The teller in front of him grew still. He immediately tensed and began eyeing his surroundings. A customer was entering the bank diagonally behind him, was masked and pulling out a gun that he held clearly in his right hand.
Steve sighed in annoyance. Seriously? He'd picked this bank because it was out of the way, and not a big chain that was likely to have tons of cameras or security. Guess that's a pretty good reason for a robber to choose it too.
He gritted his teeth at his luck and took a deep breath.
He could react, take the robber out, probably before anyone would be able to react and get in his way… but he, Sam, and Natasha had finally, finally found a small apartment that they thought could be a safe house for future needs and it was too close to make his presence known. General Ross would scour the city if their presence was made known. And Wanda was going to be coming from Scotland any day now— he needed this place to house all four of them before they made their next move.
The beard might help… he considered. For the first month, peoples' eyes had followed him, as had the rumors of the fugitive Captain America on the run. But as his hair grew longer and his beard covered his recognizable jaw, the eyes had stopped watching him and now people saw him as just another person on the street or they didn't notice him at all.
It had been a relief, anonymity for the first time since he'd stepped out of that damned capsule.
He bit his tongue and mentally chided himself for that comment. That capsule had helped him save Bucky, save New York multiple times and help the world in other ways, he wouldn't begrudge it now because the fractured pieces of his life were still sharp.
All this flashed past his mind in an instant. The alarm hadn't even been raised yet. He saw the teller move to press what he assumed was the alarm button under her desk.
"Don't." He said with his authoritative Captain's voice. She looked at him with wide eyes, but something in his demeanor made her pause and he eyed her with new eyes. Instant trust was hard to come by when he wasn't wearing his uniform, so this was a nice surprise.
"Not until I tell you." With still wide eyes she nodded inconspicuously and he turned his body towards the masked man.
The first screams were sounding now as the man brandished the gun wildly and shot two rounds into the air. People immediately covered their heads and ran for cover. The fact that Steve stayed stock still, body tensed, but not cowering, drew attention from the robber and now his three companions who were making themselves known by walking over with guns also in their grasp.
"Hey, you!" They taunted, "you tryna be some kind of hero? Get away from the desk."
Steve had to resist the strong urge to roll his eyes. These kids weren't much older than 20 and while he may only be in physical age mid 30's (no one was sure what kind of aging had happened in the ice) he suddenly felt a thousand years old.
"Drop the guns and get out of here." He said calmly.
"Oh ho ho, boys we do got ourselves a hero!" The boy, who he assumed was a leader crowed, "come here little hero, show us what you got."
Now it was decision time, take these four out easily, and let the world know where he was? Or make it a fight and maybe, just maybe, escape the notice of General Ross' hound dogs.
His eyes caught one tiny camera in the corner of the bank, he was already facing it, so he decided— alow and steady it would be. Hopefully the facial hair would disguise him enough on the camera.
"How about you let all these nice people go, and I'll stay and we can work something out." Why did he sound like a grandpa right now?
"How 'bout I kill you and take the money out of your account first instead?" He taunted back.
For the love of all things— This kid wasn't going to make it easy.
"Okay." Steve said, drawing out the word as he walked closer, deciding that this kid might just need a little bit of a lesson. He knew the safety of the other people in the building was the first priority. And he couldn't keep them safe so far from the thieves and their weapons, so he closed the gap. "So kill me." He said sharply as he stalked closer.
Shock registered in the leader's face as Steve got within 10 feet of him. He raised his gun in response and Steve's quick mind began to take stock.
The gun was aimed at his chest, at this angle it was non-lethal but it wouldn't feel great, and he'd rather avoid leaving a blood trail. His memory told him that behind him was a wooden desk with a glass partition and a stone wall behind that, no heart rates or breathing registered there so he knew he was safe to side step. The gunman pulled the trigger and he gracefully stepped sideways, utilizing his super soldier's speed for the first time in a while and the bullet whizzed past him shattering the glass and embedding in the stone wall.
