verb.
To fall back under pressure. To shrink back physically or emotionally.
noun.
The kickback of a gun upon firing.
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It takes a stubborn mind to cling to their humanity when the world seeks to strip it away.
It takes a desperate soul to reach f...
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"Kat..."
For a moment, she feared he was going to draw away from her, as he unsteadily breathed out her name in a rough whisper that made her toes curl and her stomach tighten. It could have been too much for him, it could have been completely the wrong move, the wrong way to prove how she felt. His eyes, searching hers so carefully, seemed conflicted in the wake of her light kiss.
But he lifted his right hand from where he gripped her waist, raising it to skim his knuckles so tenderly over her cheek, leaving her to lean into his warm touch with a trembling sigh of relief. Still locked in his arms, still settled so close on his lap, her heart was beating out a frantic rhythm, waiting for him to say something, to react.
And then his large hand shifted to cup her jaw, drawing her down to meet his lips once more in a slow, desperately loving revision of that first hesitant kiss.
Maybe it hadn't been the wrong thing to do.
In fact, as his fingers threaded into her hair, his lips moving so intimately over hers, she considered that it might have been the best decision she'd made in months.
"That was a real risky move, Doll..."
A weak laugh bubbled past her lips as his gentle chastisement was whispered through the kiss, her frame relaxing at that term of endearment that she had been afraid she might never hear again.
"It paid off though, didn't it?" She breathed out, still gently sweeping her fingers through his drying hair, reminding herself of the very reason she had found the nerve to kiss him in the first place. "I just... Seeing you like this... I needed you to know that you're not... You're not him, not anymore. You don't need to come to terms with everything yet, I know that's a long road, but what happened today wasn't your fault."
Softly, he sighed wearily against her lips, resuming tracing his fingertips over her features with deliberate care; "I don't deserve you, Kat."
"I'll be the judge of that." She reminded him affectionately; "C'mon Barnes, I'm a big girl. Trust me to make my own choices."
"If you're talking about Siberia..."
"I am. I'm talking about everything. That place, us – whatever might happen from the moment we leave this house." She clarified, "If you trust me, then that means respecting the fact that I'm not leaving you. Trust the fact that you know I can handle whatever outcome we end up with. It's like we said before, we're a team, and I'm in this one hundred percent. I'm on your side, Barnes."
Judging by the way his jaw tightened at her words, the way his gaze hardened momentarily, it was a harsh truth to swallow – but Kat wasn't about to let her resolve be swayed by a few sweet kisses and a handsome face.
"If something happens to you..."
"Then it happens." She reasoned against his reluctant murmur; "In the same way something could have happened in the last six months, and we'd both have been powerless to stop it. Let's just focus on what we can control, for now."
