I Can Take You Home (A Romanogers Fanfic) COMPLETED

Natasha

It was raining heavily.

  She ran. And ran and ran. Ran away from Sam's house. Ran away from her nightmares.

  She had woken up to a really, really, really horrible and fucked up nightmare and had a panic attack right there on the spot. She had ran out of the house to calm herself down, but failed.

  She fell down onto her knees. Her chest hurt. Her heart threatened to explode from beating so hard. Ugly sobs came out of her mouth in bursts. She tried to get her breathing under control, but her throat blocked the air from entering her lungs. Her fingers dug into the dirt underneath her.

  "Yelena..." she whispered to nobody in particular. "Melina...I-I'm so sorry..."

  "NATASHA?" Leaves and dirt skiterring and sliding. "Nat!"

  Warm arms enveloped her from behind, and she looked up in fright. The face she saw made her cry more. "Steve," she wheezed.

  Steve hugged her close and ran his fingers through her rain-soaked hair. He whispered reassuring nothings in her ear, and his words brought air to her aching lungs. Her stitched-up throat opened up at last, and she gulped for air.

  Once she calmed down enough, Natasha slowly came to her senses and realized she was in Steve's arms. She immediately tried to shove him away, but he held her tighter to his chest.

  "Nat, please, for once in your life," he pleaded. "Let me hold you."

  Natasha started sobbing again and she didn't have the strength to fight. She crumbled into Steve's chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart against her cheek. She matched her breathing to each beat, and his fingers slowly rubbed her back up and down. Part of her demanded to hit him until he went away, but she wouldn't be listening to that tonight. He was warm, and oddly cuddly, since he was hard muscles and all.

  "You huge idiot," she rasped.

  "I thought I would be the one calling you that," Steve teased.

  "No." Natasha managed a small laugh. The nightmare was embedded deep into her mind. "I saw you," she whispered.

  "What?"

  "I dreamed of you." Natasha scrambled at his soaked shirt and shook him, hard. "Melina and Yelena. You are all running. With holes in your chest. There's blood everywhere. Screaming. Dying."

  Steve must've seen the way she had started trembling again, for he cupped her face and started running his thumb in comforting circles over her tear and rain-streaked cheek. "Shh. Just focus on what makes you happy."

  Natasha finally pushed him away. "Stop. Stop it." His affectionate touch both comforted and terrified her at the same time. She had never felt this way before, and it scared her really badly.

  "Nat..."

  She could tell she had hurt him, but didn't know what to do. Said she was sorry? The words couldn't come out right through her mouth. She blinked away the rain from her eyes. "I...I need to find Yelena."

  "Are you crazy?" Steve flared. "I know she's your sister but she doesn't act like she remembers you at all! And she's not afraid to kill you, but you are to her."

  "I...I love her, Steve," Natasha whispered. She hated how sad and pathetic she sounded. "I don't care what she does to me. I need her back. She's my sister."

  Steve just lowered his head. "I just don't want you to get hurt. And if I offer to go with you-"

  "No," Natasha interrupted.