Title: the only hero left

Author: A. X. Zanier

Status: WIP

Rating: R (Language, violence, sexual situations, the usual)

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe

Disclaimer: a) The characters and basic story ideas of Captain America/Avengers/et al are the property of others including, but not limited to Stan Lee, Marvel Studios, Disney Studios. Any additional characters or story ideas are mine. I make no money from this intellectual exercise. b) This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any opinions or views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the author and are used for storytelling purposes only.

Series: Apparently. Follows my short No Rest for the Weary

Spoilers: Oh hell yes. Any part of the MCU is fair game.

A/N: I blame this damn story on watching Eurovision this year. The opening song hit me like a freight train and I got not one, but two bunnies screaming at me. One canon, one AU (this is the AU one), but neither will let me go. As I appear to be channeling one very unhappy Steve Rogers, you'll get to enjoy me fumbling about in first person.

A/N part deux: The OFC herein has actually been hiding in my brain since I saw Iron Man. I wrote some snippets, but most of the stories stayed in my head. Eventually, they faded as my muses moved onto other things (or stuck with the same old thing if you know my writing at all) until I saw Civil War and, as mentioned above, Eurovision. She is intended to do more than provide a perspective for the reader. And, in truth, I've been using this story to bounce ideas for the strictly canon one (heroes of our time) so if there are similarities, that would be why.

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the only hero left

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A woman lay sleeping on my bed.

At first I thought it must be Sharon, but it hadn't taken more than a moment to realize the hair was too blonde, too straight, and the build to light to be the ex-SHIELD and now CIA agent. I felt a surge of hope and worry followed by dismay. Hell, if Sharon had come I wouldn't be certain if it would be to arrest me… arrest us or come along for the ride. I mean, I can't say I'd mind her joining us, but if she wanted to keep her job she'd be better off staying behind and playing the part of duped (ex)girlfriend.

So, knowing Sharon could not be here, I cautiously shifted to see the woman's face, which lay away from my view.

Admittedly, it didn't look as if she had planned to fall asleep, but had simply kicked off her shoes and sat for a moment only to be swept up in Morpheus's sudden embrace. She had curled up sideways on the end of the bed, bare toes hanging off the edge, hands tucked up underneath her chin, tanned arms still lighter than the deep blue of the comforter she'd fallen asleep upon.

I blinked, the face partially obscured by the long pale blonde hair until recognition hit me and my jaw tightened.

I hadn't spoken to Laurin in a few months, though we did communicate fairly regularly via email. Tony and she worked together now and then and had been friends for several years before I'd been found and recruited by SHIELD. She had worked as a consultant for SHIELD as well, so I knew her well enough to call her friend, but…

But I had no idea where she'd decided to stand on the matter of the Accords.

Muscles still tight I walked back out into the main room of the apartment and made a call to find out just why the hell they had let her into my temporary home.

The response? She had asked to see me.

I would presume that security had vetted her before allowing her anywhere near these suites, but still, it seemed more than a touch odd.

Not that I disliked her, I wouldn't call her friend otherwise, but the timing deeply concerned me.

Grumbling under my breath at the inconvenience, I got cleaned up and, after a wistful glance at the mostly empty bed; she did not take up much room on the oversized king I'd been given, grabbed a spare pillow and blanket and went back to the sofa, thankfully also oversized, but not nearly as comfortable as the bed, to curl up and grab a few hours of sleep.

I drifted back to an unwelcome state of consciousness to the smell of coffee and the sound of movement. I went instantly on alert, but didn't actually move, instead focusing my hearing to try and figure out if I were actually in danger. A swear in a female voice gave me the clue I needed and I relaxed slightly, feeling irritated that I'd been woken up, especially since she had swiped my bed for her, I glanced at the watch on my wrist, nap. Damn it, I'd barely been asleep two hours.

With a groan I shifted and sat up.

I heard her foot falls and glanced up to see her standing there with a mug of coffee in her hands.

"That for me?" I asked, not certain where to start.

She nodded.

