Mr. Right (Steve x Reader) Part 11

Several hours later

A nagging headache throbbed against the inside of your skull. Your vision slowly returned to you, together with the feeling in your tired limbs. You tried to raise your hands towards your temples, to rub the pain away, but soon found that they were tied to the chair you were sitting in. Special issue FBI cuffs came into focus as you squinted your eyes and looked down. You pulled at the shackled wire, hearing the echo of metal clanging against metal. For a moment all you knew was confusion and panic, as your mind tried to make sense of your situation.

    That all changed when he walked in.

    “It’s good to see you awake,” Nick said, closing the door of the makeshift interrogation room in the back of one of the FBI vehicles. “I didn’t mean for them to be so forceful.”

    You snorted, shaking your head. “Save your bullshit for someone else, Nick,” you hissed, tugging at the cuffs tying you to the chair again. “I don’t want to hear it.”

    Your former partner – who you now knew was Hydra – swallowed hard, seating himself opposite of you. His eyes shifted over your anger written face for a moment, folding his hands together on the table. “Despite what you might think, I do wish things would have been different.”

    “I have a hard time believing that…”

    Nick sighed, turning his gaze from you. “I didn’t think you would.”

    “Then why are you here? What do you want from me?” you said. “What does Hydra want from me?”

    “They sent me to talk to you.”

    Now you laughed. “Even if I believed you, we both know there is nothing I can tell them you haven’t already… I trusted you, Nick,” you whispered. “I even…” you stopped, feeling the lump in your throat tighten, making it hard for you to breath. “For a long time, you were all I had…”

    “I know,” Nick smiled sadly, “and I’m sorry, I truly am. This mission was never supposed to be mine.”

    “But you still took it, knowing how it would end;  knowing where it would leave me.”

    “In his bed you mean?” he said, slamming his hand on the table, showing you the hot temper you were so used to and had first even attracted you to him. Now it made you nauseous.

    You could tell from the flicker in his eyes that he realized his mistake. He took in a deep breath and shook his head, trying to reign in his anger. “No…Trust works both ways, [Name],” he said after a short pause. “I never thought you would fall for him. I thought you were better than that. I know you won’t believe me now, but whatever would have happened, I would have made sure you were safe…” He sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “For what it’s worth, I really did care about you.”

    You didn’t want to believe him, but a part of you remembered what had once been between you. It might not have been what you had always imagined, or even what you had had with Steve, but it had been something. Something that had given you hope that happily ever after could exist for you too. For that fact, you would be forever grateful. But even though you believed him when he said he had cared for you, you would never be able to forgive him for what he had done. He had lied to you about everything – about who he truly was – and had put countless of lives in danger. You couldn’t even imagine the kind of things he had done in the name of Hydra. Or what more he would do.

    “Is that why you’re here?” you asked, hoping Nick didn’t hear the crack in your voice. “To try and get my sympathy? You’re an even bigger fool than I thought…”

    A flicker of anger shot through his eyes again when you spoke those words, though before you could comment on it, he had already pushed himself from his seat. “I came here because I didn’t want one of the other agents to. You wouldn’t have liked it if they had.”

    “If you’re trying to scare me, Nick, it’s not working.”

    He snorted, shaking his head. “You don’t get it, do you? You should be scared. You have no idea what Hydra is planning and what they wanted to do with you. I’m the only reason you’re sitting in this van and not in a body bag. I convinced them you could still be of value,” he said, sighing loudly. “Maybe I am a fool, but I thought if I had a few moments alone with you, I could reason with you.”

    “About what?” you cried out, wanting to get up as well, though the clanging echo of the shackles hitting the table reminded you that you were tied down. “Hydra wants to kill Steve, Nick. There is no reason in that. Please, just let me go. I will–”

    “You will do what, [Name]?” Nick interrupted you, his brow furrowing upward.

    “I will call Robert, our boss – my boss,” you corrected yourself. “He’ll know what to do.”

    Now it was Nick who laughed. “And you’re calling me a fool… Even if I would let you go, you wouldn’t get passed the security guards that are waiting just outside those doors,” he said, pointing at the doors leading outside. “But let’s just say that somehow you would be able to take them down… It wouldn’t matter. Robert won’t help you. He’ll have you killed as soon as you step foot in the Headquarters.”

    “What, because he thinks I’m Hydra?”

    Nick shook his head. “No, [Name], because he is Hydra.”

