(Listen to When I Look At You By: Miley Cyrus while you read this one. This song is all around beautiful. From it's stunning lyrics to it's emotional build throughout, to the vocals. I wrote this one shot to it, and I feel it really adds to the story.)

They rushed you into the small control room with very little explanation falling from their lips, and you were sure your feet had never moved so quickly in your entire life. All they had said when they hurried down the narrow hallway your way, was that Steve was on the line, and he had requested to speak to you. And to only you alone. They didn't need to say much more than that. Everything else you needed to know was written across their tightly held faces, and the unspoken words were reflected back to you in their shadowed eyes. And although the sinking feeling had filled you the moment you saw the hallowed expressions as they ushered you into the room, it still felt as though you were walking through a fog. Like you weren't quite awake, and that everything happening around you belonged to some kind of fast passed dream. 

And yet, the goosebumps that sensitized your skin and the nauseous sensation that churned your stomach, was enough to prove to your doubting mind, that every step you took into that small room, was real. That this moment, one you had always told yourself was a possibility, was really happening. 

The little yet somehow wide seeming room, was lit up by the hundreds of tiny lights, blinking and shining across the control boards surrounding you. And spotting a simple chair placed in front of a small microphone on the counter, you slowly walk towards it. Your legs trembling with each step you took, and it was a miracle you had even made it down that hallway in the first place. It felt as though you were walking willingly towards the thing that was going to kill you. Knowing exactly what heartbreak and pain was to await you, and yet your body still led you towards it. 

Your wobbling legs bend as you approach the chair, and faintly feel as the soft upholstery touches the backs of your legs. Your hands felt clammy as you wiped them against the soft fabric that flowed down your thighs, and swallowing nervously, you glanced behind you. And noticed that the men who had led you here, had left. Leaving you here alone, to give you and Steve your final moments in privacy. And their absence said something in itself. Turning back to look at the silver microphone waiting on the table in front of you, your eyes close softly. Your eyelashes fluttering anxiously against your cheekbones as you inhale a deep but shaky breath. 

Opening your eyes with one last small effort to slow your racing heart, you lean forward. 

"Steve?"

Your voice seemed so loud as it almost echoed around you in the near empty room, and you could hear the fear that bounced off the walls in your voice. It didn't sound like the voice you once knew as your own; this one was frightened and trembled on the verge of painful tears. It wasn't strong or hopeful, in fact the voice was sucked of all hope and crushed of all strength. Leaving it stripped bare with it's vulnerability and sadness to be the only things heard. 

"I didn't think they'd find you in time."

He sounded so far away, as though he was lost in a void that threatened to suck him completely in like a black hole. His voice cracked over the sound of the radio, and you could hear the rushing of air and a motor in the background. But even as the noises nearly drained out the sound of his melodic voice, you could only focus on him. It didn't matter how soft his voice was or where in the world he was right now, all that mattered to you in this moment was him.

"I'm here Steve," You croaked softly, and hadn't even realized the tears were constricting your throat. "I'm right here."

"I think I'm going to be home a little late tonight," He said and you could tell he was having to speak loudly over the sound of the aircraft he was flying. "can you forgive me?"

You choked on the tears that burned trails down your face, and at his words. You knew he feared the same things that you did in this moment, and yet he was still trying to distract you from the impending future. He was still looking out for you, even as he flew only God knows where, in a time when he should've been more concerned with his own well being. 

"Of course," You cried, and you couldn't help but laugh softly at the outlandish conversation you were having at a time like this. "of course I can forgive you Steve. "

There was something inside of yourself, that told you that it wasn't just his lighthearted admission that he was asking forgiveness for. And even with that unnerving sensation that settled itself into the very essence of your core, your answer stayed the same. There was next to nothing you couldn't forgive from Steve Rogers. 

Even sacrifice, something that was destined to take him away from you, wasn't something you could hold against him. For it was part of who he was, it was in his foundation. And something that deeply imbedded, never required forgiveness.  

"I don't care when it is, or what time you come in that front door tracking in your muddy boots," Your voice cracked as tears poured from your eyes, and bittersweet memories began to fill your brain. "all I care about is that you come home."

You questioned if your words, so feather like soft and breathless, had even graced his ears. For it was silent after you spoke, except for the rushing and swirling sound of the air on his end. And the thumping rhythm of your heartbeat that echoed in your ears with vengeance. 

"Steve?" You cried softly, shutting your eyes as his name escaped past your trembling lips. Fearing in every inch of your being that you had lost him. 

"I'm here," He called out to you shortly after however, and a breath of air swept its way into your lungs. The beautiful sound of his voice, although out of breath and filled with anxiety, calmed your body enough to breathe through the pain. And even as the noises that accompanied inside of that plane, threatened to override the sound of his voice, you held tightly to his words. You were able to concentrate only on his voice, allowing everything else to fade into the background. 

"I'm here darling," He assured you again, and you could hear his heavy breathing over the radio. "I was just thinking about the first night I walked you home."

