Disclaimer: I own nothing Captain America-related…though I might consider asking Marvel to loan him and the rest of the Avengers to me for a while. Until then, only original characters are mine.

AN: Last chapter! The next story will be up when I get a chance to post, which could be a week or two, depending. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and please don't forget to review. Thanks!

Epilogue:

After a week in the hospital, Steve was finally released. His wounds had healed quickly -all that remained were several fading bruises, some scabbing where he'd been cut or slashed, and his bullet wounds, which were sealing quite well. His advanced healing had, of course, been thanks to the miracle serum running through his veins -otherwise he'd have been hospitalized for several weeks, instead of just one.

Unfortunately, we couldn't go back to our apartment. Thanks to our identities and other personal information being leaked online, there was now a mob of reporters, fans, and government people just waiting to get inside our building. The police did what they could to keep most people out, but it was difficult to turn away government agency people with badges.

Steve had known this was possible, since Fury had been the one to make it part of the plan to deal with HYDRA, but since we'd been hiding out at Fury's little hole in the ground, none of us had been able to do anything to prepare for it.

However, while my husband had been resting up in his hospital bed, I hadn't been idle. I had contacted Tony and Pepper, and both had decided to put us up in the rooftop penthouse they typically stayed in whenever they were in D.C. Best of all, the place had top-notch security, so people wouldn't be able to just wander into the building and try to get access to us.

What I hadn't known was that, using a fleet of well-paid, sworn-to-secrecy workers, Tony had had our stuff packed up and snuck out of our old apartment building within a couple days. This, apparently, happened while Steve and I were still in the hospital, so I never got to see Tony's 'ninja staff' move our stuff out. However, they were apparently effective enough to avoid whatever fans and agents popped by the apartment. Tony had then promised that he'd put our stuff into storage, and that once Steve and I found another living space, he'd have it all moved there, on his dime.

What was hard was having our furniture and stuff tucked away while we lived in the penthouse. The place was great, with lots of rooms and incredibly spacious, but it was still Tony's, not ours. Steve and I had clothes and stuff that Sam and Richie had brought to the hospital, and most of our personal belongings had been brought to the penthouse, but it didn't feel like the place belonged to us. It was like living in a hotel –a beautiful hotel, but a hotel, nonetheless.

Thankfully, Pepper understood, even if Tony seemed put-out that Steve and I weren't really happy bunking at his place. She managed to contact Tony's personal real estate agent, whose job was to find places for wealthy people to live, and about three weeks after Steve had been released, we had another apartment. Steve and I were so thrilled about getting our own place again that we agreed to move straight in, without seeing it first.

I suppose I should have expected that our new apartment would be far different than the previous one. Our old place was on the smaller side, and in an older building, but it had been nice and cozy, as well as in good repair.

The new apartment was larger, and much newer and more modern, with a security system inside the living space, as well as on the ground floor entry doors. It only took one look around the place to see that it was clearly out of our price range, but the real estate agent assured us that it was all ours –the place had been paid for and everything, so there'd be no rent due every month, or a contract to sign. Plus, we didn't have to move anything in, because all of our stuff had been settled in before we'd even set foot through the door.

I immediately suspected that Tony had quietly done everything, but he refused to take credit for buying the apartment, which was not like him. Since it wasn't him (if he was telling the truth), I guessed that someone we knew had quietly slipped in and joined forces with Tony to get us this place behind our backs. My bet was on Natasha or Fury, but there wasn't a way to know for sure, because I knew that none of them would admit to it.

Steve wanted to move out immediately, since he didn't like owing to anyone, but I convinced him otherwise. Besides, the apartment was already paid for, and it was in our name, so why go through all the effort of moving again and selling the place? We also no longer had a source of income from SHIELD, so we had to save as much money as possible. Steve saw the logic in that, and reluctantly agreed that we would stay where we were.

Of course, Tony and Pepper eventually figured out that Steve and I would need money, which caused them to make all sorts of plans behind our backs. The first of which was that they decided to hire Steve to work for Stark Industries.

