He brought me back to life; A Captain America romance; Book one.

Chapter 8: Briefing

I feel my body relax. It's warm here. I haven't felt this safe before. I'm weightless again. But the heat I feel against my body lets me know I'm not alone. His strong hands are wrapped tightly around my body pulling close towards his chiselled chest. He's panting hard. I feel his chest move up and down against mine. I open my eyes and to see the most beautiful man I've have ever laid eyes on. His thick lashes resting heavily on top of his ocean blue eyes. They're piercing mine with a look of terror and longing. Where am I? I look around the room and recognize my belongings. My old apartment? I can taste blood. The feeling begins to come back into my body slowly. It's agonizing. I try to scream in pain. There's blood dripping from my face and my throat feels like there's hot pokers inside it. "I've got you" a voice in my ear whispers. The sound of pure torture and agony coming from it is unmistakable. "He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore". The voice says full of anger. His arms wrapped around me tighter. "I've got you" he repeats, to himself it sounds like, breaking into soft sobs.

I wake with a jerk and sit upright. I'm covered in sweat and gasping. I look around the room trying to get my bearings. There are piles of clothes on the floor beside my super king bed. A massive 50-inch Tv on the falling directly in front of me. A gigantic window to my right which makes me feel like I'm floating in the sky. I lie back down and let out a huge puff of air. Never so happy in my life to be in the Avengers complex. There's a bang on the door immediately before it bursts open. "Jesus, boss she's fine. I told you," I hear Happy say as he pokes his head out from behind Tony who is towering over me above my bed. "Erm, morning?" I say confused. Tony kneels down beside me and looks deep into my eyes. The vulnerability in him makes me nervous. "Happy just told me what happened with Sam in the gym." He looks upset. "I'm fine Tony, it was an accident. We were just training. I'm fine." I reach out to grab his hand he pulls away and gets to his feet clearing his throat. He's clearly uncomfortable with his current emotions. "Dr. Banner said her rib is just bruised. She'll be back kicking ass tomorrow." Happy gives me a wink but there's an apologetic look on his face. Tony relaxes slightly and immediately turns on his heels to leave my room. "Briefing room, 10 minutes," he shouts from half way down the hallway. I groan and roll over in the bed. Happy gives me a weak smile, "See you down there," he says and leaves.

I close my eyes as the realization creeps in. "Fuck." Panic starts to take hold and my breathing gets faster. I sit up with my head in my hands. I can't do this. Can I? Before the incident with Sam yesterday I had been beginning to feel somewhat confident that today wouldn't be too bad. I was gravely mistaken. I know today was just a recon mission. I wouldn't actually be getting out of the jet but in 5 weeks I'd be creeping around the halls of the world's most dangerous, demented super villain facility to steal a file that could potentially save the planet? I laughed out loud at the absurdity of it all. I'd need so much more training. The computer hacking part I know I will have down but to think I'll be surrounded by guys who won't hesitate to shoot me in a second gave me the chills. At least on the actual mission I'll have protection. The Avengers do this kind of stuff all the time. They know what they're doing. I'll be fine. Captain America will be there for God's sake. I pause mid thought. The thought of him gives me goose bumps. The good kind. I shake my head to relinquish the feeling... And who knows... maybe if I can get the file and not get killed in the process, I may actually have a hand in saving the planet. Mom would have loved that. For the first time in thinking about the mission I start to feel an emotion I didn't know I could feel. Excited.

I wait for the elevator. Adrenaline coursing through me. I'm giddy. What the hell is wrong with you El? You're a computer geek who's about to go to Berlin with the Avengers to spy on super villains. *bing* A shrill laugh escapes my throat as the elevator doors open. "Something funny?" he asks smiling nervously. "Steve" I blurt out and immediately feel my cheeks turn bright scarlet. I step in and quickly turn away from him. I sneak a glance at his reflection in the mirrored doors. He's wearing Khaki pants and a white t-shirt. The fabric pulled tight across his chest highlighting his huge, toned torso. His hands are in his pockets. For a massive, super solider killing machine, in this moment; he looks likes a nervous teenager. I raise my eyes in the mirror and realize he's looking straight at me. The intensity of his stare makes me feel like a hole is burning into the back of my head. "How's the rib?" he asks tenderly. "It's fine." I shiver slightly at the concern in his voice. "Bruce said it's just bruised and I can go back training tomorrow," I say turning around so I'm facing him dead on. "Listen," I say tentatively, "I never thanked you for what you did yesterday." I notice his eyes widen and twitch. "It's fine," he said curtly. "It's my job to make sure you're safe." I whip my head around and look into his eyes. He stutters "The team, I mean, it's my job to keep the team safe." He recovers but I can see his chest beginning to rise and fall at a faster pace. I blink and turn back around to face the doors. He puckers his lips together and let out a small puff of air. "So I'm part of the team now am I?" I ask teasingly. "Ellie Hart," he says smirking and my heart flutters. *bing* the doors open "You're about to be." He smiles and leads me into the briefing room.

