ONLY YOU » STEVE ROGERS [EDITING]

25 /| awakened past pt. 1

twenty-five

*•.*

SEE, THE PROBLEM WAS THAT GENEVA MADE herself empty promises. She didn't mean to but nevertheless she did. This was becoming more and more evident as she approached the rickety looking wooden house. White paint flaked down onto the porch when she pushed the front door open.

It was too quiet and not just here in this house, but everywhere in this small town. On a good year, Rocheport, Missouri had a population of two hundred forty people. As far as she knew, there was nothing special about this town. Why the trio of women from her past insisted on meeting here was beyond her.

The house seemed deserted, but Geneva knew better. As she stepped into the small dust-covered kitchen she felt it. She quickly turned, a knife already in her hand. She shoved it onto the woman's neck, pushing her further into the wall she was leaned upon.

Lauren Tanner. She always looked quite serious when they were younger but a lot had changed. Her blonde hair was cropped short around her delicate face. There wasn't an ounce of fear in her blue eyes. There was, though, an unsettling smirk on her lips, and it wasn't because of the scar there that began at her ear and ended at the corner of her mouth.

Louis had done that. He was always too hard on them when they trained, and he'd nearly gone too far one day. Geneva had scars too, but at least she could hide most of them.

"Where is he?" Geneva murmured, applying pressure to the blade at Lauren's neck.

"Is that how you greet your sisters?" Came another familiar voice.

"Not very sisterly," someone else said.

Geneva suppressed an eye roll at them, as she retracted her knife. It was probably best not to agitate the situation for now.

She stepped aside, allowing the taller woman to move past her. Gen then turned to the three of them. Angelle Tanner and Dera Tanner stood on either side of Lauren. They all looked out of place in the old kitchen, with its leaning tables and cracked countertops and their expensive looking clothes. Though none of them were related, they would sometimes refer to each other as sisters. This trio, however, had always been glued at the hip, more so than anyone else.

Geneva had watched it happen. When Dera's hips and chest had grown in curvier than all the other girls', she'd become target during training. Geneva had stood by because, admittedly, she hadn't cared about anything but herself then. Angelle had not. She went out of her way to protect both Dera and Lauren, who struggled in their program. They emerged as the three to beat. Angelle with her wild curls, golden skin, and sure aim. Dera with her dark eyes and light steps. Lauren with her long limbs and quick feet.

It was no surprise that they still operated together.

"I never expected this from you three," Geneva said with a shake of her head because she hadn't. She used to spend a lot of time playing out different scenarios of the outcome of her decision to put Louis is prison, but this was never one of them.

Lauren shrugged carelessly. "You never expected very much of anything from us, Nev."

No one had called her that in years.

"But look at us now," Dera finished, a wide smile on her lips. She pulled at the dark leather jacket she wore. "Look at you now."

"Saving the world. Destroying it." Angelle took a step closer to Gen. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes. She ran her tongue over her red lips. "And that Captain of yours. Fine. That Black Widow too. Tabloids say you and Captain America are seeing each other, good for you."

Geneva instantly thought of the two sitting at the diner in town.

"You should stop reading those," Dera commented.

"Couldn't help it. Nev was on the cover," she replied dismissively. The woman pursed her lips, staring for a prolonged moment. "Louis is in the next room."

Geneva didn't move then, she didn't even bother with a reaction. "Why haven't you killed him?" It wasn't an invitation to do so, but she wanted to know their motives. She needed to know them.

"Oh," Lauren said blandly. "We're gonna kill him, but we're not complete monsters. We'll give the man what he wants."

Geneva narrowed her eyes, still searching for a reason. "Why?"

"Why are we going to kill him?" Dera asked, clarifying Geneva's question. "Because you should've done it ages ago. He ruined us and you just put him in a cell to rot. Well, I say that punishment isn't good enough."

"Why now?" Her eyes darted to each of them.

"'Cause he's sick and we're running out of time silly." Angelle frowned. "He deserves it anyway. You were selfish when you dealt his punishment. Jail, Nev? Really? You should've asked all of us what we wanted for him. You got weak," she spat.

Geneva looked at them. "I suppose so."

"Maybe we should kill you too," Angelle mused.

Geneva hummed. "You can try if you'd like."

"She's joking," Dera said quickly.

Geneva hummed again. "I'm not." Geneva didn't take kindly to being threatened, hence her immense feeling of anger a few nights ago. "If you'd like to see just how weak I've become, I'm happy to show you."

"You really think you can take all three of us?" Lauren asked, shifting from one foot to the other, her hands moving oddly at her sides. It wasn't good to fidget in the face of an enemy.

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to." Geneva put her hands in her back pockets, and the women watched her movements carefully. "You must know that by getting me here, you've thwarted your own plans?"

Angelle shook her head, smirk back in place. "Have we though?" The wild haired woman gestured to the hallway behind her. "Go in there and see him. We can talk afterwards."

As if she would change her mind.

She moved past them, and into the small hallway, which led to a bathroom and two bedrooms. The walls held broken frames, with pictures almost too destroyed to see.

Almost.

One door was ajar, and she went to it, gingerly pushing it open. She didn't look at the person sitting on the bed, gluing her eyes to the floor. Not yet, she thought.

She entered, shutting the door behind herself. She closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths, and turned.

"See, I knew we'd see each other again."

hey! just wanted to say that i hope everyone is staying safe. thanks for reading!

-syd