Steve Rogers/Captain America One Shots

Called by the Light

His hair had greyed. Every single strand, that used to be a beautiful honey blonde, was now whitened with age. Shimmering like thin strings of silver woven upon his scalp. And his skin, that was once untouched by time and everything that came with it, now sagged with the weight of his life. Every stressor, every essence of struggle, was finally released. And his face no longer held back, for all of that pain, and anger and loss, was finally allowed to create creases and lines within his flesh. It erased the perfection, and replaced the canvas with crevices of a long lived life. It creased in the corners of his eyes, that still twinkled as though he hadn't aged a single year, and it bagged below them. His skin had paled, a soft white hue taking up his once sandy tan complexion.

But there wasn't a thing about Steve Rogers that had changed. 

Your bare feet brushed softly against the cold hardwood flooring of the aging home, and the floorboards creaked in the slightest beneath your weight. The bedroom at the end of the long hallway, glowed with a warm orangish hue. It was as though a sunset had erupted within the thin wallpaper wrapped walls, and it brought a smile to dance across your lips as you entered the warm environment. 

You wrapped your hand knitted shawl closer around yourself, hugging the warm fabric tighter to your bare arms. And silently, you continued to take small steps towards the bed that rested against the far wall. The homey glow of the room casted against the collection of warm flannel sheets and many hand woven quilts, made the scene so much more intimate somehow. Because everything in this bedroom was close to home. Everything on the walls and within the walls had a meaning, there was not a single thing in the room that wasn't touched by the light. And not just by the light illuminating the room, but the light that glowed from the body lying within the bundle of sheets in the bed. 

He slept soundly under the comforting glow of the lamp near him, and it flickered every so slightly. Like a flame from a candle dancing back and forth, and the light shadowed across his paling face. But there was something about watching him rest, that made the age and the time simply fade away. The youthfulness that once was, seeming to make an appearance across his facial features as he slept in the warmth of the blankets surrounding him. 

Pulling the chair at his bedside out softly, careful not to wake the sleeping man, you take a seat. Feeling the silky fabric of your dress grazing your legs, as you sweep the material under you as not to get caught and bunched up beneath your thighs. And as you lean back against the minimally uncomfortable chair, you gaze upon the man who rests easy in his bed. 

You never believed that this man could get enough rest. After everything he had been through, all of the things he had seen and done in his lifetime, how could one really truly rest? You knew he was weighed down by it all and grew weary by the burdens. But now, as you watched his eyelashes flutter softly like the wings of a butterfly, you knew he was sleeping as he should be. Finally. Steve was getting the rest he deserved. 

Reaching your hand out timidly, you rest your fingers gently against the back of his warm hand. His skin was looser beneath your careful touch, but it didn't change the feel of holding his hand. You didn't think anything in the world could. It was still warm, and although more fragile, it felt familiar and comforting beneath your tender touch. Just as it had all those years ago. 

But a sudden movement, one of his fingers wiggling just faintly beneath your hold, causes your eyes to blink wildly before lifting your gaze from his hand to his face. And it was then that you watched as his tired eyes slowly began to open, his long lashes fluttering across his cheekbones for the faintest of moments, as his soft blue eyes began to brighten up the warmly lit room. 

Steve stared blankly up at the ceiling for a moment, and you watched as realization began to slowly flash within his eyes. And in a movement so slow, you nearly missed it, his head tilted to the side and his blue eyes were no longer angled towards the ceiling. They were on you, and only you. You could feel them on your face, wafting across like a ray on sunshine. And you could feel the way they touched your heart, as they locked with your own smiling and awaiting gaze. Almost seeming to warm you from the inside out, by the heat of his love soaring through his eyes to yours. 

"Are you real?"

His voice was strained by age and mellowed by the sleep that lingered in his head, but there was something underlying in his tone that would always be unmistakably him. And it was that feeling that brought an instant smile to your face. 

"Yes Steve," You whispered softly, to the man who looked at you as though you were some figment of his imagination. "I'm real."

And to prove it to him, in some small way, you lifted your right hand from where it rested on top of his. And you pressed it ever so gently, to his cheek. Feeling the warmth of his wrinkled but still so soft skin beneath your palm. And you watched as his eyes fluttered at the sensation of your tender touch against his face. As though he had been craving the touch for the longest time, and it was your thumb that swiped away the single tear that dribbled from his weary eye. 

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again." He croaked, and you felt the warmth of his shaky breath against your wrist. 

Pursing your smiling lips together, in an attempt to keep your own tears at bay, you stroked his cheek softly with your thumb. "You had to have known we would be together again some day, didn't you?"

Steve blinked softly at you, as he seemed to snuggle closer into your touch. "I didn't think it was going to be possible."

But it was. And although he had to give up so many people he cared for to get here, Bucky, the hardest of them all. And to give up a life, where he had fought so hard for so long, he was finally achieving something he never thought would be possible with the super solider serum that ran through his veins. But this was real. And it was all possible now.

"Well," You breathed out softly. "you did it. It is possible now Steve."

Steve smiled a soft smile that turned his chapped lips upward slowly, and it warmed your chest to watch. It was a smile you had missed for so long.

"I'm so glad you're here." 

His voice was breathless, as though he was floating. His words hitting the air as though clouds that hung above you once they reached your listening ears. But you could hear the undeniable happiness that weighed down his words, and sparkled in his voice.  

"Of course I'm here," You assured the man lovingly. "there wasn't another soul they could send to bring you home."

Steve's eyes fluttered shut at the sound of your words, and reopened just as his lips parted to reply. "We're going home?"

You smiled warmly at him, with tears beginning to blur your vision as you gazed down at him. 

"Yes my love, we're going home. You're going home. He told me to tell you, that you can truly rest now, Steve Rogers. That He's been waiting for you, with open arms, and it's time for you to come home and rest now."

Steve's left hand raised at a slow pace, but it wasn't much distance for him to reach, in order to press it against your own hand that cradled his face still. "Rest with me?"

Smiling softly with teary eyes, you nodded your head gently at his request. "Forever Steve."

A/N: Wow, I kinda love this one!! I had an idea hit me suddenly, and so I sat down and wrote this entire one shot in one sitting. And I can say, I am so proud of this small but still so beautiful and raw piece. I wanted something different, and evoking and beautiful and honest. One that showed beauty and grace in Steve's final hours... something that could happen now as he finally ages. And this one is it. I hope you all enjoyed this one!❤