I know you miss the world, the one you knew
The one where everything made sense
Because you didn't know the truth, that's how it works
'Til the bottom drops out and you learn
We're all just hunters seeking solid ground
Orpheus by Sara Bareilles
"I feel the need to remind you that I'm not a constitutional lawyer," Tucker Harthorn stated.
"I know, but you're the closest I'm going to get on the phone right now," Emily huffed. "Also, I love you and please don't bill me for the consultation."
There was a snort of laughter on the other side of the line, and Steve cracked a smile for the first time since she'd jumped in the car even as he continued to pace. He'd driven like a bat out of hell away from the grocery store, circling and redoubling back to lose an invisible tail until she reminded him that - if Congress was able to track them to Maine, they likely knew where the house was. "I should, just for that. Steve there?"
"Yeah - hey Tucker."
"Hey man, good to hear your voice. You doing okay?"
"Just trying to figure this all out."
"I know that feeling. I think the kids are starting to get a grasp on what happened, but we should probably schedule a family talk soon." Steve's eyes shot to Em, who was squeezing the bridge of her nose. With a sigh, her hand dropped and her glasses fell back into place.
"So did you get a chance to look at the subpoena?" she asked.
"Just finished the first reading," Tuck replied before clearing his throat. "Looks like they made it broad enough to encompass pretty much everything under the SHIELD banner, and they're using your time with them as justification for it. Specifically that you worked with Steve from the jump, and that you can provide insight into 'Captain Rogers' role within the SHIELD infrastructure, motivations, and relationships with other intelligence operatives'. Oh, and they threw in some stuff about you studying him before so you can provide contextual information."
"I didn't see anything about Erskine, did you?" Em asked, pulling the letter closer.
"I don't remember..." There was a rustling of papers over the line before he spoke again. "No, doesn't look like it. But that doesn't mean that they don't know about the connection and are just waiting to spring it on you during your testimony."
"Is there any way of getting out of it? Of her testifying?" Steve asked, planting his hands on the dining room table and leaning over the phone. "Can she just ignore the subpoena?"
"I mean...yes, but it's risking contempt of Congress, which can be a long legal process that might end with jail time or fines. Or it could be nothing - it just depends. Em's just not high profile enough to kind of force them to not take action if she refuses, and she's well positioned to be able to tell them a lot about you, so they're gonna be gunning for her to testify if you don't."
Their eyes met over the phone and she shook her head. "No. You're not going to offer to take my place on this."
"I could - "
"No. So basically you're saying I have to do this, Tuck?"
"I mean, you can submit a letter explaining why you won't do it, and they may work with you… you didn't get anything about testifying before this?"
"Nope."
"Weird… they usually do an invitation before a subpoena," Tucker said. "I wonder… is there any chance they know about you guys?"
"Yes."
"Definitely."
"Okay, that explains it. They're trying to box you in - treat you like a hostile witness, basically. They know that you wouldn't voluntarily come in. Doesn't justify ignoring the procedure, which your lawyer could include in the response, but you'll have to work quick because they want you to testify in three weeks. They clearly want to strike while the iron's hot and the attention's still on what happened."
"So if the letter doesn't work, I'm fucked."
"I mean… " Tucker trailed off. "You… okay, I'm just gonna throw this out there. You need to raise your public profile."
"You mean like do more interviews? I can do that if I have to," Emily sighed, "I've still got a lot of news bookers calling - "
"Not your professional profile," her brother cut her off. "Your… you know… personal profile."
"You're going to have to be a bit clearer," Steve said after a long moment.
Tucker sighed. "You guys are going to have to out yourself and in a big way - not just waiting for someone to find out in the SHIELD data dump. People need to know that you guys are together in order for anyone to give a shit about her - sorry Sis - refusing to testify."
"No!" Steve snapped. "No, that's basically painting a target on her back for anyone to - "
"Do you actually think that'll work?" Em asked, cutting him off. Steve shot her a glare as he pushed off the table and continued to pace.
Her brother was quiet for a beat before sighing again. "I don't know, Em. It's a gamble. I mean, the optics of forcing Captain America's girlfriend to testify against him in front of Congress wouldn't be great. The only way it'd be worse is if you were…"
"Were what?" When he didn't say anything, Emily pressed, even as she was pretty sure what he was hesitating to say. "Were what, Tucker?"
"Married. Or pregnant. Or both, really."
"Would that work?" she asked hesitantly, studiously avoiding Steve's gaze. "PR stuff aside - couldn't us getting married let me invoke spousal privilege?"
