The call doesn't come right away, but they don't have to wait that long for their first clue. No sooner are they down the main staircase, trailing after the fast-moving Fury with a dozen or so army technicians carrying equipment on their tail that Ms. Hogan- Pepper, that is- rushes up to them.
"Natasha has information!" she says quickly. "She wrote down who attacked her. She said there were a handful of them and the one that strangled her used a bowstring."
"Oh, God!" Toni says, nearly tripping down the last few stairs. Steve manages to catch and steady her before she can go down, but it's a near thing. "It can't be! Not the Archer, I won't believe it!"
"Impossible!" Fury barks, leading the way into the parlor where everyone else is still waiting. "The Archer has been off the grid for over a year, confirmed dead by at least a dozen sources."
From her position on the sofa, Natasha raises an eyebrow, one that even Steve can tell clearly says 'Your sources must be wrong.'
"Coulson," Fury says and one of the men behind him steps forward.
"Sir?" he says.
"You've worked with the Archer before, so you'll take point. Get this mess organized. I'm going for a smoke."
"Yes, sir," Coulson says, turning to the others and starting to give orders as Fury marches purposefully out of the room.
"And by smoke, he actually means try to force his way into my secret basement lab." Toni says. "That son of a bitch! Happy, can you-?"
"On it, boss," Happy says, trailing after Fury.
"Who's the Archer?" Steve asks, once again feeling like he's the only one out of the loop. Bucky, standing by Natasha's side, looks equally confused, but apart from them, everyone else seems to be in the know.
"Only the best damn shot with a bow and arrow in existence," Tony says, spitting the words. Steve can see her hands trembling minutely, so he reaches over and takes both of them in his. She continues like nothing happened, but Steve can tell by the way she relaxes slightly that she appreciates it. "Natasha and I had, well, let's call it an encounter with the fucker in Europe. I have never seen anyone that fast on the draw."
Natasha gives a pained little nod of agreement.
"What are we going to do?" Toni asks desperately. "That slimy circus-freak has our son!"
"Not to worry, Miss Stark," Fury's man Coulson says calmly. "We'll get your boy back safe and sound."
"Don't placate me," Toni snaps. "That's not why I called you lot in."
"It's going to be okay," Steve reminds her. He has to be sure of that, has to make her sure of that, if they're going to get through this. "Just let these men do their jobs." He guides her over to the sofa gently, trying not to make it seem like he's guiding her, lest she protest and remain standing out of spite. Natasha makes room for her instantly and Toni sits without protest.
Steve watches out of the corner of his eye as Fury's men, directed by Coulson, start unpacking boxes and boxes of equipment in the main hall, where the telephone is located. He's certain they know what they're doing, but he's still nervous that they're going to disrupt the call somehow and the kidnapper is going to hurt Grant in retaliation. His palms start to sweat at just the thought and he can't even begin to imagine how Toni must feel. He can't think like that, though, has to stay positive, because if he doesn't, who will?
"Explain the equipment to me?" he asks Toni quietly, trying to distract them both and at the same time get more information. It's vital that he have as much information as possible, because whether Fury likes it or not, Steve's heading this expedition, and he's pretty sure Toni's not going to be willing to be left behind, either.
Toni assents and starts to explain. Most of it involves how telephones work, which Steve still doesn't really understand, and therefore goes right over his head. He gets the gist though: somehow or other, by listening in on phones all over the city and at the central exchanges, Fury's men will be able to tell the general vicinity of where the call came from, down to a few houses. Steve honestly hadn't known Fury had that many men at his disposal and finds himself impressed despite the dire situation.
Steve manages to keep Toni talking and distracted while also coming up with a plan. Meanwhile, the men set up their equipment in the house and communicate via radio with men in other parts of the city. It takes them the better part of an hour to get ready, and it's not a moment too soon, because barely ten minutes after everything's all set, the phone rings. The house goes deadly silent and Fury appears out of nowhere to take charge again.
Toni answers the phone, despite Steve's best efforts to dissuade her. The men have somehow managed to do something to split the line and make it play over the loudspeaker of their radio set so the whole room can hear both sides of the conversation.
"LOngacre 3," Toni says, giving the telephone number and Steve's proud of how cool and calm her voice is, despite what's at stake.
"You know what we want, Miss Stark," says a surprisingly high-pitched voice. It takes Steve a moment to realize it's a woman speaking. "Do you have the money?"
"Yes," Toni says at once, but her voice still doesn't waver. "You know I do. How do you want me to get it to you? Will you come here?"
"I don't think so," the woman on the other end says. "We'll meet at a location of my choosing, at a time I designate. You come and you alone, or I'll slit your baby's throat before you can blink."
"Where?" Toni says, and Steve can see the panic in her eyes. "Tell me where to meet you and I will."
"The graveyard," the other woman says. "You know the one. Meet at eight o'clock tonight. I'll bring the baby, you bring the money."
There's a click of the woman disconnecting the call and Steve sees Toni lose her grip on the phone. He steps up quickly, takes the receiver from her gently and places it back in the cradle.
"Did you get what you need?" Steve asks, looking to Fury.
