Chapter 8

Alex's POV

As I regain consciousness I slowly become aware of all the pain in my body and I realize I have no idea where I am. My eyes shoot open and the first person I see is Clint. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Where are we and what the hell happened?"

"There's a lot to explain." He says rubbing his neck."

I sit up as best I can and look at him. "Let's start simple then, why do I feel like I was run over by a train?"

"Building exploded as you were coming out, I had to dig to find you. Found a doctor and got you patched up."

"Which leads me to my next question, where are we?"

"That's a long story."

"Well obviously we have time for it."

"Hydra has taken over shield, we got lucky if that's what you want to call it and Fury got us a safe house. But since you have been out fury has been killed and our significant others have managed to get themselves into some deep shit. Both of them are wanted by shield who is actually Hydra and as of last time I talked to Maria they were going to take them down in about two hours. Oh and Bucky is alive."

"Wait like Steve's Bucky?"

"That's the one."

"Holy shit." I whisper.

"It's a lot to process."

"That's more than a lot." I say running my fingers through my hair. "Have you heard from anyone besides Maria?"

"No."

"Okay, we should go help them." I say slightly panicked.

"Calm down Al in case you didn't notice your injured pretty badly."

I look down and realize he is right. My ribs are bandaged and I'm pretty sure I have stitches on my head and I have bruises all over my body.

"Dammit Clint why are you always right."

"I hate being right this time." He sighs.

"So what do we do?"

"We wait."

"I hate waiting."

"So do I."

Three days later we hear from Maria, I guess they were waiting to bring us back till I healed a little more because the same day I woke up they took down Hydra.

"We are heading back." Says Clint.

"And they are okay?"

"Steve landed himself in the hospital but gets out in a few hours and Natasha has a hearing today. Shield is gone, all our covers were leaked on the Internet so here's what happening. Maria is personally flying out here and getting us, she is thirty minutes out. You okay to walk to the meeting spot?"

"Yeah, you good?"

"I'm fine." He says smiling for the first time in a few days. "Let's go home."

"We talking D.C. or New York?"

"New York."

"Even better." I smile.

"Come on, we'll be late."

We slowly make our way to the meeting spot because of me and by the time we get there I'm feeling light headed but sure enough Maria is waiting for us.

The two of us get in the quinjet and the pilot takes off before Maria sits down across from us.

"Are you all caught up to speed on what happened?" She ask.

"Yeah, how's Steve?"

"He's fine now, fully healed. More worried about you than anything. Also a little shocked about Bucky."

"I bet...how long till we get back?"

"At this rate two hours."

"And we don't have jobs." Mumbles Clint.

"We can talk about that after this all blows over, in the mean time enjoy the time off."

"Easier said than done." He says.

"At least you've still got the range." I say.

"I guess."

"You'll be fine Katniss." I laugh using Tony's nickname.

"Oh not you too."

"I'm just kidding with you." I say leaning my head on his shoulder.

"I know, just stressed."he sighs.

"Get that out now, I don't want you to be stressed when we get back, Tasha is probably a stress case as it is."

"Oh I bet, shield was her life, it was all of ours."

"It's not over, just put on hold."

"Yeah...you feeling okay?"

"Yup."

"So no."

"Yup."

"I mean in your defense a building fell on you."

"Wait what happened?" Ask Maria.

"I building exploded as I was walking out."

"And those are the only injuries you got."

"Yeah..."

"Wow."

As Maria predicted we get back two hours later and land on the roof of Stark tower. I walk off with the help of Clint but as soon as I see Steve I forget about him and he quickly walks over to me and carefully pulls me into his arms.

"Rodgers you scared the shit out of me." I say against his chest.

"I'm sorry...I missed you so much, are you okay."

"I'll heal." I pull away and each up and touch his check. "Are you?"

"A little shocked but other wise fine." He says smiling at me. I missed his smile. "What happened to you?"

"A building exploded as I was walking out. Clint got me out and found a doctor. We were cooped up in a safe house for about a week."

"I maybe didn't need to know that."

"I'm okay, just glad to be back. Is our stuff still in D.C.?"

"Tony had it shipped over, that's the other thing he moved some stuff around."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on I'll show you."

