the last person that steve had expected to turn his back on him was tony stark, but it was far worse than that. he’d hunted him down like a dog, with the force of the entire united states government behind him. he’d fought, sweated, cried, bled for his country. so sudden to turn their backs on him, to label him a criminal and put a bounty on his head. dead or alive, putting out a cash reward, sending bounty hunters in waves. they never lasted long; he never hurt anyone seriously, but he was getting tired of being hunted. he was tired of living like a common criminal on the run.
which is why he found himself in such a horrid place, in the middle of nowhere, surviving by getting a room under a fake identity. hearing his actual name send a chill down his spine, jumping up from the chair he’d been reading the news in to peer out the peep hole. he hadn’t expected to see anyone, let alone diana standing there.
door flying open, he reached to grab her wrist, giving her a tug inside before shutting the door. he hadn’t meant to be so rough, but the last thing he wanted was someone to hear and for her end up being involved in his mess. once she was inside, however, it was a different story – arms going around her in a way that felt natural, instinctive; she still felt and smelled familiar.
“diana, oh christ – it’s so good to see you. how did you find me … ?”
·𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐀 𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃, 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 as she was halted against steve’s chest. the urgency was a little surprising but considering her friend’s legal status, maybe not so much. as relieved as she was to see him, diana was the first one to pull away, her hands on his shoulders, then his face where so much of his facial hair had grown out. she hardly recognized the man beneath the changes; even his eyes seemed to reflect something so broken and downtrodden.
her gaze searched his for a split second. ❛ never mind that. what happened to you ? ❜ it was a question she’d been wanting to ask as soon as she’d seen his wanted poster, and all the advertisements warranting his arrest on every news channel. she’d done her research into the accords and yet, diana still struggled to understand why the country deemed him a bad man. decades later, the way mankind made their laws was still beyond her understanding or approval. ❛ you are a good man. how could they do this ? ❜ diana had every mind to storm down and demand that they redact this ridiculous punishment. times were different now; they would listen to her. ❛ i had hoped we would meet on different terms, not like this. ❜
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