Steve's increased involvement with SHIELD was... troubling at times for Rogue. She knew that he liked to feel needed and like he was being useful, but there was just something about the whole affair that set her nerves on edge. Perhaps it was his constantly being put in danger. Maybe she just didn't quite trust SHIELD. Whatever it was, it left her feeling unsettled and ill at ease, and she worried that it would affect their relationship -- that was why she didn't bring it up with Steve and instead pushed her concerns aside. He was happy, or at least he seemed to be, and she couldn't ask him to stop helping people. He needed this sort of thing in his life, and that was just something she had to accept and deal with if they were going to have a life together.

Sometimes, though... Sometimes she worried. Occasionally she was even a little bit afraid. There were moments when he seemed to stumble around something in their conversations, sidestepping a topic that seemed to weigh on him. She couldn't begin to think of what it might be beside the present state of their relationship or his ever increased involvement with SHIELD. It was entirely possible that it was both, and she was fairly certain she wasn't going to like that outcome. Old doubts rose every time she started down that path and it was starting to eat her up inside.

But she kept pushing through it, doing her damnedest to make sure he had no idea that she was at all bothered about anything beyond the norm. It wasn't fair to him.