Steve entered the front door, tired and dirty from a long day's work. A misplaced beam had caused quite a problem for the team, ending in a collapsing frame and a lot of overtime with all hands on deck to make up for the work lost. Steve raked his fingers through his blonde hair, panting as he latched the door behind him. It took a lot for the super soldier to feel winded, but he'd worked hard today. He was looking forward to sitting back with a beer and his best friend, shooting the breeze and putting his worries behind him.
Instead, he found Kayla and Tessa sitting on the floor with wedding magazines and a massive white binder sprawled across the carpet. There were scissors and glue and ribbons and swatches, and no room for Steve to sit down with his beer.
"Hey, guys. What's all this?" Steve asked cautiously, already having a pretty good idea of who was getting married.
"I'm engaged!" Tessa shot her hand into the air, showing off her diamond to Steve as Kayla smiled up casually from the magazine she was perusing. "He proposed this morning at the shop when he got home from his camping trip! I don't think they even went camping, I think he went away to get the ring. Isn't it perfect?"
"Congratulations! Good for you guys." Steve applauded with what little energy he had. He looked around the room, seeing the kids had already been put to bed. "Where's Buck?"
Kayla's eyes zeroed in on the magazine, but Steve could see she wasn't reading it. She was trying to come up with a way to explain to him where his friend had gone, "Work called." She stated without looking up, turning the page but still not reading, "They needed him to come back for an emergency meeting."
Steve heard the crack in Kayla's voice and knew her well enough to read that something was wrong. "Oh yeah? That's a bummer. He was hoping to stay a few weeks."
"Yeah, the boss called, needed him to come in. There was a snag on the program he'd been working on before he came to visit. They need his help to fix it. They lost one of the people on the project team. Seems like she had an emergency come up and had to go quickly. Bucky is the only one who could replace her." Kayla raised her head to meet Steve's blue eyes, telling him everything he needed to know. The quiver of Kayla's lip told Steve who was missing and the tone of her voice told him it was bad.
Tessa pretended to be too preoccupied with her planning to understand their conversation, but after being friends with the mysterious Carter family for three years, she came to realize that they often knew more than they let on. While Ryan often became frustrated with the seemingly dim-witted Steven Carter, Tessa began to see the facade falling away when they thought she wasn't looking. When she'd pressed Katie for answers in the past, Katie had explained that Steve struggled with being out of the army and didn't know how to adjust back into civilian life. It was an explanation that appeared true after witnessing Steve and Bucky together because Tessa had never seen Steve Carter so comfortable around anyone besides Kayla in the three years she'd lived beside them.
Tessa finally lifted her chin enough to fully see Steve and Katie, noticing the way Katie bites the side of her index finger nervously from where she's sitting against the couch and Steve has his hands on his hips, his head bent back to stare at the ceiling in frustration. They didn't tell her to leave, but Tessa could feel the tension in the room rising, and her happy wedding planning had no place in it.
"I'm gonna head home for the night, I'll come over tomorrow after work if that's okay?" Tessa flipped her thick ponytail over her shoulder as she began collecting all of her notes and clippings from the carpet. She groaned as she pushed herself to her feet, scooping down to pick up the pile of wedding information she'd sorted through over the past several hours. "It's getting late, Ryan should be home soon. I should probably involve him in some of the planning." She chuckled, and Kayla pushed herself to her feet as well to get the door for Tessa.
"I'm really happy for you, Tess. We'll work on the wedding more tomorrow." Kayla promised, giving the woman a one-armed hug while holding the door with the other. As Tessa turned to leave though, she saw Ryan's police cruiser pull into their driveway next door, and he didn't look happy when he got out of the car.
"Ryan?" Tessa called from the front patio of Steve and Katie's home. "Is everything okay?"
"Thank God you're okay, Tess." Ryan came sprinting across the driveway and up to the front door, encompassing his fiance in a tight hug. "Haven't you seen the news?"
"No. No, I haven't, what's happening?" Tessa's jaw fell slightly, looking back over her shoulder at Kayla and Steve, who now stood in the doorway listening. She turned and looked up at her tall fiance- and held his arms tightly.
Ryan looked back at Steve and Kayla, nodding toward the house, "Are the kids asleep?"
"Yes," Kayla answered cautiously, taking a step outside the red door as if to guard her home from whatever danger Ryan would present.