    “What?” you frowned, feeling the world spin around you. That was impossible. You had worked with your boss – Robert – for years. He had always been a spokesman against Hydra. He had even lost his son during the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. There was no way he could be Hydra.

    Then again, you had thought the same of Nick only hours earlier.

    “You’re lying,” you whispered, slumping into the chair.

    “You know I’m not, but if you won’t take my word for it, maybe you should watch this,” Nick said, walking to the front of the van and pulling a tablet from inside one of the cabinets above his head. He turned it on and placed it in front of you, showing you footage of one of the rooms inside the Avengers Headquarters. A vision of Steve and the remaining girls popped up as the image tilted down. Your boss was talking to Steve, though without the sound you couldn’t make out what they were talking about.

    “What is this?” you asked, turning your attention from the tablet back to Nick. “You hacked into the security cameras of the compound? That’s hardly any prove.”

    “It’s not security footage you’re watching, [Name], it’s a live news feed from CNN. I’m probably not supposed to tell you, but in about an hour your beloved Captain will make a statement on live television, apologizing to the contestants and their families and to the whole of America. As head of the FBI in New York, Robert will be there to make sure everyone is safe. Or at least, that’s what they have told the Captain.”

    You could feel the panic rise in your chest as you started to realize what exactly Nick was telling you. You shook your head, hoping that Nick wasn’t telling the truth; that he was lying about everything. That your boss wasn’t Hydra and that Steve wouldn’t be in any danger.

    “They’re going to kill him on live television,” you managed to say after a while of trying to deny it. “No,” you whispered, shaking your head again. “No… Nick, you can’t let them, please.”

    “I have no choice, [Name],” he said, walking back towards the door through which he had come in, knocking on it three times for whoever was out there to open it.

    “There’s always a choice,” you cried after him. “Remember our first arrest together? There’s always a choice…”

    “Not this time, [Name]. I’m sorry,” he sighed, before disappearing behind the door and closing it softly.

    “Now look who’s afraid!” you yelled, pulling on the cuffs that held you down, tugging on the shackled wire as hard as you could. The metal cut into the soft skin of your wrist, but you ignored the dull pain as it spread through your arm. “Dammit,” you cursed under your breath. Not only had you walked right into the web Hydra had been spinning from day one, you had handed them Steve on a silver platter. Tears stung in the corner of your eyes as you realized you had failed at your mission of protecting him. Even if it had all just been a ruse, you couldn’t help but feel like you had let everyone down. Steve most of all.

    Your eyes darted to the little screen of the tablet, seeing the super soldier walk up to Heather and Emma and the other remaining girls. They had all been properly dressed and even wore their make-up again after spending the last two days with smears of it stuck to their face. Steve laid his hand on Heather’s shoulder to comfort her. Or at least, that’s what you imagined he did. There was still no sound with the images that moved across your vision and you had no way of telling what he was really talking to them about. Maybe he was telling them he was sorry for everything. Maybe he was telling them they could leave soon. And maybe he even told them they were safe now. That they had nothing to worry about anymore because they caught the last Hydra agent. You.

    You started to feel the panic rising in your chest again as you realized Steve still thought you were Hydra.

    He wouldn’t even see the real agents coming.

    You let out a scream and tugged at the cuffs again. There had to be a way to get out of here. Even if Steve didn’t care about you anymore and there was no future for you together, you couldn’t let Hydra kill him. You had come to care about the super soldier more than you should and now you couldn’t stop your heart from speeding every time you thought about his fingers caressing your skin and his soft lips brushing against your own. You had to at least try to save him. Future or not.

    You turned your eyes from the little screen, focussing on the metal cuffs around your wrists. You had seen them many times before. It were the same cuffs you had put around the hundreds of criminals you had pulled from the streets the past few years together with Nick. You knew exactly how they weight in your hands. Now you also knew how they felt as they tied you down.

    Again you pulled at the retrains, turning your hands around to look at the little keyhole on the other side. The special issue FBI handcuffs were designed to keep even the strongest of men from tearing them apart. They were meant to keep the bad guys from breaking free. But you weren’t the bad guy. And you knew how to get them off.

    Bending your head down, you reached for the bobby pins that held your hair back. The metal of the cuffs tore at your skin as you stretched your hands as far as was possible with being tied to the chair. Your fingers caressed the side of your head, desperately searching for the small pins stuck in the strains of your hair.

    “Come on,” you cried out in pain, feeling the skin tear slowly underneath the metal rings. With a last stretch, you got a hold of one of the pins. In a swift motion, you pulled it from your hair, pinching it tightly between your fingers. You stared at it for a moment, feeling the sore skin of your wrist throbbing faintly.

