《The Compound》Chapter 21
Advertisement
It was a chilly, cloudy morning that you woke up on a bare bed. No essences of Steve remained on his side other than misplaced sheets making small peaks that outlined where his body once laid itself. You groaned, sitting up and propping your body on your elbows to look from his side of the bed to the large windows.
Winter in New York was beautiful, you had to admit. There was something so comforting about the soft snowflakes that fell effortlessly, weaving their paths between the skyscrapers that threatened their natural route. The soft white body of each piece placed a stark contrast against the ombre of cool gray clouds behind them.
But the bed you laid in brought your body away from the visualizer of cool imagery your mind had created. Throwing the plush comforter off to the side of your legs, you stepped out of bed, letting out an inaudible shiver as your bare feet took contrast to the cold hardwood floors beneath you.
You stood yourself up, walking down to the living room and kitchen area. Your mind was still waking itself, so your body would lightly sway with every move waiting for your blood to fully course through every vein.
Grabbing yourself a cup of coffee as always, you admired the skyline beneath you from the floor to ceiling windows. There was a gloominess, a depression to this time of year that somehow made it more comforting.
You noticed no newspaper on the counter, an unusual sight. Usually, if Steve would wake up first, he would read the paper then leave it behind for you to gaze through. Paying little attention to the nonnormality of it, you grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, going to CNN to catch up on news.
The president's last day of impeachment was today. The Senate was expected to kick him out of office, so naturally, it was a pretty relieving day for you. The moment it was official the man would be out of office, you knew an invisible weight would be lifted from your shoulders.
But what the screen displayed was drastically different than what you could have ever anticipated. It was much, much worst. If it weren't for the strong grips your hands had on the hot mug that held your coffee, you swore you would've dropped it.
"Last night, an anonymous source leaked documentation to the New York Times regarding Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America. The veteran, retired superhero, reconstruction leader, and now widely successful CEO and businessman bought his fiancee, Y/F/N Y/L/N, from the widely controversial government agency known as The Compound." Your breath froze.
Yes, people knew who you were. You weren't on the news every day, maybe once a quarter, usually when there was an event. But now your own Steve was under attack everywhere after someone released classified records of his purchase of you. You naturally zoned out for a few minutes trying to figure out what was happening.
"One billion dollars is outrageous!" Your trance was broken by a guest they were having on, "Yes, Steve Rogers is one of the wealthiest men, if not the wealthiest, in the world, and he's helped the country thousands of times, both big and small, but he participated in what some consider human trafficking. This is almost like a political suicide if you ask me!"
"Steve Rogers will be making a statement later today." The host finally wrapped up. You immediately shut off the TV. Placing your coffee down and sprinting back to your room.
Advertisement
With a breath caught in your throat, it felt like the world was spinning. Never did you think Steve would be in this much of trouble by the people and media over this. What made it worst was it was all because of you.
"Steve?" You asked on your phone, sitting on the bed. Your breath was fast-paced, with no rhythm at all.
"Sweetheart?" He asked, "Darling I-"
"I know, Steven, I've seen it." You could hear him sigh on the other end of the phone. It was silent for a few seconds, "What are you going to do?"
"My team and I are on this now, trying to figure out who released this. At five today I'll be making a statement which is being written right now."
"What's it going to say?" You asked next.
"The truth, sweetheart."
"And what would that be in this situation, Steve?" You had an undermining tone of being pissed at him. It was more at the media, but right now he was the only close target to take a bit of that built-up frustration out on.
"I'm going to say that while going there and-" He took a moment to collect the right words, "Meeting you was not the process it should be done in ever, I don't regret having you as my future wife. That being said it is my personal mission to shut the Compound down, and then further release some of the investigations we've done into it that Bucky, Sam, and I have overseen." You took a minute of your own to process all of this.
"It was Pierce, wasn't it?" You asked next, "He figure out you leaked the information on him. Now he's doing this to get back."
"We think that's it." He responded next, "But we're obviously doing more research to find some viable evidence before we come to a conclusion."
"Understood." You sighed, putting your head in your hands.
"Also, my legal team thinks it might be best if you're there during my statement." You looked up, pausing.
"I um-" You began.
"It's up to you, sweetheart. I'm not going to pressure you into anything-"
"I'll do it." You sighed out. It wasn't that you wanted to, it was that you knew you needed to.
"Great," He said, you could almost hear the tint of a smile in his voice. "I'll be home in about two hours, just hold on tight for me doll."
"Okay, Stevie." You said before hanging up.
You spent the entire morning trying to process the events of the day, and not going on your phone, laptop, or any news network. It was all too much. That was until Steve finally arrived home. "Hey, darling." He walked in, seeing you making some lunch.
