Jessa lay silent in bed staring at the ceiling. Outside, the rain attacked her windows with such force that the glass itself reverberated with each impact. She hated rain. Ever since she was in that fucking lab, the rain had terrified her. The sound it made as it mercilessly pounded against any surface shook her to her very core; it made it feel like she was out there feeling its fury on her own skin.

And then there was the lightening.

'Shit.' she thought to herself as she proceeded to pull the covers up directly below her chin. Each thunderclap made her whimper and take refuge beneath the sheets. She tried to drown it out with sleep but to no avail.

All she could do was wait.

But waiting was the worst thing to do for her. After five minutes more of furious weather, she felt that familiar lump in her throat. The feel of her lip trembling was all too known to her.

As the first tear dripped down her temple, she hid her face in her pillow and sobbed quietly. No one would hear due to the rain so she still had some dignity.

After her her throat had cleared and her eyes were raw and probably red, the only remainder of her crying was that she was left involuntarily sniffing every so often.

This was torture. She couldn't sleep like this. Much to her reluctance, she forced herself to stand up and carefully pad towards her door. It wasn't just dark in Stark Tower, it was completely black. Much darker than the night sky.

Jessa quickly exited her bedroom and moped down three doors until she reached the room she was looking for. Quietly knocking three times, she almost silently whispered, "Steve?" Again the lightening hit the ground in the distance and a new wave of tears sprang forward, causing them to roll down her cheeks and onto the carpet. She cautiously opened the door to find the super-soldier sleeping on his stomach soundly, his sheet twisted around his stomach. How could anyone sleep through this?

The intensity of the rain grew causing her to step inside. "St-Steve?" she stuttered, wiping her face with her oversized T-shirt. Steve stirred in his sleep but made no attempt to wake up.

Now the rain was unbearable and Jessa practically dove to the side of his bed. She gingerly put her hands on his forearm and shook lightly, pleading "Steve, please wake up. Please!" through her tears.

Slowly, Steve opened his eyes to find a blonde haired teenager weeping by his bedside.

"Jessa, what's wrong?" he sat up on the side of his bed, draped his cover over his thighs and placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. Jessa looked up at him in return, eyes full to the brim of unshed tears.

"I-I don't like- the rain." she broke down again, crying into her hand as she held her head. Steve immediately pulled her onto his lap and circled his arms around her waist protectively, letting her head fall into the crook of his neck.

"The rain? That's it?" She nodded and tears continued to tumble down her face. He laughed lightly at the idea of having such childlike fears. It was as if she was 10 again. When Jessa's cries had reduced to involuntary sniffing and the tears had stopped, Steve placed her to the side on his bed, stood up and paced into the bathroom that was directly beside his bedroom.

Jessa rubbed her eyes and tried to see him through the darkness. Her vision was limited, however, like anyone else's would be. After a couple of seconds, the soldier reappeared and touched her arm lightly to let her know he was there.

"I don't want to go back to my room." The lightening cracked again in the distance and again Jessa felt her throat tighten. She bit her lip to avoid more tears but they came anyway, trickling their way down her chin and splashing onto her exposed legs beneath her.

Steve felt sorry for Jessa at this point; having a fear provoked is often something you don't want to go through alone. Sitting down beside her again, he pulled her against is chest as if to shield her from the storm.

"It okay, you can sleep in here with me if you want."

"Thanks." Steve swung his legs over onto the bed and proceeded to shift to the far side of the bed so Jessa could lay next to him.

Jessa took the invite and slid in next to him, savouring the warmth of the sheets. A slight blush crept over her features as he turned to face her completely and slipped his arm under her pillow. Thank god it was dark.

After half an hour, Steve was asleep again but Jessa still lay awake on his arm, breathing shakily. The rain had lightened up a little before but that didn't last long. It was relentlessly hammering away at the roof again with no signs of easing up.

Steve must have woken up because he shuffled closer to her and looped his other arm around her. Jessa too moved in closer to him and was thankful for the heat his bare skin was giving off. Resting her hands on his well toned chest, she made an effort to drift off into a slumber.

This time, it worked. She slept peacefully through the night in the super-soldier's arms.