Kayla giggled as Steve chased her up the stairs to their apartment. When they reached their floor, Kate appeared from her door, phone tucked to her ear and a laundry basket against her hip. Kayla scowled but Steve gave the other blonde a sweet smile and little wave as Kayla dug out her key to the apartment.
"You could use our machine if you'd like, it's cheaper than the on in the basement." Steve offered sweetly when Kate hung up and Kayla stopped opening the door, turning to shoot her boyfriend a dirty look. He ignored her, being a good neighbor despite Kayla's rude attitude.
Kate looked down and smiled, "Thanks, but I already have a load going downstairs-"
"Yeah, since you have to go there anyway, I mean, it's less work for you." Kayla said, gesturing toward the basket before producing one of her famous smiles, showing how fake they really were.
Kate chuckled, shaking her head, "Plus, you don't want my scrubs in your machine. I just finished orientation in the infectious diseases ward, so..."
Kayla looked to Steve in fake surprise, and he tapped her hip gently to nudge her toward the door, "Well, if you ever need to use our machine, don't be a stranger."
"I'll keep that in mind." Kate answered softly, noticing how rigid Kayla Ellis looked as she began to unlock the door. "Oh! I think you left your stereo on." Kate gestured toward the door with her shoulder and Steve turned to share a look with Kayla.
"Right. Thank you." Steve said to Kate, but he kept his eyes trained on Kayla, sliding his hand over hers and locking the door again. Once Kate turned the corner, Steve hissed to Kayla, "I'm going in through the window. Stay on the fire escape until I tell you it's safe."
Kayla nodded, following Steve out onto the fire escape as he cracked open their kitchen window. He heard the music Kate was talking about, looking back to Kayla and motioning for her to stay down. He snuck around the bookshelf, grabbing his shield in the process as he looked around, seeing his apartment empty.
It wasn't until Steve came around the corner to the living room did he see Director Fury sitting in his chair in the dark. He sighed and looked over his shoulder to Kayla, nodding into the apartment to give her the okay to come in. She carefully crawled through the window and closed it behind her before coming up behind Steve and wrapping her arms around his waist, peeking around him to see who was in their home.
"I don't remember giving you a key." Steve muttered, holding Kayla with his right arm and his shield with his left as he stared down Fury.
"You really think I'd need one?" Fury grunted as he sat up, looking over Kayla quickly before gazing up at Steve, "My wife kicked me out."
"I didn't know you were married." Steve challenged, rubbing Kayla's arm with his thumb as he leaned against the wall, not feeling the need to get too close to the Director. Kayla swayed a little, feeling unsure about the situation, but Steve wasn't alarmed.
Fury leaned forward, quieting as he looked up at Steve with his one good eye, "A lot of things you don't know about me."
Steve finally turned the corner, letting go of Kayla to turn on the lights, "I know Nick. That's the problem." As the lights flipped on, Steve realized that Fury was covered in blood. Steve's expression shifted to one of alarm at the sight, looking back to see Kayla backing around the corner again. When Steve looked back to Fury the man put his hand to his lips, pulling the cord of the lamp and turning the lights back off. He typed something on his phone, then showed it to Steve.
EARS EVERYWHERE
Kayla clenched her jaw, crossing her arms as she looked around their SHIELD appointed home in horror. Suddenly, she understood how the Director of SHIELD knew about the anti-serum. They'd been listening to them. Kayla clenched her fist to her lips, feeling her legs begin to quake beneath her. They'd heard everything her and Steve had talked about the past year. SHIELD had heard every secret they shared, everything that was supposed to stay between only them. Kayla was vaguely aware of Fury talking to her boyfriend, but her mind was replaying all the classified information that had been shared between them.
SHIELD COMPROMISED
Kayla saw the text Fury showed Steve and knelt down with her mouth buried into her palms as she held her fingertips together. She looked up at Steve as he asked who else knew about Fury's wife, and Nick's response was ONLY US.
"Just... my friends." Fury mumbled as he stood slowly, holding his arm tightly against his chest. He staggered toward Steve and Kayla, pausing a few feet away.
"Is that what we are?" Steve scoffed and Kayla stood, grabbing his arm and hissing his name. Steve looked back to her, resting his hand against her thigh as she leaned into him.
"That's up to you."
Three bullets pierced the wall straight into Nick Fury. Steve held his shield up in front of himself and used his own body to block Kayla from the bullets as she grabbed onto the back of his jacket tightly.