"We'll see," Fury says shortly, turning to his men and beginning to give orders.
"Toni," Steve says, getting her attention back from where she's been staring at the wall in apparent shock. "Do you know who that was? What graveyard is she talking about?"
"That was the Archer," Toni says, looking slowly up at him. Her eyes are wide and horrified. "She wants to meet at Trinity Church. She wants me to see my families' graves before she kills by baby."
"That is not going to happen," Steve says fiercely, pulling her into a hug. "We are going to get him back. Do you trust me?"
"Of course," she whispers.
"Then trust that I will get him back. He is going to be okay."
"Okay," she says quietly. Steve can tell she doesn't believe it, won't believe it until she's got the boy back in her arms.
"Wait," Steve hears Bucky ask from behind them. "The Archer is a woman? Just what kind of an encounter did you have with this woman in Europe?"
"The kind that ended in tears and blood," Toni says viciously from Steve's arms. "And so help me God, this time I'm going to kill the bitch!"
"Of that, Miss Stark," Fury cuts in, "I must disagree. It would be best for all involved if we took the Archer into custody, and since this is my op, that's how we're going to play it. Captain, we have an address for you."
"Excellent," Steve says, falling back into Captain mode. He gives Toni one last squeeze, then releases her to cross to where Fury's got a map spread out on the hall table.
"This is the general area," Fury says, indicating a spot about an hour's drive outside the city. "It could be any one of these ten houses. There are likely hostages inside the house in question. The graveyard is almost definitely a trap, so the baby will probably be in the house at the time of the exchange, despite the Archer's promises. Your objective is to take the area and secure all the houses with the fewest civilian casualties possible."
"Yes, sir," Steve says at once, studying the map, considering the best way to get there from here. "Will we be taking the plane?"
"Indeed you will, Captain," Fury says, glaring at Steve critically with his good eye. "I hope your parachuting skills haven't gotten rusty."
"You know," Bucky says over the noise of the plane. "I feel like ever since that vixen showed up on our door, nothing makes sense anymore."
"I know what you mean," Steve agrees, distractedly. He can't help but worry, both about Grant and about Toni, who at this very moment is meeting with the deadly Archer at Trinity Church, probably walking into a trap. They'd shared a passionate kiss before they'd parted, but it hadn't made it any easier to leave her behind, see her go off on another mission. Steve would have preferred to work with her, have her by his side so they could watch each other's backs, but this is the best option, strategy-wise. She has to be the one in the cemetery and Steve has to be the one leading the rescue mission. One of them will come home with their baby tonight, there's no other option.
"Get yourselves ready," Steve calls to the assembled men in the plane with them. It had taken them a while to get to the right altitude for the jump, but the area is right for it, isolated enough from the city that no one should land on anything important like, say, a building. Surprise is the key, which is why they're doing it like this. It's Steve, Bucky, five of Fury's agents and Natasha, who had insisted on coming along, despite her injury. Steve hadn't been able to dissuade her and Bucky seems enamored of her in general, willing to allow her anything she desires, so along she came, despite even Fury's misgivings. Altogether, there are only eight of them, because that's how many the plane would fit. Fury's sending back-up by truck, but they'll have to wait on advancing unless they want to tip off the kidnappers. What they have now will be fine, Steve thinks, unless they encounter significant resistance. They're all battle-hardened men, even Natasha, all have seen war and come through it mostly whole, but if they're outnumbered too badly, there's no hope. Of course, on the other hand, Steve doesn't care what happens to himself, as long as they get the baby out.
"Check your parachutes," Steve calls as they near their destination. The plane isn't anything like silent, but Steve's almost positive the kidnappers won't be expecting attack from the air. "Ready… and GO!"
Bucky's the first one out the door, followed by Natasha, then the agents, then Steve last. The jump is just as rough as the ones in Europe, though no one's firing at him this time. He lands solid, not quite on his feet but not completely off them, either. Everyone else must have had just a successful jump, because they're all standing and ready to go by the time he gets his chute off.
It's hand signals from here on out, so he makes the motions, dividing them up into pairs to take the houses in turns. It'll take a while to secure them all, but as long as they do it quietly, it should work out. Steve, with Bucky at his side, takes the last house on the street, the large one with painted window frames. They break the window to get it, knowing that it'll be quieter at least than breaking down the door. They could have picked the lock, but that would take too much time and Steve's not willing to risk them being caught outside with no cover.
The house is dark inside and just as fancy as the outside would suggest. Steve strains his ears, trying to hear any sound that a baby might be in the house. There's no crying though. In fact, there's no sound at all that Steve can hear. Carefully, they make their way down the front hall, checking around corners before they enter a room. It's all coming back to Steve, easier than he would have imagined. He's ready, he knows what he has to do and he's willing to do it.
"Let's split up," Steve breathes to Bucky when they reach the staircase. "I'll take the upstairs."
Bucky nods and departs carefully down another hall on the ground floor. Steve watches him go, then begins to climb, careful to test each step before he puts his full weight on it, not willing to risk one of them squeaking and giving him away. At the top of the stairs, he has to make a decision of which way to follow the staircase- left or right. He holds his breath, says a quick prayer and picks left.
