Walking into the small, overcrowded pub, was like walking into a lion's den. Most of it's inhabitants were Hydra agents or "friends" of Hydra. It was a safe spot for the German division to take a break and unwind after full days of doing dirty work.
Caroline made eye contact with no one as she entered. Some might recognize her, most wouldn't. Regardless, she had worked long and hard with Natasha, and Tony had worked long and hard to create a perfect cover story.
Remember, be confident. You are Hydra, not an Avenger.
She repeated Natasha's words to herself over and over again as she sat down at a corner table against a wall. Bucky and Sam had the other end of a tracking device that was stored in her necklace and her earring were actually tiny microphones so that they could listen in.
Caroline glanced around the room, trying to keep nonchalant, no one had seemed to notice her yet, which was good. She needed to notice Rumlow first. When she finally did spot him, he was sitting at the bar, his head bent over his drink. She ignored the feeling of dread that had crept it's way into her stomach and got up, taking off her leather jacket.
Placing herself in his line of sight, she pushed between two other young men waiting at the bar. The bartender ignored them and walked up to her instead.
"What are you drinking sweetheart?" he asked.
"I'll have a vodka soda," she replied, "two limes."
He nodded and walked off to make her drink. She saw Rumlow move from the corner of her eye and within seconds, felt his presence at her back.
"What do you think you're doing here little girl?" he breathed into her ear.
"Can't a girl get a drink?" she asked, smirking.
"You must really be batshit if you think you're going to make it out of here alive," he said with a gruff laugh.
She turned pressing her body against his, smiling up at him with an eyebrow raised. He looked shocked, but did not make any moves to hurt her. She didn't expect that anyone would stop him if he dragged her out kicking and screaming, so she had to make herself convincing.
"See that table over there?" she nodded to her corner table, "Wait for me there, I'll explain everything," she whispered the last part into his ear.
"Oh you better," he said with a grin.
Caroline winked, then watched as he took a seat at the table she had suggested. He watched as she turned back towards the bartender and picked up her drink.
"Put it on his tab," she said tilting her head towards Rumlow.
He sat with her arms crossed, one leg resting on top of the other as she pulled out the chair across from him and sat down. He shook his head laughing.
"I'm confused Page," he always called her by her surname, "Either you're incredibly bold or incredibly stupid."
"Why stupid? Because I walked in here after hanging out with Stark and Rogers for a bit? Wouldn't that make me…oh I don't know, valuable?" she asked, sipping her drink.
"You're an Avenger sweetheart, we know all about your little turn to the light," he said leaning back.
"Well Rumlow, it doesn't surprise me that you don't read the news, but I would have expected you to see it somewhere, or at least be briefed on it," she laughed, pulling out her phone and sliding it over to him.
She watched as his eyes scanned the article she had pulled up. A few days ago Tony had staged a very real bombing at Avengers HQ. He had reported to news outlets that Caroline had been the cause and that she had now gone rogue. As far as the entire world was concerned, Caroline had tried to blow up the Avengers, then ran back to Hydra.
"You expect me to believe this bullshit?" he asked glancing up at her.
"You can believe whatever you want," she said taking another sip of her drink, "The reality is, I'm not an Avenger and I never was."
"So why are you here Page?" he asked sliding her phone back to her.
"I need a job," she shrugged, "I need to get back in, and I thought you would be the man to help me."
"Oh I tired that love," he laughed, "but you left, ran off with Captain America."
"I didn't run off Rumlow, they took me from that base," Caroline said rolling her eyes, "I can see communication within divisions is still messy at best."
"You really tried to blow up the Avengers?" he asked narrowing his eyes at her.
"I sure did," she said leaning forward, "Stark is a smart man, but I managed to blow up half of his base anyhow."
"Yet somehow they all made it out alive," Rumlow said raising an eyebrow.
"I hit Stark's lab and Roger's office, everything they had on Hydra were in those rooms, all of Stark's tech, destroyed. Sure he can rebuild, but it's buys time. And Barton is still in the hospital from his burns," she bragged, "It isn't my fault that they're quick."
All of these things were true. Tony needed it to be as realistic as possible, so he blew up his tech along with half of the base. He had, however, removed the Hydra files and stored them in a safe location. To the outside world, Clint was indeed recovering in the hospital from gnarly burn wounds, in reality he was at home,with his wife and kids.
"Alright," Rumlow nodded, "One more question then."
"Go ahead," she replied.
"What is your precious Barnes up to? Is he still one of them, or did he follow you back?" Rumlow asked.
