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Description

The Captain America shield fit perfectly in your hand as you made your way through the Avengers Headquarters. You were making good progress, knowing exactly where you were headed, until the lights suddenly dimmed, making it impossible for you to see what was left of right. Your breath caught in your throat when you heard screams coming from your right. You swallowed hard. Were you already too late?

    Going even faster than you had before, you ran towards the living room on the other side of the hall. While you were running, the lights turned back on, giving you a view of the agents stationed just outside of the locked living room. Even though you didn’t think you had made any sound, the agents turned around to face you, their hands already on the guns stuck to their belts.

    You were just in time to pull up Steve’s shield before they opened fire on you. The clanging of bullets hitting the strong vibranium echoed against the walls. Within moments their guns were empty, giving you the opportunity to get the upper hand. With a fast throw, you launched the shield at the men reloading their guns. Before you could even blink, they were already on the floor, groaning loudly.

    The shield came flying back and just like the first time you had thrown it, you were only barely able to stay on your feet when you caught it. The air was slammed from your lungs, but you didn’t have time to rest. Luckily the agents were still on their backs, not showing any progress with getting back up. You walked up to them and took the guns from their hands, which conveniently had been reloaded for you.

    “Take a look outside,” you could hear from inside the living room.

    You quickly hid behind the door. In one hand you still held Steve’s shield, feeling the cold vibranium warm up to your touch, while the other was now firmly wrapped around a loaded gun. You waited until the door cracked open before you made your move. Again you found yourself face to face with a surprised Hydra agent on the other side of a door.

    “What the–” the agent started, but you didn’t let her finish. You had no idea what had happened inside that room when the lights had gone out. You could only hope there was still time; that you weren’t too late.

    With a strong kick, you slammed the door into the woman’s face, knocking her back. Without wasting any more time, you pulled the door open further. Your eyes darted around the room in those first seconds, assessing the situation like your FBI training required.

    In the back of the room on the right, Emma and Heather and the other girls were huddled together in the corner, guns pointed at their heads. On the other side, a cameraman and reporter from CNN were also held at gunpoint to keep the camera pointed at Steve. The super soldier himself was tied up to a chair in the middle of the room. All around him, but out of sight from the camera, there were Hydra agents, who seemed more than willing to be the one to kill him.

    From the corner of your eyes, you could see the agents on your either sides, reaching for their guns as you walked into the room. You quickly ducked behind the vibranium shield, preventing them from killing you on the spot. The vibrations of the bullets hitting the metal shook your arm. It startled you for a moment, thinking you’d be dead twice over now if you hadn’t gotten the shield from Steve’s room. You shook those thoughts from your mind, knowing you didn’t have time to think about that. Or about anything really. If you weren’t fast enough, they could still kill Steve.

    When the fire had stopped, you closed your hand even tighter around the handle of the shield and shot at the agents around you with your stolen gun, before throwing the shield to the back of the room to knock down the men near the girls. You watched as it flew through the room. At the same time, you fired a few more shots, shooting down the man and woman on your right. As the shield knocked down some of the Hydra agents on the other side of the room and the girls started screaming again, Steve yelled your name.

    “[Name], behind you!”

    For you, everything seemed to go in slow motion. As you turned around, your gaze passed the super soldier for only a second. Though, in that second you could see the anger in his eyes softening into determination. He tugged at the ropes that tied him to the chair, but even with this superhuman strength, they didn’t budge. You would have stared into those blue eyes flecked with green for hours if it weren’t for the Hydra agents that were planning on killing Steve.

    The agent now in front of you, seemed more than happy to kill you as well.

    When time seemed to return to normal, you were just in time to duck when the woman before you fired her gun and Steve’s shield came flying back. The look of surprise on her face as the circular piece of vibranium knocked her in the teeth, was almost amusing. She grunted as she fell backward and slumped against the wall.

    As you collected the shield from the ground, chaos had erupted in the living room. The cameraman – in a moment of courage – had slammed his shoulder into the stomach of the agent holding a gun to his head. The other agent had fired at him without hesitation and now the female reporter was sobbing uncontrollably as she held her dying partner in her arms. On the other side of the room, the agents near Emma and Heather and the other girls had gotten themselves from the floor and were pushing them towards Steve and in line with the camera. All the while your boss had observed everything with silent amusement. Nick, on the other hand, looked terrified.

    “Well, well,” your boss said, nodding at the Hydra agents around him to continue whatever plan they had set into motion. “Isn’t this surprising…”

    You swallowed hard, your gaze passing between your boss, Nick and the super soldier on the other side of you. They all watched you in anticipation, but all for a different reason. You could feel your heart beating violently in your chest, your knuckles turning whiter the harder you squeezed your hand around Steve’s shield.

