Target (Romanogers Fanfic)

Chapter 20

Steve entered a nightmare from which he woke up repeatedly only to find a greater terror awaiting him. All the things he dreaded most, all the things he dreaded for others manifest in such vivid detail he couldn't help but believe they were real.

Each time he woke up, he thought, 'At last, this is over,' but it isn't. It's only the beginning of a new chapter of torture. How many ways does he watch his mother die? Relive his father's last moments? Feel his own body ripped apart? 

The worst was when they called out for him to save them. But he failed.

Every

Single

Time.

"Steve!"

The Captain woke up with wide eyes, shooting up so fast that he felt a throbbing pain go past his skull. He squeezed his eyes shut and held his head, groaning in pain. There was light coming from everywhere and he could faintly smell the mist of rain and fresh trees. It took him a few minutes but he eventually moved his hands away to let his vision clear out.

Once it did, he found himself staring into a set of bright green eyes.

Natasha.

She stared at him with a frown, worry plastered all over her beautiful face. "Are you alright?"

He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to sit up straight. "Yeah, I'm fi—" That was when he noticed the presence of trees and mountains around them. "Where are we?"

Her frown got deeper as she knitted her eyebrows. "I don't know exactly where but we're probably just a few miles behind the lines of the next HYDRA base. I thought you're the one keeping in check?"

His mind wasn't processing anything she was saying. "What?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" She let the back of her hand touch his forehead. "You don't have a fever."

"I don't get fevers, Nat. The serum took care of that."

"Well, you're acting like you have one." She chastised. "We're leaving in ten minutes. I wanted to wake you up earlier but I thought you needed the rest. I'm sorry."

Steve waved her off, making a move to stand up. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." He said curtly.

Natasha took notice of his dismissive tone but said nothing. She stood up as well. "Bucky just went to take a time off. I'll be waiting at the truck with the others. If you're hungry I saved you some soup to eat."

He nodded curtly and mumbled a simple "Thanks," in response.

She turned away from him and headed over to the truck. Though he didn't miss the way she stared at him like she wanted to say something. Somehow, he wondered what those unspoken words were.

And if he would ever get to hear those words someday.

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"Remember that night on the roof?" Steve asked.

Steve and Natasha were gearing up ready for the mission.

She hummed in approval.

"I wanted to let you know that the reason why I don't like Peggy is that I like someone else."

"That night when we were out on the roof, you also said that. Are you talking about the same person here?" she asked.

He hummed in approval.

She remembered his exact words that night. "Are you still interested in her?"

"I think I managed to get a little farther than that." He looked straight at her. "Right now I think I'm in love with her."