Come Back To Me

11

Steve, Jamie, and I spent all night with the group at the party until our feet were tired and we crawled home to relax. The following day, Steve went out all day to handle his "Avenger" duties. I stayed home with Jamie, and I sat in her room with her while we colored in her fairytale coloring book. We were quiet and peaceful, enjoying some mother-daughter time in the silence. Jamie licked her lips in concentration as she scribbled over a few of the lines with her crayons. Every now and then, I would glance over at her and smile.

"Mags?" Steve's voice trailed from the living room. I lifted my head and stood up, Jamie following me out to greet him. But his eyes were focused on something else and a frown was printed on his lips. I furrowed my brow and pulled Jamie closer to me, turning to look at what Steve's attention was on. The lights were turned off, and in the dim shadows of the corner sat Nick Fury, sprawled out on our living room chair. How the hell did he get in without me noticing?

"I don't remember giving you a key." I said in confusion as to how he broke in without me hearing him.

"You really think I need one?" He sat up with a pain filled groan, holding his arm to his stomach. "My wife kicked me out." He grumbled.

"I didn't know you had a wife." Steve mentioned cautiously. Something didn't seem quite right and I held Jamie tightly to my side to protect her. I had an uneasy feeling about why he might have been in our apartment.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." Nick retorted seriously.

"I know, Nick. That's the problem." Steve sighed, reaching over to the lamp and flicking it on.  Nick pushed himself up to his feet and switched the light back off. My brows furrowed and Jamie squirmed uncomfortably against my side. Nick brought a finger up to his lips, signaling us to be quiet. He slowly pulled a phone out of his pocket and began typing, flashing us the screen when he was done. EARS EVERYWHERE. I glanced around the room and tightened my grip on my daughter, swallowing down a lump developing in my throat.

"I'm sorry to have to do this, but I had nowhere else to crash." Nick continued on casually. He had his eyes on his phone as he continued to type, and then show us the screen. SHIELD COMPROMISED.

"Who else knows about your wife?" I asked, trying to stay as natural as possible, while hiddenly asking who knows about SHIELD.

"Just my friends." He said, showing us a new screen. YOU AND ME.

"Is that what we are?" I asked, raising a brow.

"That's up to you." Nick stated. Suddenly, a thunderous like sound blew through the living room, the wall behind Nick crumbling where three powerful gunshots blasted through it. Nick let out a shriek of pain and dropped to the floor. Jamie let out a terrified scream and gripped onto the fabric of my jeans, burying her face into my thigh as tears poured from her lids. I held onto her shoulders and crouched down to shield her with my body, while pulling her toward the kitchen and around the corner so she was concealed. Steve drug Nick's ragdoll like body in the same direction and lay him down as Nick grunted in pain. I hugged Jamie to my chest and Steve hovered over Nick. Fury outstretched his hand, a metal flash-drive held in his bloody palm. "Don't trust anyone." Nick coughed out. Steve tilted his head and his eyes narrowed with worry, but he accepted the drive as Nick fell unconscious.

There was another crash and I peeked over the kitchen counter to see our little blonde neighbor, Kate enter, with a large black pistol at the ready. "Captain Rogers? Miss Barnes?" she called into the house carefully. She caught sight of us in the kitchen and shoved her pistol into her waistband, rushing around the counter to talk to us. "I'm Agent 13, SHIELD special service." She spoke.