Steve looked out the window quickly and pulled Nick Fury down the hallway as Kayla knelt against the wall, looking through the kitchen window they'd come from as Steve looked over the Director.
"Don't trust anyone." Fury gasped. Steve whipped his head to look at Kayla and she dove toward them, sitting on the ground next to Fury as somebody began to break down their door.
"Go, hide in the bedroom!" Steve ordered as he leaped to his feet, holding the shield as he crept toward the door.
Kayla looked up at Steve, then down to Fury, finding him unconscious, "Steve?"
Steve glared back at Kayla, prepared to yell at her to leave, but he looked around the corner and saw their neighbor Kate approaching with a gun.
"Captain Rogers?" When she realized he saw her, she continued, "Captain, I'm Agent 13 of SHIELD Special Services. I'm assigned to protect you."
Steve looked back to Kayla, seeing her jaw so tight he thought it might snap off. When he looked back to Kate, he found his own anger bubbling up inside of him. SHIELD had been watching him and listening to him. He was a grown man, not a child who needed a babysitter. "On whose order?" Steve snapped as Kate approached, seeing Fury lying on the ground with Kayla.
"His." She quickly knelt beside Fury, tapping his face rapidly before pulling a radio out of her scrubs, "Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive. I need EMTs."
"I thought you were a nurse?" Kayla snarled and Steve grabbed her roughly, pulling her to her feet to stand beside him as the agent on the other line asked if Agent 13 had an eye on the shooter. Kayla narrowed her gaze, looking to Steve, but his eyes were locked on something outside the window.
"Tell him I'm in pursuit." Steve growled before running full speed toward the window and shattered it with his shield, leaping across the road and crashing into the office building across the way as Kayla leaned out the broken window to watch him go.
She pulled off her baseball cap and turned back to Kate as she tried giving Fury CPR, "You've been spying on us."
"I was assigned to protect Captain Rogers. It was my job." She looked up at Kayla with a warning stare, "You were never part of the deal."
"I always knew there was something fishy about you, how you always conveniently came and went whenever Steve did, and now it makes sense! You probably have access to the bugs in the apartment, don't you? You probably know every dirty little-"
"Miss Ellis, I didn't need a microphone in your apartment to know all your dirty little secrets, you're pretty loud on your own." Agent 13 hissed up and Kayla stammered, backing away a step as she tried to come up with something to say in response.
She looked out the shattered window, then back to the agent as she heard footsteps thundering up the stairs, "What happens now?"
"Well considering your home is a crime scene, don't touch anything. We'll have to bring you in to SHIELD." She explained up at Kayla as several more agents stormed the apartment to try and revive Nick Fury.
Kayla watched, working hard to catch her breath as she began to imagine what would happen next. She looked toward their bedroom as agents began to ransack the place, "Can I change real quick? I'm all sweaty, and if I'm not going to be allowed back, I just want to grab my charger."
Kate stared up, clearly annoyed by Kayla as she tried to deal with more important things, "Sure, go change, use the bathroom, whatever. Be ready to leave in five minutes."
"Ten." Kayla growled lowly, stepping around the EMT who was calling for a stretcher. Once she was in her room, she closed the door quickly and scrambled to her bedside table, pulling out Erksine's journal, as well as her own, looking back toward the door nervously to make sure nobody was coming. She shoved both into a large brown messenger bag, then unplugged her charger from the wall and grabbed her passport and an envelope filled with cash.
It wasn't like Kayla Ellis had never considered running away from it all.
The sound of knuckles against the wooden door caused Kayla to push closed the drawer and dart toward the bathroom, "I'm almost ready, I'm just grabbing my glasses!" She tossed her glasses case into her bag, then a box of colored contacts and her retainer with the braces painted on, just in case. She pulled her t-shirt over her head and discarded it on the floor, grabbing a hooded cotton sweater to pull over herself as the knocking was heard again. She looked around, making sure there was nothing else she absolutely needed if she never got the chance to come back.
Finally the door opened and several SHIELD agents came in, finding Kayla sitting on her bed tying her shoelaces, "I told you I was almost ready."
"Let's go." One of the men grunted, reaching down to grab Kayla's arm, but she swatted it away, pointing at him threateningly.
"I'm still the President's daughter. You'll keep your hands off me."