"It's a grey area - they're asking you to testify about things that would have happened before the marriage. Assuming you guys get married," he added hastily. "Which I'm not advocating for as a way of getting around this. But it might. Again, I'm only coming from this from a criminal law side. Congress is weird about privilages. They don't usually work with attorney-client privilege, for example, so I don't know how they'd handle spousal. You'd need to consult someone who actually knows what they're doing." Out of the corner of her eye, Emily saw Steve moving towards the front door, and jumped when it slammed shut. "Em?"
"Thanks, Tuck. I… you've given us a lot to think about."
"I'm sorry, Sis. I'm just… this isn't my area of specialty."
"I know. And we appreciate your advice. Steve's just…" she sighed. "It's just been a really long few weeks."
"I get it. But hey, do me a favor?"
"Sure."
"If you guys do decide to go the whole marriage route - don't elope. Mom and Dad would never forgive you if you did."
OOO
The car was missing, and night had fallen by the time headlights swept over the front yard. Emily tilted her head back and glanced towards the house before resettling to watch the sparks and smoke from the fire drifting up, catching an occasional star through the cloud cover as she listened to the crickets chirp and lake waves splash against the dock.
The kitchen light popped on, illuminating the back lawn. She could feel his eyes on her before the light turned off. Less than a minute later, there was the muffled slide of the basement door opening. Silently, Steve moved towards the fire and sat on the blanket next to her, careful of the glass at her side.
"There's hot dogs and stuff for s'mores over there," Em said, waving her hand at the table she'd dragged outside. "And whiskey, if you want some."
Steve shifted but didn't stand, and then cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have… "
She let out a soft snort. "I'm just surprised you did it. That's usually my move."
"I just needed to clear my head. Emily, I - "
"Pepper already called and I sent her a copy of the subpoena. There's nothing we can do about it for tonight, so let's just drop it for now." When she heard him open his mouth, she blindly reached out and touched his arm. "Please? It's already been a hell of a day."
He caught her hand and looked at her, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth before he brushed his lips over her knuckles. "You want a hot dog?"
"No, but I'll take another marshmallow and a drink." Steve chuckled as he grabbed her glass and stood. Em's eyes followed him and she sat up, crossing her legs, when he dropped the bag of marshmallows and a stick beside her and handed her the glass. She caught the hem of his shirt as he turned away, and tugged. He raised an eyebrow when he turned to look at her. "Je t'aime."
Steve smiled and crouched beside her, and gently kissed her. "I love you too."
"You better." He chuckled, and Em leaned forward to kiss him again before he stood and busied himself with preparing his dinner.
"Been out here long?"
"About an hour or so. Took a while to get the fire going since the wood was wet but then I found the lighter fluid."
"That's cheating. You should have - "
"Rubbed two sticks together, like you had to in the war?" she teased. Steve tossed her an easy grin and shrugged his shoulders.
"It happened a few times when we ran out of matches. I was going to say you should have just stripped some of the bark off."
"My way was much easier," she shrugged. He settled beside her and rested his hand on her thigh, leaning forward and slowly turning his hot dog in the flames in an attempt to cook it evenly. Em rolled her eyes, pulling her flaming marshmallow from the fire and watching the white surface turn to charcoal before blowing them out.
After he'd polished off the rest of the hot dogs and she'd eaten more s'mores than was wise, they were lying on the ground looking up at the stars and waiting for the fire to burn itself out. Steve's head rested on her stomach and she was running her fingers through his hair when he cleared his throat. "Did Tucker say anything else?" She let out a heavy sigh, and he grimaced. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart. I just… I don't want you to have to do this. I told Pepper to tell the lawyers I'd - "
"You're not testifying, Steve," Emily sighed. "You heard what they said to Natasha, and they're going to be even more pissed because she walked out."
"After telling them that they need us," he said, pushing up onto his elbows to look at her. "And she's right. They're not gonna throw me in a cell."
"They put out a capture or kill order on you."
"That was Hydra, not Congress."
"If they could get to Alexander Pierce, you think Hydra's not in Congress? Please." She put a hand over her eyes, wishing that he hadn't said anything to ruin the moment. All she wanted was one night of peace before they plunged into whatever came next.
"Fine, but I'm a well known figure, and Tucker said that would - "
"They branded you a terrorist and tried to kill you, Steve. You - Captain America."
"Fine!" he barked. "Fine. What do you suggest, then?"
Em took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We let the lawyers figure it out." She felt him tense and reached out to touch his arm. The muscles bunched under her hand as though preparing to fight his way out of the situation they found themselves in. "And if I have to testify, I will. Because there's way less they can ask me about." He let out a curse.
"They're going to try and use you against me."
