III: The Girl Who Ran: Dirty Hands and Dark Hearts

I: Panama City

Steve leaned on the sun-warmed railing, listening to Sunny's deep, feminine voice in his ear, "You know, if all we are going to talk about is dating, I will sign off." He squinted against the bright sunlight reflecting off the water. He couldn't believe it was below freezing a couple hundred miles north.

He heard Sam's chuckle, "What? You don't have a date? Come on, Becky, it's Valentine's Day!" Sam had refused to call her Sunny after she'd told him her real name. He'd come up with a bland story about her being an old SHIELD agent, but since 'Becky' was friends with 'Bucky', the nickname had stuck.

"I have bigger fish to fry. One of which is walking past me now," Sunny said.

Steve glanced away from the water. His fish, a tall, bulky brunet, was hurrying past him, scattering loose gravel. He had a slight limp, his left leg dragging behind him. The brunet kept looking back and forth, and his eyes stopped at Steve for a moment, then he continued on. "Be careful with these guys. They believe HYDRA can come back, and they probably won't quit for anything," he said and pushed off of the railing. Steve looked back at the canal once, then followed the man.

"Do you have a date, Steve?" Sam asked. "No, nevermind, don't answer that."

Steve rolled his eyes. People had been trying to set him up since he'd come out from the ice, but he never thought that Sam would join the legion of matchmakers.

"Becky, you can go with Cap!" Sam exclaimed.

Steve listened for Sunny's response and pushed through the crowd.

"No. I am not the kind of person one courts." A short pause. "Mine is heading west. What about the others?"

Steve's guy turned a corner around a building. Steve pushed his sunglasses up his nose, and zipped his hoodie up tighter. His arm felt cold. His shield was gone. He wore the straps still, the last remnant of a bygone era.

Sam spoke again, "Same direction, but I have two. And who says 'courts' anymore? How old are you?"

"I was born in the Middle Ages, if you must know." Steve could hear the lightness in her voice, but Sam couldn't, apparently.

"Cap? Cap, tell me she's joking," Sam asked Steve.

Steve laughed and played along, "She's not." The brunet disappeared into a ginormous gray building. Steve paused outside the structure, trying not to appear out of place.

Wanda spoke, "Can we stay focused, please?"

Sunny spoke again, bringing a semblance of seriousness into the conversation. "Mine is going into a warehouse."

"My guys are too."

"How much would you like to wager it is the same one?" Sunny asked.

"I'm already at the warehouse. Meet me outside," Steve commanded. He slipped his phone into his back pocket and waited. Within two minutes, Sam, Wanda, and Sunny were standing with him.

He took in his team. Sam was smiling, wearing an old green baseball cap and a backpack that contained his wings. Wanda stood with her arms crossed, chewing gum and fiddling with her dark red nails. Sunny had a hand on her hip, her backpack covering the rifle strapped to her back.

"Are we going to go in, or are we just going to sit here on our a**es?" Wanda sassed, looking expectantly at Steve.

Sunny sighed and took off her backpack, "We can assume that whatever cameras they have around here, one of them is watching. We have approximately six minutes." Sunny swung her rifle and lifted the strap over her head.

Sam nodded at Sunny and took off his backpack, "Guess that's my cue."

Steve pointed at the building, "Can you see what's in there?"