Love Me (Steve Rogers Fanfiction)

Chapter 35

I haven't thought of Howard Stark in a long time. Sometimes it's odd, being the same age as his grown son when I was originally friends with his father when we were young. That missed time in the ice did weird things to me. I never remember birthdays, for example. "You know, I'm glad Howard got married. I only knew him when he was young and single."

"Oh, really? You two knew each other? He never mentioned that. Maybe only a thousand times. I hated you."

I sigh and say, "I don't mean to make things difficult."

"I know, because you're a very polite person," he replies.

"If I see a situation pointed south. I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could."

"No, you don't."

"No, I don't," I agree, a grim smile on my face. America always says my selflessness is my best and my worst trait. "Sometimes..."

"Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth." He smirks, but shakes his head, moving on from an old prejudice. "But I don't wanna see you gone. We need you, Cap. So far, nothing's happened that can't be undone, if you sign. We can make the last twenty-four hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych-center instead of a Wakandan prison."

I hesitate, frowning as I pick up one of the pens. "I'm not saying it's impossible, but there would have to be safeguards."

"Sure," He says, a little too quickly. "Once we put out the PR fire, those documents can be amended. I'd file a motion to have you reinstated and Wanda, get the whole thing with America sorted out, too."

"America?" I ask sharply, turning to him. "What about America?"

"You know how the UN's been treating her. Those were vibranium cuffs, Cap. They don't trust her. She's an ex-Hydra operative, there's a reason we had her confined to the compound..."

I throw my hands in the air and groan. "Tony! Every time. Every time I think you see things the right way-"

"What? It's a hundred acres with a lap pool. It's got a screening room. Wanda's there for company. There's worse ways to protect people."

"Protection? Is that how you see this? This is protection? It's internment, Tony. And she's been held places against her will before! No wonder she broke out!"

"And yet you wonder why the UN doesn't trust her! Signing the documents and stealing a jet hours later doesn't look normal. It looks mentally unstable!"

"She thinks of you like a brother! You know her! She never chose that life!"

"She's not a U.S. citizen!"

"Oh, come on, Tony."

"And they don't grant visas to ex-terrorists!"

"She's my wife!" I yell, completely losing my composure.

"Give me a break!" He yells back, then takes a deep breath. "I'm doing what has to be done to stave off something worse."

I find myself nodding faintly. I don't think I've ever been so angry in my life. "You keep telling yourself that." I place the pen back in its velvet case. "Hate to break up the set."

I leave without giving him another chance to say something and before I decide to do something I'll regret. After wandering, I find Sharon and Sam in a side office watching Buck's interrogation.

"Have you seen Mer?" I ask Sam, who shakes his head.

"No. I figured you went to get her." This bothers me for a brief moment, but the thing that matters most is her health. They'll fix her up and we'll figure the rest out together.

Sharon hands a piece of paper over to him. "The receipt for your gear."

"'Bird costume'? Come on," Sam groans.

"I didn't write it." She shrugs and presses a button on the panel, broadcasting the interrogation closer to us.

I don't know what to think as the psychologist questions him. I know how hard it was for Mer to open up to us after escaping Hydra, and his past is just as bad. Pity and confusion rush through me as I watch.

A blurry photo of him sits on the table. I pick it up to examine it closely. "Why would the Task Force release this photo to begin with?"

Sharon just says, "Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?" I know she trusts us, but she doesn't seem to know anything more.

"Right. It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier."

"You're saying someone framed him to find him," she says, following my line of thought.

"Steve, we looked for the guy for two years and found nothing," Sam points out.

"We didn't bomb the UN. That turns a lot of heads." Sam tilts his head and considers this.

"Yeah, but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him. It guarantees that... we would." Her eyes narrow as they fall back on the screen, where the interrogation continues.

I nod. "Yeah."

Out of nowhere, all power shuts down in the control room. Everything becomes engulfed in darkness.

"All right, come on guys, get me eyes on Barnes!" Ross yells into a walkie talkie, motioning to security. I quickly turn to face Sharon and Sam, a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Sub-level 5, east wing," she says quickly. I nod and Sam and I take off out of the office.

Red lights flash all around the dark hallways as Sam and I run downstairs to get to Sub-level 5. Outside of the chamber, at least a dozen agents lay unconscious on the floor as I check. I should be more careful, but at this moment, a dangerous mix of rage and fear has built up inside of me. I storm over to the 'psychologist' and immediately hold him against a wall. To my surprise, he doesn't resist.

"Who are you?" I demand. "What do you want?"

His smirk curls. Slowly, deliberately, he whispers, "to see an empire fall."

Sam enters, and a figure steps out of the shadows. Bucky immediately aims a punch at Sam, who thankfully ducks, and his fist goes through the wall. As I drop the man, someone kicks me square in the back. I groan and quickly turn to find something I never wanted to find.

My wife, staring at me with cold, dark, unforgiving eyes. I've never seen her like this before, but dread fills my stomach when I realize that she doesn't recognize me. She's not Mer. She's someone else entirely.

The Night Wind.