They were shuffled into the cramped back of a secure armored van. Two helmeted agents brandished electrified batons at them.

Loki glared at the agents but said nothing. This was not the first time he had been in this position; he had noticed how open the Hydra agents were with their weapons and he had a nasty feeling they were going to end up in some back alley with guns to their heads. He looked to Steve, only to find his teammate staring at his hands, utterly lost. "It was him. He looked right at me and didn't even know me." Steve muttered to himself, looking defeated.

"How's that even possible it was like seventy years ago." Sam seemed to be in denial.

"Zola." There was anger on Steve's face now. "Bucky's whole unit was captured in forty-three. Zola experimented on him." Guilt was plain on his face. "Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and…"

"None of that's your fault, Steve." Natasha's voice was weak as she attempted to reassure him.

"Even when I had nothing I had Bucky."

From across the van Sam nodded toward Natasha, staring at Loki expectantly.

Eyes half lidded, Natasha clenched her jaw in pain, blood seeped from the whole in her shoulder, slicking her jacket. She took a deep breath and shifted uncomfortably.

Loki contemplated the danger of her bleeding out rather unsympathetically but acknowledged the problem. He jerked his head toward one of the agents. "She will bleed out here if we don't-"

The helmeted agent closest to him brandished their weapon in his face. Loki stared them down contemptuously.

With a flick of their wrist, the agent spun their weapon and jabbed it into the agent beside them. The attacked agent seized for a moment then went still. Shocked silence followed as the offending agent struggled to remove their helmet.

She tugged it off and blew her hair back. Commander Maria Hill massaged her forehead, grimacing. "Ah- That thing was squeezing my brain!" She smiled over at them but stopped at Sam. "Who's he?"

A short explanation later and she unlocked their cuffs.

Loki massaged his wrists and tossed his shackles to the ground. "I was told that all of those had been destroyed." He glared pointedly at Hill. He moved to kneel next to Natasha, preparing to inspect her wounds.

"Up until like a day ago you had a tracker implanted in you to watch your movements. Did you really believe that?"

"I'm not a complete fool." Loki scoffed.

Sam cleared his throat impatiently, drawing attention to himself. "So how are we going to get out of here, exactly?"

"With this." Hill pulled out a small device from her armor and flicked it on, white hot sparks flew from its end before she turned it off. "I know their route, once we stop at a light a few miles up we can bail out. The city is all but shut down so we shouldn't have to worry about being run over." She nodded toward Natasha. "Loki, how well can you patch her up? He have medical supplies waiting where we're going, if you can't do the job."

It took Loki a moment to properly inspect the wound, probing Natasha's shoulder delicately with a finger; she clenched her teeth as he did so. "I loath to exert myself too greatly, especially with…" He trailed off, pointedly.

Hill sighed with exasperation. "I'm not apologizing for your stupid arm, pal."

Without a word, Loki turned back to Natasha and worked a quick spell. The appearance of her wound didn't change dramatically but the blood clotted around it. "I've essentially stopped her blood loss, though she's already lost quite a bit."

Just as Hill said, they escaped at a light, carving a hole in the floor of the vehicle. They got into an unmarked black van not far off. Not long after they made their way to an old storm drain system on the outskirts of town.

A short man rushed toward them as they entered and Hill called out. "G-S-W. She's lost at least a pint."

"Maybe two." Sam called out after Hill, glancing at Natasha with concern.

The man, presumably a doctor, slowed his pace and motioned for Natasha. "Let me take her."

"She'll want to see him first."

Everyone looked at Hill. Loki narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He had an inkling of who she meant.

Sure enough, a bruised and battered Nick Fury met their gaze as they rounded a corner. "About damn time." He began to list off his injuries as Natasha was patched up. "Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache."

"Don't forget your collapsed lung." The doctor spoke up from Natasha's side.

"Lets not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good." Even bedridden Fury's dry wit brought a small smile to Loki's face.

Natasha questioned Fury, face an unreadable mask. "They cut you open. Your heart stopped."

"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him but we found a use for it."

While they talked, Loki snagged another clean bandage from the doctor, who made a move to help him but quailed under Loki's glare.

Steve, still looking lost and angry, continued questioning the Director. "Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?"

It was Hill who answered, sounding like she was reading off a well learned mantra. "Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful."

"Can't kill you if you're already dead." Fury concluded Hill's answer with a pained smile. "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."

Natasha kept her face blank but glanced to the side. Loki felt a small twang of sympathy for her.

Silence fell over the group for a time as they took time to heal and think.

