Some minor details in this story kind of require reading Alex's biography, the link to which is on archiveofourown, where my author name is the same as here. It can also be found by going to my tumblr, thegirlfallsfromthesky, and clicking on bio

This fic takes place during the Dark Reign comic arc, in which Norman Osborn was the Director of HAMMER (which replaced SHIELD).

The chill from the stone floor was permeating Alex's body as she regained consciousness. Where was she? The last thing that she remembered was leaving work, walking down the street just as she did every day.

Except... No, it hadn't been how it was every day. She had left a lot later than usual, hadn't she? Her head felt foggy, cloudy, and it was difficult to form thoughts, let alone memories. She concentrated hard. Yes, she had left work later than normal; it had been dark outside. But she hadn't done anything more than to head home, walking along the street. It was a busy street as well, at the base of Midtown, filled with locals and tourists.

So, where was she now? And how had she got there?

Alex finally opened her eyes. But there wasn't much point. She was blindfolded, unable to see anything through the dark material that covered her eyes. A whimper left her, and she tried to pull the blindfold off. And she started to become aware of the rest of her body. Her hands were bound behind her back. Her feet had been tied together as well.

And she realised why she was so cold. Whoever had tied her up had removed her shirt as well. She was lying on the floor in nothing but her bra and her jeans. She gave a small cry of indignation, managing to sit up as she pulled against whatever had been used to bind her.

From somewhere else in the room, Alex heard a chuckle. "Keep struggling all yer want, princess."

She didn't recognise the voice. Alex pulled against the binds again, another small whimper coming from her as they cut into her wrists.

"You ain't half bad to look at, I can see why he likes you. Yer tits are too small, though. And I always preferred red heads."

There were footsteps as the man walked over to her. A hand touched her cheek, rough and dry against her smooth skin.

"Please, what... What's going on?" Alex tried her best to sound brave, but her voice was shaking. "Who are you?"

Another chuckle. "Aw, sweetheart, ain't he told you about me? Bad judgement on Jimmy's part. He should have warned you."

"Jimmy?" So, the 'he' that had been referred to was James.

"Why else would you be here? You, baby, are bait." The hand on her cheek moved higher, and the blindfold was removed.

Alex blinked as light reached her eyes. Her captor was masked, but she recognised him nonetheless. Crossbones. "Rumlow... It won't work, he'll save me without you getting to him."

"Hey, yer not as dim as I thought. Well, you are if you think he'll save you, but at least you know who I am." The amusement was clear in Rumlow's voice, and his hand had gone back to her face. He was trailing his forefinger along her cheek, obviously enjoying her discomfort.

"I know that James has beaten you before. You're not a match for him." Despite her fear, Alex was confident in her words. "James will stop you."

Rumlow simply tapped her face with his finger. Alex could tell that he was grinning under the mask. Her eyes then went to the material in his other hand that had been used to blindfold her. "Is... Is that my shirt?" She looked behind her. Her hands were tied with it as well. "You took off my shirt to tie me up with it?"

"No, I took off yer shirt to look at you," Rumlow cooed. "But why waste ropes or chains on you, when I could just use this?" He held up the scrap of material, before letting it fall to the floor.

Alex recoiled away from him. "You'll never see the outside of a jail cell for this," she shot at him. "James will make sure of it."

"He's tried before," Rumlow replied, before looking down at her again. "Yer a regular damsel in distress, aren't you? Waiting on yer precious Captain America to come and save you. Yer going to have a shock."

He stood up, taking a few steps away from Alex. Rumlow pulled off the mask and set it down on the floor, and then picked up his pistol, checking the bullet count. Full. Good. Tucking it into his belt, he turned back to the girl. "You know, I've got to wonder why the fuck yer with him." At her frown, he smirked. "I know all about you, princess. Troubles with yer daddy. Same intern job for three years. Best friend with drug problems. Oh yeah, I did my research."

Walking closer to her, Rumlow reached a hand down and grabbed Alex by the upper arm, lifting her to her feet almost effortlessly. He leant closer, putting his lips against her ear. "And I know about Osborn," he whispered with a grin, relishing in the horrified gasp that she let out. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I'm not going to tell anyone. Not that it would matter if I did. Either Cappy Junior will get you killed, or I'll find some other use for you."

Alex didn't even want to think about what that might mean. "You're not a match for him. He's proved that enough times."

He responded with another chuckle. "But you weren't a part of the equation before." Rumlow dropped her, clearly not caring when she cried out on hitting the floor. "Someone, I think he'll be less focused when my hands are all over you."

