Dangerous Love

Chapter 2: Back Home

 An hour after the jet landed and the Avengers were back at Stark Tower, while Clint was getting treated for his wound, Rose was at it in the training room. Anger always influenced her performance. Training gave her a way to let out her anger, and suddenly after the recent H.Y.D.R.A raid, she had a lot of extra aggression to work out. 

She repeatedly punched the dummy in front of her, imagining it was the person she hated. By now, it seemed to be on its last legs, but she wouldn't stop. Bullet holes filled the targets, each one hitting the center, daggers were lodged in the walls where she aimed them, and most of the punching bags were now destroyed. This may or may not have been the reason why she was always alone in the training room since anyone else would stop whatever they were doing and run out if they noticed her there.

It was as if each hit would erase the burning images from her mind, but with each punch they came back in flashes like a kaleidoscope of memories. Still, she persisted.

From the doorway of the room, Aaron, Steve, and Bucky were watching her. Normally he'd try to help Bucky regain more of his memory by inviting him to his apartment and reminding him of the memories Aaron had of him. It was a nice bonding experience for him, which is why Aaron had only decided to stay at Stark tower with Bucky when he saw how Rose was after she had seen her worst memories. He knew how she felt; he'd gone through the same thing, seeing his worst memories almost every time he fell asleep.

"So who's gonna talk to her?" Bucky asked. "And do not look at me."

Both super soldiers' eyes landed on Aaron, and he rolled his eyes but nodded. "If I don't come back in ten minutes, pray for me," he said, walking into the room. 

He turned back at the last minute, and pointed an accusatory finger at Steve. "And tell Tony not to touch my stuff," he added.

Slowly he made his way to Rose, careful to avoid getting hurt, and gently tapped her on the shoulder. Like he expected, she whirled around, grabbed his arm, and flipped him over onto his back so he landed painfully on the floor. Somehow, he never caught exactly how she still takes him by surprise. 

"We really should talk about this," he began, picking himself up from the floor. "Wearing yourself out isn't going to make you feel better."

"No, but it helps," she shrugged, returning to punching the dummy. Suddenly, she kicked it in the head, the hidden knives she emplaced in the soles of her boots came out as they made contact, and the head was cut off. It bounced onto the floor and rolled around, Rose giving a self-satisfied smirk as she crossed her arms over her chest. Aaron shuddered as the head rolled over to him, and he nudged it away. There really was something wrong with this girl, wasn't there?

Well, that would be indicating that there wasn't something wrong with him either, which would be false, so he couldn't really blame her. "Have you seen a therapist?" he asked, poking the head with a finger.

"When I first came out of the ice, Fury assigned me at least four?" she replied.

"Four?"

"I kept biting them. They were all into that touchy-feely stuff."

"Why am I not surprised?" Aaron chuckled. He got up, and stepped in front of Rose. "There's always one thing that cheers you up no matter how in the dumps you are." Rose glared at him, and snorted.

"You wouldn't dare. You promised you wouldn't use this against me again," she challenged. A chuckle left Aaron's lips, and he grinned, grabbing Rose around the waist and hefted her up in the air. She cried out as he slung her over his back like a sack of potatoes. He twirled around repeatedly, carrying her with him, keeping a firm grip so she wouldn't slip despite how much she was kicking to loosen it. He didn't care as long as he could feel her smiling.