Shrieks at the sound raised the hairs on his arms, but he strode forward still, knocking the gun out of the shocked leader's hand. The man retaliated with a punch but Steve dodge it easily, he swept his foot out, clipping behind the assailants knees and knocking him unconscious with the side of his fist. He whirled around and sidestepped another pistol, quickly disarming the one closest to him before they could pull the trigger and hurt someone. The second one went down right next to the first.
Slow down, his mind reminded him, any quicker and you might as well scream "not human".
He slowed his motions and reached for the third gunman, who quickly tried to raise the pistol his way, but Steve stepped inside his grasp, threw his elbow gently into the guy's arm, knocking it out of its socket and the gun clattered uselessly to the ground. He growled in frustration at how slow he was moving, he knew it was necessary in the long run, but one man with a gun still stood, holding these people hostage and he felt like a jerk for not doing everything he could to stop it.
He took his time with the fist fight that followed but eventually the man dropped to a heap near his pals and Steve turned towards the final gunman. He froze as he took in the sight.
The fourth gunman had used those precious seconds while Steve was fighting his friend to point his gun, a rifle this time, at the teller he'd just been in front of.
"Move an inch and I'll shoot!"
Steve closed his eyes, listening to the kid's heart beat— while it was frantic, it also seemed to Steve that he just might be willing to kill to escape. Steve's breath held as he cursed himself for making this guy so afraid he was willing to murder to go free.
"Kid, listen, you shoot that? You're going to jail for murder, not just attempted robbery. Don't throw your life away. Just set the gun down and you can go, I won't stop you."
The kid stood still, gauging his surroundings. His three partners either laid unconscious on the floor around him. Steve was maybe 6 ft from him and he could close that distance almost instantly, but he couldn't know whether he'd pull the trigger and he wasn't going to risk her life, not when she'd trusted him so easily.
Maybe 15-20 people were hiding or crouching and Steve was acutely aware of their fear. It filled the room and he felt his adrenaline rise. Even on the run he would never let this guy hurt someone, not if he could do something about it.
Steve took a step forward, but more in front of the muzzle of the gun.
"Listen, I don't want to hurt you, and you don't want to murder someone right? How 'bout you just put the gun down, and walk out of here." The guy's eyes flashed wild like a caged animal, his heart beat was faster than anyone's in the room and Steve could see reason slipping away from him. "We won't follow you, just put the gun down."
He saw the guy lower his gun shoulder ever so slightly. He almost felt relief until a cell phone ringing pierced the air. The guy flinched and Steve only had a split second to register the tensing of his trigger finger before he reacted.
He leapt to the side and heard the crack of the gun. The bullet hit his shoulder and he crashed into the teller's desk. The pain was annoying but he couldn't spend a moment thinking about it. He climbed up out of the crushed counter and saw the gunman raise the muzzle again. Fear that he'd already shot someone was mingled with a desperate need to escape and Steve knew he had mere seconds before that gun went off again. He reached down and grabbed someone's briefcase that had been left on the ground. With more ferocity than he probably should have used, he whipped the briefcase around, using his most basic shield throw and released it with careful accuracy as it raced towards the gunman. It thudded into his face and the man cried out in pain, crumpling to the ground.
Steve ran over, checking that he was unconscious and then kicking the rifle away, he removed the other guns from the immediate area and turned towards the teller.
"You can press that button now." He said calmly. Her face was sheet white, but he saw her muscles contract as she pressed the silent alarm and just stared at him.
"I need four belts." He called out, "to tie these men up."
Almost immediately people were shuffling and 7 belts of various colors and sizes came sliding out from the people hiding along the walls.
He ignored the aching in his shoulder and lifted the first two men by their collars towards the desks.
Probably best to list one man at a time? The part of his mind that wasn't distracted by the pain in his shoulder reminded him. Oops. He dropped one of the men quickly and belted the leader tightly, legs and arms behind him, to the legs of the desks so that when he regained consciousness he would be immobile. He turned around and noticed a few phones pointed in his direction.
Immediately he knew his mistake, lifting those two men at once had been stupid, he dragged the remaining three, one by one, hamming it up a bit, hoping they would chalk up the first lift to adrenaline.
