A/N: So this chapter was a bitch...it just wouldn't let me write it. I seriously considered docking its allowance and involving a curfew but it just wouldn't let itself write.
But finally here it is, two months in the making and still not as perfect as I would like, but I still hope you are enjoying it.
Let me know through your reviews!

Chapter 6

Being violently shoved in a dark jeep brought back memories Sarah would have rather not revisited. The look in Max' eyes when they shoved him into a separate car to her. 'The I told you so' and brotherly worry etched all over his face, didn't help to calm her fears at all.

"Can you tell me where you're taking me?" the young woman enquired, while trying to get more comfortable with the handcuffs on her wrists.
"To a secure location."
"A secure location, where?"
"You are not privy to that information."
Sarah ground her teeth, of course she wasn't.
"I'm a German citizen, you are not allowed to extradite me to another country. My right is to face court or questioning in Germany and under German law."
"Ms Enders, you were harbouring war criminals. What we are allowed to do or not has nothing to do with legalities anymore."
She sat back with a huff, this was getting nowhere. Once the adrenaline left her body, she had time to register the men that arrested her. They were wearing tac gear and black ski masks. Sarah closed her eyes trying to breath through the images that these guys brought up in front of her closed eyes.
The man next to her shook her arm slightly "Are you ok?"
She nodded "Yeah, I just need to breath through it."
"Panic attacks are a bitch." His North German accent sounded soothing "You might want to settle in, we will be driving for a while."
Divulging that bit of information got him a dirty look from the driver.
He patted her arm again and shot a defying look to the driver through the rear view mirror.

Exiting the vehicle with her hands bound behind her proved more difficult than she thought, the slippery floor of the parking garage not helping her at all. Luckily the friendly special ops guy steadied her by the elbow before she face planted onto the floor.
The team guided her down several hallways before stopping in front of a steel metal door.

The door closed behind her loudly and Sarah stood in a bleak room, a table some chairs, no windows.
'Great! Really well done there. What do you think you can achieve from here.' The disapproving voice in her head sounded like Nat. Exactly what she needed now a mental scolding from her currently MIA best friend.

Taking a breath, she sat down in the chair farthest away from the door.
'Think, Enders, think. It's not like they have much, they saw the quinjet take off, they saw me with James. What else...what else? Did they manage to listen into her and Steve's phone call?'
She shook her head 'That couldn't be...Nat made sure the line was secure, otherwise she wouldn't have given her that phone.' Her head fell onto the table with a thud 'Max...what happened with Max? Where had they brought him?'
Eyes started to blur 'Pull yourself together! Don't show them any fear.'

Sarah didn't know for how long she was sitting there, she had forgotten put on her watch before boarding the flight. Hell forget what time it was she couldn't remember the last time she slept. It must have been somewhere over Africa for a couple of hours.

Finally the door opened, a blonde man stepped inside the room holding a couple of folders and an old school voice recorded in his hand.
"Miss Enders..."
"Not to be rude, but I'd really need to use the bathroom, before we start this."

She must have looked desperate, as his eyes softened slightly and he leaned towards the hallway "Agent Carter, could you accompany Miss Enders to the bathroom?"
Sarah hesitated before following Sharon Carter out of the room 'Of all the agents...'

"You need to leave the door open." Sharon leaned against the sink.

"Wow, the CIA really doesn't approve of privacy." Sarah mumbled.
She was washing her hands when Sharon leaned towards turning up the water "Do you know where they are?" Sarah stared at her 'did she really think she'd tell her?' So she just shook her head.
"Is Steve...are they alright?" Sharon looked almost pleading.
Sarah nodded softly.
"Thank you." Sharon squeezed her arm gently.

Back in the room the agent was waiting for them both.
"Better?"
"Thank you."
"Please take a seat Miss Enders." He indicated on a chair opposite of him.
"My name is Agent Ross."
"Any relations to the Defense Secretary?" Sarah enquired.
Agent Ross bristled slightly at her interruption, but answered nonetheless "None."
He placed an old style dictaphone on the table and pressed play.
"This is Agent Ross, interviewing Sarah Luise Enders on the charges of harbouring and aiding fugitives in her home."
Sarah swallowed 'Charges….that really didn't sound good. Max and Natasha were so going to kill her.'
"For the record, it is the 11th October, it is 3am and the interview is taking place in a secure CIA facility in Berlin."

Sarah rammed her finger nails into her arm, she has been awake more than 24hrs, which included a 12 hour flight, 3 car drive from the airport, dealing with the shit that Steve dropped at her door step and then being detained and driven half way through Germany.

She was tired, so damn tired, but she needed to stay alert.

"You have been detained, Miss Enders on the suspicion of aiding and abiding wanted criminals and fugitives Steven Rogers and James Barnes."
Sarah chuckled, the sleep deprivation must made her loopy "Have you really just called Captain America a criminal?"
"He has broke the law, the accords. That makes him a criminal." Agent Ross folded his hands on the table and leaned forward, letting his words sink in.
Sarah shook her head, she had no clue what to say.

