Epilogue: First Anniversary of Liz's Death.

Caroline jolts awake, sheets riding low on her hip though her satin nightgown is hiding the bits that should be covered. Her eyelids and limbs feel heavy, a small part of her mind trying to lull her back to sleep while a majority of it is on alert because something woke her up. So against her better judgment (the small piece of mind telling her just to fall back asleep), she pushes her hearing outward for any disturbances. One second passes then two and she hears it again, the sound of what appears to be low strumming of a guitar; an electric one.

"What the.."

Grumbling to herself, Caroline quietly creeps out of bed. And instead of asking JARVIS for any insight about what's going on in her place of home and alerting the intruder to her state of being alert, she tiptoes lightly out of her bedroom and down the hall. With her lips twitching into a scowl from her annoyance at being woken up while it's still dark out, she peeks around the corner only to sigh aloud and then groan while subtly smoothing down her nightgown, and pats down her hair.

"Seriously, Rogers? I just fell asleep! What are you even doing here?"

"What does it look like?" He innocently looks up, his too snug cotton jacket making Caroline mentally curse him all the more. "I'm playing the guitar."

"You're a horrible guitarist. Don't quit your day job."

Steve grins at her deadpan and sets the guitar down to his side, chuckling lowly and leaning back against the couch as he eyes her. She shifts uncomfortably under his stare, crossing her arms over her chest and trying her damnedest not to blush.

After all these months of dancing around their feelings since their "date", Steve and Caroline are finally.. still Steve and Caroline. They've put no label to what they are- much to annoyance of Tony and Clint who still have an ongoing bet about when things turn official- but they have both acknowledged that there's something there. They're comfortable enough with each other to snuggle up and watch movies together on their down time, even going as far as letting themselves in to each other's apartments without the knowledge of said homeowner, but there's no hand holding or kissing that would signify something more.

"What time is it?" Caroline then asks when Steve offers up nothing.

"Late enough for everyone to still be asleep but early enough that should we hit the road right now, we'll make it to Mystic Falls while the sun's still out."

She tenses at his words, eyes finally meeting his and narrowing. "And why would we be going to Mystic Falls?"

Steve's amusement slowly fades and Caroline's confused once more. "I know you didn't forget what tomorrow is- today, technically," he replies. "Pepper and Tony gave you the day off so we're going to visit your Mom's resting place and pick her out a nice bouquet of flowers."

Caroline gets a little misty-eyed and just when Steve's about to start apologizing, she cracks a grin and chuckles while tucking a loose strand of hair behind her right ear. "You're really something else, Steve, you know that?"

"So I've been told." He matches her now lazy grin and breaking eye contact, he reaches down by the coffee table and pulls up two thermoses. "Now dry your eyes, get dressed, and I'll give you your blood and coffee to prepare yourself for a long drive on the back of my bike."

Her eyes light up and one second, she's all the way across the room and in the next, she's right next to him pecking his cheek and taking her promised goods before disappearing in the blink of an eye to get dressed.

xXx. XxX. xXx

Before Caroline had even jumped into the fastest shower ever, she took one generous gulp of coffee and one generous gulp of blood before stripping. She used her vampire speed to give her body a good scrub down and shave, rinsed her hair, washed her face, and washed out her mouth. And once out of the shower, she speed blow-dried her hair with just a towel wrapped around her body, and flashed out of the bathroom and into her walk-in closet to get dressed.

Pulling open drawers and choosing carefully, Caroline clips on a bra and pulls on some underwear. Dark maroon slim fit jeans cling snugly to her legs, a soft cotton tee with the words Breath Deeply, Love Madly, Live Fully fits her upper torso loosely, and a dark green-gray military cotton drawstring anorak jacket is slipped over her tee to keep the wind from stinging her exposed skin. She spots a pair of black mid-calf boots that look fairly comfortable for the occasion and slips those on as well before flashing herself back into the bathroom to brush her hair and plait it over her shoulder. Once she's completely ready, she takes yet another generous gulp of coffee before up-ending the blood into the same thermos as the leftover caffeine and sets out to nicely greet Steve.

