Love Me (Steve Rogers Fanfiction)

Chapter 37

AMERICA'S POV

I open my eyes slowly, trying to focus. Unfortunately, there's two of everything I try to focus on. Two rocks, two bars, two doors. And I can hear voices murmuring, but everything's fuzzy. Maybe I really did get a concussion. That guy in Buck's apartment must've hit me harder than I thought.

My eyes widen when I realize that my arms are bound behind me. I pull against my restraints, but someone's attached those vibranium handcuffs to a metal pole. I start thrashing around as silently as I can trying to set myself free, but the chain clangs against the pole, drawing immediate attention to myself. I cringe but breathe a sigh of relief when I see it's only Steve and Sam, with Bucky behind them. At least we're all together. This looks really bad, though. Bucky moves forward and breaks my chains with his metal hand. 

"Mer," Steve says, crouching down next to me. The first thing I notice is a light purple and black bruise covering his left cheek. Concern flits through his deep blue eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I... I think so," I reply, shaking my head. "What happened to your face? It's all bruised."

"You don't know?" Sam asks sharply, and Steve shoots him a warning glare.

"What's the last thing you remember?" He asks me. His words are careful, like I might break if he doesn't lay them out correctly. 

I strain to recall anything. "Um, you sent me to get my head checked out. And then, I think someone hit me and I blacked out. Is that why my head hurts?"

Steve closes his eyes briefly. "No." My gaze lands on the handcuffs on the ground, and a wave of dread rushes through me as my mind begins to put the pieces together.

"Steve, what happened?" My voice trembles as I whisper this question. "Who did I hurt?"

"You and I may have gotten into a fight. Just me. No one else, as far as we know. You didn't kill anyone. You weren't under for long. This isn't your fault," he says, tone soothing, but it only increases my fear.

"I hurt you?" I bite back the tears. This is exactly what I was afraid of. I swore I'd never let them turn me again, swore I'd prove that I was something more than a puppet with superspeed and a knife.

What if I'm not?"

"I'm okay. Really. It's just a bruise," he tries to reassure me, pulling me in for a hug. I don't want to come out. I want to stay here, my face buried in his chest, protected by his arms. Now is not the time to break down. First we fight about the Accords, and then I almost kill him. Judging by the way he holds himself, I know I did more than a simple bruise on his cheek. "We fell down an elevator shaft and you hit your head, which knocked you out. I think that snapped you out of it." 

I turn to Bucky. "And you're okay too?" I wait to speak until he nods. "I'm so, so sorry. I don't know what else to say."

"You don't need to say anything," Sam says, shrugging. I give him a small smile. "We know it wasn't you."

I sniff and brush my hair away from my face. "I guess they'll need some whiteout for those documents. I signed them in pen." For some reason, this image of Tony whiting out my signature at a conference table in front of Secretary Ross is so incredibly hilarious to me that I burst out into laughter, uncontrollable laughter. It hurts my sides, but it feels so good. The others join in my weird mood, even Bucky, and Steve slips his hand in mine. "What's next? I assume we're not going to live out our lives in a warehouse together."

"We need to track down the other Winter Soldiers. Buck and Anna account for two," Steve says, cutting over my question before I get to ask it. "We don't think you count, because you were more of an experiment with human enhancement. So there are three others out there we need to find." 

"Okay." I mull this over. "Do we have a plan?"

He nods. "I have an idea."

------

"Where did you even get a car like this?" Sam asks Steve, who rolls his eyes. "The set of 'Back to the Future'?" 

"It doesn't matter." 

"Apparently we're on the run from the UN in a little fifties Volkswagon bug," I inform Sam. "If Tony finds us, we can leave his modern armored suits in our vintage dust."

"Ah," he says, continuing the joke as Steve drives. "I suppose it runs on steady morals and swing music, then." 

"And if it goes over forty miles an hour, it actually apologizes to the car it passed," Bucky adds, finally getting in on the joke. 

Steve sighs as he parks the car. "Next time, someone else is in charge of the getaway car. No one suspects four wanted people to be driving a Volkswagon!" 

"Personally, I would have stolen one of Tony's Maseratis. That's a real car." I shrug and wave to my husband. 

Steve gets out of the car to get our gear from Sharon. While I'm grateful to her, I can't help but lean in between the seats to watch. She's had eyes for him before, ever since we lived in Washington. Sam notices the razor-sharp focus on my face and chuckles. 

"You jealous back there?" 

"No! No, of course not."

"That's the same face you make when you're trying really hard to understand something you just read." 

"I'm just watching. She's flirty around him." 

"Trust me, Steve isn't one to go for more than one girl. He's steady. Who even is she?" Bucky asks, leaning in beside me to get a closer look. "How do we know her?" 

"That's Sharon Carter," I reply. 

His eyebrows fly up. "Carter? Like that doll from the forties, Peggy Carter? He was sweet on her." 

"Yeah, they're related," I say shortly. The topic of Agent Peggy Carter is one that always makes me extremely uncomfortable, considering she was a better woman than I'll ever be and also the first great love of Steve's life. It's even worse now that Steve told me she died. I don't think I'll ever fully get over that feeling of inadequacy. Buck changes the subject. 

"Can you move your seat up?" He asks Sam. 

"No." 

I groan internally. They haven't exactly been hitting it off yet. "I'm not asking you two to become best friends forever, but we're going to be in this teeny car for a long drive together, so I'd appreciate it if you acted civilly." 

"Oooh, Mom's mad," Sam jokes. 

"You know if I left now, I could beat you guys to the airport. I don't need to wait around for you men." 

"No, stay! Steve's gonna put on Elvis if you're not here!" 

"Oh," I say, drawing out the word. "Suddenly I'm very important." 

Steve drops all of our suits and various articles into the trunk before sliding back into the driver's seat. "You all ready?" We nod, and he starts up the engine. "Let's go, then. America, on our way, I need you to make some calls." 

Hi!