Wouldn't Leave You (A Captain America Fan fiction)

Stars and Stripes

Chapter 26 - Steven Rogers

After a quick car ride, Rachel pulls up to the new base. 

"They call it the Triskelion," Rachel says, looking over to me in the passenger's seat. 

The building is massive. It is a large grey building that splits into two columns midway up the side that meet again at the top. It sits in the middle of the Potomac River, looking out over the capital city. As we get closer, I have to lean forward in my seat in order to see the top. We were sent a packet of information about the new base about a week ago; it included blueprints of the facility so that we wouldn't be completely lost when we arrived. 

As we pull into the car park, an agent is standing there to take our car. Rachel puts the vehicle in park, taking a pause in confusion. She sucks in a deep breath and unclips her belt, getting out of the car. She hands over the keys and we walk into the building. We are immediately met by another male agent who nods over to Rachel. 

"Captain Rogers," he addresses me. I nod in recognition, keeping my eyes on Rachel as she walks further down the hall. 

"Hanger 4," she states over her shoulder, leaving me with this male agent. He leads me through the compound, stopping only when we reach our destination. He opens a door, revealing a room containing my stuff. Most prominently on display is a new suit. 

"New standard issue," he says as he walks out of the room, leaving me with the grey and deep blue suit alone. Guess the stars and stripes were a little old-fashioned after all. 

I change, making sure every compartment in my suit is secure as I leave the room. The male agent leads me down another series of hallways until we make our way outside. Some of the hangers in this base are outside, the one we are heading towards being one of them. The agent leads me only as far as he needs to. I look ahead and see Rachel standing on a ramp of one of the Quinjets looking over to me. Only the top layers of her long, blonde hair are tied up, leaving the rest of it to hang midway down her back. The light breeze blows it around her face, making her look beautiful. I shake the thought as she sees me coming, cocking her head to the side. 

"I love the new suit," she says, looking me up and down. "Very stealthy." 

I smirk over to her looking her up and down as well. 

"You too?" I ask. She nods. 

"New standard issue," she says, placing her hands on her hips. "I guess the one I showed up in is out of date," she smirks as she catches my eyes. Rachel gives me one last look as she turns on her heel, making her way up into the jet. I follow her, quickly meeting up with the STRIKE team who was already strapped in their seats and ready to go. I give them a nod as Rachel and I take seats next to each other. 

As we take off, Rachel and I buckle our seatbelts and settle back into the seats. After a while of flying, I notice Rachel bouncing her leg quickly. I gently put my hand on her knee, causing her to whip her head around to look at me. There is a panicked glimmer in her eye which I try to calm with my most reassuring look. She takes a deep breath, shifting her face from panic to professionalism in seconds. She undoes her seatbelt, standing up, and walking over to join the group of men standing around a screen preparing for the mission rundown. I follow suit, making my way over to them.

"Target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star. They were setting up their last payload when pirates took them... 93 minutes ago."

"How many pirates?" I ask monotonously.

"25," the leader of the STRIKE team, Agent Rumlow, says. "Top mercs, lead by this guy." He pulls up a photo on the screen. "George Batroc. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties." I sigh, thinking through a plan.