Hello again everyone, I hope that you've been enjoying the story thus far. Upon review I have found some glaring mistakes in earlier chapters that I will go back and fix at some point, probably once the story is finished. Thankfully, I didn't have to keep you all waiting too long for this chapter as I already had a good portion of it written. A word of warning about this chapter it involves a rather lengthy action sequence, not sure how well it actually turned out. The action scene is still new territory for me, also this chapter will be rated M for the descriptions of graphic violence that take place during the fight scene.
I would also like to thank everyone who has followed this story and for the reviews and kind PM's
Disclaimer: Disney still owns Marvel and pretty much everything else under the sun at this point
It had only been a few minutes since they'd left the Stark Industries airfield, but it felt like hours. In that time Pepper hadn't been able to get her or Happy Hogan's phones to work, nor did the communication tech inside of the limo. After the phone call that Steve had gotten the private network that they used for communications seems to have gone dark. Now they were trying to get back to the tower as quickly as they could to tell the other Avengers that something was wrong.
She'd known something was up as soon as she heard the voice on her phone asking to speak with Steve. In her defense, at the time she didn't know that the network would go down immediately thereafter. During this whirlwind of thoughts, the executive realized that they were slowing down. "Happy why are we moving so slow?"
The driver/bodyguard understood her distress but sadly, there wasn't much he could do. "Sorry it's rush hour traffic, we're going to have to wait it out I'm afraid."
"Okay just do your best Happy, please. I have a feeling that something important is about to happen." The executive just couldn't shake the feeling that the relative peace that the Avengers have been enjoying is about to come to an end.
Tony Stark was many things, right now he was anxious as he waited for the soldier to return to the tower. "Seriously how long does Spangles intend to keep us waiting?"
While they were all in the common area watching a movie Bruce Banner had spent most of the day in the lab with the billionaire. Who had been going on about Steve's forthcoming explanation all day and he was frankly tired of it. "Relax even if the jet landed on time, they still have to contend with rush hour." The scientist hoped that the explanation would help calm the billionaire down. Of course, the scientist made it a habit not to get worked up about anything. In truth, though he would be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued by what Steve was working on.
"Banner is right Stark, for once in your life have some patients." Clint felt the need to supplement the advice that Dr. Banner put forth.
The inventor knew they were both right, he just hated waiting. One thing was certain whatever this is it had better be big or he would never let Steve live it down. "I know. I just want to get this over with and get back to normal around here." The billionaire was just going to have to be content waiting for everyone to arrive back at the tower. Which shouldn't be long now considering when they left California. Hurry up Spangles I'm not a patient man.
Skye didn't like sitting in the SUV and waiting, but that's what Barnes had told her to do, sit in the SUV and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Not that there was anything here to be suspicious of, there was nothing here except for a few homeless people. She didn't know deserted neighborhoods like this existed in New York. Or as Barnes insisted on making the distinction this is Brooklyn, she wasn't sure what that mattered it was all a part of New York.
This place though it didn't look like anything she'd seen about New York. Not only were buildings in this neighborhood vacant many were literally falling apart, many of the streetlights either didn't work or were missing altogether. The streets were full of potholes, and the sidewalks didn't look much better. Then there was the building where Barnes was meeting with Steve Rogers, it looked it would collapse if a bird landed on it.
She had decided to park in this alley so that she could see anyone that tried to follow Barnes in, but she'd been sitting here for 20 minutes and she hadn't seen anyone other than a few homeless people. She hoped that Rogers would show up soon as this was beyond boring. Although she did get to hack the Stark Industries CommNet, which had been difficult, Tony Stark may have been a self-involved jerk, but his cybersecurity was top notch. In truth, she probably wouldn't have been able to pull it off except that as it turns out Director Fury had a back door to access the CommNet used by the Avengers. The CommNet is proprietary technology that's exclusive to Stark Industries, the fact that Fury has a backdoor installed in the network is nothing short of miraculous. Now how he got the back door without Tony Stark finding out is a question for another time.
