IT WAS EARLY in the day. The sun started to rise which brought a light orange tint to the blue sky above.
Sam Wilson jogged at a steady pace alongside his colleague Y/N L/N, the two recently just kicking off their morning run routine. The S.H.I.E.L.D agent met the Air Force veteran a few months ago after stumbling upon one of his counseling sessions.
The two made it southeast on the inlet bridge at the lower edge of the Tidal Basin. They heard footsteps behind them, and the runner sprinted by Sam's left shoulder.
"On your left." Steve Rogers breathed out and continued running.
They kept up their jog, reaching the front of Jefferson Memorial. Steve Rogers once again passed them.
"On your left."
"Uh-huh. On my left. Got it."
Sam let out a sigh and Y/N shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Wilson. This is hurting my ego."
He then sprinted as well, leaving him behind.
"What? Come on!" Sam shouted.
Sam kept up his usual pace, and reached the east side of the reflecting pool in front of Lincoln Memorial. Steve was ready to pass Wilson once again, but this time joined by Y/N.
"Don't say it. Don't you say it." Sam looked back.
"On your left." Steve said and ran passed him.
"Come on!"
Y/N also ran past him on the same side. "Catch up, old man."
"You're literally twice my age!" Sam shot back as the two gained some more distance. "Ugh!"
He sped up and tried to catch the two, but the attempt was fruitless.
By the end Sam laid against a tree on the corner of 3rd and Jefferson, the U.S Capitol Building seen on the distance. The men out-of-time stumbled upon the exhausted soldier, the two of them perfectly composed.
"Need a medic?" Steve asked him.
Sam laughed. "I need a new set of lungs. Dude, you ran, like, 13 miles in 30 minutes."
"I could've done the same if you hadn't been lagging." Y/N said with chuckle.
"Then make up for it. You should take another lap."
The two laughed as Sam continued talking to Y/N.
"Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."
"What unit you with?" Steve asked him.
"He's Pararescue." Y/N chimed in.
"58th." Sam added. "But now I'm working down at the VA. Sam Wilson."
He extended his hand and Steve helped him up as he greeted. "Steve Rogers."
"Y/N told me about you. Must have freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing."
"It takes some getting used to." Steve pat Y/N's back. "It was good to have this guy with me through it all."
The younger man nodded, and Steve bid farewell before walking off. "It's good to meet you, Sam."
"It's your bed, right?" The man said and stopped Steve in his tracks.
"What's that?"
"Your bed, it's too soft. When I was over there, I'd sleep on the ground, use rock for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like..."
"Lying on a marshmallow." Steve interjected. "Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor."
"Right." Sam chuckled. "You must miss the good old days, huh?"
"Well, things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better. We used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful." Steve replied. "I've been reading that a lot, trying to catch up."
Sam crossed his arms and thought for a bit before speaking again.
"Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man soundtrack. Everything you missed jammed into one album."
"I'll put it on the list." Steve said as he took out his journal and jotted the information down.
"Got anymore for me?" Y/N asked as he rested his hands on his waist.
Sam had given him recommendation on music and movies, mostly movies since Y/N enjoyed many forms of cinema.
"Ah." Sam came up with one. "Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise. You gotta check that out."
"The guy from Top Gun?" Y/N asked, as that was a movie he's seen recently.
"He's in a ton of films."
Both Steve's and Y/N's cell phones chimed. Y/N checked his and saw a message from Natasha.
MISSION ALERT.
EXTRACTION IMMINENT
MEET AT CURB. :)
"All right, Sam, duty calls. Thanks for the run." Steve said as he clasped Sam's hand.
"If that's what you want to call running." Y/N added with a chuckle. Steve also laughed at the remark.
"Oh, that's how it is? Okay." Sam laughed, then looked at Steve. "Any time you want to stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know."
"I'll keep it in mind. Yeah." Steve said.
"Don't need my help?" Y/N asked.
"Man, being seen around Captain America is way better than....what are you called again?"
The two laughed as Y/N shook his head. "Okay, that was good. It hurt, but good one."
An engine revved as a sports car pulled up at the curb near the three men.
The window lowered and they saw Natasha in the driver's seat.
"Hey, fellas." She called out. "Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I heard they lost a couple fossils."
"That's hilarious." Steve said as he walked up to the car with Y/N.
"Ever thought of doing stand-up?" Y/N chimed in.
The Vietnam veteran was prepared to enter the back seat, but the World War II soldier stopped him.
"I'll take the back." He said with a smirk. "Shotgun's all yours."
Y/N chuckled as Steve entered the backseat.
He had a faint idea on why he wanted him to sit in the passengers' seat beside Nat. Steve during the past several months noticed the back and forth flirting between the two agents. That was the case even before meeting Rogers, and the two never thought anything of it. Maybe Steve saw something brewing that the two haven't yet...or maybe they just haven't acted on it.
The two men settled into the vehicle as Sam stood outside. He crouched down and looked at Natasha.
"How you doing?" He asked with a smile.
"Hey." She greeted back with a smirk.
Y/N raised his brow at their interaction. He looked at Sam.
"Can't run everywhere."
