Disclaimer: I do not own Captain America and co., they belong to Marvel. I own my OCs.
That night, Fury was declared dead. Jackie had spent the entire night awake and ready to attack whoever would come for her and her son. When no one did, she relaxed only a little. Dawn approached. She waited until Arthur woke up so she can feed him. After she fed him, the woman got to work.
Arthur remained quiet while his mother packed everything they needed. He's a smart baby. He knows something is wrong. Jackie pulls out her hiking backpack from beneath the floorboard in her room. She got changes of clothes, an insane amount of diapers and bottles which all tucked in nicely in the bag. The woman counts the money she has stashed in the bag to make sure that she had enough. After triple checking she placed everything she needed is in the hiking backpack, Jackie puts on her baby carrier and places Arthur inside it.
Steve meets up with Alexander Pierce. He walks past Agent 13.
"Captain Rogers."
"Neighbor."
He didn't even look at her. That's how betrayed he felt.
"Oh. Captain. I'm Alexander Pierce."
The two shake hands.
"Sir, it's an honor."
"The honor's mine, Captain. My fathered served in the 101st. Come on in."
Pierce walks into his office. Steve follows. The man hands Steve an old picture of him and Fury.
"That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met, when I was at State Department in Bogota. E.L.N. rebels took the embassy, and security got me out, but the rebels took hostages. Nick was Deputy Chief of the S.H.I.E.L.D. station there, and he comes to me with a plan. He wants to storm the building through the sewers. I said, "No, we'll negotiate." Turned out, the E.L.N. didn't negotiate, so they put out a kill order. They stormed the basement, and what do they find? They find it empty."
The two men sat down on the couches.
"Nick had ignored my direct order, and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil, and saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter."
"So you gave him a promotion."
"I never had any cause to regret it." Steve nods in agreement. "Captain, why was Nick in your apartment last night?"
Steve shakes his head, "I don't know."
"Did you know it was bugged?"
"I did, because Nick told me."
"Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?"
Pierce watches Steve's face. He wants to see what kind of reaction he could get. There was none.
"I want you to see something." The man pulls up a video of Batroc being interrogated.
"Who hired you, Batroc?"
"Is that live?" Steve wonders.
"Yeah, they picked him up last not in a not-so-safe house in Algiers."
"Are you saying he's a suspect? Assassination isn't Batroc's line."
"No, no. It's more complicated than that. Batroc was hired anonymously to attack the Lemurian Star. And he was contacted by email and paid by wire transfer, and then the money was run through 17 fictitious accounts." Steve turns his attention back to Pierce. "The last one going to a holding company which was registered to a Jacob Veech."
"Am I supposed to know who that is?"
Pierce hands him the file. "Not likely. Veech died six years ago. His last address was 1435 Elmhurst Drive."
Steve goes through the file.
"When I first met Nick, his mother lived at 1437."
Steve looks up in surprise. "Are you saying Fury hired the pirates? Why?"
"The prevailing theory was that the hijack was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence. The sale went sour and that led to Nick's death."
"If you really knew Nick Fury, you'd know that's not true."
"Why do you think we're talking?"
Pierce stands up. So does Steve.
"See, I took a seat on the Council not because I wanted to, but because Nick asked me to, because we were both realists." Pierce looks out his window. "We knew that, despite all the diplomacy and the handshaking and the rhetoric, to build a really better world sometimes means having to tear the old one down." He turns his gaze to Steve, "And that makes enemies. Those people that call you dirty because you got the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try to build something better. And the idea that those people could be happy today makes me really, really angry. Captain, you were the last one to see Nick alive. I don't think that's an accident. And I don't think you do, either. So, I'm gonna ask again. Why was he there?"
At that moment, Steve figured out what's really going on. Why Fury did the things he did and why he stated that S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised.
"He told me not to trust anyone." Besides Jack apparently.
"I wonder if that included him."
A moment passes between them. Steve gathers his thoughts.
"I'm sorry. Those were his last words. Excuse me" and Steve leaves the office with his shield on his back.
