In the Still of the Night
Chapter Eight: Almost Like Being in Love
Steve and Vera continued dating, learning and liking more and more about each other with every moment they spent together. They bonded quickly, fanning the spark they had discovered between them and discovering much about each other. Steve showed Vera many places around D.C. that he thought she would like – dance clubs, restaurants, parks – and he was always right about her liking them. Though she had lived in D.C. for a few years too, Vera had told him that she hardly ever leaves the museum so Steve took it upon himself to show her a good time. They had very similar interests, which Steve figured came from her liking the 1940s and Steve actually living during that time.
There were some things they still kept from each other, mainly about their past histories, because despite their closeness they both still had secrets they were not keen on revealing just yet. Vera had told Steve quite a bit about her mother, but she seldom spoke about her father. She hardly divulged stories that went too far back in her childhood; Steve figured (and hoped) it was just because her past was hard for her to talk about, and not because she was afraid of telling him or something. In fact, they kept the fact that they were dating on the down low because they both decided they did not want their friends and loved ones to make a big deal about them. They wanted to go at their own pace with each other and not have to worry about holding up to everybody else's standards. Steve was glad that Vera agreed with this; the less people that knew about him dating a girl he was serious about, the better because he did not want the wrong kind of people knowing that she was close to him and could be used to get to him. The only exception to their rules of secrecy were Sam, of course, and Vera's best friend Monica, who Steve had met a few times and seemed like a nice girl.
Keeping his secret was beginning to take a toll on Steve; his guilt increased every time he was called away for a mission or made up some lie about what his real job was. All he had told her was that he used to be in the military and now worked for the government, but beyond that she hardly knew a thing about his line of work. Sure, they had only been dating for a few months but Steve was getting tired of lying to her. But every time he thought about telling her, he was afraid of her potential reaction: Would she find his whole situation to be too weird and want to back out? Would she be angry at him for lying to her this whole time? Or would she even believe him when he told her about the Super Serum and fighting in World War II? Of all the possible scenarios Steve imagined in his head, very few of them ended well.
Because of his uncertainty, Steve decided to consult the one person who he trusted and knew well enough to give him relationship advice.
"Hey, Sam, you got a minute?"
Sam, who was in the bathroom brushing his teeth, nodded as he spit out toothpaste into the sink. "What's up, Cap?"
Steve paused, leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom and taking in a breath. "When do you think is the right time to tell a girl you've been dating for months that you're a genetically-enhanced superhero who was born over ninety years ago and got frozen during World War II and was defrosted and now works as a secret government agent?"
Sam merely laughed in response, wiping his mouth on a towel. "Man, Steve. Sometimes I forget just how screwed up your life is."
"I'm serious, Sam," Steve said urgently. "I'm tired of lying to Vera. I want her to know everything about me."
"Steve," Sam said firmly, turning to face him. "You've got to be absolutely sure that you can trust this girl. If you tell her your secret and she's secretly working for HYDRA or something, then we'll all be in deep shit."
"I know. But I've gotten to know her pretty well over these past few months and she doesn't seem like a trained assassin or spy."
"Well, if you're sure..."
"I am. I just...I don't know how to tell her without scaring her off," Steve admitted.
"Look, man, don't you think that if she's the right girl for you then she won't get scared off by that? Because you deserve to end up with someone who knows all your secrets and still accepts you for who you are."
Steve considered this. If he were to settle down with someone then that person should probably know every aspect of Steve's life. Not that he was considering proposing to Vera or anything; but once or twice the thought did cross his mind that maybe she was the one he could marry somewhere down the road...
His silence was broken by Sam asking one question he didn't really know how to answer: "Do you love her?"
Steve thought about it. He liked her a lot and loved spending time with her. She was sweet, charming, funny, and an overall good person with morals. But Steve couldn't help but think back to his first love...Peggy...and how he felt about her. He knew that was love; he could feel it in his very soul that he loved her. But with Vera, there was something different in his heart toward her...He felt like it could be love, but perhaps there was something blocking her way into his heart: fear? Insecurity? ...Deception?
"I...I want to say yes," Steve finally answered. "I really do. But I don't know yet if I can let myself love her if she doesn't accept me for who I am."
Sam took a step toward Steve and clapped him on the shoulder. "Well then, there's your answer."
Sam sidled past Steve to go into the hallway, leaving Steve in the bathroom doorway thinking about what he just said. If the only thing stopping Steve from admitting he loves Vera is his uncertainty about if she will accept him or not, then he needs to find out what is in her heart too.
"I'll tell her," Steve concluded, following Sam into the living room. "I'm just going to tell her. I need to know if she'll be scared off by my situation or not. Then I'll know if I love her."
