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Who’s Old Fashioned?
Steve held the cell phone in his hand, finger hovering over the big green button, hesitating to press it. It had been months since he’d last seen Sharon. She had really stuck her neck out for him and Bucky, and she’d been on the run ever since, just like him. After everything that happened between him and Tony, and with Bucky back in cryosleep in Wakanda, Wanda off with Vision, and Natasha off doing god-knows-what, it had just been Steve and Sam.
They spent a lot of time in cheap motels across Europe, eating too much takeout and trying to keep a low profile. Sam had encouraged Steve to reach out to Sharon many times. They had shared that awkward kiss in Germany, but Steve had really wanted to see where things might lead between them when they weren’t dealing with a crisis of some kind. Unfortunately, circumstances had intervened, like they often do in his line of work, and now it had been so long that he just didn’t know what he would say.
Sam walked into the room and found Steve sitting on the edge of one of the creaky motel beds, staring at his phone screen like it either held the secrets of the universe, or it might explode at any second. “You still didn’t call her?” he asked, exasperated.
“What do I even say?” Steve defended. “Hey Sharon, thanks for blowing up your whole life for me and my crazy assassin friend. Hope you’ve been doing well while you’re in hiding from the U.S. government. Wanna grab a drink sometime?”
“I mean, yeah. More or less,” Sam said with a shrug. Steve gave him an incredulous look, but Sam was having none of it. He stepped closer and pressed the green button before Steve could stop him. Steve panicked, listening to the ringing of the phone with bated breath.
“Hello?” came Sharon’s familiar voice from the other end. Steve’s eyes bulged. Sam looked at him and pointed silently to the phone, insisting that Steve speak.
“Hello?” Sharon’s voice came through again, sounding a little impatient.
“Uh- hi, Sharon,” Steve said. His mind went blank. How could a man who was known for his elegant and inspiring pre-battle speeches be so dumbstruck?
“Steve?” Sharon asked, sounding surprised, but not angry.
“Yeah, it’s me. Um, how have you been?” he asked lamely, feeling more unsure of himself than he had in quite a long time. Sam gave him a big grin and two thumbs up before disappearing out of the motel room once again.
“Oh, I’ve been doing great,” Sharon said. Was that sarcasm? “You know, just living the dream, out on the open road.”
“I’m so sorry, Sharon,” Steve said, guilt clenching around his heart. “I never wanted to put you in the middle of that whole mess. You don’t deserve this.”
“You didn’t put me here, Steve. It was my choice to help you.”
“Maybe, but I still feel responsible.”
“Of course you do,” she said. Her voice had picked up. Did he detect a smile in her tone. Then her voice changed, became more serious, laced with concern. “How are you holding up?”
“Oh, I’m fine. I’ve got Sam keeping me company. We’ve kept moving, staying off the radar.”
“Yeah, me too,” she said. “It gets hard sometimes though. Bucky isn’t with you?”
“No, he’s safe though. He needs to get his mind right.”
“Sure,” she said, sounding distracted.
“Are you alone?” Steve asked.
“Currently? Yeah, why?”
“No, I mean, are you- do you have anyone helping you? I’d hate to think of you feeling lonely.”
“You still think of me?” she asked tentatively. Her voice was laced with tension.
“All the time,” Steve admitted.
“Why haven’t you called, then?”
Steve’s heart sank. He knew it, she definitely had feelings about his lack of communication. “It’s been… difficult. Staying on the move, finding secure locations… Then I needed a way to contact you safely. And after everything happened, it’s been… just a lot.”
“Sounds like you’re pretty lonely yourself, Captain.”
“I’m not a Captain anymore,” Steve said automatically.
“But you are lonely?” she pressed.
“Yeah, Sam’s great and all, but I wouldn’t mind seeing another familiar face…” he said.
“Yeah, friendly faces are good for the soul,” she agreed. “Maybe we should meet up.”
Steve considered her request. He knew the risk was high. Not only could someone be listening to this very conversation, but either one of them could be being followed. Sharon herself could even be trying to get Steve somewhere to have him arrested. It would certainly help her get her life and career back if she brought in the fugitive Captain America.