The man backed away and Kayla showed herself out of the room, holding her bag tightly as she tried to seem nonchalant. She was lead out of her apartment, seeing the blood splatters on the floor where Fury had been shot. She felt sick to her stomach, knowing this place was never home. It was a holding cell for SHIELD's most famous asset, and his doting girlfriend who happened to be the daughter of the most powerful man in the world.
She should have kept her place with Tiffany.
When she reached the bottom floor there were police cars and several ambulances. The flashing lights were so bright, Kayla had to squint into the darkness, but a large, familiar figure brought her calm. "Steve."
"I lost him." Steve admitted, wrapping his arms around Kayla to hold her tight as he rested his chin on her head. She breathed against his neck and he stroked her hair, not letting up on his grip until Kate gestured for them to enter one of the vehicles, "Are you okay?"
"I'm terrified." Kayla told him honestly as she stepped up into the SUV. Steve climbed in behind her and grabbed her hand as she sat in the seat across from him, looking out the window. He noticed how she clung to her messenger bag, not loosening her grip even in the safety and privacy of the car, "They've been listening to us."
"I know. I'm sorry." Steve told her, stroking her knuckles as the agent got into the driver's seat to take them to the hospital behind Fury. "We're gonna be okay. You should call your mom, she's gonna be worried about you. Call Tiffany and have her pick you up."
Kayla looked over at Steve with a lackluster expression, as if annoyed that she had to say what she was about to, "I'm not leaving you." She looked down at the bag in her lap, "I'm not sure I'm allowed to."
"I'll take care of it. Call your mom." Steve promised and released Kayla's hand so she could pull her cell out of her yoga pants. She snorted, lifting her phone to show Steve she had twelve missed calls. He nodded, smiling weakly, "They barely tried to get a hold of you."
"Hey, Mom." Kayla greeted weakly as Sandra's voice yelped on the other end, asking if she was okay. "I'm fine... Yes, I was there when it happened, but I'm fine. I'm with Steve now, we're going to the hospital... I think they want me for questioning, but Steve said Tiffany should come pick me up... Yeah, they probably can. I don't know anything anyway... Steve chased the shooter, but he got away... yeah... can you call her for me? Have her meet me at there... thanks, Mom... we'll come stay with you tonight... See you soon, love you... bye."
Steve looked to Kayla as she slid her phone back into her pants, "Tiffany is going to come get me, I'm going to stay at the White House tonight. If they want me for questioning I'll come in tomorrow."
"Good. I'll feel better knowing you're with your family. I don't know what they're gonna want me to do." Steve admitted, rubbing Kayla's cheek with his thumb as he stared ahead, seeing all the cop cars and ambulances parked outside the hospital. He looked to the driver, then Kayla's bag, shifting a little. "I have something for you. I'll give it to you inside."
Kayla nodded as the car stopped, and she unbuckled her seat belt slowly, "Okay." She said quietly, not asking anymore questions. Kayla wasn't sure she'd ever have a conversation again, considering nowhere was safe from prying ears and spies.
Steve lead her into the building, but before they could even get to the operating window, Tiffany was scurrying towards them as quick as possible without running. "Kayla!"
The blonde turned to her assistant, then looked back at Steve sadly, "You wanted to give me something?"
Steve reached into his pocket, but suddenly Natasha Romanoff was sprinting past Tiffany toward them, "Where is he?"
Steve stammered, looking from Nat to Kayla, "I'll get it to you later. Stay safe, Honey." Steve leaned forward and kissed Kayla quickly, then walked in stride with the Black Widow toward the ER wing.
Kayla watched them go, feeling somewhat of a weight lifted from her shoulders to finally be going somewhere she could trust. At least in the White House she knew who was listening. "Let's go home."
"What happened?" Tiffany hissed when they reached her little car. She turned the ignition and began to back out of her spot, looking around with a heightened sense of paranoia.
"The Director of SHIELD was shot right in front of me, in our own home, through our wall. Which, by the way, apparently have ears because SHIELD's been listening in on Steve and I." Tiffany looked to Kayla in surprise, but didn't say anything as Kayla unloaded her frustrations, "Oh! Also, you know that hoe that lives next door? She's SHIELD. That's why she's always around when Steve comes and goes, it's literally her job, and I just got caught up in the mess."
"I mean, at least you know she isn't after your man?" Tiffany suggested, already knowing where Kayla's jealously had spread from. Tiff looked from the road for a split second, to see Kayla sulking, "Captain America is important, not only to SHIELD but to America as a whole. It's not surprising that they wanted him protected, and you too."
