"Okay, what the fuck just happened?" Tony asked into his earpiece, watching bewildered as the Hydra agents that had been swarming him suddenly retreated within a heartbeat. Something twisted in his gut, which he soon realised was worry. "Guys?"
"They seem to have retreated back behind enemy lines, Man Of Iron. Perhaps they were overcome by our might." Thor said – more like yelled – through the mic. Tony gave a frown before realising that they couldn't see him.
"Everyone good?" He asked. Thankfully, an array of voices answered his call.
"They left me too." Natasha was the first to answer. "Heard a gunshot close to me, I'm going to investigate." She informed him. Tony winced at the news.
"That was me." Bucky muttered, voice raspy. "I was caught off guard. Distracted."
Natasha murmured something in Russian down the line. Tony didn't bother to translate, not wanting to invade their privacy. However, he did pick up the name "Steve", and his blood ran cold at the memory of his last sighting of the super soldier. It was unusual for him not to answer his line for so long – the Captain was talking in them almost constantly, checking whether they were wounded.
Thinking back, Tony realised that he hadn't seen Steve since they split up. He clenched his fist.
"The bombs were fucking duds. And where the fuck is Steve?" Tony raised his hand as he spoke, blasting the roof open. He flew out as the building began to crumble, perching on a lamppost.
"I thought he was helping Clint." Falcon's smooth voice replied. Tony turned, finding the man hovering beside him.
"So was I." Tony said. He gestured helplessly to the spot of ground below, where Clint was walking somewhat unsteadily. There was no other with him.
"Shit." Falcon, without another word, took off into the sky.
"You're telling me no one knows where he is?" Bucky asked tightly. Even through the mic, Tony could hear the strain in his voice.
Though reluctant, Tony had chose to place Barnes on the Avengers team, along with Wilson. After the almost-Civil-War fiasco (he had almost foolishly tried to kill the winter soldier before looking at Steve distraught expression), he supposed it was the least he could do after forcing them to be constantly on the run and fight his own team. The thought of his parent's murderer joining their team didn't sit well with him, sure, but he understood how little control Barnes actually had.
Throughout the time, he and Bruce had began therapy to erase the soldier's programming completely. And not once had Steve left Bucky's side, always shoulder to shoulder. Tony had seen plenty of times the fondness and care that Steve gazed at Bucky with, and found himself wanting to help in any way that he could.
But now Steve was apparently gone. Barnes must be freaking out.
Heck, he was freaking out.
"Steve?" Bucky yelled through the comms, jolting him out of his worry. "Steve I swear to God, answer me!"
Silence.
Steve would never leave Bucky in silence.
"Okay, we need a wide search." Tony organised. "I was sure that those bombs were all duds, but it's possible Steve's may have not been. Split up into groups, and cover this entire area." He ordered.
Murmurings of agreement rang in his ear, and he gave himself a short nod. He paused, thinking.
"Everyone but Barnes. Get him to medical before he lifts up even a pebble." Tony advised. Immediately, Bucky argued.
"No fucking way! I've survived worse!" He all but growled into the mic.
"Nat, I give you full permission to knock him out."
"I've gotta find him –"
"I know Steve would kill me when he finds out you searched for him with a bullet wound." Tony retorted. "So get to medical. Bruce will patch you up."
"It seems that Doctor Banner is still enraged." Thor informed them. Tony flipped off his helmet, running a hand down his face.
"Natasha, could you –"
"On it." The assassin answered. From his perch, he watched her weave through the buildings, towards the roaring ahead of them.
"FRIDAY? Can you find Steve's tracker?" He asked his AI. He took off into the air once more, following the computer's instructions as he scoured the streets.
"Two miles South, sir." FRIDAY chimed. Tony followed the direction, giving an update through the comms.
"FRIDAY has Steve's location. Get over to me ASAP." Tony ordered. As he closed in on Steve's location, he gazed down at the street below him.
