(warning: there be a bit of swearing ahead)
Chapter 4
For a while Steve felt appreciated and effective in front of expanding crowds, in movies and comics. He proudly recited his memorised script for children that wailed and jumped in overpowering exhilaration. But as he stood for the war torn, weary, spiteful, dirt smeared men of the army. Now that the choreographed song had ended he stumbled over his words as the men glared and heckled him.
"Nice boots, Tinker Bell!" Was shouted from the audience followed by laughter.
"Come on, guys. We're all on the same team here," Steve tried.
"Hey, Captain! Sign this!" A man shoved his pant down exposing his ass checks toward the stage. The man then started to throw things at him as he continued trying to reason with them. Steve was almost tempted to let it hit him but he continued to deflect them with his shield. A shield he never really used. Those men had a right to be upset, Steve hadn't been through what they had, seen the horrors they had. No, all Steve did was wear tights and dance around like a monkey on stage. Steve glanced to the right as the click of heels sounded across the stage. For a moment hoping it was one of the dancers to save him. No. It was something worse.
Annie, with her familiar mess of blonde hair and rosy cheeks stormed towards him. Death on her face and a stiff posture that looked ready to snap at any moment. Her face broke to a soft smile to him for a moment before her inferno of an expression whipped to the group of men who had now fallen into curious silence. Only a few taunts left, "Are you gonna dance for us?" or "Kick him off the stage girly".
Annie stood in front of him and took the microphone, "That make you feel big?" She spat. "Hurling insults and mocking this man so you can stop feeling like a scared child for a moment?"
"Hey lady, I've been through hell!" A man from the audience called in outrage.
"And that gives you the right to act like a dick to a man who is trying his best to raise money for your weapons. What you've been through doesn't excuse acting like a piece of shit." Steve grows uncomfortable with the sight of his sister trying to take on a group of angry men and the surprisingly crude language she's using. The aggressive energy rolling off her, a confusing thing he had only witnessed a few times.
"Get this bitch off the stage. We want the dancers!" A stocky man with a crew cut calls.
Steve instinctively moves to protect Annie from the vulgar language the man shouts, but she stops him with his arm.
"Come up here and say that to my face Matthews. Don't hide in the crowd, I remember you from bootcamp. And you remember me kicking your ass. Come up here and I'll do it again!" She taunts fearlessly. No doubt in anyone's mind that she wouldn't tear at the man like a wolverine.
The man visibly shrinks down as the whole audience shift uncomfortably at the chaotic energy of the blonde woman. If Steve was being honest, he was kind of scared of her too. She only used the curse words she learnt from their old senile neighbour when she was at breaking point.
He needed to stop this.
Steve picked Annie up easily and carried her off stage as she continued to shout at the poor men in the audience. The chorus girls awkwardly took the opportunity to retake the stage and distract the men.
Peggy met him at the steps down the side of the stage with a worried look. He felt so much relief at the soothingly calm presence of Peggy Carter.
"Steve let me down!" Annie called angrily.
"Well, what the hell was going on back there?!" Steve demanded.
"They were throwing things at you! I couldn't just stand there and watch them hurt you, not when he- he uh" Annie tried as her eyes started to well up. "Fuck I can't do this. Peggy can you?"
"Of course," she hugged Annie as Steve grew more confused.
"What are you both doing here?" Steve questioned first out of his 50 questions.
She sighed as she moved closer to him leaving Annie slightly behind. As if guarding her from the news. "We were stationed here to be closer to everything," She vaguely referenced the war.
"What am I doing? Running around in tights preforming for twelve-year-olds while you and Annie are here right next to the war?" He looked between the two women he cared about and softly asked, "What is going on? Are you ok?"
"Steve," Peggy paused and found herself lacking what she usually prided herself on maintaining, courage. She had no wanted to break the news of their dear friend's fate to yet another Rogers. She willed herself to reveal, "Schmidt sent a force out to Azzano. 200 men went up against Schmitt and only 50 came back. Your audience was what was left of the 107th, the rest were killed or captured."
"The 107th?" Steve demanded. She was forced to witness the hope, fear and registration that washed over Steve's face as his desperately searched his memory of the audience for the neat dark hair of Bucky Barnes. His eyes flicked to Annie's teary ones. That was why she was so upset and erratic. He remembered that the last time Annie had acted this aggressively protective was when their mother had died.