Ryan rubbed his hand across his face, still keeping his other arm wrapped tightly around Tessa as he stared off down the street into the darkness. "Four men and two women went missing this past weekend. Gone without a trace. They didn't know each other, there's no common thread. Race, orientation, all different. This isn't a hate crime, it's just..." Ryan's head hung as he sucked in a deep breath, "It's my first real big case as Chief of Police. It's what my boss left the precinct to go work on. Now he's missing, too"
"I'm checking on the kids." Kayla yelped suddenly, rushing past Steve into the house as the blonde man let her in, guarding the door as he watched Ryan and Tessa.
He was getting closer. He had arrived.
"Just, be safe, okay? Tess, I don't want you out by yourself at night." Ryan looked from his fiance to Steve, "If you'd walk her home, I'd really appreciate it. Even going to work- it... it makes me nervous."
"We can't stop living just because there is danger. This is a happy day. We'll get through this together, I know we will." Tessa pressed her hands to Ryan's chest, beaming up at him in an attempt to calm his nerves. He softened under her touch, releasing the breath he'd held. She was right.
"Be safe you guys. Congratulations." Steve told the couple as he bowed his head and closed the door, padlocking it tightly. Zawadi stood dutifully by the door, watching his master carefully. Steve knelt down, groaning a little as he did. It wasn't as easy as it had once been, "You and me, we're getting old, buddy. We aren't cut out for all this excitement anymore." Steve sat himself down in the foyer, allowing the dog to lick his face lovingly. Steve still wore his work clothes and was still sweaty, but Zawadi didn't seem to care as he worked to clean off the sweat and grime from the man's face. "I just keep feeling like I should be doing more. I should be there with Sam and Bucky trying to fix this. It's my mess. It's my enemy."
Zawadi gave a low bark, then settled down onto the ground and laid his massive snout across Steve's lap. The soldier pet the dog's ridged back, letting the back of his head fall gently against the front door as he rested for a minute.
Steve didn't notice that Kayla was hiding on the other side of the stairwell, listening to him talk after making sure the kids were asleep. He didn't know that her heart broke at his words and her soul was crushed by the realization that Steve blamed himself. Steve didn't bring the Red Skull back from Vormir. Steve didn't accidentally restart Hydra. Steve didn't kill his best friend...
A lone tear fell from Kayla's eye, streaming down her pretty cheek to her tight jaw. She swallowed hard, trying to keep her breathing even, or else she'd give herself away. Kayla had tried so hard to fix what she'd broken, to repent for her sins. She wanted to live a quiet life and give her children and her husband everything. But no matter where she went, no matter what she did, her past would always haunt her. Kayla took a deep breath and began climbing the stairs silently, crawling into bed, and crying herself to sleep.
"In the past four days, we've had twenty-eight disappearances in New York state. Twelve in Upstate New York alone. Of the twenty-eight disappearances, only seven bodies have been recovered. Initial testing shows death by cyanide of all things, what year is this folks?" The news reporter asked her co-anchor incredulously, causing the man beside her to shrug.
"I don't know, Amanda, but it's sweeping the nation. As of today, there have been two-hundred and fifty-nine disappearances in the past four months. A quarter of those have been found deceased, while the others are still considered missing. Local governments have created special task forces to figure out who is behind all of this. Sources point to Johann Schmidt, a former Hydra Nazi who took the lives of forty-two people in 2023 at the Summit Gala in New York."
"Only time will tell if the Hydra dictator is behind all of this, but rest assured, the Avengers are on the case. Captain Wilson is taking the lead on the national investigation, trying to flush out the man who was the archnemesis of his predecessor, Captain Steven Rogers."
"Archnemesis?" The man chuckled in response, and the woman just shrugged with a perfect smile that glistened against her dark skin.
"I know, I know Alex, but these are the times we live in. All I know is if the Avengers are looking for him, they'll take care of him once and for all."
Steve adjusted his thick-framed glasses as his own color photo showed up on the screen alongside Sam's in his Captain America uniform. The large man shifted uncomfortably as a couple of people shot him curious looks, but he was distracted when James tugged on his light black jacket. "Daddy, can I have another muffin?"
"You've already had two muffins, which is one muffin more than your mother said you could have," Steve answered casually, earning a sassy glare from his four-year-old son. "Don't look at me like that. You know mom makes the rules, we just follow them."
"That's right, listen to your father, he knows who wears the pants in the family." Kayla winked at her son as she slid into the booth across from her boys, holding Sarah in her arms. She looked over her shoulder, seeing the newscast playing on the small, in-wall tv of the Brewhouse, "More disappearances?"