Steve mentally checks off doors as he goes, securing each room and moving on. His baby is in none of them. He's very nearly to the end of the hallway and about to write off this direction as a bad choice when he hears it. It's quiet, so quiet that he almost misses it, but coming from the very last room at the end of the hall, behind the closed doorway, is singing. It's a lullaby, Steve thinks, and thanks Providence for leading him right.
There's no way to enter the closed room without opening the door, not unless Steve wants to go outside again and scale the house, which would take far too long. The only thing for it is to burst into the room and hope the element of surprise works in his favor. It's a risk, but Steve hasn't made his career on taking no chances. He braces himself, takes a deep breath, and kicks open the door.
Steve's eyes zero in at once on the baby, safe and sound in a woman's arms, but almost instantly dart away, checking the room for weapons of any kind. There aren't any, no threats in this room apart from the woman herself, who's holding his son like he's something precious. Steve levels his own gun at her, because though she might seem harmless, that child does not belong to her and it's just as likely she's in on the kidnapping.
"Hand over the baby, miss," Steve says calmly, and his gun doesn't waver. "Give me the baby and no one will get hurt."
She looks at him, eyes wide. Steve can see her arms tremble, see her clutch the baby tighter to her chest, uncertainty writ plain across her face. Then he sees her eyes travel past Steve, over his shoulder. He hears the click of a loaded gun being cocked a second too late.
The barrel of the rifle is hard and insistent against the back of Steve's head, but Steve doesn't panic. He keeps his eyes on Grant, and slowly, carefully raises his hands.
"Drop the gun," a voice from behind him says. It's a male's voice, cool and foreign. Not German, Steve's heard enough of those to recognize one instantly, but not French, either. Norwegian, Steve would say, or something like it.
Steve's got a contingency plan for situations like these. He won't let his weapon be taken away from him, not when it's up to him to rescue Grant. He'll pretend, he thinks. Pretend to put his gun down, act compliant then surprise his captor with his quick reflexes. It's not a good plan, but it's the only one he's got and it's worked for him before in situations not unlike this, though of course a baby wasn't at risk in those times.
"And if you try anything, Captain Rogers," the man continues. "I'll shoot you somewhere nonvital, so you can bleed to death slowly as you can watch me kill your son."
Torn, Steve hesitates. Whoever this man is, he knows the situation, knows things Steve hadn't even known yesterday. He stalls, makes an aborted motion, trying to decide. Too long, it seems, because the man behind him all but shouts, "Gun down now!"
"I think that's my line, pal."
Steve has never in his life been so glad to hear Bucky's voice, not even on that battlefield in Germany when he'd though Bucky was a goner for sure. Slowly, but surely, the gun lowers from the back of Steve's head. Steve whirls around at once, grabs the man's gun and disarms him.
"Thanks, Buck," Steve says gratefully, breathing easier. He double-checks the man to make sure he doesn't have any more weapons on him, then leaves him to Bucky's mercy and gun, and crosses the room. The woman holding Grant takes a terrified step backward, but holds up a hand to calm her.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he says slowly and then, remembering the sweet lullaby, "and I'm not going to hurt the baby."
He has to pry the child from her arms, but she lets Steve take him without any real struggle. Steve takes a good, hard look at the baby, takes in his large brown eyes, his black curls, his little fists, and clutches him to his chest. He doesn't know how to hold a baby, not really, but closer is safer and that's all he's got. The woman before he collapses onto the floor and Steve's instincts tell him she's not a threat, so he turns back to his friend and the kidnapper.
"Who are you working for?" Steve asks fiercely.
"A higher power," the man answers instantly. His casual smirk reminds Steve of men gone crazy after too long in the trenches. There's something not quite right about the gleam in his eyes. Steve's not going to get anything out of him, not right now, anyway, so he'll leave it to Fury to see what he can do. Grant's safe and that's what matters. There's a nagging worry about Toni in the back of his mind, but he has to secure this situation first, before he can even deal with that one.
"Is the house secure?" Steve asks Bucky, who nods.
"Yes, sir," he says. "The boys just reported back to me. This house and four others are secure. Fury's backup should be arriving soon to take over. In the meantime, we're working to secure the other houses."
The pounding of feet on the stairs makes Steve wince, conscious that for all Bucky's claims to the contrary, there still may be a rogue presence lurking somewhere in the house, and if there is, they've definitely given themselves away by now.
"Captain," a voice calls from the hall. "There's news from the radio!"
"Right," Steve says, forcing himself to breath through his fear. No matter what happens now, his boy is in his arms, not even crying, recognizing maybe the same sense of rightness that Steve feels when he holds the child. No matter what the news is, this boy will be safe soon.
"Get him out of here," Steve instructs Bucky, who nods and maneuvers the man up and out of the room, gun at his back. Two of Fury's men enter. Steve indicates the fallen woman behind him to one of them and turns to the other, schooling his face into something neutral. "What news?"
"I'm sorry, Captain," the man says softly. "All I know is that there were shots fired in the cemetery. Someone's been shot."
