Author's Note:

Alright so, a couple of things need to be addressed. The confusing timeline in the next few chapters, and a small thanks to the people who followed, and those who have made this story their favorite.

I would like to thank EmzLuvzTom, Gelissa, Manaphylover, and SavageAngle7 for following this story, and a thanks to SavageAngel7 again, and DarkSkity for favoriting this story. It's nice to know that this story is going somewhere, I suppose lol.

Now onto the confusing part. So I edited chapter four and specified that, that chapter had Iron Man 3 elements, and used to take place in Winter Soldier, but now it takes place in Age of Ultron. So let me summarize and clarify.

With the way the plot and chapters were coming, I found that it would be illogical to have the Malibu Mansion collapse take place three years later, when all the other chapters had events happen one after the other. So I had to change it to two years, so that way everything flowed and got me ready to write Civil War. So, if you read chapter four, just know everything that happens will occur right after one another, and the next time skip won't be until after Civil War.

Anyways, sorry for the long author's note. Enjoy!


"I know this is hard on you Steve, but we have a mission we have to take care of. I know this doesn't solve anything, but we have to get through this." Natasha said.

Steve looked at her, a solemn expression written on his face. He was emotionless for the most part, not feeling much except for the sadness that plagued him, and his mind telling him he was useless. He wasn't coping well ever since he lost Tony only a few hours ago. The pain that was previously in his shoulder from the bullet wound, was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

"Yea, might as well get this over with." He said sadly. He sighed afterwards as he saw the boat within his eyesight. He couldn't think properly, it felt like a haze had suddenly washed up, taking permanent residence within his brain, and that's what really scared him. Tony was on his mind ever since the Malibu mansion collapse, and he was afraid he would mess this mission up if he didn't think straight.

"We're at the dropoint Captain! Ready when you are," he heard the new agent, Rumlow, say.

The ramp to the Quinjet had soon opened, and he took his stance at the near end of it. He tried to mentally prepare himself for the mission, and then felt a hand on his right shoulder. He turned around and saw Nat, a small smile on her face.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"My shoulder is doing just fine-"

"I wasn't talking about your shoulder, I was talking about your mentality," she cut him off. She knew just how to see right through him, and it put a smile on his face as he looked at her.

"Don't worry about me Agent Romanoff. I can do this all day." He grabbed his shield, and promptly jumped off the Quinjet towards the ship.

"Was he wearing a parachute?" Rumlow called.

She laughed quietly and said, "No he was not."

The mission itself was to rescue S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from a ship overrun with Russian terrorists. Steve took out each and every one of the terrorists on the top part of the boat by himself, before Agent Romanoff and Agent Rumlow rendevouz with him. He instructed them to their own specific task, and when completed they would tell him, and get the hostages off the ship.

It all went according to plan, until Agent Romanoff had missed the rendezvous point. Rumlow had notified Steve of her misstep and he set out to find her, only to be interrupted by a man who speaks fluent Russian, and was quite skilled in hand to hand combat. Steve took care of the man in swift fashion, trading blows before ultimately delivering a semi-somersault kick to the man's cranium, knocking him out cold. As he looked up, he saw a familiar splash of red hair in the control room of the ship. He grabbed the man, kicked down the door, and tossed the man onto the broken door laying on the ground. Upon hearing the sound, Nat turned her head and saw Steve heading towards her, a smile plastered on her face.

"Hey there Cap." She said casually.

"What are you doing, we had a mission to save the hostages, and you blew it." He said, annoyance coursing through him at her actions.

"No, you had a mission to save the hostages. I had my own," she kept her focus on the computer in front of her, "and I think I just finished it," were her last words before taking the flashdrive that was recently embedded into the USB port of the computer, and holding it up for Steve to see before putting it away.

"What exactly was your mission, Agent Romanoff?" He was curious as to why she would jeopardize what they came here to do. He was more disappointed in her than anything. He thought he could trust her with anything, whether he was the one telling her something or vice versa, and now he didn't even know if he could since she was keeping secrets from him.

