Chapter 1:

Steve Rogers ran through the woods. The H.Y.D.R.A troops seemed to be about done, he had made sure of that along with Thor. Strucker was still on the loose though, along with the enhanced he had seen before, which was not a huge comfort.

"Romanoff, get Barton on the jet. We can't risk him being down for another mission. Make sure Banner and Thor stick together." He spoke into the earpiece, addressing Natasha.

"Roger that, Cap. Better get up here, we're about wrapped up." Romanoff sounded slightly out of breath, but it was excusable, fighting a whole army with nothing but your martial art skills was a feat only the dedicated could achieve.

"Until I get Strucker, I'm staying. Stark, word on Strucker?" Steve kept sprinting towards the base, using his shield to slide down a hill.

"Just finished everyone in here, Cap, checking out the room where they all were. JARVIS, Sentry Mode."

Steve ran into the base, knocking away two guards with his shield, not slowing down one bit. A long corridor stood in front of him, and Steve ran through it. He saw a door to his left after a few turns, and saw a man standing guard. Kicking the man out of his way, Steve saw exactly what he wanted to see.

"Baron Strucker. H.Y.D.R.A's number one thug." Strucker seemed to have been intercepted at the wrong time, and seemed to be in the middle of escaping from his quickly falling laboratory.

"Well… technically, I'm a thug for S.H.I.E.L.D." Strucker wanted Steve to believe that he was confident, though Steve saw right through this. Smirking, he rebutted Strucker's statement.

"Then technically you're unemployed." This did the trick, the smile was wiped off of Strucker's face as Steve walked around to face Strucker head on.

"Don't worry, Captain. I know when I'm beat." Strucker smiled. This was the moment he'd been waiting for since two years. He added, "You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope."

"I'll put it right under illegal human experimentation." Inwardly, Strucker was laughing. Any second now, the girl would come, and put the damned thing on the Captain, and H.Y.D.R.A may as well be the leader of the world.

"Wanda, NOW!" Strucker shouted suddenly, just as a girl, maybe in her twenties, appeared behind Steve and trapped him in a sort of red energy forcefield. Steve looked constricted, this was not something he would do every day of the week.

"Good job, Wanda. You've finally made me proud." Strucker walked around Steve, examining the strongest human in the world, all stuck and helpless.

"I have nothing to prove to you, Strucker." Wanda did not seem amused at Strucker's remark, but didn't push the point.

Strucker bent down, to be face to face with Steve. "Well, here we have the star spangled man with a plan, stuck between the clutches of a child." Wanda scowled as Steve shook with rage, unable to do anything other than glare at Strucker. "Well, Captain, I've not enough time to sit around and talk about old times between Herr Schmidt and yourself, but I do have a delivery for you." Strucker pulled out the device, holding it in his palm, the prototype that had actually been made into reality. It gave off a purple light, from the Chitauri core, and had dangerous spikes on the backside. He held it, gazing at it in deep thought, then smiled at Steve.

"You will have the honour for working for us, infiltrating the ranks of the Avengers and the world as a whole. And then, by our side, you will rule all with undeniable power." Strucker gave a cackle, as Steve groaned, forcing out words from his mouth.

"Damn… you…" It was barely a growl, but Steve was in unbearable pain as he was slowly being choked by the red forcefield. Strucker smiled on the inside, and without further ado, he put the device on Steve's chest, right in the middle of his torso.

A terrible pause.

Then suddenly, Steve gave a scream of agony. A long, drawn out scream, as the device on his chest tore his uniform and started absorbing itself into Steve's chest. All of the nerves turned red and visible all throughout Steve's body, as his screams got louder and louder. The device disappeared underneath his uniform, and the purple light of the mind-invasion device died out. There was a beep, just as Steve stopped screaming, and started breathing heavily. Slowly, he stopped, and Strucker signalled to Wanda to destroy the red forcefield. She did, and Steve fell down onto his knees, shoulders slumped.