"Wow." Steve lowly whistles in awe. "That took less than ten minutes."

"Well, vampirism does have it perks."

Caroline winks at him as she makes her way into the kitchen, depositing the empty thermos into the sink before turning back to Steve. He still has his back to her, packing up the guitar in a case that Caroline hadn't seen until now. Once it's all packed away, he walks it over to the corner of the room and places it by the shelf of books which half of belong to him. He then joins her in the kitchen, easily finding the cabinet where the mugs reside and pulls down his personal mug to fill with coffee before they head out. He moves around her place easily which brings a smile to her face as she sips her own beverage but also puts a weird heavy sensation on her chest. Her mind's quick to jump all over the place and she's suddenly left wondering about just what she and Steve are doing.

Out of all the people who knew her Mom, it's Steve who's taking her down to Mystic Falls- Steve who's personally driving her on his bike.

Now, no matter what Tony says, Caroline's not as oblivious as the boss man likes to say. Since the beginning, her friendship with everyone was almost instantaneous and abnormally close-knit. But out of everyone, Caroline had thought she was closest to Pepper. At least until her Mom passed away and then Steve just kind of stepped in and never stepped back down.

Over the months, they kind of just settled in a weird flirtatious friendship where both of them were too scared or nervous to take the leap and ask the other out, but then she went and bid on him when Tony convinced him to sign up for the Bachelor auction. She had spent thousands of dollars (most of it being Tony's) for a date with Steve and even after their perfect day at an art museum and zoo, they were still stuck in the flirtatious friend zone. Don't get her wrong, Caroline was comfortable with the flirtatious friendship she had going on with Steve but the fact that he took the time to plan a trip to Mystic Falls- just him and her- to visit her mother's grave on the anniversary of her death? Well, not only was that heartwarming but it's something far more personal than what they normally deal with.

It's just him and her, not the team tagging along with them.

Steve finishes his mug of coffee fairly quickly and nudges Caroline out of the daze he finds her in as she's leaning against the counter. "You okay? We don't have to go if you're not feeling up to it," he suddenly frowns. "I just thought-"

"I want to," she's quick to cut him off, offering him a quick smile in assurance. "I was just thinking about something."

"If you're sure-"

"I'm sure."

He nods and starts to rinse out his mug, watching Caroline from his peripheral as she sips from her thermos and then nervously worry her bottom lip between her teeth. Sighing, Steve places the mug down and faces her once more, turning so his own hip is connected to the counter with one hand laying on said counter and the other on his hip. "Caroline, what's going on?"

She immediately has this expression on her face that he knows whatever she's about to say is a lie, so crossing his arms over his chest, he stares at her with his don't feed me no nonsense face until she snaps her jaw shut and sighs.

"I don't- I just," she struggles with her words before groaning aloud. "Oh God, please don't let things get weird after this," she mumbles before turning, her hip connected to the counter now as well and meets his gaze head on. "What are we doing here, Steve?"

The tension drains from his posture a bit as he straightens up, his expression now rather confused. "What are we doing?" he repeats. "We're getting ready to leave for Mystic Falls," he answers slowly.

And this time, it's time for Caroline's no nonsense expression. "Not that, you goober. I mean us! What's going on with us? Both our places have property that belongs to other, I have clothing of yours in my closet for when you're too lazy to make the trip back to your place, and we cuddle! What are we doing?"

"W-what exactly brought this on?" He avoids answering the question and making eye contact.

"The fact that it's you taking me back to Mystic Falls on such an important day and not my friends that I grew up with or met in High School. That and the fact that everyone's betting on when we're finally going to become an official thing."

"I knew it," he suddenly straightens up, eyes bright. "I asked Pepper and Nat what they knew about this so-called bet, and they denied everything."