"Protecting S.H.I.E.L.D. data, can't let the whole world know about the organization just yet." The two occupants were so focused on the conversation at hand, that they didn't see the third occupant, the one Steve had incapacitated, get up and toss an explosive into the room. Nat averted her gaze from Steve as she saw the man exit the room, and then noticed the explosive about to detonate. Steve followed her gaze, and his eyes widened.

He wrapped his arm around her waist, jumped onto the control deck into the back of the room, and launched himself toward a window that Nat kindly shot so that glass would shatter, as the explosion destroyed most of the control room.

"Ok… That was my fault. That one's on me." She said, a slight hint of panic in her voice.

He said and nodded his head slowly as he said, "you're damn right it is."

He rested the back of his head on the wall, looking up at the ceiling as he got lost in his thoughts. He wishes he could just see Tony, and talk to the man to see if he could help him. He knew that wouldn't happen, and it brought a small tear to his eye, as it travelled downwards, dripping off his chin as he tried to collect himself. He didn't know what to think, or feel, or how to act based off of what Natasha just did. He does know, however, that there's one man who would have the answer to the stunt she just pulled.


He marched into his office, a stoic expression plastered on his face to keep from the growing annoyance circling within him. He came face to face with the man who dared to send him on this mission, knowing damn well what he had gone through prior to this operation.

"How can I lead a team, when my own teammates have secrets of their own. How can I trust them, or you for that matter?" He said, a hint of anger in his voice.

"I wouldn't send you on a mission you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything," Fury explained. He walked away from his desk and headed towards the door, looking back at Steve, and nodding for him to follow.

Confused, the blonde simply followed the older man without question. Fury waited for him in the elevator, and once Steve had joined him, he pushed the furthest most button from the bottom. As the elevator made it's descent, Fury started to tell him about his grandpa. He told him about how he absolutely loved people, but he just couldn't trust him. Steve furrowed his eyebrows at the story, striking a chord within him that oddly enough reminded him of himself in a sense. When the elevator reached its destination and the doors opened, Steve was taken aback.

Three giant helicarriers were stationed within the underground facility of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Steve stood there, mouth agape as he followed Fury around.

"Captain Rogers does not have access to this part of SHIELD," a robotic female voice said.

"Override, Nicholas J Fury." He said, access for Steve being granted shortly after.

The two occupants stopped in front of one of the helicarriers, and Fury simply told him, "this is Project Insight. Three next generation helicarriers synched to a network of targeting satellites. Once we get them in the air they never need to come down."

"So what exactly would you use these for?" Steve asked.

"They would be used to eliminate potential threats." Someone else had said. Taking his gaze off of the helicarrier for a moment, he looked to his left and saw none other than,

"Agent Hill. Nice to see you again," he said shaking Maria Hill's hand and smiling at her.

"Good to see you too, Captain Rogers. I hate to interrupt, but Fury has an important meeting he needs to attend to." She stated.

Steve simply nodded his head and removed himself from the location he was in. Before he could leave the premise entirely, Fury had stopped him.

"Here Cap, you're gonna need this for your new apartment. S.H.I.E.L.D. mandatory, so don't even think about ignoring it."

As the older man tossed Steve the keys and he caught it, his mind started to wonder just when S.H.I.E.L.D. had invested the time, and money, to get an apartment for Steve. Shaking his head, he offered his thanks to the director and stepped into the elevator. As the doors were closing, Fury shouted to him where his location where he'd be staying was, and when the doors closed, Steve let out an exasperated sigh.

What he really wanted to do was find a way to battle the emotions circulating within him. It pained him to be staying at a random place with no Tony. He never wanted to imagine a life without him, but it had happened all too soon. He hated crying, but it somehow comforted him. It reminded him that he was still human, even after the serum. Things were never the same for Steve after the whole Valkyrie incident, and being assigned a bodyguard to Tony Stark, made his life seem a little less complicated as he tried to adapt to the fast changing world around him. Now, he was just as lost when he woke up in this strange new world, and there was no Tony to help him, or to comfort him.