She shifted in her seat as more of Natasha's words rang out in her ears. Words that weren't as helpful as some of the others.
You better pray he doesn't ask you about Barnes. Your face betrays you at the very sound of his name.
"He's still one of them, he always was," Caroline replied nonchalantly, "He never knew I planned on coming back. Why would he?"
"I remember how attached you were to him," Rumlow said, eyeing her carefully, "It took you forever to trust me after he'd abandoned you."
"He isn't who I thought he was," Caroline said swirling her straw in her drink, "He's weak, I thought he'd come back to us, but he's too far up Roger's ass."
She held her face together thinking about Sam and Bucky listening in on that one. She would hear it later from Bucky about it, she was sure. Rumlow snickered, which was a good sign, he was beginning to let his guard down.
"Let me get you another," he said nodding to her empty glass.
"Why not," she shrugged.
He smiled at her and stood walking off to the bar. She was thankful that the microphone in her ear was one way, no doubt Bucky was losing his mind, and his telling would only be a distraction to her.
Rumlow came back and slid her drink over to her, then took his seat again. He watched as she fiddled with the ice, shoving the lime down into the liquid.
"Try it," he said, "I want to make sure I got it right."
He watched expectantly as she took a sip. She swallowed and nodded.
"It's perfect," she said.
"Great, let's go out back," he said, "It's a little more private and I need a real smoke break."
"Alright," she said grabbing her jacket, following him through the back door.
It was chilly outside, as November in Germany often was. There was a light dusting of snow around them, even more in the woods behind them. Caroline shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around her. They leaned up against the wall, blocking themselves from the wind. Rumlow lit a cigarette and offered her one. She took it, nodding a thanks, and held it in her mouth as he lit it for her.
"It's freezing," she said shivering.
"Sure is," he nodded watching her closely.
She cocked her head to the side, questioningly. Then, her head started to spin and her vision began to blur. She pressed her hand against the wall, steadying herself.
"There it is," Rumlow said, taking a drag of his cigarette.
"What did you do?" Caroline panted.
"You know Caroline, I almost believed you," he said as her knees buckled beneath her, "But I saw your eyes flicker the second I mentioned Barnes. You're a bad liar, and now, you'll die for it."
She clutched her head as the world around her went dark. The last thing she saw was Rumlow hovering above her, flicking his cigarette into the damp ground.
Caroline blinked, her head was pounding. She resisted the urge to throw up. Slowly, her surroundings became more distinguishable, although that didn't help her figure out where she was. It was dark outside and cold. They were in the woods behind the bar, Rumlow must have dragged her that far. Her hands were zip tied behind her back. He was perched on a rock, watching her, a broad grin forming across his lips.
"Goodmorning sunshine," he said sarcastically, "Did we have a good sleep?"
"I'm on your side you idiot," Caroline spat, still trying to maintain her cover.
"You know it's funny," Rumlow said gruffly, "You and Roger's had almost the same reaction when I brought up your precious Barnes. There must be something really special about that guy. I always thought he was kind of a dickwad," he shrugged.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Caroline breathed.
He walked towards her, chuckling lowly. She glared at him, intended to send him flying backwards, but he just kept right on moving towards her.
"Can't use your powers?" he asked kneeling down in front of her.
"What did you do to me?" she asked, tears streaming down her face.
He pulled out a tiny glass vial and shook it in front of her.
"Hydra's been working on this," he said with a grin, "A little drop will render your powers useless. With all the new mutated freaks they're creating, they had to figure out a way to keep all these new super powers in check."
"Mutated freaks?" Caroline asked shaking her head.
"Oh yeah, you think you're the only one?" Rumlow laughed, "There's a gene, dormant in most, they've found a way to wake that gene up. Freaks like you."
"So they didn't give me anything," Caroline said breathlessly.
"You've always had it, they just showed you how to use it," he said, "But they're gone now. They'll come back, eventually, but for now, you ain't special," he said grinning darkly as he clutched her chin.
"Maybe not, but I can still do this," she said ramming her head into his nose, hard.
Natasha had taught her how to fight with her hands behind her back, they accounted for everything in her training. Rumlow clutched the bridge of his nose, panting heavily.
"You're going to pay for that," he said grabbing a handful of her hair.
She screamed as he hurled her into the rock he had previously occupied, Her shin came in direct contact with a sharp edge. She heard the crack and felt blood.
"I'm going to kill you," he said into her ear, "I should take you back to them, but I'm going to kill you."