"No," He breathed before suddenly sprinting towards Colonel Phillips. Bucky couldn't be gone. Steve paused at the tent flap and glanced at Annie. She knew he had to check for himself, just like she had. But Annie couldn't go back in. She couldn't get turned down again. She nodded but stepped back.
Col. Chester Phillips sat hunched over a desk filter through a large stack of papers as Steve and Peggy rushed in.
Phillip's without even looking up sighed, "Well, if it isn't the Star-Spangled Man With A Plan. And what is your plan today?"
"I need the casualty list from Azzano," Steve demanded.
"I can see the family resemblance now," He muttered to himself recalling Annie's outburst. Phillips rose from his seat and frowned even deeper than usual, "You don't get to give me orders, son."
"I just need one name. Sergeant James Barnes from the hundred and seventh."
Phillips irately gestured to Peggy, "You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won't enjoy."
Steve wouldn't relent, "Please tell me if he's alive, sir. B-A-R-"
"I can spell," Phillips cut off. "And I've already had this conversation with your sister." The older man sighed, "I'm sorry about your friend."
Steve mind rumbled with fear and formulating plans, "What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?"
"Yeah! It's called winning the war." Phillip announced incredulously.
"But if you know where they are, why not at least…?" Steve search for the words, a plan as he gestured to red marker on the large war map.
"As I've already explained, they're thirty miles behind the lines. Through the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We'd lose more men than we'd save. But I don't expect you to understand that, because you're a chorus girl. Your tactician sister had a hard enough time grasping it," Colonel Phillips grumbled impatiently.
"I think I understand just fine."
"Well then understand it somewhere else. If I read the posters correctly, you got some place to be in thirty minutes." Phillips dismisses as he moves to the other side of the tent.
Steve's eyes narrow in on the military map pinned on the tent wall before him. Clearly marked with several other key locations, is the HYDRA base where the missing men are.
"Yes, sir. I do," Steve breathed with a renewed determination. Walking out the tent certain he was going to save his best friend.
Outside the tent he is faced with Annie's panicked expression. "Steve what are-"
"I'm going to get Bucky," Steve announced continuing his march. Annie frowned in confusion. She moved to follow him to the stage tent.
"Did Colonel Phillips agree to a rescue mission?" Annie asked doubtfully. Phillip did not sway easily.
Reaching the tent Steve whipped around to face her and earnestly answered, "No, I'm going to get him myself." The tent was littered with costumes and fabric. Steve hastily started stuffing supplies into a canvas duffle bag.
"What?! Steve I've researched the base, there is no way you co-"
Peggy burst into tent and zeroed in on Steve knowing exactly what he was stupidly planning. "What do you plan to do? Walk to Austria?"
"If that's what it takes," Steve answered illogically as he continues shoving a pair of pants in his bag.
"That's so stupid," Annie cried.
"You heard the Colonel, your friend is mostly likely dead," Peggy reasoned more practically.
Determinedly Steve returned, "You don't know that."
"Even so, he is devising a strategy, if he detects –"
"By the time he's done that it will be too late," Steve cuts in desperately.
Annie sighs, "I know Steve but you can't just get in and out of a HYDRA base. You'll get yourself killed.
"I'm a super soldier remember?" Steve grins at Annie as he throws his bag on and grips his shield. Hoping himself that his enhancements are enough.
"Why you cocky little-" Annie grumbles as he exits in the tent in long, purposeful strides. The two women chasing after him.
"Steve!" Peggy yells.
He throws his previsions into the back of an unmanned truck and pauses turning to Peggy, "I need you to trust me."
Peggy intense gaze held his and answered sincerely, "I do".
"Then you gotta let me go", Steve pulled himself into the truck maneuvering to turn on the ignition. His head flicked to the passenger seat as Anne settled in. "No." Steve frowned.
"You're not driving off to your death without me. But we'd have a much better chance of actually making it to the base by plane."
Peggy planted herself beside the car and gave the siblings with a smile, "I think I know someone."
Approaching the hidden small aircraft nestled in the corner of the base's airstrip Peggy waved at a well-dressed man. He seemed to take this as a signal to start the plane as he climbs inside and the sound of the engine roars.
"That is Howard Stark. He owed me a favour," Peggy grinned.
The group of three stepped out of the truck and Peggy ran to greet her pilot. Steve with his large bag over his shoulder again moved to block Annie.
"You're not going," He stated sternly.
