Persistence (Or Harassment?)
It took you well over an hour to come down from the panic attack. It was the first real conversation you'd had since everything happened, and it hadn't gone well by any means. After catching your breath and slowing your heart rate, the clock showed twenty four minutes after midnight. Dragging your feet, the couch was the best you could do before you collapsed, passing out rather than sleeping peacefully.
You woke hours later from your dreamless abyss to find the sun just past the middle of the sky. The clock confirmed it was just before three and you knew you had to get something in your stomach. You were almost at the point of hunger where the dry heaving started (unfortunately learning that the hard way). You opened the fridge and gagged anyway. Everything inside was way past the expiration date. Crap. You snatched your purse off the counter and peaked out the spy hole to be sure that you were alone. Steve had left and you exhaled. You closed the door behind you, not even bothering to lock it. The store was just down the street anyway.
The familiar scent of artificial refrigeration and produce overwhelmed your senses, causing you to salivate and your stomach to grumble. Suppressing a hunger gag, you swallowed and grabbed a basket. Observing your surroundings, you noticed everyone had a look similar to yours. Defeated and depressed. For a moment, guilt built inside your stomach at the comment you made to Steve. Of course you cared that everyone was grieving. It was just hard to see past your own when you had been so isolated.
The store had signs everywhere advertising how everything was free for the time being. With half as many people, they're probably overstocked. You walked passed the discount aisle for the first time in what seemed like years. Something easy...something easy...Frozen dinners, perfect. You stocked your basket with microwave meals, just reaching up to get the last alfredo box, when your fingertips fell short. You were five feet six inches, but this box was top shelf near the back. Dignity aside, you decided to climb. The first step up was successful, but on the second, your sandals failed you and you slipped on the ice. Falling backward, you braced for impact, only half hoping you'd hit your head. You stopped suddenly, feeling no pain at all. Is it over? Was it that fast? You had your eyes pinched shut and the constant ache in your chest hadn't dissipated. You were sadly still alive. Your nose was the first thing to come to, smelling a woodsy yet comforting aroma. You peaked one eye open and didn't fight the urge to roll them once you identified your rescuer. "Thanks. Cap."
He set you down on your feet. "I told you, you can call me Steve."
"Well, Steve, stalking me to the grocery store seems a bit much, doesn't it?"
"I told you, I'm desperate. And you're welcome by the way."
"I already said thank you. But my mind hasn't changed, the answer is still no."
"I remember, just hear me out, okay? Half the population is gone. Stark is stuck somewhere in space and I have a team waiting on me to bring you in. Can you at least understand the situation I'm in?"
"Yes. I get from your perspective the pressure you're under. What I don't get is why. The bad thing has already happened. There's no time crunch to save things when they're already broken."
"You're right. Completely. But we're called the Avengers, not the Savers. I'm going to try every angle and use every advantage I've got to avenge the world that Thanos decimated."
"So what...I'm an angle? An advantage? What, you're going to take me back to the compound and make me a science experiment? Sounds great."
"That's not what I meant--"
"I know what you meant. My answer stays the same. Now, unless you want me to speed dial NYPD, I suggest you leave me alone. You are still technically a fugitive aren't you?" Steve held anger and what you could only assume was disappointment in his eyes. Guilt filled you but you stood firm. He wasn't making the first move, so you did instead, turning away from him to finish your shopping. If it were any other circumstance...You loved Captain America, or rather what he stood for, his ideals. You never believed he was a criminal, but this was too much. It was your trump card and you'd had to play it.
Shopping finished in under forty-five minutes and you walked back home with your basket of frozen goods. The elevator dinged on floor four, letting you out to get home. Turning the corner to your apartment..., "Oh, for God's sake, when is this considered harassment?"
"I'd like to think of it more as persistence." Steve laughed. "Look, I'm not here to spout about my problems or talk about the greater good. I just want you to come to dinner."
"Excuse me?"
"Come to dinner at the Tower. Meet everyone. I saw what you picked up from the store and it would be a crime to let you eat it while we have Tony's personal chef on the payroll." You stood dumbfounded in the hallway, searching his eyes for any kind of trick. Sincerity was all that shone through. You looked down in your basket at the frozen turkey dinner you had planned on heating up with a sigh. Even starving, your stomach churned at the thought of forcing it down. You looked back up to Steve. "One dinner. Simply for curiosity's sake. If one person tries to jab me with a needle, I leave and you never bug me again." He smiled and his face brightened. "Deal!"