Enemy Lines (Steve Rogers) - 2

11

Steve showed the group into the house and looked around for any sign of Mo. The record player was on quietly, however his wife was nowhere in sight.

Garden.

That was where she'd be.

"Lizzie?" He called as he walked out and found her planting some seeds into one of the flowerbeds.

She got up and brushed her hands on her apron as he wrapped his arms around her, placing a kiss into her hair. "It's gonna be ok." He repeated his earlier words to her and turned, seeing Tony and the others watching. "We're gonna have to lay low here for a while..."

"What happened?"

"All I can say is that we're not exactly liked at the moment."

"I'll make some tea..." She said and headed for the door, Steve pulling her back.

"Lizzie..." He looked at her concerned.

She shook her head. "Not now...we'll talk about everything in bed tonight." and then put on a brave front for the group. "I'll find some blankets and pillows. We have a couple of guest rooms but some of you will probably have to sleep down here."

"I call guest room!" Tony said immediately as they followed her into the kitchen.

Mo made them some coffee and the turned to them all. "So...I guess it's not just me that buggered things up today."

Nat slid onto a chair next to Bruce and looked at Mo as she passed the cups around. "How are you feeling?"

"Exposed..." Mo swallowed, feeling Steve's arm slide around her waist. "It's the last thing that I wanted."

"Least they won't find you here." Clint nodded his approval, "just like my place. Sanctuary when you need it. Thanks for letting us stay, My wife's expecting and we can only provide so much room."

Mo smiled lightly. "How many children do you have?"

"Two, third on the way..."

She pushed the lump down in her throat, feeling Steve's arm stiffen around her. "That's lovely...I bet they're wonderful..."

Clint smiled to himself. "Yeah, they're great..."

"I'm...erm...blankets, yes..." and she hurried upstairs to prepare the guest rooms without another word.

They watched her go and turned to Steve. "She's not okay." He confirmed on seeing their expressions. "We, erm...kinda had some bad news yesterday and she's trying to deal with it, and now this..." He exhaled and massaged his forehead, the stress rising.

Nat's voice brought him round. "Steve?"

"Huh?"

"We're here if you guys need us, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

"No, no - he does." Tony told her. "You all jumped on me for keeping shit from you..."

"That was different, you created artificial intelligence." Nat threw back which shut him up. "This is personal."

Steve pondered, he had to speak to someone, and Nat herself was probably the best one to try and help his wife considering her situation. "We probably can't have kids...Hydra's version of the serum has messed with her fertility. Helen said there's a chance, but it doesn't look like it'll happen..."

Clint winced, feeling terrible talking about his unborn child and kids. "Ah shit...I didn't..."

"It's fine." Steve told him, "It's all she's wanted though...all we wanted..." and then turned away to busy himself adding some sugar to his coffee so as the others couldn't see his grief.

Nat got up and put her hand on his shoulder. "I can talk to her..." seeing his brow furrowed as he tried to push his emotions to one side. "Steve..."

He looked at her and just nodded, unable to speak for fear of his voice cracking, but then swallowed. "How about you make yourselves at home, I'm just gonna check on her..." He said and ventured upstairs to find his wife.

She was in the front guest room, fluffing some pillows and tidying. He could see she'd been crying and now as she looked at him it was confirmed. "Sorry...I didn't know what else to really say."

"They know." He now told her gently.

Her face fell, "You told them?"

"Well I couldn't exactly keep it from them." He crossed his arms and looked at the floor, "They understand, they don't think any differently of you or me because of it."

"I do. It's the missing piece of me that they took. I don't feel complete Steve. I was meant to give you something you always wanted and now I can't."

"Lizzie..." His voice was barely a whisper. "This is killing me..."

Mo hadn't seen him look this devastated since losing Bucky, which made her more upset. "Steve..." She threw her arms around him and buried her face into his chest. He was trying to be so strong for her, and Mo had been so caught up in her own feelings that she hadn't stopped to consider him.

She felt terrible.

Peggy's words hit her hard. She had to be strong. She had a second chance to be with the love of her life and she needed to savour it. It could be snatched away from them at any given moment. "One step at a time sweetheart." He told her, "It's your body, but whatever you decide then I'm always going to be with you on that."

Mo nodded, now making the decision that she never thought she'd choose. "I want to try the injections and medication..."

"Ok." He replied gently. "I'll let Helen know and we can start that."

She nodded and dried her eyes, "Now...are any of them vegetarians? Is that what they call it?"

He smirked. "No, no they're good with anything."

"Good. I'll start preparing dinner. You go and try to relax."

"I should be the one telling you to do that."

Mo smirked at him. "You forget, I was a Captain too, and so I can give you orders just as much as you can to me."

Steve leant in and kissed her deeply, hands skimming down her waist. "And you enjoy the orders I give you..." he glanced back at the bedroom door to make sure no one was coming up to find them, and then back at her with a suggestive look.

"Steve - no we can't." She laughed quietly as he kissed her again.

"It'll be just like back in the day...thrill of getting caught..." he grinned, picking her up and carrying her to their bedroom. "I remember you enjoyed that more than most."

Mo heard the quiet click of the lock on their door and found herself against the wall. "They'll hear us..."

He didn't care. All he needed now was the sanctuary of being inside of her, anything to make them forget about everything just for half an hour or so. He needed his wife to know just how much he adored her.

"Let them."