A/N: Thank you so much Emerald2211 and BlueOwl for beta'ing this chapter.
Steve didn't notice the folded up piece of paper in his pants pocket until the next day when he was trying to figure out if he could wear them again. The note only contained 11 numbers, but Steve recognized Bucky's handwriting right away.
Question was, why would he leave a phone number?
Panic gripped his chest as he bolted out the door and sprinted to the guest room Bucky stayed in.
It was empty. Bed made and the whole room looking like it did before. Back when he thought Bucky was dead and he just had to move on...
Lani's room was empty as well.
"Well, it was nice meeting you all. Peace!"
Steve literally slid into the main room just as Lani and Bucky disappeared. There was a moment where Bucky had a hand on Lani's shoulder, and his other -metal- hand on the beat up bag that was in Lani's possession last night. Then it was like... honestly, Steve wasn't sure what it looked like because it was hard to focus. Like the light around them suddenly couldn't work. Eitherway, it was only a moment, and soon they were gone, leaving only a popping sound that Steve recognized happening when they left before.
"Shit."
"Did Captain America just swear?" he heard Clint say, but now was not the time.
He needed to find them. He couldn't fail Bucky again.
"Rogers stop."
Natasha was in front of him, staring up at him with an intensity that spoke that she wasn't one to be tested. It made him think of Peggy for a moment, but then the moment was gone.
"I need to find them. Hydra could-"
"Which is exactly why they left. They have been hiding from them for three years. It's safer for them to keep on doing that than it would be to stay with us."
"What? Stark said this place would be safe!"
"And I'm sure we believe that. But I know these types of people, Rogers. Until we can figure out just how far Hydra's corruption has spread, it's safer for Barnes and Lani to be on their own. Now eat some breakfast while we wait for Stark to come back from whatever it is he has been doing."
"There's coffee," Clint piped in, looking way too calm.
They were both looking way too calm.
"I'm not going to abandon Bucky!"
"I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you to wait a few seconds. Stark mentioned that Lani's teleporting might have no limits so they could literally be anywhere right now. We have no way to find them that Hydra doesn't have, so it is not worth our efforts."
Steve looked away from Natasha as he felt like the now crumpled up paper was burning a hole through his pocket.
"Right. You're right, I'll just... let me know when Stark comes back." Steve said as he turned to go back to his room.
"Let you know what?"
Steve turned around to see Tony Stark waltz in from the elevator with one of those white cups that everyone seems to drink out of. Starbucks, which is a weird name but not important.
"Bucky and Lani just left."
"I know, Jarvis told me. You don't look surprised though." Stark turned to Natasha.
"I was expecting it."
"And didn't think to tell any of us? Even after I spent all night looking for Alexander Pierce's dirty little secrets?"
"I didn't ask you to do that, but did you find anything?"
"Lots of unaccounted time off, but it could just be usual secret government stuff. I did find out that Shield has a number of Stark weapons though."
"That's not a surprise. Stark Industry has been involved with Shield since the beginning."
"I know. My dear old dad's credentials are still active. But I'm not talking about that. They currently have weapons that were sold on the black market. Or at least that is what I had been lead to believe."
"And they wouldn't have to do that if there wasn't someone in Shield who didn't want everyone to know about the extra weapons."
"Someone like Hydra," Steve said, not surprised in the slightest that they were able to find something.
Seems his gut reaction about Shield was right afterall.
"That's what it is starting to look like; also, they want a meeting to deal with the scepter and the glowing box."
"Tesseract."
"Yes, that. Not sure I really feel comfortable with Shield holding either one."
"Then we should just tell them that," Steve said, looking around at everyone's solemn looking faces.
"What time did they want to meet us?" Clint asked, chugging the last of his coffee.
"They are already on the ground floor," the... Jarvis said.
"What?"
"I'm kinda hoping that these people are part of Hydra because they obviously don't care about other people's time. Thor is already down there with Loki, and Bruce is hiding out in the lab just in case. Jarvis will let him know if we need any back up," Stark said before walking out, obviously expecting them to follow.
