Timeless (Captain America x Reader)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Once inside of a different room Maria pulled back a curtain and revealed Nicholas Fury. Surprisingly, he was alive and laying in a bed. They all looked at him in shock...he was supposed to be dead...he was dead.

"About damn time," Nick sighed. 

The doctor led Y/N to a chair and sat her down as he began to examine her shoulder. Steve knelt by her side, giving her his hand to squeeze as the doctor applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

"I had a lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache," Nick explained, listing his injuries for the new people in the room.

"And don't forget your collapsed lung," the doctor reminded.

Nick smirked, "Oh, let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good."

Y/N was still confused, she looked over at Nick, "They cut you open, your heart stopped."

Nick nodded, "Tetrodotoxin B, slows the pulse to one beat per minute. Banner developed it for stress, didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it," he explained.

Y/N winced in pain, squeezing Steve's hand slightly harder than he expected, he looked up at her. He slowly brushed a loose piece of hair out of her face, she buried her head in his shoulder.

"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asked.

Maria stepped forward, "Any attempt on the director's life had to look successful," she explained.

Nick agreed, "Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust," he added.

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A few hours later Y/N's shoulder had been bandaged and Nick was out of his bed, looking at a photo of Pierce, it laid amongst other files about Project Insight. "This man denied the Nobel Peace Prize," Nick said. "He said, 'Peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility.' See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues," he explained, tossing the photo away.

Y/N sighed, running a tired hand over her face, "We have to stop the launch," she said turning to Steve.

"I don't think the Council is accepting my calls anymore," Nick added, opening a case to display three chips to the group.

Sam peered into the case, "What's that?" he asked.

"Once the helicarriers reach 3,000 feet, they will triangulate with Insight satellites. Becoming fully weaponized," Maria explained.

"We need to breach those helicarriers and replace their targeting blades, with our own," Nick said motioning to the chips in the case.

"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three helicarriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational a whole lot of people are gonna die," Maria warned.

Nick agreed, "We have to assume everyone aboard those helicarriers is Hydra. We need to get past them, insert the server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left," he explained.

Steve shook his head, "We're not salvaging anything," he snapped.

Y/N nodded her head, "We aren't just taking down those helicarriers, Nick. We're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D."

Nick furrowed his brows, "S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with it," he defended. "I thought Y/N understood that."

"You gave us this mission," Y/N continued. "This is how it ends. S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised, you said so yourself. This isn't what Howard and I intended when we founded this organization...and I'd rather see it crash and burn then continue as one of Hydra's pawns. Hydra grew right under your nose and you didn't even notice..."

"Why do you think we're sitting in this cave?" Nick questioned. "I noticed."

"And how many paid the price before you did?" Steve asked.

Nick sighed, "Look, I didn't know about Barnes."

"Even if you had, would you have told me?" Steve wondered. "Or would you have compartmentalized that too?" he asked. "S.H.I.E.L.D. Hydra, it all goes..."

Maria turned to Fury, "They're right..."

Then they looked at Sam, "Don't look at me. I do what they do...just slower."

Nick then looked up at Steve, "Well...Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."

Steve needed time to think, and some fresh air. He headed outside and stood on the bridge above the dam hideout that Nick had found. Y/N didn't follow Steve right away, knowing that he would want some time alone to clear his head.

But all Steve could think about was Bucky...

-----Flashback-----

The trio walked down the street after Steve's mother's funeral.  "We looked for you after," Y/N said as she walked alongside Steve and Bucky.

"My folks wanted to give you a ride to the cemetery," Bucky added.

Steve looked down, unable to look at his friends, "I know, I'm sorry," he said. "I just...kinda wanted to be alone," he explained.

"How was it?" Y/N asked; Bucky saw that she was cold and draped his jacket over her shoulder, earning a smile from her.

Steve shrugged, "It was okay, she's next to Dad."

Bucky stepped forward, "I was gonna ask-"

"I know what you're gonna say, Buck," Steve interrupted, turning to his friends. "I just..."

"We can put the couch cushions on the floor like when we were kids," Y/N offered.

Bucky agreed, "It'll be fun. I'll even run down and get ice cream from that place a block over," he added as they reached Steve's apartment.

Steve tried to find his keys, but couldn't. Bucky kicked a brick to the side and picked up the spare key and handed it to Steve. "Come on," he urged.

"Thank you, Buck, and you too Y/N," Steve said taking the key. "But I can get by on my own."

"The thing is, you don't have to," Bucky said putting his hand on Steve's shoulder.

"We're with you till the end of the line, pal..."

-----End of Flashback-----

Steve stood on the bridge, reminiscing when Y/N pulled him from his thoughts.

"He's gonna be there, you know?" she reminded Steve as he looked down into nothingness.

Steve nodded slowly turning to her, "I know."

Y/N walked forward, wrapping her arms around Steve, he did the same to her. "I can't stop thinking about him," she whispered into his chest, trying to hold back the tears.

"I know," Steve said softly. "I can't either."

She pulled back and looked up at him. "We should've looked, we should've done more. I mean...over 70 years, Steve. 70 years he's just been Hydra's puppet, I can't even think about it," she said hanging her head in defeat.

"Hey," Steve said lifting her chin with his finger. "Don't cry, Bucky wouldn't want you to."

Y/N sent him a half-hearted smile, "I just miss him..."

"I do too," Steve replied. "But first we have to deal with Pierce."

"Time to gear up?" Y/N asked. Steve nodded, wiping away a final tear. "We can't fight a war in these," she said gesturing to their current clothes.

Steve agreed, "Nope if you're gonna fight a war, you gotta have a uniform."