Enemy Lines (Steve Rogers) - 2

19

One hand delicately stirred the spoon in the tea cup, listening to the sound of the television in the background. Once again, news about her. This time it was the opening of the exhibition at the Imperial War Museum. 

Mo took a long sip and the gently placed the cup back onto the saucer. 

Six months. 

Six months that she had been without him. 

It had meant leaving her lovely home in the US to return to England. It was where she was needed, but in her eyes it was where they could control her. Under the act of the accords, she had been given just one mission. 

To bring in those who were fugitives, including her husband. 

If she disagreed then she would also be declared just that, however Mo had stood by what Steve had told her. She had to be compliant so as she could know just what was happening on the inside. 

Now she resided in the home that Peggy had left to her. Having brought it so as she could return at anytime, the beautiful thatched property had been well cared for. Peggy herself had told her that she wished she could have spent more time there, but it soon became more of a holiday home. Now, after having to sit through a painful will reading, it was Mo's - a change Peggy had made before she had passed. 

It was quiet, peaceful, and in the English countryside away from everyone. 

Her sister knew her too well. 

Of course Mo had made her changes and made the place her own, however her loneliness was becoming unbearable without Steve. 

She hadn't heard from him, not since the day at the airport. 

He was still out there. He'd been 'spotted' in places however by the time that authorities would arrive to bring him in, he would be gone. His phone was no longer switched on and the only thing that she could so was wait to have him contact her. 

Mo was under obligation to bring him in as well as Sam, Natasha, Vision and Wanda. She had argued Wanda's case however the government were having none of it. 

"Miss Maximoff is just as dangerous as the rest of them!"  The Prime Minister declared. 

"She made a mistake, goodness me if we were back in the forties then..."

"Well we are not in wartime Britain anymore Captain!" He argued from behind his desk. "Times have changed, people have moved on and there are bigger threats than V8 bombers". 

Mo stared at him. "You say times have changed Prime Minister, but what I see? They have not". 

"and you may have fought a war Captain Carter, but did you ever come across a woman like Wanda Maximoff". 

"No sir, I came across far worse people who used their power to destroy, not to try and save people, and they were the ones who were the most dangerous of them all, because they had their minds, not enhancements". 

Regardless of putting up a fight, she'd had to agree to inevitable. The hunting of her husband and his associates, but she had never agreed to make an effort to find them. 

Now here she was, standing in her living room and listening as news of the exhibition that applauded her achievements and 'heroism' (it really wasn't in her view), had opened this weekend in London.  

"Oh do hush". She muted the television and sighed. 

The real villains were still out there. Crossbones being one. He had already tried to blow Steve up and instead had caused all this mess. Perhaps that had been his plan all along. To get Steve out of the way so as he could have easy access to her. It was no secret that Hydra wanted what they had created back in their own hands. She had received public threats from them, ones that told her to be wary, because they would come for her. 

"I don't bloody think so". She had retorted to the video when it had been shown to her. 

"You are no longer under Captain America's protection..." A British intelligence officer had declared when they had shown it to her and the Prime Minister. 

"I never was in the first place young man, I am my own protection. Not my husband or anyone else. ME! If Mr Crazy Bones wants me, then he's going to have a tough time, because by now you all know I put up a hell of a fight". 

Taking her tea, Mo made her way into the kitchen, stopping suddenly as she sensed a presence by the back door. 

The tea cup fell from her grasp and smashed to pieces on the floor as he saw just who stood there watching her silently and unmoving. 

"Steve..."