Which they did.
By the time they got down, it looked like Thor was already in an argument with one of the men. A man who looked familiar and it took Steve only a moment to realize why.
"Sorry for the wait, I assume everyone is good now?"
"Stark, I know you are used to being the one in charge, but we have already settled everything," Alexander Pierce said with a polite looking smile.
Even without Lani's tip off about the man being part of Hydra, Steve feels like he would have figured out something was wrong with the man. Probably because he just never liked people who put on a fake smile, but it was more than that.
"And what exactly has been settled?" Tony asked before Steve could do something like punch the guy.
"We have agreed to let Thor take the prisoner and the tesseract back. All we need from you is the scepter. We would have come for it yesterday, but the Director thought you could use the break."
"What makes you think we'll hand it over? Reindeer games over there was the one who used it to steal from Shield in the first place," Stark nonchalantly pointed out, though there was an edge to it that said the billionaire was on the same page as Steve for the moment.
The 'two seconds away from punching a nazi' page.
"That is a mistake that has been fixed. Obviously the scepter will need to be heavily protected so it can't be abused. Which means it cannot stay with you, Stark."
"Like how your abusement of the tesseract caused it to light up like a beacon for the horned-beetle over there?"
"What Stark is trying to say," Natasha cut in, giving Stark a look. "Is that we already have the scepter in a safe location and until you have a suitable set up to keep it deactivated, it will remain with us. But of course, Director Fury should have already told you that."
Pierce finally lost a bit of his smile.
"I fail to see what a few days will change, but have it your way."
He then waved his bodyguards to follow him and they left.
"You didn't mention that you talked to director fury about this." Steve felt like he needed to bring up.
"That's because I didn't. And a man such as Pierce should have known that unless he had reason to think that Fury won't tell him everything," Natasha said before turning to look at them. "I think it's time to give the director a visit and get some answers."
Natasha knew how much things can change in only 24 hours. 24 hours was how long Clint needed for Natasha to leave her old life behind and question everything. Now it was about to happen again. Only this time there is a very real chance at finding out that her life-changing choice at leaving the Red Room for good to join Shield was nothing more than changing stores at a fast-food chain. Different manager, same boss.
But between Steve looking like he was getting reading to punch Pierce in the head, and Stark agitating the man, Natasha had to put her shit together and be the reliable one.
Despite the legal issue Fury was no doubt dealing with, he agreed to meet with the Avengers only half an hour after Thor left with Loki. It didn't feel like anyone wanted to be at the Shield headquarters, but they needed to if they wanted to talk with the Director.
"I hope you are here to explain to me why you suddenly don't trust Shield to keep the scepter safe?" Fury said in lieu of any sort of greeting.
"Because Shield has been compromised by Hydra!" Steve yelled, obviously no longer able to keep calm about that.
Not that Natasha wanted to use the 'ripping a bandaid off' strategy, but a little too late now.
Fury looked to them all before suddenly focusing on Steve. "If this is a joke the others have put you up to, Rogers, you should stop now."
"I'm sure having the old captain yelling about secret Hydra agents isn't the best vote for his mental stability, but he's not joking. We got a little tip off yesterday and it looked to be more truthful than any of us were comfortable with," Tony explained with his usual flare.
"We have a list of possible bases and safe houses, and some people who claim to be Shield. Not to mention a number of things that don't add up."
"Well fuck, I didn't think it was that bad. Who was your tip off?" Fury asked, and while he did look to be properly shocked at the whole Hydra news, it still didn't mean that he wasn't involved.
The resulting silence said that everyone else agreed with her about not letting Fury know about James Barnes and Lani just yet.
"I would tell you that I am not involved with Hydra, but I can tell my words wouldn't be enough here," Fury said a moment before the hologram on the table filled with documents.
