you have heart「steve rogers.」

Chapter Twenty

After Steve went down, I had to remember why we came onto the jet. I had to put my feelings aside and continue the mission. I crept my way to the main room of the jet and I saw Schmidt firing at a plane flying around us. I took that moment and tried to shoot him. When I shot at him, I missed and tried to shoot again, only to have Schmidt try to shoot me. 

I managed to dodge a few shots and hid behind a wall. I reloaded my gun and when I went to shoot, Schmidt hit me in the face, catching me off guard. I dropped my gun and was taken aback. When he tried to hit me again, I managed to block it, and I kneed him in the stomach. He then reacted by forcing my head into the wall, causing me to fall to the ground, barely able to move. 

A few moments later I felt the jet shake, but I couldn't get up. Everything kept fading in and out and I suddenly saw Steve rushing to me. "Danielle! Danielle!" Steve panicked, as he shook me. I tried to focus my eyes on him, but it was difficult. 

"Steve..." I said weakly. I looked behind him, and I saw Schmidt about to shoot at Steve. "Steve!" I croaked. He turned around, just as Schmidt fired at him. 

"You don't give up, do you?" Schmidt asked. 

"Nope," Steve said as he charged at Schmidt. Schmidt fired at Steve as he came closer, and when he came close enough, Steve knocked the gun from Schmidt's hands with his shield. Steve punched Schmidt a few times, but Schmidt managed to get him onto the ground. As Steve and Schmidt fought, I struggled to stand up and slowly tried to get to a safe area. As I was walking, I watched as Steve threw Schmidt into the pilot's chair, and he crashed into the controls and caused the jet to head down to the ground. 

I was sent off my feet. As the jet went down more, the three of us were sent to the ceiling. I saw Schmidt and Steve fighting, and he suddenly kicked Steve right into me. "Ow," I groaned. 

"Sorry," he apologized as he grabbed me. We both crawled down to a walkway, and at that moment, the jet went back to normal, and we both fell onto the walkway. Steve wrapped his arm around my waist, and we tried to move away.

"You could have the power of the Gods!" Schmidt yelled as he fired at us. We dodged the blast as continued moving. "Yet you wear a flag on your chest and think you can fight a battle of the nations!" He yelled as fired at us again. "I have seen the future! There are no flags!" He yelled as he fired at us again, nearly hitting me. When Steve flinched from the blast, he accidentally dropped me. 

"Not in my future!" Steve said as he jumped out into the open to grab his shield. 

"Steve!" I yelled as he dodged Schmidt's blasts. He made it to a corner and blocked a blast. He then threw his shield at Schmidt, causing him to fall back into a machine, which held the cube. There was a bright light with strange blue electrical-looking light coming from it.

"What have you done?!" Schmidt yelled as he stood up. He picked up the cube, and I noticed it started to get brighter. Then, there was a blue light that sparked from it, and I saw an image of space appear above Schmidt's head. As I watched, I noticed a light come from the cube and it looked as if Schmidt was being consumed by the cube. Once the light disappeared, Schmidt was no longer there.

Steve rushed to me and helped me stand up. I felt some pain in my stomach, but I tried to ignore it. "You must have a thing for getting hurt." He commented as he helped me up. I chuckled lightly. 

"As long as you come to the rescue, I won't mind it," I said, slightly smiling. He helped me walk over to the pilot controls and he sat in the chair. I stood beside him, and I noticed a map and we were heading for New York. Steve took off his helmet and tossed it to the side. Steve looked at the map and then back at me. I quickly pressed a button and began to speak. 

"Come in. This is Lt. Thomson. Do you read me?" I asked into the communicator. 

"Danielle, is that you? Are you and Steve alright?" I heard Peggy reply.

"Great. Schmidt's dead." Steve informed her.

"What about the plane?" She asked. 

"That's a little tougher to explain." I told her. 

"Give me your coordinates. I'll find you a safe landing site." She told us. I could hear her voice shaking a little bit. I looked at a indicator showing how the jet was holding up, and it wasn't good. Our landing gear weren't intact. 

"There's not going to be a safe landing." I said, nervously. 

"I'm going to try to force it down." Steve said. I looked at him, my eyes widened. Force it down? If he did that, we'd both die.

"No, I'll get Howard on the line, he'll know what to do." Peggy told us. 

"There's not enough time. This thing's move too fast and it's heading for New York." Steve told her. I swallowed hard. 

"We need to put her in the water," I told Peggy. I started to feel a lump slowly form in my throat.

"P-Please, don't do this. We have time, we can work it out." Peggy tried to reason. The lump in my throat began to worsen and my eyes started to form tears. I don't want to die and not keep my promise to her. But I have no other choice. It's for the good of people in New York, for the good of America. I knew what I signed myself up for, and I'm ready to take it all. 

"Right now, we're in the middle of nowhere. If we wait any longer, a lot of people are going to die." Steve told her.

"Peggy, this is our choice." I said with a shaky voice. 

"What about the promise? You promised to come back." Peggy said. I could hear her about to breakdown, which is rare for her. I know how much I mean to her, and she knows how much she means to me. This decision is slowly breaking my heart. 

"I'm sorry, Peggy." I said as a tear slowly fell down my cheek. I wiped it and looked at Steve. I've known him for nearly three years, and I've yet to admit my feelings for him. I don't even know if he felt the same way about me. I was about to say something, but stopped when I saw Steve take out a compass with a picture of me in it. My mouth slightly dropped. 

"Danielle...I've known you for nearly three years. And...those have been the best three years of my life. I never told you how I felt, maybe because of I was scared about how you felt about me but...I love you, Danielle Thomson." Steve told me. My mouth dropped slightly, and Steve looked at me. 

"Steve...I-" Before I could finish, the jet crashed into the ice below us, and everything stopped. I couldn't see anything, and I couldn't hear anything. I felt...dead.