"Rogers?" Strucker stood up, gazing down at Steve, who still showed no reaction, apart from his heavy breathing. Though slowly, he turned his head upwards staring at Strucker. Steve's eyes showed horror and rage at Strucker, though his expression was telling a completely different story. Steve Rogers' face was blank, completely and utterly blank. He stood up, looking straight ahead, and spoke in a blank voice.

"Ready... to comply." It seemed strained, but it was like music to Strucker's ears. Steve was glaring at Strucker, but not able to talk for himself. Strucker smiled, then only uttered one word to Steve.

"Go."


"Where's the Captain? We already have the scepter." Thor paced around worriedly on the floor of the parked Quinjet. "Is he still looking for that idiot Strucker?"

"He's not responding." Natasha seemed tense as well, but kept her self-control to console Bruce. After all, transforming into an enormous green rage monster was not a pleasant experience.

"Do any of you really think Cap can't fend for himself? Man's a real frozen fossil from 45', he's punched Adolf Hitler in the jaw 200 times." Tony seemed to be the most relaxed person on the jet. "Besides, we already got Loki's Scepter."

"Tony, can you shut your damn mouth for a second?" Clint was lying down on a bench, clutching his left side. His expression was hard to distinguish, whether it was tense from pain or worry.

"Whooo, somebody's spicy. Stay low, Legolas." Tony's remark was met with hollow chuckles, nobody actually was feeling good.

Out of nowhere, Steve ran around the corner of the woods, looking strangely constricted. He didn't seem out of breath, or as if anything had happened at all.

"Steve!" Natasha nearly shouted out in relief. The others, though in more control of their emotions, sighed with relief. Steve jumped aboard the Quinjet, dropping his shield at the floor just as the entry hatch closed behind him.

"Alright, we are go for homebase, JARVIS." Tony sat down at the pilot seat, controlling the jet back to Avengers Tower, just as Steve sat down at a bench. Bruce put on some headphones, going back to listening to his calm music. Thor clapped Steve on the shoulder, putting Mjolnir on the floor as well.

"Are you well, Rogers? You seem a whole lot more quiet than before." Thor sat down and addressed Steve, who was staring at the floor of the jet, at his shield.

"Yeah? No, I'm fine. Just… uh… didn't find Strucker." Steve didn't look at Thor as he said this, and for some reason, his voice was very shaky.

Thor rolled his eyes. "Come on, Captain, we have Loki's Scepter. That was their, as you say, their "play card", 'twas." Thor chuckled at his own joke, and even Steve cracked a smile, though very small.

"Thor, report on the Hulk?" Natasha yelled across to Thor, from in between a conversation between herself and Bruce.

"The gates of hell are filled with the screams of his victims." Thor held up a fist, smiling, which faltered immediately from the glare that Natasha gave him. Bruce held his head in his hands, making a noise of despair. "Though not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no… uh… wounded screams, mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and, and uh... and gout." Thor quickly amended his original remark, which was not really effective as Bruce still had his head in his hands.

Tony, seeing the conversation behind him, quickly intervened. "Uh, Banner, Doctor Cho's on her way from Seoul, is it okay if she sets up in your lab?" Bruce looked up at this, and replied gladly.

"Yeah, she knows her way around."

"No, she shouldn't." Tony and Bruce looked around at Steve, visibly confused. Steve never spoke in Science matters, ever. Steve looked back at them, still wearing a blank expression. "I said, she can't come. I've got a bad feeling."

"You okay, Cap? Barton's gonna need that treatment or he's down." Tony was still looking at Steve, puzzled. This was not like him at all.

"Then take him to Seoul." Steve glared at Tony, and he faltered, an unusual thing for him.

"Uh… Roger… that. JARVIS, tell Doctor Cho to cancel her trip, she'll meet Barton at Seoul."

"Message sent, sir." JARVIS replied.

Clint groaned, at the news of his extra travel. Everyone else sat down, staring at the back of Steve's head. Tony shook his head, giving a bemused expression to the back of Steve's head, then widened his eyes slightly. His neck was purple!

Or parts of it anyway. Tony blinked, and the neck was normal.

"The hell..." He muttered under his breath. A trick of the light, perhaps? Either way, he sat down on the pilot's seat, deciding never to dwell on that instance ever again.