The silence that pervades the room, and the erratic heartbeats Steve can hear, tell him that everyone is awake and has heard the news. Everyone except Bucky.

He walks in, peace on his face until his eyes catch on Steve's and his body language tenses.

"What? What's wrong?"

Steve can't speak, his throat is concreted shut.

"Zemo and Beck have escaped." Natasha whispers.

The instant rage and fear that flashes across Bucky's face mirrors the expression that is already on Steve's.

—-

"Absolutely not!" Ross shouts, pointing a sharp finger at Steve, "there is no way in hell you're going with them."

Steve has to keep his fingers from breaking the back of the chair he's gripping into little tiny pieces. "You have to let me go, we can't let these men be on the loose! They're way too dangerous."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious, we are well aware of that fact." Ross sneers with a condescension that makes everyone in the room bristle. "You have not been cleared for missions. Therefore you are staying."

His breathing is shaky, rage rolling off him. "You can't—"

"Need I remind you, Rogers, that you agreed to the deal. You gave your word."

Steve's eyes close and he stalks off, leaving a smug faced Ross glaring at his back.

—

FRIDAY helpfully points them in Steve's direction after his quick disappearing act from the briefing room.

Clint leads the way, Tony trailing right behind him as they exit onto the game room floor.

Natasha sweeps her eyes over the room, not locating him at first. Then she sees a shoe sticking out from behind an arcade machine.

"Steve?" Bucky calls, spotting the shoe as well, he hurries over and kneels beside a pool table, leaning forward.

"I'm fine, Buck." Comes Steve's answer, in a tone that Clint can clearly tell is not fine.

"Listen, I hate Ross, you know that, the man can take a long walk off a short pier for all I care, but maybe…" Steve's eyes snap towards his friend, daring him to finish the sentence he's started. And to Bucky's credit, he manages to say it, "maybe he's right just this one time?"

Steve starts to stand up, his body language clearly saying get away from me but Bucky just grabs him with his metal arm and halts him.

"Steve, please. Don't—" Steve yanks his arm away, striding towards the elevators, then freezes.

"Wait, why are you here?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you here, trying to placate me? Don't you want to go after them too?" Bucky winces and he opens his mouth to speak when Steve scoffs out a strangled laugh. "How?" Steve barks out, "How can you be allowed to go? Neither of us were cleared!"

"Ross called Dr. Raymond and asked her if she thought I could handle this mission. She cleared me to help track them down since I did last time… to Detroit

Steve's head tips back and his hands rest on his hips, trying to control the anger at being the only one left behind. Storm clouds start to form and darken the room considerably.

"Listen, Steve." Clint cuts in, "when we catch these bastards, which we will, we will be back in a flash. Then, we will hit the ground running to get you cleared. That way, we won't have this problem again." He lays a hand on Steve's shoulder, and Bucky watches as Natasha steps up and wraps an arm around Steve's waist.

When Steve finally relaxes and says, "be safe," in his commanding Captain's voice, dark clouds are shadowing his face, making something on the back of Tony's neck prickle with anxiety.

—-

Steve stands, muscles tense as they load up on the Quinjet. Ross had just left a few minutes ago, and Steve is trying to ignore the ache in his chest about being left behind.

When the final supplies are locked into place, the team stands awkwardly.

"I could go." Steve tries one more time. "Ross isn't here, I wouldn't be a liability—"

"Cap," Tony says, any hint of snark or sarcasm absent, "we want you cleared for missions, not barred from coming on them ever again."

"Just stay here, Steve." Bucky says, gripping his friend's upper arm and smiling reassuringly, "We will be back before you know it."

The pain is apparent in Steve's eyes, and Natasha thinks he's going to shut it away, but he clenches his fists and opens his mouth, his voice a bit stilted.

"Just… Promise me you guys will come back." His eyes look at them with a bit of desperation. "I just got you back, Buck." He admits, grabbing Bucky's forearm. "I can't lose you again." Then he turns to the rest of the avengers. "You don't understand what just these last couple days have meant to me. I wouldn't— You can't—" He grits his teeth and snaps his arms to his sides. "I can't lose another team. I can't lose anymore friends." The real reason behind his fear of being left behind becomes crystal clear, causing their heart rates to rise, "I don't want to be alone again. Please," his eyes close, "Please, come home."

