A/N: I hate Tumblr, this is the second time. I don't think there will be any updates in May, none in June and July for sure. I'm being transparent, sorry. Thank you to the people who checked up on me, you guys are stars and to the anon who told me I love You, I love you too and you made my week 10x better. I don't deserve you guys.
Genres + Characters: Mob AU, Single Parents AU, Steve Rogers x Reader.
Summary: Steve can’t ever repay you for what you did. After meeting you, Steve believes his broken family is the missing piece in the puzzle of your own wrecked one. Indebting the crime lord to you has been the biggest mistake of your life, cause now you can’t get rid of him, no matter what. Loyalty and favours go a long way in the mob.
Word count: 3K
Chapter 5: In the Name of Love
The letter was sent. Your post would reach your parents in two days. It was a letter explaining that you would go to drop off Grace at theirs this weekend and needed them to take care of her for a week at the very least.
This was the best solution you came to. You knew her leaving would not escape Steve’s notice but you hoped you had a few days for it to come that. You thought about what you could offer; you had money, savings, a lot one might say but you didn’t think any amount you had would be tempting to Steve. He clearly didn’t need any connections you had in your field because he didn’t exactly partake in legal businesses.
Sex was all you could offer and you were sure it was a major part of what he wanted. You felt disgusted to even think about possibly becoming a slave of his carnal desires. You just hoped that maybe it’d be for a short time until he got bored or until you could make a sensible plan, one successful in getting you out.
The thought that that day might not come was one you could not afford to have emotionally.
You thought a lot about escaping these days. Getting up and running off was not as easy as in movies, maybe it was even harder for you because of the fact you had a toddler too. You were ready to entertain him until you could get some contact with people who could get you off the grid. Where would you even find such people? You were pretty sure a good portion of them would be in his circle only.
This all seemed so very surreal, and it was hard registering the fact you might possibly never see your parents again, or Grace would never be able to step in the house you grew up again if you did leave. She’d never see her grandparents or her ancestral home or her friends. It would all be very different than her not seeing her father ever.
Relax. You knew you were getting too far away in your head again but somewhere in the back of your mind you knew your worry was legit, reasonable. You sighed and stepped outside the postal office onto the pavement.
The park in front of you right now was one you frequented with Grace a lot, all her three summers on Earth featured a picnic in this park. There was now a possibility of not anymore.
You pressed your middle fingers into your temples, trying to relieve the ache subsiding there. It was a habit you had developed early, massaging your head whenever you fell too deep into the overthinking pit.
You huffed and thought about picking ice-cream for dessert tonight, opting to worry about the smaller things in life. Maybe you could bake Grace’s favourite cookies one last time before sending her off. Your messy hair blew with wind as you made the mental grocery list of things to pick up before getting Grace from the day-care.
You sat in your seat, putting the seat belt on while sighing as you already started worrying about the impulse purchases you so often did at the grocers, a minor distraction from your major problem.
Only this time, you never made it there.
“Stevie, it’s important.” Bucky said ushering Steve out of his one-on-one meet with a local gang leader pledging his alliance to ‘The Avenging Cartel’.
Steve’s eyebrows furrowed and his nose adorably scrunched as he excused himself. Today had been a boring day so far. No new intel of or threats by ‘The Vices’ this past week. It was almost too good to be true, for them to be so silent.
He was actually thinking of planning a date with you if there was another week of inactivity by them. Tony had asked for only two days’ time to confirm some intel he got about ‘The Vices’ that he’d be happy to share if true, bases and shipments and whatnot. Estimating his revenge in these next couple of days and then next week for cleanup, he’d be free from one long overdue task, and could be more involved in all his girls’ lives. All three of them.
Everything was going to plan and yet something seemed amiss to Steve. He had learned to trust his instincts over the years and his gut was screaming at the calm, predicting a storm nearby.
Well, the day was only halfway done, there was still potential for a lot to go wrong.
Steve raised his eyebrows in question at his trusted comrade, his Bucky as he exited his chambers, already feeling that something was very off.
He closed the door behind him, not wanting the eager felon to eavesdrop in his conversation. When the door clicked shut, Bucky started, his hand covering his phone which was unnecessary as the phone was already on mute, “There’s a call about your girl’s kid.” Steve’s look of surprise prompted Bucky to continue, “They say no one came by to pick up the kid and well the mother’s not picking up her cell.”
“Weird, that’s out of the blue for her. Very unlike her.” Steve’s forehead wrinkled as he calmed himself from jumping to any conclusion and commanded, “Okay. Buck, take Wanda and pick Grace up. And talk to Pietro there, if he’s off-duty, call him in. Whatever he knows. I’ll tell Sam to track her phone, shouldn’t take long.” Bucky nodded and went about his way to do as instructed, himself worried for his best friend’s lady; she was as good as family now, he knew the extent of Steve’s feelings.
Steve, on the other hand, grew frantic on the inside, his façade not falling on the outside just yet. He dismissed the local crook, speed-walking to find Sam. His thoughts jumbled around as he tried to reach his destination, harsh possibilities being thrown at him, courtesy of his mind. An escape attempt by you was long overdue, he knew, but he didn’t think you were the type to pull another. Not after being aware of disastrous consequences.