He wanted to trust her, though, and his instincts usually served him well, so he pushed these fears aside and took the leap. “That might be nice,” he said tentatively.
“I know, it’s risky,” she said. She sounded genuinely sad about it.
“Worth it, in my opinion,” he said, trying to convince himself as much as her.
“What if I come to you? Where are you now?” she asked.
“Prague,” he said. It was half-true, they had been in Prague, but they had moved on yesterday and were currently staying in a small town on the road for the night before reaching their next destination.
Sharon huffed a laugh over the phone. “I’m in Dresden.”
“We’re practically right next door already,” Steve said.
“I’m coming to you,” she told him.
“Let’s meet in the middle,” he suggested.
“Sounds like a plan,” Sharon replied. “And Steve?”
“Yeah?”
“Leave Sam behind for the night.”
Sharon ended the call before he could respond. He stared down at it, puzzled. Why did she want him to leave Sam behind? It couldn’t be a set up. The people who were after him were also after Sam. Unless she wanted to get him alone, make it easier to capture him. He wasn’t being egotistical to acknowledge that Captain America was a much bigger fish than Falcon.
***
After an argument between Steve and Sam about that very topic, which ended with Sam insisting that he would tag along but make himself invisible, the pair sat on a bus in silence as they made their way back north.
“I’m just saying,” Sam started again halfway through the trip. “It’s a little suspicious that she told you to come alone.”
“I trust her, Sam,” Steve said defiantly.
“You trust too many people.”
“I trust my gut.”
“I don’t think you’re thinking with your gut right now.”
Steve scoffed, but didn’t respond. He’d be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t hoping Sharon’s request had come from personal reasons. Very, very personal, private reasons that he would never tell Sam about. Reasons he had fantasized about late at night, after the lights had gone out and Sam was snoring in the other bed. Reasons he had pictured in vivid detail in his mind during his too-long showers, where he touched himself and felt shameful afterwards for the dehumanizing things he had imagined doing to Sharon if he ever got the chance. Things he’d never actually do in real life. Things borne out of the deepest, darkest recesses of his mind.
Sharon was an incredibly competent agent, and one with a strong moral compass and a sense of justice much like his own. She wasn’t afraid of the fight, and she didn’t back down to intimidation tactics. Steve had often thought about taking charge, throwing her around the room, watching lm of her composure and confidence disappear as she surrendered to him. But it wasn’t a desire to take her down a peg, or put her in her place. He wanted her to trust him enough to know that she could surrender, and that she’d still be safe, that he’d take care of her in a way no one had ever done for her before. That she didn’t have to put on a mask for him. And maybe a little selfishly, he wanted to prove that he knew what he was doing when it came to pleasing a woman. He hadn’t had a ton of experience, but he’d learned quite a lot since coming out of the ice and getting onto the internet.
“Yeah, thought so,” Sam said, sitting smugly next to him and folding his arms across his chest.
When they arrived in the agreed upon meeting place, Sam kept his distance, but stayed on comms in Steve’s ear.
“Hey, stranger,” Sharon said, walking up to the small cafe table Steve had settled at.
“Hey,” he replied warmly, unable to keep the grin from spreading across his face.
“You look good,” she said through a sigh as she sat down at the table.
“You look great!” he said, a little too enthusiastically. “I mean- good. You look good. Given the circumstances…”
“Wow,” Sam said into his ear. “That was worse than I expected.”
Sharon smiled. “Thanks.”
“I wanted to get in touch sooner. It’s just been-“
“I know, Steve. It’s okay,” Sharon cut him off mid-sentence. “You don’t have to keep explaining yourself or apologizing.”
Steve’s mouth twisted into a half-smile, one side of his lip curving up in shy thankfulness.
“You hungry?” he asked, offering her a menu.
“Look, can we drop the pretense?” she asked abruptly, leaning forward, looking into his eyes meaningfully.
“Pretense?” Steve asked, genuinely confused.