Caroline's lips twitch at Steve's sudden interest in their friends and their lying about the bet, his eyes widening before he flashes a sheepish grin. Steve nervously chuckles and rubs the back of his neck, said neck tinging red with his obvious embarrassment now. "I- I'm not sure what's happening between us. What do you want to be happening?"

He refuses to make eye contact and Caroline's reminded just how not so forward Steve Rogers is with women. He's come a long way since he's been unfrozen but underneath all the good looks and muscles and fame, he's still that shrimp kid from Brooklyn who gets nervous around a dame. "I.. I like you," Caroline finally admits and this time, it's her turn to avoid eye contact. "Like, like-like you but.. I'm a vampire," she sighs sadly. "Human-vampire relationships are very complicated."

There's a moment of silence where Caroline tries her best to avoid eye contact but fingers brush her chin and she finds herself willingly letting Steve angle her face upward to peer up at him. "Look at me," he softly replies, a fond smile overtaking his features. "I like-like you, too. And as for complicated? Doll, our lives are filled to the brim with complications what with who we work for. What's one more?"

She caves after his words, blinding him with a smile and gracing him with a giggle. But that only lasts for two seconds and then she's back to being unhappily doubtful. "And what happens if like turns to love and we stay together for years to come, and people start noticing Captain America's girlfriend isn't aging like she should be?"

"When that happens, then we let them believe you're like me," he shrugs. At Caroline's confused expression, he gently smiles down at her as his fingers move to brush the apple of her cheek before cupping said cheek with his hand. "Banner's been running some tests. Aging is nothing more than cells losing the ability to heal themselves as time passes but with the serum pumping through my veins, well.. they're healing. It doesn't appear that I'm aging but if I am, it's very very slowly."

"So what you're saying is-"

"What I'm saying is that if you're willing to jump, I'm right there with you."

Caroline slowly grins, her eyes crinkling in the corner at Steve's confession, and nods. Steve returns her grin with a smile of his own, his eyes then quickly darting down to her lips before meeting her gaze once more. Permission granted, Caroline's lips curve into an even bigger smile before she pushes herself up on the tip of her toes to press her lips to Steve's.

They're both smiling into the chaste kiss like loons, Steve sighing out with a chuckle before using his other hand to cup the other side of her face. Finally molding his lips with hers perfectly, Steve presses one then two warming kisses before pulling back with a small grin.

"Oh. Wow." Caroline suddenly clears her throat even as her eyes are still closed. "I can get used to that."

"Same," Steve agrees. "Remind me again why we waited so long?"

"Because we're idiots," she tells him, quickly pushing up once more to steal a kiss. "But we can make up for lost time later. We have to get going." Steve's own eyes finally open when Caroline pulls free of his grasp, he watching as she quickly drinks what's left of her thermos and then depositing it in the sink. "What do you say, Cap? Should we hit the road?"

xXx. XxX. xXx

Steve and Caroline's happiness lasts up until they hit the garage, the both of them coming to a sudden halt as they find Tony leaning against Steve's bike with his arms crossed over a black shimmering helmet. The man in question is glaring but he's not exactly glaring at Steve and Caroline but rather glaring at their hands where their fingers are tangled together.

"A couple of minutes," he finally huffs. "The two of you couldn't have waited just a couple of more minutes until you were on the road, could you?"

Steve and Caroline fidget under Stark's stare, and it's Caroline who breaks first. "A couple more minutes for what?"

"Getting together!" he explodes, though he's not really angry. He's just.. well, a sore loser. "Becoming boyfriend and girlfriend or whatever labels the two are using now. I had money down that it would happen on the trip but since you got together here in the Tower, Pepper wins! Again! That woman always wins. I don't understand how she knows these things."

Steve finally chuckles and Caroline quirks an eyebrow at her boss. "How did you even find out? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I was tinkering on a car," he gestures off to the side where one of his numerous of cars sits next to an open tool box. "JARVIS alerted me to the chumminess of you two in the elevator."

Caroline narrows her eyes, glancing upward. "Traitor."

"Apologies, Miss Caroline."