    “I can’t let you do this, Robert,” you managed to say, the gun in your other hand feeling heavier and heavier.

    “Is that so?” he smiled. “Well, while it would be amusing to watch you try to stop me, I’m afraid I’ve been stalling the captain’s fate for too long.” He got his own gun from the back of his pants and turned to Nick. “I’ll let you deal with her like I told you to do two hours ago,” he told him, the look in his eyes telling you that Robert wouldn’t give Nick a third chance.

    “What?” Nick asked surprised, looking up at you with doubt and sorrow flashing through his eyes. “But I thought…”

    “You heard me,” Robert said, walking up to Steve as he clicked the safety from his gun. “Kill her.”

    You followed your boss with your eyes as he nonchalantly walked over to the super soldier and the girls. Even though you didn’t want to hurt Nick – let alone kill him – you didn’t know if he would give you any other choice. He was already getting the gun from his belt.

    “You do have a choice, Nick,” you said, though it came out as only a whisper. Robert had already pointed his gun at Steve and if you didn’t act fast, it wasn’t only Steve that was going to die. It forced you to do the same and point your stolen gun at Nick. “Don’t make me do this…”

    He nodded, keeping your gaze as he swallowed hard and pointed his gun up. “Please forgive me, [Name],” he whispered back, his eyes filled with sorrow and some other thing you couldn’t place. At least not at the time. “All I ever wanted, was to be your hero…”

    Before you could even understand what he was saying, or respond, he clicked the safety from his gun. The sound of a gunshot echoed through the room, followed by the screaming of the girls around Steve. Only when a second gunshot reached your ears and then a third, you started to realize what was going on.

    “[Name]!” Steve cried out again, when Nick fell on his knees before you, blood gushing from two bullet wounds in his chest. As you turned your head towards the super soldier, you could see Robert lying face first in a pool of his own blood as well, a look of surprise still filling his brown orbs.

    You were so distracted by what had happened – Nick had shot Robert instead of you and his fellow agents had shot him in return – that you didn’t notice what was going on around you. It wasn’t until another gunshot went off next to you, that you were awoken from your thoughts. A sharp pain nested in your side and you cried out in pain, falling to the ground. You were only just in time to pull up Steve’s shield when more gunshots filled your ears, your hands shaking from the pain and shock of what had just happened. What Nick had said to you; what he had done for you.

    You didn’t even dare to look into his eyes now that the light had left them. Repeating his words in your head, you could feel tears stinging in your eyes and anger flowing through your veins. The pain slowly dulled to a nagging thought in the back of your head. You might not have been able to save Nick, but there was still hope for the rest of the people in the room.

    You pushed yourself from your place on the ground and threw the shield towards the agents that had killed Nick and had fired at you. The circular piece of vibranium knocked them all down quickly. You had already started running towards Steve and the girls when it came flying back to you.

    “Cut him loose,” you yelled at Rebecca, throwing her the small knife you always carried with you in your boot in case of an emergency. Just as Rebecca caught your knife, you did the same with Steve’s shield, immediately throwing it towards the agents on the other side near the camera. Gunshots echoed against the walls as you shot the remaining agents down, making sure not to kill them. You needed to get them out of the way for now, but wanted to talk to them when this was over. They might be the only ones left to explain to you what exactly had been going on the whole time. Explain to you who Nick had really been.

    When the Captain America shield came flying back, it wasn’t you who caught it from the air, but the super soldier himself. It felt good to have him by your side again to fight the last Hydra agents that still even dared to come near you. With Steve helping you, it only took several minutes to get every agent down on the ground, remove their guns from their hands and tie them down so they wouldn’t be able to escape. Just when you were finished, the real FBI finally showed up as well.

    They busted through the doors, guns in their hands, yelling all kinds of orders to everyone in the room. It didn’t take them long, however, to realize you and Steve had already done their job for them. Each and every Hydra agent was either dead or down. They seemed surprised for a moment, though soon saw the bodies lying on the floor and started the other part of their work: cleaning up.

    Your heart was still pounding against the inside of your ribcage and it didn’t stop until two clear, white body bags were wheeled out of the room on stretchers. Steve was talking to the FBI agents – your colleagues – a few feet away from you, but you could feel his gaze on your back as you stood in the middle of the room, staring at those body bags. You swallowed hard, watching the medics until they had disappeared from view. No matter what Nick had done in the past, or what you had thought or said about him, he had become what he had wanted to be: your hero.

    Your stomach turned as you realized everything he had done on this mission was to protect you. The only relief you had, was that everything would be finally over. You didn’t even notice Steve standing beside you as you mind was going in circles. Once you truly realized your mission was over and you didn’t have to be on your guard anymore 24/7, the pain in your side returned with full force and you had to grab onto Steve, not to tumble over.