A memory popped in her head, a conversation she had with Nat ages ago. 'The secret of not incriminating yourself is drawing out what they know. Don't give them anything they haven't given you. Let them prove to you what they know, this way you'll always have the upper hand.'

"Why don't we start at the beginning, Miss Enders." Agent Ross started to sort through some papers in front of him "How did Steven Rogers contact you?"
Bearing her memories in mind, Sarah asked "What do you mean he contacted me?"
"Are you saying he didn't?"
"Do you have evidence that he did?"
Agent Ross grind his teeth before continuing "Ok, when did Mr. Rogers contact you?"
"Again, do you have evidence that he did contact me at all?"
"How else would he know where to land that jet."
Then it hit you, they didn't know that Steve was there. They'd seen you with James, but not with the Steve.
"How long were they with you?"
"Who?"
"Steven Rogers and James Barnes."
"I don't know, how long Mr Barnes was there."
"But you do know how long Mr Rogers stayed with you?"
"No, was he even there?"
"What?" Agent Ross was confused, what was this girl getting at?
"You haven't shown me one piece of evidence that places Mr Rogers at the house."
Sharon Carter held in a laugh, they had definitely underestimated her.
"Who else would be there?"
"I don't know why, don't you tell me?" Sarah shrugged.
"Miss Enders, don't you realise what trouble you're in? You have aided and abided criminals, involved your brother in your crimes and now you are not cooperating with law enforcement."
"Well, you aren't law enforcement Agent Ross."
"Excuse me?"
"You are CIA. You are a spy, not law enforcement, you don't have any criminal jurisdiction."
Sharon was mildly impressed, the woman had spunk but you could see Romanoffs finger prints all over her testimony.

The back and forth continued for a while, until a knock interrupted them. A young agent handing Sharon a file, she read the summary quickly, before passing it onto Ross.
The older agent sighed.
"King T'Challa of Wakanda confirmed that the real bomber of the UN is in custody, and that Mr Barnes is no longer a suspect in that matter."
Sarah rubbed her eyes "What does that mean?"
"That you are fucking lucky and half of the charges against you just dropped."
Sarah let her head fall forward, her hands catching it before she could make contact with the table.
"Now about Steven Rogers…" Agent Ross started again, but Sharon had enough.
"Everett." she interrupted him "Miss Enders has been saying for the last 5 hours that she has no recollection of being contacted by Mr Rogers nor that she has seen him. And we quite frankly have no evidence of the opposite."
In a huff Everett Ross stood up "You are right Agent Carter. Miss Enders you are free to go. But don't fool yourself we will keep an close eye on you."
"Well that shouldn't be any difference to now, everyone knows the Red Cross hives with CIA spies." Sarah stood up as well.
"I will escort you upstairs." Agent Carter motioned for Sarah to follow her.
"Thank you." Sarah whispered to Sharon. "It's ok. Everett is like a dog with a bone once he gets stuck in a case."
Sarah yawned. "When was the last time you slept?"
"I lost track of time, at least over 36hrs ago."
"I will organise you some transport back to your place."
"Thanks. Do you know where my brother is?"
"He's waiting for you in the lobby."

Sharon disappeared to arrange her a car and Sarah stepped in the lobby where her brother and Tony Stark were waiting for her.
"You alright?" Max was frantic. "I'm fine. and you?" "Possible deniability is everything, and Tony helped." Max smirked before drawing his sister in for a hug.
"As touching as this all is." Tony interrupted the family reunion "I hope you know how fucking idiotic this whole thing was, getting involved in this shit, in our shit."
"He asked for my help." Sarah said quietly.
"Are you turning into one of his fangirls as well, Mini Max?" his mouth showed his disdain at the thought.

"Hey." she slapped Tony's shoulder "I told him what for an idiot he is, but he's still my friend."
"You are definitely too nice for this world."

Natasha sighed, the small town diner was empty except for two other customers sitting at the counter.
She fiddled with the phone in her hand, she knew she couldn't call anyone, but just the feeling of the phone in her hand gave her a connection to her lost friends.

She hadn't felt this lonely in a long time, the last time was right before she met Clint in her time as a free agent after she fled the KGB and Red Room.
Everyone was in the wind, or somewhere worse, she could only imagine where they shipped off her friends after the fight at the airport, the Raft.
Tony had accused her of being a double agent, and that stung more than she cared to admit. As if she hadn't tried to keep her family together that he and Steve seemed intent to rip apart. She just tried to keep them together.

Leaving some money on the table, she left the diner and got into a standard run of the mile pick up. Oh did she miss her Corvette already.
Speeding down the highway, doubts started to seep back into her mind again.

Did she really do enough?

Half of her family imprisoned, a bounty on Steve's and her heads. Rhodey severely injured and Tony still feeling as guilty and ripped up inside as he did after Sokovia.
She slipped her sunglasses on and readjusted her wig - no time for a proper hair dye job yet.
She had time for that afterwards, first she had a job to do.

Taking several back roads, backing onto herself twice it took her longer than usual before she pulled into dirt road leading to the farm.
Everything took a back seat - she had a mission to fulfil, bring Laura and the kids to safety.