The Game That Started it All

Freeze

Steve's POV:

It had been about 6 months now without Natasha, every day seeming to hurt more and more. You would think that maybe some of us had achieved closure by now but nope, not much has changed.

I'm going on my first mission today along with Bucky, Thor and Clint, excited but extremely nervous to be back in the field.

Tony, Wanda, Clint and myself were the only ones who hadn't been on a mission since Natasha. We had our reasons, but I convinced Clint to join me on this one, we needed to do some good.

Tony was still a wreck, Pepper was lost on what to do and how to help him, still grieving herself. His sleeping and basic hygiene habits continued to be wildly unhealthy. He had been eating and drinking more than before which was good, but he had lost a considerable amount of weight, he was nowhere near ready to be back in the field.

Wanda was healing but slowly, we all were. She always seemed distracted, something always on her mind and sleep deprivation captivated her. Her and Buck spent a lot of time together which I thought was nice, they had both lost one of their closest friends and had managed to find comfort in one another which i'm thankful for.

This mission was a simple one, get in and out as quickly as possible, I could easily do any mission like this alone. We begin to load the quinjet while Clint sets the coordinates to the small base just outside of London. I take my seat and set my shield down beside me, pulling out a small little picture I kept in my suit.

It was of her, the lazy Sunday we spent together a while back just sitting in bed talking and laughing, among other things. Later that day we went up to that special place of hers on the roof, cuddling and watching the horizon of New York as dusk turned to night. The picture I took on my phone was when she was mid laugh with that genuine smile across her face, after I had told her some lame joke. She was looking out at the city, eyes sparkling and lips upturned from the laughter, it was my prized possession.

If she were here she would tell me to get off my sorry ass and claim that there were others who needed my sorrow more than her.

I hope she knew that her worth was much more than what she believed it was. She deserved a happy ending.

The quinjet begins to hover and lifts into the air, cutting through the clouds for a quick trip to London to gain some intel.

"Coordinates set in place and auto-pilot engaged Cap." Clint confirms. I nod my head in acknowledgement and tuck Natasha's picture back into my suit.

I clear my throat and straighten my back while looking straight ahead of me, trying to mentally prepare myself for this mission.

"You alright punk?" Bucky asks from the corner of the jet currently loading his rifle.

I look over to him and flash a tight smile, "Yeah i'm good."

"You sure? You look pretty anxious right now." Bucky cautiously replies.

"What? No i'm not, trust me i'm fine." I scoff.

"Actually Bucky is quite right, the bouncing leg, furrowed eyebrows and he's even chewing on his lip." Thor interjects.

I sometimes really wish all the Avengers observation skills weren't so advanced.

Except for Sam's, a lot of things seem to just go right over his head.

"It's his first mission back give him a break." Clint says patting me on the shoulder.

Clint has had it really rough the past couple of months, yet he's gotten really good at hiding it. His coping mechanisms aren't ideal but neither are mine so I can't really say anything. He went back to spend time with Laura and the kids and as you can guess they were equally as devastated. I actually joined them for 3 days last month which was really nice, Cooper took a strong liking to me, even claimed I was his favourite superhero.