5 months later - Lagos -


Rebecca was looking out a window, listening to the banter of Natasha, Wanda and Sam with a smile. When she heard Steve tell them 'eyes on target', she lost the smile, focusing again. She noticed something strange on the road but before she could even say anything, Steve noticed as well, coming up behind her placing a hand on her shoulder, looking over her at the garbage truck.

"Sam, see that garbage truck? Tag it." Steve ordered.

"That truck's loaded for max weight. And the driver's armed." They heard Sam say once red wing was in place.

"It's a battering ram," Natasha said.

"Go now," Steve said. "He's not hitting the police." Rebecca started to take her glove off when Steve grabbed her, pulling her into a kiss. It shocked her for just a second before she leaned into the kiss, absorbing his powers as he deepens the kiss.

'Its faster this way," she heard him say into her mind. She responded with a mental laugh.

'Keep telling yourself that, Steve.'

'Stay safe,' she heard before he broke the kiss and ran off to meet up with Sam. She used the extra boost of speed he gave her to quickly meet up with Wanda.

Wanda grabbed Rebecca, sending both of them over the wall, using her magic to protect them both from gunfire. Once the hostile was settled, Rebecca went off to secure the compound. She had a feeling this wasn't their escape route.

"Rumlow has a biological weapon," She heard Steve say over the coms.

"I'm on it." She heard Natasha say. Rebecca could see Natasha taking on several guys from a distance. Before Rebecca could make it to her, she sees Natasha being push into an AFV. Rebecca got between Rumlow and his escape route.

"How cute… the girlfriend," He said as they began to fight. They exchanged blows, Rebecca using all the strength that Steve gave her to slow him down. She heard an explosion behind her and glass breaking in front. She did a roundhouse kick before he grabbed her leg.

"You're stronger," He admired as he primed his arm, punching her straight in the chest, sending her flying back, knocking the breath out of her. She watched as he climbed aboard another AFV.

"He's in an AFV," She warned, before watching him take a shot at the wall. At Steve. She watched as Steve gets hit, falling off the building as the AFV went off. She heard him say it was heading north and she took a breath knowing he was ok.

She ran after the AFV before hearing about the shell game. She saw Steve head north so she headed the other way. She caught up just in time to see Natasha fighting two men before one of them told her to drop the gun, or he drops the biological weapon. She smiled. She had this.

She quickly discarded her gloves and got behind him quietly, one hand going to his neck, and the other to his hand, grabbing the vial as she disabled him, taking his energy until he dropped, unconscious. Natasha nodded to her.

"Payload secured," she said. Rebecca carefully handed the vial off to Natasha, shaking off the new energy she absorbed.

"You ok?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah… he was just a son of a bitch…" she explained. They started to make their way back to Steve when they saw the explosion.

"Oh god…" Rebecca said as they both started to run to the explosion, to help.


The Avengers started to help, but once law enforcement showed up, and witnesses started to get angry over what had happened, they decided to make a retreat. As they flew back to New York, Rebecca could see something was off with Steve. She moved to sit next to him before taking his hand in hers. He pushed her away. She was a little shocked at that. He had never pushed her away before. She looked up at his face, but he wouldn't look at her, lost in thought. She moved from him, seeing he obviously wanted to be alone.

She moved over to sit with Wanda, who she knew was devastated over what just happened. She knew her well enough to know she didn't want to talk about it but she knew she wouldn't mind the comfort. Rebecca pulled her into her arms, holding her against her, giving her what little comfort she could give her, knowing it wouldn't do much to compound the guilt she was feeling. They just sat in silence as they went home.

They were debriefed as a team, talking about what happened. When Rebecca heard Steve talk about what Rumlow said about her father, she held her breath for a moment. She understood his distance now. Bucky was always a sore spot for Steve. After they had debriefed, they went to go get cleaned up.

After her shower, she quickly got dressed in her jeans, long sleeve shirt and gloves before going to find Steve. They needed to talk. She quickly found him in his room, freshly cleaned from his shower, wearing a long sleeve dark shirt, with gray khakis.

"Are you pushing me away because you want to be alone… or because of Bucky?" she asked. He sighed and sat on his bed.

"Neither," he said, motioning for her to join him. She moved to sit next to him, arms wrapping protectively around her shoulder.

"I froze... when I heard his name. I should have seen the bomb. People died because of me," he explained.

"No… they died because of him. You two were caught in a terrible situation and tried your hardest to save people. But we are not gods, despite our powers." She told him hoping her words would help. She felt him pulling her in closer.

"I should have still been able too…" He started. She pulled away from him, turning to look at him, kneeling beside him. She put her hand on his cheeks, cursing mentally at the lack of skin contact. She looked into his sad eyes.

"We are human. We are not perfect." She told him. He smiled at the words. She leaned in slowly, giving him a gentle kiss. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her into his lap before he deepened the kiss. She could feel all his pain and anguish over what happened. She was trying her best to send him all the comfort and love she could. She could feel his need beginning to grow between her legs and she wished she could do more than kiss him. She wished she could give herself to him completely.

'Me too, doll,' he thought to her.

She felt herself being slowly lowered onto her back, feeling him looming over her. It felt right. He started to kiss slowly down her neck before he nibbled at her pulse point. She moaned out his name. She heard his light growl of approval.

'We need to stop' she thought, as he devoured her neck.

'I trust you, you won't hurt me,' he sent back, moving back to her lips, kissing her even more deeply, causing her to push up into his need. He moaned out.

'I do not trust myself,' she thought. She felt him back away from her slowly, looking down at her with his lust filled eyes.

"Then let's stop," he told her.