    “[Name], are you alright?” he asked, his eyes shifting over your pale face worriedly.

    “I’m fine,” you heaved. “I just need to sit down for a moment.”

    “You’re shot… Can I have a medic in here!” Steve cried out, slowly letting you drop to the floor so he could hold you in his arms. “[Name], stay with me,” he whispered into your hair when your eyes got heavier and heavier as the adrenaline slowly left your body and it became clear you had lost a lot more blood than you had thought.

    “I–I’m sorry I lied,” you managed to say, your voice cracking.

    “No, I’m sorry,” he smiled sadly, wiping the messy, tangled hair from your face. “I should have never believed them when they told me you were Hydra.”

    “And I should have told you I was FBI as soon as we…” you swallowed hard, feeling a shot of pain going through your chest. You bit down your teeth hard, but knew Steve had seen the pain on your face already.

    “Where’s the medic!” he yelled again, turning his gaze from you for a only a second. There was no one else in the room anymore; the other girls and the crew from CNN had all been led outside and brought back home with an escort. You reminded yourself to get their numbers so you could apologize to them as well.

    “Steve?” you whispered, seeing the medics run into the room from the corner of your eyes. You had spent so many times trying to tell him the truth and failing at it, that even though you were bleeding out on the floor of his living room, you had to tell him everything before it was too late.

    “Don’t worry, [Name], it’s going to be fine,” he said, trying to smile reassuringly.

    “I know,” you nodded. “I just wanted to tell you… What happened between us, that wasn’t part of my mission. I… I never lied about anything other than my job.”

    Steve smiled at you, his eyes shifting over your face just before the medics shoved him aside and went to work on you.

    “She’s lost a lot of blood,” the medic said to her colleague. “We need to get an IV in her as soon as possible.”

    You tried to keep your eyes open for all of it, but as soon as they stuck a needle into the skin of your arm, everything went black. You thought you heard Steve asking the medics to ride with you in the ambulance, but all sounds quickly faded into one and you no longer knew what was front or back or left or right. You didn’t know if you would ever open your eyes again, but after so many times of trying to tell Steve the truth, now you finally had.

    You could only hope he could forgive you like you had forgiven Nick.

    Right before you thought everything might be okay, all feelings ebbed from your body, your thoughts quieted and for a moment there was nothing other than blissful silence, total darkness and complete and utter peace.



Several days later

It had only been a few days since you had left the Avengers Headquarters in an ambulance, but it felt like weeks. A new commander had been appointed to the New York FBI station the very first day you were back and he had given you all the praise you deserved and more. He had even offered you the promotion Robert had promised you, but you had seen enough action for a long time to come. That didn’t stop all your colleagues from quieting down every time you stepped foot in the office though.

    Even if it had only been happening for a day or two, you were already getting annoyed by it.

    And above all, you hadn’t seen Steve since that day in the living room.

    Not that you didn’t want to. You did, very badly, but ever since you had been discharged from the hospital, you didn’t know what to say to him. Your colleagues had told the super soldier about your mission when you were still out cold and you had no idea what he really thought now that he knew the complete truth. You had picked up the phone to call him at least a dozen times, yet you hadn’t had the nerve to actually call him. That he hadn’t either was somewhat disappointing and unnerving at the same time.

    You had been able to call the other girls, however. Alex, you had seen twice already. The first time was in the hospital after you had awoken. Again you had been disappointed that Steve wasn’t by your side, but it had been nice to see Alex there instead. She explained the super soldier had in fact been by your bedside for quite some time, but had to return to the headquarters to arrange a few things. You had talked for hours and you had apologized more than once for what had happened to her. She had just laughed it off, saying she expected a lot more adventurous things to happen if the two of you remained friends. It had given you a warm feeling to know that she still saw you as her friend.

    The second time, was just yesterday when you had joined her and Emma for a drink in a nearby café. They had both urged you to call Steve and you had agreed that you would, but you still hadn’t. You knew they were going to bust you ass over it again tonight when you’d meet up with them and Heather, Rebecca and Jordan at Alex’ apartment in the center of New York.

    You were headed there now, following the red dot on your phone telling you where to go. Alex lived in a really nice part of the city and you enjoyed strolling through the streets. You eventually had to head up the stairs, but for a moment you just enjoyed the warmth of the sun on your skin and the peaceful feeling it spread through your body.

    “Hey, it’s good to see you,” Alex said, once you had dragged yourself up the stairs and had knocked on the door twice. “Come in. The other girls are already here.”

    “I brought some wine,” you smiled, handing her the bag with a bottle of white wine you had bought at the supermarket just minutes before.

    “Want to get us drunk, do you, Special Agent?” Alex winked, gesturing you should walk further into her apartment towards the living room. “Girls, look who’s here.”

