Forget Me Not

2: 08

Shortly after he returned home from his morning run, Sam heard a knock at his door. Evelyn and Rebecca followed to investigate who had knocked and Sam motioned for them to stay behind him. He opened the door to see Steve, Bucky and Natasha.

"Hey, man. Hey, Bucky," Sam greeted.

"Papa!" the girls cried.

"I'm sorry about this," Steve apologized. "We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," Natasha said.

Sam paused a moment before replying, "Not everyone."

Sam looked around, making sure they hadn't been followed, and let them enter.

LATER

As Steve and Natasha were cleaning up, Steve noticed Natasha looking sad and thoughtful.

"You okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Natasha replied.

"What's going on?"

"When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D., 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."

Natasha smiled faintly. "I owe you."

"It's okay."

"If 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?"

"I would now. And I'm always honest."

"Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing."

"Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting."

Sam popped his head in and said to Steve and Natasha, "I made breakfast. If you guys... eat that sort of thing."

Bucky, who had already showered, glanced up from the magazine and motioned for the girls to stand.

"I'm hungry," Rebecca said.

Evelyn took her sister's hand. "Sam said there's food, so let's get some. I'm hungry too."

LATER

They sat in Sam's kitchen and Natasha said, "So, the question is: who in S.H.I.E.L.D. could launch a domestic missile strike?"

"Pierce," Bucky replied.

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

"But he's not working alone," Steve said. "Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

"So was Jasper Sitwell."

"So, the real question is: how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer in broad daylight?" Bucky questioned, glancing at his girls with a small smile.

"The answer is: you don't," Sam told them as he dropped a file in front of Steve.

"What's this?" Steve asked.

"Call it a resumé."

Natasha picked up a photo of Sam with his para-rescue team and said, "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you." She turned to Steve. "You didn't say he was a para-rescue." She looked at the photo of Sam with his colleague.

"Is this Riley?" Steve inquired.

"Yeah," Sam replied.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs," Natasha stated. "What did you use, a stealth chute?"