SAFE HOUSE
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Steve had forgotten about her. And he felt terrible for it. The vision the Maximoff girl had given him just reminded him of that fact- that he had left Peggy Carter behind for a new life in the twenty first century. When was the last time he'd gone to see her?

He was wondering about it all then- Peggy, the war, the life he would have had if it weren't for the serum. But then, if it weren't for the serum, he would have been dead.

Peggy's voice still echoed in Steve's head as he sat on the Quinjet, surrounded by his shell shocked friends. Clint was flying them to a location that Steve neither knew nor cared about.

The war's over, Steve. We can go home.

Yes, the war was over. But there was no home left for him. It was to hard think of anyone who cared about Steve like Peggy Carter did. Bucky, maybe, when they were kids. But now he didn't even know who Steve was.

Perhaps Sadie?

As if his thoughts had beckoned her, Steve's phone lit up with Isadora's name from the floor beside him. He let it ring, vibrating in sync with the engine of the jet as he stared at her photograph and wondered. Then the ringing stopped. And started again, from Natasha's phone.

"Pick it up," he told the red-haired agent beside him, the first words he'd spoken in an hour. Natasha just glared at him with an eyebrow raised, as if to call him a hypocrite. He was.

The ringing stopped again. Natasha absentmindedly made a couple clicks on the phone, and Sadie's short voicemail played. She sounded worried, and he knew Nat wouldn't call her back. And he knew Sadie wouldn't stop worrying. So, Steve dialled her number instead.

Talk to me, she'd told him, and he dismissed her. Steve felt awful about it, but it was something he had to do. What was he supposed to say? He'd let himself get too close to Isadora Moore over the past year, and it was nobody's fault but his own.

He thought back to his vision. To when Peggy had disappeared, and that hall was left empty, and Sadie was there, with a bleeding chest and toxic words on her lips. You did this. There had been camera flashes- between that empty room and blood, when he'd felt so afraid- to that party, where he'd held Peggy in his arms and felt all that optimistic love like he used to. Before that plane went in the ice.

Steve had never felt so disoriented. And his head hurt. He decided to sleep off the rest of the journey. When he woke up, he'd have to pull himself together.

See, Peggy was only ever wrong about one thing in her life. Steve's heart wasn't big enough for two. He had to leave Sadie Moore alone. Before it all got worse.

~

We can go home.

"Are you gonna come inside?" Sadie's voice caused Steve to finally snap out of thoughts as she joined him on the porch. Thor had just taken off to find 'answers' that Steve had no hope of finding for himself.

Arriving at Clint's home was arguably the most surprising thing to have happened that week. Seeing his colleague and friend surrounded by such love and joy warmed Steve's heart. For a moment. Until he remembered it was something he would never have for himself. And on top of all that, Sadie was there.

Of course Sadie was there, setting up, in her crisp doctor's coat, holding a bright yellow clipboard which she still tapped on now, as she sat herself down in one of the twin armchairs.

"Or, I guess you're just going to keep staring at the house like that," she said. Her voice was still distant in his ears. He should go inside, join Tony and the others. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to move. "Getting here was so secretive. They put me in a car that drove itself. I mean, I'm guessing we're south of NYC but that basically just leaves the whole country."

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked, dragging his eyes away from the house.

Sadie straightened her spine, a slight frown on her face. "I'm working."

"I thought I said I'd see you in New York," the words came out harsher than he intended.

"I thought I said I'm working," she repeated, firmly.

"You're supposed to be taking time off," he responded- how long had it been since her mother's diagnosis? A week and a half, maybe?

"God, Steve. Great to know you're glad to see me," Sadie sighed, tightening her hair tie. Then she stood and stepped towards him, her glowing hands ready. "Okay, c'mere."

"What for?" Steve asked, stepping back.

"I'll be honest, I don't know," Sadie said, gently. "I'm supposed to give you guys some... relaxation? Clarity, maybe?"

On any other day, Isadora Moore could give him both, without her healing. Today, her company put him on edge. That may have been why Steve found himself telling her: "I don't want it."

