END-GAME

They had to aboard one of Daisy's newly brought in jets; much smaller and quite faster- helpful seeing how the underground facility was rather remote in comparison to the city itself. It would be quite the long route otherwise, and bringing in any other aircraft would make too much noise. Something they'd all rather avoid.

Steve had made sure to remain as silent as possible throughout the entire process. Keeping his eyes out, his mouth shut, his movements quiet- as if he wished to avoid catching her attention. But she couldn't escape his.

As he was sitting all by himself in a corner, keeping a big distance in between them- his eyes fell on her again. They did that a lot ever since she arrived, taking in all of her, little by little and all at once at the same time.

In the small span of those two month that had passed, Steve could spot a few differences on her. For one, she had lost quite the weight; it was awfully obvious on her collarbone,as well on her jawline. The bone structure sticking out, her color much paler- the nooks of her eyes darker, going much deeper.

She surely hadn't slept or eaten well during those past two months, and it only made Steve's chest feel emptier. Filled with knots he couldn't untie, like a heavy plumb pushing down on his sternum, making it next to impossible for him to breathe.

Then his eyes moved up; the scar on her eye seemed to have healed unrealistically well, now only a faint marking of soft pink tissue drawn down along it. It wasn't nearly as unappealing as Theo herself had confessed to him it felt when she looked in the mirror.

No, to Steve it looked like it highlighted her eyes even more, downturned and dyed in the warmest brown shade he had ever seen. The split iris only made them the more beautiful. But, as he feared, he never managed to convince Theo just how good she looked,no matter what.

If Steve had to be brutally honest with himself, he'd have to admit that the most concerning thing he took notice of on her, was her hair. Un-braided, let down.

Ever since he knew her, Theo always braided them. She'd shared that this was something she had picked up from her mother.

That she would always braid her hair in the morning before school, carefully and beautifully.

This was the first time he had seen her out the house with her hair lacking even one single braid. It didn't sound all that important, but to him it was clear as the sky; if Theo didn't have the courage to braid her hair anymore, it only meant she lacked the courage to keep on having hope. About anything at all.

“Do you need something?”,asked Theo with an arched eyebrow,forcing Steve to flinch. “Or do you genuinely enjoy starring at people until it's too uncomfortable?”

If this was any other given time, Steve would have let out a chuckle. Lord knows just how much he wanted to. He'd missed dearly this little flawed virtue of hers. How brutally honest she could be to everyone and anyone, not caring if she'd come off as rude, just addressing anything that annoyed her at all costs.

Theo herself didn't like that trait mark she possessed, but Steve always thought it was part of her charm. It was,after all, one of the many things that first draw him to her. How much of an honest-to-goodness, of a genuinely truthful kind of person she was.

He coughed a little, forcing himself to at least deepen his voice. “Sorry”,he faked a British accent. “I'm a little tired, and I kind of dozed off”.

Theo pursed her lips a little. “Who're you?”

Steve took a deep breath. His eagerness to look at her as much as he could had manage to cause her and give him attention. He had managed to get into the one situation he didn't want to be in.

“Brett”,said Steve in a low voice. “Brett Hendrick”.

“Oh.. Have we.. have we worked together before? You look a little familiar for some reason”.

“No”,he attempted to chuckle, as to escape both the tension and the conversation. “Trust me, I'd remember”.

“Hm”,she motioned her brows.

Steve forced an unnaturally big smile on his lips, as he nervously stood up. He waved at her as to let her know he'd leave, to which Theo responded by a nod of her head. He rushed further inside to enter another room- didn't matter where, just as long as he'd avoid speaking to her any longer.

He opened the first door he found,slammed it shut with all his power and just stood there. For quite the few moments he didn't do anything. He didn't move,didn't blink- he didn't even breathe.

Steve then grabbed the nano mask and threw it on the ground; he turned around to punch a hole on the jet's iron wall. And he punched again, and again, and then once more. He clenched his jaw, he clenched his entire body.

Steve loved her.

Steve loved her more than he could have even anticipated he himself could possibly love another person.

If there was a time Steve truly loathed himself, this would have to be it.

For he had walked out of a life he loved, of a woman he absolutely adored, because it was the right thing to do. Never before had he felt the need to be selfish more desperately than he did now.