Rubble and dust coated the roads of New York, but thankfully nothing colossal. The fact was strange in itself, Tony realised – usually Hydra were very eager to blow up a building of two, wanting to create as much heartbreak as they could to the victims. Not only that, but they went to the effort to plant dud bombs, where they were all separately ambushed – it sounded out of character, almost as if it were –
" – a distraction…" Tony whispered. Dread consumed him.
Steve was missing.
Steve was missing.
"It was a distraction!" Tony yelled into the comms, unable to hear his voice over the buzzing in his ears.
Steve never just went missing. Not without a sound, like he had done.
"What?" Falcon's voice asked. Tony barely heard it.
"Get over here, quickly!" Tony yelled, crashing to the ground. Slabs of concrete split beneath him, but he paid no attention. Instead, he stared up at the empty tower block that FRIDAY had lead him to.
"According to the tracker, Steve is on the second floor of the building." FRIDAY informed him.
"I knew it."
Tony turned, finding Bucky standing behind him with Clint propping him up.
"Steve's going to kill me, Barnes!" Tony snapped. "Come back when you stop bleeding all over the floor!"
"You know I ain't leaving, so let's get going, Stark." Bucky replied testily. The rest of his team were crowded behind him, looking torn between helping him and looking for Steve.
Tony was about to argue, but instead strode forward into the building. He didn't have time to be arguing to someone who wouldn't change their mind, not when another life was possibly at stake.
"The doors are sealed shut." Clint suddenly said into the dark halls of the building. To demonstrate his point, he pulled hard on the door closest to him. Bucky reached over from Clint's shoulder, pulling the metal with his own strength. The door didn't give.
"Look." Bruce, who had finally de-hulked, pointed to the walls.
They were decorated with red arrows, all pointing towards the staircase that lead to the different floors.
"I don't think this décor came with the building." Tony muttered, narrowing his eyes. He heard Bucky growl from behind him.
"It seems like this path has been marked on purpose. We have been told to walk it." Thor's voice said into the tense silence.
"We have no choice if we want to find Steve." Sam began to walk forward, using his wings to partially light the way. "How much further?"
"Just up the stairs. To the right." Tony gestured upwards.
As one, the team began to climb the stairs on high alert. But it seemed the building was completely empty, devoid of any life or sound.
"I hear something." Bucky suddenly said. He gestured to the earpiece to provide further explanation. "Footsteps."
He was right, Tony realised as he listened carefully. Through Steve's earpiece, they could make out the distant thud of footsteps as they approached.
"Our footsteps." Tony clarified. "He's close. Be on guard for any danger."
Finally, they reached the top of the stairs. The arrows only continued down the all, this time decorated with mocking messages.
'Almost there!' One read, ending with a smiley face. Bucky took one look at the writing before heaving himself off Clint.
With one hand clutched around his wound and the other holding out a gun, the soldier dashed in front, breaking their protective line.
"James!" Natasha hissed. Bucky didn't even acknowledge the deadly warning, eyes narrowed as he followed the arrows.
"For the love of – let's go!" Tony shouted, taking off after him. The remainder of the team followed, though slower than the soldier.
Honestly, Tony really couldn't blame him.
There was a sudden, almost tortuous wail in the next room, where all of the arrows had been leading them to. For a moment, Tony was stunned at the noise, before he realised that it had came from Barnes.
He dashed into the room, his team behind him, just as he saw Bucky punch the wall. In his metal hand, a Captain America action figure was slowly getting crushed, a piece of paper wrapped around its torso.
"Fuck!" Bucky yelled, punching the wall a second time with more vigour.
"Where's Steve?" Tony demanded, despite already suspecting the answer. Bucky didn't move, only crushing his fist deeper into the wall.
It was only when Natasha stepped forward, murmuring in Russian, did he turn to look at them, his eyes cold with malice and rage. Wordlessly, he thrust the action figure out in front of him, hand trembling.
Tony looked down at it, and had the urge to blast it into pieces.
