oh captain, my captain |STEVE ROGERS 1|

15

Steve and I cleaned up in the bathroom that was connected to the guest bedroom. He was completely gentleman like, helping me with tiny tasks when I asked, but mostly staying quiet.

Until now, that is.

"You were willing to die for me." Steve said softly and I looked up from cleaning my hands in the sink, trying to get all the bits of concrete out. He was sitting on the bed, looking his feet dressed in a white tank top and pants.

"I wasn't willing to die for anything. I knew what I had to do, my body followed." I replied, looking back at my hands. "If all of us had died, no one would really know what's going on. I mean, Fury's dead and he was the director. I knew that it was me, or they would win."

I heard the bed creak and footsteps approaching where I was standing.

"That woman that was in the picture, you loved her." I stated and I felt his shock shake his aura. "It brought back memories before you were in the ice, and you were happier then than you are now. You realized you were stuck with me instead of her, right?"

"Maeve--"

"God, I knew this would happen," I chucked the rag I was cleaning my hands with into the sink roughly. "I was stupid to even think that you even cared--"

Steve grabbed my face and pressed my mouth to his. My arms went around his neck and he pulled me as close as I possibly could be. The kiss melted my worries away that I had just been talking about before, he was telling me he was sorry, giving me reassurance of us, and melting my heart all at the same time.

When we pulled away, both of us were slightly breathless. "I care, Mae. I care so much. I'm sorry." I gazed into Steve's bright eyes and only saw sincerity in what he was saying. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this when you could be at Pattie's right now living a normal life."

"No, I would rather be with you than anywhere else." Steve's arms were loosely wrapped around my waist now and my hands were linked behind his neck. "We might be in a war, but I'm in a war with you, Steve."

He rested his forehead on mine. "You can never do anything like that ever again. We're into this together, never again."

"This operation isn't about us, it's something bigger than us." I replied softly. "We have to stop Hydra."

"Everything better?" We jumped away as Natasha's voice rang through the room. 

"Yeah, things are okay." I said, stuffing my hands in my pockets. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm still kinda shocked about what you managed to do." Nat said, sitting on the bed. She was drying her hair with a towel and looked thoughtful. "I saw what you could do on the ship, but that was something I've never seen before."

"I didn't know I could do it either, it was like a knee-jerk reaction." I sighed and sat on the opposite bed. "It was insanely painful, but also looked pretty badass, if I do say so myself."

"I can agree with that," Nat scoffed and continued to slowly dry her hair.

"You okay?" Steve asked, sitting next to me, his shoulder pressed to mine.

"Yeah," she replied and I just gave her a look.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"When I first joined SHIELD, I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but...I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business," Steve said and Natasha smiled softly.

"I owe you. I owe both of you." She said and I shook my head.

"It's okay, Nat."

"f it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, and you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?" She asked, her voice solem and her eyes serious.

"Without a doubt." I said, reaching over and clasping her hand.

"I would now," Steve agreed with me. "And I'm always honest." We all share a smile and for a moment, we feel peace in the middle of war.

Sam poked his head into the room. "I made breakfast, if you guys eat that kind of thing."

"I would love that so much," I stood quickly and followed Sam into the dining room. As I dug in, Steve placed a small kiss on the top of my head and sat down next to me. "You need to eat as well." I looked at my friends. "Keep up your energy." I passed both Steve and Natasha plates. "Sam, did you eat as well?"

Steve chuckled. "You'd make a great mother."

"Yeah, I've been told. I think it's just the waitress in me." I joked and a chuckle passed through the room."So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?"

"Pierce." Steve concluded.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world." Natasha sighed heavily.

"But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star." I put in, my mouth full of food.

"Don't forget to breath, Maeve." Sam chuckled and I just shrugged.

"So was Jasper Sitwell." Natasha said suddenly. "He was on the Lemurian Star as one of the hostages."

"So, the real question is: how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" I questioned.

"The answer is: you don't." Sam drops a file in front of Steve and I.

"What's this?" Steve picked up the file while Nat and I leaned over to look at it.

"Call it a resume. " Sam crossed his arms and we peeked into the file. Nat picked up a picture of Sam with a group of people.

"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you." Nat looked at Steve. "You didn't say he was a pararescue." I picked up another photo and pointed at the man beside him.

"That was Riley, right?" I asked and he nodded.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?" Natasha asked and Sam shook his head while chucking.

"No, these." He put another file on the table and we all stared at the pictures.

"Sam, I thought you said you were a pilot," I grinned up at him.

He smiled right back. "I never said pilot."

"Sam, we can't ask you to get back into the game, you got out for a good reason." Steve said as he put down the file.

"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."
"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall." Steve and I look at Natasha at the same time. She shrugged.

"Shouldn't be a problem."