Distressed // Steve Rogers

9 - Secrets Don't Stay Secret

"I'm telling you Steve, she can't be trusted!" The anger oozed from Bucky's voice as he pleaded with his best friend.

"Thank you Metallica." Tony interjected in agreement.

Steve ran his hands over his face as he listened to his two friends argue against him.

"I just don't think it's that simple Tony and I'm sorry Buck, but I don't agree." Steve's voice was softer than the others, but as Talia listened from the darkness she heard it still - the edge of anger, of frustration - he was protecting her.

"Capsicle," Stark's voice was patronising, filled with disbelief and annoyance, as he stepped around Bucky and in front of Steve. "Are you seriously telling me that your own best friend telling you the girl is trouble isn't enough for you? After a week? Come on Cap." He paused as he looked Steve up and down sardonically. "I thought you were better than that."

Steve felt his blood boil at Tony's insinuation. It wasn't what Tony thought. He clenched his fists and squared his shoulders, as he took a step towards Stark.

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm telling you. I've watched her all week Tony and she knows it too. Has she once tried to divert my attention or feed me false intel? No." He looked at Bucky, still rubbing his jaw as he glared at Steve. "She's been open with me the whole time, even when we've made her feel anything but welcome. Even when she's avoiding me she hasn't tried to push my attention elsewhere, and trust me when I say that's hard as hell for her."

Tony scoffed as he shoved past Steve, barging into him. "Oh yeah, because you know her so well already. Are you serious right now?"

"Steve, come on." Bucky's voice was softer now and he placed a hand on Steve's shoulder as he tried to level with him.

Steve's eyes travelled the length of Bucky's metal arm, he pictured the glint of the metal against the porcelain of her skin and a fresh wave of anger flooded him. He shrugged Bucky's hand off of his shoulder and stepped away from him.

"You know what guys. Yeah, I'm serious. You want to spy on her, go ahead. But I am done. Talia is not a threat."

He stormed out of the meeting room, slamming the door behind him as Bucky and Tony watched in awe. Steve was not the storming out kind of man. He was a 'let's sit together and talk it out until we can reach an agreement' kind of guy in these situations but he couldn't seem to shake the fury that consumed him right now. He swung around ready to argue as he heard footsteps behind him and froze when he saw her standing there, hands up in a signal of peace.

"So, Ice-Pop... would now be the wrong time to tell you you're kind of a crappy spy?" Her lips turned up in a sympathetic smile as she took another step towards him. His eyes traced the faint marks of Bucky's fingers on her neck, leaving him nauseous and angry, before he looked away.

Despite the fact he didn't think Talia was a threat, what just happened meant she was keeping secrets, and secrets destroyed teams.

His mind wandered to the rage that burned in Bucky as he pinned Talia to the wall and the silence he held when Steve had asked what the hell had happened. They were both keeping secrets.

Talia watched with sadness as Steve seemed to shut down on her. He wouldn't look at her and his forehead creased as his lips fell into a downturn that she'd noticed only seemed to appear when Steve was mad. It was best to leave him to process everything his friends had just said.

She turned away from Steve, taking a step towards the kitchen, but stopped short of leaving.

"Steve," she sighed, turning back to face him. "I hope you meant it. What you said in there. Because I'm not a threat to you. I'm not a threat to any of you."

He looked up to meet her eyes, the jade of them piercing through the darkness and nodded. With a small smile she turned away and continued to the kitchen as Steve stood rooted to the spot watching her leave. She wrapped her arms around herself as she left, making herself small again, and kept her head down. He watched as she relaxed a little entering the brightly lit kitchen and perched on a stool.

"Hey Vis. Any left overs?"

Vision smiled over at her as he opened a drawer to get some cutlery. Steve observed how easily the two of them interacted, how simple it was with Vision and although he was happy she was able to relax with someone he couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't like this around him.

"Right on time Miss Romanoff. I've already got some warming up for you. How are you feeling?"

Her fingers brushed against her neck as she pulled her hair down and around her shoulders, covering herself up, before she stood and reached for a plate.

"How many times Vis? It's just Tal. And I'll be okay, thank you."

*

It had been a couple of hours since the incident and Talia sat in Steve's room reading one of the many books from his bookshelf. She'd asked to be left alone for a while after Nat had checked on her for the third time and had lost herself in the world of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan as the evening drew on.

"Didn't you go shopping today?" Steve's voice drew her out of the book. It was gentle and kind, but there was sadness there too. She tilted her head questioningly and he jutted his chin in a gesture at the old t-shirt she wore. He smiled a little as he caught a glimpse of the book tucked in her hands, clearly taken from his collection.

"Oh. Yeah, I did. But I like sleeping in old t-shirts and Clint and Bruce were getting rid of some so I stole a couple." She closed the book and leaned over to put it on the bedside table as Steve came and sat beside her.

Although he wasn't as angry as he had been before, it still bubbled under the surface and Talia felt it bristling as she sat close to him.

"So," he sighed, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands. "You knew?"

Talia laughed and nodded as she nudged him slightly. "You're kind of bad at lying."

When Steve laughed the tension in his neck seemed to disappear and he nudged her back playfully.

"Okay Runaway. Next question." He met her eyes with a steel blue gaze that made her nervous. "Why does my best friend think you're here to kill him?"

Talia sucked in a breath and shook her head. She really didn't want to relive that memory right now. Not yet.

Without thinking Steve took her hand as she began to shake.

"That one is - well it's much more complicated. It involves real spies." Her eyes grew darker and glistened with tears and fear. She bit her lip as Steve stared at her. She dropped her eyes to their hands, entwined in the space between them, and huffed. If she didn't know better she might have actually believed he was concerned about her.

"Come on Runaway," his voice was pleading, just above a whisper. "I think I deserve an explanation, all things considered." Her thumb brushed over the small bruises forming on his knuckles from where he had hit Bucky and she felt overwhelming guilt. "Is it really that bad?"

She looked up at him as he waited. It wasn't that she didn't trust him with this, or even that she didn't want to tell him. Something was stopping her and her chest felt heavy and tight as she swam in the blue of his eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't say a word.

"Fine. Don't tell me." He shook his head as he carefully pulled his hands from hers and got to his feet. "Listen, I meant what I said to Tony and Buck, but Talia, secrets don't stay secret for long around here, so whatever you're hiding... It will find it's way out."

As Steve made his way to the bathroom Talia couldn't move. The door closed behind him and she began to cry. She needed Nat.