Annie sighed, she knew this was going to happen. "Steve you could be killed, I'm not going to just sit around and wait for someone to tell your dead."
"And I'll never forgive myself if I let you get hurt. Not to mention that Bucky would never forgive me either."
Annie sunk, feeling the annoying tingle of tears rising to her eyes. She desperately tried to push them down. "Steve I now I'm not super human or even field ready but I'm not useless. I want to actually help. Who is going to look out for you?"
"Hey, I just need to know you're safe so I can focus on getting me and Bucky out alive," Steve soothed as he placed a gentle hand on her cheek.
She grinned weakly. "If you're just doing this to be a hero, I'm going to be so mad."
Steve matched her sad smile, "Not a chance. It's just the right thing to do."
"That's literally the definition of a hero," Annie rolled her eyes.
"Then let's say it's because I'm selfish and I miss Bucky."
"That tracks," Annie chuckles before she throws her arms around Steve's middle and clutches him as tightly as she can. Steve's hand rubbing her back at least makes her feel a little better about her world crumbling.
Pulling away she shouts as Steve runs to the plane, "If you die I'm gonna be so mad!"
"I'll try not to then!" Steve yells back with a grin.
Her hair whips at her face as the plane's propellers spin to life and it races down the air strip. Through the chaotic blonde strands, Annie tries to spot Steve through the planes window but its moving too fast away from her. Worry gnawed at her, mixed with a small amount of resentment for Steve sidelining her. She was stuck on this base helplessly worrying about if she would have any family left tomorrow.
Steve slipped around a dark corner coming face to face with a darkly clad HYDRA guard. Steve jolted and used his shield to slam the figure into the concrete wall. He snaped his fist to the guard's helmet and the black armoured form crumbled to the ground. Steve let out a disbelieving breathe. This was the first time he had really exercised his new abilities outside of lifting a motorbike for clambering children. He was still reeling from running and running and never losing his breathe. He could climb over walls with ease and throw a full-grown man like he was a sack of flour.
Steve continued sprinting down the dim hallway and finally passed a doorway to a large, cavernous room filled with cylindrical barred cells. As he entered the door opening 2 guards jumped at his entrance. Steve swung his shield that collided with the first guard, throwing the man into a set of bars. Steve ducked as the second guard threw a punch. Steve threw up an upper hook to the jaw of. The dark helmet. The guard stumbled backwards a step and tumbled down to the ground.
Steve wasted no time collecting the keys from the unconscious man's belt and started twisting the stolen key into the identical cells, swinging the doors open. Men, worn but revitalised by their escape formed around Steve questioning. Steve answered vaguely as a sense of limited time pressed on his nerves. But he couldn't see Bucky.
"Is there anybody else? I'm looking for a Sergeant James Barnes." Steve desperately asked.
"There's an isolation ward in the factory, but no one's ever come back from it." A lean man with a wispy moustache answered.
"All right. The tree line is northwest, 80 yards past the gate. Get out fast and give 'em hell. I'll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else I find." Steve directed
Steve started to move through the underground prison of systematic cylindrical bars in pursuit of his best friend. "Wait! You know what you're doing?" One of the soldiers called.
With no hint of worry or hesitation Steve breathed, "Yeah, I've knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times." Before the sentence was completely finished Steve resumed his run missing the confused but impressed looks of the newly freed men.
Spotting a stout, panicked man flee down a metal corridor. Steve raced after him but froze as he heard mumbling coming through a doorway. The metal somehow shone clinically and dripped with decay at once, the brick paired next to it faded. As Steve moved through the doorway a multitude of button and lights blinked angrily.
An inarticulate drawl, "Go-go back, when," drew Steve's attention to an individual unconscious, dazed and strapped to a table. "Bucky!" Steve gasped. Relief flooding all the way to his fingertips at the sight of his best friend. Steve reached Bucky's side in seconds, reassuring himself that he was actually alive.
Dim light stung at Bucky's eyes, closing the lids aiding little in relief. His mind swirling incomprehensively as images and phrases materialised for less than a moment before drifting out of reach. The only thing Bucky could cohesively understand was a need to return…somewhere. It was important, very important but he couldn't recall any details.
Sound seeped into his ears, "Bucky!"
Bucky, that was him. Yes it was his name. The sound clear and the lights softening Bucky turned his heavy head to watch a tall blonde man work at his bindings. The blonde man was a Steve.
