Hey everyone! This story was inspired by Kit, so let's have a shout out for her! I hope you enjoy! Happy Fourth of July!

Disclaimer: I can only wish I owned this...


"See how great this is, Cap?" Tony asked as the five Avengers walked along the streets of Paris, France. "I mean, look at that view of the Eiffel Tower, it's just magnificent!" Tony said with a wild gesture to the big tower that was standing way above the city and standing tall.

"It'll be even better at night," Bruce added.

"You see, you can't get something like that in New York!" Tony said, and when Steve raised a brow at that comment, Tony quickly backtracked and changed it. "Uh, I mean, my Tower's better, but this is still pretty cool." He said slipping his dark and expensive sunglasses on.

"Aren't you glad we convinced you to take a little vacation, Cap?" Tony asked and Steve mentally rolled his eyes. Instead he just settled with a slight shake of his head.

"More like forced me," He muttered, but Tony still heard.

"Oh, come on, stop being so uptight. Geez, Cap, loosen up." He said casually.

"Yeah, sure, Tony. As soon as you stop making me so uptight." He mumbled the last half, and this time only Natasha heard. She stifled a laugh with a cough as they continued heading down the sidewalk that was filled with a bunch of bustling people.

He had only been in Paris once before this, and that was back during the War.

And even with that, they were only able to be there for 29 hours. As much as Steve liked being here, and actually being able to savor the moment, he had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.

It was just there.

And it was nagging him, eating at him every chance it got.

He had learned to trust that gut feeling, and he certainly hated it every time it rang to be true; which was every time he got it. He had it when his mom had died, the day Bucky fell off the train, and day he jumped into Schmidt's plane, and the day he had found out that Tony was presumed dead because of the Mandarin.

"When was the last time you had a vacation anyway, Cap? I mean, you've never had one in the time I've known you, so that means it's been over seventy years since you've had one." Clint said as he continued taking in every little thing Paris had to offer.

"Actually, with the War and stuff, I've never had a vacation." He said with a casual shrug and the team looked at him in disbelief.

"Even I've had a vacation," Natasha said with a slightly shocked expression. He just shrugged again as he looked back up at the Tower.

"Never had the time or the money," He paused before continuing, "Or I was just too sick for anything." He said, and the whole group went quiet. Clint just nodded slowly. The team stayed that way for another fifteen minutes, and no matter how hard he tried, Steve couldn't ignore the sick feeling his stomach contained.

He kept looking over his shoulder, and sometimes jerking slightly when there was a loud noise.

"Hey, you okay?" Natasha asked from beside him, loud enough for him to hear, but just quiet enough so that no one else heard. He swallowed and nodded, avoiding looking her in the eyes. He knew that if he did that, she'd see very easily that it was a lie.

Their phones beeped simultaneously, and when they grabbed them and opened them, Tony literally groaned. But Steve felt that feeling in his stomach worsen.

"You've got to be kidding me! A mission? Out of 365 days of the year, and they picked the one week we're on vacation!" Tony exclaimed.

"What's the mission?" Natasha asked, looking up at Steve. Since he was the Leader, Nick would only send the mission information to him for security reasons. His jaw tensed as he read it, and he tried to not let any other sign of fear show.

"Baron Zemo is attacking the South part of Paris," He said, realization that his former enemy much have been watching them the whole time and had picked Paris because of them.

"Who's Baron Zemo?" Clint asked, and all eyes landed on Cap as he spoke.

"I know him."


"Is everybody ready?" Steve asked as he secured the comm that was discreetly hidden in his ear. He turned around and looked at the team of super heroes in front of him. Natasha was hiding a small knife in the neck of her uniform, while Clint was adding a few more arrows to his quiver.

Bruce's eyes were already tinged green, and Tony had already pulled out a suitcase that was setting up his suit around him. He heard the whir of the Quinjet they were in slowly die down as it lowered to the ground.

After several affirmations from his teammates, he confirmed the pilot for landing.

"Now, remember, this guy's tough, I fought his grandfather during the War; this isn't going to be easy." he said, and Clint smirked, Natasha wore her poker face, but he could still see the hint of a challenge in her eyes, while Tony just scoffed.

"Sounds like fun," He said, voice slightly metallic sounding from the suit. He raised a brow for an answer one more time, and when everyone nodded he spoke up.

"Okay, in 3, 2, 1!" He said, and the doors to the Quinjet opened and five Avengers came running out, ready to fight. Tony immediately took off into the air, while Bruce turned into the Hulk. Absolute chaos welcomed them as they prepared for the battle.

People were running around screaming, trying to get away, and, what looked like robots crossed with aliens, came charging at them with lazer like guns; similar to Hydra's old guns.