I held out my hand, but she shook her head and set it on a table well out of my reach. Then she closed the distance between us and punched me solidly on the shoulder with enough force to rock me. It didn't really hurt, probably hurt her more than me, but I still reacted.

"Ow. What was that for?" I rubbed the spot feigning a far worse injury for her benefit.

"For not calling me when everything went to hell," she growled, clearly angry with me.

I shook my head. "Tony said you didn't want to be involved."

"With the Accords?"

I nodded.

"Of course not. That would mean admitting I'm something other than a vanilla human." She stood there, fisted hands on her hips and a frown on her face.

And vanilla human she most certainly had not been for nearly a decade, but she was right, admitting that would bring her and her tech under serious scrutiny and I would not want that for her any more than she did.

"Smart move," I told her running a hand through my hair and fighting a yawn. I was so tired. At T'Challa's request, as in he came and asked me himself, I'd begun working with some of his people, fighting techniques, tactics, security, etc. Not that they needed it per se, but I had been glad of the distraction. I didn't exactly have a whole lot to do but train on a typical day and even that had been lost for the first few weeks after coming to Wakanda.

Next thing I knew her arms had wrapped about me and pulled me tight against her. I stiffened, tried to pull away, but she didn't let go, her hold more than tight enough to remind me that she was indeed far stronger than she looked.

Christ how long had it been since someone had just held me with no ulterior motive involved?

Far too long if I could not remember.

Without conscious thought my arms went about her waist and wrapped snugly about her tiny waist. She folded about me, holding me together while I silently let all the anger, sorrow and frustration of the last few weeks go for a short amount of time.

I had no idea how long we stayed that way, but she knew the instant I was ready to move on and straightened, her hands moving from about my neck to cup both cheeks. She leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. "Idiot," she told me with a smile.

My hands on her hips tightened for an instant, but she had a point. "Things moved pretty fast, I didn't exactly have time to call."

"Bullshit," she said as she stepped away and retrieved the coffee, handing it to me. "You managed to drag Pym's protege in, and you couldn't call me?"

I sipped the coffee, tracking her as she went back to the kitchen to fill her own mug with the bold brew. "Technically, Sam and Clint hornswaggled him into this. I… it was my problem, my friend I was trying to protect, and they knew the score. You, as you just pointed out, don't want to be know as anything other than normal."

She pouted at me. "So I might not be into the whole destroying an airport thing, but I do have some tech skills that might have been of use to you. False identities and the like. Greasing a few virtual wheels."

I sighed, not about to admit that she might be right. Granted, we hadn't exactly used legal means or channels for most of our flight plans, but I knew her skill set. She'd worked on JARVIS before he'd become Vision, Tony's pet AI, and he'd allowed her to, which showed a definite respect by the man for her skills.

"How is everyone?" she asked.

"Good. Adjusting." Not much else to say to that. Rinn hadn't met Sam or Wanda, though she knew about them. "Bucky went back into cryo."

"Damn. Steve-"

I cut her off. "So what brings you to Wakanda?"

She eyed me for a moment, but had always been a smart girl and let the matter of Bucky drop for now.

"Job interview."

"Job interview? You need another job?" I didn't see how that could be possible. She ran a video game company, Cyko, a simulator design company under the same colorful moniker, which mostly worked with the US government, and did research into nano-systems, especially nanites. Micro-robots that repaired and maintained major systems all over the planet, and a few off.

She was smart. Scary-smart. Like Tony Stark scary-smart and over a decade younger. Little wonder she and Tony were friends. She'd probably get along well with Banner. If I ever found him I'd have to make certain to introduce the pair, it would be interesting.

"The gaming side is self sustaining with projects planned out for the next decade. Looking for a new partner with the sim side of things."

I blinked. "Thought the US had an exclusive contract."

Her lips pursed as if she had tasted something bad. "Had being the operative word. The instant they branded you a fugitive I enacted my out clause. They can scream and stomp their feet all they like, but they will not see another product from me ever. So I put out feelers and His Majesty's people contacted me and suggested a meeting."

