Conscience (Captain America FF book 3)

Chapter 22: Hang in there Darling

Steve Rogers

Captain America

"You could have saved me Steve." Jade stated as I watched the three situations unfold. In one scenario Jade held my shield sitting on my bed back in the tower, in the second she kneeled teary eyed in the grass with Markus holding a gun to her, and in the final one she barely clung to the towers edge with fear in her eyes.

"Choose." said all three at once.

The Jade that was still twenty-four drummed her fingers on my shield as she purred "Save me. I was the one you first fell in love with. I was there before all the pain. If you choose me none of the pain ever occurred. It will be as if it never happened." She spun my shield around to reveal an image. It was Jade and I sitting at a table laughing, there were wedding bands on our fingers. We looked so happy. Then two children came into the scene. A 7 year old girl who had bright blonde hair like me and green eyes and a boy no older than five with raven hair like Jade and light blue eyes that resembled mine. It was beautiful. "We have a family?" I asked, feeling over whelmed.

Jade smiled, looking as beautiful as the day I had met her. "Yes. I leave S.H.I.E.L.D and hero work to be a wife and mother. We could live happily for eternity if you save me."

It didn't add up. Jade would never leave her line of work. Not ever. I turned to the second Jade who was kneeling on as she began to speak in a frightened tone. "Save me. I need you more than ever. Don't you get it? If Markus kills me Hydra wins wether he lives or not. The organization you fought to take down for decades wins all because you couldn't save the woman you love. You let them kill me after you promised to love and take care of me after all we had been through. Hydra made sure you watched me die."

I couldn't pick. They were all Jade. They were all my lover. The last Jade is the one that hurt the most. As she hung from Avengers tower she didn't plea for salvation. She simply said in her beautiful Asgardian accent that sounded much more extravagant than usual "Steve my dear, don't worry about picking the right one. They all are the same woman that fell in love with you. I don't want you to feel guilt for scenarios I put myself in my entire life. This is the hand I've been dealt. Our lives will always be intertwined, they have been for quite some time. I don't plan on giving up on you now. So stop blaming yourself darling. Keep believing and don't give up on me."

The. Everything went in slow motion. Every moment I made felt like I was made of molasses. Jades fingers slipped from the towers ledge, three bullets were fired into Jades stomach, and the last one was being dragged away by Hydra. I couldn't move to do save any of them. This was pure torture. I had to watch my love be torn from my grasp all over and all at once.

"It's time to wake up my love." Jade shouted as she fell from the tower. The second Jade already lay dead, the first sat in a dark room chained and beaten to pulp. It broke my heart as I heard the sickening crack of the last Jade coming in contact with the hard pavement.

"Wake up Cap!"
"Wake up!"
"Tony is going through your sketch pad again."

My eyes snapped open and Bucky, Sam and Skye all stood in front of me. "Where's Jade?" I grumbled, not even acknowledging the weird statements I had been met with. Skye furrowed her eyebrows as Bucky answered confused as Skye and Sam "They started surgery a few hours ago, remember?"

Oh. That's right.

"You okay Steve? You've been talking in your sleep. Something about saving her?" Sam asks patting my back. I shake my head, rubbing my face. "Just nightmares pal. I'm fine."

Bucky and Sam knew me better than that and Skye wasn't buying it either. She faked a sneeze, causing Bucky, Sam and I to exchange confused looks. "Oh, sorry. I'm just allergic to bull." Sam and Bucky tried to contain their laughter, knowing that I wasn't really okay.

"It was just about Jade okay." I admitted, slouching in my seat. "I'm losing her the same way I lost you." I sighed looking at Bucky. "It was so sudden, fast and could have saved you both."

Bucky pats my back, comforting me. "Don't worry pal. She's gonna be just fine. You know it's hard to get rid of us." Skye and Sam nod in agreement. "Yeah! Have you seen her S.H.I.E.L.D record? Turns out she is way more of a badass then I imagined. She went to Russia, broke into the embassy after negotiations went wrong, took a knife to the back, scared the hell out of them the delivered the Russian generals wife's baby while still making it home in time to see her brother graduate the 5th grade."

I remembered reading that in her file years back. It felt like centuries ago. Her records amazed me. She had been held in forty different prisons in space, thirty-six on earth and six asylums for the criminally insane. Her mercenary jobs success rate was 100% and she was the best there was, Jade even ranked above DeadPool. She had been a force to be reckoned with.

I nodded, now surprised at all by Skye's words. "I don't doubt it."

Agent Simmons came stumbling out of Jades room covered in blood, looking exhausted and with out. I leapt to my feet, panic filling me as I asked frantically "Is Jade okay?"

Simmons sighs, wiping the sweat from her forehead "I hope so Captain Rogers. I truly hope so. If she doesn't wake within the week then the worst has occurred. We can only hope for a miracle at this point."

Hang in there Jade, you're going to be alright.