It wasn't until Fury rose from his bed that they adjourned again. He looked at a picture of a man, identified as Alexander Pierce by the footnote, a dark shadow over his eyes. "This man declined a Nobel Peace prize. He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility." Fury looked up at them, tired exasperation on his face. "See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."

"We have to stop the launch." Natasha, bandaged up, her voice low, looked toward Steve.

Fury continued, opening a briefcase beside him as he did. "I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore." The briefcase contained three small microchips which, from what Loki could see where he sat, were exactly identical.

"What's that?" Sam stepped forward.

Hill looked to him and spun around the laptop she was typing at. "Once the helicarriers reach three-thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized."

"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own."

Hill continued after Fury. "One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work because if even one of those ships remain operational, a whole lot of people are gonna die."

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is Hydra. To get past them and insert these server blades and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left-"

"We're not salvaging anything." Steve spoke up, voice cold and angry. Loki watched him cautiously, rarely had he seen the Captain like this. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick. We're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with this." Fury defended himself quickly but Steve stood his ground.

"You gave me this mission. This is how it ends. S.H.I E.L.D. 's been compromised. You said so yourself. Hydra grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed!"

"How many paid the price before you did?" Steve's anger clicked in Loki's head and he nodded slowly.

Fury couldn't hold Steve's gaze and he looked down. "Look, I didn't know about Barnes."

"Even if you had, would you have told me?" Steve's words pierced the air as took a stab at Fury. "Or would you have compartmentalized that too?" He let his statement hang for a second and Loki watched him compose himself briefly. "S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, it all goes."

"He's right." Hill spoke softly, gazing at Fury, who glanced from her to Natasha, who leaned in her chair, saying nothing. To Loki's surprise Fury even looked to him; he simply dipped his head towards Steve, following Natasha's wordless lead.

Lastly Fury looked at Sam, who spoke. "Don't look at me. I do what he does just slower."

Fury, defeated, finally met Steve's gaze again. "Well… It looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."

00000

"Because I'm with you 'till the end of the line."

Steve shuddered and, despite the fresh breeze blowing around him, he felt boxed in. He stared down at the concrete below him, Bucky's gaunt face haunting his thoughts.

Had it really been seventy years? Had Bucky been brainwashed like this all that time? What terrible things had Hydra done to him? I should have been there. I should have looked. Why didn't I look for him. This is my fault, it's my-

A hand laid on his shoulder jolted Steve out of his own mind. He looked up to see Loki. The currently ragged looking god did not look back at him. "Your friend, I cannot say I expect the best when we face off against him again." Loki paused and dropped his hand off Steve's shoulder and onto the railing. "I'm not one for optimism, however. So, you never know." The god flashed him a quick grin.

Steve didn't return the smile but nodded. Loki's words weren't much comfort but he appreciated the blood on the fresh white linen around Loki's arm caught his attention and he felt a pang of guilt. "Sorry about your arm. We shouldn't have dragged you into this. Hell, we shouldn't have forced that in the first place. I should have-"

The Trickster held up a hand, stopping him. "I'm not looking for apologies from you right now. Certainly not in the state you're in. After this is all over though, perhaps." Loki laughed wearily. "I can take a little blood loss better than you would expect. It's a… well, I suppose it's an Asgardian thing as well as…" The god trailed off, scowling.

"Still…" Steve suddenly realized who he was standing next to. "You know what it's like? To have your whole world turned upside down, everything you were told turned out to be a lie?"

"You know I do."

"How do you deal with it?" Steve looked at him desperately.

The god didn't respond for a moment, then smiled tiredly. "Normally I would not suggest my methods but, as gut reactions go, we are going about this in a remarkably similar fashion and… eventually I suppose it all worked out. Of course, you have a moral high ground that I… lacked." Loki met his gaze, as usual the god's smirk concealed whatever he was feeling. "As for your friend, how do you put it, we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

Bucky.

Steve clenched the railing tight. The metal gave a little under his grip.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sam approach. "He's gonna be there, you know." Sam crossed his arms and leaned up against the railing.

"I know."

"Look, whoever he used to be, and the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save. He's the kind you stop." Steve could tell Sam meant well, his voice was serious but not harsh.

Yet Steve could barely look at him as he responded. "I don't know if I can do that."

"Well, he might not give you a choice. He doesn't know you."

On his other side, he saw Loki smile. "Speaking from personal experience; this bunch can be quite persuasive."

An idea dawned in Steve's mind. "He will remember me." He looked from Sam to Loki. "Gear up. It's time."

"You're gonna wear that?" Sam sighed and nodded towards his street clothes.

Steve began to walk, looking back at him. "No. If you're gonna fight a war, you've got to wear a uniform."


AN: We're approaching the end stretch! Appreciate the comments!