They immediately dove into the fight, dodging the bullets from the guns, and trying to take out as many of them as possible.

Zemo was nowhere to be seen, but Steve was to busy trying to fight the swarm of creatures that surrounded the three of them. Hulk and Iron Man were off finding some other group of these things, and Steve sent up a silent prayer that this mission would turn out alright.

Because that feeling was telling him that something bad was going to happen soon.


Forty five minutes later, and they still hadn't found Zemo yet. The team had all been separated at some point of time, and Steve couldn't help but feel that had been done on purpose.

The massive swarms of alien like robots were lessening greatly, and for that Steve was grateful. The city of Paris was being evacuated by S.H.I.E.L.D, and Steve was currently fighting six creatures right under the Eiffel Tower.

He threw his Shield and it knocked out two of them, while he quickly turned and took off for another one, sliding and ducking under it's misshapen arm and getting up immediately after. The creature didn't even have time to regroup before Steve kicked it in the back and it fell down to the ground with a cry of pain.

He jumped up and did a 360 in mid-air, before catching his Shield and bringing it down into the chest of another one. He unfortunately didn't turn around quick enough to avoid an unearthly strong punch to the jaw.

He felt blood trickle down the side of his jaw from his mouth, but ignored it as he did a flip over the creature that tried to punch him again, and ended up behind it. And as soon as it turned around, Steve an excruciating blow to it's chest with his leg.

It also fell to the ground, and before Steve could catch his breath, another creature tried to punch him again from behind him. Only Steve anticipated it this time, and turned around just in time to grab it's fist and twist it.

It let out a scream of pain when Steve let go of it. It tumbled back, and Steve took that opportunity to ram it with his Shield. He straightened back up and looked around at all of the dead robot bodies around him. His curiosity still made him wonder what the heck they were.

"Shit! Um, guys?" Tony's voice came through the comms, distracting Steve from the weird creature like things that lay mangled all around him.

"Yeah, Tony?" He asked breathlessly.

"Those thing's gun blasts somehow managed to make my suit malfunction."

"Meaning?" Steve asked, impatiently.

"I can't move. My suit's stuck and I'm currently being used as a rag doll." Tony said, and he could hear the chirps from those creatures come from the other end of the comms, and could also hear Tony cursing.

"Where are you?" He asked while wiping some of the blood on his chin away with the sleeve of his arm, but only ended up smearing it.

"I'm currently half a mile from your position in the South, Cap." He said, followed by a grunt and a loud curse. Steve took off in a dead run towards his teammates position, only stopping occasionally to take out a few scrambling creatures.

Within just a couple of minutes, he arrived at his destination, and noticed a bunch of the alien like things surrounding something; kicking and punching the object. Steve took off in that direction, also.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" He yelled, and suddenly, all of the aliens turned and took off running towards him. He inhaled a breath to fill his lungs, before joining the creatures in battle. He soon disposed of the majority of them, when he heard an all-too familiar voice.

The slight hesitation ended costing him his footing as a creature kicked his legs out from under him. He hit the ground with a loud thud and bit back a groan of pain from having hit his head really hard on the concrete.

"Oh, Captain America! What a great pleasure! I was hoping for this moment," Zemo said as he appeared from the shadows of a building nearby. He was wearing a pink mask and a black uniform.

Steve tried to get up, but instead was yanked up by two creatures, and his arms were pulled behind his back; one wrist being bent at such an odd angle it snapped like a twig in the alien's grip. White pain raced up and down his arm and he hissed in pain.

He blinked a couple of times to focus on the approaching figure in front of him, but his vision was still slightly blurred.

Yup, definitely a concussion.

He realized as the creatures pulled his arms even tighter behind his back, jostling his broken wrist.

"I-I wish I could say the same," Steve replied with as he lightly shook his head too clear his vision. Zemo came closer and closer, until he stood about fifteen feet away and just laughed evilly.

"So, I guess you're probably wondering why I'm reigning down terror on Paris, no?" He asked, and when he received no response, he continued, "Well, it's a bit of revenge for what you did to my father."

"You see, he was never able to finish his experiments, so I did for him. And with a few tweaks, we will have our very own race of aliens."

That explains the weird creature like things, Steve thought to himself.

"Magnificent, correct?" He asked as he came even closer. Steve just glared him down, and ignored the way the aliens shook him vigorously as if they wanted him to say something, too.

He refused to say anything, so Zemo closed the distance between them with a swift punch to Steve's jaw. Pain erupted across his jaw from the brutal hit, and he was positive there was a fracture in his jaw line.

He spit out some blood onto the ground and a small white object went out with the crimson liquid. Steve shook his head again, still trying to rid himself of the blurriness.