He looked around after he'd secured the final guy and noticed his blood dripping onto the ground. He sighed, this was the bane of his existence. He couldn't leave his blood anywhere, and for being a super soldier he sure bled a lot.
"Does anyone have a towel or a cloth I could borrow?"
None was immediately forthcoming, so he sighed and was halfway through taking off his long sleeved shirt when a pack of baby wipes came sliding into view. A mom who was clutching her child, but looking at him thankfully, nodded and he nodded his thanks in return. He mopped up the small trailing drops of blood, then walked over to the counter and grabbed the teller's water bottle without asking.
"Sorry." He said a little ruefully. He poured the water over the spots, diluting any blood traces he may have left behind and turned to leave. About 10 smartphones were turned towards him, and he'd been in this century long enough to know they were recording.
He sighed outwardly and squinted down at the little lights that were pointed his way, "probably a little pointless to ask you guys to not post those videos?"
To his surprise, all but one camera lowered. And the teen who was hiding behind the still raised camera raised his head sheepishly.
"Sorry," the teen said, embarrassment coloring his cheeks, "it's a live stream… " Steve wasn't exactly sure what live stream meant but from the look on the faces around him he gathered that it was already too late. The video was out there. He nodded and headed for the door. General Ross would probably be here in a matter of hours and he needed to warn the others. This whole ordeal had been less than 10 minutes... but that's all he'd needed to blow their cover.
He reached the door but stopped when he heard the teen speak again.
"Are you— are you Captain America?" Something tightened in Steve's chest. A worse ache than the bullet in his shoulder.
"Not anymore, kid." He pushed through the door and was gone.
—-
"Not anymore, kid." Came the tinny audio of the video playing on Tony's phone. The look on Steve's face as he said those words almost took his breath away. The sheer anguish as he watched Steve publicly relinquished that part of his identity.
Tony rewound the video and watched it again. At first the bearded long haired 'Good Samaritan' could have been anyone, but as the video progressed, he could see where Steve would speed up to avoid someone getting hurt, like the first shot at the teller. He winced as he saw the bullet hit Steve but wasn't surprised when he got up as if nothing had happened. And he could see where Steve tried to slow down, to avoid suspicion. The fighting was almost comical to watch as he could see Steve mentally keeping himself in check.
When Steve easily lifted the two men by the collars and then caught himself, suddenly pretending like the assailants were heavy, he almost had to laugh.
It wasn't until he watched Steve methodically clean up his own blood and rinse it away that his teeth grit together. Can't leave any trace of the General will find you… Tony thought bitterly. But also, something much deeper floated to his mind. Something Steve said once, "they always have wanted my blood, they took pints of it throughout the war, trying to replicate it, then those vials fell into the wrong hands and—"
The memory cut off as the video ended again. Tony sighed. Steve's blood had been vital in the creation of the winter soldiers they'd found in Siberia. Without his blood they may not have been created, so here was Steve cleaning up his own blood to avoid being traced or copied.
The video had finished live-streaming maybe 4 minutes ago. FRIDAY had brought it to his attention immediately as she had been given parameters to be on the lookout for Rogers through facial recognition.
Now that Tony had seen this video, he knew he didn't want the general getting his hands on it.
"FRIDAY?"
"Yes, sir?"
"How quickly and thoroughly can you wipe this from the web?"
"I'll just be a moment."
Tony waited until FRIDAY came back online.
"The original poster was contacted and has deleted the video. I have scanned for copies and erased those as well. I cannot erase screen recordings, however if they attempt to post it, I will alert them to their error that it was an edited video and not credible. News outlets have already been alerted to the deception."
Tony smirked. JARVIS had always had a soft spot for Steve and his polite manner to the AI, seems like FRIDAY did as well. He could almost detect a hint of smugness at her quick reaction and protection of their dear Capitan.
"Good. Wouldn't want any wandering eyes finding that video."
"Of course not, sir."
—
Hope you enjoyed this one-shot! I wish Marvel had delved deeper into Nomad Steve and what they did for those two years but I'm sure they got up to all kinds of trouble!
I'd love to hear your thoughts!