America's Soldier

It's All Coming Together

Steve, Sam, and I have a very long conversation about what to do about our situation. Steve doesn't talk much, but he does voice his stance on what he wants to do.

"I don't want to be hidden away. I can't handle being holed up anywhere forever. I'm fine living here or somewhere, but I need to be able to go outside. I need to be able to look out of the windows and take a walk and stuff. If that means I have to deal with the government, so be it."

"I can work with what you want, unless it gets you killed or locked up. Where are we going to go?"

It's hard for me to let him put himself in danger, but I realize now that I've been being way too overprotective and it's hurting him. So I'm trying to work with him now, and with the way Sam is smiling at me I think I'm doing a good job.

"I've got this nice place in Romania that could work as a hideout for a while," Steve says. "The people there know me pretty well as the not-Soldier version of me, under a Romanian name. Would that work?"

"A vacation," Sam replies. "I guess that sounds nice."

That was towards the end of the conversation. The next morning at breakfast we sat down with Tony to discuss transportation logistics.

"If one of my planes is seen heading to Romania it's gonna be followed," Tony states matter-of-factly.

"Perfect!" says Sam, sounding a lot perkier than his usual morning self.

"What?"

"Send out a plane. Send it to Tahiti or something, somewhere far away from Romania. Let it be followed. We can get to the Mediterranean by boat in one of your cargo ships, maybe as crew, and then transportation can be arranged from there."

Tony makes a "hmm" sound, and thinks for a moment.

"That's not a bad plan. I'd have to make sure I trust the rest of the crew, that could take me a week or two to organize. Can you three stay here until then?"

We look at each other, come to a nonverbal consensus, and then nod. 

"Yeah, we can do that."

***

So we stay, and we work. Tony tints some windows so that Steve can see out without people seeing in, and Steve continues to work most days in the workshop while arrangements are made. Sam and I work out in the gym, watch movies, work with Tony on the ship details, and generally have a mixture of planning and relaxing. We have nothing to do in the workshop, so we leave the two of them to do whatever they're doing.

Steve seems like he's doing a lot better. He seems more like the Steve I knew, except with more technical knowledge now that he's had a couple weeks to work with Tony. He walks a lot more comfortably in the halls, smiles sometimes, and he's started to open conversations rather than being pulled into them. Even his hair looks perkier. I don't think I realized before how much I missed the blonde, but now that all of the dye has washed out I can see that I clearly did.

Finally, about a week and a half after we made our plan, Tony gathers us all around the dining table.

"Okay, I've got a ship for you. It's sailing off the day after tomorrow, and I have a contact with a small boat in Greece that can get you into the Black Sea and land you in Romania. She can't get you any further than the coast, though, so from there you're on your own. The trip should take around a week, if everything goes smoothly."

That's a big "if," which I think everyone at the table feels. Steve is the first one to respond.

"Thank you so much, Tony, for organizing all of this. I know it's a risk on your part."

Tony smiles, eyes crinkling. He looks a little sad, but the way he looks at Steve is also loving.

"As improbable as it seems, I've grown to like you, Cap. I'd just like to do my part to make sure you don't die. You're good people."

Though that last bit seems directed at everyone, Tony keeps looking at Steve when he says it. Steve winces a little bit at the last sentence. Does he not believe it?

Tony stands.

"Well, you have two days to prepare to leave. Steve, you coming back to the lab? I've got something I want to give you before you go."

Steve nods, and they leave. I turn and look at Sam.

"It really feels like we weren't even there."

Sam's leaning back in his chair, but he sits back up at that.

"They've gotten close. Ah, well. Let them have their time. You'll get to hang out with him plenty on the boat."

He doesn't look excited at the prospect.

I scoot my chair over to him and lean on his shoulder.

"I'll get plenty of time to be with you, too."

He cracks a smile at that.

"Yeah, that too."