But when Steve looked up, he noticed Zemo pulling out a small sword, that almost looked like just a regular knife; like the ones Natasha used. He raised it up and twirled it in his hands, looking at it intently with a smirk.

Steve tensed in fear of what he was going to do with it, and before he could even react, Zemo shoved it into Steve's right shoulder with all of his strength and twisted. Steve gritted his teeth to hold back a cry of pain, but it still slipped through.

He could vaguely hear Tony yelling obscenities at Zemo, but he wasn't quite sure.

Zemo smiled in delight and took a few steps back, but not before yanking the knife back out; causing blood to start pouring out. Steve clenched his jaw, sending fire through his head from the fracture in his jaw line, and panted heavily to even out the pain.

"Allow me to go and check up on your teammates, Captain." He walked past Tony, but then paused. "Oh, and Iron Man, please," He paused and an evil grin spread across his face. "Don't go any where." He said, and Tony started yelling even more curses, but Zemo was unfazed as he walked back into the shadows caused by the setting sun.

Steve waited several seconds, before he decided now was his only chance of getting away.


Tony directed several curses towards the figure that was walking away from him, and a few seconds after he was gone, he stopped and instead focused on Steve. His head was hanging slightly, and he was on his knees, thanks to those freakin' aliens.

His once blue uniform, was now turning purple along his shoulder and down his side. Tony growled out in frustration; he couldn't move an inch. He was pretty sure that his suit was only damaged for a short time, but right now Steve was being held captive and all Tony could do was watch.

Suddenly, Steve reacted. He went from being helpless, and his head hanging in defeat, to kicking one aliens leg out from under him, causing it to stumble back. And then throwing the other alien over his back with a slight roll. Without turning around, Steve delivered a hard kick to the alien's abdomen, causing it to comically stumble back again. He punched the alien in front of him and shoved it to the ground.

Three more aliens showed up behind Steve, and he turned around just in time to duck one of their attempted kicks, and then return one of his own. He was so busy fighting the fresh wave of aliens, he didn't even see Baron Zemo sneak up behind him; sword drawn.

"Steve! Steve, look out!" Tony tried to warn him, but Steve never heard him. Tony watched in horror as Zemo quickly shoved the three foot long sword straight into Steve's stomach. "No!" He yelled as Steve weakly fell to his knees.

Zemo twisted it a few times, before yanking the used-to-be silver but now covered in red sword out. Tony could literally see the scarlet blood start pouring out as Steve fell limply to the ground, chest rising and falling shakily. "You son of a bitch!" Tony yelled and Zemo just laughed maliciously.

"It's about time you tasted some of my revenge, Captain." Zemo said while shoving his boot onto Steve's back. Tony could see Steve shut his eyes tightly from the pain of the heel of Zemo's boot catching the side of the wound. Steve's hands were clinched into fists as he feebly attempted to fight back and stand up; only to be shoved back down by Zemo's boot.

"I'm going to make your death slow and painful," Zemo said, poison dripping with every word.

"You sick bastard!" Tony yelled as Zemo shoved the sword back into the slowly healing wound on Steve's shoulder. Steve let out a cry of pain even though his teeth were gritted. Zemo laughed even more. He yanked it back out and shoved his foot even harder into the wound on Steve's back.

Tony could see that Steve was laying into a puddle of his own blood, fighting to keep consciousness.

Zemo reached down and yanked Steve's head up by his hair. Steve never even opened his eyes, but Tony still knew he was conscious. Zemo said something to Steve that Tony couldn't quite hear, but he was pretty sure that if he read his lips correctly he said, "This is for ever becoming Captain America."

Tony swallowed hard to keep from letting the tears in his eyes fall as he watched Zemo throw Steve's head back down onto the concrete. Zemo placed the sword now on a different placed on his stomach, and ever so slowly started pushing it into his skin.

Steve gripped the concrete with his unbroken hand, and Tony watched as Steve's fingers slowly went still and his body went limp as Zemo shoved it in the rest of the way. Tony's hatred for the guy kept growing more and more every second as he watched Zemo smile evilly.

"Now for the final blow," Zemo said, and raised his sword in the air, preparing for the strike.

"No!" Tony shouted, but it was barely audible as a certain green beast ran into the scene of destruction, followed by two master assassins. "Thank God," Tony said, and Zemo barely had time to look up before a bullet whirled into his shoulder. He stumbled back and off of Steve, when another bullet pierced the skin on his arm, causing him to drop the sword with a loud clatter on the pavement.

An arrow hit his leg and he fell to the ground unconscious, but Tony wanted him to suffer so much more. The aliens charged after the trio, but were soon demolished by a raging Hulk.