Natasha and Clint had already left. They need to be alone right now and I get that. I probably won't see them till tonight if that. Tony, Pepper, Bruce, Thor, and some guy name Sam are all on the community level or at least thats what Steve tells me. He says we will go down later. Steve presses the button for his floor and when we get off nothing seems different but it's Tony.

"Tony took the liberty of moving your stuff up here, Sam is taking your floor. He added an extra room as a dance studio for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, want to check it out?"

"Honestly all I want to do right now is take a shower and then lay down with you, I missed you and I need some quiet time." I say hugging him.

"Okay." He says kissing my head.

I go and shower and then lay down next to Steve and he pulls me closer to him and starts playing with my hair.

"You're stressed, talk to me." I say

"Just thinking."

"About Bucky?"

"Yeah...I just...feel like I need to find him. He ran off, I just have a lot of questions and no answers."

"Then we'll find him, I'll help you. You have a team willing to do anything for you."

"He dangerous."

"All the more reason to have backup."

"You're amazing."

"You're not too bad yourself I smirk.

"god I missed you." He says kissing my forehead.

"I missed you too. So what to do with all this free time you have gotten me."

"Well we do have a wedding we could plan although we don't have to, just a thought."

"Not a bad idea Rodgers." I say playing with his hand.

"We can worry about that later, let's get some sleep."

"You're full of good ideas today." I say closing my eyes.

"Mhm."

Three hours later we both wake up and head down to meet with everyone else to talk about the elephant in the room. We are all out of the job, except Tony. As we get off the elevator I'm attacked by Pepper who gives me a giant hug. Bruce, Thor and Tony all do the same. Nat is next.

"You okay?" I whisper not wanting to make a huge deal about it right now.

"We can talk later." She says. "You good?" She ask concerned.

"Glad to be back and thanks for watching out for him."

"Your welcome." She says releasing me and smiling at me.

I walk over to Steve who is talking to someone who I believe to be Sam.

"Sam? I ask.

"Alex?"

"Yup." I say smiling.

"Well it's nice to finally meet you." he says shaking my hand.

"The same goes for you, thanks for keeping an eye on this one." I say pointing to Steve.

"It was actually the other way around." he laughs.

Just then Tony speaks up. "Look I know we haven't all been in the same room for several months and there is obviously some major catching up to do but why don't we talk about the more pressing issue right now."

We all sit down and we are all quiet for a moment, I speak up first.

"We can't just let this all crash and burn, Shield may not be around right now but the world still needs people to watch over it."

"But how do we do that?" ask Bruce.

"The Avengers stay intact." says Steve.

"Do we all think that's a good idea?" ask Clint.

Everyone nods. "Then it's settled, the Avengers remain a team." says Tony.

"That still doesn't solve the problem of half of us not having a pay check." Says Natasha.

"Well my dear widow here are your options. You can take a job at Stark industries, or you let me take of all that while we get shield up and running." says Tony.

"I think I much prefer the second option." she says back.

"That's what I thought." he says. "Sam you staying man?"

"If I get to help people then sure why not."

"Perfect, do we have any other concerns?" no one says anything. "Perfect I have one last thing I would like to bring up then. Steve and Alex you two have been engaged since before christmas, you two have been through hell since then and have obviously not had time to plan a single thing for your wedding. You two are very obviously in love with each other and I'm assuming you want to have this wedding sooner rather than later, am I correct?"

"Yeah." we both say looking at each other.

"Pepper want to tell them our idea?"

"Sure. So here is what we were thinking. Tony and I have some property in Greece, it's very pretty this time of year. In two weeks we were thinking of flying everyone out for a week and in that time frame you two get married. It's very private, very secluded and it's perfect. You don't have to worry about any of it, it can be totally laid back all you have to do is show up, what do you think?"

I take a moment to look over at Steve who gives me a look that basically says it's up to me. "It sounds amazing, are you guys sure though?"

"We are more than sure, you guys deserve this and lets be honest we all need a vacation." says Pepper.

"Alrighty then." I say.

"Great, we can talk details tomorrow or something but it's going to be amazing." I love Pepper, she always thinking about everyone else.

The rest of the night we sit talking. I get to know Sam more and I really like him and he and Steve get along really well. Steve and I are the first to go up, even though we slept earlier neither one of us is feeling one hundred percent yet. After getting ready for bed I climb in next to him and lay my head on his chest.

"So we are getting married in two weeks."

