"Bruce?"

"Hello? Who is this?" Bruce Banner's voice sounded over the tinny phone speaker.

"It's Natasha," she said, pressing the phone to her ear. She stood in the hall of the Chicago headquarters, leaning against the door frame of an empty office. Red locks of hair kept falling in front of her eyes, and she brushed them away with impatience. She could hear the low murmur of a crowd over the phone; the wailing of a child, a voice raised in greeting. The hustle and bustle of life.

While she couldn't see him, Natasha knew Bruce Banner was either rolling his eyes or ripping out his hair with frustration at SHIELD's reappearance. "Again? Can't you just leave me alone? Wasn't New York enough for you guys?"

A smile twisted Natasha's lips, "Sorry Doc, but we've got a real tricky situation. How soon can you be here?"

Bruce had to shout over the hubbub around him, but Natasha could still hear unwilling concern in his voice,"Natasha, I'm in Cairo. Why? What's going on? Has something happened?"

"Do you remember James Buchanan Barnes? Steve's buddy from six months ago? He caused all that trouble, then disappeared right after."

"Yeah. Poor guy, but what does he have to do-"

"We found him."

Bruce's voice was quiet when he said, "Oh."

"He's messed up. Hydra did something to his brain and he has some form of psychosis." Natasha gave a grim chuckle, "He had some kind of fit today, just about scared the hell out of me. He's off his rocker, Doc, but we need him talking. Can you come down and take a look at him? Soon?"

"Did he see something? Why do you need him?"

Natasha closed her eyes for a moment, but did not hesitate before saying, "Hydra has Steve and Bucky may be able to tell us where."

The phone was silent for a long time. "I'll get on a plane tonight," Bruce finally said. Reluctance was heavy in his voice, but Natasha knew he would make good on his word.

"Good man. I'll send someone to pick you up."

Bruce muttered something unkind about airports and planes in Cairo before hanging up. Natasha slipped the phone back into her pocket. Bruce was a good guy, but he was no psychologist. Hell, Natasha wasn't even sure if he was even a certified doctor. Sure, he knew a lot about the nuclear sciences, but whether he knew anything about nursing Natasha couldn't say. But having fought alongside him in New York, Natasha knew that Bruce was a kindly, gentle soul with some. . . rough patches. If anyone could cure Bucky, it would be Bruce Banner.

"Natasha!"

Natasha whirled around to see Clinton jogging down the hall towards her. He was waving a piece of paper in one hand and, slowing to a stop, he handed it to her. She took it, examining

"Natasha, did you call Banner?"

"Yeah, yeah," she said distractedly, "He'll be coming down tomorrow. What's this?"

"I did some research on Daltex. Remember? Bucky was talking about it."

Natasha nodded and scanned the paper. It was a list of some kind. An order sheet. Items with chemical names she couldn't pronounce were lined up in neat rows, followed by lot numbers and prices. "What is all this?"

"Pharmaceuticals, Natasha. Daltex is a company that produces drugs and medicine. Aspirin, cough medicine, allergy suppressants, you name it, Daltex makes it. But," Clinton said, his eyes bright, "not only is it a medicine company. It is the largest brand name sold in commercial stores. Hell, we probably have Daltex aspirin in the break room right now. I have this stuff in my cabinets at home. I'd bet you that every household in America has Daltex stuffed away somewhere."

"Why the hell has Hydra taken over a medicine company?" Natasha muttered, "What could they need it for?"

Clinton shook his head, "Who can say?"

Natasha shook her head. They could worry about that later. "Where's the nearest warehouse?"

Clinton pulled out his phone, reading from the small screen, "The warehouse closest to Nebraska is in Salt Lake City. It's also the headquarters. If Steve is anywhere, I'll bet you it's there."

Natasha sighed, leaning back against the wall behind her. She closed her eyes and breathed. Relief was flooding through her as if a dam of emotion had broken, allowing her knees to wobble and her heart beat faster. Finally. Finally they were having some luck. It was about damn time.

"Alright," she said, pulling herself together, "Banner's coming tomorrow for Bucky. If Banner can rewire his brain and get him talking, Bucky will be able to help us get Steve out. He knows everything about Daltex, and the information could be the thing that gets Steve out of there alive."

Clinton frowned, "You heard what Dominika said. God, Natasha, they could be doing anything to him. We have to get him out of there now. You know that! He could be hurt or killed at any second, we can't just-"

"They don't know we're coming." Natasha interrupted, "We'll have surprise on our side, but only this once. Clint, if our first extraction attempt fails then they'll bolt and Steve will be gone for good," Natasha leaned forward, and Clinton could see the determination in her eyes. She jabbed a finger into his chest, "You damn well know that I want Steve back as much as you do. And we are going to get him out, but we're going to do it right."