    You waved at the four girls sitting before you on the couch. All their eyes lit up as they saw you. Heather even pushed herself from the couch and enveloped you in a warm hug.

    “I’m so glad you’re alright,” she whispered in your ear.

    “Thanks,” you nodded. “Me too.”

    She smiled, hugging you even tighter.

    “Come on, leave the girl alone,” Alex cut in, also coming into the living room with a tray filled with glasses of wine and small bags of chips. “Sit down you two so [Name] can tell us all about her conversation with Steve last night…”

    You smiled as well, watching Heather take back her seat on the couch, padding on the soft fabric for you to have a seat in between her and Emma.

    “Yeah, about that…”



The rest of the night you spent talking and laughing together with the girls. You learned a lot more about all of them and, to your surprise, started to like Rebecca, who turned out to be a lot nicer in real life than she had been on the show. She even apologized to you for the way she had acted and the kiss she had shared with the captain even though she knew he was in love with you.

    You even managed to enjoy yourself. They called you an idiot for not calling Steve sooner, but when you explained you still hadn’t figured out what exactly you wanted to say to him, they started to help you come up with numerous of things you could have said and still should.

    “He could have also called you,” Rebecca said, after another fit of laughter about the things you could have told Steve if he had been there in the hospital when you woke up, “but he didn’t. Maybe the Captain doesn’t know what to say either.”

    “What?” Alex frowned. “He probably doesn’t even have [Name]’s number.”

    “Oh come on!” Jordan cut in. “He might be old, but he isn’t senile...”

    “No, hear me out. We all think it’s stupid that you haven’t called him already. God knows I wouldn’t stop talking when I was around him,” Rebecca said, drinking the last bit of her wine, “but you’re different. And so is he. Maybe you just need a confrontation…”

    You snorted, looking from one girl beside you to another. Alex nodded at them and suddenly all of them stood up, getting the glasses of wine and bowls of chips from the table and walking away from you.

    “What’s going on?” you frowned, pushing yourself from your seat as well. “A confrontation? What are you–” Before you could finish your sentence there was knock on the door.

    “I believe that’s for you,” Alex nodded at you, taking the other girls into her bedroom.

    “Hello?” it sounded from the other side of the door. “Alex, are you there?”

    You swallowed hard, recognizing the voice coming from just a few feet away. A shaky breath escaped your throat as you realized Alex had invited Steve to her apartment. Under what pretenses was something you had to ask her about later.

    “Alex?”

    “No, it’s me,” you mumbled as you opened the door for him. “Hey,” you smiled shortly, seeing the surprise in his eyes. You still had no idea if he even wanted to see you.

    “[Name]… I–I didn’t know you’d be here… I–I mean, how are you?”

    “I’m good. It–It’s good to see you.”

    He nodded absently, his eyes shifting over your face. “I meant to call you…”

    “I know, me too…”

    “I just didn’t know what to say after…. after everything. The FBI told me what really happened in those days. That you were sent with your…” he swallowed hard, pausing for a short moment. “I’m sorry about your partner.”

    Now it was your turn to nod. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything.”

    “No, I do,” he disagreed with you, taking a step into Alex’ apartment and folding his warm hands around yours. “I should have called you, but I was scared you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

    “What? Why would you think that?”

    “I know, I know,” he laughed about it. “It sounds stupid, but I’ve never been good at things like this. I just thought you might be mad at me for not believing you when you told me you weren’t Hydra,” he sighed, evading his eyes from you and staring at your hand in his. “I let them take you away from me and I didn’t even try to stop them.”

    “It wouldn’t have made a difference if you had.”

    “Maybe not, but you deserved for me to try,” he said, his hand finding a way against your cheek, his eyes meeting yours again. “So, I guess what I’m trying to say is: I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t try harder. I’m sorry you got shot. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up in the hospital. And I’m sorry I didn’t call you.”

    “That’s a lot of sorry,” you smiled, leaning into his hand and letting out a hot breath. “I’m sorry too. I should have–”

    Before you could finish your sentence, Steve’s other hand caressed your cheek as well and a kiss found your lips. Your breath caught in your throat, but slowly you melted into the kiss and soon found your own hands laid against his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat drumming against your fingertips.

    A loud cheer erupted from Alex’ room and you couldn’t help but smile as you pictured the five girls peeking at you through a crack in the door. Steve’s lips still brushed against your own.

    “It seems like we have an audience,” he whispered, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

    “It wouldn’t be a first,” you countered, pulling him closer to you and kissing him again.

    He laughed at that. “So, Special Agent [Last Name], how about I take you on a date. A real date?”

    "Well, Captain, I thought you'd never ask...”