He threw her down in front of him, pulling out what looked like a gun. It was glowing at the end, threatening something more powerful than a bullet.
"Like our shiny new toys?" he asked.
Red Wing flew down, hitting him directly in the face. He flew backwards as Caroline's heart did a flip.
"Like ours?" Sam's voice rang out through Red Wing.
Bucky ran over to Caroline, and cut her zip ties.
"Buck," she said, her voice catching in her throat, "You have to go, please go, he'll kill you."
"Are you okay?" he asked holding her face in his, ignoring her panic, "C'mon, we have to go, let's go," he said lifting her into his arms.
"Well look who it is," Rumlow wheezed, getting to his feet, "The Winter Soldier," he seethed.
"Caroline go," Bucky said putting her on her feet.
"How fucking precious," Rumlow snapped, "You think you're actually a hero. You ain't shit Barnes. Nothing but a cold blooded killer, I've seen the carnage you've left behind."
"Kill me then," Bucky said shrugging, "You've always wanted to, here's your chance."
Bucky drew his gun as Rumlow drew his. They fired at the same, a shot ringing out from Bucky's end, and a loud blast coming from Rumlow's. Sam flew through the air kicking Rumlow to the side, throwing his aim off. Rumlow got up and took off running, as Caroline crawled over to Bucky.
She sucked in a breath as she took in the damage. The left side of his abdomen had been hit, his uniform had been completely singed off, and his skin was dark and burned. Sam flew down and landed beside her, looking completely terrified.
"Sam," she said in a calm voice, ripping the rest of Bucky's uniform from him, "I need you to not panic, but, I can't heal him right now."
"Right…right…that shit Rumlow slipped in your drink, which by the way why the HELL were you taking a drink from that man?" Sam asked, clearly panicking.
"Call Nat and Bruce, right now," Caroline said scooping up some snow from the ground around her.
She gingerly pressed it against his wound.
"Ow what the fuck?" he winced, his eyes snapping open.
"Hi Buck," Caroline said softly.
"Am I going to die?" he asked, his entire body trembling from the pain.
"Maybe, you've got a damn hole in you," Sam said.
"Great," Bucky nodded.
He looked up at Caroline for more reassurance. She smiled down at him, trying to hold back her tears.
"Oh shit, it really is bad," he breathed.
"No, it's not bad, it's fine, you're fine," Caroline said quickly.
She brushed the hair back from his face. He shook everywhere and Caroline didn't know how to fix it or make it stop.
"It feels bad," he said, struggling to keep his eyes open.
Sam pulled out a syringe from his utility belt and shoved the needle into Bucky's arm. Bucky winced, then slowly, his body began to relax.
"Morphine," Sam said, putting the empty syringe back in his belt.
"Thank you," Caroline nodded.
"Caroline, you look great," Bucky slurred, "I mean really great. Different, but great."
"Okay Buck," Caroline said with a laugh, "Sam how far out are they?"
"They should be here any minute," Sam said, "You know Barnes, you're in a position of power here. Almost dying and all, you could ask for whatever you want and get it," Sam said kneeling on the other side of Bucky.
"I want my arm back," Bucky mumbled.
"Alright maybe not whatever you want," Sam chuckled, "What about a date?" Sam said winking at Caroline.
She glared over at Sam as he smiled broadly.
"I'm flattered Sam, really I am, and I always kind knew you had a crush on me, but you're just not my type," Bucky said with a laugh.
His laugh made him wince, and Caroline stroked his forehead. She looked over at Sam tearfully, and he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Not with him you idiot," Caroline said, turning her attention back to Bucky.
"If I'm going to get a date with you, it's not going to be a pity date because you think I'm about to die," Bucky said shaking his head.
"Fair enough," Caroline running a shaky hand through his hair, "I promise I'll consider a non-pity date if you just stay alive."
"Caroline, you're bleeding," Sam said softly.
"She's what?" Bucky asked, moving to sit up.
He winced again and Caroline pressed her hand to his chest, holding him down with very little force.
"I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth to Sam, "It's just a scratch," she said glancing down at the gash in her leg.
"Okay sure, just a scratch," Sam said unzipping the top of his uniform.
He pulled of the shirt he had underneath, then zipped his top back up. He moved to wrap it tightly over her leg. She held in her gasp of pain as he worked silently on her. Both kept as quiet as possible, not wanting to draw any of Bucky's attention to it.
"Caroline," Bucky wheezed, "Why aren't you healing me?"