"Alright," Clinton said, seeing the sense in Natasha's words. In all honesty, he didn't want to argue with her. Under the all determination in her eyes, Clinton saw something else. She was tired. It was made even more evident by the dark circles under her eyes and the paleness of her skin. "Get some sleep, Natasha," he said. "When was the last time you slept?"

Natasha counted back the days, surprised to realize she had not slept for more than two days. Exhaustion pulled at her limbs, dragging her bones down and dulling her reflexes. Her mind felt muddled and the very thought of sleep made her weary beyond belief.

She nodded, "Yeah. Bucky should, too. Tomorrow's going to be an exciting day for him."

"I'll get him a room," Clinton said, giving Natasha a push. "You go get some shuteye."

Clinton watched as the woman walked down the hall, ducking into a stairwell that lead to the upper levels of SHIELD headquarters. She never said it, but Clinton knew this whole Hydra affair was beginning to wear Natasha down. Just when they thought they were done, yet another strain of Hydra surfaces and the rag-tag band of heroes, genius' and gods would have to join hands again to bring them down. There were always losses in warfare, but recently the losses had been especially difficult on everyone. The disbanding of SHIELD, Steve's loss of Bucky and now Steve himself was threatening to become yet another fatality on the list that grew larger every day. It was too much for anyone to take and stay sane.

He sighed, breaking free from his reverie. Making his way back to the break room, he stood in the door. Bucky still sat at the table, another cup of coffee steaming in front of him. Clinton cleared his throat, and Bucky turned his head sharply to look at him.

"You must be tired from the trip. We've got a room for you, if you want to sleep." Clinton said awkwardly. He still wasn't sure what to think of Bucky. He was strange, that was sure. But Clinton still wasn't sure that Bucky was. . . safe. Hell, Bucky had worked for Hydra for who knew how long. Who's to say he didn't still?

Bucky nodded slowly and got to his feet, leaving his coffee forgotten on the table. "Yes," he said curtly.

Bucky followed Clinton out of the break room and up the stairs Natasha had climbed minutes earlier. Late nights were often pulled at SHIELD headquarters and sometimes the staff just needed a place to crash. Bucky didn't say a word as they climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and padded out into the hall, but Clinton could feel Bucky's heavy gaze on his back. His neck tingled and his hair stood on end, but he said nothing.

Finally, Clinton motioned Bucky towards a door, "There's your room. You'd better get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be. . ." Clinton hesitated, wondering how much to tell him. "Busy."

Bucky slowly opened the door and stepped inside, but stopped short of closing the door. "How long ago was it?" He asked, his eyes downcast.

Clinton, who had made to leave, turned back. "How long ago was what?"

"The accident."

Clinton assumed Bucky meant the train accident back in Germany. Steve had told the story when he was about as close to drunk as he could get. The tale had been enough to stir even Clint's heart, and the wariness in Clinton's chest turned suddenly to pity. "Seventy years," he said quietly. "It was seventy years ago."

Bucky gazed at the hand that still held the door handle. It was heavy and cold, and the polished metal gleamed in the harsh office lighting. Then, so softly that Clinton almost missed it, Bucky said, "Seventy years is a long, long time." And then he closed the door and silence fell.

For Steve Rogers, time seemed to slow. As he leapt out into open space, a flare of glass sprayed out before him, catching the light as the fragments turned in the air. A city sprawled out before and beneath him. A great ring of mountains cupped the landscape in its great, snow-capped embrace and the evening sun glinted brightly off of windows and cars, nearly blinding him. For a moment, the world stood still and the beauty of it all made Steve's heart flip in his chest. But then the moment passed, and Steve began to fall. The wind tore at his clothes, ripped at his hair, the chillness of it biting his exposed skin.

Looking down, sudden panic flared through him as he realized it was too far. The fall was too great to survive, even for him. But then, as soon as it had come, the panic was replaced with peace. In what little time he had left for thoughts, Steve decided he would rather die on his own terms than suffer at the hands of Perseus for the rest of eternity anyway.

The ground flew up to meet him at a surprising speed. Just like Bucky, Steve thought. Just like Bucky, falling from the train. Steve just hoped that his fate would be quicker and more permanent than Bucky's was.

Then he hit the ground with an explosion of water and gravel, and everything went black.

Thanks for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed!

And, as always, double thanks for reviewing! You guys are really the only reason I keep writing. It's all for you. ^^