Distressed // Steve Rogers

5 - Invisible Barriers

Steve's room was spacious and light. One wall was pure glass and steel. A window to the outside world with nothing blocking the view. Talia sat in silence on top of the bed sheets, uncomfortable in her placement in here and in too much pain to do anything about it. A golden glow from the sun, sitting low in the distance, streamed in and bathed her in a soft warmth. For a while she closed her eyes and focused on nothing but that warmth and it soothed her slightly.

Eventually she opened her eyes, her mind set on understanding the man she was now stuck with, and looked around, trying to figure him out a little. She took in the small pile of books on the floor by the bed and a bookshelf against the wall that was brimming with colourful spines, bent and broken from use, and decided Steve was smart, and not just soldier smart, but the deep-thinker, wants to know the world kind of smart. He was also practical. Everything in the room had a purpose and everything seemed to have its place. The white walls had no personal photos, but that was to be expected: Talia didn't think Captain America was the selfie type. The only thing that stood out to Talia as being somewhat out of place was just within her reach and taunted her with the temptation it presented. On the bedside table was a small sketchbook and a box of charcoal pencils. Talia desperately wanted to reach over and flick through the book. If she was quick he wouldn't even know, and it could help her to understand his motives a little. And yet something stopped her.

Steve sat at the desk in the small study attached to his room flicking through the teams recent mission report and listening to the news. He hadn't been able to focus fully all day and he knew Stark needed the breakdown of what happened so that he could update Fury. Instead he found himself glancing up repeatedly. The door was ajar and every now and then he would look up to see her. Sometimes she would have her eyes closed, her face turned to the window, the gold of the sun bouncing off of the flames of her curls, and sometimes she was watching him intently. Her head would snap away quickly when it happened, but he knew she was trying to figure him out. After all, he was doing the same to her.

Right now she sat with her knees up and her arms wrapped around her legs, making herself as small as possible. It dawned on Steve that this was probably habit and that she was probably in a lot of pain. As she looked around the room her hair, pulled neatly back into a ponytail, swayed and she bit her lip when something new caught her eye. The buzz of his phone drew his attention away from her. Bucky hadn't been in touch since he had stormed out, just before Talia's arrival, and Steve had worried.

He read Bucky's message and sighed.

Just letting you know I'm fine. Not TWS so you don't need to worry. Wilson is too much for me so I had to get out. Will be back in a week or so when I have the patience for Bird Brain.

Steve shot back a quick text asking his best friend to keep him updated and let him know if he was needed before pushing the phone into his pocket and getting to his feet. Walking into the room he could feel the anger radiating off of her. She sighed and turned her face to him.

Talia was losing her patience with this man. It felt like every five minutes he found a new reason to 'check in' on her and she just wanted him to stop. She knew he didn't trust her, she didn't trust him either, but the pain was twice as bad today, especially since The Billionaire Bot made her leave the relative comfort of the hospital room and climb two flights of stairs to Steve's room this morning, and so she wasn't in the mood to play along with his little ruse.

"If you don't spit it out Ice-Pop, I will shoot you. I won't even think twice."

Steve couldn't help but laugh. He knew she was genuinely frustrated by him and probably could seriously injure him if she wanted to, but sitting there post-op, with no make up, in one of Bruce's old t-shirts, she looked harmless.