Sam chuckled. "No, you can't."
Natasha pressed on the gas and drove away from the curb and down the street.
There was a moment of silence before Y/N broke it.
"What was that back there?" He asked the redhead.
Her eyes were still glued to the road. "What was what?"
"Eyeing my buddy Wilson."
She chuckled. "I'd say he was the one eyeing me. What? Are you jealous?"
"No." Y/N quickly replied. "Why would I be? Sam's a cool dude."
"That was quick response."
Y/N laughed before continuing. "So you're into soldiers. That's good to know. You also got me and Rogers."
"Please leave me out of this." Steve said from the back seat, which garnered a chuckle from the female.
"Then I guess that just leaves you." Natasha said glancing at Y/N, then looked back at the road. He took in that line and simply nodded, not knowing what to say afterwards. Natasha chose to speak again.
"And your friend, of course. When is he free?"
Y/N chuckled. "More times then we are."
• • •
THE AIRCRAFT SOARED over the Indian Ocean towards their target. Freedom Fighter, Captain America, and Black Widow stood in the plane with other agents listening to Brock Rumlow's debriefing.
"Target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star. They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them, 93 minutes ago."
"Any demands?" Steve asked.
"Billion and a half." Rumlow answered.
"Why so steep?"
"Because it's S.H.I.E.L.D.'s."
"So it's not off-course." Y/N chimed in. "It's trespassing."
"I'm sure they have a good reason." Natasha replied.
"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor." Steve told her.
"Relax. It's not that complicated."
"How many pirates?" He asked Rumlow.
"25. Top mercs led by this guy." He swiped on the screen and displayed a photo. "Georges Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice."
"I recognize Batroc. I had to take down one of his buddies in Algeria." Y/N remarked.
Rumlow continued. "Before the French demobilised him, he had 36 kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."
"Hostages?" Steve asked.
"Oh, mostly techs. One officer. Jasper Sitwell. They're in the galley."
"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Y/N muttered.
"All right." Steve announced. "Me and L/N are gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get them out. Let's move."
"S.T.R.I.K.E., you heard the Cap. Gear up." Rumlow called out.
The aircraft went into stealth mode and muzzled their engines as they neared the ship.
"Secure channel seven." Steve spoke into his earpiece as he walked beside Natasha and Y/N.
"Seven secure." She reported back.
"Secure." Y/N repeated.
Natasha grabbed her gear and spoke to Cap. "Did you do anything fun Saturday night?"
"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so, no, not really."
"Coming up on the drop zone, Cap." The pilot said through the comms.
"You know how to make next Saturday fun? Asking Kristen from Statistics out." Y/N cut in as he strapped on his headpiece.
"She'd probably say yes." Natasha supported the idea, as the two agents often talked about getting Rogers a girlfriend.
"That's why I don't ask." Steve replied as the air-stair of the plane opened.
"Too shy, or too scared?"
"Too busy!"
Captain America leaped out of the plane.
"Was he wearing a parachute?" An agent abruptly asked. Rumlow shook his head.
"No. No, he wasn't."
After getting out of the water and boarding the ship, Steve Rogers made quick work of the pirates on guard duty.
He took almost everyone down, but one remaining pirate cocked his rifle and aimed it at Steve's back. He was ready to fire, but a billy-club flew in and hit the back of his head hard, knocking the pirate out. It retreated back into Y/N's hand as he parachuted down with the rest of Rumlow's team.
"Those things are pretty handy." Steve remarked about the batons.
"Maybe one day we can trade. My batons for your shield." Y/N said.
Rogers chuckled as he placed the shield on his back. He walked away and Y/N still tried convincing. "Come on, my sticks turn into one big staff."
The two walked alongside each other as Black Widow landed beside them and discarded her chute.
"What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you? She seems kind of nice."
"Nurse?" Y/N asked. "Is she cute? If Rogers declines I might take that offer."
The redhead rolled her eyes and Steve internally sighed as the two of them continued to try and set him up with somebody.
"Secure the engine room, then find me a date."
"I'm multi-tasking." Natasha said as she vaulted over the railing and began her trek to the engine room.
"Gonna need you to check out the east side of the ship. In case there's more pirates on alert." Steve told Y/N.
"On it, Cap." He obliged, then leaped up onto a ledge and climbed up to reach the deck above. He started to make his way to the other side of the ship.
Two pirates were on the deck unaware of Freedom Fighter's presence. He leaped off the wall and kicked one of the down, then took out one of his batons to attack the second pirate. He hit him in the knee then face before roundhouse kicking him off the deck.
The first pirate reached for his gun on the floor, but Y/N stepped on his hand then kicked him across the face.
"Le voilà! (There he is!)" A shout was heard. Across the deck were three more pirates with rifles raised. Y/N leaped onto a railing and climbed up to the upper deck as they fired at him.
One of the men looked above and waited for Freedom Fighter to drop down, but a baton bounced off a pipe and hit the man in the face. His colleague looked at the baton on the floor in confusion, but was then hit by another billy-club and knocked down.
The third man looked up and saw Y/N drop from the upper deck, not reacting fast enough before the agent fell on him and knocked him to the floor.
