𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 | 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬

The Truth Hurts

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱, 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯."

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Deciding where to go, after quite literally being bombed at the old base, was a lot harder under heavy duress. They fled from the base and climbed into the first vehicle at their disposal, which had not been for at least a mile off from the base. Steve didn't question it. He simply thanked Chloe and the Hive Mind for leading them to an abandoned car, hotwired it and got them going. He couldn't focus very well on the road knowing they had been only inches from death and that Seren had somehow taken the brunt of the situation — again.

Seren had stirred awake only a few minutes after leaving the base and immediately remembered what happened. Though groggy and wobbly on her feet, she wanted to make sure that everyone else was alright. Steve put a stop to it and told her that she needed to take it easy and let them figure it out.

She had not been happy with him for ten minutes straight. She felt so useless. "I'm supposed to know how to get people out of danger," she argued with him even when they were on the road again. "It's been my entire job all my life and right now you're telling me that I should back down?"

Fortunately, Steve wasn't about to let her argue her way out of resting. She could be mad at him all she wanted but he knew that she was just mad at the world instead...and with good reasons. "You're not at your best right now, so let us lead for a while, okay?" He reached for her closest hand over the armrest between them. From the corner of his eye, he saw the bitterness in her face. She was struggling to cope with the reality they were now facing.

Behind them, Natasha was vigilant looking back on the road to see if they were being followed. She had stolen a few weapons scattered with the bomb and had prepared them just in case they would need them.

Chloe was dead quiet, face blank. She was still thinking about Zola's words before they had to run. The fact she was considered an asset for HYDRA was terrifying...but it scared her more not knowing what HYDRA wanted to do with her in the first place. She heard the whispers of the Hivemind in her head. It was a mixture of English and the aliens' native language, all incomprehensible though. She rubbed circles over her temples, hoping to ease the ache that typically came with these messages.

"What are they saying now?" Natasha said, breaking through Chloe's concentration.

"Huh?" Chloe dropped her hands from her head and looked up to see everyone making eyes at her. Even Seren had peered around the passenger seat to see what was going on.

"It's them, right? The Hivemind?" Steve assumed correctly. He watched Chloe through the rear view mirror, recognizing the expressions on her face from similar moments they had over the course of the year.

"Yeah, but it's gibberish," Chloe said quickly, shrugging. "I...I can't understand what they're saying. I'm just trying to ignore them."

"Maybe that's the problem. Ignoring everything..." Seren said with an undeniable sourness in her voice. She felt Steve squeezing her hand, trying to comfort her again. "We just sat there and ignored everything," she continued. "Now people are dead and we're being hunted like criminals."

"We'll get out of this, Seren, I promise you that," Steve said, taking a brief glance at her. Seren heard his guilt and it was the only thing that would make her semi-calm down. Nothing was his fault.