I took the liberty of changing small things from the movie. I hope you don`t mind :)
The glass of scotch shattered into a million little pieces as Tony Stark dropped it into the floor. His mouth was hanging wide open as he watched the News on the large screen.
"Jarvis, put the volume up".
The artificial intelligent program obeyed and the voice of the reporter filled the room. Tony watched the footage of two giant Helicarriers falling into the Potomac River.
"… leaked SHIELD`s entire database in order to expose the terrorist group named HYDRA that had infiltrated the secret agency and almost killed 20 million of civilians. Early reports show that Captain America is out of surgery… ".
Ignoring the broken glass crunching under his shoes, Tony typed a few commands on his holographic keyboard and many Internet pages appeared on his screen. His eyes scanned the information as fast as possible and his mind had a hard time processing everything.
"… Alexander Pierce, member of the World Security Council and mentor of what was called Project Insight, was found dead…".
"… Yesterday Steve Rodgers was severely injured after fighting against HYDRA`s assassin called the Winter Soldier…".
"… shocking revelation of the true identity of the Avenger`s member, Black Widow, as the ex-KGB spy and assassin, Natalia Alianova Romanova…".
"… events followed the death of the director of SHIELD, Nick Fury…".
After a small pause Tony effortlessly hacked into the database of the closest hospital to the Triskelion and found Steve`s medical records: multiple shot wounds, lacerations, out of surgery, in recovery. He let out a deep breath of relieve, Steve apparently was going to make it. 'Thank God, you freaking lucky Capsicle'.
He ran a nervous hand trough his hair already plotting his next actions.
"Pepper!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Pepper! Jarvis, where the fuck is Pepper?"
"What, Tony? I`m here". She waked in the room holding a cup of tea and still wearing her work clothes. Her face was neutral, a little annoyed even, as this was a normal behavior for Tony. But as her eyes scanned the room and found the broken glass on the floor and Tony astonished expression and she instantly got worried.
"HYDRA infiltrated SHIELD. Romanoff leaked every single file from their database into the Internet and Rogers is in the hospital".
"What?". She hurried to his side and started reading the news. Her mouth fell open the same way Tony`s had done before.
"Oh my God, Tony. How is Steve?".
"I just checked with the hospital, he is going to make it".
Relieve showed in her face. "What are we going to do? Should we go to DC? I can have the jet ready in a hour".
"No, not right now. We are more effective acting from here. Rogers is out of surgery and he will be out for some time. I don`t think Romanoff was injured, there was no record of her being admitted to the hospital."
"What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to warn Banner, Barton and Thor". Pepper nodded, grabbed her Stark`s Industries phone and started typing the encrypted message. "Jarvis, start going trough the leaked files, I need to know how we got a hold of SHIELD`s database two years ago and didn`t suspect anything".
"Yes, sir".
Tony took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Natasha`s number. It went straight to voice mail. 'After everything, she must have disconnected it. Maybe she is with Steve'. He tried the soldier`s cellphone and it also went to voice mail.
"Jarvis, I`m going to need another number, find me one".
Steve Rodgers was thirsty. That`s the first thing he felt. He tried to move his mouth but his lips were cracked and his tongue was dry. 'Where am I? What happened?' His mind was foggy and he was disoriented. The last thing he remembered was drowning. But why was he drowning?
Suddenly he started to hear a steady beeping: beep, beep, beep… a heart monitor? Was he at a hospital? 'What the hell happened?' That`s when all the memories came back: the helicarrier, Bucky, falling into the cold water of the Potomac River… 'Oh my God…'. He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids were too heavy. He tried to move his hands but his body was not responding. That`s when he panicked. Almost immediately the heart monitor started beeping loudly and faster. He could feel his breaths coming faster and shorter.
"Steve". He heard a voice with a pleading tone attached to it, a woman`s voice. Peggy? No, Peggy was from another time.
"Calm down, Steve. You are safe". He knew that husky voice… Natasha.
"N.. Nat?".
"I`m here, Rodgers. Relax, focus on me. Can you open your eyes?".
He tried again and this time his eyelids complied. 'Ouch! Light, too much light!' He closed his eyes for a few more seconds before opening them again, this time slower. As his pupils adjusted he could see an unfamiliar white ceiling. He moved his head a little and found two green eyes fixed on him.
"Hi". Natasha said timidly, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly.
His tongue tried to wet his lips and he blinked a few times. "Hi… water?"
She got up from her seat beside his bed and he felt her hand leaving his. 'Was she holding my hand as I was passed out?' Before Steve could process that information, Natasha returned with a white cupboard full of water.
"Drink slowly, Cap". She ordered.
He did and felt a little better as the water poured down his throat.
"What happened?". He fixed his ocean blue eyes on her, trying to get a read.
"We won. Your plan worked".
He let out a deep breath of relieve. That was when he felt a sharp pain on his chest. He automatically moaned and grabbed blindly for his stomach.