Thankfully she had cracked the network allowing Barnes to get in touch with Rogers. On Barnes order, she then temporarily disabled the network, so that the others at the airfield couldn't warn the other Avengers. The network would only be disabled for another 20 minutes or so, taking the network down even if only for a short time seemed like overkill. But, Barnes had been insistent about two things, the first being that Pepper Potts phone was on the same private CommNet as the Avengers, the second being that once she figured out something was wrong she would call for help.
One thing she could say about Barnes is that he was thorough. This is stupid I need to get out and walk around. I've been sitting in this SUV since before it got dark, I need to stretch my legs. Stepping out of the vehicle she's hit by cold air, cursing herself for not bringing a heavier jacket with her. She started walking toward the end of the alley as soon as she passed a dumpster near the end of the alleyway a voice got her attention.
"Mind telling me who you are and what you're doing here?"
Again, cursing herself this time because she left her icer in the SUV, the hacker turned around slowly. Only to be relieved at what she saw, which was a man hiding in wait on the other side of the dumpster. She would've been alarmed if she hadn't recognized the man, he was in one of the many photos that Barnes had made her memorize before the mission. "Relax Mr. Wilson my name is Skye and I'm here with Agent Barnes."
Sam allowed himself to relax a little at her claim, both he and Steve had suspected that this was the case once Steve had spotted the SUV on his initial sweep of the area. Either way, both the airman and the soldier suspected that she wasn't much of a threat or she would've spotted Steve while he'd been doing his initial sweep. Not only did she not react to the soldier spotting her at her post, she didn't even make a move when he entered the building. If she was a field operative then she was a very bad one, or this was all a ruse and she was a super spy on the level of Natasha. "Yeah we figured that was the case, but it never hurts to be safe."
Now the hacker was curious he's mentioned Steve Rogers, she knew they were here so that Barnes could meet with him. However, the only person she saw was Sam Wilson himself there was no sign of the famous soldier that everyone seemed to be fussing over. "So where is Captain Rogers? Barnes is already inside waiting on him."
The airman had to stifle a laugh at the question. "Steve went inside a little while ago, I'm sure the two of them are talking about the good old days as we speak."
The hacker was beside herself at the claim she hadn't really been paying attention, but she thought that she'd have seen a man of Steve Rogers size pass in front of her.
She was about to respond when a gruff male voice forced her to shift focus.
"Both of you move out into the light now!"
Sam did as the man ordered and he motioned for the female agent to do the same, out of the corner of his eye he could see her complying thankfully. The airman didn't dare reach for the gun he had holstered behind his back, that's because he recognized the weapon that the man was holding. Any person that had served in the military would know it, it was a Milkor MGL the MGL stood for multiple grenade launcher.
Again, Skye cursed herself for getting caught like this, and to make matters worse she could see when Wilson first moved from the dumpster that he had a gun. Yet he'd made no move to draw it, in his defense the unidentified man did have some type of gun pointed at them maybe Wilson didn't feel he could get the gun and get a shot off before the other man took them out.
Perhaps she could use her left arm to take the gun and use it before the guy could get a shot off. She wasn't left handed but Barnes had been working with her on being able to use both hands equally without having a dominant one. Now suddenly all his lessons made way more sense, she mentally made a note to thank him if she made it out of this. Before she could make a move for the gun Wilson begin to speak again.
"A grenade launcher is a lot of weapon for someone looking to jack a wallet. You expect trouble?"
Deciding that trying to grab the gun wasn't worth the risk if that was really a grenade launcher, the hacker scrapped the plan and again mentally kicked herself. Way to go girl Barnes is going to have a field day with you once he hears about this. Of course, that's assuming I live through this.
The man gave them a sadistic smile at the question. "Yes, we're hoping that Captain America resists. HAIL HYDRA!" His explanation done he pulled the trigger firing off a grenade.
Before the words even completely left the man's mouth Sam had grabbed the young woman beside him and dove back towards the dumpster. In the process of diving Sam drew the gun and fired two shots into the mans' chest.
Skye was confused one second the man was speaking and then before she knew it Wilson had grabbed her, and they were diving towards the dumpster. Before they made it there she heard an explosion it was close based on how loud it was. When she turned her head in the direction of the HYDRA agent because there was no doubt that what he was. She was surprised to see him lying on the ground apparently dead. She turned again and saw the gun that was in Sam Wilsons' hand, she hadn't even heard the gun go off, the explosion must've covered the gunshot.