"Yes."
"People are going to know who you are."
"Yup."
"That's not… I won't... " Steve leapt to his feet and started to pace. "That makes you a target, Emily. And that's unacceptable." She kept her eyes shut but could feel him moving back and forth. But when it took a moment too long for him to pass behind her again, Em opened her eyes in time to see him pull back his fist and slam it into a tree.
The leaves overhead shivered and there was a cascade of falling acorns.
Emily leapt to her feet and ran towards him as he punched again. When he drew back his arm a third time, she caught it and grimaced at the blood that dripped from his torn knuckles. "Steve - "
"How are you so calm about this?" he whispered, his arm rigid in hers.
"I'm not. I'm fucking terrified. But there's...there's nothing we can do. I was a target before this – that's why Hydra… that's why they had Ryan watching me," she scowled before pushing away the betrayal of the man she thought had been her friend. "And we were naive to think that it wasn't going to end like this - that we could keep who you are a secret. And I was," she gulped and ducked her head. "I was stupid to think that I'd ever have a part of you just for myself. You're a hero, Steve… you're Captain America. And I was always going to have to share you. I just… I just wanted Steve to myself for a little bit longer." When he turned to look at her, Emily could see that his face was wet with tears. "Mon coeur - "
"I can't lose you. Not again." Em felt her heart break and had to blink away tears as she shook her head.
"You won't." His kiss was desperate and rough as he pulled her against his chest, careful to keep his bloody hand from her. He turned them and took a step forward, gently nudging her backwards until she was pressed against the tree. When they broke apart gasping, Em ducked her head to rest her forehead against his chin. He moved and pressed a kiss to her temple and began a downward descent but she shook her head and cupped his face, forcing him to meet her gaze. "Do you trust me?"
"It's not you I - "
"Do you trust me."
"Of course I trust you."
"Then, if it comes down to it, you have to trust me to do this. I'm the lesser of two evils between us testifying - I can only tell Congress a fraction of what you can. They only have a few months of my working with SHIELD and talking about you publicly that they can question me on. I can only provide context for what you have the full story for."
"That doesn't matt - "
"It does. Because right now they are looking for a scapegoat, and you're a convenient one. They want to blame all of this on two rogue Avengers rather than admit that Hydra was there all along. And we don't have time for that. Not if you're going to find him."
There was a pregnant pause, the unspoken name hanging between them. "Emily, I can't - "
"But you will," she said. "If it comes down to it, I will go to DC and tell them what I have to about you and SHIELD, and I'll invoke the Fifth if I need it." When his gaze dropped and he tried to move away, she grabbed his shirt and smiled at him. "Let me save Captain America for once."
His gaze softened and he huffed a breath, shaking his head. "Sweetheart, you… you've saved me so many times. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you being there when I woke up. You made me… you remind me that I'm Steve and not just Cap. That I have something worth fighting for." He leaned forward to kiss her softly and rested his forehead against hers. "You're my home."
"Marry me."
The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Em's heart raced as she felt him stiffen in her arms, and she forced her eyes open to meet his. "What?"
"Marry me," she repeated. A hesitant smile crossed her lips, but it faltered when he shook his head again.
"No. I'm sorry, Sweetheart, I can't…I don't want it like this, Emily, not because - "
"Don't marry me because of the subpoena," she cut him off. "Marry me because I realized I had feelings for you in a New Mexico desert and you made me fall in love with you even when I didn't want to. Because you made me feel like I could be happy again and not feel guilty about that. Marry me because you push me like no one ever has before, and you make me feel safe. Because you're my home too, and I don't want to lose you. Marry me for the reasons you had when you tried to propose. Don't marry me because of the subpoena - marry me because I love you, Steven Grant Rogers, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Steve looked down at her, fresh tear tracks on his cheeks. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before clearing his throat. "Thought that was my question to ask."
"Well," she sniffled, reaching up to wipe his face before dashing away her own tears. "I'm a very modern woman. I propose to the man I love, buy my own meals, and everything. So what do you say, Captain Rogers? Will you marry me?"
He let out a watery chuckle and nodded. "I will, Emily Rose Harthorn."
Author's Note: I know, I'm just as shocked as you are at the quick update. If you have a moment, listen to Orpheus by Sara Bareilles - the first time I heard it last year I actually gasped because it was just THE perfect Emily and Steve song for what I had planned in the story. I had a hard time picking what lyrics from the song to use but decided to go with those because Em and Steve are each other's solid ground.
Not going to take away from the moment by going into legal discourse (gonna save that for a later chapter!) because I want you to enjoy the ending of this chapter. As always, thank you for reading!