My Favorite
When Kat woke up the next morning, Steve still hadn’t come to bed, but all of his things were gone. She panicked for a minute, but then she heard him in the kitchen talking to Tony. She got up and took a quick shower, then packed up her things and walked out into the living room, but Steve wasn’t there.
“He’s already on the jet Sparkles.” Tony said from behind her. “Does he seem okay to you? He was fine last night and then all of a sudden he started acting strange, and he never came to bed.” She told him.
“He seemed fine just now, although I did find him asleep on the couch this morning.” Tony told her. She frowned and picked up her bag, giving Tony a hug. “Thank you again for everything Tony. Tell Pepper I love her and I love you.”
“I love you too Kat. If you need anything, you know where we are.” He told her. She smiled and headed out to the jet, seeing Steve in the pilot seat and Nat putting her bags down. She sat her stuff down and ventured up to the co pilot chair, sitting in it, looking over at Steve.
“Where did you go last night? I was looking for you.” She told him. He didn’t speak for a second, she could see the tension in his shoulders. “I just went for a walk, and you were asleep when I got back, so I slept on the couch, I didn’t want to wake you.” He said softly.
“I wouldn’t have minded.” She told him. He nodded and lifted the jet into the air, not saying anything else. Was he mad at her? She didn’t think she had done anything wrong, but she felt like he was angry with her. The ride back to the compound was quiet, Nat throwing confusing looks between the other two.
When they got back, Jared was waiting in the hanger for them. He ran up to Kat, puling her into a bone crushing hug. “Oh my God, I thought you were dead.” He choked out. Kat laughed and hugged him back. “We’re fine. Thank you for taking care of our stuff.” She told him.
“No problem. I actually need Steve to come to the tower if he has the time, theres press stuff to go through after what happened in Dallas.” He said. Kat was about to tell him that they just needed some time to relax before she heard Steve’s voice.
“I’m good to go, are you driving?” He said, passing by them both and walking to Jared’s car, not saying anything to Kat.
“Guess I’ll drive myself back to the apartment.” She grumbled to herself as they drove away. She took one of the spare cars from the garage, wondering what had happened to her car. Maybe Tony had it taken somewhere; she would have to ask him.
She got back to the apartment and unpacked all her things, sitting Steve’s bag down inside his room, and went to make something to eat. Then she realized they’d been gone a week and there wasn’t any food in the house. She huffed and ordered from the Chinese place down the street, then went back into her room to change. She heard her phone buzz from the kitchen and went to see that she had a message from Steve.
Steve: They need me back in Dallas for press conferences, I’m leaving now, I’ll be gone a few days.
Kat: Oh, okay. Hey, are you upset with me? Did I do something wrong?
Steve: What? No Kat, I’m not upset with you. We’re okay, I promise. I’ll see you when I get home okay?
Kat: Okay. Be careful.
Steve: Always am.
Even though he said they were okay, Kat still felt like something was off. He never treated her like he did before they left and on the way home. There had to be something going on.
The days Steve was supposed to be gone turned into two weeks, and Kat threw herself into her work with the foundation. The houses were doing really well, and kids were getting adopted and fostered left and right. Kat was really proud of herself. The houses in Dallas were going well to, she had sent Jared with Steve to check them out, and video conferenced in to interview staff.
She was standing over the stove cooking when she heard the door unlock, and Steve come through. She spun around and locked eyes with him, and for just a second, she couldn’t breathe. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed him.
“H-hi.” She stuttered. Steve stared at her and gave her a small smile. “Hi Kat.” He said softly. She sat the spoon down she had in her hand and slowly walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his middle. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and all the tension seeped out of him. He had missed her. He acted like a jerk after the wedding, and it wasn’t even her fault. He was in his own feelings. He really wished he had Sam or Bucky to talk to about these things.
He’d never been great at dating. He’d maybe gone out with one or two girls before the serum and that was only because Bucky had set it up. Tony set him up twice with women who had only wanted one thing from ‘Captain America’.
“I missed you.” Kat said softly he wouldn’t have heard her if not for the serum. He smiled and rested his head on hers. “I missed you too.”
“I don’t like when you’re gone.” She admitted. She down right hated it. “I know sweetheart, I’m so sorry. They just needed me to go as soon as possible, I didn’t really have a choice.” She nodded against him and pulled back, smiling before going back to the stove, adding more pasta into the pot for Steve.
“How did it go?” She asked, adding the sauce to the pan with the meatballs in it.
“Okay, they were really laying it on the guy that shot me. The people were angry, I think a lot of them are. They think the Avengers failed them. People who were supposed to protect them.” He said, taking a seat at the counter. She turned to him. “Steve, it’s not your fault. We did the best we could, you know that.” She told him. He nodded. “I do know that; I just wish we could have beaten him.”
“I do too.” She said softly. She could have gotten revenge for Loki if that bastard had died.
“That smells amazing.” Steve said after she turned back to the stove. “What are you making?”
Kat smiled and looked at him over her shoulder. “Spaghetti.”
He smiled. “My favorite.”
They settled into the couch after dinner, and Kat picked Hocus Pocus to watch. She knew all the words, and Steve watched her more than the movie. She fell asleep toward the end, her head on the armrest, and her feet in his lap.
He stayed and watched her for a while after the movie ended, before taking her to her room and placing her into her bed. He pulled the covers up and pushed some hair out of her face. The picture frame on the end table caught his eye and he looked closer to see it was a picture of Kat and Loki. His heart dropped to his stomach.
What in the hell was he doing?