For The Love Of A Captain Book 2

Sam

Steve POV

When Nat told me about the missile coming in my only thought was keeping her and Alia safe. I couldn't lose either of them. I searched around and saw the grate on the floor. I wrenched it open and Alia, Nat and I jumped in as everything around us exploded. I held up my shield trying to keep the majority of the rubble from falling on us. It was difficult because there was so much and the walls of the building were falling too.

"Alia!" I heard Nat yell but I didn't hear a response. My blood ran cold. I really hoped Alia was ok, but until I could get us out of here I had no way of knowing. Finally the rubble stopped falling, but I had a bigger problem. There was a huge piece of concrete over our heads. I handed my shield to Nat and pushed the concrete slab as hard as I could, finally able to get it off of us. I turned and saw Alia on the ground unconscious, her head bleeding profusely. My heart almost stopped. 

"Nat is she breathing? Does she have a pulse?" I asked, fearing the worst. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, and I was praying that she was still alive. 

"She's got a pulse," Nat breathed in relief and I almost cried. 

"Are you alright?" I asked her. She nodded and held on to my shield while I picked Alia up bridal style and carried her out of the hole. I heard the sounds of quinjets and looked off to our right. 

"Shit! We need to go Steve. Now!" Nat ordered and we took off running. We ran away from the base and down a side street until we were a good distance away. I could hear the SHIELD agents shouting at each other from the base but we needed a new vehicle. I sat down carefully on the ground and held Alia close, while Nat went to go and find us a car. I rocked Alia in my lap, crying silently into her hair. She had a huge gash on her forehead from where something had hit here but from what I could see it didn't look deep. 

"Baby girl, I need you to wake up. Please Alia wake up," I pleaded with her, but she did not respond. Just then a car came up to me and Nat got out to help me get into the car with Alia. I sat in the back seat and put her head in my lap, holding her close to me.

"Where are we going Steve?" Nat asked me. At first I didn't know. I thought for a minute until it hit me.

"This is where we need to go," I said, pulling up an address on my phone and handing it to Nat. I knew one person who might be able to help. I held Alia close again as Nat took off, hoping that she would wake up soon.

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By the time we made it back to D.C. the sun was starting to come up. I had fallen asleep in the back seat, holding Alia. 

"Steve, wake up," Nat called and I jerked awake. I suddenly remembered Alia in my lap and looked down at her. She was still asleep and I stroked her hair. "We're almost there."

"Nat when we get there park a few blocks away. I'm going to run and grab my friend. I'm going to need his help to get Alia out of the car," I explained to her. She nodded and ten minutes later she was parking the car. I got out gently and jogged down a few blocks to the house. I could only hope he was back from his run. I ran up to the door and knocked hard, praying that he was there. A few seconds later, the door opened.

"Steve?" Sam asked standing there in shock. I probably looked a mess, covered in dust and probably some of Alia's blood.

"Sam, I need your help. Alia's hurt bad and we need a place to lay low. Everyone we know is trying to kill us," I explained quickly.

"Not everyone," he replied. "Where is she?" I gestured for him to follow and we ran back to the car. The back door was open and Nat was sitting there with Alia who still had not woken up.

"Sam I need you to help me get her out of the car," I explained. He nodded and a few moments later Alia was in my arms again, and we were headed to Sam's house. I could hear Sam and Nat introducing themselves behind me but at the moment, the only thing I cared about was taking a look at the gash on Alia's head. Sam ran ahead and opened the door and led me into a room where I laid Alia on the bed. He ran into the bathroom and came out with a first aid kit and towels. He then ran into the kitchen and came back with a bowl full of warm water. He came over and stood next to the bed on the other side. He dipped one of the towels in the water and began to gently clean her head of the blood and dirt while I looked through the first aid kit. He had everything I would need in here.

"The wound isn't deep. I don't think it's going to need stitches but there should be some butterfly bandages in there to help hold it together," he informed me. I was still covered in dirt and hadn't washed my hands but I didn't care. Nat came over and took the first aid kit from me. She had gone and washed up a bit.

"Let me do this. I think I may have more medical experience. It's something they teach you in the Red Room," she said quietly, looking up at me. I stood still for a moment and then nodded, stepping back and letting them help her. I put my head in my hands and sat down in a chair that was in the corner of the room. I couldn't look at Alia anymore. Just looking at her was breaking my heart. It seemed that she was always getting hurt. I loved this girl more than I had ever loved anything and I was afraid of losing her.

"Steve, we got her patched up as best we could. Her dad would be able to do more honestly," Nat said, coming over and putting a hand on my shoulder. "Do you want me to call him? He probably needs to be informed of everything anyway." I nodded and stood up walking over to Alia. I kneeled down on the floor and took her hand in mine, and put my head down on the bed. I heard Nat leave as she was on the phone. Sam came over and stood next to me.

"She'll be ok man. Your girl is tough. Hell she's probably tougher than you," Sam said, with a chuckle. I lifted my head up, tears streaming down my face. I chuckled with him through my tears and stared at her.

"I'm going to propose Sam," I said. "I'm going to ask her to marry me and then I want a family with this girl. I don't know what I'd do without her and I don't think I can exist without her." Emotion came over me and all I could do was sob. I'd never been this scared, not even before any of the missions that I've done in my long life. I felt Sam's hand on my shoulder and my body shook with sobs. "I just need her to wake up."

"And she will," Sam reassured me. "She just needs to rest. Your friend Natasha said she was going to call Alia's dad and get him over here. It will be ok, I promise." I only nodded, looking at her pale face again. Sam had put butterfly stitches over her wound and covered it with gauze and tape. She had a bruise that was surrounding that side of her head but she seemed to be breathing ok. Sam squeezed my shoulder and walked out. I stood up and laid down in the bed with her, wrapping my arms around her. She didn't respond but I could feel her breathing steadily, so I was able to calm myself a little bit. I just stared at her, as though being forced to commit the details of her face to my memory. I don't know how long I laid there and stared at her, but after a while, I heard rushed footsteps and looked over to see Phil run in the room. He looked over at me in fear and I stood up slowly and carefully, so I didn't hurt her more. I walked over to him and pulled him into a hug, needing to give him and myself some sort of reassurance. He held me for a minute until he pulled away and went to sit next to Alia. I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him. He was staring at her in fear as though she might suddenly disappear. 

"What happened?" he asked finally, his voice no higher than a whisper. I looked at him gravely as I answered with the words that I never thought I would say.

"HYDRA has infiltrated SHIELD," I answered gravely. "And they tried to blow us up to keep us from telling anyone. I tried to get her and Nat out but the missile hit before I could. She got hit by some debris that fell." He stared at me for a moment and then took a deep breath.

"What do we do now?" he asked. I looked up at him, anger taking over my voice as I answered.

"We take down HYDRA," I answered through clenched teeth.