"I do not want to stop, my love." She said honestly. "But we need to. After what happened, Captain America should not be out of commission because his girlfriend wanted to comfort him," She said with a sad smile. He had seen that smile before.

"Will find a way someday. And if not, if this is all we get, kisses and a little petting, then we will make due with that," He explained his eyes showing nothing but love. She smiled up at him.

'I love you so much.' she thought. He leaned in and kissed her.

"I love you too," He told her as he got off of her.

"Go check on Wanda… she is beating herself up as well," She told him. He nodded to her before giving her one last kiss, leaving her sitting on his bed.


About 15 minutes later, all hell broke loose. Tony and Secretary Ross had shown up. They all met in a conference room and listened to all the mistakes that the Avengers had made over the past few years. It was quite upsetting to watch. And then the Accords were brought out and the ultimatum was given. Sign, or retire. Think it over. And like that, Secretary Ross was gone.

Rebecca watched in silence as they began to talk it over before they began to argue over it. She watched the lines being drawn, people choosing sides, while Steve just sat there, reading the Accords. She saw both sides of the argument.

She heard Tony argue, about how they needed to be in check before Steve started to argue with Tony. She watched as the only family she had, the only family she ever knew was starting to break up. She was going to have to choose a side and she hated that thought because she knew what side she would choose.

She watched as Steve saw something on his phone, before telling them he had to go, getting everyone's attention. She watched him go, knowing something had upset him, and she quickly followed him, everyone's eyes on her as well. She walked down the steps to see him standing at the bottom of them, emotions clear on his face.

"Steve?" she said quietly, to avoid attention. He looked at her for a second, tears in his eyes. He motioned for her to follow him as he went to her room, the closer of the two. She followed and as soon as the door closed, he pulled her into his arms and cried deeply. She held onto him, allowing him to get his emotions out. She pulled him slowly to her bed, before sitting them both down as he started to get his emotions under control.

"Peggy?" She asked. She knew that the loss of his first love was one of the few things to break him down. He gave her a weak nod as they held onto each other. She moved in and kissed his forehead, sending him a quick message.

'Talk, or do not. Whatever you need. I am here for you.' She felt him nod against her, holding onto her tightly.

In time they moved to lie on the bed, Rebecca using his shoulder as a pillow as he held her close to him. They laid there in comfortable silence as he played with her hair. She felt the playing begin to slow and then stop, as his breathing evened out. She smiled, before slipping out of bed.

She kissed his forehead before she left her room. She found the team, minus Wanda and Vision, still arguing over the Accords. They stopped when they saw her.

"Is he ok?" Natasha asked.

"Peggy died…" She told them.

"He took it hard, didn't he?" Natasha guessed. Rebecca nodded, sitting down on one of the couches, tired. "You ok?" She asked in Russian.

"Drained…" She said. "Not every day your family falls apart."

"We have not fallen apart yet," Tony tells her in Russian, sitting next to her.

"You speak Russian… how did I not know that?" Rebecca asked.

"Never came up," He said to her, still nursing his headache. "I also speak German… and boy do you curse like a sailor…" He said in German. She couldn't help but laugh at that.

"English please…" Rhodey said annoyed. She rolled her eyes.

"You think you can get Steve to sign? If anyone can do it, you can." Tony asked her, sincerely.

"Hey… who says she even wants to sign," Sam said, defending her.

"She wants to keep her family together… not signing is going to break us apart," Tony said.

"Can we stop arguing please…" She snaps, rubbing her forehead, her own headache forming. "I did not come back here for that," She told them.

"Why did you come back, kid?" Tony asked her.

"To spend some time with you," She said with a smile. He smiled back at her.

"Come here," He said pulling her into a fatherly hug.


She went back to her room after she was done talking with Tony. She found Steve still asleep in her bed. She crawled into bed, next to his warmth. His arms wrapped around her in his sleep and she smiled. It didn't take her long for her to fall asleep in his arms, something she rarely did.

When she came too, she found herself alone in her room. She quickly went to go find him. He was alone in his room, packing.

"You are leaving?" She asked.

"Funeral's tomorrow. The flight leaves in a few hours." He explained.

"I will go pack."

"No… I think I need to do this alone," He told her. She felt her heart break a little at his words.

"If that is what you want. I just figured you wanted me there… for support," she explained, turning to leave.

"Just… feels a little wrong taking you there?" Steve said honestly.

"Why?" She said turning back to face him. "Because you loved her but you moved on with me? Or do you think she would not have approved of us?" She asked.

"No, not at all. I think Peggy would have actually liked you. You don't put up with much crap. You're both quite similar in that aspect." he said with a sad smile.

"Then why?" She asked again. He sighed at that.

"I don't know…" He said honestly.

"Do you want me there?" She asked. He looked right at her.

"No. I don't want you… I need you, and that scares me a little," he admitted.

"That you need me?" She asked with a half smile.

"Yes. I need you more then I realized and I'm scared of what would happen if anything ever happened to you." He admitted to her.

"Nothing is going to happen to me," She told him.

"I thought the same thing about Bucky… Peggy, The Avengers, but now… everything is falling apart," He told her. She moved in, caressing his cheek.

"I am here for you. I am not going anywhere. We have been partners for the last ten months. That's not going to change because of some stupid piece of paper."

"You're not gonna sign, because of me?" He asked, concerned but hopeful at the same time.

"No, not because of you but because you are right. We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own." She told him. He pulled her into a quick kiss before breaking it off just as quick.

"Go pack. Wheels are up in 2 hours," he explained.


Author Note: How saw Ant-man and the Wasp this weekend? Yeah...

How you're enjoying the story? Let me know! I'm getting close to finishing this story, so updates may get a little faster once I'm done.