Haunted
When Steve officially woke the next morning, he felt a painful emptiness inside him. He grabbed his chest, fearing that something was wrong with him, but his heart rate felt normal. He looked down at himself and realized he was still in his monkey suit from last night, sitting on his couch. As he inhaled, he realized…the air smelled different. It smelled like her. The sweet flowery scent of her perfume. He knew he was going crazy.
He stood up and stretched, feeling inexplicably tired as he always did after he had a dream about her.
Deciding to shower he walked down the hallway to the bathroom, but stopped immediately in his tracks. His heart started pounding, and he looked around in a panic.
“Jarvis, is there someone here? Is there music playing in my apartment?” He asked aloud.
“You are currently alone in your quarters, Captain Rogers, and there is no music playing. Would you like to hear one of your playlists?” Jarvis answered politely.
“No, no. it’s okay, it’s just…I could swear I hear music playing…” Steve said faintly.
‘It's what you do…It's what you see…I know if I'm haunting you, you must be haunting me…’
Steve shook his head to rid his thoughts. He could swear he could hear singing…a melody so haunting and a voice so seductive he felt his head was swimming. Though he knew he was awake, he felt that he’d been catapulted back to Darcy singing to him in his dream. Her voice was so alluring…
“Are you alright, Captain Rogers?” Jarvis asked.
Steve was shaken from his thoughts and realized he’d been standing frozen in his hallway this entire time. “I’m fine, Jarvis, thanks.”
He continued into the bathroom, stripping his clothes and starting the shower. He walked to the sink to brush his teeth, and something in the mirror caught his eye.
A kiss on his check, made with lipstick the exact same deep vibrant red that was painted on Darcy’s lips in his dream.
‘It's where we go…It's where we'll be…I know if I'm on to you, I'm on to you…On to you, you must be on to me…’
The music continued humming in his mind as his eyes quickly traveled the rest of his skin, multiple red kisses tatted on his neck and along his collar bone. He ran a fingertip over one of them, eyebrows raising in surprise when it rubbed away.
He was so confused, none of this had ever happened before. Music was never randomly broadcasted into his mind, and there had never evidence of the dream left the next day. And the irony of the lyrics did not escape him.
He scrubbed himself with his body soap on autopilot, his mind too preoccupied trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
‘My haunted lungs…Ghost in the sheets…I know if I'm haunting you, you must be haunting me…’
Forgetting to even dry himself off, he rushed into his bedroom and was stopped in his tracks when he crossed the threshold. A gentle breeze washed over him and attacked his senses, filling him with that same sweet flowery smell. It ignited the flame within him, his arousal sparking back to life like the strike of a match. Darcy’s scent surrounded him, encompassing the entire bedroom and embracing him like an old friend.
‘My wicked tongue…Where will it be…I know if I'm onto you, I'm on to you…On to you, I'm on to you…’
Steve’s eyes rolled to the back of his head at the memory of her hands on him, the sensation of her lips against his skin, it was almost like he could actually feel her. His dick twitched under the towel he had slung low on his wet hips.
‘On to you, you must be on to me…’
He opened his eyes and took a deep breath, the smell of her clouding his mind. He sprinted to his closet, finding some loose sweats and tennis shoes to throw on. As he hastily dressed the song softly played in his mind played still, haunting his thoughts like a distant memory or a record being played quietly in the next apartment over.
He jogged out of his apartment and ran down the hallway, leaning his ear against Bucky’s door. Though he heard no music being played inside, he could hear that distant melodic voice taunting him, inviting him in his mind still.
‘You want me…I walk down the hallway…You're lucky…The bedroom's my runway…’
He took the elevator, headed for the common floors, and exited with his eyes blown wide in alarm. Scott and Sam as they called after him wondering where the fire was, but he ignored them as he continued to search for the source of music plaguing his mind.
Finding nothing, he cursed, and ran back to the elevator to check Tony’s penthouse. As the elevator rose higher and higher, the music in his mind grew softer and softer. The emptiness he felt that pained him earlier was returning to his chest. He really started to panic.
“No! No, no, no, no, no!” He whispered, jabbing the button for one of the lower levels. “Jarvis? Can you override the elevator? I need to go back down!” Steve asked.
“Override confirmed. Captain Rogers are you sure you’re alright? Your heart rate is elevated, you’re breathing has picked up, and you’re beginning to perspire. Should I contact a doctor?”
“No! No, I’m fine! I just need to go back down!” Steve yelled by accident, and ran a sweaty hand through his hair. He was losing it.
‘Slap me…I'm pinned to the doorway…Kiss, bite, foreplay…’
Darcy’s voice was speaking as if she was whispering right in his ear, sending nearly all his blood rushing straight down to his groin, and it was driving him crazy. Images of every encounter they had in his dreams raced across his mind, teasing him like a siren luring a sailor in.
Jarvis was gracious enough to increase the speed of the elevator by 25%, and as it descended the singing returned to his mind. Still faint, but present. When the doors opened it grew louder, and Jarvis had dropped him off at the level with the labs.
He darted out of the elevator, no direction in mind but letting his feet guide him. With every step taken the music grew even louder, bolder, and Steve’s heart pounded away to the beat in his chest.
Unaware of exactly where he ended up, he burst through the doors and startled the person inside.
“Darcy…” He huffed, out of breath. Something that rarely happened to him anymore. “Is Darcy here?”
Jane looked up with large safety goggles resting on her forehead, her eyebrows up to her hairline in utter surprise and a little fear. “No!” She squeaked, just as urgently. “She went down to the basement to grab some files!” She sputtered, and Steve was gone before she could blink.
He ran faster, his feet beating the steps he sprinted down as the music continued to crescendo in his head. The beat was pumping in his ears, just like his heart, getting headier with each pace he ran. As he propelled himself forward, the ghost of her scent assaulted his senses yet again pushing him harder.
‘My haunted lungs…Ghost in the sheets…I know if I'm haunting you, you must be haunting me…’
Her voice grew bolder as she belted out the lyrics just for him, begging him…
He burst through the double doors and looked both directions, running off down the hallway to his right. Once he turned the corner he saw her, all the way at the opposite end of the extremely long hallway, over 100 yards out walking towards him with her nose buried in the file she was carrying.
It was as if time stopped moving around them. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes took in her picture—long legs with fishnet stockings, a curve-hugging black pencil skirt that made him salivate, and a burgundy blouse that matched the paint on her lips. The clicking sound of her high heels, the same ones that starred in his dream, echoed off the walls and penetrated the concert in session in his mind. Each step she took towards him was like turning the music up another decibel…
And she wasn’t even aware.
‘My wicked tongue…Where will it be…I know if I'm onto you, you must be onto me…’
Hypnotized, his feet took him forward, drawing him closer to her.