"Oh, she made it very clear that I wasn't part of the package deal." Kayla complained, staring ahead as they neared Pennsylvania Avenue. She tilted her head, replaying everything that had happened, "You know, something weird happened. I- I didn't get a chance to bring it up to Steve." Tiffany raised her brow and Kayla inhaled slowly, "When Kate, or, Agent 13 I guess, because that's a name- she called that Fury was down and unresponsive."
After a long pause, Tiffany looked to Kayla before pulling up to the White House gates, "And what's weird about that?"
"The man who answered asked if she had a twenty on the shooter."
Tiffany showed her I.D. to the security guard and he let them in, "Still not seeing anything weird."
"She never told them Fury was shot." Kayla raised her head as Tiffany pulled into her designated parking spot. "They already knew."
"Uh huh." Tiffany replied, considering this, "Maybe they were aware of the shooting? Maybe your neighbor alerted them to gunshots?"
"Before he was shot, Nick Fury told us SHIELD was compromised." Kayla explained slowly, working through her theory herself, "What if... what if SHIELD wanted him dead?"
Tiffany sucked in her air, turning the key to shut off the ignition. "That's... that's really scary, you know? That makes things very complicated."
"I know." Kayla turned to Tiffany and the assistant realized how pale Kayla's face was, "They know about my work, about my formula, and my theories. Hell, they could know how to make the fucking anti-serum for all I know..." Kayla began to hyperventilate as she realized Steve was in danger, "What if they plan to kill Steve?"
"There's not a damn thing you can do about it Kayla, he can take care of himself." Tiffany said, grabbing Kayla's hands roughly, "What's done is done, and if things are as bad as you seem to think they are, we need to tell your parents-"
"No. No, Nick Fury said that nobody knew except for us. He came to warn Steve, I just happened to be there, and now I know too!" Tiffany's jaw went slack and Kayla grimaced, "And now you know too! Yay..."
"I still think we should tell somebody." Tiffany suggested quickly, waving at Travis as he appeared in the doorway. "Because now we both have a target on our backs."
"It's fine. We're fine. Nobody knows that I told you. You can stay here, I'll go find Steve, he can stay here, and we'll all live in the white prison until my father isn't President anymore." Kayla suggested desperately and Tiffany continued to stare at her without emotion.
Tiffany sighed, pushing open her door and whispering, "Great, glad we have two to six years to survive. I love that for us."
"Let's go." Kayla ordered, pushing open the door and smiling weakly at Travis. "How are you?"
"Better than you, I would assume." Travis called back as Kayla approached, her messenger bag wedged between her arm and her side. He held open the door and Kayla was ushered in past security to the Residence where her parents were waiting.
"Kayla!" Sandra yelped as the girls entered the room and Kayla hugged her mother, then her father, taking a seat at the kitchen table as Tiffany hovered anxiously behind. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay." Kayla admitted, looking from her mother to father and noticing the bittersweet smile on his father's face. Kayla fiddled with her bag strap, "I'm worried about Steve."
"He'll be okay, I'm sure of it." Matt told his daughter, "It's late. You should get some rest. You'll be safe here."
Kayla nodded, silently retreating to her bedroom with Tiffany right on her heels. When she opened the door, she sighed, "It's been a long time."
"It has. I've missed this place." Tiffany teased, rubbing her eye with the side of her fist. She yawned, "Do they want you to come to SHIELD for questioning tomorrow?"
"Who the hell knows." Kayla grumbled as she opened her messenger bag and pulled out her glasses case. "But I'm going anyway."
"Oh yeah?" Tiffany asked as she sat on the plush bedspread, "Do I dare ask why?"
"There's something about that agent. I can't put my finger on it, but there's just something..."
"Let it go, Kayla. Go, take your contacts out, lets go to bed. It's past one in the morning, you'll hear from Steve, he can come here, and everything will be as it should be. Sleeeep." Tiff slurred, pulling the heavy comforter over herself. She was too tired to even change, preferring to sleep in her clothes than spend another minute listening to Kayla's conspiracy theories.
Kayla huffed and locked herself in the bathroom, scrubbing off her makeup and carefully prying her contacts from her green eyes. She pulled out her phone, discouraged that she hadn't heard from Steve yet. She wanted to stay awake and wait for him to call or text, but slumber was calling her, and Kayla was too exhausted not to answer. She returned to her bedroom and crawled into bed next to Tiffany, falling asleep moments after her head found the pillow.