Yay! We have another chapter! Let's hope fanfiction will stop being difficult and actually send notifications this time. At any rate…I don't think there will be many chapters left until we're finished.

FrancyPantsFrance: Yay for Livy! Question is now, will it stick? The first twelve weeks have the highest chance of miscarriage. (Have I gotten you nervous yet?)

harrylee94: Again, I didn't make it too hard to guess. Or am I just that predictable? What can I say, it's hard for me to make characters miserable, but I will do it if I feel it necessary. I think we need a little James fan flag to root him on, he's going to have a tough time this chapter and next.

Dr. Huff-Puff: It happens now because I am EVIL! And the stress that's put on her is definitely dangerous for that little one…

MorWolfMor: Big time trouble. With Steve. Nobody gets away with kissing his wife except him.

CHAPTER SEVEN

"We need to get out of here," Rosemary growled as she glared at the door, just a few hours after the interrogation, "We've been here a month, and I want to go home."

"They'll kill us if we tried," Dianne grumbled, "Besides, where is here anyway? How would we know where to go?"

"Well, based off of my calculations," Olyvia said from where she was laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling, "I think we're somewhere in Southern California or Mexico."

The sisters looked at each other in confusion, glancing over to Pepper who only shrugged, before looking to Olyvia, "And just how did you calculate that?" Dianne asked.

"Firstly," Olyvia began, sitting upright and holding up her index finger for the number one, "We are on the coast, and it being September now, it's warm. Not hot, but warm. Secondly, the ocean water is comfortably warm. Not as warm as the east coast like Florida, but warm. Thirdly," Olyvia took in a deep breath and said in a tone that sounded like it was meant for Gollum, "Great Whites."

"Aren't there Great Whites on the east coast too?" Rosemary asked.

"Water wasn't warm enough."

"Rosemary, you're not helping. Livy, Livy, stop and breathe," Dianne said, seeing her sister was starting to lose it again.

Olyvia was taking fast heavy breaths, eyes wide, looking a little crazy, before taking in one deep breath, holding it for a good ten seconds, then let it out.

"Better?"

"I hate sharks."

"We knew that, okay so Southern California," Dianne said, getting her sister back on track, "How does that help us?"

"It doesn't," Olyvia groaned, laying back down and rolling over onto her stomach.

"Not true," Dianne said, "If we do get out of here, we know we'll have to head east."

"Oh goodie, we've got a plan then," Olyvia said sarcastically, holding out a hand and making a thumbs down motion.

"You could try to be a little more optimistic," Dianne said blandly.

"Yeah," Rosemary agreed, "You've always been the optimistic one, what happened?"

"Mr. Gay Robot sucked it out of me."

Dianne strummed her fingers against her lower belly, frowning at her sister, when she suddenly jumped, her countenance changing to one of surprise. Laying her hand flat against her swollen belly, her face then lit up.

"The baby is kicking!" she just about squealed.

Rosemary let out an excited squeal as she scooted closer to her sister and Olyvia flipped herself back over and sat upright.

"Let me feel! Let me feel!" Rosemary exclaimed, holding her hand out to her sister so she could put it on the right spot.

Dianne took Rosemary's hand and placed it on the lower right side of her stomach. A huge grin spread across Rosemary's face.

"My turn," Olyvia said, walking on her knees over to her sister and hip-checking Rosemary out of the way.

"Hey!" Rosemary said indignantly.

Olyvia placed her hand in the same spot, and sure enough, felt the tiniest of bumps against her hand. Tears welled up in her eyes. It was just one of those wonders you couldn't explain, and she couldn't help but think she'd never be able to experience that herself. She wasn't the only one crying though. Dianne already had tears streaming down her face.

"What's wrong Dia?" Rosemary asked, "This means the baby's okay right. Why are you sad?"

"I just wish Loki were here to experience it," Dianne replied.

Pepper reached out and rubbed her back consolingly, while Olyvia took hold of her sister's hands.

