Captain's Hart

Chapter 16 Pierce

Steve P.O.V.

Steve growled in frustration. Of course, she would escape like that. She had neither answered his question nor left him any way to vent his frustration as he switched off his bike and clambered off. But he paused as he repeated the scene in his head and he realized she might just have told the truth.

But if it wasn't rejection nor fear, what is it? He wondered as he climbed up the stairs towards his apartment. As he walked down the hall, his neighbor Kate, the blonde nurse Nat had mentioned before walked out of her apartment, talking quietly on her phone.

She saw Steve and smiled as she hung up: "I gotta go, though. Okay, bye." She said to Steve, somewhat apologetically: "My aunt, she's kind of an insomniac." Steve smiled at her politely as she added awkwardly: "Yep."

He just nodded back as he turned to his apartment door, too caught up in thinking about Arianna, when Kate added: "Oh, I think you left your stereo on." Steve paused and he said to her lightly: "Oh. Right, thank you."

She nodded and walked down the stairs. Steve watched her disappear before he turned back to his door suspiciously. He could hear the music, and he frowned. Moving back out, he slipped inside his apartment through the window instead, heading down the hallway silently and grabbing his shield on the way.

He reached the corner to his living room and peered around to see the record player playing loudly and Fury siting in the armchair beside it. Steve almost sighed in relief, but he was still tense as he said flatly: "I don't remember giving you a key."

"You really think I'd need one?" Fury retorted, and he sat up with a pain-filled groan. He looked at Steve directly as he added: "My wife kicked me out." "Didn't know you were married." Steve returned and Fury looked almost amused as he pointed out: "There are a lot of things you don't about me."

"I know, Nick." Steve retorted as he moved in to turn on the lights. "That's the problem." He flipped the light switch and his eyes narrowed. Fury was covered in his own blood and there were several visible injuries all over the man. Steve would bet there were many more internal ones.

He was about to say something when Fury lifted a finger in warning. He carefully switched the lights off again and wrote something on his phone, before showing it to Steve. 'Ears everywhere'.

Steve glanced around as Fury said, as though continuing their conversation from earlier: "I'm sorry to have do this, but I had no place else to crash." He then showed Steve another message on his phone: 'SHIELD compromised.'

Steve's eyes narrowed- Arianna had just left after giving him the warning that this might happen. Steve asked, a little sharply: "Who else knows about your wife?" Fury showed him another text: 'You, me and Aria'. At the same time he stood up, with another small grunt of pain, as he said aloud: "Just...my friends."

"Is that what we are?" Steve asked tightly, and Fury replied seriously: "That's up to you." Suddenly there was a bang as a bullet shot right through the wall and hit Fury. He collapsed in pain as two more bullets were fired, while Steve was stunned for a moment, before he quickly dragged Fury behind the corner and out of firing range.

He spied movement on the roof through a crack in his window blinds, where the assassin had to be. Steve made to go towards it when Fury coughed and he grabbed Steve's hand. Steve looked down to see it was the flash drive Nat had stolen before, and he glanced at Fury as he murmured to Steve urgently: "Don't... trust anyone."

Fury passed out, and Steve heard someone break into his apartment as Kate's voice called: "Captain Rogers?" Steve quickly peered through the bookshelves to see it was Kate as she walked in slowly, a gun raised and pointed warily.