The Unknown Enemy ∘ Marvel [3]

Chapter 17: We All Break

You think you can live in a world that can never love you? You think you can exist in a reality where you can't function without a mission? You think you can keep going with all the blood on your hands? You think you can get by?

That's the biggest lie you've ever told, and it was to yourself.

Another jolt from my sleeping body wakes me up, the words that snaked through my unconscious mind leaving. Sweat rolls down my forehead as my muscles ache under my skin. My pulse is rampant and wild. My hair sticks to my hot neck as my dream leaves me.

I swallow, checking the clock. 11:03 PM. Not that late actually.

I shut my eyes, breathing a sigh to calm myself from the night terror. I'm shaking, my heads clutching my sheets not still. I blink, laying back down on my pillow in hopes of finding sleep again. I don't let myself close my eyes again, my anxious state not aiding my hyper vigilance. I've become wary, even if the enemy is only in my head, and I don't intend to drop my guard down so easily.

So I watch the darkness and the slow beeps around me from the hospital equipment, trying to keep my mind off the words I heard earlier in my mind. The scariest part was that they were said in my own voice.

~~~~~~~~

Music from an older age wafts throughout the apartment, sparking Steve Roger's interest immediately. He'd hadn't left the record on, that he knew for a fact. The other thing he certainly knew was that many people were out to get him, and one might have located his apartment.

He passes by the kitchen, grabbing his shield on the way by. The tune gets louder as he approaches the living room, and the soldier cautiously steps toward it. He thinks of his reaction plan, trying to calculate the intruder's next move once he knows he's in the apartment.

He goes for the wall, taking a second before peeking beyond it. A black clothed man lays sprawled on his couch, seemingly humming to the music. He straightens up as he realizes Rogers' presence, groaning from the pain on his chest. The eyepatch comes in sight, immediately giving him away.

Steve relaxes against the wall, dropping his guard once he identifies the man as Fury. He slumps down, shaking his head and wondering why the director chose to use his living space as a harbor, "I don't remember giving you a key."

Nick groans in pain again while fully sitting up, replying to the statement, "You really think I'd need one?"

He pauses before speaking once more, words carefully chosen, "My wife kicked me out."

Steve's eyebrows furrow at this, but he's been on enough ops to know when to follow Fury's lead, "Didn't know you were married."

Music still overlays the conversation as the director reaches inside his coat, "Lot of things you don't know about me."

Rogers sighs, getting up from his spot near the wall and going to turn the lights on, "I know. That's the problem Nick-"

He stops short of his sentence as he sees the full extent of Fury's injuries. Blood covers his black uniform, which is missing his signature jacket. The older man (or younger really), brings a finger to his lips as a sign to be quiet, and he turns the light back off. He pulls out his phone, showing Steve the message EARS EVERYWHERE, "I'm sorry to do this, but I had no place else to crash."

Rogers watches as Nick types out another message. SHIELD COMPROMISED.

"Who else knows about your wife?" He keeps the charade going, facial expression concerned and somewhat worried, setting his jaw to the side as the director sends more audio less information.