But the main thing was, even though Steve couldn’t rule out the escaping possibility based on his opinion of you, he knew, he just knew in his gut that you would never leave Grace alone and bide time for your own self. That was the one thing that would never add up in this shit equation and he figured, albeit hesitantly, that his gut was right and something was very wrong.
“She did send a letter to her parents. We have it. It just says that she was planning to leave the kid at the parents this weekend, for at least some time. She didn’t mention anything else to them, about us or any detours. No out of city phone calls in the last few hours, no weird bank statements or purchases. Her phone was traced to her car parked outside the post office, but you already know that. Sam, as of right now, is hacking into her phone which should take just about a few more minutes.” Buck explained after doing some scouting.
He went and got Grace from the daycare earlier, then called in Pietro who showed him tapes of you dropping Grace off in the morning and then going away. He called your work to find out you had the Tuesday off.
The location on your phone told Sam and Steve you came straight to the post office after the daycare. That had been the phone’s position for the last few hours and supposedly yours too. Sam and Steve fetched the phone after breaking into your locked car, finding dozens of calls on it, from the daycare, some even from Steve whilst Sam was tracking it. They inquired the office ahead, and with a little bit of money and some threats thrown around when the staff showed integrity, they got the information of a letter being sent by you this morning. He got his men on that right away too.
When Bucky came back after dropping Wanda off with Grace, he immediately assumed the head position of the searching group, getting up to date. After getting some useful intel, he finally made his way to Steve and thus had explained what all he knew, from Pietro to the letter the men got by stopping the mail truck on some highway.
“Rogers, you won’t believe this.” Sam, as if on cue, entered Steve’s office. His bright eyes exposed his success in the task at hand, but his frown disclosed bad news. Steve grew concerned.
“Your girl had men tailing her kid, threatening her. Creeps who were even bold enough to not be discreet in their stalking. Her phone has a message thread with photos of her kid in what I assume is her own backyard,” Sam brought the phone to Steve and scrolled down the one-sided conversation to give evidence of his discovery, “the kid’s school and the last one was in a kid’s bedroom which I believe is the kid’s herself, can you confirm?” Bucky listened as intently as Steve did, baffled by the new information. Steve nodded, pinching his forehead. In this field of work, they were hardly agitated by new news that came to light but this was one of the few exceptional incidences.
Both of them, especially Steve, thought he was keeping an eye on her pretty meticulously, aware of every action and interaction of hers. This was nothing less than a bruising slap to his face, showing him his failure as a boss, once again since his first wife’s incident.
“In conclusion, someone staked her kid out and sent subtle, passive aggressive warnings to maybe coerce the lady into doing something, could be ransom or anything with her position. But she never followed up with replies for some reason, or filed a report. Did she not talk to you about this, Steve?” Sam asked, the situation making only a tad bit of sense. He figured out that you probably didn’t question the genuineness of the threats, so why didn’t you take action?
Steve brainstormed for any clue whatsoever, did you still not trust him enough? Yes he did come off a lot crueler last time than he intended but he did try to create a safe space for you in such matters. Apparently his intent for your security and safety didn’t come across as well as he had wanted.
<flashback>
“Trust the process, baby. Everything is just to protect you.”
Is that what he called stalking even Grace around and twistedly enough, sending you proof of that?The anonymous thread of photos was another nightmare of yours, thanks to him. The last being a candid photo inside Grace’s room, her sleeping in her bed this morning and that’s when you decided you needed to get out. Of course, that didn’t go as planned.
“How am I supposed to do that when you have cameras in my house?!” You scoffed and he reeled back at the accusation, having the nerve to look impressed at being uncovered and caught red-handed.
“Oh my fucking God, it was you! You sick pervert!” You jumped out of his grip, your eyes wide and horrified. “I wasn’t aware of what to make of it but of course, it was you! Who else would be sick enough to do that?” You let out a humourless chuckle. You always put things past him even when you keep telling yourself you shouldn’t. When will you ever learn huh?
The heavy ringing of your phone broke everyone out of their reverie, all the men worried of being uneducated of the current situation. As people in a fearsome mob, they had a knack for being well-versed and learned about every little thing, be it a slip-up or a trick-of-the-trade.
Steve frowned at the unknown number, not knowing what to make of it. The number was new with no prior calls before this, the status bar below it showing that. The blonde contemplated picking it up, likely wondering that if the person was calling you, they probably had no idea of your disappearance.
He would have ignored the call even the second time around if it was not for Sam and Bucky urging him to attend it; it could be a clue if you’ve run away or planned to do so, they argued.
As he put the phone next to his ear, chills ran down his spine for the first time in forever; he had never before known a feeling like this.
“You are a busy bee to catch, aren’t you Rogers?”
Steve could never forget the baritone voice. The same croaky voice that mocked him not even a year ago and made a spectacle out of his humiliation, out of the betrayal from his wife.
