Chapter 7
By: MysticFantasy
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"A week straight of cleaning. Good thing I don't tire so easily and don't need much sleep." Steve said to himself as he finished hanging the last of the bedsheets. He'd been glad to discover that the glass containers of laundry soap were still in tact after all the years that had gone by.
During the seven days he'd been in his hide-out house, Steve had done nothing but clean. The house that had been practically grey in color from decades of dust now looked as good as new.
Floors, walls, tables, sheets and everything were scrubbed clean and repaired.
Looking at the house, Steve figured that a paint job was the only thing keeping the house from looking exactly the same as when it was first built.
But after a week of cleaning, washing and fixing things, the only thing he wanted to do right now was rest and try to clear his head.
Walking onto the porch, he sat on one of the wooden chairs and looked at the large green feild that was behind the house. The wind brushed against the grass and flew against the different colored sheets that were hanging on the clothes lines.
It was calm and quiet here. That hadn't changed and Steve was glad for it. No technology to confuse or frustrate him. Things were simple.
If only that were entirely true. The problem with the Winter Soldier was the cause of all this. Him making that sketch, showing it to Bruce, finding out there was a fifty percent match, Bruce telling the others, hearing their doubts about Steve's mental and emotional status, and finally him leaving the tower.
He couldn't be around them if they were doubting him about something he was so sure of. He never doubted them so it hurt terribly to know that they were questioning him like that.
I guess I have to do this myself. Steve thought as he got up and went inside. I know what I saw.
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"What the hell do you mean he's gone?!" Fury demanded.
"He left about a week ago without informing any of us where he was going." Natasha answered, not fazed by Fury's anger.
"Do any of you know why he left?" Fury questioned.
"No."
"Well, things just keep getting better around here." Fury remarked.
"Look, do you know of any other place that Steve might have had during the war?" Tony asked wanting to get to the point of the meeting. "We know that he had to have had some other place to stay during the war."
Fury looked at the second Stark he'd known. It was still hard trying not to see Howard in Tony or see how similar they were.
"There was a rumor about a safe house that was built for Rogers and the Howling Commando's." Fury answered with a heavy sigh as he typed on a screen. A second later, a picture appeared on the table screen.
The picture was of a two storied house and sitting or standing on the steps of the porch were none other than Steve and the Howling Commando's. The picture was taken at a close angle so that the house was the only background behind the men.
"Don't try asking me where it is." Fury said before anyone could ask. "Even I don't know where it was built. Not even Howard Stark and Peggy Carter knew where it was. Rumor was that Colonel Chester Phillips had the house built in a top secret location for Rogers and his team where they would rest during the breaks they had during the war. The house wasn't used very often but when the team had small breaks they weren't seen until they had to return to battle. It was built in such a secret location so that they could be out of the public eye. Away from people wanting interviews or any possible enemy spies that might want to try to take one or all of them out. Everything was provided for them somehow so they never had to leave the location. With the time that had gone by, Rogers is the only one who knows where it is now."
"He has to be there then." Clint said. "With a location only known by himself, Steve would have to be there. A place that's familiar."
"Well, like it said, no one knows where this house is. There's no background to get any clues from. Unless Rogers tell us where it is, there's no chance of finding this place."
"Great. We're back to square one." Tony huffed as he slouched in his seat.
Natasha continued to look at the black and white picture of Steve and his team. All of them were smiling happily. No doubt because they finally had a chance to rest without the threat of an enemy sneaking around or getting ready to destroy another weapons factory.
They were finally in a solid house where they could sleep in real beds instead of sleeping bags and tents. They could be in a dry and warm atmosphere instead of the cold and snow covered land they'd fought in.
Steve, where are you? she asked herself as she stared at his smiling face.
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Steve lightly stirred as he woke up. He looked around and saw he'd fallen asleep in the living room.
Sitting up, he lightly shook his head.
"Natasha." he whispered.
He'd dreamt about her. She'd asked where he was and why he'd taken off. Though they hadn't been together for very long, Steve couldn't help but feel his heart twist at the knowledge he had to leave Natasha without letting her know why he'd left.
Once all of this Winter Soldier business is over, I'll be able to go back to her. Steve thought to himself as he headed outside to gather the dried sheets. He quickly gathered the items and folded them before leaving them on the freshly polished dinning table.
He hadn't realized how late he had slept. The setting sun was casting it's red, orange and yellow lights through the windows.
Heading upstairs, Steve went to his room and laid across his bed.
What if I can't get this done by myself? What if I really was seeing things? What if I had thought I'd seen Bucky because I still feel guilty about what happened to him? I don't know.
Steve shut his eyes but they flew open again when he heard something downstairs. He was right away on guard as he got up and quietly made his way out of his room.
Unless it was someone who was lost, there was no way that anyone could have found this house. Everyone who had known about it's location was long gone. He's the only one who knows about it's location.
Unless Phillips had told someone where it was. But Steve knew that the colonel wouldn't let out top secret information like that.
Looking around the corner, Steve didn't see anything and quietly made his way down the stairs. His enhanced eyes taking in everything and looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary.
With great stealth, he checked every room and found that there was nothing that could have caused him such alert.
"Wind probably." he said to himself as he stood in the living room. "I am going crazy."
He turned to head back upstairs when he froze. He lightly squinted his eyes when he saw something in the distance. A small red dot.
His eyes went wide when he realized what it was but it was a second too late. Glass cracked and broke, wood chipped and sprayed all over the floor.
Steve felt his back meet the floor and he realized that he couldn't breath properly. His breaths were coming out in quick and painful puffs.
Looking down at himself, he saw various bullet wounds that had blood pouring out of them.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been lying there in pain but he soon heard heavy footsteps. A blurry figure was soon hovering above him, his face hidden behind a mask.
"Place looks good Rogers." the figure said.
Steve's eyes went wide as he recognized that voice. He forced his vision to clear as he looked up at the figure dressed in black. He tried to speak but his voice refused to work.
"Looks just like it did in the good ol' days." the figure said before leaving Steve's sight.
The super soldier heard the footsteps vanish and everything was silent.
I knew I wasn't going crazy. he thoght to himself as he used every ounce of strength he had to lift his hands. I wanted to keep this place a secret after all but I guess that can't happen.
With great effort, Steve managed to get his hand onto his watch.
Guess keeping secrets isn't one of my talents. Steve thought bitterly as he pressed the dial on his watch. The twelve numbers started to flash red.
With that done, Steve went limp and his eyes closed as his blood continued to flow from his wounds and pool around his body.
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Clint watched as Thor quietly paced around the table where they rest of the team and Fury sat. They were all waiting for any kind of clues to turn up on the whereabouts of the hidden house that Steve was most likely at.
Agents were currently trying to find the people who had built the safty house and see if any of them had let the location out.
They'd been searching for nearly an hour and nothing had turned up so far.
This is getting to be hopeless. Clint thought sadly. Just as he thought it was time to accept the fact that Steve would return on his own will, a sudden alert caused his head to snap up.
Screens popped up with alerts flashing and a few were giving coordinate locations on a satalite map.
"Where the hell is that?" Clint asked standing.
"It's a few isolated hills just a few miles out of the city." Fury answered.
"That's where Steve is!" Tony exclaimed. "That's the signal from the tracer in his watch."
"I thought he didn't have anything that could be traced?" Bruce questioned.
"I had to make it out of old tech since I built it into his watch." Tony quickly explained. "If it's going off then something isn't right."
Natasha's eyes went wide as she realized what this meant.
"He's in trouble!"
"Get out to that location now!" Fury ordered.