New to STRIKE

Ch18

You stretch your hands groggily above your head, yawning as you pad past a sleeping Steve on your couch and into the kitchen.

You don't quite feel like cooking so you decide on some old fashioned oatmeal. You hear Steve behind you and turn to face him, almost running directly into his bare chest.

"Oh, well good morning then." You say quickly as you turn back to the oatmeal. "Want some?"

"That smells fantastic, what all is it?" He asks, standing beside you to inspect as you start to make a separate bowl for him.

"It's just plain oats with peanut butter, honey, and some cinnamon." Once it's done you hand him his bowl, and he smells it appreciatively.

"It's strange how much this reminds me of home..." He mutters, a small smile on his face as holds the bowl protectively close.

You chuckle and hand him a spoon. "You gonna eat that or just cuddle with it?"

He smiles at you, a small blush playing across his cheeks as he takes the spoon from you.

Just as you finish cleaning up the kitchen -with Steve's gentlemanly help of course- you hear your phone vibrate. You furrow your brows and reach across the counter to check the text, 'TEAM' lights up across the screen. You groan and force yourself to open the message; "Meeting, STRIKE conference room B Level 2. 10 a.m."

You sigh and turn to Steve, about to apologize and explain that you have to leave, but notice that he's looking at his phone as well.

You catch each others gaze, asking in unison, "You too?"

After a small smirk from the both of you, he furrows his brows. "Weird."

"Definitely." You agree. "I'm gonna change into my combats, and-" You turn to face him, meaning to ask him if he wanted to meet up after you were both ready. Your breath catches slightly before you shake yourself, forcing yourself to look him in the eye. "You seriously need a shirt."

You hear his laughter behind you as you hurry into your room, searching for a clean set of combats.

You quickly change and glance at your watch, you had allowed yourself to sleep in a little so it was already 9:30. Shit.

You step outside your room and dart to your counter, grabbing your old knife instinctively.

You move to hook it in the back of your pants as usual, but hesitate as you glance down at the knife Brock had given you. You hear someone clear their throat behind you, making you jump and turn to face a chuckling Steve.

"I didn't mean to scare you, I said your name several times but you were so engrossed in that," He moves closer, motioning to the blade Brock had gotten you. "I guess you didn't even hear me." He leans closer to inspect it. "Where'd you get this? This is really amazing." He motions to the engraving of your initials.
You shrug and move away. "It was a gift."

Steve straightens up and gives you a confused look. "Boyfriend?..." He asks nervously.

You shake your head and give him a weak smile. "It was just Brock."

"Brock?" He furrows his brows, his confusion seeming to have only deepened. He glances at the floor, seemingly deep in thought, before his gaze shoots back up to meet yours with wide eyes. "Rumlow got you that?"

You shrug and open your door, Steve following you into the hallway towards the meeting.

"Don't just ignore that question." He walks beside you, nudging you slightly with his elbow. "Brock Rumlow gave you that? Why?"

You shrug once more. "Was a gift for when I passed Pierce's last little test with Phil." You smile lightly at the thought of the time spent with the agent. "He really likes you. Has a bit of a man-crush if you ask me." You wiggle your brows at him, but he only purses his lips.

"Don't change the subject." He says flatly.

You sigh and press the button for the elevator, rolling your shoulders in an attempt to relieve some of the building tension. "It's not a big deal, just him trying to act like he cares I guess. Make a good impression so I'll be more comfortable following his orders and stuff. Build trust. I don't know. Just a knife. I have my own already."

Upon entering the conference room you see Brock and Pierce at the head of the room, their conversation ceasing as soon as they notice you and Steve.

"Agent. Captain." Pierce says, nodding to the both of you. "Now that we're all here I believe we can begin."

You and Steve glance around, seeing no one else present which only further confuses the two of you.

If either Pierce or Brock notices, they don't say anything.

You hesitantly take your seat, Steve doing the same, and Pierce turns off the lights to begin a slideshow.

A photo of your former team member Jack Rollins fills up the screen, and you shift uneasily in your seat.

"We have reason to believe that former Agent Rollins has leaked special SHIELD information, as well as possible STRIKE operations to outside sources." Pierce begins. "I called you here specifically because I needed people I can trust on this, and you," He looks directly at you, his glare intimidating, but you try to hold his gaze confidently. "You're what made him snap, so I wanted you in on this as well. This is what I meant when I said I had something special lined up for you." He flips through the next few slides; all various incriminating photos of Rollins with known enemies of SHIELD. "I have the research team working on a few things before I want to send any of you after him, but keep your eyes open and be prepared to leave at any time. Don't trust anyone who isn't in this room, and make sure to keep in contact with each other. That is all until further notice." Pierce nods and is the first to leave, as always.

That Night:

You can't sleep, so you finally give up and slip on some jogging pants and a hoodie before making your way down to the gym.

You're not much for running, sure it breaks down your fat but it also breaks down your muscle when you do it too often. You're naturally very tall and lean, so you stick to the weights to keep up your strength and muscle tone. Great outlet too... You think to yourself as you enter the gym, instinct carrying you towards the weight rack as you're deep in thought.

Once you're done with your warm-up you move up to heavier weight, all the while contemplating how Rollins had gone so bad, or was he ever even good?

You frown slightly, re-racking the weights once you finish your set. You turn to move towards the fountain, but see Brock coming down the stairs.

You walk towards him, deciding you don't want to be mad at the man. He never promised he'd stick around, you knew what you were getting into.You tell yourself, gathering the courage to smile and greet him as he stops before you.

He simply nods sharply in acknowledgement, "Need something?"

"Um. No...I-" You hesitate, slightly taken by surprise at how cold he really was. "I just wanted to say 'hi' and tell you not to worry about the other night." You shrug, cursing yourself internally for letting that last bit slip.

He snorts and shakes his head, chuckling as he replies, "I wasn't."

You nod solemnly. "Oh. Well alright then." You glance down and clear your throat, hoping the stinging in your eyes doesn't turn to tears in front of him. You knew he might turn out like this, but actually dealing with it was harder than you thought it would be. Normally it didn't bother you, hell I'm usually the one not wanting to get emotionally involved... but there was something about him that had you mixed up inside. "See ya Rumlow."

You plug your headphones back in, and return to your workout, not once looking back.