"I could tell something was fishy when I first became director and have been compiling all of it. Now how sure are you that it's Hydra?"
"Very sure," Steve answered for them, arms crossed and still staring Fury down as Tony went straight to the documentation.
"You already knew Shield was compromised. Why didn't you tell us?" Clint asked, sounding betrayed.
He was in Shield longer then her. Had family to protect.
"It wasn't your place to know. I've been waiting for them to make a move for years now."
"We're going after them. Now. Not after waiting for them to make the first move because it's too late for that," Steve said seriously, once again looking just like the Captain America that helped end WW2.
An argument broke out after that. Apparently, Bruce and Stark were thinking this would be a long term thing, and Fury wasn't helping anyone with how he kept bringing up how they were already in hot water from the damage of the Battle for New York. Clint piped in every so often adding his two cents of helping raid the bases but stayed silent on flushing Hydra out of Shield.
It was a miracle that no one ended up getting punched, or shot.
"So, sounds like Fury is safe at the very least," Tony said once they were back at his tower.
"Probably," Natasha agreed.
She would have preferred if Fury just came out and told them he was Hydra because now the doubt will always be there. The fact that he knew something was up and never told anyone is annoying, but not surprising.
"I still think we should find Bucky and Lani. Bucky said he wanted to help as long as Lani was safe and we could just keep her at the tower," Rogers said, looking up from the cell that Stark gave him.
Natasha wasn't even sure if Rogers even knew how to use it, but he has been checking it before and after their meeting with Fury. Natasha has a few ideas, but she can wait until Rogers tells them himself.
"First off, the kid can teleport as you saw earlier, so I doubt we can keep her anywhere she doesn't want to be. But I'll see if I can find them."
"Stark, if Hydra hasn't been able to find them I doubt you will."
"You are seriously underestimating my abilities, Natasha, and just because of that, I'll find them by tomorrow. Bet my morning coffee on it."
"Wow, your morning coffee."
"I know. I'm taking this very seriously. See you all bright and early tomorrow!" Stark said before stepping out of the elevator.
[Ga̸̛m̶̄e̷͑ s̵͓̋a̸̿v̴̧̉ḙ̵̈d̸̬̄]
[H̴̞̔P a̶̢͑t̵̃ m̴̂ax̵̪͊]
[S̵̹͝P̷̛̞ at̸͉̂ m̴̂a̵̹͐x]
[S̷͍̿taṫ̴͎ư̶͇s̷̀ c̶̗̎o̵̞͠n̸͂di̸̩͗t̵io̷̼̒n̶̖̊: mȁ̵j̵̔o̵r c̸̳͂õ̵͔n̶̪̋c̶̀us̶͈͒s̷̯̄i̸̫̓o̵n̵̥̅ (?/3)]
"...seems like One is stable...she shouldn't...children are not known for their thick skulls...lucky..."
A very irritating voice kept threatening to wake me up despite my best efforts to remain in the realm of the unconscious. It took me a ridiculously long time to realize why this whole situation was wrong. Opening my eyes didn't help matters because I had a splitting migraine and it felt like everything was spinning.
Also I was strapped to a dentist chair, so that probably wasn't good. If there is an alien man-eating plant I am outtie-5000.
"Ahh child...hope...to hard."
My face was grabbed and I forced my eyes open enough to see that weird doctor from back at Hydra shining a flashlight in my eye. I have had way too many nightmares about this, but usually the nausea only happened after I woke up. Of course, I don't remember falling asleep last night...
...oh shit.
"Where am I?"
"Didn't know you spoke English, but it makes sense since you were found in America."
I tested the bonds and didn't move an inch. And if I teleport I would just end up bringing the chair with me since I'm touching it. I think. Not sure what the limit is about that.
"Shut up. Where's Bucky?"
"Bucky? Is that what you named the Asset? I do have to say, escaping with that was a good plan. Good protection, though it seems that its programming has been wearing out. Should be fixed soon enough."
