Disclaimer: I own nothing Captain America-related…though I might consider asking Marvel to loan him and the rest of the Avengers to me for a while. Until then, only original characters are mine.

AN: Okay, I kind of fibbed in the previous author's notes: this is not an action chapter. Actually, it's kind of a quiet one this time, though it does help get the ball rolling a bit. A lot more Steve and Adena, with a few others sprinkled in. Please enjoy, and don't forget to review. Thanks!

Chapter 9: Quiet Moments and Reflection:

It took hours for them to formulate a plan and work out the details. By the time they were finished, it was getting late, and Steve was longing to take a nap somewhere, preferably with Adena in his arms.

Unfortunately, he knew that was going to be impossible –at least for now. Fury had a few cots set up in his little hideout, but while Natasha and Sam went to catch some rest, and Fury stayed behind to talk with Maria Hill, Steve went in search of his wife. He knew she was upset about something, and it was time for him to find out what it was.

After searching through the complex twice, he was stopped by Agent Cooper, who should have been keeping an eye on Adena in the first place. "After about fifteen or twenty minutes, she very politely told me to take a hike," Cooper informed him, a slight bit of laughter in his voice. "I saw her head upstairs to the top of the dam with a book and her phone."

Relieved, Steve headed up the stairs and emerged into fading sunshine. Adena was seated and propped up against the low wall that ran around the top of the structure, head down as she tried to lose herself in her book. He knew she wasn't really getting far, though –she was a fast reader, and right now, she was taking a long time to even turn the page. She must have been up here for ages, waiting for him.

"Hi," he whispered, coming up to stand beside her.

She looked immensely relieved as she tossed aside the book and jumped to her feet before throwing herself into his arms. "Took you long enough," she teased. "I thought you were supposed to be good at strategy and planning stuff like this?"

Smiling, Steve leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Several moments passed, the two of them simply stood there, holding one another and exchanging kisses. Steve didn't want to stop, but he knew that they needed to talk.

Reluctantly pulling back, he whispered, "Something's bothering you. What is it?"

Sighing, she leaned against his chest, her head tucked under his chin as he tightened his arms around her waist. "I'm scared," she admitted. "I mean, I'm always scared when you go out on a mission, but this time, I'm terrified. I keep thinking about what you guys must have decided to do, how you're going to do it, and whether or not you're going to survive."

He heard her take a huge breath. "Then I think about how useless I am to all of you. All I can do is sit around, waiting for you guys to either succeed or fail! I can't come with you because I know I'll just get in the way, but I wish I knew how to help in some way. I wish I knew how to fight like Natasha, or figure out how to do something scientific or technological, like Tony or Bruce. But instead, I can't do anything to help you!"

Watery eyes looked up at him. "I don't want to sit in a safe-house or a secret location while you all put your lives in danger to save the world. I know it sounds like I'm whining, but I do wish that there was some way I could be of use to you guys."

Closing his eyes, Steve held her close as her body began to quiver and tears began to flow. He knew that she hated feeling helpless, and he needed to tell her that. She might not be a Natasha Romanoff or a female version of Tony or Bruce, but Adena was still a vital importance to him.

"You are useful," he whispered. "You are the one thing that reminds us what we are fighting for."

He could feel her doubt about his words, even without looking at her. "It's true. We need to be reminded that, with all the evil in the world, it's the ordinary and the helpless that we risk our lives for. We try to protect and defend those who can't fight, who want to, but are unable to."

He smiled. "I don't think I've ever said this before, but you're the one bright light in my life, Adena. With you, I look forward to each day that's coming, and I am able to look back on our times together with so much warmth and happiness. I look forward to the end of each mission because I have you waiting for me to come back home."

Swallowing harshly to swallow his own tears, he whispered, "Without you in my life, I'd be a lost and lonely soul."