"The Avengers are investigating," Steve mumbled, taking a long sip of his coffee.
"The Avengers? The Avengers!" James squealed, bouncing up and down in his seat. He pointed up at the screen excitedly as they showed a clip of Captain America flying into a burning building just as the Hulk came jumping from the side, carrying three people in each arm as he landed on the ground. "Daddy, Daddy, can we see the Avengers?"
"You can see them right now, on the tv." Steve pointed up at the screen behind Kayla's head casually, looking down at his newspaper as he munched on a scone.
"No, no." James yanked on Steve's jacket again, begging for his father's attention, "I want to meet the Avengers. I want to say hi."
"The Avengers are very busy honey. And also we don't know them." Kayla answered matter of factly as Steve's blue eyes darted up to meet hers from beneath his glasses. She shrugged a little, handing a strawberry to Sarah for the little girl to reject.
"Maybe if the Avengers were a little better at their job, my fiance wouldn't have to work so late every night." Tessa sneered playfully as she waved her ring at the family, setting down a try of mini muffins for her friends. "On the house."
James didn't waste any time diving in, grabbing a small muffin in each hand before shoving them into his mouth. Steve mindlessly grabbed one and popped it in his own mouth, chewing quietly as he continued to read the paper. Kayla rolled her eyes and groaned, looking up at Tessa with a forced smile. "Thanks. I'm sure they are doing the best they can. This can't just be one man, it's a very spread out incident..."
"And there are no leads. Ryan is so frustrated every night. How do two hundred people go missing and the only person we point fingers to is a lunatic who's been chilling in space for eighty years? I miss the good old days." Tessa sighed, leaning against their booth as she watched the news wistfully. "I remember growing up, and aliens and monsters and spies were just things in the movies. Now its real life. You just never know. Can't trust anybody."
Kayla looked up at Tessa sadly, feeling that weight of guilt in her chest whenever Tessa would go on a rant about how much she hated liars and manipulators and how thankful she was that she could trust Katie wholeheartedly. It wasn't fair, but its the life they had to live to keep their kids safe. Nobody could know, not even Tessa and Ryan.
"No. No, you can't." Kayla mumbled, sipping her frappuccino through a reusable straw, "That's what makes life interesting though. Before all of this," She gestured toward the television, which showed old news clips of the Avengers during the Battle of New York, "Life was boring. Now even the most boring of people have interesting lives, you know?"
"You're trouble, Katie Carter." Tessa slurred, eyes narrowing at her friend before turning to Steve, "Keep an eye on her. She's talking crazy." Tessa grabbed the now-empty mini muffin plate and went back behind the counter to help a customer. Kayla leaned back into the booth and looked up, seeing the screen above her head playing clips of her with the Avengers in Sokovia. Kayla scratched her head, causing a piece of auburn hair to fall in front of her face, almost reminding her that she wasn't that girl anymore. Just like the man who sat in front of her working on the crossword puzzle wasn't Captain America anymore.
On Thursday evening, Steve settled down into his recliner to watch a movie with the kids. He gave them each a juice box and grabbed a bottle of water for himself as they curled up into his lap, watching the movie on their television. After a while, Steve could feel a slight vibrating in his jeans pocket and shifted slightly to grab his phone without disturbing Sarah too much. She cuddled into his chest as part of the movie frightened her, and Steve shushed his little girl, reminding her he was there to protect her.
Steve didn't answer the phone call from Ryan, but instead let it go to voicemail, not wanting to distract his kids. After a couple of minutes, a text message came through, and Steve peeked at his phone out of the corner of his eye.
It's been a long week. My brothers and I are going to the lake again. Wanted to see if you would like to join us?"
Steve shifted his gaze away from the phone back to the television as the animated animals started to sing. He cracked his neck, causing Sarah to whimper, "No." She told him, placing a tiny finger to his lips to keep him from making the sound again. Steve licked her finger, sending the little blonde into a fit of giggles that caused James to shush them loudly, engrossed in his film.
Steve reached over and grabbed his phone from the side table, looking at it for a moment as he considered his options. He didn't really want to hang out with Ryan and his brothers, but he also knew Kayla would never hear the end of it if he didn't go two weeks in a row. This time he didn't have Bucky as an excuse. It would also be nice to go out in the world and do something other than work and potty train toddlers.
Sounds great. Where should I meet you?
Phillip and Jack shared a wicked grin as they looked down at Ryan's phone, hearing Ryan yelling from the kitchen, "Tess? Tess, have you seen my phone anywhere?"