She giggles through her annoyance, shaking her head fondly at Tony who's now smirking at her. She and Steve start moving once more, Tony standing straight and moving aside when they near the bike before passing the helmet to Caroline who says, "Maybe you can convince Pepper to give you twelve percent of her winnings."

Tony gapes and Caroline cackles, Steve now being the one to shake his head fondly at the two of them as he settles on his bike. "She's never going to get over that, is she?" Tony grumbles.

"Nope." She plops the helmet atop her head, buckling the straps beneath her chin before taking her spot behind Steve on the bike. Wrapping her arms around his mid-section, Caroline grins wickedly as the bike roars to life beneath her. "Go to sleep, Tony. I'll keep you updated at every stop."

At Tony's nod, Steve gases the bike and the two are off.

xXx. XxX. xXx

During the trip to Mystic Falls, Steve makes a couple of pit stops to refuel his bike and to pick up some snacks so they could munch on before hitting the road once more.

There's a bunch of shy kisses, laughter, and hand holding that they're making up for; the both of them trying so hard to ignore their nearly non-stop vibrating phones. Caroline had already made the mistake of checking some of her messages which only proved to make her laugh and then groan because their friends were some nosy people.

Pepper had been the first to text her, the CEO wishing them safe travels and thanking Caroline for finally getting together with Steve because she was now hundreds of dollars richer, and seeing Tony sulk was just making her day.

Tony wasn't far behind in the texting, he texting the both of them about how they were off his Christmas list and then sending them directions to every store on their route that sold condoms because safe sex was good sex. But then he sent several texts back to back when he remembered that Caroline was technically dead so she couldn't catch anything or get pregnant, and proceeded to tell them to screw the condoms. Caroline had rolled her eyes at his messages and then snorted when Steve told her he had messages from Tony as well, he gulping rather heavily while a blush blossomed on his cheeks as he read them.

Bonnie had congratulated her on finally being official with America's Sweetest Piece of Ass (her words, not Caroline's) and told Caroline that they were having a girl's night the night after she slept with Rogers because a girl just needed to know some things.

Caroline had been grateful that Natasha and Clint were both on a mission because she knew Clint would be insufferable but the moment Matt's message popped up on her phone, she couldn't help the long suffering sigh and then the uncontrollable laughter which only made Steve suspicious of his girlfriend.

Matt [8:47AM]: So I hear you and Captain America are official. Nice.

Caroline [8:47AM]: How do you even know already?!

Matt [9:01AM]: A little birdy told me when he picked up breakfast from the Grill.

It had taken Caroline a moment to wonder who the birdy was but when she put two and two together- the mission Clint and Natasha were on had them in Mystic Falls- she groaned in response. They were going to give her hell when she showed up.

Caroline [9:03AM]: He's such an old lady. I'll text you later when Steve's not operating a motorcycle, Mattie. Safety comes first!

Matt [9:04AM]: You were never one for safety, Caroline, but okay. I'll just interrogate you and Steve next time I see you.

Caroline [9:05AM]: You're such a fan boy.

For the rest of the trip, Caroline's the only one to respond to texts but she ignores everything about her newly established relationship with Steve in favor of telling everybody that they're still safe on the road and checking in every other city they're in.

Once in Mystic Falls, the two stop by a local flower shop.

They get caught up for a moment longer than they anticipated there, the florist having recognized Caroline and then praising her on her excellent skin regimen because it hadn't looked as if the young blonde had aged a day since she'd last seen her. Caroline, of course, blushed and Steve tried his best to contain his snickers. After a short talk, Caroline told the lady they really needed to be on their way and then purchased yellow tulips which Liz had adored. Steve then added to that by picking up a long single stem of cymbidium orchids with blush pink lips, and then the duo were on their way to the town's cemetery.

Steve's quick to park the bike out by the entrance of the cemetery, Caroline climbing off and unbuckling the helmet adorning her head before laying it down on the seat. Once both are settled on their feet and flowers clutched in their hands, they clasp their free hands together and start heading for where they know Liz's grave resides.