He knew that for sure. If Fury hadn't brought Adena to him, Steve knew that he would be living alone, still lost and confused in this new century. With so much to learn and absorb, he would have struggled to educate himself on what he had missed, a complicated thing to do without someone to guide him.

And the loneliness would have been almost unbearable. With his friends long dead or in their final years, Steve would have found it incredibly difficult to make friends, much less find a way to begin dating in this era. Without anyone to offer comfort and support, he would have looked forward to an empty apartment to welcome him whenever he came home, and a heart that would have started to become colder from the isolation.

But Adena was always there, with a smile, a hug, a kiss, and words that warmed his heart. It tore him apart to leave her, but their reunions always reminded him what -and who- he was fighting for. He did it to save the world, but he also did it to keep her safe. Adena was more than his wife, the woman he loved –she was also his best friend, confidant, and a balm to his heart and soul whenever he thought his work with SHIELD was becoming too much for him. Without her, he would be missing a piece of himself.

Holding her tightly, Steve realized that there was something vitally important that she had to know. "Adena, do you remember my stories about Bucky Barnes; my best friend from the war?"

He felt her pull back to glance up at him. When he looked back at her, he saw the sadness in her face giving way to confusion at the odd change in topic. "Yes; why?"

Steve took a deep breath. "The assassin Natasha was talking about, the one called The Winter Soldier…it's Bucky."

Adena's jaw dropped in shock. "What? How is that possible? He'd be at least ninety years old, an old man by now! How could he have survived this long?"

Steve shook his head. "I have no idea. I'm guessing that HYDRA had something to do with it. They must have done some kind of horrible experiments on him, either to prevent him from aging, or to preserve him in some way over the decades. Either way, I know it's him. He hasn't aged a day since I thought I'd lost him."

There was a moment of quiet as Adena absorbed that information. Steve stood and listened to the wind in the surrounding trees as she did so, his ears open for any unusual sounds in the woods. The only things he heard, though, were the sounds of birds softly chirping as they settled into their nests for the evening. It would be daylight for a little while yet, but for the creatures in the forest, it was bedtime.

"Okay, I think I'm starting to fully process this," she said. "So your best friend, the one you thought dead, is alive, and has been brainwashed into becoming an assassin for HYDRA. As such, he is now trying to kill you. He also tried to kill Fury, as well as Sam and Natasha, and I have no doubt that he will eventually find out that you're married and will come after me, your wife. Does that about cover it?"

"That's about it," Steve admitted. "But I won't let him get to you. He came after me directly; I don't think he's the type to try to get to me through another channel."

It hurt to talk about Bucky that way, but then, it wasn't really Bucky anymore, was it?

Or was it? Was there a way for him to try and save the man he had once been? Was there an ounce of James Buchanan Barnes left in the Winter Soldier –or had HYDRA done everything to wipe away the past from his memories?

"I know how much he meant to you," Adena whispered. "He was there for you most of your life, especially during the hard times."

"Even when I had nothing and no one, I had Bucky," Steve softly told her. "We always said that we'd be there for each other, until the end of the line."

He could feel his wife eying him closely, studying him. There were times where he felt that she was reading his mind, using those odd powers that all women seemed to possess. He'd seen Pepper Potts do it with Tony, and Natasha do it with all sorts of men. Adena had the key to Steve's heart, but she also seemed to have a microscope that focused straight into the depths of his mind.

"You want to try and save him; don't you?" she asked. "When this is over, you want to go find him and try to get him to remember who he really is."

Steve couldn't lie to her; never to her. "Yes," he admitted. "When I saw him on the bridge, I called out to him. And for a second, it seemed like he remembered me, or something about himself that he hadn't before. Something clicked inside him, Adena –I saw it! Bucky is in there; I know he is."

She put a comforting hand on his face, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Maybe. But did you consider the fact that, even though you want to save that man, he might not be the kind you save, but the one you try to stop?"

The idea had crossed his mind, but Steve didn't like thinking about it. Bucky was in there somewhere, and if there was a way to get through to him, Steve would find it.

