Rewritten 2018

Make You Feel My Love ~Book II~

Disclaimer: I do not own The Winter Soldier movie! All rights go to Marvel. All I own is my own characters and their stories.

~Chapter 19~
Make Me a Bird

The sound of the shower being turned on was heard from inside the bathroom and Maria sat down on the bed again, her hair still slightly wet. On the other bed, opposite of the one Maria was sitting on, Natasha was placed. She didn't look at Maria, in fact, it looked as though she was completely in her own world. There was a strange tension in the air between the two women, as it usually was between Maria and any other woman. She sighed, trying to make her mother's voice quieten down inside of her.

But it was hard.

The things she had done to Maria…

Maria closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She ran her hands over her face, pushing away all thoughts about her mother. As she did, the tension disappeared, and she realized that the tension had only been imagined by herself; that it only had existed in her own mind. The shower was turned off at the same time as Maria looked over at Natasha again. She remembered the conversation they had had in the car on their way to Zola and she wondered if it was what Natasha was thinking about at that moment; how she didn't know who she herself was. After all, she had never seen Natasha that much in her own thoughts and with such a gloomy expression on her face.

She noticed how Natasha was trying to dry the back of her hair with the towel and Maria shifted over to Natasha's bed. The mattress shifting under Maria's weight made Nat look over at her.

"You okay?" asked Maria quietly, causing Natasha's lips to curl into a forced smile.

"Can't reach the back," said Natasha, causing Maria to mimic her smile before she grabbed the towel from Natasha's hands, beginning to dry the remaining hair on the back for her instead. It had not at all been what Maria had meant, but she figured she couldn't exactly push the subject.

"It's very nice of you to stay with us even though we're putting you in danger," said Maria, the door to the bathroom opening and revealing Steve standing there, wearing a white, sleeveless shirt and a pair of jeans.

"What else should I do? I work for SHIELD, not Hydra," shrugged Natasha.

"Yeah…" said Maria quietly, the tension appearing again. "I just think you're very kind for doing that. No other woman would do something like that for me…"

Unless you're doing it for Steve. Maria pushed the thought away. It was childish and foolish.

"We're a team. And we're friends," said Natasha, turning her head to look at Maria.

She slowly nodded her head, avoiding eye-contact with Natasha as she did. Steve continued to watch from the doorway, a towel in his hands which he used to dry away the remaining wetness at the back of his neck.

A wondering look appeared in his eyes as he watched the way Maria interacted with Natasha and as Maria noticed this, Natasha having turned her head back around again so that Maria could continue drying her hair, she simply shook her head. Even though Maria had told Steve almost everything about what she had done in her life, she had barely spoken about her childhood. All Steve knew was that Maria's father left when she was very young and that her mother was dead. There were still some things left to tell him but, then again, there were also things in her childhood that Maria herself didn't understand. Therefore, she didn't feel obliged to tell him unless he asked, which he hadn't yet.

"You okay?" asked Steve, earning the attention from Natasha.

They hadn't spoken much since the incident with Zola, Steve and Natasha, and so, Maria stayed quiet, simply observing their conversation just like Steve had done earlier.

"Yeah," replied Natasha, too quickly for it to sound like the genuine truth. "Everyone's apparently asking me that now."

Steve and Maria shared a look before he shifted so that he was positioned on the second bed. He leaned his elbows on his knees, his blue eyes looking at Natasha carefully; "What's going on?"

Maria finished drying her hair and she slowly placed the towel on the bed, watching Natasha as she stared back into Steve's eyes, seeming to search for any indication that she couldn't trust Steve with this information. It was strange and slightly relieving that she didn't do the same to Maria. It meant that she did trust her even though the feeling wasn't completely mutual.

"When I first joined SHIELD, I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for Hydra," said Natasha, looking down at her hands. "I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."

"You didn't know," said Maria quietly, earning a nod from Steve.

"Besides… I doubt everyone was Hydra. Fury wasn't," said Steve, a soft smile playing on his lips.

"Yeah…" said Natasha quietly; "I owe you."

"It's okay," said Steve, shaking his head, the smile still there.

"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your lives – and be honest with me – would you trust me to do it?" asked Natasha quietly, her eyes shifting from Maria to Steve.

