Steve Rogers/Captain America One Shots

Sacrifice

(Listen to My Heart Will Go On By: Celine Dion while you read this one. I'm sure you can tell just by the song title that this one is going to be a sad one. But this song is the perfect match for this one shot, not only with it's breathtaking lyrics and Celine's stunning vocals, but the music itself builds with the story and really emphasizes everything I've tried to bring to life in the writing. It's a heartbreaking piece... but undeniably beautiful.)

The icy wind swirled around you, as your boots crunched softly against the snow that paved the path. And with each strong gust that blew, you shivered at the cold that seemed to go straight past your chilled skin, and straight into your very bones. Piercing you from the inside like the tip of a knife, over and over again, sending painful pricks down your skin at the sensation that shot through your body. It was a cold you had never experienced before. One that seemed to turn the breath in your lungs to ice and cause frozen tears to collect in the corners of your burning eyes. The narrow path you walked along was engulfed in shadows, a darkness that only seemed to fuel the cold that ate away at your skin. The place itself seemed to embody the cold it unleashed, the deep shades of blue near black, almost seeming to enhance the frozen temperatures. It was an unnerving place, and even if it didn't carry the cold the way it did, you knew you would still be trembling just the same. It was a cold place. Down to its very core. 

A surge of sudden warmth meets your left hand, and the sting is enough to break through the denseness of your thoughts. It burns like a fire at first, the heat pricking through every inch of your thin skin like a million tiny needles. But soon, you can slowly begin to feel the warmth melting away the ice like feeling in your fingertips, and soon the blaze spreads up your arm. Sensation that had been long ago lost from your hands, is returned. And it isn't just the heat that you feel in the five fingers of your left hand. But a pressure, one strong and secure, and yet there is an underlying gentleness that is undeniable. The pressure is careful, as though your fingers are icicles and they could snap in half at any given moment, but a sensation of comfort and safety entwines itself within your fingers without hesitation. And you can feel the cold completely melting away. As though this sudden warmth is a shield, protecting you from the numbing elements this place throws your way. 

Looking down at your hand, you spot something better than a shield however. You spot a hand, intertwined with your own, and running your eyes over the tendons in the warm flesh that holds your own, you smile softly.  

Steve Rogers walked beside you, his footsteps matching your own, and you continued together hand in hand up the narrow path. Fear had filled you the moment the two of you had landed in this haunting place, and yet as you gaze delicately over at him as his hand safely holds your own, its as though he is capable of making all of the anxiety in your chest disappear. Making your body feel lighter; calmer. However, in the smallest corner of your mind, you still fear what you know is coming. Because this isn't a dread Steve can erase, for he doesn't even know its coming. And it is for that reason, that you kept this piece of information to yourself. Because you knew the moment you told him, that he would take that anxiety upon himself. He always did and you know he always will. He would happily take your pain and carry it on his own shoulders than see you suffer. But for once in your life, you want to carry this fear. It's your turn to carry the anxiety and the burden, and give Steve a rest. And for that, you spared him in knowing what is about to come next.

The path curves and the darkness that had encompassed you along that narrow road, widens and suddenly the two of you are standing in a vast open space. The shadows have lifted and a dark indigo light surrounds you. Painting the sky for miles in the deep shade of blue, with tones of purple swirled within its streaks. It would be a breathtaking sight, if you didn't know why you were here. 

The stone you stand on is cold and hard, just as the rest of this chilling planet, and it stretches out in front of you a ways, until it abruptly drops off. A cliff, feet away from where you both stand cautiously in place. You feel as your hand sways gently with each twist Steve's body makes, as he looks around at his daunting surroundings, but you stay frozen in place. Staring out at the shadowed abyss in front of you. Trying to catch a glimpse of your fate, perhaps, in the clouds that hover ominously around the cliff.