The Captain America figure, at a closer glance, had its eyes and mouth purposefully scratched out. Stuck to its chest, there was a small note, simply reading:
'We will make him talk. You will all fall for your leader.'
Beneath was a blazing red emblem, one that made his heart drop. Hydra.
"They took him." Bucky muttered, breathing heavily. "They fucking took him."
Something was also pinned in the doll's hand; Tony plucked it off, holding it to the light. It was a small chip attached to a piece of blue material.
"It's Steve's tracker." Tony realised aloud. At his words, Clint hissed out a curse as Natasha muttered in Russian darkly. Thor was oddly silent, but a moment later the first clap of thunder rumbled above the building.
This was bad, really bad.
It was a silent journey back to the Quinjet. Steve's seat was painfully empty when they entered, and Tony found himself looking away from it.
He felt completely helpless. It wasn't like he was a stranger to hostage situations – heck, they were the Avengers, lots of people wanted them dead – but he had always known exactly where his team was, taken or not. How Hydra managed to find the tiny tracker still baffled him, sure that it would be impossible to locate. It was sewn into the lining itself, compressed to be no bigger than a staple.
Slowly, he raised his head to look at his team members, noticing that they too weren't fairing well with the news. Bruce was looking dangerously green, and Clint was sitting with his head bowed. Natasha was glaring hard at the wall, her fingers digging into her arms as she tried to control her own temper. Sam was pacing along the seating area, partly trying to calm himself down and partly restraining Bucky from leaping out of the window. The super soldier himself, though finally agreeing to have medical attention, was tense, trembling slightly. Thor wore an uncharacteristic frown as the thunder grew louder around the jet.
"We gotta find him. Why are we even going back to the tower?" Bucky muttered, almost inaudible. Sam strode over to him, pinning him back down in his seat before he tried to escape the jet again.
"Don't you think I'm trying?" Tony snapped. He resumed his focus to the statistics shown in his helmet, the screen searching for any movement since the battle. He had found nothing – it was like the Hydra agents simply disappeared.
So much for his 'Stark intellect', as Steve liked to call it.
"What about old Hydra bases?" Clint asked, turning to Bucky. Bucky shook his head.
"There's no way they did something dumb like that. They're dangerous, not stupid." The soldier replied.
"Once I have rested I shall scour this entire planet to find my Shield-Brother." Thor said lowly, a menacing growl to his voice that Tony never wanted to hear again.
"Trust me, we'll join you as soon as we physically can." Sam replied with a sigh. "I won't stop until – "
"Stop!" Tony suddenly yelled. Ignoring his team's questions, he focused on the words that appeared on his screen.
They flashed again, an unknown contact taking up most of his view.
"FRIDAY, trace the contact as fast as you can." Tony ordered, ripping his helmet off. Wordlessly, he projected the message onto the wall of the jet. He read silently, filling with fury.
'Dear Avengers,' the message read, 'I hope I am not interrupting. But you must be wondering about your Captain, and I didn't want to worry you. And no, you cannot track this number. I do not want to have to deal with your wrath, unfortunately.'
"Oh you will, trust me." Clint muttered. Tony, agreeing silently, continued to read.
'The Captain has a long history with Hydra, one that now can be repaid. Rest assured, we will break him, and with his fall shall come your own. As I made clear earlier, we will make him talk. That is, unless we make a deal, Stark.'
"What?" Tony whispered, narrowing his eyes.
'Very simple – your weapons, your tech, and you can have what's left of the Captain. Don't worry, your tech will be in good hands! We will put it to great use in our agenda! But I must warn you – make your decision quickly…I'm not sure how long your precious Captain will last.'
Once they all finished reading, the projection flickered and died. In its place, a phone number was presented, the second part of the message.
'Call for the Captain!' it jeered underneath.
Tony stood and, in one motion, threw his helmet against the wall.
As it hit the floor, lighting struck, and it began to rain.