"A lot of times freedom doesn't mean being free. It is not a right, but a choice. Anyone can be free if they want to. Telling someone to be free is taking away their choice to be free. You don't take away decisions."
A story in which Lilly Richards...
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Next morning, Lilly woke up at the sound of door closing. She got out of his ned and strolled inside the kitchen. The clock was 6am. "Jeez, Sam," she said as she walked back to his room. She didn't sleep for a whole night.
After some time, Sam returned. She dressed up in her outfit and sat on a chair in the kitchen. Sam walked inside, all exhausted from the morning run. "Good morning," she said and he nodded, taking a drink from his fridge. Just as he was about to take a sip, a knock was heard. Both of them looked at each other. Sam walked to the door and opened them.
"Hey, man." "I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low." Steve said to him. "Everyone we know is trying to kill us," Nat said and Sam paused. Lilly walked from behind Sam, seeing Nat and Steve in front of them.
"Lilly!" Steve exclaimed and walked past Sam and hugged her tight. "Come in," Sam said and let Natasha enter. "We thought they got you," he said as he pulled away. Lilly looked away, not wanting to meet his eyes. "Guys same goes for you two. The bathroom is down the hall on the left." Nat nodded and walked past them.
"Are you okay? You seem mad," he said to her. "I'm fine," Lilly said and walked back to Sam's room. Steve looked at Sam and he shrugged.
Later, Steve walked inside Sam's room. He sat on the bed next to Lilly. "I'm sorry," he said and reached out for her hand, but she pulled it away. He sighed. "I'm sorry we made you feel uncomfortable." She turned away from him. "Just go Steve," she said, facing the wall. "No. Not until you talk to me," he said and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Lilly," She didn't turn. "Please," he said and let his hand travel lower to her waist. She turned her head to her left. "There's nothing between me and Nat." "I don't care." "You do." "I don't!" She said and finally faced him.
He stared into her eyes, full of sadness and rage. He looked back and forth between her eyes and lips. "I don't care, Steve," she said. He moved closer to her, inching his head lower. "You do," he whispered. She looked at his lips. She knew what he was trying to do, but she was hesitating. He stopped inches away from her. The only thing that was heard was their slow breathing.
"Kiss me," she said to him. Without hesitation this time, Steve lowered his head and kissed her on the lips. The kiss was perfect. She's been waiting for this moment for too long. She put her hand on the side of his face, as he put his hands on her hips. The kiss was deepening, becoming a small make out session.
"I made breakfast. If you guys..." Sam trailed off as he saw them kissing. Both of them pulled away from each other and blushed. "...eat that sort of thing."
Later all three of them joined Natasha in the kitchen. She looked at Steve and Lilly and grinned. "I was wondering when the two of you are going to show up," she said. Lilly didn't say anything and just sat down on a chair. Steve did the same. Nat looked at Sam and shrugged.
"So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" She asked them "Pierce," Steve answered. "Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world," she said and walked closer to Lilly. "But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star," he said, avoiding eye contact with Natasha. "So was Jasper Sitwell." He sighed.
"So, the real question is: how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" Steve asked her and looked at Sam. "The answer is: you don't," Sam answered him and dropped a file in front of him. "What's this?" "Call it a resume," he said and Nat picked up a photo of Sam with para-rescue team. "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?" She asked him. On the photo was his partner Riley and Lilly, walking behind them.
"You were there too?" Steve asked her. She nodded. "It was a weird day," she said and looked at Sam. "Is this Riley?" "Yeah," he answered Steve. "I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?" Nat asked them. "No," Lilly said. Sam gave a file to Steve. "We used these," Sam said. "I mean, she didn't, but we have."
Steve looked at the file. "I thought you said you were a pilot," he said and looked at him. "I never said pilot." "I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason," he said and looked at Lilly. "You're sitting this one out too." "Oh, hell I am not," Lilly said and stood up. "I am not going to watch my friends die alone, while I sit here and hide like a rabbit." Natasha looked at Steve. He opened his mouth, but was cut off because of Sam. "Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."
Steve looked at file once more. "Where can we get our hands on one of these things?" "The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall." Steve looked at Natasha who shrugged her shoulders. "Shouldn't be a problem then," Steve threw down the file on the table.
"Get ready, we have a mission to complete," Steve said and everyone left the kitchen to get ready. Steve grabbed Lilly by the hand as she turned away and tried to leave. "Not you. We need to talk," Steve said. "Is there enough time for this?" "Yes, If won't have to deal with questions like this," he said back to her. She sighed and turned to him. "Don't think I forgot what happened in Sam's room." "I hope you don't," she told him. "Well, I surely won't." He left her hand and put his hands on he hips. She moved closer to him. "We didn't finish what we started," she said and put her hands around his neck. "There's going to be time for that, I promise," he said and winked. She smiled and kissed him.
"Well, Star-spangled boy, we have a mission," she said and walked backwards. "Don't call me like this," he said annoyed. She winked at him and turned around.
——— later ———
"Two coffees, please," Sam said as he and Lilly sat down on a chair. She had a cap and sunglasses as a disguise as well as Sam did. "It's our time to shine," he said as he motioned his head towards Sitwell. She grinned as she noticed him. "Indeed it is."
Sam picked up a phone and called him. Sitwell picked it up and answered. "Yes, sir?" "Agent Sitwell, how was lunch? I hear the crab cakes here are delicious," Sam said. "Who is this?" "The good looking guy in the sunglasses, sitting next to a beautiful woman at your ten o'clock." Sitwell looked around but didn't see him. "Your other ten o'clock," Sam said as he saw him turn the other way. "There you go," he said and both Lilly and him, lifted their glasses. "What do you two want?" "You're gonna go around the corner, to your right. There's a grey car, two spaces down. You and us are gonna take a ride," he said. "And why would I do that?" "Because that tie looks really expensive, and I'd hate to mess it up," Sam said and Sitwell looked down at his tie and saw a small red light from the gun being pointed at him.
Later the two of you saw Jasper flying off the roof and knew that was your cue. Sam caught him and flew up with his Falcon jet-pack suit and threw him on the roof. Lilly flew behind him and landed there as well. Steve and Natasha walked towards Sitwell, who held his hand up in fear. "Zola's algorithm is a program...for choosing Insight's targets!" He yelled out. "What targets?" "You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future," he said. "The Future? How could it know?" Sitwell laughed at his question. Lilly looked down at him and opened up her hand, small fire forming on it. He gulped and looked at Steve.
"The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future." "And what then?" Steve asked him. "Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me," he mentioned more to himself than them. "What then?!" Steve demanded. "Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time." Steve stared at him. Lilly walked up beside him and put her hand on his shoulder.
