11. I'll Be Here, Fighting Forever
"Back so soon, Cap? Did you miss me?" Tony asked as Steve walked down the gangplank.
"Terribly," Steve replied with a smile. "Any progress?"
"Sorry, birdman, but we're still working on your wings," he said regretfully to Sam as the latter came to a stop beside Steve. "But JARVIS got the file translated. Where do you want it?"
"I've been putting everything on this drive," Steve answered, handing it over.
"Come on in, guys," Tony called as he walked into the tower. "Help yourself to a drink," he added as he waved at the bar he was walking passed.
"Maybe later," Steve answered, following him to a console and folding his arms across his chest as he watched Tony insert the drive and type a few commands.
"Well, I'm thirsty," Sam called after them and Steve could hear glasses clinking.
"I thought you soldiers loved your alcohol," Tony said conversationally as he pulled out the physical file and handed it to Steve.
"Advanced metabolism means I can't get drunk, so it's kind of a waste of time these days," Steve said with a shrug.
"You want me to work a solution to that problem?"
Steve snorted. "You that bored?"
Smiling, Tony shook his head. "Always looking out for new projects. I'll keep it in mind. Your boy might be in the same predicament and I think he'll probably want to imbibe when you bring him in."
"Your contributions to the mission are always appreciated," Steve replied graciously, smirking.
"Sir, I think there's something Capt. Rogers should see," JARVIS interrupted.
"Well, go ahead and show us, then," Tony said impatiently.
The progress bar on the screen before them minimized and several news reports appeared instead. They were in Slavic languages, the scrolls in Cyrillic, and featured different angle shots of a power plant on a river, the Dnieper, apparently, exploding in flames. Shadowy figures were captured by one report leaving the premises, and Steve squinted at them intently, feeling his heart skip a beat as he tried to determine if he knew them.
"Is it him?" he asked finally, softly.
"The footage does not allow for positive facial recognition, sir, but the height and build are correct," JARVIS answered as one of the figures was circled in white.
"Where is this?" Steve wanted to know, frowning intently.
"Six miles north of Kiev, Ukraine, sir."
"How old is the footage?"
"It's broadcasting live."
"Can you send this to my laptop?" Tony nodded. "Sam! We're leaving!" Steve shouted, turning quickly away from the monitor and striding back the way he had come.
Tony offered to accompany them, but Steve declined, saying it was likely just going to be reconnaissance anyway. It wasn't like Bucky would stick around to survey his handiwork for the several hours it would take them to catch up. And, anyway, he'd sort of promised Pepper not to go off in his suits anymore, and Steve wouldn't let him break his promise to someone so important to him. Sam finished his drink quickly, grimacing, and followed Steve back out of the tower.
"Good luck!" Tony called, tossing the finished drive at Steve.
"Where we going, Cap?" Sam asked, jogging up the gangplank as Steve caught the device easily.
"Kiev, Ukraine," Steve replied, hastening after him and strapping himself in the pilot's seat.
"What happened?" Sam strapped himself in as well and began the pre-flight checklist.
"JARVIS brought up a news report of a power plant being destroyed. It looks like Bucky did it."
"Was it HYDRA?"
Steve shrugged, completing the list and taking off. "I don't know. But maybe. Why else would he take it down? Pretty explosively, like the one in Brazil."
"It's going to take us a few hours. You think he'll still be in the neighborhood?"
"It's the only lead we've got."
Sam nodded and they fell silent, focused on the flight. Steve let him take over and uploaded the file onto his computer, the news reports playing in the background. He searched for Kiev, Ukraine in the file and his brow furrowed at what he found. It seemed that there was a base near those coordinates, though it did not specify being on the Dnieper. The updates done on the Winter Soldier there were of an unsavory nature, and he felt a little sick reading some of the work they had done. Not all of it was done to Bucky; they'd tested it out on other prisoners first. They didn't want to risk their perfect weapon.
The flight took a long time. After a while, Steve took over and Sam got some rest. Steve tried not to think about all the things that had happened to his friend since he'd fallen. If this was the place he had spent most of his time, it was not surprising that Bucky would want to destroy it thoroughly. Steve brought up the still picture of the figure that might be Bucky. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't be sure. There were others around him, difficult to identify. One appeared to be closer to him than the rest and seemed quite a bit smaller. He frowned. Then forced himself to focus on flying. It was a long way to go yet.
Finally, they reached the Zhuliany International Airport. It was under high alert because someone had shot an RPG into the tower dedicated to private air travel. They were still allowed to land, but it was obvious they weren't welcome to stay. Steve explained that he was investigating the attack on the power plant, which wasn't a lie, and they sounded a little relieved. It was hard to tell; their English wasn't good and he wasn't even sure if they were speaking Russian or Ukrainian to each other.
