AN: Just a quick note. I'm moving and starting grad school soon so updates for all my stories may take some time. I'll be busy so I won't be updating as frequently as I have been. As for this story... I think maybe 3 ish more chapters and then we'll get into the movie... Thanks to those who reviewed/favorited/ect. Please review! I hope you enjoy.
I own nothing.
Chapter Five:
Steve had been punching the punching bag for what only felt like a few minutes. In all actuality, the sun had started to peek over the horizon when Steve finally called it quits. He unwrapped his hands, placing the wrappings into his gym bag. He took a towel from the bag and wiped the sweat from his face. His dream had been about Bucky. No one had gone back to retrieve the fallen soldier's body; at least to Steve's knowledge they hadn't. That thought haunted him more than the fact that his friend was dead. Bucky was ready and willing to sacrifice everything for the war effort; and he had. He deserved a proper soldier's funeral. But, without a body, there certainly had to be a closed casket funeral. Bucky's body was never properly laid to rest.
Steve had tried and tried to locate some member of Bucky's family ever since he had awakened. He needed some closure. Maybe on of Bucky's family members could shed some light on Bucky's fate. Maybe then Steve could sleep a little easier. The thought of his friend's body, frozen and lost in the mountains of Europe, that thought was almost too much to bear. But, Bucky hadn't been married, so he had no wife of children to look for. His parents would have been long passed. Steve knew his friend had a younger brother, but the brothers were so far separated in age, Steve had never really met the younger sibling and couldn't remember his name.
So, as much as it pained Steve, he had to let go of Bucky for the time being. Ever since the soldier had made this revelation, his friend had frequented his nightmares. So, Steve changed his focus to Peggy. This only made things worse. He was burdened with an overwhelming sense of guilt. When he had promised her to make their date, he knew he wasn't going to make it. But, the captain had still clung to the faintest ray of hope. As the plane sped toward the icy water below, Steve had hoped that somehow, someway, he would survive and fulfill his promise to Peggy.
He had survived. But he hadn't been able to make their date. Steve didn't know anything about Peggy's family, as so discovering her fate was even harder than discovering Bucky's. Steve knew she had been born in Britain, that was about it. What became of her after the war? Did she mourn for him? Surely she did. Steve was almost positive that she had had feelings for him as well.
Steve swung his bag over his shoulder and ran a hand through his sweat drenched hair. He knew he needed to stop dwelling on his friends. They were gone. He had to move on. Feeling sorry for them and himself wasn't going to change anything about his current situation. The only thing Steve could do was move forward. He would have to start taking Waverly's advice. The super soldier suddenly felt guilty that he had snapped at the girl and stormed out of the apartment. She was just trying to help him. Steve decided that he would make a nice breakfast for her to make up for his rudeness. After a shower of course; no one wanted sweat soaked pancakes.
Steve's plans for breakfast were thrown out the window upon his return to the apartment. Waverly was awake and was milling about the apartment. Her hair was still a disheveled mess, suggesting she had just gotten out of bed. The girl had her phone pressed to her ear. Steve could tell she had been crying, but right now, she was thrashing her arms about, yelling into the phone. Waverly was pacing between the living room and kitchen and took no notice of Steve as he entered the apartment and dropped his gym bag.
"I told you, this is my job! I'm sorry but I'm not at liberty to discuss it. Why?! Because I have orders from my boss. You knew when we started dating that my work was classified."
One of Steve's eyebrows slid up his forehead in confusion. He only heard half of the conversation, but he could surmise that Waverly was on the phone with her boyfriend and they were having a rather heated discussion.
Waverly's tone changed and she dropped onto the couch, still unaware that her conversation was no longer private. "You can't come over." A pained expression crossed her face. "I told you," her voice wavered as if she was about to cry again, "I can't. Not now. This is my job." The sadness vanished in a second. Steve could hear yelling coming from Waverly's boyfriend on the other line, but the words were garbled and Steve couldn't understand what he was saying. Whatever it was, it must have enraged Waverly because she stood up in a huff, face red and eyes blazing. "You what? I can't believe you Riley! No. No, you can't come up – " Waverly stopped abruptly and dropped her phone on the couch. She finally noticed Steve in the doorway.
"Oh god," she mumbled, face turning an ever deeper shade of red.
"What's going on?" Steve asked. He watched as Waverly rushed to the window, looked out it, and then hurried over to the front door. She brushed past Steve and quickly shut the door, sliding the chain lock into place.
"Waverly?" Steve was concerned now. As the girl moved to pass him again, he grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him. "What is going on?"
"My boyfriend is here," she said as if that cleared up the situation.
"What's the problem?" Steve wondered.
"Fury is insane." Ah, yes, that made everything make sense. Not.
Steve sighed and half dragged, half carried Waverly to the couch. He gently forced her to sit down. "I am completely lost. What has you all upset?"
Waverly sighed and fidgeted in her seat. "This assignment is top secret," Waverly said. "Fury doesn't want anybody to know that you're here. He's fine with you going out in public under the pretense that you're just a normal guy. The only people that are allowed to come here are SHIELD agents and anybody that may have a tie to you."
Steve looked at Waverly with confusion written all over his face. "Um, so, what exactly is wrong with your boyfriend being here?"
Waverly sighed again. "He knows I moved here for work. He doesn't know that work means living with you." Steve suddenly understood, but by the look on Waverly's face, there was more to it. He urged her on with a look. "If anyone unauthorized comes here and finds out you're you… well first off, I'll be fired."
"Why does Fury want to keep me a secret?" Steve asked.
Waverly opened her mouth to answer but a pounding at the door cut her off. She looked wide eyed at the door, her face paling.
"Waverly! Open up!"
