Hellloooooo! Welcome back!
Massive thank you to everyone who followed/favorited/reviewed thus far. And a big thanks to everyone for reading.
This chapter was so much fun to write. I hope you guys like it. All the juicy stuff is starting to happen!
Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel.
On we go...
The Violinist
Chapter 14
Sam, Natasha and Steve sat around his kitchen table after breakfast. Max was still fast asleep in the guest bedroom. Files and loose papers were scattered all over the table's surface as they began devising a plan. Steve was thankful Max was sleeping through this. He didn't want to have her worrying about whatever crazy stunts they were going to have to pull.
"So, the question is: who in S.H.I.E.L.D. could launch a domestic missile strike?" Nat asked the men.
"Pierce," Steve responded quickly.
"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world," she sighed.
Steve nodded. "But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."
"So was Jasper Sitwell."
"So, the real question is: how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer in broad daylight?" Steve posed.
Sam finally saw his opportunity to speak up, "The answer is: you don't."
He dropped a heavy file on the table in front of the two Avengers.
"What's this?" Steve asked, pointing at the manilla folder.
"Call it a resume."
Natasha sifted through the papers and pictures inside Sam's folder. "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you." She turned to Steve with an impressed look. "You didn't say he was a para-rescue."
The Super Soldier lifted a picture from the file. "Is this Riley?"
"Yeah," Sam replied, sadness lacing his voice.
"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs," she recalled. "What did you use, a stealth chute?"
"No, these," he said and handed Steve another section of the file he had hidden behind his back.
"I thought you said you were a pilot," Steve chucked.
"I never said pilot."
"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."
"Dude, Captain America needs my help," Sam smiled. "There's no better reason to get back in."
"Where can you get your hands on one of these things?"
"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall," Sam confessed.
Steve glanced over at Natasha who gave him a nod. "Shouldn't be a problem," Steve assured Sam, throwing the file down on the table with the others.
"Alright, well Sam and I will head to Fort Meade. You stay here with Max," Nat ordered.
"Think the two of you can handle it on your own?"
"Hey, I may not have super strength or a fancy shield to fling around, but I've got skills," Sam joked.
"Alright, it's settled. Let's load up and ship out," Nat said and headed into the guest room to quietly grab her things. Sam followed suit by retreating to his own room to pack up.
Within ten minutes, they were gone and the small house was eerily silent. Steve could hear Max's steady breathing from the other room and he let the tension melt from his body. For the moment, they were safe.
The glorious smell of bacon roused Max from her much-needed slumber. Her eyes peeled open and she was momentarily confused as to where she was— flashbacks to the morning after her romp with Steve flickered through her mind.
Who's house is this?
She could hear someone moving around in the other room, but she wasn't sure who it was. She hoped it was Steve or Nat and not some weirdo who had kidnapped her. The last thing she remembered was the incoming missile and a huge boom. The rest was a mystery.
Throwing the blanket off of her, she was disgusted to see the layer of dirt covering her clothes and skin. She pushed herself into a sitting position and winced at the slight pain in her head. Reaching up, she felt a small cut on her forehead.
"Ow," she huffed while looking around the room. Not even two seconds later, the bedroom door was opening. Relief washed over her when Steve poked his head in.
"You're awake," he smiled. "How do you feel?"
"Confused. Where are we?"
"My friend Sam's house," Steve answered, entering the room.
"Guy-from-the-park Sam?"
"That's the one."
"Alright, well how did I get this?" she asked next and pointed to her injury.
Disappointment ghosted across his face. "The whole building exploded. I was trying to hold off the rubble, but a piece hit you. Knocked you unconscious. Nat caught you."
"Oh, where is she? Is she okay?"
"She's fine," he mumbled. "She's with Sam."
"And they are…?" she dragged out.
"Running an errand."
Max nodded, her eyes casting down towards the bed.
"I'm sorry," Steve said after a minute of silence.
"It's not your—."
"It is my fault. I'm supposed to protect you," he cut her off.
"You did. Things could have been much worse if you hadn't shielded us. We would be dead," she reasoned.
