13 days later

The woman from across the street had no clue she had been watched; observed for days. She was laughing, obviously entertained by the company. Everything about her was at ease; the way she peacefully sat surrounded by one of the biggest and baddest people in the world; the way she smiled at the worst of them all; the way she gently stroke his cheek. Oh, she had no clue of the man hiding in the shadows. And how could she… she had been too happy and too smitten by her companion to be aware of the danger the man in the shadows posed…

He watched her… followed her for days now. He knew everything about her. And with every revelation his anger grew more violent. He needed to punish her, to make his pain known, but she was always surrounded by people… by her very, very bad friends…

…

The hallway was dark, the air thick and damp. The electricity was out again; third time this week. And it provided him with the perfect opportunity to get to her. She would never see him coming. So, he waited for her…

…

She was tired after the long working day. Her feet hurt from the constant need to wear high hills, even at the beach, but hey, if it helped her cause the hell with personal comfort, right? Hell no, but soon all the effort she'd put into the job, into this job would've made a lot more sense. She just prayed it would be sooner rather later.

The lights were out, again, but she had gotten used to it. The weather was hotter than expected and the old electrical grid of the city gave up every now and then. Not that she had anything against some peace and quiet, but no electricity meant to fan, and no fan meant no getting away from the unbearable heat… Well, only a cold shower will do.

Five flight of stairs later she was finally home. She didn't wait to get in, she took her shoes off one by one, then the floppy straw hat, that was her only salvation from the burning Colombian sun, unlocked the door and stepped into the much cooler two bedroom apartment. God, she was tired. She dropped the shoes down and tossed the hat on the little table. Raking a hand through her hair she looked around her unusually dark apartment and felt funny. There was something very wrong… One step forward and then another and then…

One strong hand covered her mouth and pulled her back, until her back slammed against the rock solid body of a man; extremely big man. Instantly she regretted taking her shoes off, the 4 inches hills would have been great weapon in case you get attacked in your home by a stranger. Oh, well, then she'll have to come up with something else.

…

Wasn't she a fighter? She tried every known and unknown punch on him, but he anticipated her every move. But he was getting tired of playing games.

She found herself with her wrists twisted behind her back, pinned to bed, face first of course. After she had exhausted every move on him, gloriously failing where she was supposed to be the best, he had overpowered her and dragged her to the master bedroom.

She literally hated herself so much right now. Hated her for not being able to see his attack coming; for not fighting him off, for leaving the damn curtains down, just because…; for not screaming, because it might have affected her cover, for wearing this damn dress, if you could call it that in the first place. The lace did nothing to cover her body, and the so called bathing suit she chose this morning was her worst idea so far.

…

He couldn't deny that she was a strong woman, resourceful and brave, but he was bigger, stronger, and tougher than her; she stood no chance against him and it made him smile.

She didn't know what else to do. Trapped between the bed and his huge body she went still, contemplating her next move, but something felt strange with him. Inflicting pain, or at least the idea of doing so, comes easily with such people, but he never tried to hurt her. Not when she tried to kill him through broking his nose and sending the little bone fragments up his brain, or when she tried to snap his neck with a tight grip… not once, as if he was protecting her.

But no wonder…

"Don't even think about it, agent Carter!" his tone was mocking.

And she knew she was going to kill him.

…

Steve sat at end of the bed with his back turned toward her. From the moment she saw the storm of emotions in his eyes, Sharon knew the depth of his feelings for her; the anger, the frustration, the betrayal, the relief…

"You look good for someone who's missing and presumed dead!" he said flatly.

"Steve… I…"

He stood up, never looking back at her. But she did. From the far corner of the bed she looked at him and she hated what she was seeing.

"You what, Carter?" he turned to face her.

Sharon also stood, just to meet his gaze. "I am sorry…"

"No, Sharon, you're not." Steve gave her one last look and walked out.

Sharon jumped when he slammed the front door.

"Damn it!" She collapsed on the bed; head falling to her chest. She'd messed up, big time.

…

Somewhere in downtown Manhattan Maria Hill's phone started buzzing. It took her five rings to finally answer.

"I gather he already found you?"

"Damn it, Hill…I shouldn't have told you anything." Sharon tried to get even with someone and this someone was her former boss and very soon former friend. "What the hell is Steve doing here?"

"Knocking some sense into you, I hope." She said flatly.

"That's not much of an answer, Maria." Sharon rubbed her sore, red eyes and looked over the clock. It was little after four in the morning which made it almost three hours since Steve left her apartment. "I told you I needed to do this alone…"

"And I told you that if things got out of hand I was ratting you out."

"Gee, Maria thanks for the vote of confidence. I could have used some heads up." Sharon dropped on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Like the heads up I had, hearing you went dark. For the love of god, Carter, what were you thinking? That the news won't get to Washington? After everything that went down with us last year the USA government cannot go through another international incident."

"And I won't let that happened, I just needed some time, more time to handle things. Now with Steve here, if he's still here after storming out like he did, I'm not sure I will be able to do so, so once thanks Maria!"

"Hey, I only did what's best for you." Maria's voice baffled her. Always even and calm, filled with reason and deep affection. Maybe she wasn't a hugger or a person who would put their feeling out on display, but Sharon knew that after all those years of friendship she could count on Maria to bring her down from her high horse. The way she was doing right now.

"The hell you did!"

Sharon let a deep breath and it caught her friend's attention. "Was it that bad?"

"I am not sure what it was. He just stood there and looked at me with such…god… resentment! It's like I couldn't recognize him and it scares me. Maybe I deserve it, I don't know!"

"You do deserve it!"

Sharon let an awkward laugh. "It's nice to know that your BFF has your back."

"I'm not your BFF to held things back, am I? Besides, you know I hate when you call us that, as if we are some stupid teenagers high on raging hormones. Now, quit whining, fix your mess and come home."

"Yes, boss!"

"Ha-ha, very funny, I may not be your boss anymore, but I can still kick your ass."

"Normal people go out for tequila shots after a hard day."

"But we are not normal are we?"

"Nope! Not by a long shot."

"You better go and find the man in question here and make peace with him and I… gotta go to work. Do you even where to start looking?"

Sharon knew exactly where he was. She got up, walked to the main window and looked down at the only place where he could be at this hour. "Maybe."

"Great, then why are you still talking with me?"

"Sometimes you forget you're not the boss of me…"

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Hey, Hill!"

"What?"

"Say hello to Sam from me!"

What Sharon said clearly caught off guard, but leave to Maria Hill to play it all cool and professional. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

If Maria could see the stupid grin on her face she would only speed up the sparing match. "Yeah, yeah…"

She hung up on Hill and suddenly felt utterly worn out. Looking across the street at the bar she thought of the possibility of letting Steve calm down on his own terms and simply wait for him to come back. But one other thought invaded her mind. What if he just left, like that, leaving her alone and boyfriend-less? What if he just decided that what she did was unforgivable and left for good? She couldn't risk losing him, not now and not ever. She lov… she cared for him that much.

"Come on Carter, how worse can it be?"

In her mind the worst part was over, leaving only room for talking and mending and sweet make-up sex, fingers crossed. But her mind couldn't even fathom the depth of Steve's anger and sense of betrayal. She only saw things from her perspective, not his. In her mind the mission was all that counted, any unwanted emotions were potentially deadly; reason was the only thing allowed on the job; not love or friendship, not even hate, just reason. So he had to see the reason behind her actions, he had to understand. Had to!

On the way out she tossed the phone the bed and headed for the front door. Seconds later she was taking down the stairs. She hesitated at the first step, but there was no more room for lies or secrets. It was now or never!

"Well, Sharon, here goes nothing!"