As the elevator doors opened, Steve brushed off the ghostly tears that dare trailed down his cheek as he made his way over to his motorcycle. The same motorcycle that Tony-

"God dammit…" He whispered to himself as the tears started to cascade down his cheeks once more. He kept the scream he so desperately wanted to release inside, not wanting anyone to see or even hear him in anguish. He didn't even bother to wipe the tears away this time as he hopped onto the motorcycle, and made his way to the apartment.

When he arrived there, he wasted no time in stripping off his outfit, taking a shower, and face planting into the bed. He was so emotionally drained, that all he wanted to do was to just sleep.

Being a super soldier he didn't really need to sleep, or even eat, like the average human needed. He was plagued by the nightmares of the war, and his heroic sacrifice of crashing the Valkyrie in the ocean. He was scared that if he closed his eyes, he would experience everything all over again, and the creeping feeling of being trapped in ice would manage to find its way to mess with his body heat. It was also hard enough to keep his mind from conjuring up images of Bucky's death, but even those snaked its way into his subconscious. He let out a sigh, and as best as he could, he closed his eyes and tried to fall into a peaceful slumber.


When Steve first opened his eyes, he expected it to be morning already with the sunbeams coming through the windows. Instead it was the complete opposite. He could see how the light shining through his window was too dim, not reflecting the sun's bright beams of light at all, but what intrigued him the most was this sound of… Music? He doesn't remember leaving any trace of music playing when he got to the apartment; he had been so tired that after the shower he went straight to bed. He picked up his shield that rested against the wall near him, and slowly crept outwards into the living room, the exact location of where the source was coming from thanks to his super hearing. It was awfully dark as he traversed his way to the location, and as he turned he saw a familiar presence, in the form of Fury.

The man before him looked like an absolute wreck. Small scrapes and bruises on his face, mixed in with some blood that was trickling down from his eyebrow to the side of his face. A busted lip, and needless to say Steve has seen the man in better days.

"What are you doing?" He asked, cutting right to the chase.

"Sorry, my wife kicked me out of the house. I hope you don't mind…," he trailed off and took out his phone, proceeding to write a message. When Fury turned the phone around, Steve was able to make out big bright blue letters that read,

'S.H.I.E.L.D. compromised.'

He felt fear weld up inside of him as Fury started to type a new message, turning the phone back to Steve once more.

'Ears everywhere.'

He swallowed the lump in his throat, staring at the man before asking, "who else knows about your wife?" Fury once again, typed another message, and showed it to Steve.

'You and me.'

"Just you, and me," were the last words Steve heard before two shots rang out, puncturing the walls and finding their way into Fury's chest. Steve hurried over to catch Fury from falling to the floor. As the man struggled to breath, he looked up, and saw the assailant start to run. As his anger started to take hold, he felt the dying man tug on his jacket. He looked down and saw Fury hold out a flashdrive. As he stuffed the device in his jacket, he heard the dying voice of Fury say, "don't trust anyone," before the man collapsed on his floor.

Steve ran as fast as his enhanced agility would let him, using his shield to stop him from smashing into a wall, but teetering his advance just a little as he reached a glass window. He positioned his shield in front of him as he jumped, glass shattering around him, and his feet met the solid ground of the roof. He rolled forward to gain momentum, and swung his shield forward to try and stop the assailant. His entire body froze, overcome with fear as the masked man turned around and caught the shield with his left arm. Steve didn't think anything like that was possible, and upon further inspection he felt as if he was suffocating.

He saw the familiar red star on his left shoulder, and the metal he saw, happened to just be a metal arm. What struck him more were the familiar blue eyes, as if he knew this person. Reality had caught up to him as the shield was launched back towards him. He held out his hands and caught it before it reached his midsection. When he looked again, the man was gone.

'Who was that guy?' Steve thought.

He shook his head before pulling out his phone, a Stark phone to be exact, and phoned Maria Hill. He told her about Fury needing medical treatment, and she wasted no time in saying that help was on its way. As the phone call came to a close, he let out a frustrated scream into the night, dropping to his knees and holding his head as his body shook violently. The only thing he wishes for, was that Tony was here to help him, to remind him that he was strong enough, because when Steve's feelings for Tony started to prosper, he needed the genius to help him not feel so weak.