Steve was offered the job of 'security consultant,' meaning he would be given the task of traveling around the globe to various offices and checking out how they were set up when it came to physical security measures. The pay was great, and in perfect accordance to what a man in his position would usually make, so it wouldn't look like Tony was playing favorites (though he clearly was).

Me, I would be granted the ability to travel with Steve whenever he visited a country that wasn't considered dangerous. It unfortunately meant that, some of the time, I'd be left at home while Steve traveled, but it wouldn't be on a wacky mission-by-mission basis –I'd at least get a few days' warning before Steve had to head out-of-town for work. Pepper assured me that the head of all Stark Industries' security would make sure of that.

With our new path set in place, I felt somewhat better about our future, even if the future was unpredictable.

Not long after we moved into our new apartment, I received a message on JT. It was from Director Fury, and he wanted us to meet him at a specific set of coordinates. Since we had no idea what we'd be walking into, Steve decided to call Sam and bring him with us as backup.

During the entire time Steve and I had been apartment-hopping, Sam had returned to his previous life of helping war vets at the community center and hospital. So far, no one had really put together that he'd been involved in the bringing down of the Helicarriers and SHIELD. People had seen someone in a winged suit, but no one knew who it had been, so he'd gotten away with his life fairly unaffected.

Today, the three of us piled into Sam's new car –it was a gift from Tony, who apparently wanted to thank the man who had helped me, Steve and Natasha when we needed it most.

The ride was quiet, with Steve and Sam talking about various music artists and groups that they liked or wanted to try out. I sat and listened, occasionally chuckling or rolling my eyes when one of them mentioned a particular group or genre that I knew they wouldn't like.

An hour later, we reached the coordinates that Fury had provided. It was a cemetery, and obviously a perfect place to meet someone who wanted to stay "dead" on many different levels. JT ended up directing us to a particular gravestone, one that was brand new and had several bouquets of flowers scattered around it. I had to swallow hard when I read the name Nicholas Fury engraved in the stone.

Standing there with Steve's arm around my waist and Sam taking up a guard-like stance behind my shoulder, I stood staring at the macabre sight. Even though I knew he was really alive, just looking at the stone made my stomach clench.

A soft step nearby made me jump, though Steve and Sam looked calm enough. I gave an annoyed huff as Fury stepped out from behind a tall tree, dressed as I'd never seen him dressed before: black leather jacket with zipper pockets everywhere; grey hoodie; black jeans; black shoes; and sunglasses, all without the eye patch.

"So, you've experienced this sort of thing before?" Fury asked, looking pointedly at Steve through his sunglasses before turning towards his own tombstone.

Steve shrugged. "You get used to it," he casually replied as I looked at him in surprise.

Then I realized: Steve must have a tombstone or memorial somewhere, since he'd been listed as dead after he had crashed HYDRA's plane back in the '40's. But why had he never shown it to me?

I felt his hand squeeze my hip gently. "You don't need to see it," he whispered. "I'm here now. That's all that matters." I nodded to show that I understood, even if it did creep me out, knowing that he had a place where people thought he had been buried.

"We've been data-mining HYDRA's files," Fury informed us quietly. "Looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship. I'm headed to Eastern Europe tonight. Care to join me?"

Steve looked over at me. "There are a few things we need to talk about first," he said solemnly.

Fury gave a nod of understanding before turning to Sam. "What about you, Wilson? Could use a man with your abilities."

Sam shifted a bit. "I'm more of a soldier than a spy," he answered, his tone flat and final.

"Alright then," Fury replied, a touch of resignation in his voice. "Well, if anyone asks for me, tell them they can find me right here."

As he turned to walk away, I reached out, brushing my fingers against his black leather coat. He stopped to look at me as I asked, "Permission to act freely, Sir?"

When he nodded, I threw my arms around his neck in a hug. "Thank you," I whispered, "for everything you've done for us." I swallowed. "I'll miss you. Try not to stay away too long."