"Don't say that," he snapped.
"It's true," she shot back. "We're fine because of you. So stop beating yourself up. We have bigger things to worry about. Like me showering 'cause I'm pretty gross right now."
Suddenly the air in the room felt lighter.
"Right, the, uhh, the shower is in there," he told her, directing her to the adjoining bathroom. "There's clean towels in the cabinet. I'll grab you some of Sam's clothes to throw on while I wash yours."
She stood from the bed after her exited the room. A wave of dizziness rushed through her, but it didn't last long. Then her stomach grumbled. She knew her shower would have to be quick so she could feed her hungry little baby.
Shedding her clothes, she stepped into the falling water and sighed with contentment. It was satisfying to scrub away the dirt and watch it swirl down the drain.
The door clicked open, a thwump of clothes being dropped was heard, and then the door shut. A quick flood of embarrassment sparked in Max before she reminded herself that 1) Steve was a gentleman who probably wouldn't look at her through the foggy shower door and 2) he had already seen her naked, being the only one of them that fully remembers their drunken night together.
Feeling fresh and clean, Max turned off the shower and got out. She quickly dried herself and began putting on Sam's much larger clothing. At least it accommodated her baby bump nicely unlike her tight blue jeans. She picked up her dirty clothes and made her way to the kitchen where she knew there would be food.
Her stomach grumbled happily.
A plate stacked high with pancakes and bacon was sitting at the table waiting for her. Steve took her clothes and went off to the laundry room. She was practically drooling over the food before her.
"Someone's excited to eat," Steve teased as he took a seat across from her.
"Yeah, well Baby America doesn't joke when it comes to food."
"'Baby America?" he questioned, his eyebrow quirking up.
Max nodded as she chewed a huge mouthful of pancakes. "S'what Nat calls the baby."
"Ah."
"So what's all this?" Max waved her fork-wielding hand over the files. A file with the bright red label 'Falcon' drew her attention.
"Information."
"On?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Where'd they come from?"
"I had them stored in my truck."
"Why?"
"I had a feeling something was going to happen so I started compiling hard copies. Then Fury confirmed my theories before he died," he explained. "So I made sure to grab them before we went on the run."
"And now we're using them to…?"
"Take down S.H.I.E.L.D."
Sam and Natasha didn't arrive until almost midnight. Max was sprawled out on the couch watching reruns of How I Met Your Mother. Steve was laid back in the recliner next to her reading something on his phone.
Steve perked up at something he heard outside. "They're back."
Less than a minute later, the back door opened and both of them walked in.
"Well don't you two look cozy," Sam chirped as he came into the living room.
"Just making ourselves at home," Steve smirked. "Max this is Sam Wilson."
"Hi," she greeted.
"Hey," he gave a flirtatious smile. Max could see Steve glaring at him and laughed. "Nice clothes, sweetheart."
"Man you can feel the tension all the way from the bathroom in here," Natasha chided, strutting in.
"I'm just having some fun picking on Steve," Sam informed her. They chuckled.
"Did you get it?" Steve asked, ignoring the previous comment.
Sam nodded, his eyes flicking over to Max. She knew there was something they were keeping from her, but she just hoped it wasn't something she would need to worry about.
"We've got a busy day tomorrow. I say we head to bed. I'll take the couch. Nat, you can have my room. Lovebirds, that leaves you with the guest room," Sam spouted off. Max blushed at the fact that everyone knew she would be sharing a bed with the Super Soldier. Steve, though, looked ready to tackle Sam for his teasing.
She was sure he wouldn't act on it, so she weaved he way through the furniture and people. Max told Nat and Sam goodnight before shuffling into the bedroom. Sitting on the bed, she made sure she had some water and a snack on the nightstand for her inevitable late-night baby munchies. Her legs had just slid under the comforter when Steve walked in.
"I like Sam. He's cool," she told him.
"Yeah, he likes you too. A little too much," Steve mumbled.
"Oh, hush," she tutted. "He's handsome, but it'd be pretty weird for me to have a fling with my baby daddy's best friend."
