August 20th 2017
St Kilda, Melbourne
Steve had fought Nazis, but still, opening the doors to the small Australian coffee shop Ember worked at was by far the most frightening experience of his life.
So much had happened over the course of Steve Rogers life that you'd think he could adjust to anything. And he could, 99% of the time. But that 1% was the most important. That 1% was Ember. He'd come to realise he couldn't live without Ember. She meant everything to him. She was everything.
The coffee shop wasn't too busy, but there were still enough people there to fill the majority of the tables.
He scanned the room for Ember. She looked happy. Steve had never seen her in an environment like this before. It had been 9 months of only knowing her the way she was trapped inside the compound walls. But here he understood, seeing her smile as she greeted the next customer, the life she had now was truly freeing.
As Steve approached the order area, her eyes met his for the first time. Not just the first time that day. But the first time since he had sent her to the raft, since the first time he looked her in the eye and held a gun to her temple.
As soon as her eyes made contact with his, she broke it again, gripping the counter and swallowing.
"Can I help you?" She asked, staring downwards, not daring to look him directly in the eye.
Steve gulped, "Well, you're just the person I came to see, actually."
"Are you here for a coffee?" She asked, finally looking upwards to meet his eye once again, "Because if not, there's a queue of people behind you."
Steve looked behind him, sighing.
"There's no one behind me, Ember."
"Ella." She said through gritted teeth, "read the name tag, dude."
He let out another exhale. There was something so familiar about this situation, it felt like the first time he met her all over again.
"Well, Ella. Is there any chance we can talk?"
She shook her head desperately.
"So you can send me back to that hellhole? Absolutely not. I'd rather you fucking killed me."
"I'd never do that." He said softly.
He could've sworn her eyes teared up, if only for a second.
"You wanted to," She said, her voice barley a whisper, "I saw the look in your eyes."
"But I didn't."
"I would have rather you pulled that fucking trigger and sent a bullet through my skull than sending me there. I fucking told you how they treat people like me."
Her voice was quiet, but she didn't make any attempt to hide the anger in her voice.
"Em, I'm sorry, I swear—"
"Sorry doesn't fucking cut it, Steven," She snapped.
"Ember—"
"Rogers, I think you should just leave."
"No!" He protested, "Not until we've talked about this!"
"What's there to talk about?"
Steve was desperate, so fucking desperate to fix everything he had messed up. He'd go back in time and fix everything at the first chance he got. He felt nothing without her.
"You? Me? Us?"
"There's no 'us,' Rogers."
"Ella!" An Australian voice called from the back of the shop.
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villain | STEVE ROGERS 18+
FanfictionSteve Rogers was the hero. History books said he was the bravest, most courageous man ever to walk this earth. His role was to protect the world, help people, save lives. But the job description said nothing about falling for the villain, and his l...