THE END

Description

The Captain America shield fit perfectly in your hand as you made your way through the Avengers Headquarters. You were making good progress, knowing exactly where you were headed, until the lights suddenly dimmed, making it impossible for you to see what was left of right. Your breath caught in your throat when you heard screams coming from your right. You swallowed hard. Were you already too late?

    Going even faster than you had before, you ran towards the living room on the other side of the hall. While you were running, the lights turned back on, giving you a view of the agents stationed just outside of the locked living room. Even though you didn’t think you had made any sound, the agents turned around to face you, their hands already on the guns stuck to their belts.

    You were just in time to pull up Steve’s shield before they opened fire on you. The clanging of bullets hitting the strong vibranium echoed against the walls. Within moments their guns were empty, giving you the opportunity to get the upper hand. With a fast throw, you launched the shield at the men reloading their guns. Before you could even blink, they were already on the floor, groaning loudly.

    The shield came flying back and just like the first time you had thrown it, you were only barely able to stay on your feet when you caught it. The air was slammed from your lungs, but you didn’t have time to rest. Luckily the agents were still on their backs, not showing any progress with getting back up. You walked up to them and took the guns from their hands, which conveniently had been reloaded for you.

    “Take a look outside,” you could hear from inside the living room.

    You quickly hid behind the door. In one hand you still held Steve’s shield, feeling the cold vibranium warm up to your touch, while the other was now firmly wrapped around a loaded gun. You waited until the door cracked open before you made your move. Again you found yourself face to face with a surprised Hydra agent on the other side of a door.

    “What the–” the agent started, but you didn’t let her finish. You had no idea what had happened inside that room when the lights had gone out. You could only hope there was still time; that you weren’t too late.

    With a strong kick, you slammed the door into the woman’s face, knocking her back. Without wasting any more time, you pulled the door open further. Your eyes darted around the room in those first seconds, assessing the situation like your FBI training required.

    In the back of the room on the right, Emma and Heather and the other girls were huddled together in the corner, guns pointed at their heads. On the other side, a cameraman and reporter from CNN were also held at gunpoint to keep the camera pointed at Steve. The super soldier himself was tied up to a chair in the middle of the room. All around him, but out of sight from the camera, there were Hydra agents, who seemed more than willing to be the one to kill him.

    From the corner of your eyes, you could see the agents on your either sides, reaching for their guns as you walked into the room. You quickly ducked behind the vibranium shield, preventing them from killing you on the spot. The vibrations of the bullets hitting the metal shook your arm. It startled you for a moment, thinking you’d be dead twice over now if you hadn’t gotten the shield from Steve’s room. You shook those thoughts from your mind, knowing you didn’t have time to think about that. Or about anything really. If you weren’t fast enough, they could still kill Steve.

    When the fire had stopped, you closed your hand even tighter around the handle of the shield and shot at the agents around you with your stolen gun, before throwing the shield to the back of the room to knock down the men near the girls. You watched as it flew through the room. At the same time, you fired a few more shots, shooting down the man and woman on your right. As the shield knocked down some of the Hydra agents on the other side of the room and the girls started screaming again, Steve yelled your name.

    “[Name], behind you!”

    For you, everything seemed to go in slow motion. As you turned around, your gaze passed the super soldier for only a second. Though, in that second you could see the anger in his eyes softening into determination. He tugged at the ropes that tied him to the chair, but even with this superhuman strength, they didn’t budge. You would have stared into those blue eyes flecked with green for hours if it weren’t for the Hydra agents that were planning on killing Steve.

    The agent now in front of you, seemed more than happy to kill you as well.

    When time seemed to return to normal, you were just in time to duck when the woman before you fired her gun and Steve’s shield came flying back. The look of surprise on her face as the circular piece of vibranium knocked her in the teeth, was almost amusing. She grunted as she fell backward and slumped against the wall.

    As you collected the shield from the ground, chaos had erupted in the living room. The cameraman – in a moment of courage – had slammed his shoulder into the stomach of the agent holding a gun to his head. The other agent had fired at him without hesitation and now the female reporter was sobbing uncontrollably as she held her dying partner in her arms. On the other side of the room, the agents near Emma and Heather and the other girls had gotten themselves from the floor and were pushing them towards Steve and in line with the camera. All the while your boss had observed everything with silent amusement. Nick, on the other hand, looked terrified.

    “Well, well,” your boss said, nodding at the Hydra agents around him to continue whatever plan they had set into motion. “Isn’t this surprising…”

    You swallowed hard, your gaze passing between your boss, Nick and the super soldier on the other side of you. They all watched you in anticipation, but all for a different reason. You could feel your heart beating violently in your chest, your knuckles turning whiter the harder you squeezed your hand around Steve’s shield.