"Don't you worry," she said, "We'll be rescued soon enough, and you'll be back with your Norse God."

Dianne chuckled, "Look who was saying they weren't an optimist."

"I mean…we're all gonna die."

"Eventually," Rosemary chipped in, "We are mortal after all."

"Hush Midget!"


The scientists were so busy searching through the articles, and the Captain and Norse God were watching so intently, that when an alarm on the computer went off, all four jumped. Stark went reeling over backwards in his chair, Bruce's neck started to turn a little green, Steve nearly jumped into the ceiling, and Loki went to attack the computer hardware, summoning his staff and went to whack it but luckily Steve caught it in time.

"What the hell," Stark said, picking himself back up, "Was not expecting that."

"What is it?" Loki asked, realizing something else had appeared on the screen, "Did you find something else?"

"Bruce…are you alright?" Steve asked cautiously.

Bruce shook his head, he was too panicked by the sudden noise and his arms were starting to get bigger, ripping the sleeves of his dark blue shirt.

"Get him out of here! Get him out of here!" Stark ordered, "We can't have him destroying the computer!"

Steve went to grab Bruce and escort him out, but Bruce was already up and running away, disappearing through the doorway. A few seconds later they heard his rumbling roar, and more alarms going off.

"Um…perhaps Mr. Norse God can distract him to prevent him from killing anyone and or destroying the helicarrier…again," Stark said, giving Loki a pointed look.

Loki's eyes widened in terror as he turned to Stark, "What! No! No, no, no, no! I am not going to get thrown around like a ragdoll again."

"You can survive it though," Stark said, "And it sounds like he's coming back."
"Loki, what we've found so far will be gone if Bruce trashes it," Steve said with a pleading look.

Loki let out a resigned sigh, and headed to the door, "You owe me big time."

"I'll make you a cake," Stark said.

"Not going to cut it," Loki rebutted before the door shut behind him.

Stark turned back around and started looking over the new piece of information that blared out to them over the screen, when there was a loud WHAM against the wall. Steve cringed as he saw the wall ten feet to the left of the door dented in, approximately the size of his friend.

"Maybe two cakes," Stark muttered, glancing over at the dent.

"I just hope he'll be able to keep Bruce out," Steve said.

"I'm sure he'll lure him away," Stark said, "With how much he wants Dianne found, he'll do it."

"So why did the computer scream at us?" Steve asked, changing the subject.

Stark turned back around yet again to scan over it.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here," Stark muttered, then said more loudly, "It looks like your buddy Bucky, wow, try to say that five times fast. Buddy Bucky, buddy Bicky, bleh bla blarg."

"Stark," Steve growled.

"Sorry, it looks like one of S.H.I.E.L.D's satellites picked up facial recognition on Bucky, if that really is him since you seem so adamant that it isn't."

"I don't see how it's possible!"

"He's in Canada," Stark continued, "Near the Canadian Rockies."

"Wasn't that mentioned in one of the other articles you've been sifting through?" Steve asked, sounding hopeful.

"Bruce found that," Stark said, "And he organized his stuff his way so I don't know where to find it. We have to wait for him to calm down."

With a frustrated groan, Steve sat down in Bruce's chair. Every turn they ran into another roadblock that slowed them down. They couldn't afford the precious time.

Fifteen minutes later, Loki limped his way back into Stark's workroom, beaten, bruised and bloody. He looked like he went through hell and back twice, then was ran over by a semi.

"Is he back to normal?" Steve asked hopefully.

"Ha!" Loki laughed, "No. I lured him into that cage Fury designed for him. He's throwing a fit. By now though I expect we're going to have to pick him up somewhere on the ground."

Steve groaned and dropped his head into a hand, "Great."

"I'll go find him," Stark volunteered.


Confirming that Bruce had in fact been shot out of the carrier in the steel and glass trap, Stark suited up and went off in search of his friend, an extra change of clothes in hand. He found him eventually, taking a good half hour to find him and bring him back, bringing him up to date with what they found on the way. Bruce looked a little ragged as he entered the lab, but went straight back to work, searching for the document that would hopefully lead them to A.I.M's base and the girls.

