Steve had a lot of time to think about his decisions as he paced the tiny cell. He was restless now, his formerly listless eyes turned feverish. What would his actions lead to? The council, if not Fury himself, would probably remove him from his position before he even returned, if he hadn't already been. And yet they needed him—he was an American symbol. It would be a huge mistake on SHIELD's part if they took him out, which would be another one on top of many. The issues with Hydra lately had already disgraced the organization.
But, then again, he was leading them straight to a Hydra facility. He had also found Bucky, who had invaluable tech and skill. What Stark wouldn't give to get his hands on cybernetics like he had… Rogers shook his head. He wasn't going to let SHIELD or Tony exploit his friend if he could help it.
A yawn broke through his thoughts and he tried to think of the last time he had slept. It was days ago when he had called Natasha. Had he ruined what they had? He chose not to think about that aspect of it. He had found his best friend and completed what he needed to do. The rest he could figure out as he went. For now, he had to wait until the Avengers came. If they did.
His thoughts were starting to move faster and faster, growing progressively more negative and hateful as they flew by. The waters were creeping up from waist deep to his neck, threatening to drag him under. He was a coward for what he had done. He should have stayed back and done his job instead of running out after dead ends. It had been sheer luck that he found Bucky, and even that luck was no good. He could be leading the Avengers straight into a trap and get all of them killed, followed by his own death. Hydra wasn't going to keep him forever. He raked a hand through his hair, clenching it in his fist and gritting his teeth so hard that he feared they might crack. His eyes burned as he squeezed them shut. It was all too much too much too much. To anyone else, he might have appeared to be spinning out of control. In reality, he had already lost it all.
And then it all washed out of him. The waters completely receded, leaving him standing on his own. He released his hair and tried to smooth it out, feeling like he weighed a thousand pounds. His reserves were depleted, physically and emotionally. He stood like that until his body found its way to the bed. He laid down and stared at the ceiling, his mind blank. He felt too empty to sleep. Bucky eventually walked in and sat down at the foot of the bed. He had been called out of the room a while ago, though Steve had no idea if it had been a couple of hours or a couple of days.
"Time to go," Buck said as the building shook. He pulled a knife from his boot and stood. Steve followed, grabbing his bag and slinging it over one shoulder. The two of them ran from the room and down the hall, taking turns as Barnes directed. They skidded around one corner as gunshots rang out. The sound echoed through the hall, making it so that they couldn't tell where it was coming from. A doorway on their left led them into a wide hangar that was currently going up in flames. A quinjet was floating in the gaping opening that an explosion had ripped in the ceiling, and its guns immediately fixed on them. Rogers shoved his friend to the side and dove after him as the buzz of machine guns filled their ears.
A man was sent flying past their hiding spot, blood spurting from his mouth. Teeth clattered at their feet. Bucky immediately turned as something glanced off of his left arm, shooting sparks toward his face. A blinking red arrow was in front of them. He leapt to his feet, hauling Steve with him as he ran. They could feel their own teeth rattle as an explosion went off behind them. However, to be away from the arrow was to be out in the open again. Barnes paused and seemed to calculate for a moment before throwing his knife as hard as he could. A familiar cry sounded a moment later.
"What was that?" Rogers asked as they dove into a side room and ran deeper into the building.
"Archer. I didn't kill him." His friend stopped in front of a door and pressed his hand to a sensor. The doors slid open, revealing the armory. He jogged the length of the room and smashed his fist through a wall of glass. Shards flew everywhere, making Steve wish he had his shield more than ever. He blinked as one almost identical to his appeared at his feet. One of the few differences was the silver paint job and red star in the center.
"Made for Captain Hydra, if he ever existed." The Winter Soldier looked around and then picked up a shard of glass. He launched it at the doorway, followed by a scream and then silence. "He's about to exist. You need to blend in, and this is how. They're going to try to kill you, but this will cover most of your face." Buck pulled out a black suit with red accents. "Suit up, Cap. It's time for some roleplay." Rogers looked at him questioningly, and then sucked up his reservations about wearing the thing. It had protective plating and was better for combat than his jeans and sweatshirt were.
Captain Hydra walked out of the armory a couple of minutes later, followed by the Winter Soldier. Both had masks covering the lower halves of their faces. Hydra men who would have attacked them instead stood reverently to the side as the two strode down the hall.
"They're going to kill us," the captain muttered as they moved back toward the hangar and the main fighting.
"Eh, better than these guys. We've got a chance of recognition with your friends." Barnes shrugged. Both of them flinched as a roar echoed from where they were headed.
"Not with the Hulk, we don't." Steve whipped around and held up his shield as a high pitched buzz came from behind them. The laser fired a moment later, bouncing off of the shield and sending a jolt down his broken arm. Iron Man stood at the end of the hall, palm raised. Bucky had hidden around the corner.
"Where is Rogers?" Stark shouted as the rocket launchers on his shoulders deployed. His voice sounded strange and off-center. He was suddenly cut off as a rocket slammed into his side and knocked him into the wall. It was no good to be stuck here with him, as they had no easy escape. The two friends turned and ran toward the hangar. The Hulk could—hopefully—be avoided. Sirens finally began to blare as they entered the wide space again.
"Hydra never was good with alarms!" Bucky shouted over the din. It was almost loud enough to drown everything else out. He threw an elbow back and spun around, slamming his foot into a guy's head. He had been hiding beside the door as they walked in. Steve blocked several bullets and then hurled the shield, watching as it bounced off of a wall and into his attacker's back. It eventually flew back to his hand. He bashed it into another goon's face, wincing as his arm nearly gave out, and used another as a springboard, flipping through the air and landing on a third man.