Natasha seemed to notice his reaction. "You were shot by The Winter Soldier. Don`t you remember?".
Yes, the memories flooded his mind. He grimaced.
"You almost died but the super soldier serum saved your life. The doctors say you will need to rest for a couple more days but after that you will be as good as new, just a few more scars as souvenirs".
"Well, I guess now it`s bye-bye bikinis for me too". He joked and she laughed lightly. Steve was not used to her laugh but it was a nice sound.
"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them". She said playfully and he smiled brightly in return. They kept their eyes glued on each other, both amused at the easy banter.
After a while Natasha diverted her gaze away and the smile disappeared from her lips. "Falcon will be here shortly. I made him leave so he could get a proper bath and some change of clothes. He hasn`t left your side since they allowed him to be here".
Steve smiled and closed his eyes again. "How long…"
"You have been out for almost 24 hours".
He nodded and focused on trying to remember everything. The memories were coming back to him clearer this time. "Nat… He saved me". Natasha didn`t respond so Steve continued. "Bucky. He got me out of the water. I would have drowned if it wasn`t for him".
She removed her eyes from him and fixed them on the bed. She frowned a little before answering. "I know".
As he confirmed that the memory of Bucky saving him was indeed a memory and not a dream, a warm feeling invaded his body. Bucky was still Bucky! There was a part of him that was still good. Steve couldn`t suppress a smile to invade his features. As soon the smile appeared it vanished. 'How am I going to find him?'. Natasha herself – super Russian spy – had said that the Winter Soldier was a ghost, impossible to find. Without SHIELD`s technology it will be indeed impossible and Steve was not in the mood to ask any favors to Tony Stark. At least not before he tried every other option first.
"I need to find him. I really do, Nat.".
"Maybe I can help. I still have some contacts and I can try to ask around for some information. But don`t get your hopes up because I don`t think they will be willing to help, specially now that I`ve been compromised". Her voice was low and her eyes were fixed on the bed. As her face was blank, Steve could not sense if she was upset or neutral. He hated her ability to not show emotions sometimes.
"How are you feeling about that?".
He could see her walls building up as her face tensed a little. "About throwing everything on the Internet? I don`t regret it, Steve. It was the best solution to expose HYDRA".
"But what about exposing yourself?". He insisted, not letting her get away with a non-answer.
She seemed troubled for a while before the blank mask took its place again. "I can deal with it". She answered shortly and he could sense the subject was over. After working for a year with her he knew she was good at hiding her feelings and that insisting only would make her mad.
Steve took a deep breath and fixed his eyes on the ceiling. Why everything involving Natasha Romanoff had to be so difficult? He knew a little about her dark past, but he could not understand why she had to hide herself behind so many masks and lies.
Everything about her was complicated. She tried too hard to seem emotionless and indifferent but Steve knew better. After spending almost a year working together for SHIELD he had seen behind her thick walls. And after the last couple of days he was sure that he could trust her with his life. He even considered himself her friend, and both of them were really conservative about making friends. So why would she always hide her emotions from him?
"You are awake!". Sam Wilson exclaimed from the door in perfect timing. He was wearing fresh clothes and carried a bag.
Steve smiled at the man. Sam was a loyal guy and had been a really welcome help. Even if Steve had a difficult time making friends in this new era of his life, here he was, surrounded by two real friends.
"Yes I am and in a few more days I will be outrunning you again".
"In your dreams, Cap". Sam smiled taking a seat at the little sofa on the corner of the hospital room. He put out a little white box from his gym bag and an IPod.
Suddenly Natasha got up from the chair beside Steve`s bed and started walking towards the door. "Well, since you are in good hands, I need to go now".
Steve felt an unfamiliar pang on his heart and opened his mouth to protest but Falcon was faster than him.
"Why? Where are you going?"
Natasha turned and fixed a cold stare on him. "Not that I owe you an explanation but Agent Hill asked me to deal with the aftermath of yesterday".
"Okay". Falcon didn`t seem bothered by Natasha`s almost rude answer. He started shuffling trough his IPod`s songs and got his feet up on the coffee table on the corner of the room making himself confortable.
"Will you come back?" Steve asked before Natasha could leave.
"Maybe… old man". She cryptically answered and a small smiled covered her lips as she slipped trough the door.
Sam stood still, eyes glued on the IPod for a couple of more minutes before speaking. "That is a scary and complicated woman right there, my friend".
Steve chuckled. "Aren`t all women scary and complicated?"
Sam busted out laughing. "Indeed they are".
Suddenly, for Steve`s admiration, music filled the room. It was coming from the small white box but it had no wires connected to it. Almost everyday the new technology surprised him. He closed his eyes and relaxed for the first time on the last couple of days.
I hope you liked it! I have a lot more coming! Soon the Avengers will meet an enemy worst than any alien army... Soon! :)