"Here it is," Bruce said, handing Stark his tablet that he had to sift through all the data.

Stark sped read over the document before going back to the main computer and typed something in, pulling up a map.

"There is where we want to go," Stark said, pointing at the dot on the screen and Steve leaned in to memorize the location, "Got the coordinates?"

"Yes, let's go," Steve ordered, turning on his heel and strode out of the room.

Loki was quick to follow, eager to find his wife. Stark looked over to his friend in concern, "You up for this?"

Bruce nodded, "Yeah. I can handle it."


It took James four and a half days to get to Canada on his motorcycle, but finally he arrived. Now he just needed to blow a few things up, get the Avengers attention, and have them fall right into the trap Modok sent him there to set up so the team of superheroes would lead them right back to their base. The four days of travel gave him a lot of time to think, which in turn gave him a lot of splitting headaches. Images began popping up in his head, which were foreign, but at the same time familiar to him. He couldn't explain it, he didn't understand it, and it was infuriating. He also spent a great deal of time thinking about Olyvia, wondering if he'd return to find her and her sisters, and the other lady, still alive. He wouldn't be surprised if he didn't, since Olyvia got cheeky with everyone, but he hoped he'd find her in one piece. If Modok knew of the feelings he had formed for the girl, he would kill both him and Olyvia so he needed to do his best to not let it slip. Thankfully there weren't any cameras in the locker room when he kissed her, and Olyvia seemed abhorred by it to never speak of it again.

James was only a few hours into setting up the explosives that he obtained from one of A.I.M's semi-active bases when he heard a whirring sound in the distance, getting louder as it came closer, and quickly. Grabbing hold of his rifle, ready to use it, he scanned the skies. He could tell it was coming from the southeast, but couldn't pinpoint any exact location. Was it above the clouds? Was it down low, just above the tree line? Why did there have to be so many trees anyway?

Seeing a glint of light up near the clouds, James raised his rifle, and used the scope to get a better look. His stomach sunk, recognizing the S.H.I.E.L.D aircraft.

"Shit," James muttered, dropping his rifle and running for cover. If they spotted him now, he'd have little to no chance to survive. He couldn't withstand a hit from one of those aircraft guns.

Crouching beneath a rocky overhang, he lifted his rifle again and watched as the quinjet landed within throwing distance from him. James inhaled deeply, then let it out slowly to help steady himself. First person that stepped out was going to get a bullet through the head.

The quinjet doors opened, and the oddly dressed one with black hair was the first to exit, notably frantic. That was…Loki wasn't it? Yes, it was. James placed the crosshairs on the Norse God's temple, and was about to squeeze the trigger when Captain America stepped out beside him, blocking his shot. Instead of changing targets, as he would have done and was trained to do, he automatically jerked the rifle to avoid hitting the Captain, a feeling of panic and worry about hitting him jolting through his body in that instant. But he still squeezed the trigger, and hit the Norse God in his right shoulder. James was mentally cursing himself. What the hell! Why did he flinch? He never flinched! He should have splattered the Captain's brains all over the Canadian soil! Oh shit, now they spotted him. Tossing his rifle over his shoulder, he took off through the cave he had set the explosives in.


Clint and Natasha flew the quinjet at record speed over the Canadian border and directly on top of their coordinates, which just so happened to be a relatively open area in the forest.

"Is this the place?" Loki asked anxiously.

"You think we read the directions wrong?" Clint asked in reply, eyes narrowing at his comrade.

"He's just worried Clint, give him a break," Natasha chastised.

Clint merely rolled his eyes and opened the back doors. Loki hardly let the ramp touch the ground before he went to exit. Steve wasn't far behind him though, equally as eager to find his own wife, hoping they found the right place where they were being held.

