Author's Note: Oh, hello there, my lovely readers. It's been awhile since we had an update, and I know, I'm horrible for taking this long. I am so sorry that this update took so long to write and to get out. Real life has gone absolutely insane, and the fact that I got hit by a major case of writer's block did not help matters at all. But I'm mostly getting over it by forcing myself to write and to get this out, since I do want Bohemia to be finished by May. Which it will be, and Idiosyncrasy will come out not long later. Potential's first chapter should be out in the next month or so, but that'll be more of a side project than anything.
I'm currently in the middle of pledging for my sorority, and the process promises only to get crazier over the next few weeks. I'll be done with it in the middle of March, but until then, updates are only going to be very slow. But I'm not going to abandon Bohemia, not when we've gotten to this point, because I've got a couple of plans for the next few chapters, since we're heading into the final home stretch.
If my ideas for the next arc go to plan, you can expect the next few chapters to be punching you in the gut with a ton of feels. There are a few scenes I'm very, very excited for, including a couple of Steve/Mack scenes, since their relationship has been out of focus. But we're going back to these two for a while, and then we'll get some more of the others, including Clintasha, since I know a lot of you wanted more of that.
As always, I don't make any claim to ownership of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I only own my original characters and plotlines. I hope everyone enjoys this latest chapter, the next one will be out as soon as possible! Please leave a review on the way out, the more reviews means a faster update!
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 37 – Last One Standing
May 3, 2011
Steve had long since realized that the longer this situation dragged out, the worse the damage would be.
There was no doubt in his mind that Loki was an absolute psychopath, but there was also the fact that he was an undeniably intelligent psychopath. There was absolutely no way that Loki would let himself be taken into SHIELD custody without a damned good plan. If they didn't figure out what it was soon, it would blow up in all of their faces. If they didn't have all the intelligence related to this situation, everything was going to blow up in their faces.
Of course, there was also the fact that there was no possible way that SHIELD was telling them everything.
Steve wasn't surprised that his suspicion was shared by Bruce and Stark. No matter what he did, Steve could not bring himself to like Tony Stark. He could see a lot of Howard in the man, perhaps too much. But at the same time, there was a far more bitter edge to Tony than anything he had ever seen in Howard. He knew that Tony was not Howard, and he was not going to pretend that he was.
Steve would try to get along with him. He would not be surprised if he ended up throwing a punch at the man before the end of everything, especially if the inventor made another crack about Mack at some point.
"What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Bruce asked, bringing Steve's attention back to the matter at hand. All three of them knew that SHIELD wasn't telling them something. The trick was figuring it out.
"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files," Tony said, shrugging as he pulled what appears to be a small screen out of his pocket. Despite the fact that he could use his own phone well enough, Steve still had a few bumps with technology now and again, though nothing seriously major.
Steve stared at him for a few moments, only realizing after that pause what he had just said. "I'm sorry, did you just say-"
The genius billionaire shot him a look that seemed to be mixed of smugness and amusement. "JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide." Stark casually held out the bag of fruit he held in his hand. "Blueberry?"
Steve glared over at him. He did not like Tony Stark. There was no way to deny it, but he knew that they had to work together for now. "Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around," Steve replied dryly, shaking his head.
"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Tony glanced back down at the tiny screen in his hands, a small smirk appearing on his face. He looked back up at Steve, and the super soldier immediately knew that whatever came out of the mechanic's mouth right now was going to be some sort of jab.
"Here we go. I'm already getting a few things… redacted files on Agents Barton, Romanoff, and Donahue…" Tony scowled at the files. He seemed almost insulted that he was only able to get his hands on redacted files, rather than the full reports that Steve knew would probably only be accessible to Fury himself. "Unless I can get the normal files, this is all we get on those three…"
Steve stepped forward, his spine stiff and straight, eyes narrowing and turning to ice as he glared at Stark. "Don't," he warned, his voice low and surprisingly sharp. The billionaire looked up, his glare meeting Steve's as he watched the super soldier take a step forward. "Just forget about it."
On some level, Steve knew that this was him reacting as a soldier following orders, despite the fact that he didn't trust these orders at all. As much as he absolutely hated to admit it, Stark had a point with Fury keeping secrets from them all. Steve knew what SHIELD did. He had no illusion about what the organization was capable of. He had seen it firsthand through Mack's work, through the fact that her investigation into the HYDRA spy had cost Moreau his life, had nearly cost Mack hers.
At the end of the day, SHIELD was an organization with spies. Spies dealt in secrets and intelligence. At the end of the day, no matter how much he might love her, Mackenzie Donahue was a spy, and there were some things that she would never tell him, no matter how much he might wish that she would let him in.
