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( twenty. confrontations )

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"The next one's on the mountains. I don't know what's waiting for us up there but we have to be quick and stay low. Our cover can be easily blown from down here."

They all nodded in understanding as Steve gave out his orders. A map was laid out on the front of the truck (they managed to steal a truck from one of those HYDRA bastards) while they crowded around it.

Dugan was still filming but he definitely learned his lesson of not getting Natasha included in the film and instead focused it on Steve.

"Bucky, you'll be assigned to the lookout. Any incoming HYDRA soldier that gets even a foot past the block, take 'em down." Steve continued on. "Falsworth, Jones, you guys are on the back line. Make sure that none of us gets left behind and none of HYDRA's is left alive. Dum Dum, Morita, you'll be our right hand in the front line. Do whatever you can to get to bring them hell. And Anne—"

He was holding a compass. That made her curious. It looked closely like the compass that Steve showed her when he was talking about his past life. And she will never forget the fact that there was a picture in it. A picture of his best girl. Of Peggy Carter.

She squinted her eyes and leaned a little closer to get a peek at the compass.

You know what she found?

Nothing.

Nothing. What should've been a picture of Peggy Carter was no longer there. It was simply an ordinary compass. Nothing else to fuss over about.

"Anne? Agent Klein?" She snapped her head up to see Steve giving her a knowing glance. He looked a little riled up. "Are you paying attention?"

Of course, she was. "Yes."

"What did I say?" he taunted.

What the? Was he doing this on purpose? In front of the whole team and while this was on film? Really?

She knitted her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "You mean the whole thing?"

His unamused expression stayed on his handsome face. "Yes, that is if you're paying attention enough to know it."

Oh, he did not just say that. 

She clicked her tongue in pure annoyance and raised her finger. With the lousiest impression she could do of him, she started saying, "'Bucky, you'll be assigned for the lookout. Any incoming HYDRA soldier that gets even a foot past the block, take 'em down. Falsworth, Jones, you guys are on the back line. Make sure that none of us gets left behind and none of HYDRA's is left alive. Dum Dum, Morita, you'll be our right hand in the front line. Do whatever you can to get to bring them hell. And Agent Klein—', Did I get that right? Because I'm pretty sure you weren't able to finish giving me my orders, captain."

The soldiers snickered while the others 'ooed' in amusement. Bucky couldn't help the smirk from his face from appearing too, patting Steve's shoulder as if to say he's sorry for him.

Steve stood there looking all flushed up from both annoyance and humiliation. His gaze only hardened. "Just stay close to me. We're on the front line."

Hearing that was almost enough to lose her smug look but fortunately. she accepted the order without any complaint. "Yes, captain." She said curtly.

His reaction was expected, frowning at her cold and formal tone, but there was no time to discuss that now. They needed to kick some HYDRA butt.

They started moving. Walking, actually, towards the mountains up ahead. The closer they get, the colder it becomes. It was a good thing they were actually prepared and were wearing jackets suitable for winter season. It was just that cold with all the snow and ice scattered everywhere.

Unfortunately, they didn't anticipate that there were patrolling HYDRA men guarding against the foot of the mountain. As soon as they had seen them, they quickly spring into action.

Shit. So much for element of surprise.

Remembering their orders, they still stuck with following it and got down to business. She stayed close to Steve just like she was told to do. HYDRA showed no sign of backing down and even doubled up in number when a tank started coming in. They were all armed and shooting at them.

Of course, they didn't wither from this. Their own soldiers put up a fight. Bullet after bullet, they shot through the air and even got a hold of one of HYDRA's weapons again. They fired. Punched. Kicked. Everything they could to stop them.

Explosions. Rifles. Wounds. Blood.

Hell.

Natasha was pretty much having an advantage, though. With Steve's shield to protect her and give her the cover she needed, she shot them down one after another without even missing a hit.

Then came the explosions. They were swiftly avoiding the grenades being thrown at them until she eventually got pissed and grabbed one from her own belt and chunked it at them.

It exploded right at the foot of the tank and caused it to topple over.

She was drenched in sweat, probably even hit a few times to the jaw and stomach but it was nothing serious. Then she heard incoming footsteps getting louder and louder from her behind.

She whipped around just in time to dodge the incoming HYDRA soldier running at her. She grabbed a hold of his arm and landed a kick on his thigh that made him cried out in pain. She dodged his fist but wasn't too quick enough to dodge the second one. It got her good on her face and suddenly tasted blood in her mouth.

