Author's Note: So sorry about killing off Moreau again. I really wanted to keep him alive. Seriously, Moreau was one of my favorite original characters I have ever created, which is seriously saying something. But there was no way I could go on with the story and not kill him off. So there wasn't a choice in the matter. But yeah, sorry about Moreau. :( But anyway, back to the story.

First of all, I don't own Avengers. Because really, that hasn't become clear by now.

Welcome to Chapter 25, where Mack finally gets her head out of her ass and tells the truth to Steve – all of it.

Say it with me, darlings: IT IS ABOUT FUCKING TIME. What else happens in this chapter? Oh, how about a ton of reveals. Australia. I know you've been waiting for that. I have. This chapter was supposed to be up yesterday, but it's so critical I just had to make sure that everything was perfect.

Thanks for the support as always, and please review! I'm pounding the feels again. No apologies for that, because it's honestly fun.

Bohemia
In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

Chapter 25 – Lie to Me

April 27, 2011

The atmosphere at the funeral was one of disbelief.

Steve himself could barely wrap his head over what had happened. Moreau was dead. Moreau, one of the few friends he had in this time, had been murdered in his own apartment by HYDRA. He couldn't believe this had happened.

The funeral itself was as nice as it could have been. For all his quirks, Moreau had been popular at SHIELD. Steve had been surprised when Director Fury himself had shown up. A grief-stricken Tori had spoken, and for the most part, it had been a good enough funeral for Moreau.

Steve looked over at Mack at one point during the funeral. Her face was blank, but as she looked over at him, he watched as the pain crossed over her face. Mack had made her escape as soon as the funeral was over, but Steve stayed behind. Connor had taken it upon himself to get Tori back home; according to Cecelia, Tori and Moreau had been partners for over four years. She was shattered by his death.

Steve stood at the grave site, looking down at the coffin inside. Moreau's throat had been slit, but according to the coroner, death should have been instantaneous. Steve could only hope that it was true. No one deserved a painful death.

"You know, I've known Emil Moreau for nearly ten years." Steve looked up sharply as Fury walked casually over to him, looking down at the grave. There seemed to be an almost pensive look on his face, and Steve watched the Director carefully. "He was an idiot. But he was a friend."

"I'm sorry," Steve murmured. He looked down at the grave. "He was a good man."

"What I find the strangest of this whole situation though?" Steve's eyes narrowed at the remark, and listened as Fury continued, "He left you something. A motorcycle. It said something about how he remembered history class and that the only thing he could focus on was that you drove a motorcycle."

Moreau had given him a motorcycle. He didn't even know that Moreau had driven one. Steve gave a half smile. Moreau had always surprised people; of course he would have wanted to continue it even after his death. "What's going to happen to his cats?"

"He has some friends that are taking them in. He worked for SHIELD for years, the least we can do is make sure the damned cats are taken care of." Fury glanced over at Steve before adding, "The fact that he left something for you isn't the unusual bit. His will was updated a day before his death, Captain Rogers."

The world around him nearly stopped as the realization hit him. Steve looked up sharply. "He knew he was a target. He knew that HYDRA was going to go after him."

"Emil Moreau died because he knew something, Captain Rogers." Fury looked at the plot of dirt one last time before adding, "He knew something, and HYDRA didn't want anyone else to."

Fury walked away a moment later, and Steve watched as he left. He shook his head before running a hand through his hair. Moreau had been a friend, and now he was dead. Everyone Steve knew in New York was a target. HYDRA had proven they would not hesitate in killing the people in his life.

He knew who the next target had to be.

Steve knew he had to find Mack.

He didn't have to go far.

He had gone back to his apartment first, hoping to change before he went to go find Mack. Steve paused in the hallway, raising an eyebrow when he saw Mack herself sitting against his door. She was clutching a thick folder of files in her hands as if they were her only hold on life. She almost flinched when she saw him, and he couldn't begin to imagine what was going through her head right now.

"Can I come in?" she asked, her voice surprisingly quiet. Steve had never seen Mack looking this tired before, and it took a moment for him to realize that it wasn't exhaustion. It was almost defeated.

"Of course." Steve unlocked his door immediately, and held it open as Mack walked in. She didn't look at him before sitting down on the couch, putting the files on the coffee table in front of her. Steve sighed before sitting down next to her, watching her carefully.

