DYER | STEVE ROGERS

𝐈𝐈𝐈.𝐈𝐕

〚 HURT 〛

Tony had instructed Steve to help the girl inside and take her to the gym. She needed to let out her anger and the best way to do that was on a punch bag rather than on one of them.

"Again." Steve ordered as he held the punch bag still. Darla's fists slammed into it again. She was exhausted, it felt like it had been hours, but in reality it was only minutes.

"I'm tired." She snapped at the man. It was the first time she had ever shouted at him.

"I don't care." He lied. "Again." He repeated. His eyes flickered up her body. Her stance was good, she knew what she was doing. A thin layer of sweat laid across her forehead and her lips parted slightly.

She slammed her fist into the punch bag once again, this time making Steve stumble back.

"I said. I'm tired." She shouted. Steve looked at the girl in confusion. The punch bag now had a burn mark on it.

"What happened to you, Darla?" Steve questioned walking towards the girl who had turned her back to him. She slowly began to walk away. "Stark said not to let you out until you're calm."

"I am calm." Darla argued as she went to grab open the door.

"You're not calm." Steve slammed his hand down on the door, closing it once again. Darla stood up straight, she could sense his warm breath on the back of her neck, making the little hairs stand up. She could feel his eyes on her.

The blonde slowly turned around to face the man. She tilted her head to look up at him, his lips parted as he stared down at her. His brows furrowed and his blue eyes seemed angered almost.

"What did he do to you?" Steve questioned, not moving away from the girl.

"Nothing." Darla shrugged. "Everything that I went through was because I wanted to go through it." She rested her body against the door, creating a little bit more room between the two.

"You're not the same person anymore." Steve whispered.

"I am." She stood up, her body colliding with Steve's. "I'm the same person. I just have different abilities now." Steve wrapped his arm around the girls waist, he had missed having her close to him. "Please, I'm the same person." The blonde man nodded before flipping the girl over his shoulder and onto the floor.

Darla gasped once her hit the back of her head on the floor. She stood back up angered.

"What the fuck? Why did you do that?"

"I wanted to see how you'd react." Steve looked at the girl.

"How I'd react?" She shouted. "You want to see how I'd react Cap?" Darla placed her hand on the wall, gathering up the electricity before throwing a bolt at him. "That's how I'm going to react."

"This isn't you." Steve muttered as he slammed against the wall. "What happened to the girl who constantly tried to be next to me? What happened to the girl who hummed to stop the voices? What happened to the girl who wanted to save people rather than hurt them? What happened to my Darla?" He shouted, making the room fall into silence.

Darla looked up at the man. She shook her head with a scoff.

"You left me for two years. You didn't speak to me for two years. I had to come back to you despite all the letters I wrote. Despite reaching out to you. It was me who came to you." Anger was building up inside of her. "Then when I left, I was right under your fucking nose. Sometimes you were in the same fucking building, Cap. And I thought you were off in Europe."

She threw her fist at the man, only for him to catch it and twist her arm behind her back, slamming her against a wall.

"Breathe, Darla." He whispered into her ear. His warm breath hitting her neck. "Because we're not leaving this room until you can control yourself."

"Let me go." Darla said as she attempted to squirm out of the mans grip. Steve's grip only tightened. "I don't want to hurt you, Steve."

He didn't care about the constant shocks that he got. He wanted the girl to to be safe.

"You're not going to hurt me." He whispered, resting his head against hers. "I trust you."

"You shouldn't." She shook her head as she felt his grip loosen, allowing her to turn around and face him. Steve reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear but she slapped his hand away causing a shock to travel up his hand.

"Darla, I trust you." He whispered his hand reaching up and cupping her face. Darla screwed her eyes shut in fear that she would hurt him. "See?" He whispered with a soft smile, his thumb running over her cheek bone. The bolts were travelling all the way up his arms but he kept a straight face and didn't wince once. "You're not going to hurt me." He rested his forehead against hers. "I trust you."

He began to hum the tune that had been in his head for the past year. It was something that kept him tethered to her.

Darla smiled at the familiar song, she hadn't heard it in a while or even sang it herself.

She pulled her head away from Steve's and allowed him to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her into his chest.

Despite the pain he was in when he touched her, he still held her as tight as possible. If he could convince her that she didn't hurt him to maintain their physical contact, he would.

"I trust you too." Darla whispered back.