Steve and Rachel went to one of Sam's meetings. They stood outside the door, listening to the stories. "I think it's getting worse", a woman said. "A cop pulled me over last week. He thought I was drunk. I swerved to miss a plastic bag. I thought it was an IED". "Some stuff you leave there", Sam said. "Other stuff you bring back. It's our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase, or in a little man-purse? It's up to you".

They approached Sam after the meeting. "Look who it is, the running people", he said. "Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense, " Rachel replied.

"Yeah, well, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret"

"You lose someone?"

"My wingman, Riley. Flying a night mission. Standard J rescue op. Nothing we hadn't done 1,000 times before. Until an RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch"

"I'm sorry"

"After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?"

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

"The number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell yeah. Are you thinking about getting out?"

"No. I don't know. To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did"

"Ultimate fighting? Just a great idea off the top of my head. Seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?"

"I don't know"

Rachel had gotten back to her apartment and was about to go to sleep when she heard music coming from Steve's apartment. She went out into the hall and found him just about to enter his apartment. "Can you turn that off? I want to sleep", she said. "I didn't turn it on", he replied. They shared concerned looks.

They climbed into his apartment through the window. He quickly grabbed his shield as the music started to get louder. They looked over the wall to see a record playing and Nick Fury sitting in a chair next to it. "I don't remember giving you a key", Steve said. "You really think I'd need one?" Fury replied. "My wife kicked me out".

"I didn't know you were married"

"A lot of things you don't know about me"

"I know, Nick. That's the problem"

Steve turned on the light, bringing attention to the blood and bruises that littered Nick's face. The two looked concerned but Fury shushed them, turning the light back off. He typed something on his phone and showed it to them. Ears everywhere. "I'm sorry to have to do this, but I had no place else to crash", he continued before showing another message typed out on his phone. Shield compromised. "Who else knows about your wife?" Rachel asked.

You two and me.

"Just... My friends", he said. "Is that what we are?" Steve said.

"That's up to you"

Suddenly, a shot came through the wall, catching Fury and knocking him to the ground. They looked through the window to see someone shooting at them from the roof of a nearby building. They dragged Fury away from the window as he coughed. Just as they were about to walk off, Fury grabbed Steve's arm. He held out a USB stick in his palm and Steve took it. "Don't trust anyone", he said weakly. The door opened. "Captain Rogers?" Kate said as they saw her entering the apartment with a gun. "Captain, Agent, I'm Agent 13 of SHIELD Special Service". "Kate?" Steve questioned.

"I'm assigned to protect you"

"On whose orders?"

"His"

She bent down next to Fury, checking his pulse. She grabbed a walkie-talkie out of her pocket. "Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive", she said. "I need EMTs". "Do we have a 20 on the shooter?" the dispatcher asked. "Tell him I'm in pursuit", Steve said. "Make that both of us", Rachel added.

They burst through a window into the building across the way. They ran through the building, seeing two people running on the roof. They started running faster, smashing everything in pursuit until they made it to the roof. The two people were about to make it to the edge of the roof when Steve threw his shield on them. One of them turned around and caught it. They both had one metal arm and wore masks, covering everything but their eyes. It was a man and a woman. Rachel looked at the man's eyes for a second. He threw the shield back at Steve and he caught it. When they looked back up again, the two were gone.

Steve, Rachel and Maria watched as Fury was being operated on. Natasha rushed in and stood beside them. "Is he gonna make it?" she asked. "I don't know", Steve replied.

"Tell me about the shooter"

"Shooters", Rachel corrected. "They're fast. Strong", Steve said. "They each had a metal arm". "Ballistics?" Natasha said. "Three slugs, no rifling. Completely untraceable", Maria said.

"Soviet-made"

"Yeah"

Fury started crashing and they tried to revive him. "Don't do this to me, Nick", Natasha whispered. "Don't do this to me, Nick. Don't do this to me". They failed to revive him and called time of death. Steve left the room.

Natasha, Steve and Rachel were in a room with Fury's body. Maria entered the room. "I need to take him", she said. Steve nodded and approached Natasha. "Natasha", he said softly. She touched his head and walked out of the room. Steve and Rachel went after her. "Natasha!" he said. "Why was Fury in your apartment?" Natasha asked.

"I don't know"

"Cap, Agent Howard, they want you back at SHIELD", Rumlow said, coming over to them.

"Yeah, give us a second"

"They want you now"

"Okay"

Rumlow walked off. "You're a terrible liar", Natasha said before walking away. Steve sighed and looked at the vending machine. Behind the gum was a SHIELD device.

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