"Sorry about that I hope I didn't hurt or scare you." Sam was quick to try and make sure that the woman was alright.
She was about to respond when yet again something caught both their attention. It was gunfire coming from inside the apartment building, along with shouts of Hail HYDRA.
Skye was the first to make it to her feet she was moving toward the building when Sam suddenly grabbed her arm stopping her. Before she could protest he put his hand up to stop her protest. "Do you hear that?"
She did hear a loud noise now that it had been pointed out to her, it was a noise she knew all too well at that. "Oh my god it's a quinjet! They brought a damn quinjet. What the hell is going on?!"
The airman knew that she was right the situation had gone from bad to worse. HYDRA was attacking, and he only had one gun. To make matters worse he was stuck with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that was obviously inexperienced. "Okay we can't fight the jet, so we stay here out of its sight. We keep an eye on the door and make sure that it's clear when Steve and Barnes come out."
She couldn't believe this surely, he's lost his mind stay here and wait. What was he thinking? "Are you crazy? Let's take the dead agents' grenade launcher and take out that quinjet." Why that wasn't the first course of action the hacker couldn't fathom.
Sam turned and looked at her as if she'd grown another head. "Are you serious? Look around you, this neighborhood is practically deserted, the only people in these buildings are squatters and homeless people that have nowhere else to go. Not only that these buildings are old and worn down. Sure, we could take that quinjet down, but in doing so this whole block if not more would go up in flames. Not only that there's a chance it could crash into the building taking Steve and Barnes with it."
The hacker nodded her ascent, the airman's explanation made her feel about two inches tall. She should've known that was a bad idea, this hasn't gone anything like what she thought it would. Now she had to wonder if Barnes has been too easy on her in their training. "Sorry, I'm new to this."
Sam could sympathize with her he really could, the problem is now wasn't the time. "Look if that thing lands we can take it out. With it hovering like it is, it's just too risky now. The good news is that we're in a good position now, the light doesn't quite reach us, but there is still enough lighting out ahead of us to see what's going on. Steve gave me orders on what to do if this did go south, so trust me we keep an eye on the front and make sure they can come out."
Skye knew that Coulson thought the world of Captain America he once told her that Steve Rogers was the greatest tactician alive today. So, if he had a plan she could think of worse things to do than follow it.
Sam could see that he'd gotten through to her, for that he was thankful he wouldn't be of any help to Steve if this girl got him killed. Keeping his eye on the quinjet his stomach suddenly dropped, when he saw the jet deploy its guns and start firing on the building. Steve, you'd better not die in there, because if you do I'll have to be the one to tell Natasha. If that happens I have a feeling that I won't be too far behind you.
Being back here brought back a lot of memories for the soldier some good, some not so good. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't disappointed to see his old home in this kind of shape. It wasn't just his old apartment building though when he and Sam had arrived he was shocked to see the entire neighborhood was run down. He had avoided coming here since he had been thawed from the ice, for fear of seeing how much it had changed, now he sees he was right to avoid this place.
He was currently standing in what passed for his old living room, the same room he had been standing in when the doctor had come from his mother's room to tell him that she had passed. It saddened him to see that the old building was falling apart, he had put his foot through one of the stairs on the way up that's how rotten the wood was.
He had been standing in the room for only a couple of minutes before Bucky cleared his throat to let him know it was time to come back to the present. "Sorry, Buck I haven't been back here since I woke up from the ice."
"It's fine punk I could see you were having a hard time, so I figure I would let you bask in it." He meant what he said, of course, he hadn't known beforehand that Steve had yet to come back here. He knew from his own experience that coming home after all these years was tough.
Steve knew that he couldn't stay lost in his head all night, he needed to get this over with he had to talk to the team. "So, am I correct in thinking that Fury wants something?" The soldier figured that this was just going to be a continuation of Fury's sales pitch from the other night.
Bucky could only nod at his friends' statement, Steve Rogers was much more perceptive than people gave him credit for. "Yes. In truth we're up against the clock, HYDRA is working to make their own super soldier a version that's your equal. Director Fury and I both know that we're running out of time to put an end to it"
Steve was careful not to let his face betray what he was feeling, Howard had warned him about this in his message. "I'm not sure what you want me to do about it… That was an explosion!"
