I Can't Help It - Steve Rogers

Chapter 23

Rachel, Steve and Nat stand side by side as Steve knocks the door. Steve keeps his arm behind Rachel, worried she's still too drained to stand on her own two feet. However she's feeling much better after sleeping and is standing just fine. Sam answers the door to see the three covered in dust and looking quite tired. "Hey man" he greets with a confused expression. "I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low" Steve apologises. "Everyone we know is trying to kill us" Rachel adds defeatedly. "Not everyone" Sam states as he lets them in and closes the blinds.

While Nat and Steve sort themselves out, Rachel fills Sam in while eating some fruit to give her more energy. The sleep she had on the way was certainly helpful but not enough to fully recharge. When Nat enters the kitchen, Rachel leaves to wash herself up. She washes her face, cleaning the dried blood from under her nose along with the dirt on her face. She glances at the mirror as she dries her face to see Steve standing in the doorway and she smiles at him. "Are you ok?" he asks her. "Yeah, I'm ok" she assures him with a smile. He only watches her attentively while she finishes drying her face.

"Steve, what's wrong? Are you ok?" she asks when she realises him staring. He sighs deeply and Rachel takes his hand and drags him into the bedroom before sitting down. "Talk to me" she encourages him as he stares at their entwined hands. "I'm just... I'm worried about you" he admits as he holds her hand a little tighter, enough for Rachel to notice. "You don't need to worry about me Steve, I'm ok" she reassures him as she takes his other hand. "I can't help it" he says, repeating her words back to her. She chuckles at his response and he smiles up at her. "I really care about you Rach. I don't want anything to happen to you. You scared me, you couldn't stand" he tells her, getting a little worked up. "I'm sorry, I have limits and sometimes I have to push them. I care about you too, and I worried that if I didn't help, the debris would've killed us" she replies as she strokes his hands while he remains silent.

"I don't want to lose you" Steve admits in defeat as he meets her eyes. "I don't want to lose you either" she replies as they stare into each other's eyes. Steve suddenly pulls her into a kiss, one that's more meaningful and passionate than the one they shared at the shopping centre. Rachel is shocked at first, but responds by kissing him back and placing her hands around his wrist while his hands hold her face. They pull apart and Rachel smiles at him, causing him to smile back. "Promise, you'll be careful?" Steve asks hopefully. "Only if you are too" she replies and he nods before lowering his hands from her face, but keeps their hands locked.

"I made breakfast, if you guys eat that sorta thing" Sam awkwardly assumes from the doorway as he realises he may have interrupted a moment. Rachel chuckles at him before standing, pulling Steve up with her. "Maybe this will help me recharge some more" she suggests with a smile and Steve only smiles in return as he follows her to the kitchen.

"So, the question is, who at Shield could launch a domestic missile strike?" Nat summarises. "Pierce" Steve answers in realisation and Rachel looks up in shock as she chews on a waffle. "Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world" Nat states. "He's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star" Steve adds as he furrows his brows in thought. "So was Jasper Sitwell" Rachel states in realisation. "So the real question is, how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a Shield officer in Broad daylight?" Steve summarises in defeat.

"The answer is, you don't" Sam answers as he walks to the table and drops a file on it. "What's this?" Steve asks as he picks it up while standing. "Call it a resume" Sam states while Rachel and Nat gather beside Steve to read the documents from over his shoulders. "Is this Baklhama? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?" Nat questions as she sees the images and Sam gives a nod of approval. "You didn't say he was a pararescue" Rachel says as she looks up at Steve. "Is this Riley?" Steve questions as he looks at a photograph of Sam with another pararescue. Sam gives him a small nod along with a quiet 'Yeah'.

"I heard they couldn't bring in a chopper because of the RPG's. What'd you use, a stealth chute?" Nat questions. "No, these" Sam replies and raises another file to Steve's hand. Nat and Rachel look over Steve's shoulders to see the uniform. "I thought you said you were a pilot" Steve states with a grin. "I never said pilot" Sam chuckles. "I can't ask you to do this Sam. You got out for a good reason" Steve says with a shake of his head. "Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in" Sam responds confidently causing Rachel to smile at his response. "Where can we get our hands on one of these things?" Steve questions, accepting Sam's response to join them. "The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a 12 inch steel wall" he explains defeatedly. Steve glances at Nat who gives a shrug of her shoulders. He looks over at Rachel who gives him a nod while raising her eyebrows. "Shouldn't be a problem" Steve says to Sam and they prepare to leave.