Bucky's head tossed from side to side as he blubbered, "Steve, Steve, Steve", trying to get the name to make sense. Steve broke the metal bands and helped ease him up in a hasty fashion.
Standing level with the man felt strange, something was… different but it didn't really matter because his friend was. here. "Steve" he signed with a relieved smile.
"Bucky" the man said affectionately as he checked Bucky over for any injuries. He confessed, "I thought you were dead."
Bucky still confused and slightly stunned stated, "I thought you were smaller." Bucky's head finally cleared as if a fog filtered away. Bucky didn't know how Steve was huge now or how he was able to rip steel like paper but those were questions for later.
"Oh God, Annie!" Bucky blurted as he frantically searched his pocket for the blue material. His panic eased as rough fabric met his fingers, tugging it out from the compartment of clothing Bucky stared at the object then back to Steve. His enhanced friend watched him curiously, gaze flicking from the handkerchief to Bucky suspiciously.
"What is that Bucky?" Steve asked but he had already realised the owner of the familiar stitching.
An alarm blared, bouncing painfully of the walls as the sound travelled. Steve tensed as he yelled above the droning noise, "Come on Bucky, we've got to get out of here!" With the handkerchief stuffed into Bucky's pocket and a firm nod the two men headed towards the door in their escape.
Battered and fatigued the victorious soldiers of the 107th marched down a dirt road to the base. Now safely in ally territory they began to relax, their shoulders easing from a constant state of tension. The stolen tank armed with a powerful energy weapon only added to their sense of security. At the front of the ex-prisoners of war was Captain America himself, now proven in his heroics. He may have been viewed like this by the men trailing behind, but Steve still felt like Steve, just more certain of his place in the world.
Bucky strode down the path beside Steve with his dog tags hanging out of his tattered green shirt. A small smile graced the tan face as he held the large gun capably. The two had finished their familiar debriefing of events, Bucky's capture as well as what the hell happened to Steve. Bucky still sneaked disbelieving glances at him. He was taller than Bucky now, built like a tank and was some sort of super person?
Steve noticed that Bucky avoided the topic of the treasured handkerchief in his pocket and its creator. The tall brunette looked at the scrap of fabric like it was the most precious thing he'd ever held. Steve's forehead crinkled as he felt a sinking sensation in his stomach. What if Bucky had feelings for Annie. Feelings that were of a different kind than the brother/sister one he had ignorantly hoped.
It wasn't that Steve didn't trust Bucky or believe that he was a good man. He did but Annie was the only true family Steve still had. She was too precious. He knew it was selfish and immature but he wanted to keep Annie safe away where she couldn't be hurt. Could he even trust Bucky to care for someone as important as Annie? Did Annie feel the same? When did this even happen?
Another aspect that contributed to the turning of the corners of Steve's mouth was his intimate knowledge of the many women Bucky had had a relationship with. Bucky never struggled to find a date and they never lasted. Would it be any different with his sister?
Steve decided to let it be for the moment and keep an eye on the two. He was still unsure what Bucky's feelings truly were and if he would act on them and if Annie would actually return them. Steve could worry his head off about this later. Hopefully it would just come up to nothing but paranoia.
Annie walked along the well-trafficked dirt path. Hoping the movement would offer some sort of distraction in her thoughts. She hated this. Sitting around helplessly, waiting to find out if the two people she loved most in this world were dead. She had no idea if Bucky had even survived the initial ambush or his 10 days in capture. Now she had no idea if Steve would ever come back. At least there was some solace in knowing that Steve had become as close as a man could get to indestructible. It had been 2 days since Steve had left her on an airstrip. And the entire time her mind barely strayed from Bucky and Steve.
Annie looked up as she snapped out of her deep thought to hear a distance uproar. A crowd a amassed near the entrance to the base. Behind the crowd she spotting dirt covered soldiers and an unfamiliar tank which she was certain wasn't American made. She dropped all the papers she had been carrying for her next meeting and started running toward the crowd.
Annie quickly tapped the shoulder of the nearest soldier and frantically asked, "What's happening?"
The man's bright face looked down at her and yelled louder than necessary, "Cap'n America saved the 107th!"
Annie's eyes grew wide and her face frozen in shock. Steve had done it. He was alive!
Did that mean… Bucky?
Her legs unconsciously started pulling her into the dense middle of the crowd. She blindly yelled using the full capacity of her lungs, "Bucky!"