Bucky's first thought went to Skye she was in the SUV outside, then he heard it if he heard it then so did Steve. "Footsteps we have company."
Steve hoped that Sam was alright, his enhanced hearing could hear weapons being readied. "Buck down!"
As they both hit the ground shouts of Hail HYDRA were being screamed followed by a barrage of gunfire. The two soldiers crawled to one another knowing that they were outnumbered.
"Bastards showing up uninvited and shooting up your ma's place."
Steve had to admit that it felt good to be in the trench with Bucky again. "How about we teach them some manners, they should be reloading in just a second. When they burst through the door I'll take everything on the left, you take everything on the right."
Bucky had to admit it was a simple yet good plan, they would be coming through the door as soon as they reloaded to confirm the kill. "Sounds like fun, of course, your ma would be mad. After all, I'm pretty sure this violates her no roughhousing in the house rule."
Steve smiled at the comment, he knew that his ma was looking down on them both having a good laugh. That's when the shooting stopped, both soldiers knew what was coming next, reload and breach. Steve signaled Bucky and both soldiers quickly got into position, Steve drew his Colt, while Bucky had a standard issue Glock.
What was left of the door shattered to pieces as HYDRA soldiers made their way into the apartment. There were over a dozen men standing in the old living room, that's when the two soldiers struck.
They moved out from behind the door frame going into the kitchen, each one firing two shots in unison. All four shots found their target and almost as soon as the shots were fired four HYDRA agents dropped to the ground dead.
Before the other HYDRA agents could regroup and open fire the two soldiers made their move, they were in the middle of the agents. Bucky dropped two more with shots from his Glock, while Steve had grabbed an agent by the neck and was using him as a human shield while he fired off a few more shots killing three more agents.
Bucky was engaging four agents. He had dropped the gun in favor of one of his knives, since he'd closed the distance and was now within striking distance. He used his metal arm to grab the agent closest to him and slit his throat, He then threw his knife into the heart of the agent directly in front of him, the knife hit with such force that you could hear bone break.
The agent on the right of Bucky tried to aim his shotgun for a kill shot. Bucky used his enhanced strength and speed to his advantage, He grabbed the shotgun and moved it as it went off, the agent on his left took the shot to the face, he pulled the agent holding the shotgun toward him and snapped his neck.
Steve was engaging five HYDRA agents in hand-to-hand combat, he'd ditched his gun when one had jumped on his back in a misguided attempt to try and choke him out, that agent was dead now. The super soldier kicked one agent through the wall that separated the living room from the outside hall.
Much like Bucky had done Steve was leveraging his superior strength and speed to dispatch the agents with a brutality that's not normally seen from the super soldier.
Steve moved quickly dispatching the remaining agents, grabbing the one closest to him on the right, he used the agent as a shield while he grabbed the agents gun and quickly shot the remaining four agents. Once they were down, he promptly snapped the neck of the agent that he was using as a makeshift shield.
Dropping the gun, he and Bucky reunited and surveyed the carnage.
"Thought you hated guns."
"You know better than that Buck, besides I didn't have my shield. It's a good thing you were here I think you being here was a surprise to the HYDRA agents." The soldier really was glad that Bucky had been here while he could've dispatched the agents on his own, he would've at least gotten a couple of bullet wounds for his trouble.
Nodding in agreement the former assassin was troubled. "I know we weren't followed. Did anyone know you were coming here?"
The soldier knew that he wasn't being accused of anything, he even had to laugh a little at the amount of teasing he would receive from Natasha if he'd had a tail that he failed to spot. "No, I made sure no one was tailing us, and no one knew where Sam and I were going. I even did a perimeter sweep before coming in. Spotted the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the SUV, I hope her, and Sam are alright."
Again, all Bucky could do was nod, HYDRA had clearly been here for Steve, rather his old friend wanted to admit it or not he was neck deep in something. He was about to address the elephant in the room when they were both nearly blinded by a light.
Steve saw the light first, more importantly, he knew from experience where the light was coming from, it was a quinjet. "Buck, we need to find cover now!"