She had avoided him for days, only to show up now at his door with folders and the guiltiest look on her face. Steve knew that something was up with Mack, but he couldn't begin to imagine what.

"You okay?" Steve asked her quietly.

"Not really." He had been hoping for an honest answer, and was relieved that he was finally getting one. Mack bit her lip, trying to keep herself from crying. It was a struggle to be sure. "Moreau's death is my fault."

He slipped an arm around her shoulder, and was surprised when she only stiffened further. "Mack, don't do this. It's not your fault. HYDRA did this, not you."

"You don't get it. I've been keeping some secrets, and it just got someone killed. It's about time I learned from those mistakes." Mack shook her head and looked over at him. For the first time in the months he had known her, he realized he was watching her cry. "Steve, I've been investigating HYDRA since before you were unfrozen."

The admission came with the feeling of a heavy weight tumbling off her shoulders. Mack struggled not to break down even further as Steve's face went blank for a few seconds, almost as if he couldn't process her admission. She bit her lip, forcing herself to continue as his arm dropped away from her shoulders.

"I've also been investigating a HYDRA spy in SHIELD… and every instinct tells me that the spy is the one who killed Moreau." She buried her head into her hands, and Steve stood, shaking his head as he went over to the window.

"Moreau knew something," Steve whispered.

Fury's words echoed through his head. Emil Moreau had died because he had known something. Tori's words echoed right after Fury's. Some of Mack's mistakes had been more recent. She had been keeping secrets from him from the very start.

"Who else knows about the investigation?" he asked. He struggled to keep his voice calm.

Mack had been lying to him from the start.

"Connor. Cecelia. Tori figured it out." Mack ran a hand through her dark hair, her voice shaking as she continued. "I didn't think Moreau knew. Dammit, he wasn't supposed to know anything about it."

Steve felt as though his head were spinning. Pieces were finally coming into place, things were starting to make sense again. "The bombing was to take you out… because they wanted to stop the investigation." It all made so much more sense now. "And the warning… in Moreau's apartment. That was directed at you."

A silence formed after that. Steve's head was really spinning now, and he couldn't decide if he was more hurt or angry that he'd been kept in the dark for months. Mack knew how much he wanted to take HYDRA down. She knew what he had gone through during the war. He didn't understand why she hadn't told him.

"How mad are you?" Mack finally asked, breaking the silence after long enough. She played around with the charm bracelet on her wrist. Somehow, that made the pain so much sharper to Steve.

"I'm not mad. I'm furious, actually." Steve's tone was calm, but Mack winced and remained still when she saw the look on his face. "You've spent months telling me to trust you, but you can't trust me with something like this?"

"When you crashed the plane, you were in 1945. When you woke up, you were in 2011. I made the call to let you focus on adjusting." That was the argument Mack had repeated to herself constantly over the last few months. It sounded just as hollow out loud as it did in her head.

"That wasn't your choice to make," Steve snapped, whirling to glare at her.

"It was, Steve. This was my assignment, and I chose who I wanted to bring on to it." Mack hadn't thought she would end up in this situation. She hadn't thought she would end up falling in love with him. She didn't think Moreau was going to die. She didn't think any of this was going to happen.

Steve shook his head in disbelief, just watching her. "Why? Why didn't you tell me about any of this?"

Mack's tightened fists felt painful. "You didn't need to know. I thought you needed to focus on, I don't know, missing sixty six years!" Mack snapped back, and she knew that she was getting emotional on this.

Mack had long since realized she was never quite the logical agent she had been trained to be when it came to Steve Rogers.

"You thought, and you were wrong." The tone in Steve's voice now was a combination of pain and rage, and that hurt Mack more than any physical wound would have been able to.

She could feel her heart breaking more and more with every moments of this confrontation. "I'm so sorry," Mack whispered. She didn't know what else she could possibly say to him right then.

He didn't answer her for a few minutes. "You know what the best part of this is?" Steve asked her. He gave a bitter smile as he looked at her. "You keep talking about trust, and you didn't trust me with this. It's a two way street, Mackenzie."

Great. They were back to the Mackenzie basis already.