It was not long ago that Fury was pronounced dead, the bombshell being dropped on both occupants. The one who was taking it the hardest, was Natasha. She had been the closest to Fury, his top agent at S.H.I.E.L.D. He was the one who made Natasha what she is, and gave her a fresh start on life. Not everybody knows the story of the Black Widow, and she made sure to keep it that way. Shrouded in mystery all her life; identity after identity forgotten, changed, nobody knew her for who or what she was. Her red ledger was slowly running and catching up to her, but Fury made sure that he was the only one to know the truth about her. As she looked at his lifeless body, she let out a single tear, something Steve had never seen before.

When Maria entered the room and told the two it was time to go, Nat placed a kiss on top of his bald head and walked out of the room, Steve in pursuit. As they walked out of the room and down the doctors office, Nat suddenly turned around to face the blonde.

"What was Fury doing in your apartment?" She questioned, confusion written over her face. He stopped and looked at her, ready to tell her the truth until he remembered three simple words.

'Don't trust anyone.'

He shrugged and said, "I don't know." A stoic expression on his face that she analyzed.

"You're a horrible liar."

"Cap," he turned and saw it was Agent Rumlow who called him, "Secretary Pierce wants to see you."

"Just a minute." Steve said.

"He wants to see you now," Rumlow added, a hint of urgency in his voice. Steve looked back at him and nodded, turning back to Natasha and saying,

"Look, there's things I can't tell you just like how you can't tell me." As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. She smiled and nodded her head, walking off without another word. He sighed to himself and looked to the right. An opening vending machine currently being stocked was what greeted him, and a thought occurred to him. As he joined up with Rumlow, a few minutes before his leave from the hospital with said agent, he had stuck the flash drive behind two packs of strawberry bubblegum, and followed Rumlow to Secretary Pierce's office.

The conversation they had wasn't the brightest or the lightest, it was more of Pierce trying to get information out of Steve. When asked why Fury was in Steve's apartment, the blonde simply said that Fury told him to not trust anyone. He was excused from the office a few minutes later, after Pierce told him that he would do anything to find out what happened to his friend.

That's when Steve fully understood what the Secretary was saying, as he just fought his way through Rumlow and a few other agents in an elevator. He gave them a chance to think about their actions when he uttered the phrase, "before we begin, does anyone want to get out,' but they simply decided to stay and try to man handle the Captain. It didn't work out in the end, as Steve simply walked out of the elevator and exited the Triskelion.

It got even worse as he exited the building, as he was met with a Quinjet that tried to stop him. He threw his shield at the jet, and used the acceleration from his motorcycle to jump onto the flying vehicle. He promptly grabbed his shield, and threw it once more to destroy a few more key points, before jumping down onto the gravel as the jet blew up.

'This was all Hydra's doing. I got to get back to the hospital.' He thought.

He made his way to the hospital, and remembered that the flashdrive was inside the vending machine behind the gum packages. However, when he reached the said machine, it was gone. Panic started to arise within Steve as he tried to figure out who could've taken it. In the reflection of the glass, a familiar red head appeared, popping bubble gum as she held up the flashdrive.

"Looking for this?" Natasha said. Steve wasted no time in taking her wrist, dragging her into a vacant room, and pushing her lightly against a wall. A small thud was heard as the two stared at each other.

"What's on the flashdrive," he demanded, and in return all he got was a smile and a soft chuckle out of the assassin.

"Look, there's things I can't tell you just like you can't tell me." She replied. He knew he would regret those words, but with the inner turmoil he was dealing with, how could he have trusted her? She betrayed his trust once, and now he was acting as if she was against him. It was hard enough as it is, and the situation was starting to break Steve's barrier he put in front of everyone.

"I need to know what's on there Nat. Please, I need your help." He pleaded.

"Why should I tell you anything, when you're keeping more secrets than I am." She replied.