Sam smiled genuinely. "She won't be scared off. I know it, Steve."
Steve smiled back. "Thanks, Sam."
"Although," Sam continued deviously, "she might get scared off by the fact that you have Super Genetics...and then she'll begin to ask questions about just how enhanced that serum made you..."
"Sam!" Steve spluttered. "I...We've barely even gone beyond kissing, she's not thinking of...No."
"Are you sure? Because at this stage in a relationship –"
"No, Sam," Steve said firmly. "She's the one who said we should take it slow, so we are. Case closed."
Sam threw up his hands to show he had given up. "Alright, alright, Lover Boy. I'm just teasin' ya."
"Yeah and it's really appreciated over here."
"Don't be so sensitive, friends are allowed to make fun of other friends."
"Oh really? That's good to know, Bird Brain."
"Man, you leave the Falcon out of this!" Sam shot back, huffing. "By the way, out of curiosity: when are you planning on telling her your super secret?"
Steve thought about it. "I'm taking her out tomorrow night...So I guess that's when I'll tell her."
"You better start praying between now and then, Cap. You're gonna need it."
"I thought you said you were sure she'd be okay with it!"
"I did," Sam grinned. "But you're gonna need God's help to muster up enough courage to even tell her."
Steve hadn't thought of that. "Damn it," he swore under his breath, ignoring Sam's derisive laughter.
Natasha had figured that after all these hours of trying to figure out the identity of the SHIELD archive hacker, she would have gotten somewhere. It was becoming increasingly difficult to get any information on the hacker because he was damn good at covering his tracks, whoever he was. But Natasha was getting there...slowly but surely.
She was currently sitting outside at a quiet little café in D.C. There were few people walking around in the shopping plaza this late in the evening, and even fewer were sitting around her in the café because fall was rolling around and it was starting to get cold at night. Natasha didn't mind the cold, though; if anything, the frigid air kept her focused and alert.
She typed away at her laptop, not bothering to hide what she was working on since there was hardly anyone around. She brought up files, data access histories, and a multitude of other information to give her any clues on who this hacker was and why they tried breaching SHIELD's archives. Then she brought up a file on the location of the host computer's location: she had gotten the coordinates for a computer within the Smithsonian. But as Natasha looked into the file, she noticed something was off: that was just one of the coordinates listed for the host computer's location. She dug into it more and suddenly an entire list of coordinates popped up. She looked up some of the coordinates using SHIELD global records: the coordinates stretched all over the world. Some were local and came from within the state; some were as far away as Nepal and China and Australia.
So there were multiple computers hacking the SHIELD archives, not just the one in the Smithsonian, that was just the first one listed...and they all hacked the archives at the same exact time. This was something planned on a global scale, not just some random person trying to get information on an old case or something. This was an organized group of people trying to get restricted information from a government agency. Natasha started to get worried; the more she looked into this case, the bigger and more complicated it got.
I have to find the identity of this group, she told herself. But I don't know where to start...She brought up the location of the first pair of coordinates again: the Smithsonian. Well, I have to start somewhere.
She hacked her way into the Smithsonian's database and tried searching for anything fishy on any of their many computers. After searching for a while, she did find one file on an archival computer that was odd: it was unnamed and restricted. She brought the file up and tricked her way past the Smithsonian faculty password, leading her to a file within the file that required a password...from SHIELD. That's odd, Natasha thought. What involvement does SHIELD have with a museum?
She used her SHIELD password on the file, but nothing happened. It didn't let her into the file. She tried hacking her way through but to no avail. This was a heavily guarded file, and she knew there was no way past it at this point. But I wonder if there's someone who works for the museum who can get past it...
Natasha brought up the Smithsonian's staff records and cross-referenced them with current or former SHIELD members. No matches. Alright...I guess they're making me do this the hard way. She brought up SHIELD's database of members, where one can search for an employee based on practically anything, from what division they worked in to the color of their eyes. So in the "current whereabouts" search box, Natasha typed in 'museum' and several matches came up. Then she narrowed it down to just the Smithsonian, and...no matches.
Natasha sighed irritably, leaning back in her chair. Fine, she thought, coming up with a different solution. Perhaps I should have a talk with one of your staff members.
She brought the list of Smithsonian staff members again and scanned it for names. The first name she saw that had "curator" listed as their position, she wrote down on a scrap of paper. She looked at the name scribbled on the little paper. I sincerely hope you don't lie to me when I interrogate you, she thought to herself, for your sake.
She closed her laptop, stuck the piece of paper with the name on it in her pocket, and started walking to her car. Vera Rochester, Natasha thought, I'm going to pay you a visit tomorrow.