She couldn't do this. Mack could not deal with that look on his face. She couldn't deal with the fact that she had completely screwed up their friendship and any chance at a relationship long before she even realized there was a chance. Mack's every instinct told her to make a run for it awhile she still could, before her heart broke apart completely.

Mack raised her hands as she started to make her exit. "I'm not arguing about this."

She was halfway to the door, past him, before he said something she never thought him capable of. "You're going to run away like you always do when something like this comes up then?" Steve demanded as he stood, the rage beginning to overtake the pain in his voice.

Mack whirled, eyes flashing and hair twisting around her shoulder as she stared at him. "How fucking dare you," she whispered, stepping forward.

"What, I'm wrong?" Steve demanded, glaring down at her. She cursed their height difference for about the hundredth time since February as he added, "When something goes wrong, you run. When you're confronted with something you can't physically fight, you run. I've seen you run before, Mack, and you're doing it again."

"Shut the fuck up, Steve." She barely resisted the urge to slap him. She stormed away, opening the front door of his apartment. Her voice raised as she continued, "Steve Rogers, I swear to God-"

"Then prove me wrong." His voice was so much softer than hers, but it cut through her like a knife. Steve's eyes bore into her as she stood there, and he repeated, "Prove me wrong, Kenzie. Don't run this time."

He was sure she was going to walk away. Steve knew he was hurt, knew that he was hurting Mack, but for the first time in his life, he didn't care. She had been keeping this secret for months. He had trusted her, and she had been hiding the HYDRA investigation and spy from him. Every instinct Steve had told him that Moreau had been killed by the spy. And now, Mack had answers, and she was going to walk away.

"Fine."

Steve looked back up in surprise as Mack closed the front door, making her way back to the living room and sitting back down on the couch. "I'm not running away this time," she said, her tone stronger than he thought it would be. "I'm not running."

He didn't answer, and instead just watched her. She leaned back, her green eyes narrowed, studying him carefully. "You want me to trust you?" she demanded.

Steve didn't know what he wanted anymore. He wanted Mack to trust him. He wanted to trust Mack. He still did. He just didn't know what else she had been hiding from him.

"You want to know what happened in Australia?" Mack looked back at him, and he was surprised when he saw the tears on her eyes and staining her cheeks. She had already started to cry.

Steve hesitated. "I want you to trust me. But Mack-"

"Steve, this is literally the only thing I can tell you that means I trust you," Mack interrupted. She ran a hand through her hair as she watched him. "Let me try and make this right. Please."

It only took him a moment to nod. He sat down on the chair across from her, watching her carefully. He was hurt. He was angry. But Steve knew that Mack was trying to make it better. He hadn't forgiven her, not yet. But it was something. She was trying.

"In 2009, I got captured on a mission to Brazil, and was held over a four day period. I was tortured. Brazil messed me up a lot," she started, her face going blank as though she was in a briefing. "Torture does that sometimes. When I came back to SHIELD after Brazil, I met someone. Nathan McCall. He was a mercenary brought on as a consultant to SHIELD. I was young, I was stupid, and I fell pretty quickly."

Steve realized then how little he knew about her life in SHIELD. He knew about Grant of course, and Barton and Romanoff from little stories she had mentioned, but she never mentioned anything prior to New Mexico, which had been almost a year ago. He only knew bits and pieces, while Mack knew his whole life story.

Mack gave a distant, incredibly bitter smile as she added, "Nathan had been hired to kill Clint."

Steve didn't breathe for a minute. He had not met Clint Barton, but he had seen Mack when she had spoken of him – the look on her face was always fondness and love and the utmost respect. Clint Barton had trained her, and it was easy just by hearing about Clint and watching Mack how much the elder agent had influenced her.

"Nathan and I got serious pretty fast. It was a bad relationship. A lot of arguments, a lot of fighting. We broke up half a dozen times in the first three months." She gave a bitter smile. "But I was stupid and in love and I didn't see the signs."

Steve kept silent, and instead watched her. "Clint and Tasha warned me constantly about him. I didn't listen. I was an idiot and didn't listen to them." She leaned against the couch, and Steve knew then how much pain saying what had happened was causing her. He didn't tell her to stop though.

"We got sent to Australia in April of 2010. Right about a year ago, actually. We were investigating a mercenary cell that was slowly turning into a terrorist cell. Nathan's former cell." Mack continued to stare down at the charm bracelet on her wrist, playing in particular with the small eagle on it. "He was given orders to take Clint down in Australia."