A blur suddenly whipped past them, throwing him off of his feet. Barnes, however, caught Pietro. His feet dug into the concrete and started to slide back as he shoved Pietro to the ground, his left hand on the kid's right shoulder. He hit the ground hard and went limp.
"Jesus," Buck growled as he punched one guy and threw a knife at another. He had weapons hidden everywhere, though Rogers had only seen him draw the first knife out of his boot. The others just seemed to materialize. "I don't think he saw that coming."
Steve couldn't help but smile at the unintentional irony.
He felt better than he had in days as he simply became lost in the fight. His punches, kicks, and throws seemed to meld into one blur, though he was heavily favoring his left arm. The two of them fought in perfect sync, taking out man after man. Rogers barely caught a glimpse of a black form disappearing through a nearby doorway and took off after it. His friend followed close behind, and they soon found themselves chasing after a tiny scuff down the hall or a foot disappearing through a doorway. Barnes said something about cell block, but Steve couldn't catch everything he said. It was too loud, yet too quiet at the same time. They seemed to be the only people around, other than their target.
They were soon faced with the hallway of cells that Steve had been kept in. This time, however, there was no glimpse of a person to guide them. The place was far too quiet as they began checking cells. Rogers ducked into his former room and immediately felt someone drop down onto his back. He felt hands around his throat and legs restraining his arms at his sides. Whoever it was was using their weight to haul backwards, putting their full body into closing off his windpipe. He stumbled back and into the hallway, reaching up to pull his assailant off. He couldn't breathe couldn't breathe couldn't breathe. Panic closed in on him as he couldn't shake the person off. They were suddenly on the ground, him and Bucky and whoever it was, fighting and struggling and trying to just inhale. Black was closing in on his vision as he clawed at the two hands.
"Let go! Natasha, release him!" The scream was muffled, though the pressure immediately lifted. He yanked the face mask down and rolled to his hands and knees as he struggled to regain control of his breathing. His throat ached like nothing else as he sucked in oxygen, feeling immediate relief as his vision cleared. A hand was on his back, cold and harsh. Why did this always happen? Steve eventually stood again, leaning heavily on the wall. Wanda was standing right next to him, staring at him concernedly. She shook her head and brushed her hair out of her face.
"You are alright, yes?" She tipped his head back and looked at his neck.
"I'm fine," his voice was broken and raspy. All of his little aches and pains were showing through his adrenaline-fueled haze, becoming one symphony of hurt that rang through his body. She stared at him, the red light in her eyes brightening for a moment and then fading.
"Come on, lovebirds." Buck set off down the hall. "We need to get out of here, now that they know you." He said over his shoulder. Rogers shot him a look as he pushed off of the wall and followed his friend. Maximoff said nothing, though she looked worried.
They passed through the building again, finally coming out in the same hangar as before. The quinjet that had shot at them before was in a wrecked heap on the floor of the place, and there was the acrid stench of smoke and gasoline in the air. Wanda took off at a run for the gaping hole in the door, and the two friends went after her. She suddenly screamed something and a bolt of magic left her hand, travelling toward something to their right.
An arrow suddenly erupted from Steve's chest. He stumbled and saw that Barnes and Maximoff were both staring at him, and then their eyes shifted to something else behind him. The world became white as he turned, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut. It didn't help. Everything was too bright in his failing eyes.
The white finally faded and he found himself in a dark space. He turned slowly, taking everything in. His life seemed to be spread out around him in scenes; the battle for New York, growing up in Brooklyn, losing Bucky, fighting him in DC, falling into the arctic ocean, and the current fight taking place in the hangar. He walked toward the Brooklyn scene and found that he could step inside, but couldn't do anything. There he was, young and weak, trying to start a fight and getting hauled away by Barnes. He tried to say something, but no words would come out. He was stuck in between, left without a word and yet still inside the world. Rogers turned away and started toward the fight in New York. Old wounds and hurts began to show up on his body and he realized that they were from that battle. He could feel everything that had happened, but he couldn't interfere at all. The pain faded as he stepped back to where he had started. His feet were oddly silent as he pressed into the hangar. Everything in him lit up like fire.
He walked around the building, seeing Natasha trying to calm down the Hulk. Jealousy started to sting in his chest as the green faded and Bruce came back to the world. Steve grit his teeth as the fire became an inferno. He desperately wanted to return to the empty place, but he couldn't. The sounds of metal on metal behind him drew his attention and he saw Bucky fighting against the other Avengers like an animal. He had the shield clipped to his right arm and was striking out with his left as he stood over a heap on the floor. That heap was him. Wanda was hunkered down next to him, cradling his head and whispering something. Her head snapped up and glowing red eyes locked onto him.
Rogers stared at her for a moment, and then directed his attention back to the fight. He couldn't help, he knew that much. Even if he did return to his body, it wouldn't help. The fire had burnt up most of his body, leaving him useless and weak. He shook his head as Natasha dove into the fight, trying to knock Barnes to the floor. His friend refused to go down and instead threw her back to where she had started. He whipped around and blocked a laser from Stark and then slammed his fist into Pietro's side as he tried to dart past. The twin was sent flying as his momentum was driven to the side. He skidded to a stop on the floor and pushed himself back to his feet. Another laser was deflected, and this time Steve could feel the heat of it. Wanda was still staring at him, and this time he understood. She could see him. Her fingers were right above his forehead, waving in odd ways and giving off a dark red energy. Was she showing this to him? He was torn as he stood there, desperately wanting to return to Nat and Buck, but he also desperately wanted to stay where he was and return to the empty, painless place outside. The fire had left him in ashes to be blown away by the wind.
And yet he went back.