Pierce sits on the edge of his desk, "Captain, somebody murdered my friend and I'm gonna find out why." Steve turns to look at him. "Anyone gets in my way, they're gonna regret it. Anyone."
He gives a slight nod. "Understood." and he leaves the office.
Steve patiently waits for the elevator to arrive. He enters it then stares out at the city.
"Operations Control."
"Confirmed" said the computer.
Before the doors closed, Rumlow enters it.
"Keep all S.T.R.I.K.E. personnel on site" he orders.
"Understood."
"Yes, sir."
"Forensics."
"Confirmed."
Steve still has his back to Rumlow and the other men.
"Cap."
He turns his head around. "Rumlow."
The elevator goes down.
"Evidence Response found some fibers on the roof they want us to see. You want me to get the tac team ready?"
"No, let's wait and see what it is first."
"Right."
Steve notices one of the men had his hand to his gun. The elevator stops. A few men in business suits enter with briefcases in tow.
"What's the status so far?"
"Administrations level."
"Confirmed."
"Excuse me."
The men took a lot of space forcing Steve to move to the center.
"I'm sorry about what happened with Fury. It's messed up, what happened to him."
"Thank you."
Steve looks to his left. The man talking to another is sweating. He knows something is about to happen to him. Once again the elevator stops. Three men enter.
"Records."
"Confirmed."
Now Steve's completely surrounded. Shit's about to go down.
"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?"
The man in front of Steve attacks and shit happens.
While this goes down, a knock on Jackie's door is heard. She barely reached the door when it gets kicked in by some men in black uniforms aiming their gun at her.
"You're coming with us. Now."
"Okay, okay. Let me just grab one thing."
Jackie turns around with her back facing them. She pretends to pick something up then swirls back around and uses her telekinesis to push them out of the apartment. They screamed. Seeing no other escape route, she knocks out a wall and floats down to safety. With no one else around, Jackie makes a run for it.
Figuring someone's following her, Jackie uses her escape route she mapped out while pregnant with Arthur. Every now and then she does a mind sweep to figure out how far or close the followers are. As of now, they're about down a block behind her. They keep a safe distance from her. Jackie enters what appears to be a random shop when in actuality, it's a place where mutants can get disposable phones and whatnot when on the run. She walks up to the cashier.
"Hello."
"Hi, how can I help you?"
"I'm looking for Camelot."
That's her code word. The cashier curtly nods. A door in the back of the store opens up; not from the wall but from the floor. As she walks over there, Arthur smiles back and waves to the cashier. He waves back a little before going back to his bored expression. Jackie walks down the stairs never to be seen again.
Just after she left, two people walked into the store. Both wearing suits. One holds a SHIELD badge to the cashier. The other holds a photo of Jackie and Arthur.
"Have you seen this woman?"
The cashier looks at the photo. "Nah man. Ain't no one lookin' like that came in here."
"Look" the man reads the nametag "Chad. This woman is wanted for terrorism. We saw her enter this store and she didn't exit. Now, tell us where she is before my pal here has to get his hands dirty."
The second man shows his gun. Chad didn't seem to nervous about it since he's literally bulletproof but he didn't want the place to be compromised so he pretend to be nervous.
"Look man, I didn't see her but I heard someone asking where the back exit is. I told it was by the bathrooms. I didn't see where they went."
"Thanks for the help Chad."
Both men left and exited the store from the back. Chad relaxes and picks up the phone. He doesn't press any buttons since he figures that the two SHIELD agents have someone watching the store. Just picking up the phone sent a silent alarm to all other places that helps out mutants. Down in the tunnel, Jackie makes her way towards Sam's place. I just hope Steve's all right.
After getting out of the Apple store unnoticed, Nat and Steve take the escalator down while Rumlow goes up. Their paths are about to intersect and Nat knew this. She turns to Steve.
"Kiss me."
"What?"
"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."
"Yes, they do."
She pulls him into a kiss. As they pass, Rumlow looks away. Nat pulls back once they were out of sight of Rumlow. Hell, the woman wasn't fazed. She walks down.
"You still uncomfortable?"
Steve being a bit traumatized follows her. "That's not exactly the word I would use."
