WHEN THE COUPLE GOT INTO THE CAR, THEY WERE SURPRISED TO SEE A DARK-HAIRED WOMAN SITTING INSIDE. Both Raevanna and Steve raised their eyebrows at the dark-skinned man, confused by the woman's presence.

"Right," the man said. "Captain, this is Agent Hill of SHIELD. She's one of my top agents."

"Okay," Raevanna said, raising an eyebrow again. "And you are?"

"Fury," the man replied. "Executive director of SHIELD."

Raevanna just nodded. She had no idea what that was, but she didn't want to question him.

"I must say, Miss Knight," Fury said after a moment. "I honestly wasn't expecting to ever see you back here."

Raevanna glanced at Steve in surprise; she hadn't heard anyone use her pseudonym in ages. "You know who I am?"

Agent Hill nodded. "We do. Howard Stark is one of the founders of SHIELD, he kept a record of you so we could be prepared in case you ever decided to come back."

Raevanna cocked her head. Howard still had hope that she would return? Even when she had told him that she probably wouldn't? She thought it strange at first, but her heart quickly warmed at the realization that he still thought about her, even though she was far away.

"Anyway, we can explain more tomorrow," Fury went on. "For now we're taking you to Brooklyn."

Raevanna frowned. "What's in Brooklyn?" she asked.

"An apartment," Agent Hill said.

Raevanna's frown deepened. "An... apartment?"

"Yes," Fury said. "You do know what that-"

"Yes, I know what an apartment is," Raevanna said, cutting him off. "I just don't understand why we're going to one."

"We had set one up for you for when you woke up." Fury nodded at Steve. "We originally planned for it to be just his, but I get the feeling that you two won't mind sharing."

Steve couldn't help the blush that spread across his cheeks. But Raevanna was less shy about it, scooting closer to him and wrapping her arm around his bicep.

"Nope, not at all," she said with a grin.

The car eventually slowed down, stopping in front of a tall building. Raevanna looked at it through the window, intimidated by its size.

"Here we are," Fury said. "Your apartment is on the third floor. Agent Hill will show you up."

"Thank you, sir," Steve said to him.

Fury nodded and motioned to the door. Taking Raevanna's hand, Steve got out of the car with her, and they were followed by Agent Hill, who led them into the building. Hand in hand, the couple followed Agent Hill into an elevator, which took them up to the right floor. Once they got off, Agent Hill showed them to the right door (door 307) then unlocked it and let them inside.

Raevanna looked around at the apartment. It was small but cozy, and the window overlooked the city.

"This is your key," Agent Hill said, handing Steve the key. "Don't lose it or else it'll take a long time to get another. We'll have one of our agents come in and check on you every month until you get settled in."

Steve nodded at her, giving the woman a grateful smile. "Thank you, Agent Hill. We really appreciate you doing this."

Agent Hill politely dipped her head in response. "Of course. Call if you need anything."

Once she was gone, Raevanna turned to Steve, smiling at him. "This is ours?"

Steve nodded. "I guess it is."

Raevanna held his gaze for a moment, grinning fondly at him. But then, her face fell, and she felt tears well up in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry," she said.

Steve frowned and cocked his head, confused by her sudden turnabout of emotions. "Why are you sorry?"

"I..." Raevanna looked down, biting her lip. "I wasn't... strong. I tried... I tried to stay here after you were gone, but I couldn't. So I went home, but I felt like I had no other reason to keep going. I spent so many nights awake, wishing that I had done... done something..."

Steve instantly moved to her, wrapping his arms around her as she started to break down. "Hey," he said softly. "Hey, hey, shh. It's alright." He held her close to him as she cried into his shirt. "Raevanna, you have nothing to be sorry for. What happened was not your fault, and there was nothing you could've done. It was my battle, not yours." He held Raevanna out in front of him so he could see her face. "I'm the one who should be apologizing."

Raevanna sniffed, blinking in confusion. "What...? Why?"

"You spent all that time without me," Steve said. "And I can see how much it hurt you." He put his hand on her cheek. "So I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when I should have been."

Raevanna smiled through her tears, taking his hand and pressing her lips to his knuckles. God, she loved this man.

"You look tired," Steve said.

Raevanna nodded with another soft smile. "I am tired."

"Well, c'mon." Steve took her hand, pulling her along. "Let's get some sleep."

Raevanna frowned. "But Steve... You just woke up. And it's still bright out."

"I don't mind," he said to her. "And you seriously look like you need it."

Raevanna nodded, following him through the apartment. It took them a minute, but they found the bedroom, and before long they were both laying down, with Raevanna tucked into the curve of Steve's body and with Steve's arm draped over her waist.

Raevanna tried to stay awake, listening to Steve's steady breathing. But it was this same sound that soothed her, causing her whole body to relax and her tense muscles to loosen. And, for the first time in six years, she fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

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The couple spent the next three months adjusting to the modern world. It was easier for Raevanna than it was for Steve, since she had always been quick to adapt to things, but she understood that for him, it wasn't as easy. So, she was kind and patient enough to help Steve when he needed it, and never once got annoyed with him if he failed to understand.