Those simple words alone were enough to break the barrier Steve made for himself. He couldn't hold it in anymore, so he let out all his inner demons to her.

"Because I'm supposed to be Strong," his voice cracked, "I'm supposed to be able to handle situations like this, and yet it's tearing me down, Nat. I feel so weak, and I can't… I miss him ok? I feel so useless, and weak without him. I watched him fall to his doom, and even with me being a super soldier I couldn't do a damn thing. You wanna know why I have so many secrets? It's because it's hard enough for me to know I lost a man I have feelings for, instead of blurting out to you on how weak and pathetic I feel."

His body trembled at each word, and when finished the tears were already flowing. He tried to hold them back, but his own body wouldn't let him. When it came down to it, he really did trust Natasha, but he wouldn't tell her that just yet. He spent enough time trying to hold himself together, that when he needed a friend the most, he found it with her.

He felt her place a hand on his cheek, her thumb wiping away his tears. Baby blues looked into her greyish greens, as the tears kept flowing. He crumbled away at the scene, making him feel vulnerable, yet safe in front of the Black Widow.

"I understand how you feel Steve," she brushed away another tear, "you don't have to keep pretending to be strong, it's ok to feel weak. I felt the same way when I had to go get Banner, and when he Hulked out next to me on the helicarrier. I was struck with fear, something I thought I wasn't capable of feeling. I've lost people, and I've killed people. Their blood is on me, but you and I have a choice. We can save thousands of others, and live for the people we care about. I'm right here Steve, I'm not going anywhere. I promise." She smiled at the end. He nodded his head and calmed down shortly after. When he was calm enough, she spoke again.

"There are a few things that S.H.I.E.L.D. never told you, but told me. Considering I think you should know I'm going to tell you." She took the time to compose herself before continuing. "The person who killed Fury is called the Winter Soldier-"

"How do you know that?" He cut her off.

"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. Those who do call him the Winter Soldier," she lifted the bottom helm of her shirt a little, exposing her skin and a nasty wound that Steve could see. "Five years ago I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran, somebody shot at my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff, I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me. Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye-bye bikinis."

"Yea, I bet you look terrible in them now," he said, earning him a small chuckle from the red head.

"We should find out what this ghost wants."

"Before we do that, there is one more thing you should know," She bit her lip as she tried to tell him the final information. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"What is it?"

"Peggy Carter is alive. She's in the old folks home just a few blocks away from here. If you want, we should go see her before we find this ghost."

Steve stared at her, his emotions out of control at the information she had given him. It didn't take long for him to grab her wrist again, pulling her out of the room, out the hospital, and having her navigate them towards the old folks home.


When they arrived at their destination, Steve was horribly nervous. He stood outside the door to Peggy's room with Natasha, scared of what she might say. Hell he didn't even know if she'll even remember him. It's been nearly 70 years since he last saw Peggy, and he thought she was all but dead like everybody else. Natasha nudged him with her elbow and he hesitantly nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat as he entered the room.

The sight broke his heart a little bit, but was soon replaced by extreme happiness. There lies Margret "Peggy" Carter, white hair up to her shoulders, a visible pink gown, and a smile on her face as she sees Steve.

"Oh my god… Steve is that you? Oh, it's been so long," she started off, tears slowly beginning to form in her eyes. He made his way over to Peggy, sitting down in the seat next to her and holding her hand in his.

"Yea it's me Peggy," he whispered, "I'm so happy to see you." There was a slight hint of sadness in his voice as it cracked, but he smiled at her. Despite the situation they were in, he was so glad to know that she was still alive after all these years. He would gladly come back here and talk to her whenever he got the chance.

"Peggy, I'd like you to meet my friend, Natasha Romanoff." He introduced her.

"Hi Aunt Peggy, it's nice to meet you." She said, sitting down next to Steve and smiling.

"Oh dear, you are so beautiful. You better take good care of Steve, who knows what trouble he'll find himself in." All three occupants shared a small laugh after what she just said. Steve's other hand gently rubs the back of hers with his thumb, and as he looks at Peggy, relishing the moment, he can't help but think back to when he first fell for his best girl. He knows he can't stay here for long, they were on the run and needed to get moving.