He also knew that this was part of his protectiveness shining through. Steve had known Mack only for a few months, and only knew partial details of some missions. If it hadn't been for Moreau's death, he knew that he would have never found out what had happened in Australia. He knew some of the stuff in that redacted file would expose every weakness and break of Mack's.
If he could do something to keep those weaknesses from coming to life and getting into the wrong hands, Steve was going to do it.
"C'mon, not even you're that naïve," Stark said, a serious frown on his face as he glared right back at Stark.
"What are you talking about?" Steve demanded. He'd been frustrated with Tony Stark since he had met the man, and Steve wasn't in the mood to play games anymore.
"You don't think she's keeping secrets from you?" Stark demanded, glaring across at him. "In case you didn't notice, Capsicle, Mack the Knife is a SHIELD agent. That means she keeps secrets, secrets that might explain some of the stuff that's going on. Sleeping with you or not, she's hiding something from you."
Steve took another step forward, his face carefully blank, but he didn't say anything. The highest tip of his ear turned slightly red though. They might have been sleeping in the same bed, but he and Mack were only starting to get comfortable with physical contact. He knew that sex wasn't going to be a factor for a very long time. But that wasn't something he could focus on right now.
"She would tell me if she knew something," Steve countered in a low voice. He hoped that she would. He hoped that Mack had been serious when she agreed to stop with the secrets, that she hadn't been lying to him then too. "She and I have been through the secret thing before. If Mack knew something, she would have told us."
She would have told him.
"She's a spy, Cap," Stark snapped, shaking his head. He gestured wildly at the rest of the lab. "Spies have secrets. There's no way she's an exception to that."
The worst part was that Steve knew that Tony was right.
He just hoped that the secrets Mack was keeping had nothing to do with the situation they were in right now. Steve didn't want to go through a repeat of the HYDRA spy investigation with Mack. He didn't want to go through a fight like that again.
"Bruce thinks I'm right," Stark pointed out, gesturing wildly over at the scientist.
"I'm going to stay out of this one, too," Bruce muttered, shaking his head as he went back to his work.
"Bruce," Steve said, his tone quiet as he kept his gaze on the scientist. He had to know what the others thought of this situation. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that there was every chance that Mack was keeping something else from him.
He just hoped he was wrong.
Bruce remained quiet for a few moments, shifting uncomfortably. "I think Tony's right." Bruce raised his hands as he looked over at Steve, who had opened his mouth. "But… I think there's also the possibility that Fury's keeping them in the dark too. Agents Romanoff and Donahue might not know everything."
"Their main focus is on Barton anyway," Stark pointed out, and the super solider knew he was right on that point. He knew how much Clint Barton meant to Mack, and he knew nothing would stop her if it meant getting him back. "Whatever Romanoff and Donahue are doing here, their main goal is getting Barton back. They don't care about this end of the situation."
Steve shook his head. They were getting far too off topic, and they needed to get back to figuring out how they were going to stop Loki and find the Cube. "I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have our orders. We should follow them."
"Following's not really my style," Tony shot back, shrugging.
A bit of anger rose up in his chest again, and the super soldier glared at the billionaire. "And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve demanded. His tone was dry and maybe even a bit angry, annoyance lacing the edges.
The billionaire was wasting no time rising to the verbal challenge against him. "Of the people in this room, which one is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and B, not of use?" Stark wondered, glaring over at Steve.
"Steve." The super soldier stiffened slightly before looking back over at Bruce. The look on his face was gentle, and Steve managed to keep calm as Bruce continued, "Tell me none of this smells a little funky to you."
The blond was silent for a few moments, shaking his head before sighing and shooting the two a serious look. "Just find the cube," Steve said. He turned away from the two, walking out of the room without another word.
He might have his orders, but Steve wasn't going to just follow them when his gut was telling him something was wrong. He trusted his gut. He had learned to trust it after the war, after everything. He didn't want to drag Bruce and Tony into it. As much as he might have liked Doctor Banner, he didn't trust the man. He definitely didn't trust Tony Stark. Steve needed someone he knew that he could trust in this situation.
He had to find Mack.
It only took a few minutes of searching to be able to find her.
The hallways on the Helicarrier were empty for the most part. Every member of SHIELD on the Helicarrier was on high alert, especially with Loki being held in the middle of the detention area. Steve hadn't seen Mack since she had disappeared with Natasha after the briefing, and had no idea where he was supposed to start looking in order to find her.
Steve only hoped that Mack would be willing to help with what he was planning.