"You're disgusting," Alex spat, indignation lacing her voice. "James always gets the upper hand with you, and I'm not surprised, it's not like you've ever been that difficult to apprehend. How many times have you been in jail now?"

"Yer've got a real smart mouth on you, princess," Rumlow said, still smirking, although his eyes had gotten darker. "Bet I can think of a better use for it," he grinned, groping himself through his pants.

Alex visibly grimaced, looking away from him. "Don't touch me," she said, her voice shaking again.

He just laughed. "How would you stop me, huh? From what I've heard, you didn't do much to stop Osborn. Bet he got a few good handfuls of you before he let you go."

"How do you kn-"

"How do I know? Oh, sweetheart, you really think Osborn isn't still after you?" Rumlow leant in closer, one hand on his thigh while the other reached out to stroke through Alex's hair. "Osborn's the king now, Lexi, and he can do whatever he wants. He's been settin' up a few contracts, and one of 'em's for you. Maybe, when I'm done with you, I'll give yer to him. Get some money out of you."

"Stop it." Alex moved her eyes back to Rumlow's face. "Please. Stop it."

"Am I gettin' to you, girlie?" Rumlow snickered, bringing his face right up to Alex's. "I'm thinking, if Jimmy doesn't get here anytime soon, I might have to find a way to entertain myself. Yer not exactly stimulating conversation."

Shaking her head gently, Alex forced herself not to let anymore tears fall. "Shut up. If you're actually going to give me to Norman, then you won't do anything to me. And if you want to hurt James, then you'd wait until he was here. When you won't have time to hurt me anyway, given that you'll be too busy having your ass handed to you." She was surprised by her own words, but she was so frightened that she wasn't thinking about them.

"Princess, you can talk all you want, but it ain't going to make a difference. I'm goin' to do everything I can to piss Jimmy off, and you're the perfect, and most entertaining way to do that. Even if he ain't here yet." He smirked, lifting Alex to her feet, and moving right up against her. He put an arm around her waist, trapping her against him.

"I've got a camera around here somewhere. Maybe I'll film it when I have you, hm? Send it to him." He kissed her cheek. "Bet he gets off on it. They did a lot of things to him in Russia, he's probably more kinky than he lets you know. Think about it, yer knight in shining armour jerking off to me stickin' my dick in you."

"Stop it!" Alex yelled, trying to use her knees to push herself away from him, but to no avail.

The smile dropping, Rumlow brought out a knife with his free hand. "Don't shout at me, you little tramp." His voice was dangerously quiet. "Yer mine now, you hear? You're my dog, and I'm your master, and you're goin' to do everything I tell you to, like a good bitch."

Alex didn't breathe as he brought the knife closer to her. She closed her eyes. But the knife never touched her skin. Instead, she felt the strands of her shirt around her wrists go slack, and fall to the ground.

Rumlow moved back again, a glint back in his eye. "Take off yer bra."

Her eyes widened. "Wh- What? No, no, I'm not going to-"

He pulled the gun out of his belt and snapped off the safety. "Take it off, or I'll shoot you in the head. If yer dead, Cappy will still come to 'avenge' you, or some shit. I don't need you alive. Show me those little titties of yours, or I'll put a bullet in yer pretty head."

Alex was so frightened that she couldn't even cry anymore. She didn't want to do this. Norman was in her head again, but she didn't see him in Rumlow's place. She didn't need to, Rumlow himself was so horrifying that he was almost on par with Norman at that point.

But she didn't want to die.

With a shudder in her breathing, Alex reached her hands behind her. Her fingers were quivering so much that she couldn't grasp the clasp of her bra at first. She could feel Rumlow's eyes on her as she took hold of it.

But she was interrupted by a sudden gunshot, startling Alex so much that she cried out, almost dropping to the floor instinctively.

In an instant, Rumlow was behind her, pulling her flush against him and putting one arm around her waist. He held the gun against her temple, and both of them looked up at the figure who vaulted over the gallery railing, and landed on the ground a few metres away, light glinting off the red, white, and blue shield he was holding.

"James..." Alex didn't cry out, his name came out as more of a gasp.

"Let her go."

"Took yer time, didn't you, Jimmy?" Rumlow said conversationally.

James took a step forward. "The first shot was a warning, the next one goes between your eyes if you don't let go of her." He wasn't even in uniform, James was dressed in jeans, a T-Shirt, and a grey over shirt. In addition to the shield, he had two pistols and a knife in his belt.

A cold laugh came from Rumlow. "You're a good shot, I'll give you that, but are you sure you can hit me, and not her?" He leant forward, putting his lips against Alex's ear, whispering loud enough that James could hear. "I'm goin' to fuck you nice and slow once I kill your boyfriend. I'll do it right here, where you can still see him."