“I wanted to see you. I wanted to see if there was anything real here, between us. I feel it, the chemistry, the electricity. Do you?”
Steve didn’t respond right away. He was caught off guard by her forwardness and unsure of himself suddenly.
“Answer the woman before I swoop in and steal her away from you,” Sam hissed in Steve’s earpiece.
“Ye- yes, I feel it,” Steve said, stumbling over his words. “I just thought-“
“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” Sharon said. Her eyes were brighter, shining as they locked onto his. “You think too much. You’re too old-fashioned. Too gentlemanly. Too respectful.”
“Should I be disrespectful?” he asked defensively.
“Yeah, maybe!” Sharon replied. “You waited too long,” she finished, her voice cracking on the last word. She was hugging herself and looking down at the table.
Steve leaned forward and tilted her chin up to look at him. “I’m here now,” he said softly, then kissed her. It was slow and gentle and chaste, and he kept his lips closed.
“Yeah, brother,” Sam said in his ear.
Sharon locked eyes with Steve, then leaned close to the ear he was not wearing an earpiece in, and whispered so low that even Steve, with his enhanced hearing and her close proximity, almost couldn’t make out the words.
“Meet me in 20 minutes. Tell Sam I promise to return you in one piece if he fucks off for a while,” she slid a key into his shirt pocket, then kissed him on the cheek and left.
“Wait, what happened?” Sam said. “What did she say?”
“Sam, I’ll see you later. I need a little privacy.”
“Cap-“ Sam started, but Steve took his earpiece out and shut it off, then slipped away before sam could catch up to him.
***
Steve examined the key as he walked down the street, and punched the name etched on it into his phone to find the address. When he arrived, he found a small, unremarkable building with a few guest rooms for travelers. He paused to compose himself before he unlocked the door.
Sharon was waiting for him, alone. She was sitting in a worn-out armchair near the window, not wearing shoes, leaning back with her long, slender legs crossed elegantly. She had a glass of wine in her hand.
“Hey there, handsome,” she said in a low tone. “Did you lose your babysitter?”
Steve smirked. “Sam’s just being cautious. It’s hard to trust people when you’ve been on the run. You know that better than most.”
“I know that better than anyone,” she corrected. “But you still came…”
“I trust you,” Steve said simply.
“And yet, you didn’t call.”
“Sharon-“
She held up a hand to silence him, and stood up from the chair. “I told you, Steve, I don’t want to hear excuses or apologies.” She walked towards him as she spoke.
“Then why keep bringing it up?”
“I don’t know, maybe I’m feeling a little bitter. Neglected, even.” She pouted, fussing with his collar and looking up at him with those big, blue eyes from behind her long lashes.
“I’m here now.”
“You said that before, as if it makes up for your absence.”
“It doesn’t. I know.” Steve looked down at the floor, his tone sorrowful.
“So how will you make it up to me?” she asked, holding his jaw in her fingers and forcing his face back to look at hers, at the same time stepping even closer, pressing her body to his.
“Dinner?” Steve asked, raising his eyebrows and wincing. He was not confident that she wanted a night on the town, but it was all Steve had known of dating back in his day, and he hadn’t had all that much practice since.
“Jesus, Steve, do I have to beg?” Sharon exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.
“No! I didn’t want to be too… forward…”
“God, you’re so… old-fashioned. You’re always so conscientious. Sometimes it’s endearing, but right now? I’m throwing myself at you for Christ’s sake!” she complained. “I feel like an idiot-“
“Fine!” Steve replied, his voice raised slightly. He grabbed her and kissed her, roughly. He held the back of her head and pressed his lips to hers, hard. Then he gripped her hair and pulled away so he could look her in the eye. “Is that what you wanted?”
“Yes!” she shouted back. “Stop being so respectful!”
Something stirred in the recesses of Steve’s mind at her words. Like she was giving him permission to act on his fantasies, depraved as they may be. His fingers tightened their grip in her hair, and he brought his other hand to her throat, trapping her head in his considerably strong grip. He pulled her close, whispering into her ear with a rough, gravelly rasp. “I want you to remember that you said that. Remember that I do respect you, because I’m about to act like I don’t.” He heard her breath hitch at the threat. Her pulse quickened under his thumb.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” she replied.
