A World Filled Of Silence (Captain America FanFic)

Chapter 6: More Surprises

AN: Sorry if I mess up on some parts! I'm doing some parts based on memory only!

I was standing on a balcony aboard the helicarrier, staring off into space.  A set of arms snaked around me, and I recognized them to be Steve's.

"Hey, you okay?" he whispered in my ear.

"Mmm.  Not really," I answer.

"What's the matter?" he asks.

I sigh.  I haven't told him about my hearing.

"It's about my hearing loss.  No one else knows about this, but... I can hear like a normal person can during the day.  At night, I do not hear anything at all.  Right now, if I took this off," gesturing to my hearing device, "I can hear everything.  But when I go to sleep, that goes away.  I know because when I wake up I do not hear anything for a few minutes."

"Woah.  That's pretty strange... I remember you saying something about the serum messing your hearing up," he remarks.

"That's what I think is happening to me.  I have had the serum in me for only ten years, and I'm still adjusting to it a little bit.  You have had that in you for way longer than I," I turn around and smile at him as I said the last part.  "For someone who could easily be my grandfather, you look like you're only in your 20's."

He smiles at me.  Gosh, his smile made my heart go into overdrive. "Do you have any idea how old I really am?" he asks.

"Hmm... 90?" I answer.

"Very close.  92."

"Now you're making me feel like a little kid all over again," I tease him.  He just laughs and then looks into my eyes.  Oh man... his soft blue eyes were making me feel weak.

"Avengers and Julie, please report to the Control Room," Agent Hill orders over the PA system.  Steve and I make our way to the control room, beating everyone else there.  I sit down, and all of a sudden I feel drained of all energy.  I haven't slept in a few days, and it was finally starting to take its toll on me.  I can feel a pair of eyes looking at me, and I knew it was Steve.  I look to my right, and I see that Steve was sitting next to me.

"You look tired," I comment.

"Not as tired as you look," he answers, moving his chair so it was next to mine.

"I haven't really slept since I got on the ship.  I think I haven't slept for four or five days.  I can stay up for more than a week, but considering all the excitement I had in the last few days, I think I will be a walking corpse in another day or two," I joke.  I lean back in my chair, and discover that Steve had put his arm behind me.  I feel his hand squeeze my shoulder gently, kind of pulling me closer to him.  I relaxed as I rested my head on his shoulder.  I was about to fall asleep when Thor and Bruce walked in.  They both raised their eyebrows at Steve and me.

They were about to say something to me when I cut them off. "Don't.  Best if y'all just left me alone right now." I say in a voice that sounded very dull and tired.

"I'd listen to her.  I would hate to get on her bad side.  I haven't seen her angry yet, but I just know that if I did something to aggravate her, I would be a dead man," Steve spoke up, making it very clear that I needed to be left alone.  A video feed appeared on the table in front of me and Steve.  We could see that Loki was in a cage.

"In case you don't understand..." Fury stated as he pressed some buttons, causing a door to open beneath the cage. Loki walked close to the edge to look down.  

"It's a 30,000 feet drop straight down in a steel trap.  Do you get how that works?" Fury shouted over the roaring air.  "Ant. Boot." 

Loki just chuckled, a laugh that send chills through me.  "It's impressive.  But it's not built for me, I think."