"Why do you think he destroyed the tower?" Sam asked. He seemed agitated. Steve wondered if he was getting worried about actually finding Bucky.
"I don't know," Steve admitted, taxiing the plane to the location the tower had designated.
"Steve," Sam insisted, and Steve looked over at him. "Do you think it was to slow us down?"
Steve frowned. "Do you think he could have known we would come here?"
Sam shrugged. "He's a smart guy, he'd know that this would make the news. Was there anything about this place in his file?"
"Yeah, he spent a lot of time here. Being experimented on," Steve growled, looking away.
"Well, if he knows about it, he could assume that we do, too."
"You're right. Well, let's go see what he left behind," Steve added resignedly.
The base was even more destroyed than the one in Brazil. It seemed to have gone deeply underground, and perhaps the other one hadn't, so that might account for the difference. Local authorities had cordoned off the place and were trying to keep as much debris as possible from falling in the river. Steve lent his super strength to the task, resulting in the authorities allowing him and Sam to inspect the area closer. It didn't tell them much, though. They returned to the airport and looked into the destroyed tower as well, and discovered it had a basement with a great deal of technological equipment in it. That was unusual, and Sam suggested that it may have been heavily used by HYDRA planes going to and from the power plant. Steve agreed that it was suspicious, and Bucky would probably have thought so as well.
They had spent three hours in Ukraine and it was long passed dusk. Steve was feeling dead on his feet (when had he last slept?) but didn't really want to stay the night there. Sam offered to fly, and Steve took him up on it. He lay down on the benches in the back of the quinjet and stared at the ceiling. The sound of the engines was somehow calming as they went along, the reflections of the lights below occasionally illuminating the interior of the jet. Despite his exhaustion, Steve was a little too excited to sleep. Maybe excited wasn't the right word, but he was energized every time he thought about finally having a lead on Bucky.
"Hey, Cap," Sam said, pulling Steve out of his thoughts.
"What's up?"
"I'd feel a little better filling up on gas before we go across the Atlantic," Sam explained, almost apologetically.
"Yeah, good thinking," Steve answered, swinging his feet to the floor and standing. He stretched, then went to sit down in the cockpit. "Where are we?"
"Southern Europe. Any preferences?"
"I can speak Spanish; how about Spain?" Steve said after a moment.
"You know Spain Spanish is not exactly like Mexican Spanish, right?" Sam asked, altering their course.
"I don't see you volunteering any language skills," Steve responded.
"Fine, fine, I'll just sit back and look good while you chat up the locals. As usual."
Steve laughed. "That's why I brought you along."
After some negotiation with the tower, they were permitted to land and refuel. The two men took the opportunity to walk around on the tarmac a little before being cooped up in the plane for a few more hours. After pacing thoughtfully for a while, Steve noticed Sam standing some yards from their plane, staring intently ahead. He walked over to him, following his gaze. It was dark, still, but the sun was rising and the area was pretty well-lit. He couldn't see anything remarkable about the numerous other planes around them.
"What is it?"
"Are redheads common in Spain? Because I think I just saw Natasha," Sam said slowly.
"Where?" Steve asked sharply, turning abruptly to search for any sign of her.
"In that plane." Sam paused, glancing at him. "What kind of plane was it that fired on that tower in Kiev?"
"That kind," Steve answered with a sinking feeling. "I'm going to go check it out. Stay here, but have your radio on. I may need backup."
"Like hell you will," Sam growled, but stayed where he was when Steve started walking, flicking the switch on his radio as he went.
"Channel secure?" he asked.
"Secure," Sam's voice crackled in his ear.
With the sun just rising, Steve could make out a group of men approaching the plane. They were further away than he was, though, and he hurried to reach it from the opposite side. Once he was standing below it, he paused uncertainly. Was he just going to knock on the door? No, that wouldn't be wise. Even with Sam as backup, they weren't exactly prepared for something unexpected.
The hatch to the plane opened as the men approached and he heard the sound of footsteps descending the gangplank. Steve moved forward silently, toward the steps, around the landing gear. He held his breath, forcing himself not to think about how this encounter might go. The mercenaries were still about ten yards away. Sam could rescue him if he did something incredibly stupid, like he was contemplating. There were two figures standing before him; he could see their shadows.
"Nat?" he murmured as he moved forward enough to see her. And the person standing next to her. "Bucky?!" he stammered, looking between the two of them.
Both of them whipped around to stare at him. Natasha looked guilty. Bucky was wearing a mask. "Not yet, Steve," Bucky said calmly and glanced over at Natasha. Before either of them could react, he had grabbed one of the electrified discs from her belt and tossed it at Steve. Pain exploded everywhere and he was vaguely aware of hitting the concrete before it all went black.