Natasha is already pressing into his arms at his last words and Clint isn't far behind. Bucky's cool metal hand finds the back of his neck and Tony steps in with Bruce, completing the hug.

—

The Quinjet blinks out of sight and Steve is left standing on the helipad, arms empty and a head full of worry.

—

The inside of the Quinjet is silent as it reaches speed. They already have a first location to go check out, some small village on the coast of Fiji where they received reports that Beck and Zemo had gotten on a boat there.

The first few hours they ride without saying more than a handful of words. Only when Tony flips through a report does he break the silence.

"So they're really thinking Hydra sleeper agents were to blame? Didn't we finally get rid of those when Cap brought SHIELD down?"

"The Hydra agents weren't just at SHIELD. They were placed all over the globe, and in many of the governments. Ross's intel says there must have been some that worked on the RAFT. That's the only way they could have escaped."

"Well, shit." Tony exhales. "If the most 'secure' prison in the world can't even hold the bad guys then… What can we do? Just kill 'em?"

He says it as a half-joke. They're not murderers. But the question still hangs in the air. Can anyone ever be safe if the bad guys can keep escaping?

—

It's a day later when Steve pulls out his phone. He bites at his lip and almost puts the phone away. But then he squares his shoulders and types out the message.

Can we meet? I'd like to discuss what steps you think are left for me to be cleared for missions.

He clicks send before he can chicken out, and sets his phone down to wait. His eyes catch on the afternoon sun, shining through the glass and warming the room.

—-

"Glad you guys are alright," Steve says into the comms. The team had just checked in and while there hadn't been much to find in Fiji, it did give them a new lead that might be worth checking out. Apparently the intel had been off, Beck and Zemo had allegedly gotten off a boat in Fiji and had stepped almost directly onto a plane, headed for Chile.

"Don't have too much fun without us, Cap." Clint calls from the pilot's seat.

"I'm bored to tears without you here," he jokes, but then smiles, "It is a lot quieter though, kinda peaceful."

"Hey, hey, hey." Tony snaps, popping his head in front of Bucky's to get in view of the camera, "Don't you get too comfortable in our absence."

The avengers all note how Steve's smile softens at them, "I won't, promise."

They say their goodbyes and Steve looks like he's going to say something, twirling his phone in his hand, but then thinks better of it and just gives a mini-salute, signing off.

"Tell me how I'm more concerned about one man in one of the safest places on earth than I am about us, flying this monstrosity over the middle of the Pacific Ocean."

Bucky laughs, a full sound that has the group turning towards him. "That's just the effect Steve has on people. How can one person make you want to protect them so much? Even when he's a giant punk with superhuman abilities?"

The mood lightens and they all settle in for the long flight.

—-

They land in Chile, following the vague lead and spending most of their time hot and annoyed at each other. The surveillance camera had caught sight of someone who sort of matched Beck's description at a rundown motel not far from the capitol so they were keeping watch, hoping to sight them.

After the first day, it became apparent that they two hadn't stuck around long. A kind and talkative maid informed them that there had been an American and an European who had shared a room for a night before paying in cash and leaving in a large black SUV.

They're about to leave, thanking her for her information when she blushes and holds up a finger for them to wait. She comes back, holding a small tablet in her hands.

"They left this," she looks defiant, "we didn't know how to contact them to let them know they left it behind."

They take the tablet gingerly, and thank the lady before walking quickly back to their jet.

—

"Okay, I know we've all been thinking it, but I'm going to say it." Natasha announces, her fingers splayed on the metal side of the Quinjet as they land to refuel somewhere in Morocco. The others turn towards her and she sighs. "Doesn't this all feel… I don't know… Like a trap? Or a wild goose chase?" She turns towards Clint, "you said something on the jet earlier, 'I can't believe we lucked out with that tablet'. But you said it more like you meant: 'I don't believe we lucked out finding that tablet.' Am I wrong?" She doesn't wait for his response, "Beck and Zemo just escaped from the highest security prison on the planet, isn't that what you said, Stark?" He nods. "So we don't have any footage of them escaping, but we have grainy footage in Fiji, then Chile, and they just happen to leave a tablet that we have to decode that leads us directly to them somewhere in Germany?"