Some members of the crowd shot their heads him her direction but she took no notice of them continuing to shout, "Bucky!"
"Three cheers for Captain America!" Bucky yelled out followed by an eruption of celebratory noise. He grinned at his friend awkward face as the cheering continued around them. An attractive woman had efficiently found her way to Steve staring up at him with a relieved smirk. She started to speak to Steve but Bucky was distracted. His deep blue eyes searching the crowd for the familiar shine of golden waves, but he found nothing but dirty brown with some other underwhelming shades in the mix.
His smile faded from his face until he heard a distant, "Bucky!" He twisted his head around searching for the sound. He wasn't sure if he had actually heard it. But then the call repeated, the voice becoming familiar.
Annie.
In a loud, unrestrained shout Bucky amplified, "Annie!" some doubt present in his voice. Was it really her?
But then he heard the unmistakable call of this name. He propelled himself into the thick crowd shouting her name, likely damaging the ears of those he passed. His way starts to clear and sees bright blue eyes and that smile he missed so much.
Annie stilled at the sight of him, disheveled brunette hair, ripped shirt, stubbled anticipant face that broke into a smile at the sight of her.
"Bucky", she breathed. He was alive and here. The man she thought dead, the man who meant too much to her.
Bucky did not stop but instead continues running towards her. Annie out of her daze run to meet him. Bucky hands caught her waist and swung Annie up, Bucky spinning her around above him in his pure pleasure.
Her laugh flutters down into his ears, a sound he could die for. Wasting no time once her feet touched the ground, he embraces her tightly. The homely scent of roses surrounds him. As he holds Annie he feels a relief finally settle within him.
Annie, wrapped up in Bucky, burns this moment into their memory. The pressure of his arms around her, his smell, the feel of his firm chest against her cheek. At the last thought, she gets flustered and pulls away. Bucky was reluctant to release her, to lose that warmth, to lose the closeness with the woman he only just realised he loved.
The two remained close wearing matching grins. An intense relief washed over Annie as she stared at Bucky to make certain that was standing before her, safe and here. Annie exhaled for what she felt like was the first time in weeks. "You came back", she smiled.
"You doubted me?" Bucky joked, but he realised the truth behind it. Now that he realised how much he wanted to return to her, it made him certain he would do whatever it took. Where Annie was, was where he wanted to be.
Annie gaze fell on a small tug of blue material poking out from the weak pocket of his shirt. He had kept it, Annie blinked in disbelief. She knew they must have gone through hell and Bucky had somehow managed to keep a hold on her last gift to him.
Recognition flashed in Annie's eyes, she slowly reached up to his chest. His pulse began to accelerate as her hand laid over his chest and the handkerchief she had gifted him before all these events. He reached his hand to place it over hers. His calloused hand meeting her soft skin.
The warmth of his hand seeped into her own and crept through the length of her arm settling on her cheeks. Annie slowly returning to her senses took in Bucky's state. He sustained a cut on his cheek, the rest of his face littered with dirt and stubble. His hair ravaged atop his head, free of his usual neat style. Annie decided she quite liked it this way. That thought was caught dead as she realised that Bucky's shirt was gaping open at his chest, some of her fingers against his bare skin. Annie's eyes widened as her cheeks flared even brighter.
Annie suddenly became flustered, her arm tensing, making Bucky wonder if she had intended the contact in the way he perceived it. The moment was cut short as his world expanded from just Annie when someone cleared their throat irritably.
Bucky met the annoyed icy blue of Steve's gaze. It was then that Bucky realised that a small section of the crowd surrounding them had witnessed the whole event and he grew tense. The women who had been speaking with Steve stood at his side sending a knowing glance at Annie.
The grin snuck onto Annie's face once more as she went forward to hug her brother, laughing as his arms engulfed her. Bucky happily observed the shared moment between siblings before the sight of a protective brother embracing his younger sister sent a shiver of fear down his spine. Bucky feared few things but Steve's endless determination with on the list. The fact that he was now a super-soldier did not help.
Bucky sighed questioning, of all the dames he could have fallen in love with, it had to be the sister of his best friend and now enhanced human being. But the small smirk sent his way by the beautiful, kind woman made it worth all the hassle the world could offer.
After their reunion and a quick conversation or more likely lecture Steve and Peggy had with the Colonel; the three sat in the crudely made medical facility waiting on the attention of the thinly stretched nursing staff. Annie had to literally drag the two soldiers there, insisting that they needed some medical attention and there would be no arguments.