The hand on his face forced him to draw his attention to his wife's. "Whatever you decide to do, I'll support you. To be honest, if it was my best friend, I'd be doing the same thing. But you must at least consider the possibility that you might not be able to have it both ways. You might be able to keep him from being killed during this fight coming up, but you might not actually get Bucky's essence to return."

That was, of course, the moment that Sam chose that moment to make an appearance.

"There you lovebirds are!" he joked as he jogged along the top of the dam. "People downstairs were starting to get worried when you didn't come back in, Cap."

Steve forced a tired smile. "Well, you can't blame a guy for wanting to be alone with his wife."

Sam waved his words aside. "Come on back in. Fury wants to have another little chat, just to clear up some more details."

Reluctantly, Steve led Adena back in, just as the sun set completely behind a distant hill. Once the door had closed and they were safely tucked within the confines of the dam, Steve gave Sam a pointed look, which the other man immediately understood.

When she noticed Sam's departure, she looked up at him in confusion. "Aren't you going in?"

He smiled. "I wanted to let you know how much I love you."

A soft, warm smile lit her face. "I love you, too, Steve," she whispered as she stood on her toes to give him a loving kiss. "But you know, if you die during this crazy adventure of yours, I will never, ever forgive you."

He grinned. "Oh, I know. But you know, if I do die, I'll simply come back and haunt you."

The two of them barely had time to share a laugh and a kiss before Natasha appeared. "Alright, you two, break it up. Fury wants the two of you ASAP."

Adena looked at her in surprise. "The two of us? I thought he just wanted Steve."

"He did, but after a little while, he decided that it'd be best to include you as well. After all, it's your husband who's putting his life at risk, so technically, it affects you, too. Now come on."


Steve was clearly not happy with me being invited to Fury's meeting. Still, I did feel rather thrilled at being included. Maybe, if I asked nicely enough, he'd fill me in on what was going on.

The others were already there, and to my surprise, Richie was there, too. He smiled and nodded to me from his seat, which sat beside two empty ones. Steve quickly moved to sit between him and the other chair, leaving me to his right and Richie to his left. It was childish of him, but I decided to just let it go, rather than call him out on it.

When everyone was seated, Fury got to his feet. "It had recently come to my attention that I've given a specific set of tasks to everyone in this room, except for one. Adena, I'm sorry for putting you in the awkward position as a mere side piece in this game. To make up for it, I'm going to give you the task of keeping a distant eye on our group while we're taking care of business."

I perked up, growing excited even as Steve stiffened in his chair. "Really, sir?" I asked eagerly.

He nodded. "I'm going to ask each member of the team to wear a small tracking device that can be traced even from long distances. That way, if something happens and we need medical help or need to be rescued, you'll know where to send trusted resources that belong to either SHIELD, or another agency."

Yes, something I could do to help without getting involved in the fighting! "I'm honored and absolutely delighted and grateful for this opportunity, sir," I replied. "I accept."

As Steve started to protest, Fury raised a hand to stop him. "I'm giving you this assignment based on the fact that you are a person I know I can trust with this, Adena. I know you'll do your best to make sure that we all make it out of here alive, and hopefully in once piece."

He looked over at Steve. "I'm also doing this to ease both your mind, and that of the Captain. You clearly want to be of use to us, and he wants to be sure that you're out of harm's way. This takes care of both those, sort of like a 'two birds with one stone' deal."

At his nod, Agent Hill produced a small black box, which she flipped open and set on the table. Inside were about a dozen tracking devices the size of my thumbnail. "Each of us will have one or two of these on our personages," she said. "Two is pushing it, but there is the likelihood that one could fall out or get crushed. This way, we're covered. If, however, both are destroyed or lost, we will be in constant communication. Adena can keep track of those through her personal device, which I believe was created by Mr. Stark."

