Chapter 11
September 11 2016
Peggy watched as Steve started the engine of the car and took of. He was away a lot now, not only for his mysterious missions. He left because he was visiting the woman that his team had apparently rescued on an operation last year.
When Steve returned from his mission he had told her that he probably needed to be at Shield's safe house a lot now, but that it would be over soon. They had found a young woman who had been captured by some people. Peggy knew that this mission had been very important to him and she could still feel the impact that it had on him. She didn't know a lot about it though, because like every other mission, it was classified.
Peggy had asked him about more information but he hadn't told her anything apart from that so she had simply given up at some point.
May 20 2016
Steve greeted the tall man with black hair and steely gray eyes. “Mr. Rumlow.” Brock Rumlow was now his assistant – well, basically he was the leader of the small team that was assigned
to protect Steve, to watch his back when he was on missions.
Rumlow had been a Shield operative for the past two years and therefore didn't know nothing which was good for Steve.
He didn't had to explain everything to the man, but Rumlow did have to adjust to the way Steve's team worked. They were different from most other agents of Shield. And that was not only because they acted like they had known each other for a life time even though the youngest addition to the team had joined them a mere week ago – and all of them already seemed to be best friends with him.
Rumlow gave him a quick smile and waved him to the room they had just been inspecting – it was after a mission and the rest of Steve's team was waiting outside. They had been raiding a Hydra base and now they needed to check if the woman they were searching for was here. But she wasn't.
Steve sighed and looked at Rumlow. “We'll try another base soon. We've already got the location of one. Let's bring the prisoners to the quinjet and then we'll get this place cleaned up.” Steve informed the two shield teams waiting for his instructions.
August 2 2016
Rumlow was good at following instructions, but sometimes it seemed like he was trying too hard to fit in. Steve tried to ignore the weird feeling that he had about the man.
Maybe Rumlow was just determined to become a part of the team or whatever.
January 7 2019
Steve pulled up in front of the gas station. He spotted the van shortly after. Steve narrowed his eyes at the driver who opened the door and stepped out.
He had seen this man before.
It was the man he thought had followed him before.
The man looked a little nervous even though he seemed to be trying not to be nervous.
Steve sucked in a deep breath, trying not to let his anger and worry overwhelm him.
“Where is she?” he demanded to know while glaring at the man. He left his car and came up closer to the man but he still didn't come too close.
The man pointed at the van. “She's in there, but she won't be for long if you just come with us peacefully.”
Steve narrowed his eyes and his glare hardened. “What do you even want from me?”
A light grin appeared on the man's face but it looked fake. “Don't play dumb, Steve.
Steve tried not to let his shock show, but it didn't help. He stared at the man with wide, unbelieving eyes. “How do you know my name?”
“Hydra has it's ways, captain.” The man said with a smug smile.
He stepped closer. “I know you have many questions, but we will only answer them if you let us take you on a roadtrip.”
Steve's mind rattled as he thought about his options. He could easily take out the man. Of course this was probably a well-planned operation but he could still try …
“I know what you're probably thinking.” The man interrupted his thoughts. “It won't help you to harm or even kill me, Mister Rogers.” He made a little movement with his hand and pointed to Steve's chest. Steve looked down to see a red point on his gray shirt. He lifted his head and looked behind the man in front of him – he was taller than the man, but not tall enough for a sniper to aim their gun above the agent's head, so the sniper was somewhere in the bushes behind the van, aiming over the agent's shoulder. It didn't take long to spot the sniper.
If Steve was fast, he could use the agent to shield himself from the bullets and then hide behind the van and wait for the sniper to come out of their hiding spot …
“Don't even think about it. Come with us or we're forced to kill both you and the girl and wouldn't that be tragic?”
“Why am I important to you?” Steve demanded to know.
“Like I said, we'll answer your questions later.” The agent stated. Steve felt his heartbeat rise drastically but he ignored it, trying to calm himself.
“Fine. I'll go with you but I want to see you letting her go.”
it was an easy choice, even though it wasn't the first option that had come to his mind earlier.
The most important thing was that Natalia didn't get harmed. Shield would come for him anyways or so he hoped.
The man grinned like a Cheshire cat now. “Wonderful. And of course you can watch.” He waved Steve over. “Go to the van. You can open the van. Someone's already waiting for you with your daughter so you can see each other a last time.”
Steve should be alarmed by this statement but for some reason it had him calm down a little.
He followed the man's instructions. He pushed his dark thoughts into the back of his mind and focused on the heartbeats he heard. Truthfully, two inside the van, one of them very fast. The heartbeat of the sniper, calm and slow, the heartbeat of at least three other people. They were probably hiding in the bushes around the gas station.
Steve opened the door of the van, the gun of the agent behind him pointed at the back of his head. His enhanced sight made him see in the dark inside of the van. He saw a man, achingly familiar, holding his daughter back when she turned around to face him.
Natalia's face lit up when she saw him. “Dad!”
“hey, Rae.” He greeted her with a weak smile. The other Hydra agent let go of her and she threw herself into Steve's arms. “Why are you here? You need to -”
She was interrupted by the second Hydra agent. “The only thing he needs is to be with us at our base.” Brock Rumlow said coldly.
“I wish I could say I'm surprised to see you here, Rumlow.” Steve huffed. Rumlow grinned.
Natalia glared at him, her fingers clenching on Steve's shirt as she hid behind him.
“We need to leave now, Rumlow.” The other agent said, apparently a little confused and also pissed because they already knew each other.
“Yeah, okay, relax, man.” Rumlow rolled his eyes. “get the girl out.” He looked at Steve. “She'll be safe. And if you don't put up a fight, we won't hurt you either.” His grin grew wider. “For now, at least.”
Steve glared at him. The other man pushed him inside the van.
Before Steve was able to overthink his next actions, he felt a sting in his neck. It didn't hurt, but suddenly his sight was fuzzy and he felt like he was losing control over his body, his muscles and limbs moving without his consent.
Rumlow quickly cuffed his hands and feet with something metal. Steve blinked. He heard Natalia scream for him, but the screams were muffled. He heard the door close and the engine start. “it's vibranium, my friend, you won't be able to free yourself.” Rumlow said before disappearing. Where did he go? Steve blinked rapidly. His heartbeat sped up again.
Was that Rumlow in the corner of the van?
He slipped into unconsciousness afterwards.