Bruce is silent, sitting on one of the metal benches, hands clasped together as he leans on his knees.

Clint walks in a quick circle, watching their perimeter. "I agree with Natasha." He says suddenly, "in fact I have been thinking it the whole time since we stepped off the plane in Fiji and had another lead in less than a few hours. But I didn't say anything because…. If we don't follow these leads, then we have nothing."

At this admittance Tony sighs and flops down, leaning his back against the boarding plank. "Of course it smells like a trap. But who better to walk into one than us? And birdie here is right, if not this, then what?"

"Should we contact Ross and let him know what we're thinking?" Natasha asks hesitantly.

"So he can pull us off this mission and send us back to the compound to wait?" Bucky asks, frustration creeping into his voice.

"If we know it's a trap, then maybe we can go to where they're leading us, but avoid setting it off. Like maybe we can figure it out before they—"

"Before they what?" Clint asks suddenly. "What trap could they have for us? They want to torture us some more? Hell, the only reason they captured us in the first place was to make Cap into a—" He stops, a strangled look on his face. "When's the last time we heard from Cap?"

"Barton, I swear—" Bucky starts, the implication understood instantly. Bruce rushes to the pilot's seat and clicks the comms button. He sighs audibly.

"He texted us about 30 minutes ago. Apparently he's allowing FRIDAY to teach him how to shop online."

"WHAT!" Tony shrieks, rushing to the screen reading the message. "That's IMPOSSIBLE. I can't get him to try any technology and he tries the second we leave?"

Clint laughs, relief evident on his face. "Sounds like Steve."

The mood lightens and they settle back into the jet, fueling finished.

"So… what… do we do?" Natasha broaches.

"I think you're right that it does seem like it's too easy. That it might be a trap, but I don't really know what other options we have besides turning tail back to Ross."

No one speaks. They don't want to abandon this mission while there might be the slightest chance it isn't a trap and they can find Beck and Zemo.

"So we go." Bruce states. "If it's a trap, we will deal with it then."

No one disagrees, so Clint fires up the engines and they take off, heading north east.

—-

The plane lands in a field in Southern Germany. They hike through dense forest the rest of the way to the coordinates they were able to decode from the tablet. As they exit into a small clearing that is set against a high rock cliff, they notice a small unnatural divet in the rock face.

"Guess that's our entrance." Tony whispers, sounding metallic through the comms. They've all come dressed to the teeth. Natasha can't remember the last time she had this many guns and knives strapped around her body. Clint packed almost double his usual amount of arrows and Tony and Bucky look menacing with their metal weaponry. Bucky holds a large rifle close to his chest, eyes constantly scanning around them.

Bruce waits in the jet, keeping up a consistent conversation with Steve, who agrees it might be a trap.

Please be careful, the last text reads. Bruce smiles and responds.

They will be.

—-

They're two flights of stairs down the empty base before Bucky starts getting antsy. "I don't… I don't like it here."

"Didn't realize you were a scaredy-cat, Barnes?" Tony jokes, but his tone is playful, trying to lighten the mood.

"It's not that," Bucky whispers. "Something feels off."

"Like the fact that we're probably walking into a trap?" Clint adds dryly.

"Maybe." Is all Bucky responds with.

—-

Empty rooms, rooms full of useless equipment, rooms with metal desks and chairs and rooms with the contents burnt to a crisp are all they find at first. Nothing of importance or relevance to Beck or Zemo. All of it's in German and they don't stop in any one place for too long.

They briefly consider splitting up to search, but they decide that's just inviting an ambush so they stick close, guarding each other's backs.

Finally they push through the door on the lowest floor, well below ground level. Bucky steps into the center where two hallways intersect and his eyes catch on a door down the hallway to his right. He stiffens. He shining his flashlight against the door and chokes.

"Barnes?" Natasha asks, stepping forward, sweeping her own flashlight for whatever is causing him to react this way. He doesn't answer, just steps forward, running his fingers along the clammy concrete wall and shaking his head. The others share a look as they follow him down the hallway.

"It can't be." He whispers.

He's gone before they can even ask what's the matter. They bolt after him, catching up but standing back as they watch him punch the door, over and over, trying to break it in.

