Friendly Face

Chapter 6

 Steve carried you all the way back to the cottage with seemingly no effort on his part. You would have fought him on it had he been putting any effort into carrying you. But since your weight was inconsequential to the giant super soldier, you didn't argue with him, since you couldn't walk on your own. He set you gently on the couch in the living room and disappeared before you could say anything. He came back a moment later with your med kit, which was more extensive than the first aid kit that had been here already. "Give it here," you held your hands up for the med kit.

"I can do it," Steve insisted defensively and proceeded to drop to one knee on the floor in front of you. He carefully lifted your leg and placed your ankle on his leg. He looked it over with the experience of an army man with first aid training. "It's not broken,"

You huffed and rolled your eyes. "I told you that already, Winghead," you teased him. "I'm the doctor here. I should know. It just needs wrapped and iced for awhile," you insisted. He nodded and proceeded to carefully wrap your ankle, still refusing to hand over your med kit to you. You were afraid that his strength would be a hindrance here, that he would hurt you while he was trying to help, but he was gentle while he worked on your ankle. His hands were callused, working hands, but he was so soft and gentle while he worked.

Soon he had you bundled up on the couch under a blanket with a fluffy novel to read, your ankle propped up on a pillow on the coffee table in front of you with ice on it.

He wouldn't allow you to walk anywhere for the next week. Though you drew the line at the bathroom. He wasn't helping you in there. He relented. Reluctantly. You spent your time around the cabin or at the lake while you were recovering and Steve didn't seem to mind one bit. It was relaxing to lounge at the lake with your book and your happily sketching Steve. You even legitimately posed for him once when he asked.

*

On the last night of your little vacation you were sitting out at the lake with Steve watching the fireflies. He'd built a little campfire for you to sit by and you roasted marshmallows and mades s'mores like kids while you sat and talked and just relaxed. It was the perfect end to the vacation. All of your stuff was packed to head back to shield in the morning, your ankle had healed enough that you didn't need to have it wrapped anymore, though you wouldn't be running any marathons on it anytime soon.

Steve was looking a lot better for your vacation, more at ease and happier having caught up with some of the things he'd missed while he'd been under the ice. You thought he was also doing better with only having you to deal with. He'd admitted that he wasn't the most social person and you'd surmised that he had social anxiety, though that wasn't a diagnosed thing back in the forties. He had befriended you, though, and that helped him with his anxiety.

You both looked up when you heard a noise in the woods around you.

You wanted to ignore it, to think it was an animal that had wandered too close. But animals didn't have walkie-talkies. Steve stood with a stealthy grace you didn't know he possessed and picked up his shield from next to him. "Go inside, lock the doors. Do not open them until I come to get you," he told you in a whisper as you got to your feet.

"What about you?" you protested stupidly.

"I'm a genetically engineered super soldier. I'll be fine. Now get inside so I know you're safe," he told you firmly. You nodded and he covered your back while you went back into the cottage, which was becoming more and more cabin-in-the-woods-like. You locked the door when you were safely inside and Steve rushed off to investigate the noise.

At least you thought you were safely inside.

You were inside after all.

But so were the intruders.

And you'd just locked yourself in with them.

You noticed this when you heard the sound of boots behind you. Heard the gun cock.

Steve was gone. The boy ran fast.

Fuck.

"Put your hands up where I can see them," the man's voice came from behind you. You slowly raised your hands above you, but you weren't giving this man what he wanted. You flicked your wrist and threw a flash of light into his face. When he yelled in surprise you yanked the door open and ran through it as fast as you could. You ran straight for the woods, knowing he would have a harder time pursuing you once you were surrounded by trees. So you ran, pushing your weak ankle as hard as you could as you attempted to run in the direction that you thought Steve had gone.

You heard your pursuer behind you, heard gunshots as he attempted to stop you from running. Heard him shouting. You didn't pay attention to anything except not tripping over tree roots, your own two feet, or running into a tree.

You lost your pursuer at some point.

However, you also lost your way.

And realized that you were out in the woods with no jacket, phone, or light. There was just enough moonlight to make sure you didn't fall on your face, but no more. You also hadn't been running in a straight line in order to lose your pursuer.

In short you were completely and utterly lost.

And you had no idea what to do.

You couldn't see the cottage or your fire. Couldn't hear anything but the sounds of the forest around you. You summoned a little ball of fire to keep you warm while you tried to figure out what to do. You found a fallen log to sit on. Your ankle was killing you and was throbbing noticeably now that the adrenaline had gone from you flight of fear. You sat on that log for a long time waiting for some kind of plan. This was outside of your area of expertise.

And as if your luck couldn't get worse, it started to rain.

It took effort to keep your little ball of fire going in your hands in the rain, but you were determined to keep the heat and light as long as you could, though you crouched over it, protecting it from as much of the rain as you could as the water soaked through your clothes instantly.

"Y/N! Y/N! Are you out here?" you heard Steve's worried voice call who knew how long afterwards. You jumped to your feet.

"STEVE!" you shouted, hoping he could hear you over the rain. You drew more power to make your little ball of fire brighter. The noise of someone coming through the forest came closer and you prayed it was Steve. They had sped up when you called, and sped up again when they were close enough to see your flame.

It was Steve and he rushed over to you as you vanished the flame and wrapped his arms around you tightly. "I was so worried!" he told you as he crushed you to him. "The house was empty and I saw where they'd broken in-" he stopped talking and stepped back to look you over and make sure you weren't hurt.

And then he pulled you close

And his lips were suddenly on yours

He was warm and soft. Gentle even as he kissed you desperately as if to make sure you were real. You melted into the kiss, your arms going around his neck as he held you tightly to him. You hadn't thought it would ever happen. You thought he was still in love with his lost love. But it had, and it was perfect though you were both drenched to the bone.

You didn't want the moment to end.