Y/N grabbed his batons and engaged the two others who had just gotten up. He made light work of them and ultimately threw one of them over the deck and then slammed the last one into the wall.
He placed his batons back into his belt and moved along.
Y/N entered an area filled with crates and other sorts of storage. One pirate stumbled upon him and raised his rifle, but before he can act, legs wrapped around his neck and took him down. Natasha finished him off with a punch as she leaned over his body.
"I could've handled it." Y/N remarked.
"No thank you?" She asked as she got up. "I literally saved your ass."
"Maybe you shouldn't have. That would've left Wilson as the front runner." He joked.
"Quit it." She chuckled and walked away. Y/N noticed she wasn't going towards the rendezvous point.
"Nat. It's over there." He pointed.
"I know."
"Then where are you going?"
She stopped for a moment then sighed. "Just follow before more of Batroc's men show up."
He shook his head and walked with her. It wasn't long until they reached a computer room within the ship and the redhead went up to a console.
"What are we doing here?" He asked.
She didn't answer as she inserted a USB stick into the computer and started typing.
"Nat?"
Suddenly, the door of the room was busted open as Steve pinned Batroc to the floor, then knocked him out with a single punch.
"Well, this is awkward." Natasha spoke and got his attention.
Steve looked up and saw his two colleagues by the console.
"What are you doing?" He asked as he walked up to them.
"Backing up the hard drive." She replied. "It's a good habit to get into."
"Rumlow needed your help. What the hell are you two doing here?"
Y/N couldn't answer, not even knowing himself as he was there because of Romanoff.
Steve looked at the computer screen and quickly realized what she was doing.
"You're saving S.H.I.E.L.D intel."
"Whatever I can get my hands on." She simply said.
"Our mission is to rescue hostages."
"No, that's your mission, and you two have done it beautifully."
Y/N didn't like how she kept them in the dark, how she withheld this info from him especially.
Natasha took out the USB stick and was about to walk away. Y/N grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"Nat—"
Steve darted his eyes at Y/N and interrupted him. "Did you know about this?"
He sighed. "Not until now."
Cap looked at Romanoff again. "You just jeopardised this whole operation."
"I think that's overstating things." She was still being held by Y/N. "Now's not the time to get all handsy with me, L/N."
Suddenly, Batroc got up and took out a grenade. He pulled the pin and threw it at them before bolting out.
Cap hit it aside with his shield before vaulting over one of the consoles. Y/N, already grabbing Natasha, held her closer and vaulted over the console as well. She shot the window in front of them twice, weakening its integrity so they could crash through it. Steve followed soon after as the explosion erupted.
The three of them leaned against the wall. Y/N groaned and panted as smoke started to fill the room.
"Okay." Natasha also panted. "That one's on me."
"You're damn right." Steve groaned and got up to leave the room. Y/N still sat against the wall beside Natasha.
"Guess it was the time to get handsy." Y/N remarked and looked at her. "What? No thank you?" He recalled her question earlier.
She didn't respond and just shook her head. Internally, she felt like she compromised Steve's and Y/N's trust doing this for Fury.
The younger man had an inkling, but didn't dwell on it. He got up and offered his hand.
"Come on, let's get off this ship."
She looked at him for a moment, seeing a light smile form on what used to be a serious face. She took his hand and got up, then walked out of the room with him.
• • •
BACK IN D.C, Y/N walked along the hallway within the Triskelion towards Nick Fury's office. Wearing his Freedom Fighter attire albeit the helmet, he knocked on the door and was quickly met with a response.
"Come on in."
He opened the door and saw the director at his desk, just having finished attempting to enter his database through his computer.
For some reason, it wasn't letting him. He'd have to look into the issue.
"Nick." Y/N greeted as he walked over.
"L/N. Everything all right?"
"Well, I got to talk to you about the Lemurian Star."
The director sighed as he leaned against his desk. "What about?"
"What's with this keeping your agents in the dark stuff?" Y/N asked.
"You're just like Rogers." He shook his head. "It was just something I had Romanoff do along with the hostage rescue."
"So you had Rogers and I deal with Batroc and the hostages while Natasha did your dirty work?"
"Tell me, Agent L/N, would you have gone with the op if I asked you instead?"
"Maybe." He replied. "I'd just rather you have trusted me too."
"Last time I fully trusted someone, I lost an eye." He said with a chuckle. "There's only a few people in my circle."
Y/N paused for a bit as Fury got off his desk and went behind it.
"Am I not one of them?"
Nick sighed, slightly regretting that he kept the young agent out of the loop. He did trust him, but just wanted to keep his circle small since it's worked so far.
"Of course I trust you, Y/N." He began, then started drawing in the air with his finger. "You're...like in the circle right outside of the smaller one."
"Hah. That makes me feel better." Y/N joked, then laughed along with Fury. For now the young man put the previous topic aside.
"I gotta talk with Secretary Pierce." Fury said as he started walking towards his door with Y/N following. "Go back home and rest. I'll call when something else comes up."
The two left the office and Fury locked his door. They part ways as Y/N walked down the hallway on his way to the elevator.