With that, she lunged even more furiously. Dangerously.

She punched him in the jaw, giving a taste of his own medicine and landed a blow to his gut. Knocking him out.

"Anne, watch out!" Steve's voice tore through all the noise.

Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough to discern his call. A great force suddenly hit her like a brick wall and sent her crashing on the ground. A throbbing pain quickly ran up her spine, her head ached like hell and her vision was becoming blurry.

She tried to shake her head a few times to get herself together again from the explosion. She blinked a few times. When her vision finally cleared out, it was she noticed there was a person crouching over her. He was shielding the both of them with a red, white and blue shield.

"Steve?" she muttered, still not sure if she was seeing correctly.

He looked down at her with his bright blue eyes. The sharp glare he had towards her earlier was long gone, replaced with nothing but complete worry. There was a deep gash on his temple, blood was oozing from it down to is cheek. Sweat hung on the tip of his nose while he panted heavily.

"Anne, are you okay?"

She could only stare back. His bruised yet ever so handsome face was just inches from her own. "I'm fine..." Her fingers hovered over the cut on his face. "You're bleeding."

"Just a scratch." Right. He said with a small smile, "But so are you." He pointed at the blood forming on the side of her lip.

"I've been through worse."

Natasha didn't know what the hell was happening but she suddenly forgot that they were in the middle of a fight for a second. And why she suddenly had this overwhelming urge to lean up and press her lips against him and imagined the feeling of their bodies being pressed up against each other.

But then she remembered that she was supposed to be mad at this amazing dork in front of her. And that, unlike her, he wasn't having an overwhelming urge to kiss her back because he had just finished kissing someone else.

Forget kissing him. 

She suddenly wanted to strangle him in the neck.

"Alright, get off." She pushed his weight away from her as she scrambled to get up.

Steve looked shocked for a moment, puzzled at her sudden change of mood. "Let me help you—"

"Stop." She glared at him. "I don't need your help, Rogers."

He gave her the kind of look you would get from a kid when you take away all the candies he had for Halloween. He looked like he was about to say something but they had incoming approaching.

On the corner of her eye, she saw three men coming straight at her. She quickly grabbed their gun and blasted it at the one in the center. She avoided all their blasts and leaped in the air to land on the other's chest. She pushed herself up and jumped the other's neck using her legs as a grip to spin him and drag him down.

Natasha landed on the ground effortlessly. She picked up her pistol and aimed it at the soldier coming for her back. He was shot in the chest before she could even turn around.

One of her shots had hit a soldier in the wrist. He yelped in pain and crouched down. Natasha went to pick it up since it would be good for ammo but another soldier came up and slammed his foot into her face.

She fell backward, feeling the blood trickle down her nose. The HYDRA took this chance to lean over her and tried to cut her neck using the dagger. Her mind was still a little bit foggy from the attack and was having difficulty to push the man off her.

She felt a jolt of pain as the blade sliced a layer of skin on her neck and was about to kick him off when she saw a red-blue and white shield fly over her.

The weight on top of her was instantly gone. She turned towards the captain just in time to see him catch his shield once more. "Stop saving me, dammit!" she fumed.

He inspected the gash on the side of her throat. "You could have been killed." He returned.

"Thanks for the concern, Cap. But I can handle it on my own." She wiped the blood from her nose and turned away from him.

Steve grabbed her arm before she could take a step from him. "When are you going to drop down this act of yours and start talking to me again?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. I don't know if I screwed up. I don't know if it bothers you that I kissed her. But I do know that you're mad." Steve narrowed his eyes at her. "For God's sake! Why won't you just talk to me? Every time this happens you won't tell me what's wrong!"

"Maybe because you never even tried to ask!"

"Hey!" Bucky's voice stood out among the explosions. He had his rifle in his hands and was currently shooting down the incoming soldiers running straight for them. He wasn't looking at them but they could tell he was furious just as much. "Save the fight for later, would you? Those things up front are the fight here!"

She went to work right away, ignoring Steve's look on her.

She swiftly dodged the bullet that the HYDRA miserably aimed. She fired one that went straight to his arm and started to advance towards him. She knocked the gun out of his grip and jabbed her foot straight at his gut, knocking him out cold with one final punch.

She turned back to face Steve. He had taken out yet another couple of HYDRA soldiers but the gash on his face seemed worse. It was bleeding pretty badly now.