"Hi, Steve." You responded. He walked to you, giving a kiss on your cheek. "How've you been holding up?"
"Best I can," You said honestly, focusing more on cutting some food.
"I'm so sorry about all of this." He sighed.
"It's not your fault." You admitted, looking up at him, "All you can do is make a statement and hope that the public understands."
With those words you found yourself getting your hair and makeup done, all while trying to decide which dress was best for this occasion, if you will. A blue pencil dress was chosen, a modest one going just above the knee. Your hair was kept natural, only curling it in at the very ends to make it more professional looking, and makeup was done very naturally as well.
Advertisement
You walked out into the living room, finding Steve in a suit. "Ready to go?" He sighed and you nodded, taking his hand. You had opted to take the front door out of the building because there was a car to pick you up. Immediatly cameras began flashing, different reporters asking questions that when combined with another sounded like gibberish. You kept your head slightly down, right next to Steve, showing little to no emotion on your face. Just like Steve had always told you to do.
Steve opened the back door for you to climb in the car first, him next. Once in, one of the guards shut the door. You took an instant sigh of relief. Even though reporters were flooded around the car, the black windows helped to give you peace of mind. "You alright, doll?" He asked and you nodded, still taking deep breaths. He took your hand in his, giving it a light squeeze.
The car ride was completely silent, it only took about 15 minutes in Manhatten traffic to get to his main building, where all Rogers & Associates offices were. Once again, the car was crowded with reporters on the outside, so if it weren't for security you and Steve would have been bombarded. You got into the building quickly, even more reporters waiting, but thankfully you were rushed into a private, enclosed conference room. There, stood Bucky, Sam, Rachel, Lyla, a few of the members of Steve's legal team, and much to your surprise, Tony and Pepper.
"You ready, Rogers?" A woman asked. You had never seen or met her for that matter. Steve nodded. She was beautiful, you had to admit. And you could just tell by the soft smile she was nice but smart. "Shuri Udaku." She smiled, sticking out her hand for you to take. You did and shook it.
"Y/F/N Y/L/N." You replied.
"I'm Mr. Rogers's attorney, head of his legal team." You nodded at her.
"Well, it's a pleasure." You lightly smiled.
"Likewise." She smiled back. She handed Steve a small collection of paper, not more than two pages. He looked down at it, sighed, and looked back up.
"Good luck, punk." Bucky walked up and gave Steve a hug.
"Thanks, Buck." He hugged him back. Rachel and Lyla both gave you a hug, Sam giving Steve the last one. You two were escorted to another door, hand in hand. Steve gave yours a light squeeze, huffing out some additional air that he had built up from his nerves.
"I love you." He said out loud.
"I love you too." You responded.
The door opened, and immediately reporters began yelling, flashes going off from cameras, the sounds of papers filled with crude and accusatory questions flooded your ears. The world seemed to slow down as you were absorbed into the chaos, all you could feel was your hand in Steve's, your body moving fluidly behind his.
Finally, at the podium, you were escorted back to the left corner of the stage, not more than three feet behind Steve. Everyone settled down, Steve ready to start. "Good afternoon, everyone," He began, "I appreciate every one of you being here, and to anyone watching from home, offices, wherever you may be."
"Last night, classified funds and government information were released regarding me, and my fiancee." He briefly turned back to you, your eyes meeting for only a brief moment before he turned back to face the crowd of eager reporters and running cameras. "Many may have already heard, that I did indeed, purchase her." He took a deep breath, "With the space and little nature of Omegas in this world, the United States government, as well as various other world leaders, found it necessary to create facilities where Omegas are held to be bid upon and later sold to the upper class and most elite in our society for breeding purposes."
"I would like to begin by emphasizing that I do not condone any participation within these organizations. I, myself, did indeed choose to attend one and found Y/N. I understand that this was and is very wrong. While I may regret the way that I found her, I do not regret being with her in any fashion. She is my soulmate, and we both have agreed to a very dynamic relationship. While biologically I am the Alpha, and she the Omega, we have chosen a much different route to go about with each other in an equal relationship, filled with passion and love, not with obligation."
"However, I find myself in a position where this must be addressed. Many Omegas are still mistreated today. And while many, myself included, have attempted to pass laws to protect Omegas from the abuse and oppressive nature some Alphas still maintain, many of those laws have not gone through Congress. My great colleagues, and long time friends, James Barnes, and Sam Wilson, and I have all been doing in-depth and intense research regarding this mistreatment by both private owners of Omegas, but also the mistreatment by governmental organizations, such as The Compound."
"We have found disturbing and appalling details of what truly happens and has happened at these establishments, and have brought it upon ourselves to start a new campaign to not only ensure the safety of Omegas but also to abolish The Compound and any organization that has its same ideas of mistreating Omegas. We will be publicly releasing more details regarding this in the upcoming week."
