Latest update! Sorry for the wait, I rewrote this one so many times trying to get it right!
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Tony's POV:
Today was a day for firsts.
And not any of the good kind, not the new experiences that left you wide eyed and hungry for more. Well that was partially correct. I was wide eyed that's for sure, we all were. But it was adrenaline that surged through our veins and pooled a cold sweat over us, not excitement.
For the first time since she'd been presented to us by Fury himself fear accompanied Edie's presence. Following that menacing snarl of a warning that passed her usually smiling lips, I'd barely had time to process it before the room erupted like a box of Chinese fireworks.
Unstable and wrecking chaos in all directions.
Before anyone could even blink together a small shred of a plan, instinct kicked in for everyone. Everyone except Steve.
Nat, Fury and Hill had their guns drawn, and aimed to eliminate any threat. Even I had engaged a defense, metallic palm gleaming a golden hue to the room.
But the Captain just stood there. Those massive muscles of his not flexed for a fight, nor was his towering height committed into a stance of attack. Instead the super soldier was reduced to a fear stricken civilian, gaping in a quicksand of shock that left him vulnerable.
He was exposed and Edie, no this wasn't Edie. This was the Chameleon that had been in those files, and she read Steve's every weakness. His emotional stunted actions left him exposed and that was her gain.
I noticed the current of energy playing off the Chameleon's fingers, dark blue in contrast with the haloing white of her eyes that had yet to leave Steve's confused expression. His back was against the door, only a few feet and a table stood between the two. She could easy overpower us all, with a casual flick of her wrist. Her ability to access and stun our very nervous systems had the group at a disadvantage. I remembered the futile struggle I made against it during the attack on New York, when she forced me onto the that was her being nice.
So what do you do when a twitching, kill hungry and possessed version of a good friend is trying to kill your other friend who also happens to be her husband..?
Like I told you it was a day of firsts. You improvise or at least that's the notion I got which lead to pissing off the Chameleon. But hey, at least she didn't get her hands on Steve, at least not yet.
Another thing about today was timing. Firsts and timing.
We needed to get Steve out and as far away as possible. I mulled over the possibilities in my head, each way it could go right or wrong. Creating a diversion was our best option, but getting everyone in on the plan would be the hard it would seem the room unanimously convened on the same decision as soon as Edie extended a stiffened handed.
"No!"
You don't realize how loud gunfire is until it's up close and personal. Steve's booming voice drowned in that raining hail of hot metal like a whisper in a tornado. One shot clipped the chameleon's shoulder, the other her hip. I dove to Steve's cover, urging him out the door with rough pushes though he attempted to stay rooted to the spot.
"Rogers go now! Betty Boop's not playing here, go!"
Romanoff and Fury's blockade wasn't going to hold her off for long but I could read the hesitation flicker across the Captain's usually stoic expression. He was torn in a multitude of directions no one could count.
Wife. Friend
Duty. Honor
Right. Wrong
"She'll be alright, now go!"
My palm found the door knob with a stumble before I was pushing him through the arch. I had just secured the latch when a familiar sensation crept the length of my vertebrae. But this time it burned, licked up my spine and staked its flag in my nerves with an angry scortch. My control was depleting by the second but I had just enough left to turn around and witness the destruction. The wind compressed from my lungs in a wheezed gasp, she'd leveled every able body that stood in the way. My eyes found Nat's twitching form, crumpled in the corner and left with nothing but a glazed expression. A similar fate had taken over Fury, the stone cold Director had been broken down to rubble.
I took what I thought were my last breaths in shallow inhales, the blinding artificial lights above had me squinting. And like a dark haired eclipse, the Chameleon stepped over me. I was suddenly so tired. Exhaustion caressed my cheek in long, slow swipes.
"Now Olive Oil…don't be so-so hard on Popeye." I choked with a dying smirk.
The last wisps of consciousness began to escape me when a kiss of a familiar scent engulfed me.
"Shhhh…Anthony. It's okay, let go. I've got you."
Edie, it was Edie!
The kindness had returned to her voice against my ear, not an ounce of strife could be found. I stared up at her through blotched vision, a swarm of overwhelming emotions tightening my chest. Comfort followed Edie's touch against my jaw, a comfort I hadn't experience since my mother. I reached for her, pawing at the dangling waves that framed her assuring smile. I was like a drunken toddler as the burning began to recede, my movements shaky and uncoordinated.