The assassin knew he was right. "There's an old cast iron fridge in the kitchen."
The two friends didn't speak another word they ran to the kitchen and pulled the fridge down so they could hide behind it. They barely made it onto the floor behind the fridge when the firing started, had they both not had enhanced speed they wouldn't have made it. Both friends could hear the ding of each bullet that hit the fridge, after a minute, but what felt like a day the shooting stopped.
Knowing that the quinjet had exhausted its supply of ammo the two friends decided it was time to go.
Steve was up first and heading to the door, while Bucky unholstered another Glock, Steve in the meantime had retrieved his Colt. That's when Steve heard it the whine of a repulsor, but thanks to the light of the quinjet he couldn't see the agent wielding the rifle until it was too late. From the hole where he'd sent the other agent out into the hallway during the fight another agent came out of hiding behind the wall and fired a repulsor beam hitting Steve dead center of the chest, sending him flying back into the kitchen and landing on top of the overturned fridge.
It all happened so fast, thankfully Bucky had enhanced speed, so he was able to react to the new player. Firing off a single shot from his Glock hitting the agent right between the eyes killing him instantly. With the final agent down the light from the quinjet went dark as it quickly fled the scene of the crime. The former HYDRA assassin could see the jet fly off, thanks to the fact that there was basically no wall separating the apartment unit they were in from the outside, he attributed this to the barrage of bullets that the quinjet fired off on them only a moment ago.
Taking one more look around to make sure that the area was clear he moved to Steve's side to assess his injuries. "Steve! Punk talk to me please."
The wound looked bad the assassin had never seen anything like it the soldiers' chest was a mix of blood and burns serious ones at that. Calling for an ambulance was a non-starter any HYDRA agents worth their salt would be monitoring emergency channels. The S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in New York didn't have a medical facility to deal with something like this, there was only one choice to help Steve. The assassin pulled out his phone and dialed Skye hoping that the girl didn't get herself killed, thankfully she answered after the first ring.
"Barnes are you alright?"
He was touched by her concern, but he needed to be all business now, Steve needed him. "Yes. I need you to move the car around front."
"Sorry but HYDRA blew it up."
"Okay. Have you seen who Steve came with yet?"
"Yeah a man named Sam Wilson is here, he came with Captain Rogers."
"Put him on the phone now."
"This is Wilson. What's wrong?"
Bucky was glad it's Sam Wilson and not the Black Widow, Wilson was a soldier himself and knew that in times of crisis speed was critical. "Is the car you drove here nearby? Steve's been shot by an unknown weapon and he's badly hurt. Taking him to a hospital is out of the question and the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility here can't treat wounds this bad, I'm hoping that Avengers Tower can."
"Yeah we parked our SUV about four blocks back I'll go get it and meet you here at the alley."
The assassin was glad to hear that they'd parked that close, it would take him about 10 minutes to get Steve out of here anyway, the fighting had made this whole place even more unstable if that was even possible. The last thing he needed was to be moving too fast and fall through the floor and drop his best friend. "Go it will take me a little while to get him out of here anyway."
Fury was getting ready to board a quinjet that was going to take him to meet up with Coulson and his team when his phone rang. The seasoned spy was slightly agitated because he'd left orders not to be disturbed unless it was a world-ending emergency. Looking at the screen he could see that it was Barnes, the assassin never called unless it was important, deciding to answer the phone expecting it to be bad news, but hoping he was wrong. "Barnes, this had better be good I am about to board a quinjet with agent Triplet to go and meet Coulson. Please tell me that you convinced Rogers to have a change of heart."
"Sorry sir, afraid we never made it that far. HYDRA came for him and he's hurt bad. I've never seen a weapon like they used on him before, we're taking him to Avengers Tower in hopes they can help him, but we're still a few minutes out. Sir, they sent an entire strike team including an armed quinjet to take him out, and they fought to the last to do it."
The director didn't like the sound of that, he also knew that there was no keeping the Avengers out of this now. "Okay we'll be in the air in five minutes I'll see you at the tower. Barnes I'm ordering you to ensure Captain Rogers safety until he can tell us what's going on."
