oh captain, my captain |STEVE ROGERS 1|

17

"Hydra really doesn't like leaks," Sitwell muttered. He was sitting in the back seat with Natasha and I with Steve and Sam in the front.

"So why don't you try sticking a cork in it," Sam replied and I snorted, looking out the window.

"Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a bit close here." Nat said, looking up from her phone.

"I know," Steve replied. "We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and go to the helicarriers directly."

"What?!" Sitwell screeched. "Are you crazy?! That is a terrible idea--" Suddenly, Sitwell was launched out of the window and thrown into oncoming traffic. Gunshots blasted in my ears as I shielded Natasha with my body. They were coming through the roof, and what I was guessing is that it was the ghost that we had been hunting.

Steve pulled on the hand brake and screeched us to a halt. A man flew from our roof, did a flip and skid gracefully onto the highway, using his metal arm to halt himself. Natasha threw me off her and inspected my body.

"Are you insane?! You could've been shot!" She exclaimed and Steve looked back at us.

"What's happening?" He asked frantically. "Is everyone okay?"

"Maeve was being a human meat shield!" Nat was still looking over my body to make sure I wasn't harmed in any way.

"What?" Steve's voice turned authoritative, like a father finding out his kid had lied to him about his homework. "Mae, stop sacrificing yourself!" He scolded.

"I'll do whatever I want!" I sassed, looking ahead at the Winter Soldier. That's when I saw the car behind us not stop.

"Guys, I think we have better things to worry about right now!" Sam yelled. "Brace for impact!" The car slammed into the back of us and pushed our car towards the Winter Soldier. He leapt up and landed on the top of the roof again.

"That's not good," I remarked as Nat pushed me onto Steve's lap in the front and she crawled in the middle of the front seats. I looked at Steve, who seemed a little pink in the face. "Still uncomfortable, Rogers?"

"Still not the word I would use," he muttered. There was a crash and the next thing I knew, the Winter Soldier grabbed the steering wheel from the roof and ripped it out of the car. 

"Oh dear," I said, peering upward. "Well that's not where that goes."

When Nat started shooting the roof, he retreated to the car that was pushing us from behind. Steve pulled me close to his chest, Natasha against me, and gripped onto Sam.

"Hang on!" Steve yelled and broke the door, using it and his shield almost like a little sled. Sam and Nat hung onto the door while Steve and I clung onto the shield. We all skid on the road a pretty good distance before I finally got to my feet.

"Scatter, I can hold them off for awhile." I rolled out my shoulder blades and got my hands ready. I looked at Steve, who had an annoyed look on his face.

"When are you stop trying to get yourself killed?" He asked and I just laughed. The trio scattered and I walked towards the Winter Soldier and Hydra agents that had come to help. I heard a murmur go through the agents.

"It's Contessa," I heard one of the men say.

"From the video?" Slightly panicked whispered coursed through the group. 

"Gentlemen," I greeted them with that dazzling waitress smile. "Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?" I asked and all the guns cocked at the same time, pointed right at my head. I just sighed. "Hard way it is."

They all shot at once, but I flicked my hands outward and the bullets stopped. With a wave of my hand, each gun was torn away from the Hydra agents one by one as I approached. The Winter Soldier charged and I just narrowly missed a punch he threw. He was fast, but I blocked as much as I could  while taking out the other agents when they tried to interfere with the fight.

He steadily got faster in all his moves and I was just barely keeping up with my defense until--

Lights popped into my vision and my knees buckled. The side of my head throbbed with agony as I dropped to the ground. I swung my leg and knocked off his glasses, but that was the end of what power I had over him. He brought out a large syringe with a thick black liquid and I started to panic.

I grabbed his wrist with both hands and pushed with all my might upward, he was stronger than me.

"Listen, I'm not a big fan of needles so if you could just--" With his free hand, he bent my arm and plunged the syringe into my shoulder. I screamed as whatever the hell that was coursed through my veins. 

The Winter Soldier got up and walked away from me. I tried to use my powers but nothing happened. Cold fear gripped my chest as he rushed off in the direction that Natasha had run to. Sam rushed to me and fell onto his knees.

"Stirling! Are you okay? Can you get up?" As I tried, red-hot pain shot through my limbs and I screamed again, falling to the ground. "What did he do to you?"

"My powers," I croaked, my throat starting to close. "He took my powers. Or stunted them, I don't know." Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes as I looked up at him. "Where's Steve?"

"He went off to get Natasha." I nodded and let my head fall back onto the road.

"Go cover him, I'll be fine."

"He would kill me if anything happened to you--"

"Something has already happened, Sam. Go cover him, I'll be up in a second." He nodded and ran off, grabbing a gun from a knocked out soldier. I managed to roll onto my side, but that was horrible pain as well. It felt like I had been skinned alive and then the skin was reattached.

I know, a gross image, but that's what it felt like.

There was one thing I knew for sure.

My powers were gone.