Steve took that as a green light to keep going, and now that he’d let loose the beast within, he wasn’t going to stop now. He claimed her mouth in another hard kiss, this time shoving his tongue into her mouth without waiting for her to open her lips to him. She kissed him back, sliding her tongue against his, and sighed into his mouth.
He paused, eyes flashing dangerously, and locked his gaze to hers once more. “Say the word and I stop.” She nodded her understanding. “Say it out loud,” he demanded.
“I say stop, you stop,” she repeated obediently. “But right now? Don’t you fucking dare stop.”
Steve grinned, then buried his face into the crook of her neck, licking a stripe down to her collarbone. His hands slid to her shoulders, pulling the fabric of her sweater aside to expose more of her skin. He bit down and a gasp escaped her throat. Her hand snaked into his hair and gripped tightly. Her other hand ghosted across the skin under his shirt, where the elastic of his briefs sat under his slacks.
He shuddered under her touch, but he wasn’t going to get distracted. He had a mission now. He grabbed her wrist and turned her whole body so that her back was pressed against his chest. He held her wrist behind her back and her shoulders were pinned under his other forearm.
He forced her forward, and they crossed the small room to the bed. Steve paused when they had reached it, and Sharon’s knees were pressed against the mattress. He brushed his lips across the skin on her neck. “Don’t move,” he ordered, before releasing her wrist and reaching around to the button of her jeans.
He pulled the tight denim down past her hips. Sharon waited patiently to see what he’d do next. “You’re good at following orders,” he whispered into the shell of her ear as he stood back up, pressing his groin into the soft meat of her ass. He gripped her hip with one hand and shoved her forward onto the mattress with the other, then landed a sharp slap on her exposed ass cheek.
“Steve-“ she gasped, cutting herself off with surprise.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart? This is what you asked for, isn’t it?” he asked. His palm soothed the place he’d just slapped, then drew back and landed another sharp crack in the same spot. Her skin started reddening.
Sharon moved to stand back up, but Steve leaned over her and shoved her down into the mattress, pressing the side of her head into the comforter. “I said, don’t move.”
He looked at her and saw a grin on her face. She bit down on her lower lip, clearly enjoying this. Good, because he really didn’t want to stop now.
Steve soothed her skin again, then slid his hand between her thighs. “Fuck, I didn’t know you’d like it that much.” She was soaked. His fingers rubbed over her clothed folds teasingly while his other hand undid his belt and the button of his pants and let them drop to the floor with a soft thud. He slid his shoes off and stepped out of his pants, then let her feel his throbbing cock by pressing it into her core.
“Steve, please-“ she said. He could see her thighs pressing together, her chest heaving against the mattress.
“You’re begging for it already?” he asked in a cruelly amused tone. “We’re barely getting started.”
“I’ve been waiting for you to touch me like this for years, Cap.” she said breathlessly. “I knew you’d know how to treat a woman properly.”
“Such pretty words,” he said. Her words were more than pretty, they were everything he’d hoped for. His cock was painfully hard now, straining against the confines of his briefs, but he wanted to take his time with this. “If you’ve been waiting for me to fuck you for that long, you can wait a few more minutes, can’t you?”
He didn’t wait for a response before his fingers dove beneath her panties and slid through her slick. The moan she released told him everything he needed to know about whether she liked it. “That’s it, let me take the lead. I’ll make you feel so good, baby.”
Sharon’s hands fisted into the sheets and she pressed her hips back, begging silently for more friction. His fingers slid forward, and he found the swollen bundle of nerves and began twirling circles around it. She moaned again. “Feels good?” he asked, watching her writhe under his touch. He curled his hand and slid his thumb inside of her. She bit down on the sheets. He landed another smack on her ass with his free hand, then grabbed her panties and pulled them aside to see his hand disappearing into her.
