KillSwitch ─ s. rogers ✓

sixteen

A LITTLE while after that, Natasha left. She didn't want to leave Sasha alone for any longer. The hospital sucked enough when you had a mob of visitors. Alone was even worse. She felt guilty about leaving in the first place, so she kept her visit with Steve and Alex short. Once she was gone, it was back to painful awkwardness and uncomfortable silence.

"What do you think of the idea of you living with me now?" Steve broke the ice. He got weirdly inspired by Natasha's presence. Obviously, he and Natasha hadn't met yet when Nat brought Sasha home, but he knew a lot of the story now. She pulled Sasha out of a facility that trained assassins and took a huge, risky leap in taking Sasha in. Natasha and Sasha were complete strangers back then, not even connected by blood, and Nat still jumped in. If she could do that, Steve could manage this.

Alex stared at him in shock. She didn't know what she expected to happen when they finally met, but it wasn't this.

"Uh..."

"I know that..." Words were hard. "I think...I know you've been through a lot, but you're still a kid. You don't belong alone on the streets, and...I'd like to get to know you. Obviously, we're going to have to confirm, but...if I'm your father, you're my responsibility, and I want to get to know you."

He already said that. This was painful.

"Really?" Alex asked genuinely. She always wanted to know her father. Daniel was a good stepfather, and he was around for a good portion of her life. She was okay with him being the only father figure she truly had. He just...he never felt like her father. Her father hadn't left her mother. He died. If he was still alive, she probably would have known him, and the idea of knowing him became a fantasy of hers. This was her chance to make that fantasy reality.

"Yeah."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"That's really nice of you." Alex grinned. "Thank you."

More silence. The gravity of the situation hit them like a train.

They were going to be family. Steve was going to be a dad, and Alex was going to be his daughter. Every single part of this was weird and crazy.

"We shouldn't stay here," Steve said. "We made a mess of DC already."

"Where are we going?" Alex wondered aloud.

"I'm thinking New York. Maybe go back to Brooklyn. I grew—"

"My mom used to tell me that my dad grew up in Brooklyn," Alex interjected, and Steve nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"I did."

"I always liked Brooklyn," she said. "It's weird. So close to Manhattan, where I grew up, but so different."

"Very."

More silence.

"Until I figure everything out, I guess you'll be staying in my apartment here. You're going to have to sleep on the couch. Hopefully, we'll be out soon."

"I've slept on much worse. That's alright."

"Good." Steve was such a moron. "I mean, not like that."

"I know what you meant," Alex laughed. Steve noticed what a nice laugh she had, how pretty she was, the way her nice smile lit up her face. She reminded him of Peggy. The idea that he had a kid genuinely scared the living hell out of him, but based on the short time they'd known each other, he was pretty sure he got lucky with her. As terrifying as imagining the future was, picturing him and Alex with a relationship kind of like Natasha and Sasha's (except much less loud, aggressive, and sarcastic) didn't make him upset. They were going to be okay.