"Captain Rogers, Ms Hart, so nice of you to join us." Nick Fury barks as he stands at the head of a long marble table. His black leather coat sweeping the floor as he motions for us to sit. The room is full of agents. Some I have only seen from across the room at one of Tony's parties. Tony is standing to his right, arms folded, tense. To his left sitting down is Nat, Clint, Bruce, Bucky and Steve. On the opposite side were Rhodes, Agent Hill, Sam and myself. Happy is standing at the door. In that moment I have never felt so out of place in my life. As Fury and Tony start speaking quietly to each other as Sam turns to me and begins apologizing frantically. "Sssh Sam," I say, not wanting to draw attention. "It's fine, shut up." I give him a warning look and he returns his gaze to the head of the table like a child who has just been yelled at. I can see Clint and Bucky giggle across the table but I ignore them trying to focus on Tony and Fury before I pass out with nerves.

"Okay," Fury begins and everyone falls silent. "So, we know the plan. Today is just a mission to scope out the HYDRA facility in Berlin and gather Intel of the layout using satellite. Once we get the pictures and know where the hell the main frame room is we can put together the plan for taking these sons of bitches down once and for all," he says in an authoritative voice. The nerves coursing through me start to make my palms sweat and I rub them on my thighs.

"Now, we know the Avengers have a long standing, shall we say, relationship with these scumbags. However, under the most recent sadistic leadership of Gideon Malik, we now know they've successfully created a new vapor serum, which they want to release into the earth's atmosphere which will turn at least half the human race into an enhanced, brainwashed zombie army who will be at the command of HYDRA and will probably be forced to kill the remaining half of the planet. The formula for this serum is under the highest protective Encryption we've ever seen. Our only hope is to physically get this formula before they can complete their plan by breaking into the building and hacking the system in person. Ladies and gents, in seven weeks' time, under close protection of the Avengers, Ms Ellie Hart may just be the person to save the planet. Questions?" Fury says matter-of-factly while taking a sip of his coffee. I feel like I'm having an out of body experience.

What. the. Actual. fuck? I think to myself blinking, uncontrollably. Obviously, Tony and the others left out some minor HORRIFYING details when they recruited me for this shit. My breathing speeds up. This is insane.
"Now, Captain Rogers will take point on today's recon mission seeing as his experience with hydra will be most beneficial, Cap?" He nods at Steve who has not taken his eyes off me. "We'll be in two teams. Bucky and I will head down to the field and try locate their weak points for gaining access in a few weeks. Romanoff and Clint will be in charge of the infrared satellite pictures, along with Ellie. We need to be quick and go undetected. If Malik even gets one hint that we're coming he may speed up his plan and that cannot happen." The authority in his voice is memorizing. He commands the whole room. It's the first time I've seen Captain America in action so to speak. I bite my bottom lip. What the hell is wrong with me? Here I am in one of the scariest situations of my life and all I can think about are the way Steve's full pink lips move while he's speaking. "-you got that Ms. Hart?" I hear someone say. " Erm sorry what was that?" I look around the room at who was addressing me still feeling like I'm about to faint. Fury rolls his eyes in frustration. "I said, you will stay in the jet and liaise with Bruce back here at HQ about the images feeding back" he repeats impatiently. "Tony are you sure she's up to this?" Fury asks and I feel my blood boil "I- um" I stutter. I look over at Steve and he nods once. "I'm ready," I say shakily, returning Steve's gaze. He licks his lips before smirking. I don't know where this courage has come from but I think it has something to do with Steve's speech. "We leave at 10 sharp." Steve concludes and everyone starts to pile out of the room. I smile nervously at the agents and leave. Before returning to my room to get ready Steve catches my eye in the hall and winks.