"I'm excited." he says.

"Me too." We are both quiet for a minute. "After the wedding we are are going to look for Bucky." I say.

"I don't even know where to start. I mean I have some possible leads but it looks like he changes location every couple of days."

"Let me handle that." I say.

"Are you going to hack?"

"Maybe..."

"If it helps us find him then go for it. How did it become so good at that anyway?"

"A good hacker never reveals her secrets." I smirk.

"Oh I see how it is." He laughs.

"All you and anyone else needs to know is that it gets the job done."

"Okay okay."

We sit there in silence a little longer before eventually falling asleep. I wake up three hours later and Steve isn't in bed. I walk out into the hallway and see the light from his studio on. The door is open and his back is turned to me. I quietly walk down there and stand in the doorway. I look around and see more sketches of Bucky and some of me. I don't know how long he's been up but he is working on another one right now. I go stand behind him and see its one of Bucky as the Winter Soldier.

"Steve?"

He turns around and looks at me. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah I just woke up and you weren't there...you okay?"

"Yeah I just...had a bad dream and couldn't go back to sleep, thought I'd try drawing."

"How long ago was that."

"An hour and a half ago."

"You need to sleep."

"I know..."

"Come on Cap."

He stands up and grabs my hand and we walk back to our room. This continues every night. Some nights I leave him and other nights I force him back to bed. It's the same dream every night. At first no one notices except me but as the days go on the team starts to notice. It's not till my bachorlette party the day before we leave that anyone brings it up with me.

"Is Steve okay, he seems out of it." Ask Natasha handing me another beer.

Pepper sits down across from us next to Jane who I absolutely love and she says something too."I've noticed that too. Obviously he is stressed but is there something else?"

"He hasn't been sleeping,at all. He gets four hours a night at most, it's just catching up to him."

"Is there anything we can do?" Ask Pepper.

"No, not unless one of you can get rid of nightmares. He just has to work through it which sucks but it's the only way."

"Well hopefully he is having a good time tonight and that will take his mind off of it." Says Jane.

"Tony and Clint are probably having the most fun." I laugh.

"Sometimes I wonder if I actually married a five year old trapped in a adults body." Says Natasha.

"I fully understand that." Says Pepper.

We don't really do anything, just talk which is nice. There is a lot of drinking on Natasha and I's part. Not too much but just enough that I can tell I might have overdone it a little.

Steve's POV

It's the day we leave for Greece and when I got up to shower Alex was still asleep and when I walk out of the bathroom she is still asleep. We have to leave in thirty minutes and she is not a morning person,especially after she has been drinking. I bend down and kiss her forehead.

"Alex you gotta get up." I say.

She opens her eyes and I'm orderly closes them again. "When are we leaving?"

"Thirty minutes."

"So I actually have to get up."

"Yeah, here's the deal, you go shower and get ready and I'll make you coffee."

"Fine." She throws the blankets off and sits up and runs her head. "Damn it I had too much." She mumbles.

"I'll make that a coffee with a side of Advil."

"Your the best." She says kissing me.

I grab our bags and leave them by the counter while I make coffee. She comes out twenty minutes later ready to go. She swallow the meds and takes the coffee from my hand.

"Thank you."

"You ready?"

"Yup."

We head up to the roof and get into Tony's jet where everyone else is waiting. We sit down across from Clint and Natasha who look just as miserable as Alex. I have to laugh a little.

"Alright now that we are all here." Tony is cut off by Natasha.

"Just a little quieter Stark or I might come over there and make you."

"Good morning to you too Natasha, glad to see you had fun last night. Anyway I think we are ready for take off so sit back and relax. Let me know if you need anything."

"He is being overly nice this morning." Mumbles Alex.

"He's excited to go." Says Clint taking a sip of his coffee.

"You three look miserable." I laugh a little.

"Not all of us can get alcohol out of our system as fast as you." Says Alex.

"Yeah I see that." I say.

"Never mind that, did you sleep last night?" She ask.

"Surprisingly yes."

"Are you lying to me?"

"No."

"Good."

The rest of the flight is pretty quiet. Sam and I talk over where we think we should start looking for Bucky. He is going to help Alex and I look for him. We are starting right after the wedding. Once we land Tony tells everyone where their rooms are and we go change to hang out in the beach. Alex, Sam and I are the first ones down there and Alex and I decide to go for a walk.