"Barnes, BARNES! Let me." Tony pushes past and uses his repulsors to cut out the hinges. The door falls with a resounding clang against the floor, and they stand there for a second, looking into the darkness.

Tony steps forward, his arc reactor and hands illuminating the room just a tiny bit. Bucky raises his flashlight from his feet, slowly, almost as if he is afraid of what he will find.

When the light hits something red crumpled in the middle of the room, Bucky chokes out a strangled growl and lurches forward. He makes it to the middle of the room and hits his knees hard, hands reaching out to the all too familiar item but not touching it.

"Can we get some lights?" Tony asks, his voice wary over Bucky's behavior.

Natasha flips the switch by the door but there's nothing.

"Barnes?" Clint broaches, "What is it?" Bucky's eyes land on Clint's, something unreadable in them, before raising them heavenward.

Tony opens his faceplate and all three follow his gaze with their eyes and their flashlights until they catch on something metal and shiny hanging from the ceiling. Chains, with shackles at the end, dark stains apparent on them.

"No." Natasha shouts, realization hitting her before the others. Her flashlight travels down to the far wall, reflecting off the metal bars of the cell. Chains hooked to the wall in there as well.

Bucky's eyes drop back down to his hands and he gingerly picks up the boots. The red leather is stiff in his hands.

He holds them out to Tony, whose face morphs into disbelief and disgust as he realizes just exactly Barnes is holding.

"This can't be." Clint snarls. "They can't just still be here."

"It's them." Bucky states flatly. "Look." He wipes dust off the offending boots, and reveals the drips of blood that cover them. "The SSR shut this place down when they rescued us from here. But Peggy told me that they were waiting until after the war to tear the base down. I guess they never did in the wake of Steve's death." He clutches the boots in his fingers, "But how the HELL did we get coordinates here."

"Why didn't you recognize it when we approached the entrance?" Natasha asks.

"That's not the door we left from. There must be another entrance to this place."

His eyes glance upwards and he jumps up, grabbing onto the chains and ripping at them with all his might.

They don't budge and he snarls, trying again. Concrete chunks start raining down, dust filling the air.

"Barnes, stop." Clint tries, "Barnes, STOP. You're going to hurt yourself!"

He lurches forward slamming his metal arm against the cell bars. "They've already hurt me." He hisses. "How do Zemo and Beck even know about this place? Why would they send us here? If it's not a trap to catch us then WHAT? Steve didn't even know about this place." Natasha opens her mouth to respond when Bucky gasps. "Steve didn't even know about this place. Not until days ago."

"What are you saying, Barnes?"

"I'm saying no one should know where this place is."

"Maybe Colonel Phillips or some of the higher ups wrote this place up?"

"They wrote it off as a Nazi base. I know for a fact that Phillips never catalogued Steve's torture here. The only people who ever knew about this place until a few days ago are either dead, the people in this room, or—" He cuts off, his eyes going frantic as he bolts from the room, leaving them frozen in confusion.

—-

Bruce jolts in surprise as Barnes slams into the plane, practically toppling over the pilot's chair, face red and breathing heavily.

"Bucky?" Bruce questions. "You okay?"

"Are you still talking to Steve?" He rasps, trying to catch more air.

"Yeah, I just texted him a few minutes ago. Why?" Bucky wants to feel relief. He really does. But not until he hears Steve's voice.

"Call him."

Bruce furrows his brow but doesn't ask, just clicking the comms buttons to call the compound.

When Steve doesn't answer the main line, Bucky chokes but tries to stay some semblance of sane. "Call his cell." He demands.

They try his cell three times but he still doesn't pick up.

The comms beep and a text from Steve pops up. The relief only lasts for a brief second before Bucky's mind processes the words.

Steve can't come to the phone right now, can we take a message?

Bruce hears the other three approaching but he can't take his eyes off the screen as a new text message arrives. This time with a picture.

He hears Natasha gasp at the image and his own throat runs dry.

There stands Beck, in Central Park, the object of the photo, smiling at the camera in a hat and sunglasses, but their eyes are drawn to Steve, recognizable even far off in the background, talking to someone that they can't see from the angle.

The message underneath says one word:

Gotcha

—-

*A/N- Don't hate meeeee :l