For a moment, hurt flickered across her face, and she looked down. Steve felt such a guilt he didn't know if he could look at her any longer. But then Sadie lifted her head, and the expression switched to simple professionalism. He didn't know which was worse.

"Well, I can't force you," Sadie said. "Is there anything else I can do? I'd recommend a quick neural check up, not more than five minutes."

"Help who you're gonna help and go home, Isadora. It's safer there," Steve forced himself to say the words with as much conviction as he could muster. It didn't feel like much.

"I should've went to Johannesburg," Sadie said, her tone still gentle despite his attitude. "They're short of doctors. Adrianne's there now."

And she came here instead. To help them, to help him. Steve wanted Sadie to leave, but he didn't want her going to Johannesburg either. After the state they'd left the city in, there was no telling how safe it was. But who was he to tell her where she couldn't go, while still pushing her away? If Bucky were here, he'd tell Steve he couldn't have his cake and eat it.

"Just know it's chaos over there," he warned, and she nodded.

"I get that you don't wanna talk right now," Sadie started. "I'll respect that. But could you just tell me how I can help?"

"You can help by letting it go," Steve said, honestly. "By going back to New York- looking after yourself and your mom and staying far away from all of this."

"I gotta do my job first," Sadie answered, her face a solid mask. "I'll be out of your hair by the end of the day."

~

Isadora was not a fan of the attitude she was receiving from Steve, but she opted not to rise to it. Right now, she'd be doctor first, friend second if that's what he'd force her to do.

It seemed all the heroes needed her to be a doctor first- the overall energy of the country house was stagnated in a suffocating mood, and nobody seemed to be saying much. Apart from Clint, who seemed completely unaffected by the events of Johannesburg.

"What exactly happened over there?" Sadie asked the agent quietly, as she watched Natasha and Bruce who sat at the kitchen table, barely saying a word.

"They got some kinda witch on their side," Clint said, with a sigh. "She got in their brains, made them all see stuff, I don't know. Banner got the worst of it."

Sadie looked back over to where the doctor sat, his‍‍‍ head in his hands. She couldn't help but think of all the destruction and casualties on the news, and a steady unease went through her for a moment. But the more she looked at Bruce Banner, a man wracked with guilt and pain, she decided what she thought about him.

"It wasn't his fault," Sadie said, quietly, before continuing to sort through her medical bag.

"Well, I wish he'd realise that," Clint said, before excusing himself and heading back upstairs.

Sadie took a breath before approaching Natasha first. She crouched before her and conducted her regular neural exam- reflexes, coordination, mental status. Sadie was more than relieved when her friend passed all stages.

"My head is killing me," Natasha told her, when asked if she was feeling any symptoms.

"I can fix that," Sadie replied, letting her hands glow as she stood behind Natasha, placing them firmly on the agents head.

She could sense it- a certain pain that was different to a regular headache, and she did her best to heal it. Sadie wasn't sure how much it helped until she noticed her friend was beginning to relax her body, and told her the pain was gone. Sadie glanced over to Banner, but he was already shaking his head.

"All due respect, Doctor Moore," Banner said, his voice slightly shaky. "But the only person getting inside my mind from this point on is me."

"Wanna bet?" Natasha said, and Sadie rolled her eyes.

It didn't take her long to perform the same neural exam on Doctor Banner- getting Tony Stark to even take a seat, however, was a challenge that proved impossible. Sadie decided that if he was going to be a diva, then that was fine by her. At least, apparently, the billionaire and Steve Rogers alike felt well enough to chop some wood like the men they were. Sadie refrained from rolling her eyes.

She stood on the porch then, her phone to her ear as the sound of the two heroes bickering blended in with the mosquitoes. She wasn't worried about the bites, as her scrubs and coat covered almost all her skin and she'd smothered bug spray on everywhere else. To her right, several metres away, Clint played with his children. They were certainly out of earshot, but she kept her voice low anyways.

"It all just makes me so thirsty, Shelly-girl," her mother's voice was weak through the phone, enough to cause a tear to fall down her face. "They gave me a kinda lollipop that's supposed to help, but all it does is wet my lips."

