My Forbidden Soldier

IV

"Seeing as though I have nothing better to do, why not?" you said. And that was the truth. Other than heading back to your room and laying around the rest of the day you didn't have anything else to do. You were truly being imprisoned.

Your laptop wasn't able to do much anymore and you were being limited with your connection to the outside world. You had woken up this morning with Widow in your room so you assumed that she had been the one that locked everything down and switched out your phone with a Stark Industries one; it had been pre-loaded with contacts such as Widow, Captain, and Tony Stark himself. Whoever set this device up gave you Adrian's number too, which was nice but you'd deemed it unnecessary seeing as he had left the compound, and how the way Widow had acted earlier he wouldn't be invited back anytime soon.

The Captain was leaned up against your doorframe genuinely excited about your answer to his invitation. He looked very tired and stressed, with bags under his eyes. You hadn't said anything but you stood there until he gave you an answer.

"Great!" he smiled back to you.

You couldn't tell if the invitation was forced or not, you'd only ever had two interactions with the Captain so you weren't sure what to think. Yeah, he seemed like a good guy with nice intentions but it felt weird being asked to have coffee with someone like him. Not to mention, part of you wondered if this was just going to be a setup to coax you into Project FAM or if his other teammates had encouraged him to do this.

The idea that the others had pushed him into this made you dread it even more. You were sure that he wasn't a hundred percent on board with this mission either, but you had to admit that some alone time where you two could talk it out could be a good idea.

You'd gone to gather your things when you turned around to him, signaling that you were ready. He'd smiled at you as he led you down the hall and to the elevator. He pushed a random button as you got in. You had no idea where he would take you, or if you would even leave the compound, but talking with someone rather than pacing around your room would be more helpful to your mental health than not, you decided.

You had followed him to the kitchen where, no surprise to you, you would be having coffee. You had hoped that he would have gotten you out of this compound. It hadn't even been 72 hours and you were miserable. You looked around the room, it looked much colder this time of the evening. No one was there either so it left for a bit of an eerie and awkward feeling.

The kitchen was massive, and the dining area was even bigger. You had wondered just how many agents and heroes were living here. Now that you'd thought about it though, Widow was very adamant about Adrian leaving ASAP this morning, so maybe it was just The Avengers that resided here.

You wondered around awkwardly waiting for him to say something but he never did. It had been a quiet journey to the kitchen from your room anyways, so you didn't expect much of a talk to happen anymore.

The Captain had started brewing coffee and you went to take in the view from the modern and large windows that overlooked the beautiful upstate New York forest. Since you both were still silent, you felt it would be fitting to finally start the conversation. After all, he had asked to spend time with you.

"For a moment I thought we were going to go out or something Captain"

"Please, call me Steve. And for the time being, you are being secured on the premises."

"Well, Steve. Thanks for inviting me regardless," you rolled your eyes. You now officially knew you were confined here, even if it was just for safety.

"No problem"

After fixing your drink, you both retreated to a table nearby in the room. You both had engaged in small talk, but you figured that Steve hadn't found a good time to 'rip the bandaid off and tell you why he asked you to hang out with him.

"So, about the mission.."

You nearly spit your coffee out. You gave him a sarcastic look and sighed. You knew he'd bring this up, but you weren't prepared for it to be this awkward or this soon.

"Look, I know you just got here and this was put on you, but please consider it," he said with a genuine and serious tone.

"I alrea - " you started but he interrupted.

"I know. Think about your safety though. You'll gain fame, the media will go crazy, and if something were to happen it would be easier locating you. I know how much your life has changed recently. Trust me. You won't be alone in this either, you'll have me and the whole team by your side,"

You hadn't thought about that. You were mostly focused on the events of the past 24 hours. Whether you liked it or not, your life had changed. Maybe this would be beneficial? You were so caught up in your thoughts that when you looked up you were met with his blue eyes looking into yours, searching for an answer.

"Honestly," you continued holding your gaze, finishing your sip of the hot drink. "I wish it hadn't been this easy to bribe me, but I guess I'll do it. Only for my safety though."

"Y/N. I'm not trying to bribe you or take advantage of the situation. I'm glad to know that you will be willing to do this. There's another meeting next week where we'll cover all the legalities. And don't worry, you aren't going to sign your life away. I'll be there with you the whole time, you'll have the best lawyers to help you too." he said with a smile.

You were thinking about what Steve had said when a shadowy figure entered the kitchen abruptly. You jumped back in your seat when he walked into the light, revealing themself. It was Widow. Steve immediately perked up and became hyper-aware of his surroundings.

"Steve. It's him. He's having another -" she managed to get out before Steve got up and started following Widow.

And he was gone. Just like that, he had taken off to whatever Avengers business had come up. You didn't want to completely fault him, and the brief moment you had thought about following him had quickly dissipated because you knew you'd get caught. Frankly, it wasn't any of your business either so you left it at that.

You were about to get up and start cleaning up the area when Mr. Stark came in. He was dressed in his usual business attire. He looked fairly relaxed and not in a hurry for whatever mission they were called off to help with. That left you to wonder if Stark wasn't suiting up, what did Steve leave to do. Steve seemed pretty happy when you had accepted his offer, but you'd guessed that the lack of conversation had gotten to him and he called Widow in for support, or to escape.

"Hey Ms. Y/L/N, or should I just call you Y/N. eh, I'll just call you Y/N," He grinned and walked toward you. "No need to worry about dishes anyways, it was Wilson's turn to clean them," he laughed.

You couldn't help but give a grin and a small, but fake laugh. You'd only ever had one other interaction with Stark and that was when he introduced his grand plan of adding you to 'Project FAM' earlier this afternoon. He seemed pretty confident in everything he did too, and it was a little intimidating.

"Friday alerted me that you agreed to the mission. I'm happy to hear that Rogers was able to convince you," he laughed.

"Uh, yeah. He told me to think about my safety. Also, is the AI listening to everything... everywhere?" you asked.

"No. I only asked her to report to me the dialogue of you and Rogers's coffee date. Now that you've agreed though, we need to discuss the celebrations and media,"

"Okay"

"Ms. Potts or Pepper will help manage everything like your interviews and such until we can find you an assistant. The announcement and party will be held at my tower this Saturday. Pepper will also help you find an appropriate dress and help you shop for your clothes so that you aren't borrowing the other girls' stuff anymore. Oh, last thing. Congratulations and don't worry,"

"Thanks" you fake smiled as he walked off.

You didn't know what to think of all this short talk and random run-ins with the other people of the base. By the time he had finished talking you had given up on the mugs so you washed them out with water and cleaned up around the coffee maker. You were finally able to go back into your room.

After arriving in your quiet room you managed to look on your phone and glance at the time. It read 5:06

Great, it's only five o'clock...