A Funny Thing Happened During The Battle of New York

xxii.

So I may or may not be dating a fugitive. Given that he's now on the run from an organization that he's discovered is corrupt somehow. I honestly don't know.

He came to the safe house early in the morning, as the sun had begun to rise. I had barely slept a wink, Moose and I stayed curled up on the couch in the tiny house all night.

When Steve entered it was like he had the whole weight of the world on his shoulders. I stood, ignoring the protests of my feline companion and launched myself at Steve as he closed the door. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and he squeezed me tightly against him.

"Are you hurt?" I blurted at the same time he asked, "Are you ok?"

Steve laughed sadly as I pulled back a bit to scour his face looking for any signs of injury. He seemed to do his own searching of me as well.

"I'm ok, honest." I insisted, "What happened?"

"They got away." Steve responded a tick in his jaw showing his frustration.

"And the man—Fury? Is he alright?" I asked and saw the answer in Steve's eyes before he responded.

"No. He's not."

I stepped back, my mind racing around the events of the night before. I still heard the gunshots, felt the panic that went through me as Kate—Agent 13—and I rushed in the room. The blood on the ground beneath Fury is still etched in my memory.

"Oh god." I muttered, my hand on my chest. Steve's face was solemn as I asked, "What is going on?"

"I don't know Wren." He answered— frustration and anger clouding his gaze, "Fury said S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised, and I'm worried he was right. So I'm going to go find out what's going on, how deep this goes."

"How?" I asked.

"I'm going back to headquarters."

"Are you nuts!?" I balked.

"Baby," Steve sighed moving towards me slowly, placing a hand against my cheek, "I have to see if he was right. I have to try and stop whoever is doing this."

"I know." I frowned putting my head against his chest. I listened to our breathing for a moment, trying to calm the fear and anxiety pooling inside of me.

"I want you to stay here until I call you and say otherwise." Steve said and I nodded against him.

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"No. I'm not. That's why I want you to keep your phone on you. If this doesn't go my way...." He paused and my heart stopped—thinking of all the things that could go wrong, "If things go south, I'll call you."

"What if you can't call me?"

"I will." Steve said, and I believed him.

——

Several hours later I was making myself lunch in the well stocked kitchen when my phone began to ring. I sprinted to the couch where it sat, mouth full of a bite of my ham and potato chip sandwich.

My answer was an unintelligible garble around my half chewed food.

"Why is your man on the TV?"

"M'sorry wha?" I asked

"Why. Is your man. On the TV?" Sam Wilson repeated, emphasizing his words.

"Uhhhh." I mumbled forcing myself to swallow and searching for the remote. Finding it, I pressed the power button and was immediately flooded with a news real of Steve Roger's racing across a bridge on his motorcycle. He was in his full Captain America suit from what I could tell, and was being chased by S.H.I.E.L.D agents.