Raevanna's adjusting was made easier by the aid of one of Fury's top agents, Natasha Romanoff. Much like Peggy had been, Natasha was assigned to Raevanna personally, and the two became fast friends. Though Natasha was much more guarded and had a drier sense of humor than Peggy, Raevanna still appreciated her and her friendship, and was very happy that the redheaded woman was as patient with her as Raevanna was with Steve.

When Raevanna asked about Steve, however, she was told that he was on his own. "Too many new faces will confuse him", Fury had said, and even when Raevanna insisted that it wouldn't, the man wouldn't back down. So Raevanna was left frustrated, knowing that Steve could be given much more help if they would just trust him.

After a month and a half, Raevanna began to train under Natasha. The ginger taught her how to "properly fight", and even though Raevanna had told her that she already knew how to fight, Natasha had said that fighting in the twenty-first century was different than fighting in the twentieth, so Raevanna had to relearn how to defend herself and fight for herself in the modern age. The training itself was strenuous and intense, and more often than not Raevanna returned to the apartment completely and utterly exhausted and with several bruises received from their sessions.

Steve saw the change in his girlfriend, and it worried him. But whenever he would ask about it, Raevanna would always change the subject of the conversation, or state that she was tired and needed rest. Steve couldn't understand why she wouldn't just tell him what was going on, since they usually told each other everything, but he knew that pushing her would only end badly.

So Steve wasn't surprised when he came in from the bathroom and found Raevanna fast asleep on the couch. Her jacket and shoes were still on, and Steve realized she must've fallen asleep as soon as she was laying down — without even bothering to take her shoes and jacket off. He sighed, going over to her and gently picking her up, then carried her to the bed before laying her down. After he'd taken off her shoes and jacket, he pulled the blankets up over her to keep her warm, trying his best to ignore the new bruises on her arms and left shoulder.

Steve sighed, looking at her. He wished she would just tell him what was going on.

After a moment of thought, Steve decided to go out to clear his head. Slipping out the door, he went down the street to the old boxing gym near the apartment. He picked the lock and entered the building, feeling relieved that it was empty.

Looking around, Steve set up a punching bag and began hitting it. But as he hit the bag, memories of his experiences during the war flooded his brain, fueling his emotions, and before long he had destroyed three bags.

Picking up another bag and setting it up, he began hitting it. But memories still raced through his mind, causing his hits to grow harder. Dancing in the bar with Raevanna. Him running through a forest by the HYDRA base, dodging mortar shells, gunfire, Tesseract energy blasts. Placing the compass with Raevanna's picture on the dashboard of the plane as it plummets to the ice. Raevanna's voice, telling him he won't be alone. Red Skull, picking up the Tesseract and vanishing. Doctors surrounding him, shouting that he was still alive.

With one final punch, the bag was ripped open, and it was torn from the hook as it went flying across the room. Steve stared at it, then sighed and walked over to the other fresh bags that lay on the ground. After picking it up and hooking it back up, he began hitting it again.

"Trouble sleeping?" a voice said from behind him.

Steve turned around, seeing that it was Director Fury. Huffing softly, he went back to the bag and said, "I slept for seventy years, sir. I think I've had my fill."

"Then you should be out celebrating, seeing the world with Raven," Fury said.

Steve stopped punching and walked over to the bench, unraveling the tape off his hands as he moved. Then, he sat down and looked up at Fury. "I went under, the world was at war," Steve said. "I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost."

Fury followed him with a nod. "We've made some mistakes along the way. Some very recently."

"You here with a mission, sir?" Steve asked, glancing at the file in Fury's hands.

"I am." 

"Trying to get me back in the world?" Steve asked him.

Fury stepped forward. "Trying to save it."

He handed Steve the now open file. Steve glanced at the file before taking it, then sighed when he saw the photo within. It was the Tesseract. "HYDRA's secret weapon," he said.

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you," Fury explained as Steve read through the file. "He thought what we think - the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."

Steve finished reading and handed the file back to Fury. "Who took it from you?"

"He's called Loki," Fury said. "Like your girlfriend, he's not from around here."

Steve furrowed his brows. "Elyon?"

Fury shook his head. "No. Someplace a lot bigger and a lot farther away." Steve frowned even deeper, so Fury explained, "There's a lot we'll have to bring you and Raven up to speed on if you're both in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."

Steve sighed, getting to his feet and walking over to gather his things. "At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me."

"Ten bucks says you're wrong," Fury challenged as he watched Steve, then went on, "There's a debriefing package waiting for you and Raven back at your apartment." As Steve turned and picked up a punching bag, heading out of the gym, Fury followed him and asked, "Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?"

Steve kept going towards the exit, not even sparing Fury a glance. "You should have left it in the ocean."

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A/N: and we are officially into the start of the avengers! i'm very excited for this specific act, since i have something planned for the ending that you guys may not be ready for 😈😈

well, love y'all. see you in the next chapter!