"We'll be back." She says over her shoulder while grabbing my hand.

"Have fun." Says Sam.

We walk off and ten minutes later I look over at Alex who looks deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask.

"Not much...just wish my family was here."

We don't talk about her family much, she doesn't like to but when she does its cause she really misses them.

"I know you do."

"It didn't even have to be all of them. I miss my dad the most, I was such a daddy's girl." She says smiling slightly.

"What else do you remember."

"I wish more, I don't even remember much to begin with but everyday the memories slip further and further from me."

"He'd be proud of you, they all would be."

"I don't know about that."

"You doubt yourself too much. Think about it, you save people lives for a living. You have your past but that's all it is, the past. You can't go back and change it. You've made a new life for yourself, you turned everything around. You have so many people that care about you and for once in your life you're happy, truly happy, not that smile you put on your face when when Maria tells you to do something and you plaster it on so she doesn't feel bad. You have every right to be happy and you know what when you're happy I'm happy. I get more joy out of seeing a genuine smile on your face than anything else in this world."

She stops and looks at me. "Steven Rodgers you are the reason behind those genuine smiles. You make me happy."

"I love you." I say kissing her.

"I love you too."

"I sure hope so cause we are getting married at the end of the week."

"It cant come fast enough." she says as we keep walking.

"You're going to be stuck with me." I laugh.

"There is no one I would rather be stuck with."

"I couldn't agree more."

"Well that's nice to know." she laughs.

A few minutes later we turn around and walk back to everyone else. Bruce, Tony, Clint, and Natasha are finishing up a game of volleyball,Pepper and Jane are talking, and Sam and Thor are chilling in the water. For once we look like a group of normal people. The rest of the day is spent relaxing on the beach and we all have a nice quiet dinner that night. The night goes great until we go to bed. Alex wakes up from a nightmare and its a bad one. Before I can even ask her any questions she is in the bathroom throwing up. I quickly get up and go in there and hold her hair back for her. When she is done she leans back on me.

"Are you okay?" I whisper as I run my hand up and down her arm.

She just shakes her head no. I help her up and she rinses her mouth out before crawling back in bed. I get in on my side and pull her into my lap.

"What happened?" I ask.

"I can't talk about this." she whispers.

"Alex..."

"I just dreamt about my parents death, I just re watched the whole thing happen, they were murdered in front of me again." she says her voice shaky.

I pull her closer to me and I can feel her tears through my shirt. "I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry." I whisper.

"I couldn't save them." she whispers.

"It wasn't your fault."

She has a death grip on me and I just keep holding her. At some point her grip loosens and I feel her relax. I look down to see she is asleep again. I gently lay down with her and make sure is is soundly asleep before going back to sleep myself. When I wake up in the morning Alex is still asleep so I leave her there and head out into the kitchen to grab some coffee. Everyone else is already out there.

"Morning guys." I say as I pour my coffee.

"Alex still sleeping?" ask Natasha.

"Yeah, she didn't sleep well last night." I say sitting next to her.

"Nightmare?" Ask Clint.

"It was bad." I sigh.

"First you now her, you guys can't catch a break." says Sam.

"It'll even out eventually."

"Steve you want some pancakes." ask Pepper from the stove.

"That would be great, thanks Pepper."

"No problem."

As I finish my breakfast Alex walks out and comes and sits in my lap. I wrap my arms around her.

"Hey gorgeous, you feeling better."

"A little." she smiles at me.

I kiss her head. "You hungry?"

"Not really."

"Alex you want some coffee?" ask Natasha.

"Sure." she says smiling at her. Those two are more like sisters than friends.

"Ваши родители?" Ask Natasha handing Alex her coffee."

"Да уж."

"You two want to try english?" ask Tony.

"Not particularly right now no." mumbles Alex.

I never ask about what they are saying, I just like listening to Alex speak in Russian, I also like when she speaks in French but that doesn't happen often.

"I need to do something, can we go on a run?" She ask me.

"Of course."

She gets up and we go change before going on a run around most of the island. She is the type that needs to be active when something is bothering her. Thankfully after our run she seems almost back to normal, I hope she can stay that way the rest of the week.

So up next is the wedding! please review and let me know what you want to see, I'm totally up for suggestions for the next chapter. Thanks guys?