But just as soon as the small speck of hope had floated in, it was wafted out. Edie jerked violently and her face fell into her knees with a deafening screech. Minutes passed like hours. I fought against the fatigue that plagued my body, which left me useless until my nerves regained full consciousness. But before I could intervene, the Chameleon had resurfaced and was jarring open the door after her prey.
It was Natasha's touch that skated over my pulse shortly after, the aftershocks still vivid on our bodies. Natasha could barely stand, sweat breaking across her auburn brow. I could barely breath myself, air just out of grasp. But we were alive. If Edie hadn't resurfaced just in time, we'd be having a very different conversation.
"Steve..gotta…"
Why did my mouth feel like I'd been baking in the Mojave for a week? I swatted at Nat's hands with what little strength I had. Knowing I wasn't the one she should be worried about. A certain Captain was the one with the target on his back, we were just mere obstacles on the course. Sure enough the sound of a familiar yelp snatched our attention and had the red head stumbling out of the door, gun a permanent fixture in her glove.
Me on the other hand was a different story. Like a colt on new legs I shook and felt the world tilt as I tried to stand. Lower half regaining strength at a painfully slow rate, looking more like cooked noodles than working limbs.
Cursing my feeble attempts the entire way I followed the shouts and obvious sounds of a tussle. I finally made it through the threshold just in time to watch them hauling her off. Barnes a mirroring image at her side. Fury's men were always there, willing and ever ready to clean up the mess with rough hands and a glock. But by the look in those emerald eyes, staring back with such defeat, it was safe to assume Edie had returned once more.
Tears brimming over with a fever as she kept her gaze locked onto Steve's collapsed form until they yanked her sharply around the corner.
"Get these men to the med bay, Agent Hill too. And someone call Bruce!"
I propped myself against the nearest wall, trying to ignore the clammy sweat breaking out across my skin.
"She..came back.." I choked under Natasha's strained barking.
"She tried to kill us."
I jerked back with a startle at Fury's sudden appearance, weary body relying heavily on the archway for support. By the looks of the blood sputtering from the corner of his mouth, Edie had done a number on him.
"I want..this whole place..on lock down. Now, Stark."
Fury cast those blackened orbs on me and I didn't have the energy to refute. I told you it was a day for firsts.
The scenery around me slid slowly to the ground as my legs depleted what strength they had and I suddenly joined Steve on the cool tile. He was still sprawled in the middle of the hall, seeming to have taken the brunt of it all. I couldn't bring myself to stare too long at him, just enough to ensure he was breathing. Slow but deep, healthy breaths. Satisfied with Cap's status I then craned my neck towards the ceiling.
"Hey, JARVIS. Initiate the Renee protocol."
My back relaxed against the wall, head lulling with lax effort.
"Right away, sir." The AI replied with his usual polite tone. Soon a symphony of locks and alarm beeps could be heard securing the entire house.
"Thanks, buddy."
Oh, I needed sleep. A cheeseburger, possibly a milkshake but definitely some Z's. Not necessarily in that order.
"Renee?" Natasha seemed to ask for the both of them. No doubt expecting some complex acronym or scientific explanation.
I wheezed a laugh despite the pain in my ribs at the look of confusion on both Agents faces.
"What? You guys never had a crazy ex before?"
-0-
Naturally I ignored the good doctor's advice to take it easy and rest up. I had plenty of sleep, practically a whole…3 hours, I think. Instead I took my deliciously greasy fast food meal into the surveillance room and began to play. I started at the beginning, from the moment Edie stepped into the safe house. Hoping to notice any little change, compare her demeanor from before she was taken to the events that followed after. I would also need to comb over these newly leaked HYDRA files. Something just didn't sit well with me and I was looking to prove Fury wrong. Edie was not trying to kill us. But someone was.
"JARVIS, pull up the file of Edith Rogers. Everything we got."
"Yes sir, the information is quite extensive. Shall I categorize it into a chronological timeline?"
"Do your thing, big guy."
I swiveled a little too energetically in my chair, awakening the strain in my muscles.
Gingerly reaching across the table, I nursed my pain away with the thick sweetness of my strawberry milkshake.