A grunt of rage came from James. "What the fuck is wrong with you? You want me dead? Fine. Then fight me, and don't hide behind her like a coward." He spoke clearly, but Alex could see the fear and heartbreak in his eyes. "If you want to kill me, Rumlow, then let Alex go. Because I sure as hell am not going down while she's still in danger."

"What do you think you are, Barnes? Some kind of Disney Prince?" Rumlow called, Alex flinching as he spoke right next to her ear. "Yer pathetic. You didn't use to be this bad. You used to have some balls."

"Oh, shut up," James snarled, taking another shot to the side of Rumlow, making sure that there was no chance of hitting Alex.

If the intended effect was to scare Rumlow, it didn't work. Instead, the man laughed yet again, before dragging his tongue along Alex's cheek, and relishing in her grimace.

That definitely had its intended effect, as James grunted in anger again. He was too frightened and worried for Alex to think clearly, he had no plan, no strategy. All he could think was that he had to get Rumlow away from her. Inwardly, James thought, 'I'm sorry, Alex,' before sending the shield flying towards the pair.

Despite James' worried mind, his aim was true. The shield struck the arm that Rumlow had around Alex's waist with enough force to send them both crashing to the ground. Rumlow's arm had protected Alex from any harm worse than winding her, but the arm itself had given a loud crunching sound on impact.

Clutching his arm to his chest, Rumlow howled in pain, glaring poisonously at James. "You rat bastard..."

As soon as the arm and gun were away from her, Alex crawled away from Rumlow. But she screamed as a bullet hit the ground, mere inches from her head. Had Rumlow not been in so much pain, it probably would have hit her.

She turned, watching in terror as James began to move towards her and, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rumlow moving the gun towards him. But the shield had fallen only a foot or so from where Alex was now.

"Wanted to draw this out, but I'll settle for you bein' gone," Rumlow muttered, giving Alex time to reach out and pick up the heavy circle of metal.

"James!" Alex shouted as she threw the shield.

He caught it just as Rumlow's gun went off, and there was a loud clang as the bullets bounced off it.

For a few long seconds, there was silence.

Rumlow turned to look at Alex, venom in his eyes as he pointed the gun at her. "What did I fuckin' tell you, you fucking wh-"

He was cut off by another ringing clang. Seeing his opportunity, James threw the shield at Rumlow's head as hard as he could. Rumlow's posture straightened as he was hit, almost comically, and he staggered forward, as if he was reaching for Alex.

But the heavy blow took its toll, and he stopped, swaying for a moment, before falling backwards, knocked out cold.

As soon as Rumlow was down, James moved forward, kicking the gun away. He dealt him a swift kick to the head, partly to make sure he was truly unconscious, but mostly out of anger.

And then he ran to Alex, skidding to his knees beside her and taking her in his arms. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, his voice cracking as he tenderly kissed the top of her head. "I'm so fucking sorry, Alex."

Still too shaken to cry, Alex clutched at James, her fingers curling up in his shirt. But she managed to whimper, "It wasn't your fault."

James didn't argue back, but he knew that it was his fault. Rumlow had gone after Alex to torture him. He hadn't heard much of what the man had said to her, but Rumlow's voice had carried outside the warehouse when James had been sneaking into it. "Are you alright? Did he... Did he hurt you?" He felt stupid asking that, of course Rumlow had hurt her emotionally and mentally. But James couldn't see any marks or cuts on her. That was something, he supposed.

Pulling off his over shirt, James quickly help Alex put it on, and he buttoned it up for her.

"He knows about Norman," Alex said, her voice so quiet that it was almost difficult to hear her. "He said that Norman's making contracts with people like him. He's finally coming for me, James. He can do what he wants now, he wouldn't even have to be secretive about it..."

James' blood ran even colder, "But he doesn't know about me. He doesn't know that I'm Captain America, or that I'm your boyfriend. I'll keep you safe. I promised you that I would never let him hurt you, and I'm not about to break that promise now."

There was silence for a few moments. And then Alex began to cry. She didn't sob, or wail, just cried quietly into James' T-Shirt, pressing her face into him and holding on to him for dear life.

James could hear sirens outside (it had taken them long enough to get there). Confident that Rumlow wouldn't wake up in the minute or two it would be until he was in handcuffs, James stood up, Alex still cradled carefully in his arms. Resisting the urge to kick Rumlow again, he carried Alex out of the warehouse, leaving the shield behind. Someone else could bring it out.

All he cared about was taking care of Alex.