She sighed. "I had a fight with Clint about Nathan down there. I'd argued with Clint before, but that fight… we both said some really brutal things to each other. I stuck with Nathan after that. I was looking around an outpost of the cell, and I found a few files. We never found out who hired him, but I found out someone hired Nathan to kill Clint. And I was a quick and easy way to get to Clint." Mack gave a dry smile. "When he found out I knew, I stabbed him in the shoulder and made a run for it."

"I failed, got hit from behind, and chloroformed. He put me in a tiny steel box in a warehouse to wait for Clint to show up, and of course Clint did. I broke myself out of it, but… damage had been done."

She hesitated before pulling her hair back, revealing a jagged scar that Steve had noticed only a few times before. "This is from my fight with Nathan. He got a hold of one of my knives." She pulled out a particular jagged knife from her belt for only a second before slipping it back in its sheath. "This one, actually."

Mack looked at him then, and gave a cynical smirk. "So that's what happened. The man I loved was using me to get to my mentor, put me in my worst nightmare, and pretty much broke everything I believed in."

"What happened to him?" Steve asked.

Mack shook her head, tears still streaming. "Nathan threatened to go after Natasha after he finished with me. Nathan got an arrow in his neck from Clint and a knife in his back from me. He's dead." She stood up, pulling her coat tighter around her. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

Mack started to make her way out of the room. She felt as though she back in that steel box, suffocating slowly. Mack knew that she had been fooled completely. Nathan had been nothing but charming, and she had fallen in love. She was always a fool when she was in love. The situation with Steve was proof enough with that. She had been such an idiot back then.

Mack knew she wasn't much different now.

She had almost gotten out the door when Steve's voice rang out from behind her. "That's not the only thing we need to talk about."

"There's nothing else to talk about," Mack replied, her voice little more than a snap. She kept herself calm. She was already emotional from telling Steve about Australia. She was not going to get any more emotional than she already was.

"Bullshit." Steve's tone was sharp, and Mack was almost surprised at the language he had used. "You know we have to figure this out."

"What are you talking about?" Mack demanded, shaking her head. She would not look away from him. Not right now, because she knew if she looked away she was going to cry. She would not show weakness, not this time.

"The HYDRA investigation. The spy. Us." Steve's last word was simple and quiet, but this time, Mack did flinch slightly.

She was a SHIELD agent, they were trained for secrecy, to break it and make it and manipulate it to their advantage, and it was the first time that Mack realized that maybe, just maybe, it had affected her in a negative way in terms of relationships and the possibility of actually having something with someone who cared for her.

"What about us?" Mack demanded, wincing at how cold her voice was in that moment.

"Mack… please." Steve's eyes pleaded with her even more than his voice did. "Is there something between us?"

"I don't know." Mack looked back over at him, playing with a strand of her hair. "I honestly don't know, Steve. Do I feel something for you? Yes." She swallowed and hesitated. "Do you want there to be something?" she asked him.

Steve couldn't look away from her now her now. "I don't know." He was still reeling from everything he had learned in the last few minutes. He didn't know what he wanted anymore. He knew he was in love with her, but he was too hurt right now to say it.

"If I could go back in time and change my choice… I would without hesitation." Mack swallowed heavily as she leaned against the door. "But I can't. I just want you to know that I regret the choice I made with this. So much."

He swallowed heavily. "I need time," Steve whispered. As angry as he was, he was far more hurt that she didn't trust him enough. Steve looked over at her before saying, "I just need some time to process everything."

Mack nodded. She hesitated before walking up to him, shooting him a weak smile before kissing him on the cheek. "I'm so sorry," she repeated, turning away from him and walking back to the front door.

Steve sighed. "Mack?" The agent turned back to look at him, raising an eyebrow. "We're going to find him." Determination shadowed Steve's face as he watched her, and she shot him a weak nod in reply.

Mack didn't look back as she left this time. Steve found himself alone again, unsure of where he was supposed to go from here.

She had stopped crying by the time she had reached her apartment.

Mack wasn't going to take chances. Even though it was only a few blocks away, Mack had taken a cab to get back to her apartment. It had given her a bit of time to think at least. Telling Steve had been both better and worse than she had expected. It at least looked like he was going to be able to look at her again.