"Where do we go from—," Loki wasn't able to finish his question before a piercing pain erupted in his right shoulder, the impact so hard he went spinning around to the ground, a gunshot echoing through the air.

Stark flew out to investigate the gunshot, Bruce transformed into the Hulk, Clint and Natasha practically ripped their seatbelts off in order to get out, and Steve lifted his shield in case another shot would be aimed at him. Looking around, he spotted someone under some cover of rocks, but that someone realized he'd been noticed and went scurrying into a nearby cave. Steve wasn't able to get a good look at him since he moved too fast, but there was still something familiar about the guy.

"How's Loki?" Stark asked as Bruce dove at the cave entrance and tried squeezing himself in.

Steve turned around to see how his friend was, now that he was pulled away from his previous thoughts, "Loki?"

"I hate being shot," Loki seethed, pushing himself up onto his feet.

Using his magic he removed the bullet, then healed himself.

"For you, Mr. Stark," Loki said, handing off the bullet.

"Great, now let's get going before the guy who shot you gets away," Stark said, "Bet you it's the same one from Florida."

They hurried to the cave, which Bruce had broken open to get himself in and was currently chasing down the culprit, far ahead of the rest of them. The rest of the group lost sight of the Hulk for a while, before they caught up to him, moving around in circles, sniffing the ground.

"Don't tell me we lost him," Loki grimaced.

"The cave splits up into…five different paths from here," Stark said doing a quick path of the merging tunnels.

"Then we'll split up," Steve said, "Stark, I want you with Bruce. Even if he did have a com, it's not like he'd be able to relay much information."

"Except, grrr, rargh! I found him!" Stark said, doing his best Hulk impersonation.

Clint and Natasha rolled their eyes while Steve just ignored him, "The rest of us will go on our own. We should be able to handle just one guy."

"Alright, you heard the Captain, let's move," Stark said.

Hulk circled around once again before choosing a path and running down it. Stark followed a ways behind to avoid falling debris. The others chose a path and headed off as well. Steve ran as fast as he could, hoping that if he didn't find the guy they were chasing that perhaps he would find his wife. If she was being held somewhere in here of course.

He was running for quite some time when he was hit in the back of the head. Whirling around he saw the culprit, flipping his rifle around to shoot, and he froze. Normally Steve wouldn't freeze up in battle, and it wasn't because he had a gun pointed at him but rather the fact that it was Bucky standing in front of him.

"Bucky?" he asked incredulously.

The guy flinched, as if pained, causing him to pull the gun as he squeezed the trigger. Luckily Steve had his shield up so it hit that, and ricocheted off and into the wall. Seeing that Bucky no longer recognized him, since he was readjusting his aim for his head again, Steve had no choice but to fight back to defend himself. He bashed Bucky in the chest with the shield, sending him reeling backwards. Bucky still managed to get a shot in once he landed on his back, taking the window of opportunity he had as Steve had his shield out of the way and hit him in the stomach. Steve clutched at his wound, trying to stop the bleeding, still in a bit of shock. Bucky was alive. Bucky was right in front of him. Bucky shot him. Bucky would never have shot him before.

"Bucky…don't you know who I am?" Steve asked, hoping he could still get through to his friend.

"My name isn't Bucky!" the man seethed, raising his rifle again, "It's Winter Soldier."

Steve threw his shield, knocking the rifle away and hitting Bucky across the jaw in the process. Steve then pulled back his cowl.

"Don't you recognize me?"

Bucky grabbed his head in pain, slowly getting to his feet. Steve didn't think he hit him that hard in the jaw for him to look that pained. He gave his head a good shake before dropping his hands, and locked eyes with Steve. It was dead silent for a few seconds before Bucky spoke.

"How can I not recognize you with that ridiculous ensemble?" Bucky asked venomously, "Captain America. Or was that a rhetorical question."

Steve's heart fell. He really didn't know him anymore. What happened?

"Bucky—."

"I'm not Bucky!" he shouted.