"Syncing complete." JARVIS beamed from above.
"Alright, show me what we're working with."
On command the room was illuminated with a blue hologram of what seemed like an endless timeline of Edie's life.
The overwhelming wealth of information was punctuated by the sad sound of the final slurp of my shake. With a heavy sigh, I suddenly wished I had a second set of eyes.
-0-
Bucky's POV:
They'd been moving me to another room when it all went down. Steve's body caught my attention first, standing one minute and on the floor in the next. A familiar stature clawed from an adjacent doorway and it was as if we were back at the compound. I could tell just through her stance that it had taken control. What that was, I was still trying to figure out.
"EDIE!"
I recognized Steve's voice, laced with strained desperation before it cut off into an eerie silence. She stood over him with a tilted head, right hand trembling with great strength as she sought to drain the life from him. Before I could think of a plan, my feet were moving on their own. Ignoring the rebelling shouts of the guards behind me. Steve's strained gasp for life filled the corridor and strummed something in me. Swiftly I barred myself between them, catching Edie's wrist before she could unleash another shock to Steve's convulsing form. Jarring her roughly against the adjacent wall with a regretful thud. I had to remind myself this wasn't Edie.
"Nightingale, it's me! Fight it! Fight it, come on' baby." I had caged Edie between my body and the wall.
She was animalistic and unhinged, trying like hell to lunge closer to Steve. Fighting me every step of the way, she successfully snaked from my grasp. I ducked from a right hook, catching her delicate wrists once more I was able to swivel Edie's thrashing body around to face the wall. My chest pressed flush with her back I had her in a pinned position. The strength of my metallic hand secured both wrists tightly behind her.
"Fight it! come on', Doll. I know you're in there!"
Teeth gritted against her ear, desperation in my voice as I tried to coax her down. I felt her whole body jerk in reaction, grunting furiously like a raged bull.
"That's it, Edie..come back. I gotcha." I murmured through a weak smirk when her body became lax, falling into me with exhaustion. I dared not remove the weight of my body against her though, keeping her trapped until I knew I could truly trust her.
"Buck.."
Was all Edie could get out before dejuv struck and a gun was drawn on both of redhead, I recognized from my recon mission, staggered through the doorway and joined us in the hall.
"Get down!" She gave it all her energy to bark out the command. I could tell by the shaky hold on her firearm and the flushed tone of her face.
"Hey it's alright-" I tried to explain, but this agent wasn't going to hear any of it.
"On your knees! Now!"
I complied with unease when my hands dropped from Edie's wrists, and found a new place in the air in front of me. I followed the Agent's fumbling motion for me to lower to the floor, but Edie had another agenda.
"I said on your-get away from him!"
I turned to find Edie crouched over Steve's motionless body. Her manicured hands skated across his chest in a frantic. Watching the heavy flutter of his baby blues behind long, fatigued lashes. He needed medical attention and fast. He needed Edie. But I knew from the strict attitude of the agent currently holding us at gunpoint that wasn't going to happen.
"Teddybear?...say something! What-what happened to him?"
I saw the quick, confused glance the redhead shot me. As if looking for an explanation that I didn't have. I could only return my leaded gaze to the floor and listen again to the lethargic demands of the Agent. Edie struggled against the fresh set of men ready to take her into custody.
"Natasha! Please!"
I couldn't bear the sound of her pleading, it always roused me to action. Struck something in me and had me at her side in seconds. But I knew we were already on thin ice with these people, so I tried to get her to comply.
"Edie, just listen to them. It's going to-"
But she wasn't having it, only seemed to encourage her to beg harder.
"I'll do whatever you want. Please, Natasha. Just let me heal him. He's critical."
"Because of you! If it's up to me, you'll never touch him again." Natasha's words matched her hair. Fiesty and burning with rage.
Edie's confusion heighten but naturally she swallowed the threat on her own life to save Steve. Putting the well being of those she loved above her own was as natural to Edie as breathing. She couldn't shake it.
"Nat..please. I agree with you and I will go quietly. Just let me, this last time."
I could read the reluctance spanning the young agent's stoic features. It was Steve who broke her down with a ragged, shaky inhale that signaled his depleting health.
"You have 2 minute."