Caroline keeps her head held high and she knows that if her heart had beat like it once used to, it's be beating so fast and hard that she's pretty sure Steve would be able to hear it. The closer they get, the harder Caroline clenches her jaw to keep the ball of emotion that's welling up in her throat from making her cry out. Though the closer they get and Caroline finally realizes that someone's already at her mom's grave- crouched and laying down a single long stem rose before standing up- the unease of seeing her mom's grave again leaves her. And when the mystery person stands and turns around, Steve and Caroline are faced with Elena who owlishly blinks at them and then offers an impish grin.

"I- I guess everyone had the same idea today," she mutters, gesturing to the various flowers already adorning Liz's resting place.

Steve squeezes Caroline's hand in comfort because this is the first time they've seen Elena since the fallout after Liz's funeral, but Caroline offers her old friend a small huff of laughter. "I guess we did."

A moment of silence falls and Elena's gaze drops down to the couple's clasped hands, a genuine smile tilting the corner of her lips upward. Brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, Elena chuckles and locks gazes with Caroline. "So you two are finally a thing? Nice."

Absentmindedly, Elena holds her palm up and Caroline slaps her own palm against Elena's in a high five. The girls blink in confusion at the sudden friendly gesture they just put on display, the two of them breaking down into peals of laughter.

After coming down from their amused high, Elena sighs sadly. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too," Caroline admits with a guilty smile.

And now, poor Steve's just watching on and wondering what the hell just happened.

Elena sighs and nods in acceptance, stepping aside as Caroline drags Steve forward, the both of them lying their flowers down next to the others.

"Damon came earlier," Elena tells them, tucking her hands in the pockets of her jeans. "He spotted your other friends here dropping off the daisies and gardenias."

"Well, that was nice of him," Caroline replies as she brushes her fingers along the carving of her mother's name.

"Yeah.. and speaking of your friends," she continues. "Natasha and Clint, if I remember their names correctly, are in town but going by different names and acting as if they've never met one another before. The female moved into your old house and the male is staying at a bed-n-breakfast. Care to explain as to what's going on?"

Caroline swears under her breath and Elena chuckles at the response. But from the look Caroline gives her as she peers up at her, Elena knows she won't give her a straight answer. So instead, Steve clears his throat and tucks his hands in the pockets of his jeans as well.

"Agents Barton and Romanoff are on a mission here in Mystic Falls," he tells her with his best Captain America persona. "It'd be in their best interest and the interest of their mission if you keep the fact that you know their true identities a secret."

"A mission," Elena suddenly perks up, her grin falling. "Is something wrong here in our town that we don't know about?"

"Oh, you know about it," Caroline snorts. Elena's frantic gaze falls back to her friend and realizing her mistake, Caroline swears again and stands up out of her crouch. "We know about the bodies showing around here via vampire attacks," she admits. "The government agency that I once told you about knowing about us has decided to help out and cover it up since they don't want the vampire secret out either, hence the reason for both agents being here under entirely different names and leading different lives."

"O-okay," Elena stammers. "But why not team up with us? I mean, we're all working for the same goal, right?"

"You are," Steve agrees. "-but given past interactions with us, the agents decided to do work on their own. Though if worse comes to worse, they'll have your back and I hope you'll have theirs."

"Of course. I'll let the others know."

"Please, do so," Caroline sighs in relief. "I can't have Damon or Alaric getting compulsion happy with my friends when they don't get the answers they're looking for. I can't and won't be held responsible for Nat using her newly acquired vervain bullets or Clint's vervain arrows on them."

Snorting, Steve smirks. "Nat's a magnet for vampires so I'd appreciate it if all of you can work together even if you have to discreetly keep an eye on them. Back in New York, some unlucky fella tried compelling Natasha when we had a night out on the town. She let him believe his tactics were working, and then she disposed of the problem when he got mouthy and admitted to playing with his food."

"Yikes," Elena chuckles. "Yeah. I'll tell Damon and Alaric to be discrete. No problem."

"Thank you."

