Siblings In Everything But Blood

Chapter 12: In Which Steve Encounters The Winter Soldier For The First Time

Holy Styx! 1.3 k reads??? That's awesome! Anyways, sorry for the delay. Life's getting kinda hectic, so I've got less chunks of time to write. So, again, this is mostly CA:TWS filler with some side action from Percy, and some behind the scenes motives and thoughts with Natasha. Also, there may be mention of things that don't exist in 2013 yet, so just ignore those! ;) On with the story! - Spathi

Steve's P.O.V.

He walked through the halls of his apartment building, seeing one of his neighbors, Kate, on the phone. As he got closer, Kate ended the call, turned, and smiled at him.

"My aunt, she's kind of an insomniac." she explained. Steve nodded, smiling slightly. He stayed silent for a second, wondering whether he should ask her out. Just as she turned to leave, Steve threw all caution to the winds, and offered to buy her a coffee. Kate declined, although Steve felt hopeful because she did seem to be genuinely sad to turn down the offer.

Kate mentioned that his stereo was on, which gave him pause. He was definitely sure that he had not been listening to music before he left his apartment. He slipped out of the apartment complex, and climbed up the side of the building, picking the lock on his window, and slipping inside. He scooped up his shield as he crept through the apartment, stopping short at the sight of Nick Fury sitting on a couch in the dark.

"I don't remember giving you a key." Steve said.

"You really think I'd need one? My wife kicked me out." came the strangely weak reply. Steve stared.

"Didn't know you were married." he responded awkwardly.

"There are a lot of things you don't about me." Nick pointed out.

"I know, Nick. That's the problem." Steve sighed. He flicked on a light, and looked at Nick, who immediately indicated that he should stay quiet. Steve kept staring. Nick looked like he had been in a car crash, which explained what Steve had seen on the news that day. The reporters had been talking about a gun fight, and then a high speed chase down a street, culminating in a car being flipped over, the only evidence of the driver being a gigantic hole in the ground. Fury typed something on his phone, and then showed the screen to him.

Ears everywhere.

Steve's eyes widened slightly, and he glanced around the room, trying to find the bugs.

"I'm sorry to have do this, but I had no place else to crash." Nick said in an apologetic tone.

The phone screen read: SHIELD compromised.

"Who else knows about your wife?" Steve questioned, going with the metaphorical "wife" to refer to SHIELD.

You and me.

"Just...my friends." was the verbal response.

"Is that what we are?" Steve looked at him disbelievingly.

"That's up to you." Nick replied.

Suddenly, a bullet ripped through the wall and tore straight through Fury's chest. Two more bullets quickly followed, and the director collapsed. Steve glanced out the window, catching sight of a shining silver arm with a red star on the shoulder. He dragged Fury's limp body to cover. Fury grabbed his arm.

"Don't...trust anyone." he wheezed, before passing out. At that moment, Kate broke into his apartment, brandishing a gun. She assessed the situation while Steve fought to stay calm, and called in Emergency Medical Transport for Fury. When the person on the receiving end asked whether the shooter had been sighted, Steve noticed the man with the metal arm turn and run.

"Tell them I'm in pursuit." he said, as he jumped through his window. He chased the assassin through the building, smashing through walls and windows with his shield. Eventually, he caught up with him on the roof of the next building over. As the assassin neared the far edge of the roof, Steve hurled his shield at the assassin's back. The man turned, and caught his shield with the metal arm. He stared at Steve for a second, before launching the shield back at him, causing Steve to slide backwards slightly from the sheer force of the throw. By the time Steve looked up again, the metal-armed man was gone.