EXECUTIONER'S SONG. ❪ Steve Rogers ❫ ✓

twenty-two

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After arriving safely at the compound with a basket full of apples that Steve carried because he didn't want Darcy to exert herself, she suggested handing out an apple to each person in the compound on the way to Darcy's room - saving four apples for themselves since they did make the two-hour drive to the farm themselves.

Natasha and Wanda had gotten one, as well as Sam who had just gotten off a jet from a mission. Steve had passed by the training room and threw one at Bucky who easily caught it with one hand. He left one for Tony by his lab because he had been too busy to notice them. Bruce, who was working across from Tony at his own table, gladly took the apple from Darcy's hand. By the time they arrived at Darcy's room, they had seven apples left - three more than what they bargained for.

Darcy told him she could cut the apples for them after washing them in the sink, but once she held the knife in her hand, she wasn't so sure she wanted to anymore. The knife whispered out to her, but now she was more aware of it. She handed the knife to Steve and said nothing, but the look in her eyes was enough for him to understand. So, he took it and began to cut the apples into a clean bowl left her in the room. Once he was finished cutting the third apple and deciding that was enough, Darcy requested F.R.I.D.A.Y. play her watchlist, and a Barbie movie began playing. She wasn't a child anymore, but she wanted to relive the childhood she never quite had.

Steve chuckled. "More Barbie?"

"Childhood classic," she simply responded.

And he was all right with that. He sat next to her on the bed with the bowl of sliced apples on his lap. She would reach in to grab a slice, nibbling on it with eyes transfixed on the screen in front of her. He wasn't as interested in Barbie movies as she was, but he did enjoy the plot of Barbie as the Island Princess.

"Have you ever been to a ball before?" Darcy questioned, eyes glittering at the sight of the ball in the movie.

"Can't say I have. Tony throws parties, but they're hardly a ball."

"Have you ever danced before? Danced like that?"

His mouth twitched, thinking back to how he missed the dance with Peggy. "I've danced before. Bucky was always better."

She nodded. "Must be nice."

He stared at her as she sat in awe. He didn't see Peggy when he looked at her. Instead, he saw her as herself with her beautiful bright eyes and understanding nature.

"Do you want to dance?" he blurted out.

Her head whipped toward him, eyebrows scrunched up only slightly as she pleaded. "Please?"

He moved the bowl to the nightstand and slid out of bed, tugging her along with her. He grabbed one of her hands and laid his other hand on the small of her back.

"You can place your hand on my chest or shoulder or wherever's comfortable for you," he blabbed.

She softly smiled, placing her free hand on his waist and stared up at him. They slowly danced to the sound of Barbie music playing in the background, but they weren't bothered by it. Steve had finally gotten in a good dance with a woman he was smitten with, while Darcy was learning how to control her suicidal urges because of him. They didn't need to say the three words because they both already knew. Their relationship was a soft one, built at first from the blood on her hands and the blue of his uniform that had turned into the pink of the flowers and white on their teeth as they smiled at one another. They would be all right with each other.