Once they left the mall, they jack a car and drive towards Jersey. The two of them have a talk.
Nat has her feet resting on the dashboard, "Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?"
"Nazi Germany."
"Mmm."
"And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash."
She does. "All right, I have a question for you, which you do not have to answer. I feel like, if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know."
"What?"
"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" I wonder if he's kissed Jackie yet.
"That bad, huh?"
"I didn't say that."
"Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying."
"No, I didn't. I just wondered how much practice you've had."
"You don't need practice."
"Everyone needs practice."
"It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm 95, I'm not dead." So, they kissed?
"Nobody special, though?"
Steve chuckles without thinking. "Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with a shared life experience."
"Well, that's all right. You just make something up."
"What, like you?"
"I don't know. The truth is the matter of circumstance. It's not all things to all people, all the time. Neither am I."
"That's a tough way to live."
"It's a good way not to die, though."
"You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone, when you don't know who that someone really is."
"Yeah." Nat pauses. "Who do you want me to be?"
"How about a friend?"
She chuckles "Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers. Anyway, since I'm your friend, why don't we talk about our favorite cartoonist?"
Steve shakes his head. "I knew you were going to bring Jack up."
"You said there's no one special but what about her? I mean, last year you couldn't stop smiling and talking about her but then something changed. What happened?"
"Well, she kept a secret from me and I felt betrayed that she didn't trust me enough to tell me."
"You're an idiot."
"Excuse me?" he chuckles.
"I'm not gonna lie but you are. Look, when this is all over why don't you just kiss and make up? Or maybe a little Netflix and chill?" she smirks.
It was night by the time Jackie finally reached Sam's place. She had to lose the goons several times before finally arriving. Thankfully Arthur remained quiet through the whole ordeal. Every now and then she had to stop to feed him and change him before moving on. With the help of her telekinesis, Jackie floats to the window on the second floor and knocks. She does this a few more times before Sam finally came over. He's surprised to say the least.
He opens the window. "Jackie? What are you doing here?"
"Someone's after us. I know this is unconventional and we just met but—"
"Girl, it's fine. Get inside before someone spots you."
"Thanks Sam" she smiles.
The woman climbs in. Sam closes the blinds. She sets her stuff down and stretches her back.
"Hey, let me take little man while you go settle in."
Jackie hands Arthur over to him. Sam smiles.
"Ah, there he is. Did you have fun going on the run with your mom?"
Arthur giggles.
"Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it."
The door closes on them. Steve throws his shield in hopes of it getting between the doors to remain open. They close just before the shield could get wedged between them. He grabs his shield when it bounces back to him. Nat's phone rings. She pulls it out.
"Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops."
"Who fired it?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D."
"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain." Nat takes back the flash drive. "Admit it. It's better this way."
Steve looks around for a place to find cover. He does. The man pulls out a grate from the floor.
"We are, both of us, out of time."
Nat runs. Right as the missile hit and the building explodes, both Steve and Nat managed to get into the hole. Steve uses his shield to protect themselves from the blast, fire and debris. Once everything settled, Steve uses his strength to push away a large debris. Nat's unconscious. He carries her when he spots the quinjets. By the time HYDRA landed, the two of them were already gone. Once Nat gained consciousness, they went to one place where Steve could think that's safe.
"Are you sure we can trust him?"
"Yeah."
Sam went on his morning jog leaving Jackie alone in the house. She waited patiently and anxiously for him. The poor woman couldn't sleep well last night and she's been on edge ever since. Finally Sam comes back.
"Hey, I'm back."
She walks over with Arthur behind her. "Hi. Nobody followed you right?"
"Jackie, relax. No one knows you're here. Didn't you do a mind sweep before I left?"
"Yes."
"And I bet you did another one the minute I walked back in."
"Yes" she mumbles.
He smiles "Then you're fine. Stop worrying."
A knock echoes through the place. Jackie tenses up. She frowns at him.
"You were saying?"
"Hide Arthur. I'll send you a signal."
She nods. The woman quickly hides Arthur then hides around a corner ready to back Sam up. Sam checks it out. Guess who turned up at his place too?