"Peggy, I'm sorry to cut this short, but me and Nat have to get going. I promise to visit you whenever I can alright?" He said, baby blues looking at her.

"Alright dear, I'm so happy to see you again. Please, be safe and take care. Live your life Steve, be happy, and just remember I am always with you," she pointed to his chest where his heart was, and he smiled at her before leaning down and placing a kiss on her forehead. They said their goodbyes and exited the room. As they walked, Steve felt his world become a little lighter, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. As they continued walking, he heard an interesting conversation take place a few doors down. He stopped to investigate the noise, and saw a group of people talking about their problems.

"Hey, we gotta get going." Nat said. Steve nodded his head and told her to wait a moment. He heard one of the members of the group talk about how they struggled to sleep at night, how their mind was plagued with horrible images of war. He could relate to that, and it piqued his curiosity more. He found that the person conducting the session was a dark skinned male, wearing a white button up shirt, and black jeans. His hair was very short, and as he concluded the session his eyes locked with Steve's.

"Hey man, you interested?" The guy asked.

"Uhm, it sounded interesting. I might be interested, but I really gotta get going-"

"Don't worry about it dude, just take my card and if you ever feel like stopping by here, or need someone to talk to personally, just come visit." The man handed him a small white card, and Steve noticed that his name was Sam Wilson. He noticed the address as well, and made a mental note of that.

"Thanks Sam, nice to meet you. Steve Rogers." He said, holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Steve. If I may ask who's your lady friend," he inquired, shaking Steve's hand and looking at Natasha.

"Natasha Romanoff, nice to meet you Sam. Sorry to rush this, but we have to get going now," she said, starting to drag Steve away from the place. The blonde merely offered his apologies as he was dragged out of the building, and towards a mall within the vicinity.

"Alright, where to?" He asked.

"Computer store. For the record I wanna set something straight. First rule of going on the run is: "Don't run. Walk."" She explained.

"If I run in these shoes they're going to fall off," he simply stated as they made their way into the computer store. As Natasha was setting up the appliance, it had occurred to Steve that when she plugs in the flashdrive, the Hydra infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. base will know where they are.

"How much time we got?" He asked.

"Approximately ten minutes starting… Now," she replied, plugging in the flashdrive and getting to work. He saw her fingers typing away at the keyboard, trying to pinpoint the exact location of where this whole Winter Soldier came from.

"Almost got it." Natasha said. A few more codes needing to be entered, a few firewalls she had to bypass and then,

"Got it. New Jersey," she raised an eyebrow in confusion, "ring any bells?" She asked Steve. He simply nodded his head, a few memories surfacing its way into his head.

"Alright let's get going."

She took the flashdrive from the computer, and both occupants could feel the tension in the air. Steve turned around and saw two agents behind them, and when he turned forward two more in front.

"Classic pincer hold, two agents in back of us and two in front of us." He relayed the information to her. She nodded her head and an idea formulated itself a few minutes later.

"Quick put your arm around me and laugh like I just said something funny." He looked at her in confusion and as the two agents in front got closer, she nudged him and he followed her explanation. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and let out a small laugh as if she said something funny, easily passing the two agents. He soon let go of her as the two made their way down the escalator. A new threat in the form of Rumlow on the escalator going up parallel to them came into view, and they had to think fast. Another idea popped into Natasha's head, but it was more on the intimate side.

"Kiss me." She stated.

"What?" He replied, completely confused as to why she would suggest that. She knew who he wanted, and didn't understand her whole thought process.

"Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable."

"Yes, they do," and as soon as those words left his mouth, he felt his lips on hers. He felt a little uneasy about the kiss, it didn't feel right to him, but he knew that this was hopefully the only logical solution to not being noticed by Rumlow. The said Hydra again looked at them, made a disgusted face, and turned away. When the coast was clear, they pulled away, visibly uncomfortable.

"You still uncomfortable?" She asked, walking down the escalator.