Bucky then pulled something that looked like a type of remote from his jacket pocket and hit a button on it. Steve was nearly knocked over from the powerful concussions of explosives going off in the tunnel, and the ceiling began to collapse. He dove for his shield, since it hadn't ricocheted back to him, and crouched under it as the tunnels began collapsing. Bucky however took off running as fast as he could, disappearing into the alcove he had been hiding in when Steve ran by.

"Guys, the tunnel is collapsing!" Steve shouted into his com.

"Noticed Spangle Pants," Stark replied, "Is it your job to announce the obvious?"

"I thought it was just mine," Steve growled in reply as he was buried, "Is everyone else alright?"

Stark and Bruce were fine, thanks to Bruce, but Steve got no reply from anyone else, just white noise.

"Here's a better question, did anyone find our culprit?" Stark asked.

Steve said nothing for a few moments before replying, "I did."

"Oh, do you have him?"

"He got away."

"WHAT!" Stark exclaimed, "Okay that's it, Hulk, smash the roof, we have someone on the run again."

"What about the others?"

"We'll come back for you don't worry," Stark said, "Just keep trying to get in contact with them."

Steve tried the com a few more times before changing strategies and decided to dig himself out first, then go looking for the others. Pushing aside rubble and slithering his way through openings, he made it out on one side of the tunnel where it was still in relatively good shape. It still had boulders laying in the pathway, but there was plenty of room to squeeze by. Steve tried once again to contact the others, but there was still no reply. Steve was starting to get worried. There was no way for him to go back, and he assumed the path they took in was completely blocked off so was the alcove, which Steve guessed must have led to an exit, why otherwise would Bucky go that way, so he had little options. He'd have to continue forward and hope to find a way out. After shaking out his cowl, he pulled it back on and headed off.

As Steve journeyed onward, he would check occasionally to see if he could get a hold of anyone yet, but still no luck. A few minutes after he got started, Stark informed him the guy got away and that he and Bruce were searching for the others. Steve let himself relax a little with that bit of news, Bruce would be able to get everyone out just fine. He checked his wound every so often as well, which was healing, but the bullet was still in him, not a through and through shot. That would be torture getting out later.

After walking for ten minutes, Steve reached a door. Pressing his ear against it, he listened to see if there was anything on the other side. Hearing nothing, he turned the wheel on the hatch-like door, flinching as it let out a few squeaks, and opened it just enough to slip through before shutting it. Wherever he was, it looked different from the tunnels, the walls and ground made of metal instead of the earth. Moving as silently as he could, he ventured down the hall to another door. He let out a frustrated sigh seeing it had a pin pad for a code to be punched in.

"Stark," Steve whispered into his com, "I think I've found the base, but I need a code to get in the second door."

"Why don't you just break it?" Stark asked, "Or are you not strong enough?"

"Alarms Stark," Steve said blandly.

"I guess that would make sneaking difficult, alright what do you expect me to do?"

"You're going to have to walk me through whatever it is you do to break into things."

"That's called hacking, and I'm not sure if you'd understand ninety percent of what I say."

"Well, would you rather come down here?"

Stark sighed, "Okay, fine. I'm guessing it's a pin pad?"

"Yes."

"Then firstly you're going to have to remove the cover to access the wires," Stark began.

Steve went ahead and dismantled the device, and followed the rest of Stark's directions, though Stark was right in the fact Steve didn't know ninety percent of what he was talking about. The billionaire had to dumb it down to third grader level for Steve to limp his way through.

"Got it," Steve said as the door let out a hiss and he was able to open it, "Now what do I do?"

"Memorize the code," Stark replied, "It should be on the little screen."

"I got that, but what do I do with the pin pad?"

"Leave it, if there are A.I.M agents down there, you won't have time to put it back together."