A tearfilled smile broke across Edie's face and swiftly she scrambled from the guard's grasp. Finding her place beside Steve, Edie began working. Steady hands spanned his torso, her own eyes fluttered shut as she concentrated.
I shifted on my knees just a few feet away as Edie brought my best friend back from the brink of death, breathing life back into his lungs with a delicate quivering smile returned to Edie's face as Steve regained a small fragment of strength and reached for her. Blue eyes revealing themselves from behind heavy lids.
"Doll?"
Edie caught the broad hand that clumsily pawed at the air between them.
"Hey, handsome."
I had to look away, the pain brimming from Edie's jade eyes was all too familiar. I knew that feeling. The realization that what lay before you was of your own doing. Of your own doing but not of your own free will. It carried with it the lack of trust of your own self, accompanied with guilt and regret. It clung to one's throat, emotions so overwhelming that it choked the life from its very subject.
"I'm so sorry."
Was all she could manage before her allotted time was up and again the guards stepped into view.
"I'll go quietly, please. I don't want to startle him. He needs his rest. Just let me say goodbye…please?" Edie cast those grief stricken eyes towards Natasha with a ounce of hope.
My blood boiled at the simple question she was forced to ask, but I could tell Edie was aware of the severity of the situation. She may not know the circumstances that got her here but she could read the tension filling the corridor. Again the heavy booted men stepped away at the signaled nod given by Natasha.
"Hey, baby. I, um, I gotta go but..I want you to focus on getting better. Get some rest. Okay? I love you."
Steve's sleepy expression glazed towards her, barely enough to register as awake but he was able to conjure one sentence.
"Come back to me."
Those four words seemed to scare Edie more than the loaded gun that had been pointed at her just moments ago. She paused, gripping the flesh of Steve's hand that much tighter. It wasn't hard to notice the audible swallow of sorrow Edie pushed down before donning a thinly veiled strawberry smile.
"Always."
-0-
Naturally they separated us. The whole strength in numbers theory. Which I get but it didn't soften the blow or ease my need to be near her. Edie was strong, no doubt she could certainly take care of herself. Hell, she saved my ass countless times. Both in the field and during our off time. I always seemed to get myself into sticky situations, but Edie was always there. Talking me up or talking me out of a pinch.
Maybe that's why I felt it was my duty to protect her. Reciprocate all that she's done for me. Though it wouldn't be easy, I could tell these people were suspicious. As if they wore mistrust like a perfume, inhaling it constantly until their heads were so full of skepticism that they barely believed their own reflection.
Everyone except Steve, of course. He would follow Edie anywhere, do anything she asked, believe anything she said...Holy shit. Was that Pierce's play? Two birds with one stone. Manipulate Edie into doing the dirty work and it left his hands clean. And with them out of the picture to object it paved the way for countless opportunities of control.
"Hey! Hey!"
I bolted up from the bed, a new found purpose fueling my steps. The metal of my hand landed with a satisfying thud against the door frame.
"I know you can see me!"
My shouts turned towards the camera in the corner, the black lense like a beady eye following my every move.
God I was tired of being a zoo animal for other's entertainment and purpose. Though I'd seen worse containment, this place wasn't lacking in the amenities that's for sure. I'd seen SHIELD contracted buildings and I spent enough time in Pierce's cage to know this was neither.
"What is it?"
"I want to talk to your boss." I answered the voice from beyond, no doubt some young punk who got stuck with babysitting duty.
"Fury is not available right now. I'll be sure to give him your request." The disdain was practically dripping through the intercom.
"Not him. The guy who owns this place."
-0-
"Edie..?" Steve eased up from the creased leather of the exam table, fluorescent lights above welcoming him back to the conscious world in a blotchy haze.
"Easy, Cap. Here drink this." Bruce's voice came into focus, pushing a cup of chilled water into the soldier's hand. The cool liquid brought sweet relief to Steve's senses, but again he sought what wasn't there. Squinting around the bleached room, which seemed to spin the further he ventured upward. Steve blinked furiously through heavy lashes, scrounging for any sign of Edie. It hadn't been a dream right? He had been holding her in his arms.
"Where's Edie?"
The question fell against the doctor's hunched shoulders, busy scratching Steve's vitals across the pad.
"How are you feeling? You took quite the hit, how's your reflexes? Can you move your toes for me?"