I shook my head in dismay. "They'll come after you."

She shrugged. "Let 'em. They cannot force me to use my skills for them."

"But they can threaten your friends, your business, your family. Freeze your bank accounts…" I trailed off as she began to smile.

"Steve, sometimes I forget how new you are to this world. I have more than enough money, liquid and otherwise, in very safe places that the US government can't touch no matter how badly they may try." She came back over, bare feet near silent on the floor and sat down beside me. "You realize that since it was proven Zemo did cause the bombing in Vienna that they can't go after you or your friends for violating the Accords. Though you did kind of destroy an airport and orchestrated a jailbreak, so they might want to talk to you about that."

I couldn't help it, I chuckled at the droll tone she used to sum up my recent exploits. "Ross is probably pissed. All that security and it couldn't even keep one man out."

"Well, to be fair it is designed more to keep people in." She sipped at her coffee, an innocent look in those green eyes of hers.

I had to admit she had a point, they most certainly hadn't been prepared even if they had known I would be coming. And if they hadn't known I'd be coming, well, then they were idiots.

"So, why are you really here?"

She sighed softly and set the mug down on the coffee table before us. "Because you know that I can keep your secrets and won't think any less of you when you decide to finally talk about what happened between you and Tony."

"And what makes you think I'll talk to you?" I grumbled, not wanting to talk about any of it and knowing I needed to. And worse, knowing she might be one of the few people on the planet that would listen and not judge. She had never looked at me and seen anything other than Steven Grant Rogers, hadn't cared I had become who I was thanks to genetic tinkering, that no one, including myself, had any clue what I was truly capable of. Like that hug. I'd not said a word, given even a hint that I wanted, much less needed one, but she had known and given me what I had denied myself, would have continued denying myself, because I had to set an example. I led the others, no way I could show any weakness, no matter how deserving of it I may be.

With her I could let my guard down in ways I couldn't even with Sharon, which could only be a sorry statement on my life.

She tipped slightly to lean against me, a warm comforting presence at my side. "Steve, if all you need from me is silence, I'll give it. If you want to talk, I'll listen and not judge. If you want comfort, I'll give you all that you need." She tipped her head against my shoulder, her long blonde hair draping down across my chest.

I turned my head into her hair, breathing in her scent for long minutes before sighing. "Sometimes I think this is your real superpower."

"What is?" she asked, turning her head to look up at me.

"Being what we need. You didn't get that from those nanites." I'd seen her do this with others, including Clint and Nat. She didn't butt in, didn't demand, didn't even ask most of the time, but she always seemed to provide a comforting presence on those occasions she visited.

She got to her feet and patted me on the shoulder. "I'm just me," she stated as she headed for the bedroom. "Nothing special."

Not true as far as I was concerned, but that was okay, so long as she didn't change. I leaned back, drinking the coffee, wondering why she had vanished in the middle of a conversation.

When she came back out, she was fully dressed, though not business meeting dressed, more like hacker casual, that involved black clothing from head to toe, her pale blonde hair a vibrant contrast against the longsleeved shirt she wore.

I raised an eyebrow. "Not exactly job interview clothes."

She laughed softly. "Interview is tomorrow. I need to set up the server system for the sim-suit demo."

"Wouldn't that require a sim-suit?"

She lifted up the hem of the overlong shirt to reveal the distinctive metallic sheen of a sim-suit underneath. "These," she flapped her arms, "come off easily." She tipped her head slightly. "I have done this before, you know?"

"I know," I agreed, standing and moving over to her. "Need help?"

"Nightmares?" she asked, eyes narrowing as she looked me over.

Urf. I didn't want to know how she'd figured it out so quickly, but I can't say I was surprised. I looked anywhere but at her until she forced me to by shifting to stand right in front of me, well within that personal space demarcation. I kept forgetting how tall she was, a fair five eight in her bare feet, which meant it didn't take much effort to meet her eyes. "Yes, every night."

She nodded. "Then get changed. I'm sure I can find something for you to do."

I did as she asked.