[ There must be a better method to reorient someone into the world after they'd been captured by HYDRA and then trapped in an icy cage for decades. Steve would like to believe that, anyway, but there's no gentle way to drop that kind of news. She's lost her entire life, just the same way that he lost his, and he wonders if it will be any consolation that he's here with her, that they're not completely alone.
None of those questions can be asked right now, not when she breaks apart right in front of him. This may as well be torture; it feels like there are claws scraping down his heart, like he can't breathe, as he watches her face crumple and tears streak her cheeks.
She's still holding that gun, but her grip is hardly firm, and even if it did somehow go off and hit him somewhere, he'd endure that for the chance to comfort her. He doesn't care what it takes, he needs to prove to her that he's Steve Rogers and that she hasn't been abandoned. The moment that he spots her losing her balance, he surges forward with a superhuman level of speed to catch her, his hands fixing to either of her forearms to hold her up.
Then he wraps his arms around her, hugging her tighter than he's ever hugged someone in his life (though not tight enough to actually hurt her, he would never). Still, it is a crushing embrace, the sort of hug that could only come from someone who's solid and real. She's falling apart on him, and god, does he know how it feels. How many times had he wanted to break down this same way after he woke up?
It's strangely cathartic to let her cry against him like this. As she gets all of it out, it's almost like Steve does too, even though his eyes remain bone-dry. Eventually he removes one arm from where it was wrapped around her back to gently tug the gun from her hand and toss it aside. Once that's done, he reaches up to smooth back her hair. ]
You got away. I've got you, all right? I've got you.
no subject
None of those questions can be asked right now, not when she breaks apart right in front of him. This may as well be torture; it feels like there are claws scraping down his heart, like he can't breathe, as he watches her face crumple and tears streak her cheeks.
She's still holding that gun, but her grip is hardly firm, and even if it did somehow go off and hit him somewhere, he'd endure that for the chance to comfort her. He doesn't care what it takes, he needs to prove to her that he's Steve Rogers and that she hasn't been abandoned. The moment that he spots her losing her balance, he surges forward with a superhuman level of speed to catch her, his hands fixing to either of her forearms to hold her up.
Then he wraps his arms around her, hugging her tighter than he's ever hugged someone in his life (though not tight enough to actually hurt her, he would never). Still, it is a crushing embrace, the sort of hug that could only come from someone who's solid and real. She's falling apart on him, and god, does he know how it feels. How many times had he wanted to break down this same way after he woke up?
It's strangely cathartic to let her cry against him like this. As she gets all of it out, it's almost like Steve does too, even though his eyes remain bone-dry. Eventually he removes one arm from where it was wrapped around her back to gently tug the gun from her hand and toss it aside. Once that's done, he reaches up to smooth back her hair. ]
You got away. I've got you, all right? I've got you.