Now that the website is back. It feels good to update, an of course I like to read fics

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That night, Steve laid on his back in his bed. His hands laced behind his head as he stares up at the ceiling. His phone vibrated and he turns to pick it up, looking at the caller id. He quickly sat up as he stares at Trista's text.

She was just outside.

Steve quickly got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom and towards his front door. He opens the door as far as the door chain would go, finding Trista in the hallway, he closed the door to unlock the chain and pulled the door all the way open.

"I can watch through time while I'm in the Time Space." She explained. Steve quickly enveloped her in a tight hug.

"I missed you." He breathed into the side of her neck. He pulls her into his apartment and closes the door behind them.

XxXxXxXx

The following day. Steve and Michelle walked down pristine halls, then comes to a halt outside a room of a room, Michelle sees people are mostly sitting and she recognized one easily. Sam stood in front of the group, leaning on a podium that he stood behind, his arms are braced on the side as he leans his weight on it with his hands clasped together.

As Steve leaned on the doorframe of the room, Michelle moved to look for the bathroom and disappeared around the corner, after some time she returns to see the group had disbanded and Steve and Sam now talking.

"Hello, hello." Sam greeted warmly as Michelle approaches Steve's side.

"Sam Wilson, Michelle Kaioh, Michelle, this is Sam." Steve introduced the two.

"Hi." Michelle continues to smile.

"Hello." Sam nods, then looks at Steve. "What brings you here?"

"We showed up at the end." Michelle explained in an apologetic tone. "Sorry about that."

"It's ok."

"You lose someone?" Steve asked, and Sam nodded with a somber look in his eyes.

"Yeah. My wingman, Riley. Flying a night mission - standard PJ rescue op. It wasn't anything we hadn't done a thousand times before, till RPG knocked Riley's dumbass out of the sky." Sam explained. "There wasn't anything I could do. Felt like I was just up there to watch."

"I know the feeling of loss." Michelle said sadly, and Sam looks at her. "My cousin, she was killed by the enemy and all I could do was just watch, cause I was restrained just like my friends during that time."

Steve wrapped his arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side.

"I'm sorry for your pain." Sam told her sincerely.

"Thank you. I'm sorry about your friend."

"Thanks. Guilt, loss, regrets." Sam paused. "We got them all." He gives a somber smile. "After that, I just had a hard time finding a reason to be there, ya know?"

"After Amara was killed, I blamed everybody." Michelle continued. "And I was so harsh too."

"That's apart of the grieving affects too." Sam said. "Say things you don't mean, that falls under the regret. And everybody handles grief differently."

"But you're happy now, back in the world?" Steve asked.

Sam smiles as he motioned around them. "Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to zero. Hell yeah, I am. You thinking of getting out?" He asks Steve.

Steve was silent for a few moments as he thinks about the question. "No." He pauses for a few more minutes. "I don't know." He gives a mild chuckle. "I'm not sure what I'd do with myself if I did." He admits.

"How about ultimate fighting?" Sam asks.

"Ultimate fighting?" Michelle repeated, confused.

"It's just a great idea off the top of my head." Sam continued with a shrug. "Seriously though." He pauses for a brief moment. "You could do whatever you want to. Just gotta figure out what makes you happy."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

That night, the two made their way back to the apartment complex in a comfortable silence. "Thanks for the company today." Steve said as they made it to their floor.

"You're welcome, and you needed a friend. A real friend."

They continued on down the hall, and pauses when they hear music coming from Steve's apartment.

"Are you expecting company?" Michelle asked. Steve turns towards his door, halfway tucking her behind him as he unlocked his door and they crept inside.

Music floated out in the apartment as Steve took Michelle's hand and kept her tucked behind him. She closed the door silently and the two waited for bit. Steve led them around a corner to where the music is coming from. Finding Director Nick Fury leaning in a chair in the corner with the lights off.

Steve and Michelle relaxed. "I gave my spare key to Trista to my apartment." Steve simply said.

"You think I'd really need one?" Fury asked as he moved himself upright in the chair, bracing one hand on his knee, his other hand holding his cell phone. "My wife kicked me out."

"Didn't know you were married." Steve responded, leaning against the wall beside him with his arms folded.

More movement is heard. "Steve?" Trista asked as she approaches.

Both Steve and Michelle turn sharply at her voice, their eyes growing as she's in the same shape as Fury.

Steve quickly hurries over to her, enveloping her in his arms. "Are you ok?" He asked with a whisper, he felt her nod against his chest, he kissed her forehead.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." Fury said, causing Steve to turn around with Trista still in his protective arms.

"Yeah, I know, Nick. That's the problem." He move to turn the light on, showing off how bad Fury's poor condition looked like. Michelle inhaled sharply, then quickly put both hands over her mouth when Fury shook his head, silently telling them to play along. Fury then reached for the lamp next to him to turn the light back off, he types something on his phone before it out for them to see.

"Ears everywhere."

Fury then pulls his phone back, erasing that message to type something new. "Sorry to crash in like this and ruin the night with your girl. But I had no one else to come to." He shows the screen to them again with a new message.

"SHIELD compromised."

Steve and Michelle look at each other as Steve helps Trista to a chair, Steve turns his attention back to Fury. "Who else knows about your wife?" He asks as Trista hugs his arm tightly for comfort.

Fury removes the last text to put in something new.

"Just the four of us."

"Just … my friends." He said as he pushes himself out of the chair he's in.

Steve eyes him as he approaches. "That what we are?" He asks.

"It's up to you."

"What happened to Trista?" Steve questioned, before gunshots rang out, shooting through the wall, all aimed at Fury. All the bullets hit their mark rapidly and he fell to the floor as smoke and dusk settled around the room.

"Director!" Michelle gasped, rushing over to him as Steve dashes for the window and peering out to try to see the assailant. Not seeing anyone, he turns his attention back to Fury and the girls. Not waiting, Steve motions his head to the other room, once the girls move Steve grabs Fury and quickly dragged him into the same room.

Steve lowers Fury to the floor., then turns to Trista. "Trista!" He gently cups her face as he looks her over for any injury.

"I'm ok." She insists, her hands on the inside of his elbows.

"Good." Steve kissed her cheek before he starts to leave, but Fury reached up to snag his arm, pulling him down and pushed a flash drive into his hand.

"D - don't … don't trust anyone." Fury warns, his hand falling back down at his side once he handed the flash drive off, a second later he falls unconscious.

"Director." Michelle pulls out a radio from her pocket. "Agent Kaioh to base, the director is down, we have personal on sight, he's unresponsive. I'm calling for EMT's."

Without warning, more gunshots slam through the apartment, smashing the window across from them, Trista let out a scream as she fell off the chair she's in and landed hard on the floor.

"No!" Steve cried, reaching for her and pulling her into his arms protectively.

"Trista!" Michelle cried, quickly crawling to her oldest friend.

"Do you have a twenty on the shooter?" The response came through the radio, Steve kissed Trista's forehead and gently lowered her to the floor before he rose back to his feet and turns to the window. A dark figure lurked outside on the roof next door. Once he was seen the figure turned and ran.

Steve snatches the radio from Michelle's hand. "This is Captain America! I'm in pursuit!" He gives the radio back to Michelle before he grabs his shield and takes off after the assailant.