    Once you realized time was still ticking by, you quickly went to work to open the cuffs. You rubbed the soft buds on the tips of the pins off on the side of the table and fabricated a key as best as you could. The manufacturer had told the FBI the cuffs could only be opened using the original keys, but during training, you had quickly learned that that wasn’t the complete truth. There was a little switch hidden on the inside of the keyhole that could be clicked back to allow more movement of the wrists. For you, it would be just enough to pull your hands back.

    With some twisting, you were able to pull your hands through the metal rings. Within moments you were freed from your bonds and pushed yourself from the chair. You didn’t know yet how you were going to get yourself out of the van and into the Headquarters without getting killed, but you would have to figure that out along the way. You hadn’t planned that far ahead yet. First, you needed to get out of the van.

    Nick had tapped the door and someone from the outside had opened it for him. You knew it would be wishful thinking to expect the same to happen when you did it, but a part of you hoped the odds were stacked in your favor for once.

    Without thinking about how many agents would be standing outside the van to keep you from escaping, you knocked on the door. When there wasn’t a reply on the first knock, you knocked again. For a moment you thought you had been too optimistic. Hydra had been one step ahead of you the whole time. What made you think it would be any different now? That feeling quickly faded when there was rumbling coming from the outside.

    “What?” it suddenly sounded from behind the door. It was pulled open roughly, revealing the single agent standing behind it. Surprise fluttered his brow when his eyes shot from the empty chair to you. “Wait, how’d you–”

    Not wasting the opportunity clearly given to you, you kicked the man against the chest, making him stagger backward.

    “You b–” he started, anger filling his eyes. Though before he could finish his sentence you knocked him down with a carefully placed punch. He was unconscious even before he fell to the ground.

    “Sorry, but I have no time for name calling right now,” you told him as you stepped over his body. You started a quick jog towards the nearest van and kneeled beside the hood to be able to assess the situation.

    Several more agents were standing near the entrance of the headquarters. Their bulletproof vests told you they were with the FBI, but after everything Nick had told you, you doubted that was really the case. You could only imagine how deep the corruption of Hydra went and who else was involved. Your eyes darted across the rest of the compound and found a handful of agents scattered around, hands on the guns attached to their belt. They were ready for a fight.

    There was no way you could get inside the headquarters without at least one of them noticing, let alone get far enough to save Steve. Nick had been right about at least one fact: you’d be dead even before you reached the entrance. Luckily for you, that wasn’t the only way to get into the building.

    On the back side of the compound, there was a small door that served as an emergency exit. It wasn’t supposed to be used and it hadn’t been on any of the blueprints Claire had given you, but you knew it was there. Steve had told you about it on one of your dates. During the show, when he wanted to escape from the cameras, he would always use that door to catch a breath of fresh air. Robert wouldn’t know it existed, which gave you an advantage and a way inside without getting noticed.

    When you were sure there were no eyes pointed in your direction, you pushed yourself from behind the van and sprinted towards the other side of the compound. It all went better and easier than you had expected. You were even starting to think that Hydra wasn’t as well organized as you thought they were when you realized they probably didn’t expect anything to go wrong. In their minds, Steve was already dead.

    You let out a sigh of relief when the door opened with a creak when you pulled at it. Before you knew it, you were inside the headquarters and walking down the halls you had spent the last several days in. You recognized the Avengers’ quarters as you walked past the doors to their bedrooms. It was awfully quiet in the whole building and you didn’t have to guess at the reason for that. Hydra had taken over the whole headquarters.

    It hadn’t been an hour just yet, but you could feel the minutes tick by as an internal clock and knew there wasn’t much time left. As you passed Steve’s bedroom, your mind shot to the times you had spent with him. From the first awkward moments sitting in that chair opposite of him and the kiss you had shared only days after, to the moments of devastation you had felt when Rebecca had kissed him and Nick had made him believe you were Hydra. It was all coming back to you in a big flood, making you even more determined to stop Hydra from killing him.

    Before you regained your way through the headquarters, searching for the room you had seen on the news feed, you walked into Steve’s bedroom, hoping to find the large piece of circular vibranium that could make the difference between success and failure. As your hands closed around the cold metal a sense of calmness overwhelmed you.

    No matter what would happen today – no matter who died – at least you could say that you tried.