He shook his head, taking time to forget what just happened before saying, "that's not exactly the word I would use."


When they finally were able to get out of the mall, Steve and Nat had decided that they would "borrow" a car. It wasn't the most moral thing Steve could do, but when you're on the run you have to do whatever you can to save yourself.

"Where did Captain America learn to steal a car?" Nat asked with one foot on the dash, and a bit of amusement in her voice.

"Nazi Germany. And we're borrowing. Get your feet off the dash." He told her. She rolled her eyes a bit before retracting her feet like he asked. A comfortable silence casted over the two fugitives before Nat decided to break it.

"I have a question for you, but you don't have to answer it if you don't want to. Although if you don't answer it, you're kinda answering it in a way, you know?" She rambled.

"What?" He simply asked, a small smile on his face.

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" She asked. He chuckled a little, the smile not leaving his face for one second before saying,

"That bad, huh?"

"I didn't say that."

"Well, it kinda sounds like that's what you're saying."

"No, I didn't. I was just wondering how much practice you had."

He shook his head as she continued with her ministrations of his personal life. Truth was, yes that was his first kiss since 1945. The last girl he had kissed was Peggy, and now it was Natasha. What he really wanted was Tony to be his first kiss since coming out of the ice after he got to know more about the man, but now that would never happen.

"I don't need practice," He continued, diverting himself from his thoughts a little.

"Everybody needs practice. If I helped you in any way then you'll be ready for…" She stopped herself mid sentence, knowing exactly what she wanted to say, forgetting for a moment that Tony wasn't here. Steve picked up what she was going to say and nodded his head slowly, a stoic expression on his face as he flattened his lips.

"Sorry."

"It's ok."

They drove for a while, and by the time they reached the old military base, night was upon them. They got out of the car and took in their surroundings. To Natasha this was just some old abandoned military base, but to Steve, it was where he trained as the scrawny kid from Brooklyn. He stared off into the distance as a young Steve Rogers animated in front of him, followed by a few soldiers running in front of him. As the image came to a stop and looked at him, he remembered the drill sergeant yelling at him to fall in line. The memory brought a smile to his face, but was brought back to reality by Natasha walking towards an old bunker.

"Do you know what this is?" She asked.

"It's an old munitions bunker." Steve said. He noticed the lock on the door, and with his shield he broke it by thrusting his shield forward. From there he opened the door. What should have been a bunker full of weapons, was replaced by very old looking computers. Steve was very confused, but proceeded to step into the room. As they rounded a corner, they came upon a computer that was vastly different from the rest. Three sets of different sized screens were together, and a small camera was sitting atop the biggest one in the middle. It was as if they were somehow being… Watched?

Natasha stepped forward and placed the flash drive into a conveniently placed USB port, and the middle screen flickered to life. It started to materialize what looked like a face, and then a voice was shortly followed after as the camera looked at Steve first.

"Steven, Rogers. Born 1918." The voice started off.

"Romanoff, Natalia-Alianova. Born 1984," it continued, camera looking at her. By that point, the screen had finished materializing into a face that looked oddly familiar to Steve.

"Armin Zola. German scientist who used to work for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years." Steve said to Nat, clueing her in on who this was.

"I am not dead, Captain, in truth, I have never been more alive," the screen flickered and became brighter, "even if I suffered a terminal illness and my body could not be saved, my mind however, that was worth saving. On two hundred thousand feet of databanks." Zola had told them. Steve started to feel a bit uncomfortable with the situation they were in, as if Zola was keeping something from him. Natasha could feel this vibe as she looked over at him, placing a hand on his shoulder causing him to look at her.

"Relax soldier, it's alright." She soothed.

"Is it? Do you really believe that?" Zola replied.

"Hydra died with the Red Skull," was the reply the Dr. got back from Steve. He was trying hard to keep his emotions in check, and he was somehow doing an ok job at it.

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."

"Prove it." Steve demanded.

Zola's face was replaced with video footage, dating back to the time Steve existed when Hydra did as well.