It was harder than it should have been for me to focus on what he was saying, but before I could get too angry at him for referring to another human as a it, I realized the implications of what he was saying meant.
I had no idea where I was, and no idea how long its been since I got kidnapped. I passed out, so reloading would just bring me back here. Did they already have Bucky strapped to the mind erasing chair? Did they already use the trigger words like last time?
I needed to get out and find him.
"... Of course, I was the one who argued for your safe return. Karpov just wanted the Winter Soldier back, not that I can blame him for the mess up he had with the others! Thin ice that one, but also the only one who can control the Asset with only a few words. I have been trying to get him to tell me, but alas it is... what is the english, 'no dices?' anyways..."
There were only two other people in the room, and who knows how many in the hall. The talkative doctor was barely giving me any attention as he got set up to do... whatever he was planning on doing with me. Probably some evil mad scientist experiments. Yay.
"...Then we got videos from that alien invasion in New York. It took some looking, but then we found you and the Asset fighting. And were we surprised. Nearly three years and you were even more effective than before! I always thought there was more to you than what was in your file. Much more mentally advanced than any child should be and... Super speed? It is easy to see now it wasn't that..."
The arms of the chair were metal. Some Iron alloy, but point is, there was enough in there for me to manipulate. So while taking some deep breaths to make sure I don't throw up (because that wouldn't be the best thing for a great escape plan), I waited until the doctor had his back turned before pushing out the metal to cut the binds.
Holding the rest of the warped metal like a knife in my hand, I lunged at the man without any thought. Or more accurately without any thought about the attack. I had lots of thoughts about how the room was still moving like I was on a boat in open sea, which was why I was only reacting when I shoved the piece of metal into his left eye. Hard.
I had a moment where everything seems to freeze before I pulled it (the knife not the eye luckily) out and ran out the door, leaving behind screams of pain.
Hopefully, the assistants will be more worried about helping the doctor than calling help in capturing me, especially since merely running in a straight line was taking all of my focus.
I might have ran into the wall a few times.
Still, I had no idea how to find Bucky and there was a serious lack of guards in the halls. Which was good for me, but it was odd.
Was there something else that was keeping their attention?
I stopped my frantic run for a moment and tried listening.
If Bucky wasn't completely complicit they would have all the guards on him. Meaning that would be my best bet. This place didn't look as secret as the base back in Russia, meaning that they might have less people. Or they were flown in when they found Bucky and me.
Over my rapid heartbeat and trying my best to not fall over due to the room still moving, I noticed yells coming from down the hall. Not where I came from.
So that was where I went.
A/N: I've wanted to use the Zalgo text to show a glitch message since before I started writing this story. I am so happy that ffnet and ao3 both allow that in their stories. Sorry if it's hard to read, but that is the point of it.
Thank you everyone who has favorited and followed this story! It's crazy to think that originally I had an idea for an SI spiderwomen story, but just started writing this for fun after reading Bite-Sized For Convenience. Now there are over 50K words written. Crazy how that works sometimes.
Anyways, super thanks to Azaira, the guest named Fan, the guest who read the last bit of the chapter and swore, Marlaike, Drunken Hamster, Guest from chapter 10 (sorry but I have no idea what you meant), Mitsuo the Universe jumper, PrincessMagic (times 10!), Y0urDownfall, mk008, Inu-Angel Z, Eslynn, Cboylan, Goldenfightergirl, Bisque-Ware, Isanxd (times 3!), Just another other weirdo, the guest call SunnySides (well, you were spot on about the new save being bad), Amir-015, XenoLucifer, Verycoolname, I.D.'s Fantasy, Death Fury, Miss. A. Winchester, PhoenixxReborn, KEZZ 1, sephchipmunk, jcheriscar, Omega-66, Nameless Angel 00, BlackDove WhiteDove, and frankieu for taking the time to leave me a review.
I hope this cliffhanger isn't as bad as last weeks. I mean, at least Lani is okay, right?