It was dumb luck that he had only been searching for a few minutes. Steve's original thought process had been that if he could find Coulson or Natasha or another agent, they would be able to point him in the right direction to find Mack. Steve turned down a hall in time to catch a familiar brunette slipping into another hallway. He dimly realized that she had been coming from the detention center, but pushed that thought away as he hurried to catch up with her.
"Hey," Steve murmured, jogging a bit to catch up to her in the hallway. "Mack-"
Mack jumped as his hand went onto her shoulder, and there was a knife in her hand a second after she had turned. Steve grabbed her wrist on instinct, his eyes widening in surprise. "Hey, it's just me," he said, raising his other hand as he loosened his grip on her wrist. "It's just me, Kenzie."
"Steve," Mack muttered, shaking her head as she blinked. She slipped the knife back into her belt after Steve let go of her hand. "Shit, I'm so sorry, I'm just…" Her voice trailed off as she swallowed heavily, looking over at the wall.
"Something happened?" Steve asked, frowning down at her. He knew from the look on her face that something had shaken her up. He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before looking back down at her. "Was there any other word on Barton?"
Mack swallowed heavily, and Steve caught something that almost appeared to be a wetness in her light green eyes. "No. Everything's still the same. Clint's still in the wind. Loki's still in his hamster cage. Everything's about to blow up any second."
Steve knew then that she was about to fall apart.
"You're not telling me something," Steve said. He just watched her carefully, and he could tell from the lack of a spark in her eyes that it had not been good. "Kenzie…"
It was a very subtle change, but Steve knew Mack well enough to notice that subtle change. Her entire body was tense and on alert. It wasn't an odd thing to see Mack with a knife in her hand. God knew she played with them enough when she just needed to keep her hands busy. But that had been different. It had been like she was prepared to be attacked at any second.
Then again, maybe they all were like that right now.
"Kenzie," Steve said gently, quietly. Mack looked back up at him as Steve looked around the hallway, making sure they were alone before he took her hand, his blue eyes meeting her green ones. "Don't shut me out. Please. What happened?"
For almost a minute, there was complete silence between the two. Steve was sure that she was going to shut him out again, that they were going to go five steps back on their relationship after they had been working so hard to get to this point. A few moments later though, relief crashed down as Mack bit her lip and glanced around covertly.
"Not here," Mack murmured. Her voice was surprisingly thick as she swallowed and looked away from Steve. She started to study the floor and Steve's boots, determined to focus on anything but Steve's face.
Steve nodded slowly, comprehension reaching him a few moments later. "Is there somewhere that we can talk?" he asked quietly, keeping his voice as low as possible. If he could keep parts of his relationship with Mack away from anyone else, he would do it.
Mack nodded once, grabbing his hand and squeezing it before she started to walk away. She pulled Steve through several hallways, and he noticed that she was careful to pause if she heard someone walking by. She was making sure not to be seen, and he knew that was her spy training coming out in more ways than one.
Tony Stark was right about that. At the end of the day, Mackenzie Donahue was a spy.
Mack stopped a few hallways down from where he had run into her, glancing around sharply as she made sure that the two were alone. Steve blinked in surprise as Mack opened the door to what he realized had to be a storage closet. She slipped in, pulling him in after her and closing the door.
It would have been cramped with just Mack in the closet. With him in there as well, there was almost no room for Steve to move. Mack was nearly right up against his chest, and he was very aware of the very little space between them. He also realized then that Tony was right about something else. Mack knew something. Steve hoped that he himself was right as well, that Mack was actually going to tell him.
"Mack-" he said, hoping he could figure out a way to get her to open up. He had gotten her to open up before, there was no way he shouldn't be able to do it again.
Steve's voice trailed off a moment later as something happened that he honestly didn't expect. Mack was completely silent, something shining on her face as she stepped forward. Her arms were around him few seconds later. Steve blinked in surprise as he realized that Mack was hugging him, burying her face in his chest. Not hugging, actually – more like clinging to him.
"Mack?" Steve murmured, looking down at her, wrapping his arms around her when he realized there was a spot on his chest that was slowly growing, right where Mack had buried her face.
Oh. God. Oh, God. She was crying. Mack was actually crying.
"Oh, God, Kenzie," he whispered, shaking his head as he saw her shoulders shaking an almost unnoticeable amount. He tucked her head underneath his chin, rocking her gently in place as he shushed her quietly, though her cries were nearly silent even in the cramped storage closet. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay, doll."
Steve wasn't sure how long he and Mack remained in that storage closet. It was dark and a bit stuffy, and he remembered Mack mentioning several times that she was rather severely claustrophobic. He had seen proof enough of that the few times they had been in an elevator together. From the fact that Mack – his sarcastic, mischievous spitfire Kenzie – was crying in this storage closet, Steve knew that something serious had happened to get her into a state like this.