"Maybe because I'm getting tired of being shoved around to the side whenever I try to ask you." He said bitterly.

Oh, so he was tired? Not her problem then. She wiped the blood on her face with her sleeve, staining her jacket. "So you're saying it's my fault?"

"I didn't say that—"

"No, that's exactly what you're saying. Why? Can't handle being ignored, Cap?" She mocked. "Well, you don't have to waste your time with me when you can spend all your time kissing Agent Carter."

God, she sounded like a child. A jealous brat. But she couldn't help it. It's like her mouth has a mind of her own and the words just keep spilling out.

That seemed to fuel him up more. "It's not like that! You didn't even give me a chance to explain what happened!"

"What else is there to explain?" She exclaimed, fury in her eyes. "It's self-explanatory, Steve."

"No, it's not."

She didn't want to hear any more of this. Much less in the middle of a battle. "I don't really care."

"No offense but it kinda looks like you do."

Goddamn it.

She turned around to jab her finger hard on his chest. "You listen here, Rogers—"

She was cut off by the sound of something powering up. She turned around and saw a HYDRA aiming their gun at her and Steve. She thought it was too late for Steve to use his shield and cover them both just in time.

But then a shot rang out in the air and landed straight in the HYDRA's chest. They looked behind and saw Bucky with his rifle pointed in the air.

He strode over to them, pointing at the both of them accusingly. He was mad all right.

"You two are going to get your brains screwed out if you keep doing this. I don't know what the hell is going on, but whatever it is? Don't drag it in the middle of this. If you guys can't settle your problems alone then don't even think of settling it while we're out here, for God's sake."

Jesus. These two were going to be the fucking death of him.

  ————————————————————————————  

Natasha had realized something.

Steve Rogers wasn't the type of guy to get mad so easily.

But when he did, he was just downright terrifying.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he belted out in anger.

She winced. Mentally reminding herself that this Steve tended to swear more often than the Steve she knew back in her time. She shifted in her seat, grimacing at the pain shooting out from her wounded side.

"Steve, come on. Give her a break." Bucky said quietly.

But he wasn't listening. He was too overshadowed by his worry, anger, concern, and frustration to even hear any of them. He was just hearing his own self.

"You could've died out there!"

"But I didn't." She retorted.

Steve scowled. "Yeah, luckily."

She really didn't know why he was making a big deal out of this. Alright, so maybe she did once again didn't follow orders but she had managed to get the mission done.

One thing she learned is that she may be the best agents in the world. A damn good one at that.

But she will never be a good soldier. Never.

It really was going fine. After Bucky went on his outburst about them not being able to keep their shit together when they were arguing out there on the field, they decided to put all of those behind them and get the job done first.

Unfortunately, the HYDRA soldiers were doubling up in number by the time the longer they stayed there. And they couldn't gain a fort forward because they were blocking all their escape routes and they had no choice but to fall back when they were starting to be outnumbered.

Steve ordered everyone to fall back and each one of them did not dare question their Captain's orders. Bucky, however, managed to see straight through him and figure out his plan, saying that it was a stupid idea and he was just going to get himself killed.

He was planning to infiltrate one of their tanks and clock a grenade inside to wipe out a good number of them.

"You're crazy and stupid. You're going to get gunned down before you even get to the top!" Bucky exclaimed.

Steve raised his shield. "Let's hope this is good for something. Much stronger than my first one, anyway."

Natasha already knew what he was planning to do. The second he bolted straight for the tank, she followed as well, ignoring Bucky's calls of following their orders. The second she got up on the tank Steve was standing on, she got an ear load of yelling from him.

He glared at her. "What the hell are you doing here? I told you to fall back!"

"But I remembered you also telling me to stay close by with you while we're on the front lines." She returned.

"We're in the open! You, especially! They can easily shoot you down!"

Natasha rolled her eyes, shooting one of the HYDRA soldiers trying to climb their way up. "Have faith in me, Cap."

"Anne—"

Suddenly, a HYDRA operative came up behind them. He was already powering up his gun and was aiming it straight at Natasha. Steve hurried to shield her from the impact and got hit instead. The force sent him leaning over the edge and accidentally lost his footing.

"Steve!" She peeked over to see him safely land on the ground.

He was definitely pissed. "Get out of there!"

She couldn't abandon the mission now. She glanced down at her utility belt and saw that she still had one last grenade. "Give me a sec!"

"No! Anne, get down here right now!"