Richie leaned back around Steve. "Tony Stark made you a smartphone?" he asked, clearly impressed.

I smiled. "Well, he likes me, and so does his girlfriend, so I guess he felt it'd make sense." Looking over at Fury, I asked, "So, I sync the devices to JT, and use him to keep an eye on your movements and conversations? I'm going to assume that their frequencies are unique ones, to keep others from butting in and spying on us?"

Fury actually smiled. "You assume correctly. You'll be the only one able to keep an eye on us through the devices and our communications link –at least until the Carriers are up in the air."

Well, that was a comforting thought. "So I hunker down a good distance from the Triskelion, with JT in my hands and my eyes and ears open for trouble," I commented, leaning back in my chair. "Sounds like fun."

"Well, I don't think it sounds like fun," Steve stated. "If Adena is going to be our link to backup from other agencies, who is going to be keeping an eye on her while we're busy at the Triskelion?"

I almost laughed as Director Fury gave my husband a pointed look with his one eye and said, "Agent Cooper," his tone final and leaving room for no argument.

I put a hand on Steve's arm, halting his protests and preventing any attempts he might make at taking a swing in Richie's direction. "That's fine. I'm sure that Agent Cooper is capable of keeping me out of harm's way."

I didn't mention that if Richie got between my trying to save Steve and my friends from harm, I would end up doing a lot of harm to him.

"There's also the fact that we can't let Steve head into danger without a suit," Fury stated as he crossed his arms. "Unfortunately, we seem to have little to no options."

Seeing another chance for being useful, I raised my hand. "That's not technically true," I said. "What about the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian? They've got one of his old uniforms there –you just have to find a way of getting it without anyone seeing."

I paused. "However, there is a chance that they might not be getting it back."

The others laughed or chuckled at that, while Steve took my hand in his. "That's alright," he said. "I'm sure someone can make a replica. This is more important."

"Then it's settled," Fury declared as he looked around at everyone. "Adena, after you sync JT to the tracking devices, go get something to eat from the storage room next door. Then I want you, and everyone else, to get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

The others cleared out pretty quickly, leaving me alone with Steve. When it was just the two of us, Steve sent a glare at Richie's retreating back. When I caught that look, I reached out and smacked him hard on the shoulder.

"Stop that," I ordered firmly. "This grudge you've got against Richie is silly and childish. It isn't like you to hate someone before you've even gotten a chance to know them. You have to stop this right now, before it eats you up inside."

A glare from me froze Steve's words in his mouth. "Richie is a good guy," I told him. "He's a good agent, and he's willing to risk his life to keep me safe. In a lot of ways, he's like you: a man willing to do the right thing, no matter what the cost. I know you don't like the fact that a stranger is doing the one thing you feel you're the only one allowed to do, but you're going to have to accept that you can't do everything. They need you to take down the Carriers, and Richie is the only SHIELD agent that Fury, Hill and Natasha trust with keeping an eye on me. That should say something to you."

Steve went quiet, his mouth shutting as he sat and stewed for a bit, his eyes focused on the ground while I waited for him to calm down. When he finally looked at me, it was with only a slight bit of disapproval in his eyes.

"I do feel that it's my job, and mine alone to keep you safe," he admitted. "But I also know that you're right –I can't be everywhere. It kills me, that I can't be with you while all this is going on, but since the others trust Agent Cooper, I will, too –even if he has a crush on you."

That caught me by surprise. "He what? Where the hell did you get that idea?"

My husband shrugged. "Natasha."

Damn it; Natasha was rarely wrong about this sort of thing. "I never encouraged him," I told Steve. "I never even picked up on it."

He smiled. "I know. I just wanted you to know about it, in case."

Well, at least it wouldn't come as a surprise if Richie tried anything. I didn't think he would, but it probably wouldn't be a bad thing to keep my little taser and pepper spray handy, just in case.

Whipping out JT, I told him it was time to get to work.


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