He's my life, my love, my soul, my home

Chapter 11

SHIELD is compromised.

That message keeps going around in his head. SHIELD is compromised. SHIELD is compromised. SHIELD is compromised. And he has no idea why it is.

Fury didn't give any other information. Just that one text then radio silence for the next twenty-four hours. For safety, the Avengers returned to the tower, hoping that the Barton's were still unknown and safe.

Steve himself didn't know who to trust, but he trusted Sam. He invited Sam to the tower, explaining that it was for his safety and protection. Sam seemed okay with it, stating that he was there for support if anyone needed any.

The Avengers cut off all outside information, not trusting anyone to be the cause of the compromise. Tony had put security to its highest. He forced Pepper into staying instead of going to her meeting, Thor was taking his girlfriend, Jane, Darcy, and Erik to Asgard, even Bruce had asked Betty to stay near her father in case anything was to happen.

The radio silence they got unnerved them until they received another text.

UNKNOWN NUMBER [1:23 PM]: Open the door

UNKNOWN NUMBER [1:23 PM]: We have to talk

"Jarvis, who's at the door?" Tony didn't let anyone in unless Jarvis gave them an identification, they were checked for guns and any other weapons, and had a DNA test done on them.

"Agent Maria Hill, sir," the AI replied. It was weird because even Jarvis, who was snarky on most days seemed to be affected by the mood.

"Let her up."

A few minutes later, Maria was in the room, not looking a bit like her put together, professional self. She didn't say anything, just walked to the meeting room and they all followed.

"You all know that SHIELD is compromised," Everyone nodded. "Well, it goes deeper than we thought. At first, we thought that maybe it was a mistake in the system, but we alerted you as soon as we realized it wasn't. It wasn't just a few double or bad agents, it was more than forty-nine percent of SHIELD and thirty-three percent of SI. We tried to single out the agents, see who they were but, it was too much." Maria sucked in a shaky breath, steady herself. "Fury is down." The silence that followed was deafening.

"What." It wasn't a question. Natasha didn't ask a question, no emotion showed on her face. It was like when Bucky died, he was stuck in shock.

"Phil was with him now at the hospital. He-he didn't make it, I'm sorry, Natasha. I know how much he meant to you." Maria herself sounded broken. Steve knew that she had confided in Fury too.

Natasha didn't say anything just closed her eyes and sat down heavily in the chair. Clint came rushing toward her, and she allowed him to hug her.

Steve himself wasn't as close to Fury as Natasha and Clint was, but he still felt his death. When he got out the ice first he was lonely, confused, and depressed. He hid his feelings under his mask but one day, Fury came by his apartment for an unexpected visit. It wasn't for a mission like he had thought, but Fury gave him a file. It was large and lengthy and had all his friends and families information in it. It had what they went to do after the war ended and how they lived their life. Fury had told him to open it when he was ready, he had replied that he probably won't ever be. Fury gave him another file, one that said DECEASED in big bright and bold red letters. It was Bucky's; he was still listed as MIA. He cried then, and Fury, surprisingly, held him, got him through it. Fury had helped him out after that, and Steve had found his first friend. He had a year of no missions, but not a year or sulking in his apartment. Fury took him out, showed him things, taught him how to use phones, computers. Fury was the first person in this century to know about his feelings for Bucky. Fury had looked after him, for no reward Steve may not have trusted him, Fury was a good person, and now the least Steve could do is kill the person who killed him.