Maria looked down at her hands, the question replaying over and over in her mind. Yes, Maria had some difficulties with letting Natasha in. But then again, now that they were getting to know each other a little bit more and Maria saw that not every woman was like her mother, she was starting to trust her more and more. Perhaps, the answer would be a sincere yes soon, but at the moment, all Maria could do was nod her head.

"I would now," said Steve. "And I'm always honest."

"Well," said Natasha, a smile growing on her lips; "You seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing."

"Well, guess I just like to know who I'm fighting," said Steve, all three heroes smiling at each other.

"Everything's going to turn out alright. We've Avengers after all," said Maria; "We fought against an army of aliens."

"It's gonna be hard though," added Steve, earning a shrug from Maria to which Natasha smiled.

"Everything is tough. But nothing is impossible."

"I made breakfast," said Sam's voice, startling both Natasha and Maria while Steve seemed to already have heard him walking up to the spare room. "If you guys… eat that sort of thing."

Maria giggled as Sam walked away again, earning an amused look from Steve. The three of them stood up, following Sam to the kitchen. He gestured towards the table, the three heroes sitting down at it while Sam placed a plate of waffles in front of each hero. The table was square formed and there were exactly four chairs. Steve and Maria were sat next to each other while Natasha sat opposite of Steve. Sam later sat down in front of Maria with a plate of waffles for himself and as they ate, it was quiet. Yet, the silence wasn't awkward. It was more of a comforting silence in which the four of them simply focused on filling their empty stomachs.

"So, do superheroes listen to Spotify?" Sam's question came out of the blue and it was so random that Maria nearly choked on a piece of her waffles.

"We do, but I don't know about grandpa over here," joked Natasha, gesturing over at Steve.

"Hilarious," smiled Steve.

"Well, I love music and I've got the perfect song for this moment," added Sam, taking out his Iphone. From the Bluetooth speakers positioned on a counter in the kitchen, music started to play.

Jokingly, Sam began to move his shoulders along to the music. He locked eyes with Maria who blushed and laughed at his antics.

"I don't get it," said Natasha after a while of listening to the song he had put on loop.

We got to talking, and she began to compliment me. Said that she likes the way I sing, and perhaps she could help me. But I was caught up, in the pain behind her eyes. She said, make me a bird, I'll fly away. Beyond the comforts of the sick, sick game. I said, make me a bird, and I'll fly too. Don't care where, just want to spend some time with you. A little time with you.

"I love it," smiled Maria.

"Anyway, anyone wanna tell me what's going on?" asked Sam, the song continuing to play on loop in the background.

Maria and Natasha exchanged a look as he asked this while Steve put down his cutlery, already having finished his waffles.

"You know about SHIELD, right?" asked Steve, earning a nod from Sam.

"Yeah, they're like the FBI, just a bit more advanced, I think," he replied, causing Maria to nod her head.

"Turns out, not all of SHIELD is good," explained Steve. "There's this other organization called Hydra. They were active during the Second World War and I fought against them. I thought I had stopped them… but it turns out I hadn't. They've been infiltrating SHIELD since the beginning, growing there in silence until the day they were strong enough to take over."

"That is now?" asked Sam.

"Yeah," said Maria. "They know we're against them and so, they want us dead. Who knows how far they'll go to do that."

"So, what you're saying is that you're being hunted by the world's most dangerous organization which has been infiltrated by an even more dangerous organization?" asked Sam, causing Maria to pout her lips slightly before nodding her head.

"Basically," replied Natasha.

"Great," said Sam, running a hand over his face.

Maria finished her waffles in peace while Steve and Natasha both filled Sam in on exactly what they had been through. After all, now that the three of them were at his house, Sam was already exposed and would most certainly be in the same danger as the three of them sooner or later. Filling him in on everything and letting him help as much as he wanted to was the least they could do.

At the end, Sam sighed before standing up, walking over to the fridge and taking out some butter. Maria looked over at Steve who was looking at the loaf of bread Sam took out as well. A smirk appeared on her lips as she realized Steve was still hungry even after the large amount of waffles he had just ate and so, she stood up and joined Sam at the counter, grabbing a slice of bread for Steve. After having lived with the super soldier for a while, she knew how much food he needed and just how much he ate. After all, his metabolism was faster than others.

