For The Love Of A Captain Book 2

Fugitives

After the very close call at the Triskelion, I was even more exhausted but we had to keep moving. We made it back to our apartment and after Steve had checked it to make sure there weren't any SHIELD agents there, we snuck in.

"Grab only what you need babe," Steve called to me as we got changed. I would have killed for a shower but there wasn't time. We knew that SHIELD wouldn't be far behind us and we didn't have much time. Steve changed into a normal shirt with a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants and I changed into a workout outfit with a hoodie. We needed to stay as unnoticeable as possible so I grabbed my fake glasses as well and put them on. We packed a few outfits in a bag and grabbed necessary things like our computers and phone chargers. I also made sure to grab the cash we had saved up that we had put in our safe because I knew that SHIELD would have all of our accounts frozen. This is why I kept cash in more than one place. I had a few other hiding spots that we could take advantage of if we needed to. Once we had gotten everything packed up, we got ready to leave.

"We should take my car," I said suddenly. Steve stopped and looked at me.

"What?" he said.

"We are too exposed on the bike, plus I can't hold our bag on there," I responded. He thought for a minute and nodded. I grabbed my keys from inside the table next to the door and we snuck out shutting the door softly behind us. Thankfully no one was on our floor right now and we ran down the stairs to my car. I threw our bag into the back and jumped in and started the car. I peeled out of my parking spot screeching my tires as I did. I looked in the rear view mirror and made sure we weren't being followed.

"Where to now?" I asked. 

"The hospital," Steve replied. "We need to get that drive. We need to find out what is on it and what Fury wanted us to know." I nodded and headed towards the hospital. It wasn't far from our apartment and within minutes we were there. I parked in the garage and we took off towards that vending machine that Steve had put the drive in the night before. We walked through the hospital quickly but calmly, just trying to look as though we were supposed to be there. Finally we reached the vending machine and as I kept watch, I heard Steve groan. I spun around and noticed that the drive was gone.

"Where is it?" I hissed. Just then a woman stepped up behind us. It was Nat. I was in shock until she blew a bubble of pink bubblegum and it clicked. Nat had the drive. A split second later, Steve had her by the arm and was pushing her into an empty room. He slammed her against the wall in anger.

"Where is it?" he snarled at her.

"It's safe," she responded. 

"Do better," he shot back.

"Where did you get it?" Nat asked.

"Why would I tell you?" Steve questioned. I was watching them back and forth like a tennis match.

"Fury gave it to you. Why?" Nat observed, clearly confused. 

"What's on it?" I asked.

"I don't know," she responded.

"Stop lying," Steve snarled again.

"I only act like I know everything, Rogers," she spat at him. He looked over his shoulder to make sure that we were safe. So far so good.

"But you knew Fury hired the pirates didn't you?" he said. I was confused. What pirates?

"Makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you," she replied. He shook her slightly. I put a hand on his arm to try to calm him. Now it made sense. This was about their last mission when Nat got the information on the drive.

"I'm not going to ask you again," Steve said, the rage in his voice very clear.

"I know who killed Fury. And so do you Alia," she said, looking at me. Steve looked over at me in shock. 

"I had a theory but I didn't think it was true," I said with a sigh. Steve released Nat and turned to look at me. "Most of the intelligence community don't believe he exists. Those that do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years."

"So he's a ghost story?" Steve asked. I sighed again. I really hated this.

"Five years ago Nat and I were escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out our tires near Odessa. We lost control and went straight over a cliff. I pulled him out while Nat pulled herself out. But the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering the engineer so he shot him through me," I explained. I lifted up my shirt to show Steve the scar that he always talked about that was on the side of my stomach. He often kissed this scar when we would lay in bed together.

"You did say you got that on a mission in Iran," he said, looking over at me. I nodded. 

"I just never gave you all the details. Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye bye bikinis," I added sarcastically.

"Babe you look fine in a bikini, the scar isn't even that noticeable," he said softly, trying to make me feel better. I laughed dryly.

"Going after him is a dead end, I know I've tried," Nat said. I knew how extensively she had tried to find the Winter Soldier when I was in the hospital. She held up the drive. "Like you said, he's a ghost story." Steve took the drive and looked over at me again.

"Well let's find out what the ghost wants," he said. I sighed again, the fatigue getting to me now.

"I have an idea. But you two will need to change," Nat said. We both looked at her incredulously. "You can't go to the mall looking like that."

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We decided to head back to our apartment again. It was dangerous but it was close. Nat also said that she would keep watch so that we could get a couple of hours sleep. I was grateful to her because I was exhausted and didn't know how much more I could take. We all got into my car and headed back. This time it was Nat who checked the apartment to make sure that it was safe. When she was sure that it was safe, she gave us the signal and we snuck in. Once we were inside and the door was locked, I sighed with relief. I couldn't believe how much had happened in the last twenty four hours. It seemed like weeks ago that Steve and I had gone to the Smithsonian to see his exhibit. 

"Ok, you two get showers, I'll make something for lunch really quick before you lay down to get some sleep," Nat said. I hugged her and Steve and I went to our room.

"Are you ok?" Steve asked me. 

"Yeah, I'm just tired. We didn't get any sleep and we haven't eaten since yesterday at the diner. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I just want this crap to be over with," I sighed. He walked over and took me in his arms. 

"I know sweetheart. We will figure this out, I promise," he whispered into my hair. We both got undressed and jumped in the shower. We tried to be quick because we needed to get some sleep before we left and it was going to be a short amount of time. Once we were clean, we stepped out and found a tray on our bed with several sandwiches and drinks. We sat and ate quickly and quietly. When we were finally done, I was almost unconscious. I could barely stand. I couldn't understand how Steve was still able to function. Must have been the serum in his blood. He pulled back the covers on our bed and laid down with me. It wasn't long before I was asleep but I could have sworn that I heard him speak right before I fell asleep.

"Once this is over, I'm going to propose," he whispered as sleep washed over me.