Nomad (Steve Rogers)

10

I sit in silence the next morning, wondering how the hell I'm going to break it to Steve that Ross is working for Hydra. It's not just that though, but the truth behind my parents murders. That's what's hit hard the most. Suddenly this has turned very personal, and my desire to turn the tables and kill Ross myself is the only thing that's on my mind.

Hydra are planning their rise within the government, and Ross is the man to help strengthen that. If they get rid of Captain America then their worries are over and they can keep growing on the inside, taking down officials and replacing them with their own one by one, until they get to the very top.

Presidency.

That would be disastrous.

"You okay?" Steve notes my untalkative self as usually I never shut up. But today I'm solemn looking and have all these thoughts conflicting in my head at once.

Ross needs to die, and I have to be the one to do it.

"I'm fine." I mumble

"No you're not – out with it." He presses, knowing that something's wrong. "Did you even sleep?"

I shift slightly, "What's sleep anyway?"

He sighs at my defiance. Something that always irritates him. "You were up trying to break the code weren't you?" and I don't look at him. "Aster..."

I glare at my coffee that I haven't touched (and has now probably gone cold) and then speak. Either way Steve will find out, and will hate me even more from keeping this from him. "I got into the files..." I tell him quietly.

His face changes. "And? What did you find?" He's filled with concern. When I say nothing he presses further. "Aster! What did you find!"

"Ross is working for Hydra...and they're planning on wiping out government officials until finally they will take over everything...including Presidency..." I come out with it. "You're number one on the hit list, along with the others of course. But you're most definitely at the top – you have been ever since you got out of the ice."

"Yeah, don't I know it." Steve sighs. "I thought we'd wiped them all out when we raided all those bases. They just keep on coming back..."

"Cut the head off one snake and two more shall appear." I say the words that I've come across before, even on the emails that Ross has kept. Signing off always with 'Hail Hydra'. My eyes now meet Steve's own and he knows that there's something else. "This whole thing just got personal...and I need to leave for DC."

"You're not going anywhere."

I stand up and go to get my jacket, but he grabs my wrist tightly and stares at me. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Why's it personal?" he demands.

"Because he was the one to hire the widow that killed my parents, and now I need to kill him." I yank my wrist free and throw my things into my bag. "Trust me, once he's dead I can expose him and then that'll be the end of it all..." I stop and look at him. "I'm doing you a favour."

Steve puts his hands firmly on my upper arms and stops me. "If he knows that you know then he'll kill you."

"Then let him, because by the time he tries he'll already be bleeding out." I snap back

"Aster!"

"For goodness sake Steve just let me go and do my job! I'm an assassin! I kill people and don't give a damn about anything else! Look at me! Ross made me who I am!"

He stares at me for a moment and then kisses me hard, almost hungrily – like he's been holding back for a good while before he breaks away. "You're better than this. You kill Ross and you won't feel any satisfaction in the long run, it won't bring your parents back."

I won't cry

I won't

Not in front of him.

I can't show him how weak I am when I've spent so long being so strong.  "Please...just let me go..." I say in almost a whisper. 

Steve paces for a while before he makes his decision. "No. If we're gonna stop Ross then we do it together, but we need to be smart about it. We can't just go rushing in, no matter how badly you want him dead." 

I stop him as i suddenly feel the overwhelming urge to kiss him again, and do so. "Sorry...I...what the hell is even happening between us?" I ask, frustrated by the whole thing. 

What are we?

Co-workers? Friends with benefits? Still Enemies? Because that's how it feels sometimes. 

"I don't know." He admits. 

Great. Even Cap doesn't know. I steer away from the subject as there's far more important things to be worrying about. I sit on the edge of the bed and Steve crouches down in front of me. "I want him dead...I want to make him suffer over and over..." 

"Aster...it's better we keep him alive. He could give us more information once he knows that you're aware of what he's up to. We can use him to an advantage. At the end of the day he'll only be another kill to add to your list." 

I hate that in some ways he's right, but I don't admit that. "So what do we do?" 

"We figure out how to stop him, but for now we have to continue moving around. I can fill Sam and Nat in, even Fury, and then we can go get that son of a bitch." 

I smile slightly at this. "I like it when you get all determined and authoritative. Captain" 

Steve smirks. "I know you do." and turns my chin to face him before he kisses me once more. "and I like it when you submit pretty damn easily..." I don't even realise that I'm automatically beginning to take my clothes off until he pulls my vest top over my head and I hurriedly undo his belt. "Open your legs..." he commands in a murmur.

"Okay..." I say through breathy gasps and then see his look. 

"That's not right sweetheart..." 

I know that as soon as I say those words then he'll have the ability to take all my worries away and make me feel alive when I already feel so dead. 

Two words...

"Yes Captain."