He actually smiled a little as I pulled back. "You're a great girl, Adena. Try and keep your husband and all your Avenger friends out of trouble until I get back, will you?"

I gave him a mock salute. "Aye, sir."

With one last chuckle, he turned and walked away, the three of us watching as he did so. From behind us came a female voice that stated, "You should feel honored. That's as close as he gets to saying 'thank you.'"

Turning, I smiled as Natasha approached. "Where have you been?"

She shrugged. "Facing down a Senate subcommittee," she replied. "They want answers about what happened with HYDRA. Some even wanted Steve to show up and tell his side, but I told them where they could put that request."

Natasha then gave me a sly look. "It doesn't hurt that you've got a wall of high-priced attorneys standing between you and the feds. Even Senate members can't take on Tony Stark and his army of lawyers."

Steve and I stared at her. "Tony and Pepper hired lawyers for us?" Steve asked, not sure if he heard right.

Natasha shrugged again. "Well, the feds want answers, and given all that you two have been through, they both felt that the last thing you needed was to be publicly interrogated about what happened. Besides, Steve was busy healing up, and didn't need the stress." She glanced at me. "Neither did you, not after almost losing your husband."

I made a mental note to send a very nice 'thank-you' gift to my friends as soon as I got the chance. "Well, since you're standing here, I assume they let you off the hook?" I asked. She nodded. "What about the others?" I hadn't seen Maria Hill since the battle, and Richie had left on his own as soon as Steve was released from the hospital.

"Richie has joined the CIA," she said, surprising me. "He thought he could do a lot of good by working for another agency. Some are giving him flack for having been a SHIELD agent, but he passed all the necessary checks, so he's got the job."

I smiled. "Good for him! I'm glad he found a new job so soon." Steve, of course, remained quiet. He was probably glad that Richie wouldn't be coming anywhere near us for a while.

Natasha grinned. "As for Agent Hill, she's gone to work at Stark Industries."

That made me laugh out loud. "Well, at least Tony knows he can trust her," I replied, still chuckling. "But what about SHIELD, or whatever's left of it?"

Natasha grew grim. "Officially, the government is going to disband it. Some are even asking that it be labeled as a terrorist group. It looks as though they might get their wish."

She saw the alarm on all of our faces. "Notice that I say 'officially.' On the sly, Fury's handed the reins off to Phil Coulson, who has been ordered to rebuild the agency from the ground up –and to do it right. I'm afraid none of us will be seeing Phil for a while, since he'll be incredibly busy trying to salvage SHIELD's reputation."

Well, that was a bit of a relief. "What about you?" Steve asked.

Natasha shrugged. "All of my covers are blown. I have to go make some new ones. It'll take a while, but I'm counting on that."

She pulled a file folder from under her arm and offered it to Steve, who accepted it. "I called in a few favors from Kiev. Just do me a favor: be careful. You might not want to pull on that thread."

With that, she turned and gave me a tight hug. "Don't let him do anything stupid," she whispered. I nodded and let her go to leave, watching her fade and vanish amongst the huge tombstones.

Looking back at Steve, I knew what he wanted to do. "You're going after him, aren't you?" I asked, my stomach sinking. "But you've got that job at Tony's company…"

Steve shook his head. "I'll still keep that job," he assured me. "I'll travel wherever they send me, and while I'm there, I'll look for information about Bucky. It's the perfect cover for what I'll be doing."

I sighed. "Spoken like a SHIELD agent," I retorted, but only half-heartedly. "Okay, but you've got to promise that whenever I go with you overseas, I get to help."

"We both get to help," Sam put in. "You're not going without someone to watch your back when you're in dangerous territory."

Steve looked at us and sighed. "Alright. I'll talk to Tony and see if I can have Sam as an assistant. He was in the military, after all, so it shouldn't be too hard to convince Tony to hire him."

"When do we start?" Sam asked, almost as though he were ready for action.

I rolled my eyes. "I think we just did."

AN: End of this story! Please review? Thanks!