Bound to You - Steve Rogers

Chapter 28

Bound to you: Christina Aguilera

So much, so young, I've faced on my own
Walls I built up became my home
I'm strong and I'm sure there's a fire in us
Sweet love, so pure
I catch my breath with just one beating heart
And I embrace myself, please don't tear this apart

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Natasha asks. The time you've stayed at the compound was the longest time you and Nat had spent together in years. She wasn't ready to lose you again to your old ways.

"You mind explaining while I get cleaned up?" You ask Coulson, not particularly enjoying the feeling of dried blood stuck to your skin or in your hair. He nods, watching you walk past him before facing the Avengers. With his classic smile, he starts to explain to them what is going on.

"I'm sending Y/N off on an undercover mission at a Hydra base that we've been monitoring for a couple of days now." Coulson goes on to further explain how it was a training base to get agents ready for the serum. Through both physical and mental tests each day they pick off the weakest link while the strongest receive the serum. There has also been mention of the head visiting a few times. Scouts in the area couldn't spot who they were. The head always manages to walk in their blind spots. That's where you come in. Knowing everything about Hydra and the serum makes you perfect for the mission.

You make it back to the team when Coulson asks if there were any questions. No one has noticed you yet. Which is something you'll use to your advantage to hear what they have to say. Steve was the first, not a surprise but what he said was. You thought he'd ask about something along the lines of she shouldn't go alone or why her. But what he asked made your heart skip a beat.

"Is it safe? I know Y/N is the best of the best of the best but that also makes her the perfect candidate for the serum." You bit the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from smiling. Probably for the first time in forever Steve wasn't questioning your skills or your trust but your safety.

He saw what happened to others and he didn't want to lose you to an experimental serum. But if you were injected he knew you'd be a better soldier than him. The serum is said to amplify what's already inside and what's inside you isn't the darkness you claim but a tenderness, a passion. A fire. Steve was thinking selfishly as well. With the serum, you'd live as long as he would and he wouldn't have to say goodbye to you too early.

You felt butterflies inside of you. The same feeling you felt laughing in the pool with him or when you shared your food. A feeling that you haven't felt in a while. Still, you pushed them aside. It didn't matter that he could make you feel these things, that he could break down the walls. None of it matters when he chose someone else over you.

"That's why I'll only be gone for a month, at the most." You make yourself known. All eyes land on you but only one pair made the world stop. "The head is said to come at the end of each month to see the final candidates. If they are there we make our move. If I'm made at any point there are detailed extraction protocols, the same thing if I am supposed to be injected with the serum." It was a high-stakes mission. Every outcome was accounted for, and every what-if had a solution. This could be the final operation and there was no room for mistake.

Silence follows your voice. No one disagrees with you, even if they did you'll still be going undercover. "When do you leave?" Nat keeps her stoic exterior but you knew her better than that. You know that she hates that this was all temporary, that once it's over it'll be weeks until she sees you again. That was just how your life went. You keep everything temporary cause anything that is permanent gets taken away from you.