Steve hated just leaving the dismantled pin pad there, announcing to anyone who came by that a non-friendly was here, but he had little choice. Slipping through the doorway, he found himself in another hallway, except this one had large glass windows on either side, looking into other rooms. Ducking down, he peeked into both sides. The left had no one in it, while the right had a handful of agents in some sort of lab, working on something. So pressing himself against the right wall, he hurried across the hall to the next door, punched in the code and slipped on through. Now he was in a different area. He was in a large room which looked to be used for mechanics. Machines were sitting on the floor thirty feet below him, and others were in the process of being made. Looking around, he spotted a room that looked like the main office area, which overlooked the workshop. Climbing up into the exposed scaffolding, he made his way over to the office unnoticed by agents milling about down below. Dropping down in front of the door, he breathed a sigh of relief seeing it didn't need a code. Turning the handle he heard it unlatch, and again opened it just enough to slip through. Only one man was in there, dressed just like the rest of the agents, ear buds plugged into his ears and was swaying around to some beat Steve couldn't hear. There was one large monitor in front of him with different cameras set up throughout the base, but he was paying hardly any attention to it.

Steve slowly walked closer, only slightly crouched down now since he wasn't worried about anyone spotting him. The guy continued to bob his head around, glanced over at the monitor, looked out the front windows again, paused, then looked back at the screen. By the time the guy was spinning around in his chair, Steve was already swinging, and caught the guy on the side of the head with a powerful blow. He spun around in his chair a few times before falling onto the floor on his face.

Steve pushed the man aside using his foot and looked over the monitor. There was no sign of the girls anywhere in the base. Slamming his fists down against the table in anger, it took all his willpower to not kick the chair and throw the monitor out the window. Since they weren't here, he needed to get out of this place. Turning around, Steve saw a world map pinned to the wall. He took a closer look, but there weren't any markings on it. He was starting to get really discouraged, when he noticed an odd looking light sitting on a nearby desk. Then he remembered that some things were only visible under certain lighting. Grabbing it, he switched it on and shined it over the map. Faint purple dots began popping up, and when one appeared at the Florida site, he knew it was locations of A.I.M's bases. Even though there were many, this would lead them straight to the girls.

Steve pulled the map away from the wall, and was folding it up as the door opened, and three A.I.M soldiers walked in. They were surprised to see him, which gave Steve enough time to throw his shield and hit them. One recovered quickly though, and launched himself at the main desk and slammed his hand down on the alarm. Instead of more soldiers showing up, everyone began to book it to the nearest exit, and when the one soldier hit a countdown, Steve knew exactly what that meant.

"Not again," Steve sighed.

The three soldiers didn't even want to deal with Steve, the two by the door scurrying out of there as fast as they could, the third shouting at them in a foreign tongue as he hurried to catch up.

"Captain, we've got A.I.M agents everywhere up here!" Stark announced frantically through the intercom.

"You'll be able to handle them right?" Steve asked as he followed the agents, since they would lead the way out, except now some were turning to fight him to keep him from doing so.

"Well yeah, but I'm wondering what you did?"

"I was spotted and they set off the alarm."

"So much for sneakiness."

"Have you got the others out?" Steve asked as he knocked out the soldier he'd been fighting.

"Just Clint and Natasha," Stark replied, "Haven't found Loki yet."

"Deal with the A.I.M. soldiers first," Steve ordered, "Loki is able to take care of himself."

Stark replied in the affirmative before signing off. Steve continued to fight his way forward, his injury starting to bother him especially since the wound healed around the bullet and now was irritating him. He finally made it to the surface to see most of the soldiers had already been dealt with, when the ground rolled beneath them and started to collapse where the base was. Everyone backed up to ensure they were out of range of the sinking ground, and after nearly a minute, everything was still again. The Avengers dealt with the remaining soldiers until none were left standing.

"So…find anything interesting while you were down there?" Stark asked in a jesting manner.

"Actually, I did," Steve replied, "But first things first we need to find Loki."

"Wait, you actually found something? Let me see. You did grab it right?"

"Of course I did but we need to find Loki first," Steve rebutted.

Just then, Natasha let out a terrified scream, and the others whirled around to see what was going on.

