem was figuring out how to come back from it. She was close to getting there, it just took a lot of extra time, more time than it should. Not to mention she usually ended up with some chunk of her body still invisible, usually a limb.

It would take time, Valeria knew that, but she was easily frustrated by it all. She would've been constantly in a rage if Steve wasn't there to calm her down. He was the best person she could've asked for. It made her think that maybe all this was meant to happen so he could help her. She just wished she could've gotten better faster. She knew that she had time to figure it out. At least that's what she thought she knew.

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