Loving The Captain

Chapter 37

"Cap, we gotta fall back!" Steve heard Sam yelling into his com. "This is getting outta hand."

Steve didn't answer as he dodged a blast from one of Tony's phasers by leaping off the roof of the six story building he had been running across. Landing on his feet and doing a tuck and roll, Steve disappeared into a hidden alcove. "Roger that. Fall back. Meet at the rendezvous point."

Not staying put long enough for Tony to scan the area and find him, Steve leapt his way up onto the on ramp for the highway and rolled under a passing semi, having just enough time to latch on underneath.

Things were bad, and they were only getting worse. It had been two weeks that the three of them had been on the run. Steve had minimal contact with anyone, only risking sending a message to Hawkeye to pass on to the rest of his team. He did not want them involved.

Two weeks. Almost three. Steve thought grimly to himself as the semi unknowingly carried him down the highway. Three weeks since he had left with Sam and Bucky in the early morning hours. Three weeks since he had snuck away from Cora. From his home.

Steve grunted in pain as the truck hit a rut in the road and almost made him lose his grip. His shield, strapped to his back, dragged along the road for a brief moment, leaving sparks in its wake. There goes the paint job.

Once he was far enough away from Tony and the others, Steve swung himself out from under the truck. Thankfully, it was the middle of the night, and there was very little traffic.

Rolling to the shoulder, Steve jumped to his feet and leaped over the barricade, falling down from the elevated highway and onto the muddy ground below. Hiding in the shadows, Steve made sure he wasn't being followed, and then quickly and silently made his way back to the rendezvous. From there, they would find another safe house. Probably in another abandoned factory.

***

Cora flicked the TV off and threw the remote onto the couch. Another news report.

For the last two and a half weeks the evening news had been full of reports of sightings of Captain America, Iron Man, Falcon and an unknown man in black, all but having an all out war. And they were in all different kinds of places. It seemed the guys never stopped moving.

Just as Cora was padding down the hall to the kitchen, the house phone rang. Reaching for the cordless phone that hung on the wall just inside the wall, she answered and made her way to the fridge.

"Hello?" Cora opened the fridge and pulled out a can of Dr. Pepper.

"Hey, Doll."

"Steve!" Cora nearly dropped her drink in surprise. "Steve, I can't believe it! Are you and the guys all right? I saw the news..."

"Yeah, yeah we're all okay." Steve spoke hurriedly. "Listen, I don't have a lot of time to talk. I'm on a pay phone. I just wanted check on you. Tell you I love you. I have to go now."

"I love you too," Cora barely had enough time to say before the line went dead. Things must have been getting really bad if Steve was willing to risk his cover just to call her.

Cora placed the phone back on the hook and sighed. While her days were occupied easily enough by going over to Claire and Grant's house, Cora's nights were cold and lonely.

She had picked up a routine. Eat a lonely dinner, take a hot bath, put on one of Steve's shirts and watch the eleven o-clock news for signs of Steve and the guys. It was hard, to say the least. While the news showed glimpses of everyone, it didn't actually tell her what was going on, and late into the night when she lay awake and hugging Steve's pillow, her imagination became her worst enemy. Nightmares plagued her, and she often woke covered in a cold sweat, having to rush to the bathroom to be sick.

***

As soon as he hung up, Steve made his way back down the alley and disappeared into the darkness. He knew that S.H.I.E.L.D had likely put a tap on Cora's phone and it was risky as hell to call her. He wouldn't have bothered if they didn't already have plans to leave. But he couldn't help it. Things were going from bad to worse, and, as Bucky put it, shit was about to hit the fan.

Making his way back to the hide out, he found Sam and Bucky all ready to go. Without waiting, he said "Let's move. They've probably all ready traced the call and are on their way here."

Once again disappearing into the night, the three of them, donned their new disguises and left.

The thought of Cora plagued Steve's mind, and he silently wondered if that would be the last time he would hear her voice.

***

"Romanoff, report." Fury's voice came through Natasha's com.

"I lost him," She had been pursuing Bucky when he had quite literally disappeared. He was good. Better than she was, and that little fact niggled it's way under her skin and sat there, like an inch that she could t scratch.

She and Tony had encountered Bucky and the other two when they had found, or rather happened upon by chance, where the three had been hiding. It had been a dark, dank warehouse with no electricity and no running water. And while Natasha knew it could've been worse, she didn't like the thought of the man she loved and two of her closest friends being there.

"It's time to come up with a plan of attack. We've had them on the run long enough. I'm sick of these games. We have a trace on a payphone not far from you. Hill is sending you the coordinates. Meet Stark there."

"Roger, sir." Natasha walked away from the alley where she had been following Bucky. Fury was right enough was enough.

As Natasha made her way down the street to meet Tony, she missed the glint of a metal arm as a man disappeared into the night.