Steve looked away from the door and back to the young agent. In a low voice, he whispered, "If no one is supposed to know about your assignment, how does he know where you live."
"He saw us at the mall yesterday," Waverly whispered back. "He followed us back here."
Steve did not like that answer.
"Waverly!" The voice, presumably Riley's yelled. "I know you're in there!"
Waverly took a breath before she stood up and walked over to the door. Steve remained on the couch. Adrenalin pounded in his ears and he felt his hands ball into fists. He watched as Waverly opened the door, but left the chain locked. Through the crack, he saw a man standing nearly as tall as he did, with muscles almost as big. His head was topped with a buzz cut and his face was red with anger.
"Look, Riley," Waverly said, keeping most of her body behind the door. "I don't want to talk to you right now. You following me here was way out of line."
Riley ignored her and tried to push the door open further. "This is your job, huh? Who was that guy you were with?"
"My colleague," Waverly answered.
Riley's eyes took in Waverly's disheveled appearance and the fact that she was still clothed in flannel pajama pants and a tank top. Then, his deep blue eyes landed on Steve sitting in the couch. "Colleague? You're sleeping with your colleague?"
"No!" Waverly said, stepping away from the door and planting her hands on her hips. "God, what do you think I am? Some kind of slut?"
"You tell me," Riley countered. He wedged his arm into the crack of the door and gestured at Steve. "He's right there, covered in sweat. What do you expect me to think?"
"I expect you to trust me," Waverly snapped.
Steve rose from the couch. He had no intent to get involved, just to forcibly remove Riley from his home if necessary.
Apparently, Steve standing only infuriated Riley further. He pushed on the door until it sagged on its hinges and hung limply to the side. Riley stepped further into the room and before Waverly could back away, he grabbed her by the arm and held her in place.
"Who is he, then?" Riley yelled, shaking Waverly with every word.
"I work with him. We live together out of convenience," Waverly answered, her voice wavering with each shake Riley gave her.
Steve could tell these were answer that Fury had prepared for her, should an occasion such as the one at hand arise. Waverly may have been a SHILED agent, but she was not as skillful as some of SHILED's trained negotiators and spies. Her scripted answers were not placating the enraged mane.
"Convenience my ass," Riley spat. He pushed Waverly backward and made to leave. But, before he made his exit, Riley spun back around and slapped Waverly across the face. The girl gave a weak scream and fell to the floor, clutching her face. "See if you cheat on someone again, you whore." Riley stalked out into the hall and slammed the broken door shut behind him.
Steve was gone in a flash. He ripped the broken door back open and followed Riley out into the hall. The man was moving quickly, so Steve jogged to catch up with him just as he entered the parking garage attached to the apartment complex. Riley was about to slid into his expensive looking sports car when Steve stopped him.
"Hey!"
Riley whipped his head around and spotted Steve. "You had better back off before I lay into you too, pretty boy."
Steve reached Riley and before the smaller man could shut himself into his car, Steve ripped the metal door from its hinge. "I don't think we've met," Steve said, his voice low. "I'm Waverly's coworker; Steve."
Riley gaped from his broken door to Steve. His moment of shock gone, Riley regained his cockiness. "I am going to sue your ass, buddy."
Steve picked Riley up by the collar of his shirt. "You gonna stop making a fool of yourself, son?"
Riley gurgled out an incomprehensible answer.
Steve pulled the man's face closer to his own. "I don't like bullies; especially big cowards like you who hurt women. You ever come around my apartment again, you ever damage my stuff, you ever hit her again, your car door won't be the only thing I tear apart." Steve unceremoniously shoved Riley into the car. He wedged the door back, giving it a kick to jam it into place. Steve gave the pathetic man one last glare before he stalked back into the apartment building.
When Steve made it back to the apartment, he heard running water which barely muffled the sound of tears. The soldier stepped over the broken door and found Waverly hunched over the kitchen sink. She held a damp rag to the cheek that Riley had hit. Her tears fell into the sink, squeezed out from between closed eyelids.
Steve put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped and turned. "It's okay," Steve said, holding up his hands. "It's only me."
Waverly's face was red underneath the rag, and Steve could see the edge of a handprint under the girl's eye. She turned away from him and hung her head in a mix of shame and embarrassment. "You shouldn't have gone after him," she mumbled.
Reaching across Waverly, Steve shut off the tap. He gently tugged the rag away from Waverly and crossed to the freezer. He took out a few ice cubes and placed them in the folds of the rag before handing the cloth back to the girl. "He shouldn't have hit you."
Waverly sniffed and wiped away a fat tear on her already swelling cheek. She gingerly placed the rag back over her cheek with a wince. She let Steve led her to the couch, but didn't meet his eyes.
"Has he hit you before?" Steve asked.
Waverly shook her head. "He's shoved me. Never hit."
Steve stomach churned with a mix of anger. He was mad at Riley for treating Waverly like he did; men should never lay a hand on a woman, especially out of anger. But the captain was also mad at Waverly for not removing herself from a potentially dangerous situation. There was also something else nagging him, but he was too riled up from the current situation to place a name to the feeling.
"What did you do to him?" Waverly asked quietly.
Steve raised an eyebrow. "You're worried I hurt him?"
"No," Waverly sniffled, shaking her head. "I just… You didn't have to go after him. It's my problem, not yours."
"I put him in his place," Steve answered. Then, in a softer voice, he added, "You're doing so much to help me. The least I can do is defend your honor."
Waverly made a noise that sounded like a mix between a huff of laughter and a sob. She then hiccupped and brushed the remaining tears from her eyes. "You're so old fashioned, Steve." Her face finally tilted up and she met Steve's gaze. "Thank you."