Another moment of silence passes- a moment in which Elena studies the two before her and she can't help the chuckle that escapes her. And when asked why she's laughing, Elena merely shrugs. "It's just.. you left Mystic Falls to get away from all of this yet you're still in it."

"I know," Caroline wryly chuckles. "But it's different in New York. Easier," she admits.

"How?"

"Well, for one, I have a career that keeps me busy when life threatening events aren't going down. And when they are, I have the choice of joining the fight or letting the Avengers take care of it. They mostly take care of it with help from Bonnie."

"Yeah? And how is Ms. Bennett? She missed Christmas and New Year's."

"She's good. She's keeping up with school online and flourishing at her job with the government. In fact," Caroline smugly grins. "-she's the one who's actually in charge of Barton and Romanoff's operation in town."

"You're joking?!"

"'fraid not, 'Lena. Our little girl's all grown up!"

Elena laughs incredulously, basking in the easy going conversation she's having with her friend. She's learned some new things just now that she has to share with others before they make a mistake and seeing as they've now run out of things to discuss, now would be the time to take her leave. So pasting on a genuine smile, Elena slowly starts backing away. "Well, I guess I should be going. You probably want to talk to Liz and what not."

Caroline only nods, her friendship still kind of rocky with Elena so there's no farewell hugs, and two left standing wave at Elena's retreating form.

And once out of ear shot, Steve hums before peering down at Caroline. "Did that really just happen? Are you two really buddy-buddy again?"

"Yeah," Caroline shrugs. "Being what we are, life is too long to hold petty grudges. But don't get too comfortable," she grins up at him. "There will be more fights in the future but in the end, we'll always be friends."

Steve snorts, letting go of her hand that he was still holding in favor of draping his arm around her shoulders. He tucks Caroline into his side as she laughs and turns them so they're facing the grave of Liz.

As their laughter dies down, Caroline sighs deeply and stares at her mother's headstone. "Hi, mommy." Her voice cracks and Steve squeezes her just a little tighter to show some comfort. Her arm that's pressed between her body and his is moved so it's now across the small of his back, her thumb hooking into his pocket. "I miss you." She has to pause yet again, taking a deep breath and clearing her throat when it becomes too tight with suppressed emotion. "A-as you can see, Steve and I finally got our act together. Took us a while but uh- here we are."

"Hope you don't mind, Ms. Forbes," Steve suddenly cuts in. "But I'm going to be sticking around for a while. Make sure your daughter's taken care of."

"Are you kidding? Mom would have rolled out the red carpet for you and pushed me at you already in a wedding dress."

Instead of blushing like he would have years ago at the prospect of marriage to a very beautiful girl, Steve snorts and laughs. "You're probably right. Remember our first Christmas party? She preened under all the hateful stares we got when Tony kept pushing us on the dance floor."

"Oh, God, like I can forget," she laughs. Steve joins her in the memory, laughing alongside her when Caroline's chuckles turn watery and she's left sniffling, and wiping at her eyes. "I miss her so, so much. I can't believe it's already been a year since I've last spoken to her."

"I know you do. I miss her, too, Doll."

He lets her shed some more tears, squeezing her in comfort and being the solidarity that she needs right now. After a few moments pass, Caroline suddenly pulls away and kneels in front of her mother's headstone, kissing the tips of her fingers and then pressing them the stone. "You were right, you know that?" she murmurs, speaking as if Liz were sitting right there. "When we first settled down in New York, you told me everything was going to be okay and guess what? It's more than okay. I mean, I could use you right now but apparently God had other plans for you." She pauses in her little speech, gulping and smiling briefly. "Mystic Falls was never meant for me and I think you knew that. I found my own little niche in the world with some of the most amazing people and it saddens me that won't you see me flourish."

"But she will," Steve pipes in, suddenly kneeling beside her and nudging her with his shoulder. "Just because she's not on this plane anymore doesn't mean she's stopped watching."