"Hydra was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize was that if you tried to take that freedom, they resist." The video footage morphed into images of Steve and all the men who partook in the Hydra raids. "The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded, and I was recruited." The new image showed Howard Stark, and an image of Zola when he was recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve could feel anger coursing through his as the Dr. continued. "The new Hydra grew, a beautiful parasite inside S.H.I.E.L.D. For 70 years, Hydra has been secretly feeding crises, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed." Just then, an image of a red star on metal was shown, and Steve's anger was morphed into deep concern and fear.

"That's impossible. S.H.I.E.L.D. would've stopped you." Natasha said, her own voice trembling just slightly.

"Accidents will happen." Zola conjured images of a dead Howard and Maria Stark, Tony's parent's, followed by an image of Nick Fury that read deceased in big red capital letters.

"Hydra created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, Hydra's New World Order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life, a zero sum!"

As the images of Steve's face popped up, with headlines depicting his "death" and that he disappeared, vicious waves of anger sprung up inside his body, and he found himself punching the screen with all his might, shattering the glass. It didn't make him feel any better knowing they actually lost, but it took some edge off.

The next screen on the right, conjured up the same image of Zola's face and the two looked at that monitor instead of the cracked one.

"What's on this drive?" Steve demanded.

"Project Insight required a little… Insight. So I wrote an algorithm-"

"What kind of Algorithm," Natasha cut Zola off abruptly. They were getting to the bottom of this, and everything was slowly starting to make sense now.

"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it." As Zola finished his sentence, the sound of a door could be heard closing. The door Steve and Nat had come through began to close rapidly, and with fast thinking Steve threw his shield to try and cease their only form of exit. Sadly it had already closed, and Steve's shield ricocheted right back to him and he caught it. Panic started to overwhelm him as Nat had just informed him that a missile was heading their way, in less than 30 seconds, and when asked who fired it, she looked at him and spoke only one word,

"S.H.I.E.L.D."

As Zola kept talking about how he was stalling and they all had run out of time, his rapidly racing mind looked around the room for a safe place as Nat grabbed the flashdrive from the USB port. He noticed the metal railing on the ground, and saw that there was just enough space below for him to protect both him and Nat. He hurried over to the metal casing, yanking the rail upwards, unhinging it from the floor.

An explosion was heard and fire began to consume part of the building behind them. He grabbed Nat as she ran over to him and jumped down into the small pit. The explosion had caused the building to crumble away on top of them, and he could feel every chunk of rubble hit them as he held up his shield to protect them.

Maybe this was how Tony felt back at the mansion? Maybe this was how Steve was going to die, the same way Tony had. It scared him to think like that, he couldn't let Nat die with him. He so desperately wanted to see Tony again, even thinking so much as to give up his life right here and now, but with Nat here, he wasn't about to die.

He kept the shield up above their heads, taking the full force of all the falling debris. The lights around both of them started to flicker on and off as the crumbling got worse, and Steve could not only feel the impacts on his shield, but a trembling Natasha Romanoff next to him. He grit his teeth and fought to hold on more, he pulled her close as the entire building collapsed on itself.

He felt his heart beating out of his chest as the building shook, columns and chunks of the roof landing on top of both of them, and filling the small pit. As the fear had taken over, and the pain became too much, he screamed.

He wanted to scream out Tony's name, but he kept it inside. The sound of Natasha's scream filled his ears as well, her own panined and panicked scream mimicking his. The only emotions left he could feel were sadness, and regret for not being able to protect his love interest, and his friend.

What once was the sound of two people screaming, was now the sound of absolute silence, and the image of a once standing building now crumbled to ruin.


Author's Note:

And another one bites the dust. I hoped anybody who read this enjoyed, and if you feel like it, please leave a review. I accept any and all constructive criticism, and positive feedback.

I am not too sure if I will upload tomorrow, my brain has been kinda on overload with the amount of chapters I've been writing and finishing, so I might take a day to myself. If not, then you will see a chapter tomorrow.

I hope everybody stays safe and healthy during these hard times, and I will see you next time!

Bai Bai!