Steve took a ragged breath inward, feeling as though he was fighting against quicksand. The more he advanced the worse he felt. Bruce studied him through black frames, checking the Captain's pulse again. He could sense Steve's cognitive state had taken just as much of a beating as his body.
"Captain? Your toes?" He reiterated, hoping to help the soldier focus.
"Sorry."
Both their gaze fell to Steve's socks, watching the slow flex of the tendons in perfect condition. Steve picked up on the unnerving sigh of relief that expelled from the Doctor's chest. He tried again, searching desperately for the answer.
"What happened to Edie? Is she okay?"
Bruce's shifty gaze tightened the knots in Steve's stomach and it was the voice from the shadows that was the true punch to the gut.
"She was placed in the containment room, the whole building was put on a lockdown."
Steve watched Natasha slink forward, a stern scowl guarding her feelings.
"We're lucky they were moving Barnes when they did or else who knows if we could have stopped her. We tried to separate you two but with her electrical energy we had no chance. Barnes was the only one able to stop her."
"I don't..understand.." Steve began, struggling to reconstruct the frayed pieces of his memory.
"She manipulated you, Steve. Got your guard down, infiltrated our team just like Zola wormed his way into SHIELD all those years ago."
"But she saved Tony, me. She even healed you."
"Just another way to get you to trust her. She over compensated. She's a wolf in sheep's clothing." Natasha rebuked, casting aside his attempts to defend his wife.
"I need to talk to her, I need to get her out of there."
Romanoff's hands found the Captain's shoulder, stalling him in his tracks.
"She's right where she needs to be. Steve, listen to me. I know you hate me right now but I'm trying to protect you...you could have died. She was relentless. I've never seen her like that."
The soldier could read the apprehension filtering over the woman's expression, softening the olive green of her eyes with worry.
"Nat, I know you're only trying to protect me. And I can't thank you enough for that. But that's my wife. That's my-our Edie. We've finally got her back and I'm not about to spend another minute away from her. Now if you wouldn't mind." Steve motioned towards the agent's stance blocking his path towards the door.
Exhaling stiffly through her nose Natasha stepped aside, gaze following the soldier's back as it left the room.
"I hope he knows what he's doing..because I sure as hell don't."
-0-
The guards pulled their attention away from the monitors to the opening door, watching as the Captain ducked through.
"Men." Steve greeted.
"Captain." They returned in unison before silence returned to the small control room.
"Is there something we can help you with, sir?"
The simple question fell against Steve's massive back as he stepped closer to the crystal two way window. He never took his eyes off the subject being contained.
She still wore his jacket. Brown leather consumed Edie's small frame as she sat huddled against the bed. Fear a permanent resident across her ivory features, vacant gaze rooted to the snow colored floor.
"I'm here to see my wife." Steve answered simply, swallowing back the anger that raked through his fatigued system. Shrugging off the urge to take it easy, it was need that fueled his actions.
The door shut with a soft click behind him but Edie could already sense his presence. Her demeanor changed in an instance, back straight and attention blinking from the floor.
"You shouldn't be here."
Edie watched him with caution, swallowing the urge to run to him.
"Well hello to you too, Gorgeous." Steve hummed, breaking a smile at just being in the same room as her again.
"I mean it, Steve. I'm trouble, it isn't-"
"I've been saying that for awhile now, Doll. You are trouble." He sent her a wink, unfastening the pearled buttons of his dress shirt. Steve shrugged off the material, leaving him in his stark white tank top. Though he wasn't sure the time or if it was even the same day one thing he knew for certain was that there was no way he was sleeping alone another night.
"No, really. I don't know what I'm capable of. You should go, stay as far away from me as possible." Edie again urged, following Steve's movements to place his shirt against the adjacent chair.
Steve fell silent, focusing on the laces of his shoes before stepping to join her on the bed. The mattress groaned under the added weight but it was Edie who caged the true moan. The close proximity of the blond soldier reminded her of the extended gap in physical contact that she had actually had from her husband. A feral need rose from the depths, one that muffled her righteous held her breath as a broad hand found her cheek, brushing back an unruly tangle of blackened hair behind her ear.
"If it's alright with you, I think I've spent enough time away from my wife."