"I'm here," he murmured quietly, rubbing her back quietly. He kissed the top of her head, breathing in as he sighed. "I'm here, doll. I'm here. It's okay. You're okay, Kenzie, you're okay."
For Mack to willingly show weakness like this, Steve knew that it had shaken her further than any events that had occurred over the past few days. More so than her being told that Clint was in trouble, maybe even more so than her fight with Clint in Germany had been.
Mack was breaking apart, and it was killing Steve to see her like this.
"You want to talk about it?" Steve asked, his voice carefully low. Even if they were in the storage closet, he didn't want to risk anyone overhearing this. He respected her privacy too much, and respected their privacy as a couple far too much.
Some part of him didn't want SHIELD knowing more about their relationship than they absolutely had to.
Her answer came a moment later. "I talked to Loki," Mack murmured softly.
Steve's stomach nearly dropped out from under him. He knew that Mack was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. He knew that she was a SHIELD agent. He knew that right now, they were in the middle of a crisis, and that she would do whatever she was ordered to do by Coulson or Fury. But the idea of Mack being anywhere near that monster honestly terrified him.
"You talked to him?" Steve repeated. Mack's face was still half resting against his chest, and as much as he wanted to look at her right now, to reassure himself that she was okay, he just kept holding her instead. That would have to work instead.
"We've done it before," Mack murmured. She had uncovered her face from his chest, her cheek now resting against it instead. Her voice was clearer and a bit steadier than it was before. "I go in first to needle a prisoner, figure out what will work against them, how we can get information. I leave the room, and then Natasha goes in for the figurative kill."
"Something went wrong this time," Steve guessed. If Loki had gotten his hands on Mack, the super soldier knew very little was going to stop him from marching down into that detention area and beating the god to death himself.
"He said a few things that… that got to me, I guess," she admitted. She ran a hand through her hair, but Steve noticed that she kept against his chest. It seemed as though he wasn't the only one taking advantage of the close quarters and the limited privacy that the storage closet was providing.
"What did he say?" Steve asked softly. If Loki had threatened her, there were only a few things that Steve knew would actually get to Mack. He just hoped he was wrong with what Loki had threatened her with.
If he knew Mack, he knew there was only one thing Loki could threaten that would get her to react like this. Steve hoped that he was wrong.
His hopes were dashed a moment later when Mack admitted it. "He threatened you." Mack's voice was calm, almost blank. It was almost as if she was in the middle of a mission debriefing, and Steve knew then and there how badly the threat to him had affected her. "He wondered if you would die if it meant saving me."
Steve knew that he would, but he wasn't going to go into that with her at the moment. That would be a discussion for another day, a situation he hoped would never come to pass.
Mack kept going, and Steve let himself feel a stab of relief that Mack was actually going to talk to him about this. "He threatened you, he threatened Natasha, and he threatened Clint. He threatened everyone, said that I would be the last to fall, that I would watch all of you die…" Her voice broke off at the end, and Steve's arms were around her again a second later.
"He's not getting the chance," Steve promised firmly, kissing the top of her head again. "He won't get near me, and he's not going to win. You know that. We'll find a way."
Mack nodded weakly, sniffling slightly. "I'm being stupid."
"You were threatened by a psychopath," Steve murmured quietly, kissing the top of her head again. He just wanted her to be safe, to be out of the line of fire. He knew that she was in this fight for good, and that she would not back out now. "You're human, Mack. You're allowed to break down."
"Not in the middle of a situation like this," Mack retorted. She took a tiny step back, looking up at him as she tried to rub some of the redness out of her eyes.
"You're dealing with it before it becomes a liability in a battle," Steve pointed out. She had broken down in front of him. Now he had to pull Mack back together. He could do that. "That's not being stupid, that's being responsible and dealing with it before it becomes a danger."
She nodded weakly again, and then took a step back, fanning her face with her hand before looking up. Mack slipped onto her toes before kissing him quickly, shooting him a grateful smile. "Thanks, babe," she murmured, glancing at the door before looking up at him.
"Anytime, doll." He managed to shoot her a weak smile, if only for a few seconds Steve hesitated before closing his eyes, taking a few more deep breaths before looking back down at her, a serious glint shining in his eye. "I need your help."
Mack raised an eyebrow. "With?" she asked. She seemed almost relieved to be given something to focus on.
"Do you think Fury's hiding something from us?" Steve asked bluntly.