"The question is, though, who at SHIELD can launch a domestic missile-strike?" asked Natasha, leaning back in her chair.

"Pierce," answered Steve and Maria at the same time.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world," sighed Natasha.

Maria sat down next to Steve again, placing the slice of bread on his empty plate. He looked at it for a while before smiling over at Maria gratefully.

"Well, if Zola's algorithm existed on that USB and you guys got that from the ship, then Pierce can't be working alone," said Maria, earning a nod from Steve. "He wouldn't trust agents loyal to SHIELD to accidentally find out, right?"

"Jasper Sitwell was on there as well…" said Natasha, causing Maria to frown.

Sitwell had been the man who had helped the Avengers search for Loki back when they had all come together for the first time. It felt strange to think that even those people who had been kind and helpful were trying to kill them now. To think about how fast something could change and turn around for the worse scared Maria, though it wasn't something she wasn't familiar with.

"We'll need to interrogate him," added Maria.

"That's all well, but how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" asked Steve, looking between Maria and Natasha.

"The answer is; you don't," said Sam, walking over to them with not a piece of bread in his hands, but a brown folder. He placed it on the dining table in front of Steve, causing him to raise his eyebrows.

"What's this?" he asked, Maria looking at the folder as Natasha grabbed it.

"Call it a résumé," said Sam.

"Is this Bakhmala?" asked Natasha.

She took out a picture from the folder, looking at it with surprised eyes. Maria only grew confused at Natasha's question, not quite understanding what was going on nor what Bakhmala was.

"The Khalid Khandil missions… that was you," stated Natasha, this time looking over at Sam while Steve looked at the picture as well, grabbing it from her along with the folder. "You didn't say he was a Pararescue."

"This Riley?" asked Steve, earning a nod from Sam. Maria looked over at the picture as well, seeing Sam and another man walking down a road wearing military clothes and equipment. To know that he had been quite special in the military made Maria like him even more. He had a nice vibe around him to begin with; cool and charming. Yet, to know that he had been more than just a military man shooting at people made her respect him. Maybe, just maybe, he could be a nice recruit for the Avengers.

Though seeing as the Avengers apparently had to deal with crazy enemies such as Gods of Mischief and aliens, Maria refrained from stating this aloud, not wanting to sow the idea in Sam's mind. After all, she didn't want anyone she liked to get hurt.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use? A stealth chute?" asked Natasha, genuinely interested which caused Maria to smile softly.

"No," replied Sam simply before grabbing the folder and showing them a different picture. "These."

Maria's mouth opened slightly in amazement as she looked at the picture of a set of metallic wings strapped against Sam's back and causing him to be able to fly. Of course, they didn't work as a real bird's wings since they didn't flap around and because they ran on gas. But, they were shaped like them and probably made it possible for Sam to maneuver up in the sky.

She smiled widely at him, happy to know that they probably had a new (hero) friend on their side now.

"I thought you were a pilot?" asked Steve.

"I never said pilot," replied Sam, shaking his head.

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam," replied Steve, shaking his head. "You got out for a good reason."

"Dude, Captain America needs my help," replied Sam. "There's no better reason to get back in."

"Oh… I get it now," smiled Natasha, referring to the song still playing in the background.

"Was this part of you trying to convince us?" asked Maria with a smirk, gesturing towards the speakers.

"Maybe," smirked Sam. "But honestly, I want in. I wanna help."

Maria smiled widely as Steve looked at her for back-up. Seeing her smile only made him smile as well. "Alright then. Where can we get one of these?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade," replied Sam, taking the folder from Steve and Natasha again. "Behind three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall."

Maria shared a look with Natasha before scoffing; "No problem."

I know, I know... There's a lot of talk about Maria's mother and father at the moment and I know there's not a lot of info about them. But, I swear, they have a huge part of everything that is happening with Maria and with future things that's going to happen. During this very movie, you don't get to know much about Maria's mother or father, but the next one is going to focus more on that and therefore, I need to put hints of that in here. Just so you know or if you were wondering whether or not you had missed something! :)

The song I referred to is called Make Me a Bird by Elektrik People. It made me think of Falcon and I wanted to add it into this chapter :p