Steve's words murmured against Edie's lips, centimeters of air the only thing between the heat of their mouths.
"What do you say, baby?-is it alright with you?"
Edie could only muster a silent nod but she willed herself to speak, knowing the erotic ticks of the man before her. She knew he had to hear it.
"Yes, my Captain."
The strong hands of desire soon took the reigns. Like a starved animal Edie latched onto Steve's lips; plump and endlessly sweet.
Edie's skin hummed to life in the wake of Steve's touch. Fingers traced the length of her swan neck, curling around the threads of dark hair span across her shoulders. The world around them fell like a veil, and they were puppets of their own feral needs.
Steve's chest rumbled a heady growl as his green eyed vixen nibbled at the fullness of his bottom lip. Teasing the strength of his composure with a mischievous smirk and talented tongue.
Steve felt the warm tickle of nimble hands knotting in the tucked hem of his tank. Before he could catch her movements Edie snaked her legs around the Captain's narrow waist and was straddling him with a fierce urgency. The friction of her jean clad center against his growing member left Steve breathless. If that wasn't enough, those kiss swollen lips trailed their way along his jaw and down his neck.
"Shitttt..Edie." The husky grunt escaped Cap's throat as Edie found his weak spot in record time. Pearly teeth grazed and strong tongue worked the tender flesh behind his ear. The combination of that and the rocking motion of Edie's hips had the hulking man withering beneath the petite woman with ease.
She knew him like the back of her hand, able to close her eyes and follow the reactions of his body to that blissful finish line. But though it may be heaven on earth. The reunion. The expert touch of his lover. Steve's pleasure hazed vision caught a glimpse of a reflective glass.
The two way mirror.
"Edie.." Steve whispered, broad hands gripping the roundness of her bottom.
"Mmh I've missed you so much." Edie's moan ghosted the shell of his ear and Steve felt himself shiver.
"Edie. Stop." He said with more conviction this time, tempted hands moving to halt her grinding hips with a stern grasp. Immediately Edie reared back from the marked skin of her husband's neck. Confusion joining her lust clouded gaze.
"Teddybear, what is it? Did I hurt you?"
A gentle hand skated over his forehead, bushing back the messy strands of hair she'd created in the wake of their pawing.
The soldier felt his heart swell at the endearing sound of his nickname pass her lips, something he was worried he may never hear again.
"No, not at all. It's just.." Steve managed through a puffed laugh, before lowering his mouth against Edie's ear.
"You remember that time at the library?" He watched the wheels turning before Edie's narrow gaze beamed with understanding when he motioned towards the glass.
"Ohhh, you mean when we thought we were alone." Edie concluded, giggle curling her lips.
"Exactly. You couldn't keep your hands off me that day either." Steve reminded lowly, giving her sides a tickling squeeze.
"Oh you little liar! You were the one who kept leaning over me. With that cologne, you know exactly what you were doing." Strawberry lips hissed with a knowing smirk.
"Me? You and that dress. I don't know why I even let you leave the apartment. If I had it my way, you'd never leave that bed." Steve declared darkly, running those heavenly lips the length of Edie's jaw. Fueling the very fire they were trying to contain.
"See. You're such a tease, Captain!" Edie exhaled in a shallow breath, hands gripping the taught muscles engulfed around her.
"We gave them a pretty good show though, didn't we?"
Steve's chuckle vibrated against the crook of Edie's neck.
"Sorry you can't go back there anymore. Blacklisted? was that what they called it?"
"Completely worth it." Edie assured in a gleeful declare to the ceiling.
It was as if nothing had happened between the two. Picking up from the very moment they left off. Chemistry was something neither could deny.
But soon a somber silence fell over the room when the reality of their current circumstances settled in. Edie slipped from Steve's lap. They both reclined back against the mattress, facing each other in a tangle of limbs. Seconds panned to minutes, only their even breaths filled the room until Edie found her voice.
"I'm scared."
Steve tugged them closer at the sound of her sudden overwhelmed confession.
"Of what?"
Edie swallowed the mounting lump in her throat, but it was the soft touch of another forehead against hers that gave her the courage.
"Me."
Suspenseful! Do you believe Edie? Is Steve safe? Are Buck and Tony teaming up?
Stay tuned xoxooxxxoxoxo!
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