IN THE SILENCE: a Steve Rogers Story

28

I woke up to a quiet room. Steve wasn't there. His side of the bed seemed abnormally empty.

I got up and went to the bathroom. It looked abnormally clean.

Something felt off.

I walked into the complex living area. It was dead silent.

All that was there was a note. It was Steve's handwriting.

Aria.

Something came up. I'll be back. I don't know how long I will be gone. The team is out picking up stuff for the party. Enjoy it.

Until then I want us to focus on ourselves. I'm not saying that we're breaking up. We are just taking a break. Our past nine months have been crazy.

I will see you sometime. I do still care about you. I hope that we can both find what we're looking for.

Love,
Steve.

What?

What.

I pulled out my phone. I tried dialing his number but it immediately went to voicemail.

I set the note down and held in my tears.

What happened.

I actually broke his heart.

I went into my room. His clothes were gone. The only ones left were the ones that he would let me have in my closet.

Oh my god.

He's gone.

I was still wearing his sweatshirt.

No. This is a dream. That Wanda girl is still in my head.

I needed to go find him. Somewhere. Anywhere.

As I grabbed my duffel bag my door opened. It was Tony.

He was holding the note.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I didn't even do anything I was just- the whole thing with that maximoff girl in my head made me realize that I don't know how to love someone and then I told him and I was just wanting to be honest and this morning there was-"

I burst into tears. Tony came over and engulfed me in a hug. "It's okay. He'll be back."

"Tony I broke his heart. He broke down last night like full tears sobbing breakdown. He's not coming back."

"He's the leader of this team sweetheart. He's gonna come back. And you know why? Because he cares about you first, not only about you in general but you as part of his team. He knows how much maximoff affected you. We're gonna take her down."

I stared at him. He smiled and wiped my tears.

"I don't think I can go to the party." I whispered.

"That's okay. You can stay in here, I'll make sure you can't hear anything outside."

"Is he gonna be there?"

"Well I invited him and he invited his friend Sam. I don't know though. Do you want me to let you know if he does?"

"No. He wants space and I want him to have it." I said.

He gave me a stare. I looked away.

"Please don't ruin yourself because of him again. If he keeps doing this to you, making you feel this way then you guys aren't working."

"I care about him though."

"I know you do but he can't keep doing this."

"This one's on me Tony. It's not his fault this time."

He sighed. "Okay. Well I'll check on you later."

"Thank you." I whispered.

————

I sat in my room as the party went on downstairs. Thank god for the soundproof technology of Tony Stark.

I just watched my show in silence. Until I heard a knock.

"Come in." I said softly. It was Nat. She was dressed beautifully. A pretty black and white outfit. She had done her hair too.

"Hey." I said.

She shut the door and gave me a look. "So I heard." She said. I sat up.

"It's just some shit we've gotta work through."

"He's here."

"Mhm." I whispered.

"You wanna come hang out after the party? It'll just be close people."

I looked at her and smiled softly, shaking my head.

"Sorry. No." I whispered.

"Okay. I thought I should ask. Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah. I'm doing good." I said.

"Don't beat yourself up." She said.

"Of course not." I whispered.

"Okay." She said.

"Go have fun." I said.

"Okay. I'll see you later.."

"Bye." I said.

————

"Aria! I need you down here!" I heard from my speakers. It was Tony. There was crashing in the back.

I quickly got up and grabbed my gun and walked out. Everything was thrown around.

"There she is. She's the one that was trained under hydra without her knowing. She's the spitfire. The flame."

It was a robot.

"She was what now?" Tony asked. I just stood there.

"Her father. Samuel Thomas. Worked very high for hydra. Her father trained her there. Her last mission was to kill him."

I looked around as everyone stared at me.

"Aria-"

I grabbed Steve's shield from out of the wall and threw it at the robot, slicing it through its head of wires.

"I've got no strings on me....."