The spy knew that Barnes would understand why he gave him that order, the Avengers were sure to try and freeze out an outsider like Barnes. Now though he had a legitimate reason to stay put and nose around and hopefully find the intel in the process. Looks like Coulson was going to have to wait, he was going to see the Avengers and probably piss a couple of them off. Boarding the quinjet, he made a note to fill Coulson in later on Captain Rogers condition, the man was a fan after all, despite Rogers bringing down S.H.I.E.L.D. "Trip change of plans we're going to Avengers Tower."
Pepper had grown impatient waiting for the elevator to stop at the common floor, not only was her phone not working, but J.A.R.V.I.S. wasn't responding either. Finally arriving on the common floor, she rushed out of the elevator hollering for help. "Tony anyone I need help, I think it's an emergency!"
Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing, which was watching a movie, and stared at the executive. Thor got up from his seat and offered it to the distressed executive, while Tony was up from the couch kneeling in front of her making sure that she didn't have any cuts or bruises on her.
Satisfied that she hadn't been physically harmed the inventor asked her what was wrong, no sarcasm or jokes his tone was nothing but concerned. "Pepper tell me what's wrong."
Catching her breath and calming down the executive composed herself and then she began to explain what happened. "We were at the airfield when my phone rang, the screen said that it was you calling me, it was even your number. When I answered it was a man's voice that I'd never heard before, he asked if he could speak to Steve. He told me that the punk was standing right beside me, I gave Steve the phone then right after he and Sam left for Brooklyn. I thought something might be wrong, so I tried to call the tower, but I had no service, I asked Happy if I could use his phone, but it also had no service."
Everyone took out their phones to check to see if they had any service, sure enough, everyone's phone said no service.
Of course, Natasha knew who the caller was as soon as Pepper uttered the word punk. Damn Steve you promised, at least Sam is with you. Now I can kill you both when you get back for keeping me out of the loop. "It was the Winter Soldier, Steve told me that Barnes nickname for him was punk because he was always getting into fights."
Before anyone could comment on the spy's revelation they were interrupted by J.A.R.V.I.S. "Dr. Banner I'm afraid that we have an emergency. Mr. Wilson is on his way up with an unidentified woman and a man that fits the description of the Winter Soldier. They have Captain Rogers with them, but he has been wounded in battle and requires immediate medical attention."
Before anyone could ask for more information the elevator door opened revealing the unannounced guest carrying an unconscious Steve Rogers. Bruce was quick to issue commands, he knew that time was of the essence. "Quickly put him on the floor!"
Bucky and Sam did as they were told before Bruce could get to him and examine his wound Natasha was on the floor by his side. Bruce finally managed to push his way through the small crowd that had gathered around their captain. "My god. J.A.R.V.I.S. get the medical staff up here now! We need to move him someone run and get the gurney. I think he may have internal bleeding, we may have to operate."
Clint had retrieved the gurney and between Tony, Clint, Thor, and Sam, they'd managed to get Steve to the infirmary, where Bruce and the medical staff were running tests to figure out the extent of his injuries, Bruce was also checking to see if any pieces of clothing needed to be removed from the burns on his chest. They were still trying to determine the type of weapon that had caused the injury. The rest of the team were in the foyer waiting for any news regarding Steve's condition.
Natasha, however, wanted answers she wasn't content just waiting on news about her boyfriend. Staring straight at the Winter Soldier she demanded an answer as to what happened. "Did you set him up?"
Bucky scoffed at the question, he knew that it was directed at him, he also knew that the infamous Black Widow didn't trust him. "Please, you and I both know that if I wanted to kill him I would've done it the other night."
The archer found his statement suspicious, but he noticed that Barnes didn't deny Natasha's question. "That's not an answer, so let me ask again. Did you set Cap up?"
This time Barnes laughed a little, the reports that he'd read about the archer and spy hadn't been mistaken about their friendship. "Good for you for spotting that, no wonder they call you Hawkeye, fact is I don't answer to you."
This time it was Thor who stepped forward with a scowl on his face. "If you're responsible for hurting Steve then you will answer to me, that's a promise."
"Okay, that's enough everyone goes to your respective corners."
Tony who'd been quiet the entire time knew the owner of the voice and could now be quiet no longer. "Fury!? Aren't you dead and how did you get into my tower?"