"Did you just call me your 'baby daddy'?" he asked, the corner of his mouth upturned in a smile.
"Yep. If you think of something better, let me know."
"Right…"
"Oh, would you prefer 'baby buddy'? Does that sound less...scandalous?" Max giggled.
""You're ridiculous," Steve sighed, shaking his head. She could tell he thought it was funny despite pretending to be indifferent.
He plopped down beside her and threw the covers over himself. The room fell silent as they laid there beside each other. There was something so intimate. About the moment, even though it wasn't the first time they shared a bed. It almost seemed right...normal.
He threw his arm over his eyes and let out a deep breath, "Night, Maxi."
"Goodnight, Steve."
They were stationed outside the building waiting for Jasper Sitwell to emerge and their plan to be set in motion. Steve had instructed Max to go with Natasha to the roof of the apartments across from the restaurant. Sam was seated at one of the cafe tables to the right of the restaurant entrance.
Steve had a clear view of all of them from across the street. He was poised and ready to go if Sitwell tried to make an escape.
The doors opened and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent stepped out with Senator Stern. Steve tuned his ears into their conversation.
"Listen, I've got to fly home tonight 'cause uh…I got some constituency problem, and I gotta press the flesh," the Senator told Sitwell.
"Any constituent in particular, Mr. Senator?" the bald man asked.
"Um...no, not really," he snickered. "Twenty-three, kind of hot. Real hot. You know, wants to be a reporter, I think. I don't know, who listens at that point?"
Sitwell nodded. "Doesn't sound much of a problem to me."
"Really? 'Cause she's killing my back. Look, this isn't the place to talk about it." Steve watched him reach out and touch a something on Sitwell's lapel. "This is a nice pin."
"Thank you."
"Come here," Stern smiled and gestured for Sitwell to step into his waiting arms. "Hail, HYDRA," he whispered. They retreat from their embrace and the senator winces, rubbing his lower back. "See, it's right there…"
"I just saw that, yeah."
"Should I get it checked?"
Nodding, Sitwell said, "I think you should."
Right on cue, Sitwell's phone started ringing. He ordered his men to go pull the car around and turned out to face the street. Then he answered the call.
"Yes, sir?"
Sam began talking, "Agent Sitwell, how was lunch? I hear the crab cakes here are delicious."
"Who is this?" Sitwell sneered, obviously annoyed it wasn't his boss on the other end of the line.
"The good-looking guy in the sunglasses. Your ten o'clock." The agent glanced around trying to locate Sam. "Your other ten o'clock…There you go."
"What do you want?"
"You're going to go around the corner to your right. There's a grey car two spaces down. You and I are going to take a ride," Sam smirked.
"And why would I do that?"
"Now," Steve told Natasha through the earpieces they were wearing. A red dot appeared on Sitwell's chest.
"Because that tie looks really expensive and I'd hate to mess it up," Sam said stoically.
Deciding to follow orders, Sitwell hung up and headed in the direction Sam told him to. Steve and the girls moved out from their positions to meet up at his truck down the block. They would tail Sam's car to the next location.
A gasp passed through Max's lips as she watched Steve toss Agent Sitwell across the rooftop like he weighed nothing.
"Tell me about Zola's algorithm," he demanded. Max would be lying if she said this tough Super Soldier side of Steve wasn't turning her on.
Coughing, Sitwell wheezed, "Never heard of it."
"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Steve inquired, not missing a beat.
"I was throwing up. I get seasick."
Not pleased with the bald man's lack of cooperation, Steve dragged him off the ground and forced him to the edge of the building. Max was nervous for the man, but she knew Sam was waiting below for his cue to swoop in.
"Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's not really your style, Rogers," Sitwell chuckled, trying to be remain unfazed.
"You're right," Steve grinned. Natasha started moving closer to the men. "It's her's."
Steve stepped aside and Sitwell caught sight of the assassin approaching him rapidly. Before he could argue, she kicked him over the side of the skyscraper. His screams ripped through the air. It made Max think of her father's death. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Suddenly, a hand slid into hers and she looked up. Steve was beside her with a lopsided smile. She returned it and then turned her focus back to where Sitwell had fallen.