And instantly, the memory of that day caused a small smile to grow across your tired lips. Shadowing over the nerves that caused your teeth to sink into your bottom lip, and allowed a warmth to rush over your shivering body. 

"And how deathly nervous I was around you." Steve laughed breathlessly and you shut your eyes at the sound that filled your chest with a rippling warmth. One that spread into every crevice of your heavily beating heart. 

"I wanted to hold your hand as we walked down that street together, but my hands, they shook like I'd been struck by lightning."

His voice faded in and out, growing harder to hear the essence of each word he spoke. But it didn't stop the tears from flowing from your eyes at the remembrance of that night. Steve might've been far away, thousands of feet in the air, and yet it felt as though he was in the room right there beside you.

"And when we finally reached your front door, I looked at you, and every thing in my body screamed to kiss you goodnight. And yet, I stood there standing frozen like some kind of fool."

"You weren't a fool," You croaked softly, still with a smile determined to keep it's spot against your quivering lips. "you were a gentleman, you still are."

Steve laughed again, but it only lasted as long as a single breath. An exhale of air that had gotten caught in his throat perhaps. "I should've kissed you."

Your eyes squeezed tighter at his words, and even as his voice faded, the emotion that filled his voice was overwhelming. "You've made up for it love, don't you think?"

"I should've kissed you that night, and a million more times after."

A sob escaped your lips before you could even try and hold it in. "Come home to me Steve, and we'll make up for the time you think you've lost."

"I should've held your hand longer,"

Something in his voice told you that time was running out. And the fluttering of metal behind him sounded like a ticking clock, causing your heart to race at the moment that was beginning to fade faster than it had arrived. 

"I should've told you I loved you more..."

"Steve--" It felt like he was slipping through your very fingers, and there was nothing you could do to stop it. 

The radio continued to crackle softly, "I love you. And when I get home I'm never letting you go. I lov--"

The line went dead after that. 

And the room that you thought was small and unnerving quiet before, felt like a hole you had fallen into. As though the floor beneath you gave out, and the darkness sucked you down into it's voiceless void. 

"Steve?" You cried out, not even registering the sound of your voice. And although you knew it was too late, that he wasn't on the other end of that radio anymore, you still called for him. 

The day you had feared for so long had finally come, and yet you still cried out his name. It was the only sound you could hear echoing around you in the tiny control room. The sound of his name, bouncing off the walls with an agony that stabbed you in the heart. It was torturous, and yet you couldn't stop yourself from screaming out his name. Louder and louder it echoed around you, the punch hitting you harder each time the sound wrapped back around to reach your ears. 

His name grew fainter as your voice began to give out, the croaks becoming too painful and too futile to continue. And every ounce of strength left in your bones had dissipated, as your head fell into your arms that rested against the table top. You were limp as silent tears rolled down your cheeks, following the tight trails left from the old, and they slipped down your face and onto your neck. But you couldn't move, you couldn't think, you simply laid there. Frozen in the loss that plagued your body. 

How was one to move on when they lost their home? Everything that made them who they were, where they found themselves at the end of the day, night after night? How were you expected to pick up the pieces when you had lost everything?

Something suddenly nudged uncomfortably at your collarbone, and it took everything to sit up slowly. Looking down with heavy eyelids, your eyes fell upon the small gold chain you wore, that had buried itself underneath the collar of your white knit sweater. With shaky fingers, you gently lifted it from it's warm yet bothersome placement, and looked down at the delicate piece of jewelry. 

With all that had taken place over the course of the day, you had completely forgotten about the small gold locket you had put on in the early morning hours. And looking at it now, a new kind of pain tugged at your heartstrings. Slowly, hesitant to open it for the pain that would be waiting, your fingertips found the tiny clasp. And opened the locket to reveal the black and white picture waiting inside.

It was a gift, from Steve Rogers. One in which you could still feel the way his fingers brushed softly over your neck, as he placed the chain around you. And staring at the picture imbedded inside, your eyes welled with new bittersweet tears. For the smiling face looking back rubbed salt on the gapping wound of your heart, and yet seemed to try and stitch it back together by the beauty of his twinkling blue eyes. The photo was faded and worn, colorless, and yet everything about it spoke volumes. It came to life in the tips of your fingers as you held the locket open shakily. 

And in his eyes, you saw the thing you had lost just moments ago. Your home. 

Steve Rogers would always be your home. It didn't matter when he enlisted that he would be a country or two away, you knew that wherever he went a part of him would still be with you. And as you looked at the beautiful man staring back at you in a small and slightly smudged photograph, you realized this wasn't much different. Heaven was just a country or two away.

Steve would always be with you, for he was imbedded in your heart. And not even death could destroy that piece of you. It broke your heart and the foundation you stood upon, but it could never... and would never, break your love for the man that had been your home for as long as you could remember. Steve Rogers would forever be your home, and he would forever be with you.

A/N: I almost choked up writing this one! When I first listened to the song, I had this sensation of racing against the clock... the build in the song being as though you were running towards someone before time ran out. And that's how I thought of the setting for this one! I hope you all liked it!❤