She took the grenade and removed the clip. The hatch was already open so she hurled it easily and down it went inside. As she turned around to jump, she didn't right away saw the former HYDRA soldier getting up and aiming his gun at her.

She barely dodged it and the shot grazed her side. Leaving an excruciating pain burning its way to her flesh. She gasped as she held her side.

"Anne! Jump!" Steve cried out.

She did jump.

The exact moment the explosion went off and threw her body down the hard concrete ground.

"We got the mission done. That's what matters right? And I'm fine. I've been through worse than this."

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.

Steve stared at her in disbelief. "You think the mission is all what's important here? What good will it do if one of us got killed because someone didn't follow their orders?"

"But I didn't get killed! I'm right here! God, can't you let this go?" she seethed.

The other men were starting to get uncomfortable and averted their gazes away. Bucky sent her an apologetic look. They couldn't do or say anything that would stop Steve.

"No," Steve said stubbornly. "You disobeyed direct orders—"

"Shut up. Just shut up." She said, wincing at the throbbing pain in her head.

"—and disregarded your team's call."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Why the hell would you do that? There's no reason for you to when I had the situation under control!"

"Oh, yeah. Because asking us to fall back and stay on the ground while you do your heroic act and walk straight into a fire pit is definitely a situation under control." She snapped sarcastically.

He ignored her, his eyes burning hard through her. "Why did you do it?"

"You're making my head hurt even more. Leave me alone."

"Why?" he pressed.

Goddammit. She stared at him hotly. Her blood boiling while she clenched her fists in frustration. "Are you deaf or something?"

"I just want to know."

"Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Why can't you just answer the question?"

She squeezed her eyes shut and threw her head back in exasperation. No, Natasha. Don't say it. Don't you dare say it—

"I did it for you!"

Steve froze. Confusion filled his face. "What?"

She averted her gaze. Her face turning red both from the embarrassment and fury seeping through her own veins. "Jesus, Rogers, I...." She sighed heavily. "I did it for you."

  ————————————————————————————  

Once they arrived back at the base, they were quickly given medical attention.

Natasha, most especially. What are the odds that Becca was going to be her personal nurse? Of course, she received a lengthy lecture from her and how she was now being worried off her butts by looking after not just two—but three idiots now.

Steve was quick to get done. Other than a few cuts here and there, he didn't suffer so much from their last missions. And thanks to the serum, his wounds were also faster to heal.

He didn't know why he was still standing here outside the emergency room. One of the clear windows from the doors made it easier for him to see what he was looking for. She was talking with Becca, lying down on the medical bed while she wrapped up the wound on her side.

She took a nasty hit. And the only reason why he got so mad at her (though it was a stupid thing to do) was because he was so worried about her. He couldn't stand the thought of her getting hurt because of... him.

I did it for you.

But why? Why would she risk her life for him?

Even though he knew it within himself that he'd do the same thing for her in a heartbeat, he was just surprised to hear it from her because it wasn't like her to do something like that. She was selfless, yes. But not in that kind of way.

Maybe they had a lot more common than he originally thought.

"Steve?"

He immediately recognized the sweet feminine voice. When he turned around, his assumptions were proven correct. He was surprised to see her here. "Hi Peggy," he smiled. "What are you doing here?"

She walked closer, her heels clicking against the floor. "I came by the office to see if you were there but turns out the other nurses know you a lot better than I do when they told me you must still probably be at the medical ward."

"Ah, yes. They just patched me up. Nothing serious."

An amused smile etched on her bright red lips. "Then what are you still doing here?" She brushed past him to peek at what he was looking at through the windows. Steve panicked, reaching out to grab her hand before she could take another step forward.

Peggy glanced at their joined hands then back to his eyes. A prominent blush was dusting on both her cheeks. She stared at him in surprise.

Steve did too. He didn't know why he did it because there really was no reason to get worked up if she saw the reason why he was still staying here. But he didn't want to get this thing more complicated than it is.

He couldn't afford to hurt either of them any further.

"Seriously, Steve, you have two gorgeous dames on your sleeve. If it was me I'd be bouncing in joy, you know." Bucky nudged him, smirking. Then his tone turned more serious, "But I know you, and you're not the kind of guy who leads a woman on."

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I know, Buck. That's why I'm lost here, I—I don't know what to do."

"Well, you ain't fooling anyone anymore with your 'I think of her as my friend' line. It's pretty clear enough that you both think of them as a friend and more than that."

"I messed up and I... God, I feel like a complete ass."