“Why do you have this number Rumlow? It’s you, isn’t it? You have her, you son of a bitch!” Steve let out a string of curses, this worse than any possibility he had come up with. Bucky and Sam stood alert at the mention of their eternal rival’s name, a douchebag who also managed to be the lowest scum on earth.
“You indeed have become rickety, Rogers. I’m honestly disappointed, I was expecting a good battle. Looks like your little girl has more vigour than you, she managed to elude what her old man wasn’t able to.” Rumlow’s grotesque chuckle made Steve ireful, his hands clenching and veins popping. In the room, Bucky stood by his side to receive his order whenever the call ended while Sam had already reached another room to track the phone call, your phone already dissected, assembled and controlled by him.
“Listen here, you motherfucker, and listen closely. If you even so much as harm a hair on her head, I swear to fucking God, my bare hands-”
The sound of Rumlow’s tongue clicking interrupted Steve and the blatant disrespect did not make things better.
“Rogers do you not understand that you don’t have an edge, huh? Haha, that’s really funny. You’ve lost braincells after the army.” After a pause, all the humour dropped from his voice as he continued, “Now listen here and listen close, you blonde bastard. You know what I want and how I want it. I’ll call again tomorrow for specifications and I want you to hand in the files Monday at a pre-decided place. If you don’t pick up the phone or even try to pull something, I might just have to get a taste of your bitch just to see how well does she take your cock for you to be this fond of her. I know this affects you, there’s no fooling me. If you still refuse to submit, I’ll be sure to send you parts of her as souvenirs after I’m done with her and then go after wittle Sarah again. It’s your choice, really.”
With that the call ended abruptly, Steve a raging mess. He threw a couple of things around, like the overpriced antique statues he never knew the purpose of. He knew what Rumlow wanted, the city center territory. The boundaries included jewelry shops, the largest shopping mall in the state, business corporations and MNCs. That was the most treasured are of the state, maybe the country even. But now the question arose, was it more precious than you?
“Barnes, call in a meeting at five. Call in all the frontrunners you can think of, we need all the favoured we are owed this time and more.”
As Barnes exited, the phone pinged and Steve saw a photo attachment from the number.
His grip tightened on the phone as it threatened to break.
It was you, of course.
Your head felt like it had your entire body’s weight. It felt like your eyes were stitched shut, your mouth dryer than the Sahara. Your body ached but not as much as your cranium, which weighed you down.
You went in and out of this album of feeling a couple of times at least, before you gathered the courage and decide walking into the white light you saw was your only option. When the glow embraced you, you thought you were finally free. What from, you didn’t know. Just that all the problems you had before this weren’t yours anymore.
But is death really that easy?
Your eyes opened as your entire body ached, a gasp escaping your mouth. It took you a little while to gather your senses and look around at the untextured cement walls. There was no light switched on, just you and plain darkness as your night vision sensed things, courtesy of the moonlight entering through some window behind you.
You were strapped to a chair, hands cuffed together behind you and legs cuffed to the chair, the captor even going so far as to wrap up your torso with ropes.
The rumble of the gate opening alerted you, your eyes clenching shut at the assault of the photons when the light switched on.
“I gotta say, you look sexier covered in dirt than you do in those uptight pictures with Rogers sweetheart.”
Your eyes snapped open to find a big burly man, with tattooed hands and scarred face look at you. You swallowed in fear as you stared right at him, hate brimming in your eyes for him as you simultaneously realized Steve screwed you over this time, real fucking badly; that you were caught in the very situation you had sworn to avoid.
Your mind immediately went to the before events, and subconsciously you worried about Grace. This man had you where, you didn’t know but you hoped that he didn’t have Grace.
Your dry eyes were beginning to get watery at the mention of your baby, but you wouldn’t show this man any weakness. You didn’t know what this cruel kidnapper of yours wanted, whether you were getting out of here alive or not.
The man chuckled at your antics and left with a promise to meet you later.
As one traitor tear escaped, your subconscious thought of Grace. You only hoped that the daycare had gotten through to your Mom or to any of your emergency contacts really. That your Mom was already flying down to get her safe and secure.
Even in your moments of ruin, you just wanted Grace to escape all this drama unscathed, for you didn’t fear for your own life anymore.
Read if things didn't make sense.
Wanda's family owned the daycare Grace went to, so Steve was able to pull some strings and get Grace in the last chapter
Pietro works there, he is also a member of the mob
The last time when Steve was at the daycare, he made himself the emergency contact (you'll find a very obvious hint in the last chapter) that's why Steve got the call for Grace, his phone was with bucky atm. Reader didn't catch that so she hoped her mother would have gotten the call from the daycare and gotten Grace
In the last confrontation, she mentions photos in the house but since Steve confessed to having cameras in the house both thought it was each other and didn't know there was a third party involved till now
Rumlow basically wanted to threaten reader and get her to do things for Grace's safety but since she never replied and they had already failed to catch a toddler once, they targeted Reader after getting to know how fond Steve was of her, after they knew he was showing it even to the public