    “I can’t let you do this, Robert,” you managed to say, the gun in your other hand feeling heavier and heavier.

    “Is that so?” he smiled. “Well, while it would be amusing to watch you try to stop me, I’m afraid I’ve been stalling the captain’s fate for too long.” He got his own gun from the back of his pants and turned to Nick. “I’ll let you deal with her like I told you to do two hours ago,” he told him, the look in his eyes telling you that Robert wouldn’t give Nick a third chance.

    “What?” Nick asked surprised, looking up at you with doubt and sorrow flashing through his eyes. “But I thought…”

    “You heard me,” Robert said, walking up to Steve as he clicked the safety from his gun. “Kill her.”

    You followed your boss with your eyes as he nonchalantly walked over to the super soldier and the girls. Even though you didn’t want to hurt Nick – let alone kill him – you didn’t know if he would give you any other choice. He was already getting the gun from his belt.

    “You do have a choice, Nick,” you said, though it came out as only a whisper. Robert had already pointed his gun at Steve and if you didn’t act fast, it wasn’t only Steve that was going to die. It forced you to do the same and point your stolen gun at Nick. “Don’t make me do this…”

    He nodded, keeping your gaze as he swallowed hard and pointed his gun up. “Please forgive me, [Name],” he whispered back, his eyes filled with sorrow and some other thing you couldn’t place. At least not at the time. “All I ever wanted, was to be your hero…”

    Before you could even understand what he was saying, or respond, he clicked the safety from his gun. The sound of a gunshot echoed through the room, followed by the screaming of the girls around Steve. Only when a second gunshot reached your ears and then a third, you started to realize what was going on.

    “[Name]!” Steve cried out again, when Nick fell on his knees before you, blood gushing from two bullet wounds in his chest. As you turned your head towards the super soldier, you could see Robert lying face first in a pool of his own blood as well, a look of surprise still filling his brown orbs.

    You were so distracted by what had happened – Nick had shot Robert instead of you and his fellow agents had shot him in return – that you didn’t notice what was going on around you. It wasn’t until another gunshot went off next to you, that you were awoken from your thoughts. A sharp pain nested in your side and you cried out in pain, falling to the ground. You were only just in time to pull up Steve’s shield when more gunshots filled your ears, your hands shaking from the pain and shock of what had just happened. What Nick had said to you; what he had done for you.

    You didn’t even dare to look into his eyes now that the light had left them. Repeating his words in your head, you could feel tears stinging in your eyes and anger flowing through your veins. The pain slowly dulled to a nagging thought in the back of your head. You might not have been able to save Nick, but there was still hope for the rest of the people in the room.

    You pushed yourself from your place on the ground and threw the shield towards the agents that had killed Nick and had fired at you. The circular piece of vibranium knocked them all down quickly. You had already started running towards Steve and the girls when it came flying back to you.

    “Cut him loose,” you yelled at Rebecca, throwing her the small knife you always carried with you in your boot in case of an emergency. Just as Rebecca caught your knife, you did the same with Steve’s shield, immediately throwing it towards the agents on the other side near the camera. Gunshots echoed against the walls as you shot the remaining agents down, making sure not to kill them. You needed to get them out of the way for now, but wanted to talk to them when this was over. They might be the only ones left to explain to you what exactly had been going on the whole time. Explain to you who Nick had really been.

    When the Captain America shield came flying back, it wasn’t you who caught it from the air, but the super soldier himself. It felt good to have him by your side again to fight the last Hydra agents that still even dared to come near you. With Steve helping you, it only took several minutes to get every agent down on the ground, remove their guns from their hands and tie them down so they wouldn’t be able to escape. Just when you were finished, the real FBI finally showed up as well.

    They busted through the doors, guns in their hands, yelling all kinds of orders to everyone in the room. It didn’t take them long, however, to realize you and Steve had already done their job for them. Each and every Hydra agent was either dead or down. They seemed surprised for a moment, though soon saw the bodies lying on the floor and started the other part of their work: cleaning up.

    Your heart was still pounding against the inside of your ribcage and it didn’t stop until two clear, white body bags were wheeled out of the room on stretchers. Steve was talking to the FBI agents – your colleagues – a few feet away from you, but you could feel his gaze on your back as you stood in the middle of the room, staring at those body bags. You swallowed hard, watching the medics until they had disappeared from view. No matter what Nick had done in the past, or what you had thought or said about him, he had become what he had wanted to be: your hero.

    Your stomach turned as you realized everything he had done on this mission was to protect you. The only relief you had, was that everything would be finally over. You didn’t even notice Steve standing beside you as you mind was going in circles. Once you truly realized your mission was over and you didn’t have to be on your guard anymore 24/7, the pain in your side returned with full force and you had to grab onto Steve, not to tumble over.