"In the meantime, my legal team and I will be finding out who leaked this information. Very private information about both me and Y/N. Absolutely none of this information could have been obtained via FOIA. Therefore, it is classified and should have been kept that way. We will figure out who did this, and they will be prosecuted and sued. Thank you all for coming, we would ask no questions be asked."
Just like that, chaos erupted again. Steve turned around, looking at you with a tight smile. He grabbed your hand once again, walking the both of you back out and through the craziness and into the conference room where everyone was sitting still watching a TV which displayed the room where you and Steve both were just moments before.
Everyone's heads shot up, looking at first Steve then you. "You did great," Shuri got up and commented with a smile, "Both of you."
"Thank you." Steve sighed. He looked down at you, giving you a peck on the lips.
"You did great." You smiled up at him.
"Thanks, doll." He sighed, "You didn't do too bad either." You rolled your eyes.
"Yeah, standing there was just exhausting." He lightly laughed.
"So should we release our charges against Pierce tomorrow? Since, ya know, the Senate's gonna kick him out of the office today?" Steve looked confused for a moment at Shuri's question.
"Do we have enough evidence?"
"More than enough," Shuri said, "Trust me, this is only the beginning of the downfall of Alexander Pierce."
Advertisement
- In Serial66 Chapters
Witches of the North Book 1: Winter Journey
Things look bleak for Christopher Hawks this year – not only is Chris nearing the stresses of the end of his high school education, but last September he shattered the legendary sword of the kingdom of Northland, became the accidental heir to its Throne and is now being tracked down by the elite Hunters – all events being a result of a few unfortunate choices made in order to help a Witch named Winter (who, in turn, also received help from a Witch named Ian).Now, Chris, following Winter’s lead and dragging along a few others with him, is on his way to (reluctantly) reach the current Queen and challenge her to a duel. But it seems that Winter is more than impatient – could there be a deadline to their mission? And why does everything seem a little too easy? +++ NOW HOLDING A FUNDRAISER to publish this book more officially! more info on my website!
8 175 - In Serial34 Chapters
The Tale of Mally Biddle
When Mally Biddle agreed to spy upon the King of Lenzar and his overbearing knights she knew she was heading into danger. She didn't know she'd find a family unlike any other. Posing as a servant in Bosc Castle, Mally serves tea and restocks the fires for the most dangerous men in the kingdom. Her goal is to learn the truth of what happened sixteen years ago, when the infant princess met her death … a death that has more questions than answers. Along her search for the truth, Mally meets the energized Lita Stump, the strict and matriarchal Meriyal Boyd, and the opinionated Archibald Diggleby. Then of course there are the knights: Sir Leon Gibbs who is slicker than a greased hog, Adrian Bayard, hot tempered and violent, and the worst of the lot: Sir Illius Molick, Captain of the Knights. And then there is Maud, a mysterious woman who just might know everything… The Tale of Mally Biddle is also available on Kindle and Print on Demand via Amazon.com. Thanks for reading!
8 107 - In Serial13 Chapters
love stories
I'm turning every episode into a romance#chenry➡️➡️➡️See my other book⬅️
8 136 - In Serial60 Chapters
MY Sweet Interlude
Aliya didn't realize she was in love with her best friend until he announced that he is getting married. With a broken heart, she attends his wedding where she decides to throw caution to the wind and play with fire with the man her friends (especially her best friend) warned her to stay away from. A man who is all play but stays away from commitments. How long can she keep on playing with fire without getting burned? "I don't know why you'd think that I don't want to speak with you. What you need to know about me is that I am not a charmer like Taehyung or Jimin. I don't sweet talk, I don't hold hands, I don't text unless it's something important and most especially, I don't date. I am not the prince from a fairy tale book who'd rescue you from your trouble and sweep you off your feet princess." **************************************************************************************************** Warning:Adult content, not recommended for below 18 yrs. old readers.***The story is purely fictional and does not reflect any of the BTS members' actual character. I don't know any of the BTS members although I wish that I do. It's not meant to offend anybody.****Credits to the owners of the photos used. I just thought they were awesome which is why I used them. Thank you.
8 206 - In Serial7 Chapters
(Uncontinued) The Neverbeast
This is a remake story based on @balthazar5150 and I have permission that I can continue it or do it as I wish and if you wanna find out what happened next just read the story of the first neverbeast made by him down below on the playlists and hope you will enjoy this story
8 183 - In Serial53 Chapters
Facts About Humans!
This is a Non-Fiction book with over 25 facts about the Human Body. I've learnt these facts from a special guest (a scientist) that came to my school and I would like to share these facts with you!
8 94