"Sam, come on!" you insist again, following Sam right on his heels.

"I already told you no," he calls over his shoulder, picking up his pace to escape your relentlessness. This was a conversation that you'd been desperate to have and he desperate to avoid. Using a gust of wind, you slam the door shut, cutting off his only exit and leaving Sam with no choice but to stop and talk to you.

"But why not? Steve and Tony think I'm ready!"

"I really hate when you do that," he mutters, staring at the door that was just closed in his face.

"Well if you'd stop and talk to me, I wouldn't have to. Now why not? Everyone else thinks I'm ready," you repeat.

"Well I don't!" he exclaims, finally turning around to look at you.

"Why can't you just trust me?" you quietly ask, the hurt clear on your face and voice.

You'd been living at the Compound for just over two months, you were getting along with everyone great. You were going on missions frequently, some even without Sam- a big step considering you were almost always by his side. Every thing was going great, and Steve told you he thought you were ready for a small solo mission, you eagerly agreed. There was only one small problem, you weren't capable of making that decision for yourself. You were still an asset, and Sam had to be the one to sign off on it. You brought it up once, and Sam told you he'd think about it. And then he proceeded to avoid you, to use any and all means to keep this conversation from happening.

"I do trust you. I just think you're rushing into it."

"I'm not! I'm ready. And I want to go!"

"You asked and I gave you my answer: no."

"You're not even listening to me. You're treating me like a baby," you argue, feeling like you were back in the original days of your trio where Sam and Bucky's overprotectiveness kept you firmly placed on the sidelines.

"I'm not treating you like a baby. I'm treating you like a person who is not ready for this kind of mission," he states, now getting visibly frustrated. He couldn't stop thinking about it, missions with Steve were different- he could trust Steve to keep you safe. But all alone, no one watching your back, it wasn't something he was prepared to put you through.

"But you won't even let me try. Come on, I've gone on plenty of missions with you and James. I've even gone with Steve before-"

"I already said no. That's my answer, and it's not going to change by you standing here talking my ear off."

"But why not?!" you beg, desperately trying to prove yourself to him and everyone else on the Compound.

"Because I said so!"

You angrily exhale. "You can't just 'because I said so' me, Sam. That's not fair!"

"Well I just did," he angrily remarks.

"Well then... I'm mad at you!" you declare, tightly clenching your fists.

"You're going to be mad because I won't let you go?" he questions.

"Yes," you fume. "It's official, I'm mad at you!"

"Fine then, be mad. It's not going to change my mind."

"Then I'm going to be mad somewhere else. I'm going outside," you huff, turning on your heels in anger.

"How long are you going to need?" he calls, watching as you storm away from him.

"15 minutes!" you shout over your shoulder.

"15 minutes, not as bad as I thought," Sam quietly mutters to himself as he sets a timer on his phone.

"You guys set timers on your arguments?" Steve teasingly questions, opening the door you slammed after hearing your argument from the next room.

"She's not very good at staying mad. We usually call a truce before our timer's up," Sam casually explains, almost forgetting that he's upset with Steve for approaching you with this stupid mission before talking to him about it.

"You two are strange," Steve playfully comments, grabbing a water from the fridge.

"I think you mean we have healthy boundaries and effective communication skills," Sam corrects, then he crosses his arms, huffing angrily, "Speaking of which, why did you tell her that she's ready for a solo mission?"

Steve shrugs, taking a swig from his water. "Because I think she is."

"And you don't think you should've talked to me about that first?"

"I didn't think you'd get this worked up about it, to be honest."

"Well, I am. You should've talked to me about this because now she's upset that I won't let her go."

"And why won't you let her go?"

"Do the words solo mission mean nothing to you?"

"Sam, come on, someone's always watching out or at the very least on comms."

"And what's your point? She's not ready," Sam angrily emphasizes again.

"And I think you're wrong," Steve says calmly. "I think you're worried about something happening to her, which I do understand-"

"No, you don't! She's not like the rest of us, she's not ready!" he states, this time bordering on yelling at Steve.

Steve sighs, torn between what he knew and what his friend was willing to accept. "Don't you think you're keeping too short of a leash? Eventually you're going to have to learn to loosen the reins a little bit."

"I'm not. I'm doing my job and keeping her safe."

"And I think you're doing a great job, but you're suffocating her."

"Now, I'm suffocating her?" Sam exhales, throwing up his hands in frustration.

"Yes, you are. You have to remember that she's an adult too. She needs some room to breathe, Sam."

"I give her plenty of space, but I've told you all time and time again that I'm not going to throw her into the deep end."

"But you're not even letting her try, Sam."

"Because I don't think she's ready!" Sam snaps.

"You know what, Sam?" Steve interrupts, seeing that he's clearly not going to get through to Sam like this. "You're a reasonable guy, and if you think there's a reason that she's not ready then I'll default to your judgment."

"Don't try to reverse psychology me, Steve. I'm not changing my mind."

"Whatever you say," Steve smiles, clapping a hand over Sam's shoulder and walking away.

"I'm not falling for it!" Sam calls after him.

But for the entire duration of your timer, Sam does think about it. And suddenly he's questioning if maybe he is holding you too close to his chest. Steve's right, you are an adult, you're smart, and getting more and more capable of standing on your own two feet.

"Damn it," Sam curses under his breath. And he decides that he's the one that needs to apologize, especially after it's been 15 minutes and you've yet to seek him out. He goes to your room, and you're not there. He remembers that you said you were going outside.

He sighs and walks over to the door that's closest to the little makeshift garden you started after moving.

"Okay, it's been 20 minutes, you really aren't going to say anything?" Sam calls from around the doorway.

And it's absolutely silent out there.

No response.

And he knows that even when you're mad at him, you're not one to give the silent treatment.

He walks through the doorway, rounding the corner and you're not there. There's no sign of you at all. In fact, the only trace that you were there at all is your journal strewn aside on the ground. You're just gone. And he gets a really sick feeling about the whole thing.

"We've got a problem!" Sam shouts, running through the hallway to find anyone that can help him.

10 minutes earlier...

Without turning around, you see a shadow loom over your flowers. "Sam, I'm not done being mad yet."

When he doesn't say anything, you huff, "I mean it, Sam. I'm still upset-"

Then you feel a sharp jab in your neck. Your vision starts to blur as you turn around and see a vague unfamiliar silhouette standing over you.