"How about Lillian?" Nat threw the option out there.
"We're not naming the baby Lillian. Makes me think of that girl from accounting," Max grimaced.
"Lip piercing?" Steve asked, trying to put a face to the name.
"Yeah, she's cute," the redhead pushed on.
"Yeah, I'm not ready for that," Steve replied, matching Max's gross facial expression.
Before Nat could protect, Sam appeared, his falcon suit lifting him into the air. He had ahold of Jasper Sitwell's ankle. There was something so amusing about seeing the top-level S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent hanging upside-down.
Sam flung him onto the rooftop. Steve and Natasha approached him. Sitwell held his arms up in front of him, as if it would offer adequate protection from the two Avengers.
"Zola's algorithm is a program...for choosing Insight's targets!" he exclaimed.
"What targets?" Steve questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You!" Sitwell began. Steve being the first on his list made her worry. "A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City…Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future."
"The future? How could it know?"
Sitwell laughed, "How could it not? The twenty-first century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it." They all looked at him with confusion. "Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, you damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."
"And what then?"
"Oh, my god, Pierce is gonna kill me," the agent remarked, scared and getting off track.
"What then!" Steve shouted.
"The Insight hellicarriers scratch people off the list, a few million at a time," Sitwell finally said. Max gasped.
HYDRA was planning a mass genocide.
They had ditched Steve's truck in a parking garage downtown. Everyone agreed it would be better to stick together and ride in a car that was unknown to the undercover HYDRA agents. They were headed for the Triskelion to stop Insight's takeoff.
"HYDRA doesn't like leaks," Sitwell squeaked from the backseat.
"So why don't you stick a cork in it?" Sam snapped back.
"Insight's launching in sixteen hours. We're cutting it a bit close here," Natasha informed them, ignoring the HYDRA traitor.
"I know," Steve sighed. "We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the hellicarriers directly."
"What?! Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea," Sitwell whined.
A huge thug sounded on the roof. Steve turned towards the back seat just as the roof was pulled off and Jasper Sitwell was torn from the car and thrown into oncoming traffic.
The Winter Soldier.
Steve grabbed Maxi and pulled her into the front seat with him right when bullets started flying. Natasha ducked down in the back floorboard. He held her tightly against him as he reached over and pulled the parking brake, making the Winter Soldier drop down onto the street.
Suddenly, another car smashed into theirs and pushed them along down the expressway. Max screamed when she opened her sealed eyes and saw HYDRA's assassin standing in front of the car now. They barreled towards him, unable to stop.
"Shit!" Sam yelled as the Winter Soldier jumped onto the hood of the car. He reeled his metallic arm back and smashed through the windshield, ripping the steering wheel from Sam's grasp.
Natasha opened fire, but he sprang onto the car behind them. Their car swerved to the right towards the edge of the overpass. Max started to panic.
Natasha hopped onto the center console as Steve gripped the door handle. He pressed his shoulder into the back where the hinges holding it together were. His grip on Max became impossibly tight. Nat intertwined herself with the two while Sam put on his falcon jet pack.
"Hang on!" Steve told the girls then shoved into the door, breaking it loose from the car. They landed hard on the ground and slid. Max dug her nails into Steve's back and squeezed her eyes shut. Finally, they came to a halt and scrambled to their feet.
A little ways down the highway, the Winter Soldier charged towards them with a group of HYDRA agents. Steve pushed Max behind him and held his shield out for protection.
They were about to have one hell of a fight. Max prayed they would all make it out of this unscathed.
"We'll be fine," Steve tried to reassure her. Max nodded.
Their group scattered and the battle began.
OooooOo it makes me so excited to keep writing.
Also, I've been tossing around ideas for the baby (not that Max is due anytime soon...). Let me know what gender you think the baby should be and maybe some name ideas, if you want.
So the next chapter will be the first showdown with the Winter Soldier and a big plot twist.
Apologies for any grammar/ spelling errors.
Let me know what you think. Love hearing from you guys. Love you.
Until next time -KAITi-