    “[Name], are you alright?” he asked, his eyes shifting over your pale face worriedly.

    “I’m fine,” you heaved. “I just need to sit down for a moment.”

    “You’re shot… Can I have a medic in here!” Steve cried out, slowly letting you drop to the floor so he could hold you in his arms. “[Name], stay with me,” he whispered into your hair when your eyes got heavier and heavier as the adrenaline slowly left your body and it became clear you had lost a lot more blood than you had thought.

    “I–I’m sorry I lied,” you managed to say, your voice cracking.

    “No, I’m sorry,” he smiled sadly, wiping the messy, tangled hair from your face. “I should have never believed them when they told me you were Hydra.”

    “And I should have told you I was FBI as soon as we…” you swallowed hard, feeling a shot of pain going through your chest. You bit down your teeth hard, but knew Steve had seen the pain on your face already.

    “Where’s the medic!” he yelled again, turning his gaze from you for a only a second. There was no one else in the room anymore; the other girls and the crew from CNN had all been led outside and brought back home with an escort. You reminded yourself to get their numbers so you could apologize to them as well.

    “Steve?” you whispered, seeing the medics run into the room from the corner of your eyes. You had spent so many times trying to tell him the truth and failing at it, that even though you were bleeding out on the floor of his living room, you had to tell him everything before it was too late.

    “Don’t worry, [Name], it’s going to be fine,” he said, trying to smile reassuringly.

    “I know,” you nodded. “I just wanted to tell you… What happened between us, that wasn’t part of my mission. I… I never lied about anything other than my job.”

    Steve smiled at you, his eyes shifting over your face just before the medics shoved him aside and went to work on you.

    “She’s lost a lot of blood,” the medic said to her colleague. “We need to get an IV in her as soon as possible.”

    You tried to keep your eyes open for all of it, but as soon as they stuck a needle into the skin of your arm, everything went black. You thought you heard Steve asking the medics to ride with you in the ambulance, but all sounds quickly faded into one and you no longer knew what was front or back or left or right. You didn’t know if you would ever open your eyes again, but after so many times of trying to tell Steve the truth, now you finally had.

    You could only hope he could forgive you like you had forgiven Nick.

    Right before you thought everything might be okay, all feelings ebbed from your body, your thoughts quieted and for a moment there was nothing other than blissful silence, total darkness and complete and utter peace.



Several days later

It had only been a few days since you had left the Avengers Headquarters in an ambulance, but it felt like weeks. A new commander had been appointed to the New York FBI station the very first day you were back and he had given you all the praise you deserved and more. He had even offered you the promotion Robert had promised you, but you had seen enough action for a long time to come. That didn’t stop all your colleagues from quieting down every time you stepped foot in the office though.

    Even if it had only been happening for a day or two, you were already getting annoyed by it.

    And above all, you hadn’t seen Steve since that day in the living room.

    Not that you didn’t want to. You did, very badly, but ever since you had been discharged from the hospital, you didn’t know what to say to him. Your colleagues had told the super soldier about your mission when you were still out cold and you had no idea what he really thought now that he knew the complete truth. You had picked up the phone to call him at least a dozen times, yet you hadn’t had the nerve to actually call him. That he hadn’t either was somewhat disappointing and unnerving at the same time.

    You had been able to call the other girls, however. Alex, you had seen twice already. The first time was in the hospital after you had awoken. Again you had been disappointed that Steve wasn’t by your side, but it had been nice to see Alex there instead. She explained the super soldier had in fact been by your bedside for quite some time, but had to return to the headquarters to arrange a few things. You had talked for hours and you had apologized more than once for what had happened to her. She had just laughed it off, saying she expected a lot more adventurous things to happen if the two of you remained friends. It had given you a warm feeling to know that she still saw you as her friend.

    The second time, was just yesterday when you had joined her and Emma for a drink in a nearby café. They had both urged you to call Steve and you had agreed that you would, but you still hadn’t. You knew they were going to bust you ass over it again tonight when you’d meet up with them and Heather, Rebecca and Jordan at Alex’ apartment in the center of New York.

    You were headed there now, following the red dot on your phone telling you where to go. Alex lived in a really nice part of the city and you enjoyed strolling through the streets. You eventually had to head up the stairs, but for a moment you just enjoyed the warmth of the sun on your skin and the peaceful feeling it spread through your body.

    “Hey, it’s good to see you,” Alex said, once you had dragged yourself up the stairs and had knocked on the door twice. “Come in. The other girls are already here.”

    “I brought some wine,” you smiled, handing her the bag with a bottle of white wine you had bought at the supermarket just minutes before.

    “Want to get us drunk, do you, Special Agent?” Alex winked, gesturing you should walk further into her apartment towards the living room. “Girls, look who’s here.”