God, it hurt to hear her mother's struggle, the textbook side affects of chemotherapy. Sadie had known he'd be putting her through this when she'd urged Shan to seek treatment. And now she wasn't by her side.

"You can always ask them for an IV in between sessions," Sadie suggested, keeping her voice steady despite her stray tears. "Rehydration during chemo is very important."

"I know, Dr Shelly," even Shan's laugh was frail.

"I'll be back with you soon, Mom. I had to fly out here for work but I'm heading home at noon tomorrow," Sadie continued. Her peripheral vision showed her Steve heading back towards the house. She shifted to hide her face as he passed. "I will see you so soon."

"Shelly-girl," Shan said, brightly. "I'm glad you're working again. We have time, I never wanted you to pause your life. We're fighting this together, now, right?"

"Right," Sadie confirmed, keeping from choking up. "I love you, Mom. You got this."

It was only when her mother hung up that Sadie noticed Tony Stark nearby, his hands shoved into the jeans he'd borrowed from the house. He eyed her carefully as she wiped her tears in embarrassment, an unreadable look on his face. She hadn't noticed Clint and his family go, but it seemed all except herself and Tony were inside.

"You got a visitor in the barn," he said, at last, tossing her a pair of keys she could only assume fit a padlock. "Thought I'd let you know, Doctor Moore."

"Someone we know?"

"You think I'd pass it on if it was some rando?" Tony joked, and she couldn't help but laugh, despite how clogged her throat felt. He added, fairly simply: "Listen, Intern, we're all a mess on this team. You're doing better than most of us."

"Woah," Sadie said, with mock surprise. "Is this coming from Mr Tony Stark? And did you just admit an 'Intern' is better than you?"

"Hey- I said most of us, not me. Don't feel special," Tony shrugged, before leaving to reenter the house.

The barn was both worn and fairly clean, with all sorts of tools, spare tires and even a whole tractor lying in the middle of it. Sadie could make out the dust in the air illuminated by the dying daylight and it was only fitting that Nick Fury would show himself at this time. There was always an air of mystery surrounding the man.

"Dr Moore," he greeted her simply.

"Director Fury," she answered out of habit. The lack of a reaction was all that told her no offence was taken.

"I heard you've had a tough go of it since I last saw you," Fury said. "But at least you're paying the bills."

Sadie stared at him for a moment, adding up the pieces in her head. The smug look on his face was all the confirmation she needed. "It was you. You put my application forward for the job. I mean, thanks but, you realise I don't like to be passive in my own career."

"You belong in this world," he answered, tossing forward a duffel bag. It landed with a thud in front of her. "Not some private clinic."

Sadie didn't know what to say to that as she crouched to unzip the duffel bag at her feet. She was met with a familiar grey and navy fabric, thick and sturdy. She closed the bag and stood.

"You've got the skills to make a difference," Fury said.

"Last time you tried to weaponise me, it ended in literal flames," she reminded him, sternly.

"That's because we were trying to make you something you're not," Fury admitted, stepping forward.

Sadie narrowed her eyes at his tone. He was right, but she didn't like to be laughed at. "Well, thanks."

"You're made for something different," he added. "Something essential."

She pondered that for a moment. What else could she be good for- what else do they need? She wasn't a fighter, she was a healer. But the only lives she changes are the ones of the patients she's got. She stared down at the bag again.

"I can't accept this," Sadie said, gesturing to the bag with a sigh. "It doesn't feel right."

"Suit yourself," Fury shrugged. "But when the time comes, it'll be waiting for you."

She stared down at the bag again, and the weight of what it held inside. It was hard to look away from it, but she managed to.

"I was going to go and give the team a full report. Tell them they're all... physically okay," Sadie said, after her moment of silence. "You wanna come in and give them a much needed pep talk? Or would you rather hang out with the tractors?"

...
..
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hey y'all! hope you enjoyed this chapter- it was so difficult to write because I kept getting interrupted and usually write in one chapter at time so I wasn't used to writing so chunkated (that's not a word but you get me!)

Include Steve's PoV to help show why he's being so distant- he's still a sweet and caring boi but maybe too much so

thoughts?

-Amber.