"Hurt Steve! Now die!" Hulk roared before destroying the last couple of aliens. Hulk kept on rampaging, yearning for destruction and revenge for what had happened to their Captain. Natasha ran over to Steve, and Clint ran over to Tony.

"Tony? Are you okay in there?" Clint asked as he neared him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Tony said, "Just go get Cap help, now!" He said, and before he had even finished his sentence, Clint was on his way over to Steve. He jumped over one of the bodies and landed by Steve. Tony couldn't hear them but he could read their lips.

"Natasha, is he..?" Clint asked, voice inaudible to Tony.

"He's close! Go get help!" She yelled, and that time Tony could hear. Clint took off like a shot towards someplace, Tony didn't know where, and Natasha started putting pressure on all the wounds on Steve. Tony watched in horror as he tried to ignore the fear that had settled into his heart. He'd be fine, right? He was Captain freakin' America!

He'd be alright, Tony had decided.

But he couldn't ignore the way the fear was eating at him. He watched as Natasha slowly moved Steve onto his back and placed his head onto her lap; trying to put pressure on so many of his wounds.

Steve started stirring, and Tony's heart dropped; at least when he was unconscious, he couldn't feel the pain. Suddenly, he jerked awake, and Tony watched as Natasha tried to calm him down. Slowly, Steve laid back down with a wince, his breathing labored.

And what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes, several S.H.I.E.L.D agents showed up with a gurney and were yelling frantic things while they tore Steve away from an upset Natasha and placed him upon it.

Steve thrashed around in pain, half coherent and half incoherent, and Natasha fought with the agents so she could get to his side. After a few struggles she ended up next to Steve and held his hand, immediately calming him down, as they cut off the top of his now purple uniform.

They placed an oxygen mask on his face and stuck several IV needles into his bloodied arms. They loaded him onto the waiting Quinjet that had somehow appeared without Tony noticing. Someone came up to him, and then suddenly several people were prying his suit off of his basically paralyzed body.

He noticed that someone had come and taken Zemo into custody. Tony was finally out of his suit, and he didn't even care that the S.H.I.E.L.D agents were trying to check him over, he ran past them and up to the Quinjet, getting in just before the doors closed.

He sat down on one of the benches when he realized that Cap had been taken into some room where no one unauthorized could go. He had sat down next to Natasha who looked fine, except for the fact that her eyes looked like they would spill over with tears any second.

Clint had placed a comforting had on her back, and surprisingly, she hadn't shrugged it off. Tony couldn't help but feel guilty as he sighed and sent up a silent prayer for Steve's safety.


The first thing Steve was aware of was the excruciating pain that covered every inch of his tired body. The second thing he was aware of was the loud and annoying consistent beeping around him. He slowly opened his eyes and was met by the concerned gaze of Tony. He blinked sluggishly a few times and took in the rest of his surroundings.

"Hey, Cap," Tony said quietly, and when Steve looked at him, there was some weird emotion in his usually bright eyes.

"Hey Tony," Steve said, but it sounded more like a groan of pain than a greeting. Tony grabbed a glass of water and helped Steve take a couple of drinks of it. When Tony took it away, Steve smiled in relief of the pain in his dry throat. "Thanks." He said, and Tony just stood there with his back turned as he slowly placed the glass of water down. "Tony?" He sighed and turned around.

"Steve, I'm sorry," He said quickly, so quickly, it took Steve a moment to register what exactly he had said.

"Why?" He asked, utterly confused.

"It's my fault you're here, I," He paused and sighed, sinking into the chair next to Steve. "I shouldn't have had you come, I'm sorry, Steve. It's my fault." Tony said, looking anywhere but Steve.

"That's bull crap." Steve said, and Tony looked at him in surprise. "It's not at all your fault, I came because I'm a Captain, it's my responsibility to protect my teammates. Besides, now Zemo's in prison and can't cause anymore problems." Tony huffed at Steve's perspective of everything that had happened. There were a few moments of silence before Tony chuckled and spoke up.

"We are never going on another vacation," Tony muttered and Steve chuckled.

"Told you," He said with a smirk, and Tony just sat there gaping at him.

"Did Captain America just say 'I told you so' to me?" Tony asked in exasperation, feigning hurt and shock with a hand over his heart.

"Technically, I said 'told you'," Steve corrected and Tony stuck his tongue out at him, causing Steve to chuckle.

"Same thing," Tony retaliated and Steve closed his eyes, sleep catching up with him.

"Shut it, Stark," He said, hearing Tony chuckle before falling into a blissful sleep.


Wrote that in just a few hours, so I hope it's good. Remember, I love reviews! See you next time!