“Fuck, you’re so pretty, baby,” he said. He felt her walls clench around his thumb at the praise. “So fucking pretty,” he repeated. She clenched again, and began to rock back and forth on her knees. He could tell she was nearing the edge.
“I’m so close, Steve,” she whispered, closing her eyes.
Steve pulled his hand away, and she whined at the loss. “If you’re gonna come, it’s gonna be on my cock.” He pulled himself free from his briefs and pushed himself into her hard and deep, without waiting for her to have the chance to adjust.
A shriek punched out of her. He was fully sheathed in her warmth, but he didn’t start moving yet. “Am I still giving you what you wanted?” he asked, waiting for a response.
“Fuck, Steve, yes!” she cried, pushing her body into him. Steve grabbed her hips with both hands and pulled himself back out, then slammed into her hard and deep. He set a steady rhythm, sliding into her easily with how aroused she was.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she cried with each thrust. He pushed into her at a punishing pace, and his skin slapped against hers loudly. He reached around to rub her clit, lifting one leg up onto the mattress for balance and creating a deeper angle to fuck into her at the same time. She squeezed her eyes tight, bit down on her lip, and he felt a rush of fluid as her walls clenched around his cock.
He didn’t slow his pace, fucking her through every wave of her climax, keeping his fingers pressed to her clit, and she writhed under him. “Steve, ‘s too much,” she mumbled, trying weakly and without real effort to push him away.
“You can take it,” he said encouragingly. “You’re so good for me, baby. So fucking pretty, taking my cock so deep. You’re so tight around me,” he said, singing her praises through labored breathing.
He was close himself, but wanted to try to pull a second orgasm from her before he finished. He noticed how well she responded to praise, and he kept talking her through the overstimulation. “Come on, sweetheart, you can give me one more, I know you can.” Sharon whimpered, but she wasn’t trying to push him away anymore. “You look so damn pretty under me,” he said, rubbing her back soothingly while he thrusted into her and his fingers continued circling her clit. She whined, a high-pitched, pathetic sound that was like music to his ears. “That’s it,” he coaxed.
“I’m- I’m-“ she whimpered, unable to speak coherently.
“Shh, baby, I know. I’m right here, I’m gonna take you there. Come for me, let me feel that pretty pussy clench around me again. You feel so good when you come on my cock.”
She came at those words, and Steve followed a second later, spilling into her in a burst of overwhelming pleasure. He fucked her through her orgasm and his own, and the squelching sounds they made together were obscene.
When they both came down, Steve collapsed onto the bed next to Sharon, panting heavily from exertion. She nuzzled against him instinctively, and he traced light lines up and down her back. Neither one spoke for a while.
It was Sharon who broke the silence first. “Finally,” she said with a teasing smile, and planted a soft kiss on his shoulder. “What took you so long?”
“I guess I thought I should buy you dinner first, and we never had the chance to go to dinner,” he said.
“Dinner sounds great, actually,” Sharon said, stretching lazily.
Steve smirked and kissed her temple. “Maybe we should get you cleaned up first. I’ll be right back,” he said. He retrieved a towel from the kitchen and ran it under warm water before returning to the bed and clearing away the evidence of their affair from her skin.
“Such a gentleman,” she said, teasing him again.
”I thought I just proved otherwise,” he said. “I hope that wasn’t crossing the line, though.”
”Oh, honey,” Sharon said with a giggle and a patronizing pat on his cheek. “That was vanilla.”
”Really? I thought it was pretty rough.” Steve was starting to feel self-conscious again, losing his confidence. He was amazed that she had such an effect on him, but it only made her that much more attractive. “Was it good, though?” he asked sheepishly.
”Well, I did come twice,” she said, very matter-of-fact. “But don’t worry, we have plenty to explore. Lots to look forward to.”
They lay quietly for awhile longer, enjoying the satisfied comfort they had found together.
“I suppose I should let Sam know you haven’t kidnapped me,” Steve said.
“You do that, I’ll order takeout,” Sharon suggested.
Perfect. Steve felt impossibly happy and satisfied and perfect in that moment. He knew it couldn’t last forever, but he was going to enjoy every second of it while he could.