Meanwhile in the living room

People were constantly talking to Steve, but as much as he wanted to focus on their words, he could barely hear any of it. His mind was running in circles, remembering everything that had happened the last few days over and over. He saw your face again and again. Repeating those last moments until he thought he was going crazy.

    Even when the FBI agent had handed him the Hydra orders and had pointed you out as the one plotting to kill him, he couldn’t believe a single word the man had been saying. How could the smart, funny and loving woman he had come to know possibly be Hydra? He hadn’t believed any of it until he had heard it from you. With that confession, his whole world had come crashing down.

    Was he really that bad at reading people?

    He guessed he must be, even though a slight shimmer of hope still burned in the back of his mind. The look you had given him right before they had dragged you away, was one he still couldn’t place. It hadn’t been a look of someone who realized they had been caught. It wasn’t even a look of defeat. No, it was a look of sorrow. Sorrow for the lies that had been told and everything that hadn’t been said, but should have. Sorrow that from that moment on, everything would be different.

    If he could only figure out what exactly that had meant.

    “Steve?” it sounded beside him. He could hear it faintly coming through the images of you smiling at him and the sound of your laughter. He didn’t want the feeling of holding you in his arms, or the warmth he thought he had lost spreading through his body, to go away. He tried desperately to hold on to those feelings, but as with all things he had always wanted, they fleeted before his eyes.

    “Steve,” Rebecca called out to him again. “Are you alright?” she asked.

    For a moment he could see your features in her worried gaze, hear your voice as she asked him if he was ready and feel your soft touch as she brushed his arm. Within a second all of that disappeared and he was staring at Rebecca, who in all aspects wasn’t anything like you.

    “I’m fine,” he managed to say, his voice sounding more confident than he truly felt. He looked at the watch on his wrist and sighed. “They’re going live in just a few minutes.”

    “Are you ready?” she asked again.

    He nodded. “Yes… Let’s just get this over with. I’m sure you’d all rather be home right now.” He managed a smile, though knew it probably didn’t seem very convincing. Rebecca smiled back nonetheless and left his side to take up her rehearsed place on the other side of the room with the other girls.

    The people from CNN – a cameraman, reporter and a few staff members – nodded at him to take his place. Reluctant to be on television right now and share with the entire world that you were Hydra, he shuffled his feet towards the lecture stand slowly. Steve swallowed hard, staring into the camera standing a few feet away from him. The woman beside it started counting down until all sound faded and only her fingers showed him how much time remained until his face would be seen on all televisions in America.

    In those few seconds, his mind started racing again. His eyes searched for a familiar face in the living room, but most of the Avengers – his friends – had gone away because they didn’t want to be on the show and right when Steve needed Tony, he was nowhere to be found. He needed someone – anyone – to give him some confirmation that he was doing the right thing. That you were really Hydra and he wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life.

    In the last second before the little red light of the camera flashed on, Steve looked at the FBI agent that had given him the Hydra file with your orders. He had been calm and certain the last time Steve had seen him, but as the super soldier held the man’s gaze now, they seemed to be filled with doubt instead.

    A frown covered Steve’s brow when the agent quickly looked away. He followed his gaze towards the other agent – the head of the FBI in New York – who gave him a dangerous glare. The super soldier even forgot for a moment that he was on live television as he started to realized something strange was going on

    “Captain?” the reporter whispered, making him look back at the camera. “We’re live…”

    Steve cleared his throat and started on the speech he had rehearsed for hours, trying to get you from his mind. He tried to get it all out the way he had meant to, but he wasn’t sure if he even got any of it out. He hadn’t even started on the second part of his apology to the girl when all the lights in the room dimmed.

    For a moment he was surrounded by complete darkness. Screams welled from the girls’ throats. Even Steve didn’t dare to breathe. When the lights turned back on, it was clear there had indeed been something wrong. The FBI agents that had been stationed near the door had left their positions and had pulled their guns from their backs. The barrows were now all pointed at the group of girls standing on the other side of the room; out of Steve’s reach.

    His eyes darted around the room, seeing the reporter and the cameraman look in horror as their staff members pulled guns from their bags and pressed them against their temples. Even though Steve could feel the anger surging through his body, he knew the camera was still rolling. He wanted to scream out and lash out to the man that was walking his way, but he knew he couldn’t. All of America was watching and one wrong move would mean the death of everyone around him.

    “Now, Captain,” the head of the FBI of New York said, making sure he kept himself out of sight from the cameras. He clicked the safety from the gun in his hands and walked closer to the super soldier. “Let’s see how much you really care about these girls…”



TO BE CONTINUED...