"You are an ass." Bucky reiterated. "And you're still going to be an ass if you keep doing this."

"How can I fix this?"

"I think you already know the answer to that."

"I can't... " He sighed, "I can't just... choose."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Yes, you can. You should. If you won't, you'll end up hurting the both of them."

Steve stayed silent.

"Look," He started. "I know you don't like this. Especially when you know that it's pretty much your fault." He saw Steve flinch at that. "But I guess it's just a part of the whole thing, you know? You're never going to learn if you're never going to get hurt."

He didn't say anything. He just listened.

"I know it's hard but you have to make a choice or else everyone's going to get hurt. Even you." He sighed, clasping his back reassuringly. "Just do what's right, Steve."

"I'm scared that I won't." He admitted, gulping.

"I know you will." Bucky offered him a smile, without a doubt in his voice, said, "You always do."

Steve sighed.

No matter how much unfair it sounded, he had to admit that Bucky was right.

And now, he felt like a messed up person for having feelings for two different women at the same time. It wasn't fair to either of them. And if he really cared enough for the both of them like he claimed to, he needed to make a decision now.

"Can we talk?" he asked, pleadingly.

Peggy observed the distress on his face and immediately looked concerned. "Sure."

Steve looked down at their still joined hands and quickly let go. "S-Sorry." He said, flustered.

She smiled at him. Honestly not minding at all since she liked the feeling of them making contact or him touching her. Even the slightest brush of his fingers against her own was enough to give the butterflies in her stomach.

Steve led the both of them out the medical unit and through the hallways. They eventually came across a less crowded area of the base, one that was suitable for a serious and private talk without worrying that anyone would hear you.

They took a seat on the bench.

"How did the mission go?" Peggy asked, trying to make small talk.

He shrugged. "It went well. We're cutting it to a close here now."

"That's good to hear."

Silence.

Steve contemplated whether he would beat around the bush. Probably try to slowly bring up the topic so it wouldn't be flat out uncomfortable or awkward to deal with. But he figured the slower the progress they make in talking, the more time they would be wasting.

He could try to be direct. Straight to the point. It would be a great risk for him to take. Especially how he has great skills when talking to a woman.

"Peggy," he said, looking down at his thumbs. He observed that this had been becoming a hobby recently. "D-Do you still remember the... thing you said to me before I left?"

She nodded. "I do."

"And that we..." The heat on his cheeks doubled up. "...kissed."

She chuckled, smiling in amusement at how cute and adorable he looked right now. "Of course, how could I forget that?" She curled a finger under his chin and gently lifted his head so he could meet her eyes. "Have you thought about it?"

He nodded. "I did."

He really did.

It was the only thing that occupied most of his mind while they were out there fighting the war. Truth was, he really didn't know the answer at first but it turns out leaving for a while was the thing he needed to really clear his mind and come to a final answer.

He stared at the girl in front of him.

Steve would be lying if he said she wasn't beautiful. Peggy Carter was a goddess. Her delicate brown curls framed her petite face in all the right places. Her warm chocolate brown orbs were enough to melt a man's heart and soul. Her ruby-red lips that were always stretched into a sweet smile would make any man want to lean over and kiss her then and there.

But... not him.

As he stared at her, his brows furrowed in puzzlement when she began to change. It was strange to watch. Her brown curls were suddenly becoming lighter and lighter until it stopped to reach the shade of blonde. His warm brown eyes were suddenly swirling and melting in a variety of bright colors. It stopped to reveal striking green eyes.

His breath hitched in his throat the same time he felt his heart skipped a beat.

He almost gaped at what was in front of him.

He wasn't looking at Peggy Carter anymore.

Instead, he was staring straight at Anne Klein.

"Steve?"

He blinked a few times, trying to adjust and let his vision clear out. Once it was back, he found Peggy looking at him in concern. "Hey, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine." He managed to say.

That was weird.

What on earth just happened?

"Are you sure?" she asked, still not convinced.

He nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm okay, really."

He didn't have a hell of a clue at what just happened. But somehow, it gave him just the answer he needed. The answer that's best for Peggy's sake. For Anne's sake. And for his sake.

It was a hard decision but he knew he needed to do what's right.

"Peggy, I think... I think I know my answer." The answer to your kiss. He looked at her.

She positively smiled at him. "Really? Well, what is it?"

"Peggy, I..."

  »»————- ★ ————-«« 

What's Steve decision going to be? Hmm...