Cosmic [s.r.]

1:13

When I woke up I found myself in the backseat of the pickup truck from before. I pushed myself up, grunting in pain.

"You alright?" Steve asked me.
"I should be asking you that question," I mumbled as I pushed myself forward, jumping into the passenger seat. "Where are we going?" I asked as I buckled myself in.

"Hopefully a safe house."

We walked from up the street, glad that it was early. If there were a bunch of people out we would stick out like a sore thumb. Steve held his shield on his back while I walked beside him. The both of us were covered in dirt from before. We walked up the steps and Steve knocked on the patio door. The blinds were pulled up to show the Sam Wilson from before. He slid open the patio door, eying the two of us, confused.

"Hey, guys." He spoke up finally.

"I'm sorry about this." Steve apologized genuinely, his tone soft. "We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know may or may not be trying to kill us," I said, exhausted.

"Not everyone." He said before letting us in.

Steve exited the bathroom to see me on the guest bed, drying my long hair with a towel. We were still in the same dirty clothes, but at least the both of us were able to shower. He sat down beside me as I eyed the small towel that was bunched up in my lap.

"You okay?" He asked me, sympathetically.

"Yeah, I will be." I nodded, looking over to meet his gaze.

"What's going on?" He asked me. "Something's up with you."

"When I first came to Earth, S.H.I.E.L.D. took me in." I sighed, beginning to French braid my long hair. "They could have left me for myself, but they decided to take care of me. Sure there were points where I felt like a lab rat; Fury made sure I ended up okay, though." I shook my head, pushing back any emotion that threatened to show. "I think it's the fact that a company that I thought I knew I put all my trust in. I thought I was doing good by letting them research me." I looked back down at the towel. "I might have given them information for intergalactic weaponry, I don't know."

"You didn't know," Steve told me.

"I know." I nodded, looking back up at him. "I owe you, Steve."

"No, it's okay." He shook his head.

"But if it was the other way around, and it was up to me to save your life, be honest with me," I paused for a second, choosing my words, "would you trust me to do it?"

"Before I would have my hesitations, but now I know for sure that you would." He nodded, watching the look in my eyes shift. "And I'm always honest."

"Come here," I told the super soldier. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around me, engulfing me in a hug, to which I returned.

"I made breakfast if you guys eat that sort of thing," Sam walked in, causing the two of us to pull apart. "Oh sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."

"You're fine, Wilson." I let out a small laugh. "I could eat."

I pulled my knees up to my chest as I sat at the table. I sipped on the tea that Sam gave me to ease my chills.

"So, my question is who at S.H.I.E.L.D. could launch a domestic missile strike?" I asked the two guys, even though it was targeted for Steve.

"Pierce," Steve answered, which was the answer I kind of knew I was going to hear.

"Who just so happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world." I huffed out a forced laugh. "But he can't be working alone."

"Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star," Steve added.

"So was Jasper Sitwell," I added onto Steve's comment.

"So, the real question is, how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer in broad daylight?" Steve asked.

I ate my eggs, setting down the fork after before chewing on the strip of bacon that caught my eye.

"The answer is, you don't," Sam said as he set down a file on the table in front of us.

"What's this?" Steve asked the man.

"Call it a resume." Sam shrugged. I looked down to see a picture of him and another guy in military gear.

"Is this Bakhmala?" I asked the man, holding up the photo. "The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?" I let out a small chuckle. "You didn't say he was a Pararescue."

"Is this Riley?" Steve asked.

"Yeah." Sam nodded as he watched me set down the photo.

"They couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs." I nodded remembering the stories that Nat told me. "Was it a stealth chute you used?"

"No." He shook his head. He handed the file to Steve. "These."

"I thought you said you were a pilot." I looked over when Steve said that to see a pair of robotic wings.

"I never said, pilot." He smirked as he shook his head.

"We can't ask you to do this, Sam," Steve spoke up. "You got out for a good reason."

"Dude, Captain America needs my help." His comment making me smile. "There's no better reason to get back in.

"Also, Sam, where do we get these? I'm sure they don't have them at Walmart." I spoke up, taking my eyes away from the file.

"The last one is at Fort Meade," Sam told us. "Behind three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall." Steve looked over at me and I just shrugged.

"Shouldn't be a problem."