Distressed // Steve Rogers

32 - Found

With the evening drawing to a close and their family surrounding them, silly on wine and friendship, Talia sat with her head resting on Steve's shoulder. Their arms were intwined and she drew patterns of infinities and stars across his skin where his shirt sleeves had been rolled. He laughed at something Tony said, sitting on a chair opposite them and Talia smiled, her focus remaining on the man she held on to.

"She has no idea what I just said, does she?" Tony faced Steve as he grinned.

"Oh definitely not. She's lost in her own mind right now."

Talia sighed as she pulled back, her hand slipping easily into Steve's and a soft smile playing on her lips.

"You said 'she's a pain in my ass, just like her sister, but I'm glad you're both happy' Tony." She raised her eyebrows as she spoke. "And I am not lost, I'm just wandering."

Steve leant in and kissed her softly, twisting his body so that he could pull her closer to him and hold her tight. 

"That's my cue to leave." Tony laughed loudly as he pushed to his feet. "But I really am happy for you both."

Talia giggled against Steve's lips, pushing him off of her and twisting to face Tony as he slipped away.

"Thank you Tony!" Her words came out as a squeal when Steve's lips crashed onto her neck and he nipped at her skin playfully. Neither of them seemed inclined to care that their family surrounded them, their family watched them.

*

The clanging of metal against crystal pulled the focus of the team to Bucky Barnes. He stood with a tiny champagne flute in his hands, clearly not his own, and his metal fingers outstretched. The Cheshire Cat smile that he wore told Talia exactly what the noise was; Bucky was tapping the glass himself instead of using a spoon like everyone else had.

"I just want to say something before the happy couple jet off for a week, if that's okay?" Bucky glanced around as people settled around him and conversations died out. "When I first met Steve he was some weedy little kid in my class who kept getting into fights. He was always getting his ass kicked and it didn't take me long to realise he needed someone to step in for him and keep him from getting killed. And when I first met Talia - well she tried to kill me. So yeah. It's a strange match to say the least. But I think it's beautiful and it only really crossed my mind tonight that Steve finally found someone else who could step in for him and stop him from getting killed, because while he's all muscle now, he still has that stupid golden boy heart that means he doesn't think before he jumps in and he needs someone to jump in for him. He needs his Talia. So yeah, I guess what I'm trying to say is I am so happy for you guys - I really am - and I cannot tell you how much I love you both or how excited I am to see what the future will bring you. Now," he paused with a wicked glint in his eye and Steve groaned, "because Stark doesn't actually pay us I couldn't get you a real gift so... this is for you."

Placing the glass on the table, Bucky took three long strides backwards towards the dance floor and Talia furrowed her brow. He shook out his shoulders as he stared directly at her and pointed to where Natasha stood with her phone in hand, no doubt connected to the speaker, and pressed play. Suddenly the room was filled with a rhythm Talia knew too well and she was laughing.

"Avengers," Bucky shouted over the throb of the song, "assemble!"

Hands were on her waist, pushing her up from her chair, and Thor pulled her into the centre of the room. Steve was shoved along beside her, grinning as the team surrounded them. He reached for her hands as she reached for his and the two of them stepped together as they laughed and their friends shimmied and shook around them. There was no choreography, no sense of order or sanity or control. There was only joy. There was joy as Tony grabbed her hand and pulled her into a spin and there was joy as Clint grabbed her by the hand and wrapped an arm around her waist, dipping her low before pulling her back up. Wanda pulled at Steve, embracing him quickly before teaching him a quick move or two and then Natasha was there, holding onto them both and shouting the words at the top of her lungs.

"Mr Rogers." Talia moved to Steve's side and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Your wife wants to dance with you."

Steve's answering smile was brilliance and beauty.

"Well Mrs Rogers." His hand slipped over her dress and came to a stop at the base of her spine. "What my wife wants, my wife gets."

The song was over quickly and yet in that moment Talia found her lifetime. She found the key to her happiness. She found family and laughter and love. She found life inside of her and all around her. She found forgiveness for a past she would never outrun and the promises of a future she had never dared to dream of. She found light and she found space. She found music and joy and anticipation. She found that everything she had been through had lead her to this moment and lead her to the greatest discovery of all: she found who she was. Talia Romanoff Rogers, wife and mother, sister and friend. She found who she was always meant to be.