He knew about Australia. That alone took a huge weight off of Mack's shoulders. He had listened at the very least, as angry and hurt as he had been. For the first time in a while, Mack allowed herself to hope that maybe, just maybe, things were going to be okay between her and Steve.

Mack shook her head as she entered the hallway of her floor. She could hear Arizona's hysterical barking from the elevator, and winced when she hoped it wasn't waking up the neighbors too much. He had probably gotten himself locked in the bathroom again. Arizona had a very special level of intelligence sometimes. She pulled her apartment key out of her pocket, shaking her head as she reached her door.

"Arizona, baby, relax!" Mack called, rolling her eyes as she unlocked the door and slipped into her apartment. She turned as she locked it behind her. "Seriously, Arizona, you're so-"

Something crashed into her head a moment later.

Mack dropped to the ground instantly, forcing her body to go limp. Her head was spinning, and she realized that someone had tried to knock her out. Her mind went into overdrive as she realized how bad this situation was. It had to be HYDRA. They had gone after her when they were still in shock over Moreau's death. She knew that she was a target, but not that they would be going after her this soon.

Mack was so ready for a fight. She needed to punch something after the confrontation with Steve.

"That was too easy." The voice was almost, just almost familiar. "Barton and Romanoff trained her, there's no way that she should have been knocked out that easily."

"Maybe we overestimated her." Mack's mental smirk was just barely enough for her at that point. "Just drug her and be done with it. I'm not dealing with it if she wakes up."

The moment she felt someone leaning down next to her was the moment she reacted.

Mack's eyes snapped open as she grabbed the man, throwing him into the door as she forced herself to her feet. Her hand had already flown to her belt, pulling a knife out before she threw it out, smirking as it landed in the throat of the second man, dropping him as the third, silent man dove forward. A fourth made his way over from the kitchen.

Mack rolled out of the way, bolting into the hallway toward her room. She gave a small yelp of pain as something hit her arm, but managed to get in and lock the door behind her.

She breathed heavily for a few seconds, pain bleeding through her head where something had struck her. That was when she looked down at her arm. As the world slowly blurred around her, Mack pulled out a slick, wet dart that she realized had to be coated with a sedative. She wasn't going to be able to fight her way out of this.

Fuck.

She pulled out her phone instantly, her hand shaking as she tried to dial a number. Mack could only hope that he was going to answer as someone pounded on the door of her bedroom. It kept ringing for what felt like a lifetime, and Mack bit back the most colorful language she had ever learned from Clint.

"God fucking dammit, Steve! Answer the damned phone!" Mack cursed as the phone rang. The room was starting to spin around her, and she knew that her time was running out rather quickly.

He answered a moment later, and Mack was sure that she had never felt more relieved in her life. "Mack, look -"

"Steve, HYDRA's making a play." The words tumbled out of Mack's mouth as she struggled to remain standing. The drug was fast acting, and Mack knew she only had seconds. "I got hit with a dart, I'm about to black out-"

"Where are you?" Steve's voice had changed in an instant, and Mack recognized it as the Captain America tone she had heard after the bombing. "Mack, where are you?"

"Steve, they want a hostage, they want you. Do not give them what they want." Mack's eyes flashed as she struggled to stay standing, her legs growing weaker with every second. "Call Clint. Call Clint or Coulson or Tasha or Grant or someone, Steve! Do not give these bastards what they want!"

She leaned heavily against the wall, swaying as her vision started to fade. "I'm so sorry, Steve."

Steve's frantic shout was the last thing she heard. "Mack!"

Mack managed to hang up the phone just as her legs caved out from under her. She was unconscious before she hit the floor.

Author's Note: So, let's summarize this chapter: Moreau's dead, Steve knows about the investigation, we got the full story about Australia, and Mack's been kidnapped.

This is where you all blow up, darlings. Update will be up Friday hopefully, and to my American readers, happy Thanksgiving! To my non-American readers, I love you all. :D Sorry about the whole attacking the feels thing. It's only going to get worse.

Feels, dudes. The feels.

Chapter 26 – The Sacrifice Play
Steve's eyes hardened as he gripped the phone tighter. "We trade. Her for me."