"Absolutely," Mack replied. Her answer was instant and sure, and she frowned up at him. "He's Fury, Steve. There's no way that he's not keeping something from us in this situation. Some of the things here really aren't adding up." She bit her lip before adding, "You think he's hiding something too then?"
"I know that he is." Steve opened the door as he glanced back at her, raising an eyebrow. "Let's go find out what."
The fact that the majority of the Helicarrier's personnel had their own duties to complete turned out to be an advantage for Steve and Mack. It only took a few minutes to be able to get out of the closet and down a few levels, making their way to where Mack remembered was a secure storage level. If Fury was hiding anything, she had said, it would probably be on that level.
"Can you use your code?" Steve asked her in a low voice, glancing at the door. He glanced around again. Steve knew that there was little that Fury could do to him, but he didn't want to get Mack into trouble if he could avoid it.
"I'm Level Six, I don't know if I have the level of clearance I would need to get in," Mack murmured, shaking her head as she gestured at the door. "Even if I have that level, Fury will know we're here the instant I use my access code."
"Old fashioned way, then," Steve murmured. He grabbed a hold of the door, straining against it. The metal groaned, straining against Steve pushing against it. A sharp cracked sounded as the metal broke, and Mack only raised an eyebrow in surprise. It only took a few seconds for him to be able to pull it open enough for both he and Mack to slip through.
"Impressive," Mack whispered, smirking over at him as she glanced around the storage area. She frowned. "I haven't been down here before. I haven't been on the Helicarrier much before though, so that doesn't really mean much…"
Steve smirked slightly as he looked at her, but looked up sharply as the dim sound of voices came down. He shook his head before moving towards the catwalk above, managing to jump up with very little problem. Mack wasn't surprised. She knew that the serum had completely changed his body, way back in the 40s, but somehow seeing him in action like this was still a surprise.
Mack rolled her eyes, moving carefully as she scrambled to the top of the crate, reaching out for Steve's waiting hand. The super soldier pulled her over the railing, making sure she had her footing before they kept moving.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Mack murmured, her eyes narrowing as she closed around the holding area.
"Anything Fury might be keeping from us," Steve replied, keeping quiet as they moved through the storage area.
Mack snorted lightly. "Yeah, that could probably be anything in here," she murmured, glancing around. It had probably been for the better than they hadn't used her code. She didn't want Fury to know what they were doing yet. "That might be everything in here, actually."
Steve didn't answer as he continued through down the catwalk, eventually making his way into an area with a large amount of crates and cases. He paused, sighing as he looked around. He exchanged a quick, significant look with Mack. She would keep watch and make sure that no one would show up, and Steve would look around. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he hoped he would know what it was when he found it.
"I don't know what you want to find down here," Mack murmured quietly, looking around the dark area carefully.
"I don't know either, honestly," Steve admitted. He ran a hand through his hair as he pulled open what turned out to be an empty crate. He scowled as he kept going, making his way to the next crate. "I'll know it when I find it."
"Yeah, you're the Star Spangled Man with a Plan alright," Mack muttered, stealing another once over look of Steve in his spandex outfit. She frowned when didn't answer for a few seconds, glancing over at him. "Steve? You find something?"
Steve was staring down at the case he had opened, his eyes wide. His hands held the edge of the crate with a death grip, and his entire body was stiff. "Mack." His tone was deadly serious; a tone that she had long ago began associating with Captain America rather than Steve Rogers. "You need to see this."
Mack frowned before walking over, stopping at Steve's side as she looked down at the crate. One of her hands had brushed against Steve's arm, resting on it for a few seconds. Her hand dropped to her side a moment later, her jaw going slack in surprise as she looked down and realized exactly what Steve had stumbled across.
The weapons were old, but the symbol on the weapons was clear and instantly identifiable to both of them.
HYDRA.
Author's Note: As another warning, I'll be going back to edit more chapters, since I'm doing a reboot of a few details, including Grant and Mack's relationship and Tori's background in particular. I promise that I'll let you all know when those updates get up, but since some of those details are going to be fairly important in Idiosyncrasy, you'll understand why I'm editing.
Oh, and as another note, please go onto my profile page and vote in the poll up there. It relates to Idiosyncrasy, and who you want to see more of in it – Tori, Cecelia, or Connor. I would put Moreau as a choice, but since Moreau is dead and not coming back… well, there's that. But don't worry, we'll get a lot of Moreau in Potential.
Thanks again for reading, and please leave a review on the way out! Reviews inspire me to write, so the more reviews, the faster the update. I hope that's incentive enough for you guys! Thanks again for the support as always, I hope to hear from you next time!
Chapter 37 – Bridges We Burned
"Respect and trust are too very different things, Steve. I stopped trusting him around the point Moreau died."