"I can't," Caroline said, crying fully now, "Bucky I can't."
"Don't cry," he said lifting his hand to her cheek, "I forgot, I'm sorry. I just forgot."
She dropped down, sobbing into his chest. A whirring sound came in behind her and her heart leapt as the wind picked up at her back. Natasha and Bruce were finally there. They ran out of the jet.
"Hey, we're here," Natasha said resting her hand on Caroline's shoulder, "It's going to be okay."
"I've called Dr. Cho, she'll be at the base before we are," Bruce said reassuringly, "Don't worry Barnes, Barton has been through this, he can tell you all about it. You'll be fixed in no time."
"Great," Bucky gulped, "Am I going to die though?"
"No, you're gonna be fine," Bruce laughed.
"Caroline can you walk?" Sam asked.
"I don't think so," Caroline said trying to stand.
"I'll carry you," Bucky slurred.
"Oh my god Barnes, you're such an idiot," Caroline chuckled through her tears.
"Sure, but Banner said I'm going to live, so try and not let that idiot thing sway you when you're considering a date," he said with a weak smile.
"Let's get this giant hole fixed first please," said Caroline.
"Always an excuse, am I right Sam?" Bucky said turning his head towards Sam.
"Okay Barnes, I think that morphine is kicking in extra hard now, let's get you onto the jet," he laughed.
Bucky winced as Sam and Bruce each placed an arm over their shoulders and lifted him onto the jet. Natasha did the same with Caroline, taking an arm over her shoulder and holding Caroline by the waist with her other arm.
"He asked about Barnes didn't he?" Natasha asked gently as she helped Caroline limp up the ramp.
"He asked about Barnes," Caroline whimpered.
"Hey, it's okay," Natasha said sitting her down, "Did you get the info?"
"Yeah, I know what they're working on," Caroline nodded.
"Then you did your job, and you got out alive, all of you," Natasha smirked, "It's not the biggest fail in the history of the Avengers. We did drop an entire city out of the sky."
"Is he really going to be okay?" Caroline asked softly.
"He's going to be okay," Natasha nodded, "Same thing happened to Clint and look at that guy?"
"Okay," Caroline said shaking her head.
She felt the jet jolt as Sam started to fly it back to New York. Bruce had Bucky on the table in the back, he seemed to be unconscious.
"Why didn't you just heal him?" Natasha asked.
"Rumlow," Caroline sobbed, "He gave me something, put it in my drink, my powers aren't working. He said they'll come back, but I couldn't help Bucky. The one thing I'm good at I couldn't even do."
"It's okay," Natasha said bringing Caroline into her, "It's going to be okay. He's going to be okay. You both are."
Caroline cried into Natasha until Bruce came over and pumped her full of morphine too. The pain in her leg was gone in an instant and her body finally began to relax. Natasha scooped her up and put laid her down in the corner with a blanket. She sat beside her, placing Caroline's head in her lap, stroking her hair gently. Bruce walked over to her and slid down beside her, leaning his back against the wall.
"Barnes is in pretty bad shape," Bruce sighed.
"Yeah, I could tell," Natasha nodded, "I didn't want to freak this one out though. Will he be okay?"
"I'm sure he will be, his wound is deeper than Barton's was, but Cho is genius. She should be able to fix him up, his recovery might be longer, but yeah, I think he'll be okay," Bruce nodded, "Did she do it?"
"Yeah, she did," Natasha said with a nod, "Mission accomplished. I'm going to murder Stark when I get back for almost losing her, but she did it."
Bruce chuckled and placed his hand gently over Natasha's. She gave him a small smirk, resting her head on his should for a moment. When she lifted her head back up, he gave her hand a small squeeze.
"I should go back to Barnes," he said standing.
"Do you love him?" Caroline mumbled.
"Shit, I thought you were out," Natasha said with a jump, "Don't scare me like that."
"Do you love him though?" Caroline asked again.
"You're on drugs, you don't know what you're talking about," Natasha said shaking her head.
"Okay, but do you love him?" said Caroline.
"Jesus, you're relentless," Natasha laughed, "One might say I have a crush. But you won't remember this and if you do…no one will believe you."
"Fine," Caroline grunted, "I knew it though. I knew you loved him."
"Go to sleep Caroline," Natasha chuckled.
Natasha leaned her head back against the wall, listening to Caroline steadily breath in and out. When she knew that Caroline was finally asleep, she closed her eyes too, still stroking Caroline's hair.