As they sat, Annie had to restrain herself from clinging tightly onto Bucky in a desperate attempt to keep him from harm ever again. When they had first arrived, multiple nurses had fawned over Captain America, zoning in on the smallest cut to treat in order to get closer to the war hero. Annie rolled her eyes at the perky women as Steve insisted he was fine and that they should take care of the more injured men. Bucky simply watched in frustration as the young nurses completely ignored him. He felt uncharacteristically invisible. Annie was in turn delighted by the switch in the female gaze.
They had given Bucky and Steve a raised stretcher bed each which the two mostly uninjured men sat on, legs off the side. Annie plopped herself beside Bucky while sneakily checking for any disregarded injuries.
"Are you sure none of you are hurt?" Annie fussed with worry curved into her brows. She squeezed Bucky's arm to see if he would flinch.
Bucky gave the smaller woman a reassuring grin before joking, "Of course we're fine, we had Captain America there to save us."
"Ahh yes, my reckless older brother running around in enemy territory with a prop shield, saving people. That puts my mind at ease."
"Oh, Steve I forgot," Annie announced pleasantly before swinging her fist into the super soldier's broad bicep.
Steve jumped at the sudden action, even though it really didn't hurt, and looked at his younger sister incredulously, "What was-"
"That was for leaving me behind, in the dark, while you went on a dangerous mission into a war zone!" Annie fumed as her relief gave way to ire.
"You're still mad about that?" He winced.
"Yes, I've aged 10 years in the last 2 days from worry alone."
"I had to save Bucky, we couldn't have just left him there!" Steve reasoned defensively.
Bucky sent Annie a questioning glance, "You didn't want to save me?" She could tell he was messing with her.
"You two are going to be the death of me," She sunk her face into her hands. "Why on earth did I miss you reckless idiots?"
Bucky threw his arm around Annie as he grinned, "Well I really missed you and your scolding."
A petite red-haired woman who looked to be in her late 30s approached with a hasty sort of waddle. "Hello I'm nurse Kelly. We can have a look at one of you know," The more professional nurse informed.
Steve grinned at the tired woman and quickly announced, "Bucky you go ahead."
Bucky shrugged in response and followed the nurse to a stretcher bed a few meters away that had better lighting. Steve snapped his fingers in front of Annie before she flicked her eyes away from Bucky's exam and to her brother.
"What?"
"I need to tell you something," Steve pressed his lips.
Annie frowned at his serious tone. What could have possibly happened now? "Colonel Phillips has approved me for going into the field. He has offered me the position of leading a small group and I'm going to ask Bucky if he would join."
Annie's mind went blank as she struggled to process the fresh horror Steve was suggesting right after she had started to feel relaxed for the first time in months. Her mouth flopped open and closed as her tired brain searched for something to respond with.
Steve watched her struggle, his thick eyebrows tugging toward. Annie finally took a deep inhale and carefully asked, "Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?"
"Yes, I finally have the chance to do everything I wanted to do," Steve nodded. His eyes locked onto hers with that determination she knew too well. Annie knew he would not back down.
She sighed, Annie could physically feel her body deflate. Losing all the relief and contentment she had only just gained. She slipped her hands into Steve's large one. The physical connection reminded her of just how much he had changed. She would give anything to just go back to before all this war and super soldier nonsense and just spend the day with Steve and Bucky in their home. But that would be selfish. It wasn't what Steve wanted.
His hand twisted in her grip to give her hands a squeeze. As Annie looked up at her brother, she had to swallow down the sting in the back of her throat. "I want nothing more than to lock you and Bucky up and take you both back to Brooklyn where I know we'll all be safe and together. But I know that you need to be here, and I can't take that away from you."
Steve other hand moves to rub the back of her top hand. "When I was out there saving those men, I-I felt like I had purpose for the first time in my life. I think I can do a lot more good with this chance."
"I know. I support you Steve, but I want to be in every single strategy meeting for your team, I want to see every detail of all your missions and I don't want you being reckless out there. Those are my terms." Annie announced sternly. Steve quirked a smile at the list of conditions and the familiar Rogers' stare of sheer, immovable determination she levelled him with.
"I think I can manage that," Steve agreed.
"And there is no chance of you changing your mind and staying at camp safe and sound?" Annie tried.
"Nope."
Annie resigned, "Ok, ok. Deal then."