"Snake! Snake! Snake!" she began screaming as she drew her gun and began shooting at a big, vibrant green snake, "Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!"

The snake somehow managed to dodge the bullets, twitching out of the way, and over behind a dead A.I.M body. Then Loki appeared.

"So that's the welcome I get?" Loki asked shrilly, "After spending the whole time trying to get out from my rocky prison. Some comrade you are."

"I didn't know it was you," Natasha defended herself, "And I didn't know you could shapeshift."

"Oh right, we didn't tell you," Stark said.

"When?" she asked.

"Uh…the last time the girls were kidnapped," Stark said, "You weren't there so…yeah."

"Couldn't you have changed into something else?" Natasha asked Loki.

"What exactly? I had to get out, not make myself trapped even more."

"How about an inch worm?"

"Okay, just calm down now," Steve said, "We're out from the tunnels, we're okay, and I think I have what we need to find the girls."

Loki whirled around to Steve, "So they weren't here? Did you find where they were? Is Dianne okay?"

"Nothing quite that precise," Steve said as he pulled out the map, "but I found a map—."

Steve didn't get to finish due to Loki throwing himself at Steve, tackling him to the ground to get the map, ripping it from Steve's grasp and not even bothering moving off of him once he had it.

"Loki, you're sitting on my bullet wound," Steve gasped, giving him a shove to get him off, "Ow."

"Sorry," Loki muttered, still staring at the map, "What good is this map? There are no markings."

Steve glared at Loki and held out his hand, asking for the map back. Loki pouted, but handed it back.

"And what was that about a bullet wound?" Clint asked, "To me you look fine."

"That's the problem," Steve said, getting back to his feet, "Bucky shot me, but it didn't go through so my body healed around it."

"So it is Bucky we were chasing?" Stark asked.

Steve nodded, "I don't know how, but it is him."

"Oh…so do you want Bruce to take care of that bullet now?"

"Yes please."


Bruce tended Steve's injury on their way back to the helicarrier. Unfortunately for Steve, his body burned off anesthetic faster than Bruce could work, so he went without. Luckily though he healed quickly thanks to the serum so he wasn't in pain for long.

"Looks like they went for just normal bullets this time," Bruce said, inspecting both bullets pulled from Loki and Steve.

"Did you figure out what the bullets from our Florida mission were made from?" Steve asked.

Bruce shook his head, "Its physical makeup is unlike anything I've seen from our elements so there is no name for it. At least not one I've heard of. But it's strong, and has an extremely high melting point, that much I can determine."

"So…yay they used normal bullets?" Steve asked.

"The other most likely would have been a through shot," Bruce said, "And obliterate Loki's shoulder."

"So yes, good thing they used normal bullets," Loki said, "Even though I would have rather not been shot anyway."

With Steve on his way to being patched up, now it was time to go over the map. He explained how he found the light nearby and used that to find the markings on the map.

"Black light," Stark said, giving the light a brief glance, "Smarter way of marking bases so people snooping wouldn't see it. Stupid of them to leave it right there, but good for us."

"Why isn't it working now?" Loki asked, trying out the light on the map.

"Because you need to be in a darkened area to be able to see it," Stark said, taking the light from Loki.

"Maybe that's why I only saw faint markings," Steve said, "It was fairly dark down there, but they did have some light coming in. Even then, there were quite a bit."

"So we have quite the list to narrow down then don't we?" Bruce asked more to himself than the others.

"Well…Bucky escaped right," Stark began, "Which could be a good thing. He goes crying back to wherever he was sent from, to his boss. We use S.H.I.E.L.D's fancy machines to find him as he goes, and we have our spot."

"How do we know that's where Olyvia and the others are being held though?" Steve asked.

"He kidnapped Olyvia," Stark said, "We have the footage of him in Ashland. And if I were the head of a group of villains, I'd keep my prisoners nearby where I can question them."