Caroline can only nod in response, more tears sliding down her cheek even as she smiles through her heartache. She leans into Steve's touch when he cups her cheek to wipe away a tear with his thumb, moving her face so she kisses his palm before moving away. He smiles faintly and then watches as she lays her hand on the headstone, bowing her head and saying a silent prayer.

When all is said and done, Caroline rearranges the flowers around her mother's grave before standing and offering her hand to Steve. Though he doesn't need the help up, he still takes it and keeps a hold of her hand as Caroline silently starts their retreat back towards his bike.

But the closer they get to the bike, the more tense and nervous Steve becomes. There's something weighing on his mind, something he and Caroline should have talked about before they became what they are now and he doesn't know how she's going to react. But instead of having another moment's hesitation, Caroline pulls them up short and quirks an eyebrow at him.

"What's going on?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"That," she grins. "You stuttered and I can sense your emotions, remember? Now spill. What's going on?"

Steve chuckles nervously, swinging their entwined fingers between them and leads them to stand by his bike. Sighing, he pushes Caroline's helmet aside and sits sideways on his bike, taking her other hand in his own and pulling her so she's standing between his parted legs. "I- I have to tell you something." Caroline's amusement slowly fades but Steve's too busy staring at their hands. "I know we only started dating but being who I am, obstacles were bound to come up and one did- it came up weeks ago and I should've said something before this morning happened but-"

"But," Caroline cuts in, slowly pulling her hands free. "You were scared of my reaction."

"Yes," he admits. Looking up, he sees her heartbroken expression and his own eyes widen in fear. "No. Don't cry," he pleads. "It's nothing bad, if that's what you're thinking. I'm glad this morning happened- more than glad, actually- and this is all on me. I messed up by not telling you there might be a relocation for me in the near future and I- I'm selfish. I wanted this- wanted us- and I didn't want Fury's plans to get in the way of that."

She falls silent at his babble, her expression slipping into that of something more confused. When her brows pull together, Steve's practically holding his breath when her lips part. "Relocation? You thought a relocation would get in the way of us?"

And yeah, he wasn't expecting that.

"Yeah," he shrugs. "Wouldn't it? I mean, back in the days, a lot of the dames didn't like it when their men got shipped off to war. And since what I do is sort of like being shipped off, I didn't think you'd wait for me."

Another moment of silence passes and then Caroline snorts, lowering her head and shaking it in disbelief. "Well, you got one thing right," she tells him. "Us ladies don't like when our men go off to war." Steve deflates a little but the grin she gives him immediately reassures him that everything just might be fine. "But the dames back then didn't have what we have now."

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"The internet. There's a wonderful program that will let us video-chat and I can teach you how to use it if you want."

"I want," he sighs in relief. "If it means you'll wait for me, I'll do whatever it takes."

Caroline smiles at him now, eyes free of tears before leaning down and hugging him. Chuckling into his shoulder, she pulls away with a coy grin. "I can't believe you were so worked up over that. Long distance relationships are a thing now, Steve. They're not easy, but I think we can make it work."

"Definitely."

It's only when Caroline's got her helmet back on and her arms are crossed over Steve's abdomen does she ask him where exactly it is that Fury wants to send him.

"D.C," he tells her. "I'll be in D.C for a few months."

And with that, Caroline settles back and enjoys the short ride to the Grill. If Steve does end up in D.C on Fury's orders, it most likely won't be for long and let's face it, D.C is where all the important people are so it's most likely one of the safest places to be.

Right?

End.

Sort of.

Someone asked me if I would be writing a sequel and continuing this into CA: TWS? And honestly, I really wasn't on planning to. But then I got hooked on Agents of SHIELD and wrote a ONE-SHOT that'll take place between "Young Blood" and "No One's Here To Sleep" which will be the official sequel.

But don't get your hopes up! It's going to be Caroline-centric so she won't see as much as action as Steve and Natasha, but she will get some action and eventually meet the Winter Soldier.

Up next is, of course, the ONE-SHOT titled "Their Last Hope" so be on the lookout for that sometime soon.