"Hey, man."
"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low."
"Everyone we know is trying to kill us."
"Not everyone."
The duo entered. Sam closes the door and blinds. After taking a much needed shower, Steve finally relaxes as does Nat.
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
Steve walks over and sits in front of Nat.
"What's going on?"
"When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA." She sighs. "I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."
"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business."
They both smile at each other.
"I owe you."
Steve shakes his head "It's okay."
"If it were the other way around, it was down to me to save your life, now you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?"
"I would now."
The former KGB assassin is shocked.
"And I'm always honest" he smiles.
"Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing."
"Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting."
"I made breakfast. If you guys eat that sort of thing" Sam announces. "Oh and Steve, someone's been waiting to see you."
They head to the kitchen. Steve spots the familiar child on the countertop. The child sees him and smiles.
"Dada!"
"Arthur?!"
He picks up the child and holds him in his arms. The super soldier felt a wave of relief holding him. Arthur snuggles in Steve's embrace.
Jackie walks in asking "Sam, where's Arthur?! I swear if you lost my son, I'm gonna drop kick you so hard that—"
Steve looks up "Jack."
She stops "Steve?"
The two collided into a hug with Arthur stuck in the middle. Nat and Sam just watched them. She whispers to him.
"10 bucks that he kisses her now."
"Make it 15 and he kisses her later."
"Deal."
Steve runs his hand over her face "Why are you here? What happened?"
"Someone's after us. Fury told me before the EMTs took him. How is he?"
"He's dead."
"What do you mean he told you? Fury was unresponsive by the time they got there" Nat states.
"We talked via telepathy."
"Sure you did."
"I'm pretty sure I did. And would you look at that, I'm doing it now with you."
"Fine." I like her already.
All of them sat around the table and ate breakfast.
"So, the question is, who at S.H.I.E.L.D. could launch a domestic missile strike?"
"Pierce."
"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world."
"But he's not working alone. Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."
"So was Jasper Sitwell."
Everything falls into place.
"So, the real question is, how do the two most wanted people—"
"Three" Jackie adds.
"Three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer in broad daylight?" Steve barely noticed the change in what he said.
Sam sets down his toast. He walks over to them.
"The answer is, you don't."
The man sets down his file.
"What's this?"
"Call it a résumé."
Nat looks at the photo. "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you? You didn't say he was a Pararescue."
Steve holds the photo, "Is this Riley?"
"Yeah."
"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use? A stealth chute?"
"No." Sam hands Steve the file. "These."
Steve reads over the file. He's very impressed.
"I thought you said you were a pilot."
"I never said pilot."
Steve shakes his head "I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."
"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's not better reason to get back in."
"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"
"The last one is at Fort Meade. Behind three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall."
Steve looks to Nat. She shrugs.
"Shouldn't be a problem" he states.
"Sounds easy enough."
The three of them looked at Jackie like she was crazy. Steve's the first one to stop where it was going.
"You're not coming with us."
"Yes, I am."
"I'm sorry but you can't join us. It's not safe" Nat says.
Jackie lets out a dry laugh "Look, I've been through stuff like this before so I know what I'm doing. I don't look the part but it's true."
"It's too dangerous" Steve reasons.
"My entire life has been dangerous ever since I learned about my powers. There were times where I was scared that someone would find out and take me to some lab so they can dissect me to figure out what makes me tick. I've lived with that for more than a decade so don't you dare tell me that this too dangerous."
Nat and Steve went quiet. They weren't sure how to respond to that. Sam, though, did.
"But what about your son?" Jackie looks over to him. "If you join us, there's the possibility that he can end up as an orphan and be taken into the system. At his age, someone could adopt him but on the other hand, he might end up living in the system for the rest of his life until he reaches 18 and he's booted out. Do you want that?"
She exhales sharply. "Playing the child card. That's low Sam."
He shrugs "Hey, I'm just telling you the truth."
Steve walks over. He pulls her into a hug.
"Don't worry. We'll be fine. Just stay here with Arthur until we come back."
"Fine."
"That's my girl" he softly chuckles.