    You waved at the four girls sitting before you on the couch. All their eyes lit up as they saw you. Heather even pushed herself from the couch and enveloped you in a warm hug.

    “I’m so glad you’re alright,” she whispered in your ear.

    “Thanks,” you nodded. “Me too.”

    She smiled, hugging you even tighter.

    “Come on, leave the girl alone,” Alex cut in, also coming into the living room with a tray filled with glasses of wine and small bags of chips. “Sit down you two so [Name] can tell us all about her conversation with Steve last night…”

    You smiled as well, watching Heather take back her seat on the couch, padding on the soft fabric for you to have a seat in between her and Emma.

    “Yeah, about that…”



The rest of the night you spent talking and laughing together with the girls. You learned a lot more about all of them and, to your surprise, started to like Rebecca, who turned out to be a lot nicer in real life than she had been on the show. She even apologized to you for the way she had acted and the kiss she had shared with the captain even though she knew he was in love with you.

    You even managed to enjoy yourself. They called you an idiot for not calling Steve sooner, but when you explained you still hadn’t figured out what exactly you wanted to say to him, they started to help you come up with numerous of things you could have said and still should.

    “He could have also called you,” Rebecca said, after another fit of laughter about the things you could have told Steve if he had been there in the hospital when you woke up, “but he didn’t. Maybe the Captain doesn’t know what to say either.”

    “What?” Alex frowned. “He probably doesn’t even have [Name]’s number.”

    “Oh come on!” Jordan cut in. “He might be old, but he isn’t senile...”

    “No, hear me out. We all think it’s stupid that you haven’t called him already. God knows I wouldn’t stop talking when I was around him,” Rebecca said, drinking the last bit of her wine, “but you’re different. And so is he. Maybe you just need a confrontation…”

    You snorted, looking from one girl beside you to another. Alex nodded at them and suddenly all of them stood up, getting the glasses of wine and bowls of chips from the table and walking away from you.

    “What’s going on?” you frowned, pushing yourself from your seat as well. “A confrontation? What are you–” Before you could finish your sentence there was knock on the door.

    “I believe that’s for you,” Alex nodded at you, taking the other girls into her bedroom.

    “Hello?” it sounded from the other side of the door. “Alex, are you there?”

    You swallowed hard, recognizing the voice coming from just a few feet away. A shaky breath escaped your throat as you realized Alex had invited Steve to her apartment. Under what pretenses was something you had to ask her about later.

    “Alex?”

    “No, it’s me,” you mumbled as you opened the door for him. “Hey,” you smiled shortly, seeing the surprise in his eyes. You still had no idea if he even wanted to see you.

    “[Name]… I–I didn’t know you’d be here… I–I mean, how are you?”

    “I’m good. It–It’s good to see you.”

    He nodded absently, his eyes shifting over your face. “I meant to call you…”

    “I know, me too…”

    “I just didn’t know what to say after…. after everything. The FBI told me what really happened in those days. That you were sent with your…” he swallowed hard, pausing for a short moment. “I’m sorry about your partner.”

    Now it was your turn to nod. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything.”

    “No, I do,” he disagreed with you, taking a step into Alex’ apartment and folding his warm hands around yours. “I should have called you, but I was scared you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

    “What? Why would you think that?”

    “I know, I know,” he laughed about it. “It sounds stupid, but I’ve never been good at things like this. I just thought you might be mad at me for not believing you when you told me you weren’t Hydra,” he sighed, evading his eyes from you and staring at your hand in his. “I let them take you away from me and I didn’t even try to stop them.”

    “It wouldn’t have made a difference if you had.”

    “Maybe not, but you deserved for me to try,” he said, his hand finding a way against your cheek, his eyes meeting yours again. “So, I guess what I’m trying to say is: I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t try harder. I’m sorry you got shot. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up in the hospital. And I’m sorry I didn’t call you.”

    “That’s a lot of sorry,” you smiled, leaning into his hand and letting out a hot breath. “I’m sorry too. I should have–”

    Before you could finish your sentence, Steve’s other hand caressed your cheek as well and a kiss found your lips. Your breath caught in your throat, but slowly you melted into the kiss and soon found your own hands laid against his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat drumming against your fingertips.

    A loud cheer erupted from Alex’ room and you couldn’t help but smile as you pictured the five girls peeking at you through a crack in the door. Steve’s lips still brushed against your own.

    “It seems like we have an audience,” he whispered, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

    “It wouldn’t be a first,” you countered, pulling him closer to you and kissing him again.

    He laughed at that. “So, Special Agent [Last Name], how about I take you on a date. A real date?”

    "Well, Captain, I thought you'd never ask...”

THE END