Terror swept through Steve at the mention of questioning. He knew just how brutal some could get when questioning prisoners. Steve could only think of the worst scenarios possible of what may happen, or had happened, to Olyvia and what effect it might have on their baby. What if her body couldn't handle the abuse with the baby and aborted it?

"Alright then, we'll try your plan first Stark," Steve said.

Stark nodded and turned so he was facing the front of the quinjet, "Can you fly this any faster?"

"We're already going as fast as we can!" Clint and Natasha snapped.


Back at the helicarrier, the team examined the map, jotting down where the bases were located, minus the Canada and Florida locations since those were destroyed now. They still had a long list to cover, though most were willing to bet they were in the country or neighboring country, not on the other side of the world in Japan or Europe.

With their list of A.I.M base locations, Stark went to work on tracking down Bucky. It took a few hours before they got a hit, showing Bucky had already crossed the Canadian border and was traveling through Idaho. As much as Steve wanted for them to catch him and question him, he agreed that the better chance was keep track of his whereabouts as he fled the Canadian A.I.M base.

"So just how long do we have to wait?" Loki asked.

"It depends on when he stops, and at which base," Stark replied, "He's hardly gotten anywhere so he could be going…anywhere! Patience is a virtue."

Steve's brow furrowed in thought, "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Because your quoteaholic wife probably says it a lot to you," Stark said.

"Right, that's why, it's from a movie," Steve muttered, "But not because of me."

"Right," Stark said, elongating the word for the effect he wanted, "From what I know of your wife, there is something that triggers her quoting sprees."

"Just…shut up and keep working," Steve ordered, heading to the door, "Let me know when Bucky stops at a base."


James cut his trip a half a day shorter due to speeding and shorter rests. He knew Modok would be pissed at him for failing, again. He wasn't looking forward to this meeting. Being caught in the collapse of the cave, not to mention the brief battle with Captain America, he was rather bruised and beaten. His entire jaw was turning a disgusting green and yellow from the black and blue it was the previous days, then his right arm was broken, thanks to the collapse. It was very difficult driving the motorcycle with a lame arm.

Arriving at the base, the A.I.M guards let him in, informing him as to where Modok was, the surveillance room. As much as he wanted to go to the infirmary first, James knew Modok would become very upset if he didn't go straight to him. So straight to the surveillance room, and possibly his demise, he went.

Upon entering the surveillance room, Modok sent out the other agents that were in there once he saw Bucky. He had a sour countenance, and Bucky's stomach was starting to sink.

"Judging upon your state, I assume you were unsuccessful. Again."

"They caught me by surprise," James explained, "I had hardly set up the explosives when they arrived. I don't know how they knew where to find me, but they did. I only know the large green one and Iron Man managed to get out, they gave chase but I managed to give them the slip. The others I…I don't know."

Now Modok looked furious, "You have just been a waste of our resources! I was told you were better at this."

"All due respect, those were just normal humans I was sent to kill," James said quietly.

"It doesn't matter! You have power and you are incapable of using it!" Modok said, "I ought to kill you for failing me twice."

James said nothing, and just stood there. If he were to die, then so be it. There was no reason for him to live. Modok was silent for a few moments before saying, "I won't though, because you may still prove to be useful. Whether to be shark chum or as one of my soldiers will yet to be seen. I grow tired of waiting to see the Avengers dead."

Modok then jolted forward in his chair, shoving past James, growling under his breath, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

Panic clutched at James's chest, worried about what his boss was planning now. Moving quickly, he followed after him, his stomach dropping completely to his feet when he realized he was going to where the girls were locked up. The guards at the door opened it up for him and Modok made a beeline to Olyvia, who looked shocked and scared to see him again from where she sat on the floor. With a meaty hand, Modok grabbed her around the neck.

"It is time to use our bait the way the proper way," Modok growled.

Just then, the building rocked under their feet as a deafening explosion filled the air. Alarms began going off inside, and the guards were frantically speaking into their coms.

"NOW WHAT!" Modok screeched.

One guard stepped forward, "Sir…it's the Avengers."