Being so close to her,and yet unable to touch her. To speak to her, to even hold her. To feel her skin under his fingers, the red strands of hair brushed behind her ears. To kiss her until his lips went numb, until they even bled.

This was one of the very few times Steve felt the absolute need to cry. To sit down,to punch every surface available and lay there as he cried his eyes out.

Theo was dozed off, thinking about everything as much as about nothing. Her mind was screaming through an endless void, but there was no response.

Pietro sat down next to her, spread his legs open as he leaned back, gulping down some coffee he had hastily jury-rigged, only to keep his eyes opened a little longer.

“Whatcha doin'?”

“Hm? Oh,uh..”,she wrinkled her nose, “Nothing really. We getting there yet?”

“Mm. Think it's another ten minutes or somethin'. Didn't you wanna sleep a little? You could have sneaked in a half-hour nap in there Bennet”.

Theo motioned her brows upwards. No way could she close her eyes. Her subconsciousness would be much crueler than her consciousness was during all this time.

“I'm fine”.

“You look like a zombie”,he stated.

“You always say that either way”.

“Yeah. You got a point here”,he chuckled.

But Theo could only manage and fake a faint smile. Instead she settled for rubbing her eye slightly,as if to clear her vision a little.

Pietro put his coffee mug aside,turning his body towards her.

“How about those navy dogs of yours?”

“Only Marcus and Bourdeaux are allowed to take action and get involved, and that's stretching it”,said Theo,her voice indicating a certain amount of exhaustion.

-“Even when going rogue, certain principles and protocols are to be maintained. We can't be having the marines taking strolls in SHIELD confidential missions. They're hiding in a room somewhere here, I don't know,I haven't seen them in a while”.

Pietro nodded, not that this was a response that covered him. She hadn't even commented on his remark regarding the marines. Calling them dogs hadn't even made her flinch.

As if to highlight the irony of timing, Marcus had just slid the door opened,closed it behind him as he walked in. He was holding two cups of coffee as he approached them, a soft smile on his lips.

“Ya two catchin' up on the latest gossip or s'methin' ?”

“Mm. Yes, that's exactly it”,said Theo sarcastically.

He giggled a little as he sat down right next to her. Pietro didn't seem all that happy with him barging in. He had actually hoped he'd be able to speak with her a little. Things were still quite fuzzy to him. All these talks about dead husbands, about hits made by SHIELD, about Fury..

It made Pietro's head spin round and round. It was too many secrets gathering up lately, and Pietro didn't like it one bit. Not about Theo specifically, but also about the agency employing him. Too many secrets, raising too many questions.

“Hey man”,Marcus called on to Pietro, “Mind giving us a moment h're?”

Pietro didn't talk. He simply muttered a Sokovian word neither Marcus nor Theo understood, although they both had an idea regarding it's meaning. He stood up,gulping down a few more sips of his coffee, and walked out.

“How ya holdin' up Bennet?”

“Don't do this”,she huffed out in an austere tone, as to warn him.

“I know you since we were 14. Don't bullshit me Rosie”.

Theo slowly closed her eyes as she let out a huff of air. She could barely get mad about the name calling at this point,for it was the least of her problems. Her lips curved downwards as she placed her mug down on the table next to them.

“You also knew him”,whispered Theo. “Which one is it, Marcus? Was I such a fool as to have loved a man who never loved me- or was I so naive as to fall for a man who only ever lied to me?”

“Ya think one's better than th' other? Damn, Rosie- I don't know shit”,he admitted. “No matter which one it is, it ain't gonna bring 'em back”.

Theo clenched her jaw, “No”,said she with a cracked voice coming out. “But i'll be able to blame someone other than me. And I'm gonna kill whoever's responsible, Marcus. I promise you that”.

Marcus' lips parted,only before they curved downwards. The sound of the door opening forced them both to turn their heads. Natasha had peaked in through the crack of the door.

“We land in three. Gear up”.

Theo nodded,and after smiling a little,Natasha left closing the door behind her. Theo and Marcus both stood up, and as walked a few steps, he suddenly stopped. Theo was eyeing him,waiting for him to speak.

“You'll still blame y'rself “,he said in a low voice, and then left.