~April 3, 2015~
A few days after the bombing incident in Seoul, the Avengers took another mission to track down HYDRA's current leader, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Steve raced past on his motorbike, throwing his shield to take out hostiles directly in their path while using his bike to power up through many of the foot soldiers as he can beat. Any of the targets that he missed, the Hulk smashed them, while Tony and Thor cleared the skies of any hostile forces who aiming at them. As for Natasha who takes the wheel with Clint at the back seat, both were firing at snipers, foot, and the attacking machine suits without getting in the way of their quiver that had clearly been made after Tony's Iron Legion designs.
The pattern continued as the group raced their way towards the HYDRA Base until the DELTA hit a fallen tree. Steve throws again his shield, taking them out while beating out the hostiles in his way before jumping his bike over the tree and was joined by the rest of the Avengers, the duo used the momentum to leap into the air, Clint with his bow raised and arrow ready and Natasha curled into her fighting stance as Thor and Tony flew in overhead and the hulk viciously ran, using the tree as a springboard to leap powerfully into the air.
Thor swings his Mjolnir onto the soldier, sending the bolts of lightning out to the other hostiles in his area while Clint fired his bow and simultaneously kicked down another one as he landed while Natasha had jump-kick a soldier as she landed.
The hulk was smashing the soldiers on the other side, while the other two sped fast as Steve took out a base further ahead and Tony flew on ahead towards the HYDRA Base on the top of the Sokovian hilltop…
"Shit!" Tony cursed while wincing as he hit the barrier over the base.
"Language!" Steve scolded over the comms then asks Tony's computerized right-hand man. "Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?"
"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield," Jarvis answered. "Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA Base we've taken."
Thor bit his lip over his comms from where he had flown to fight off a new squadron of soldiers. "Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it." He drew his Mjolnir to hit a few more soldiers and then pulled it back to let it fly past him and hit a soldier behind him. "At long last." He breathed dramatically.
Natasha couldn't really agree more as she twisted and kicked a few soldiers and threw a grenade on the passing jeep. She didn't glance at it as if nothing happened then dashed off. She jumped through the air to whirl her arms and legs over the two soldiers, breaking their necks and pulled out a knife as she lets go, throwing it at another soldier and taking him out as she landed. "'At long last' is lasting a little long, boys," Natasha called out dryly over the comms from where she'd taken out another three soldiers and a gunman then suddenly another gun base started firing towards them, having been alerted to the Avengers' presence.
"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise." Clint added sarcastically as he shot the base with an exploding arrow, effectively taking care of the new threat when Tony protested over the comms while shooting blasters at the soldiers. "Wait a second. No else is going to deal with the fact Cap just said 'language'?"
"I know." Steve sighed, swerving his bike until a jeep ahead began to shoot him before he straightened his course. He lifted himself up on his bike and jerked the handles using the momentum to flip the bike over his head and easily throws it at the jeep, crashing it instantly as he landed back on his feet, breathing heavily. "It slipped out."
"Hm, if you say so, grandpa," Tony said in amusement.
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Steve grunted as he threw his shield, knocking out each of the soldiers. The fight was definitely taking longer than they'd hoped, and it was causing more damage than he had thought. Tony had already sent in his Iron Legions to the city to try to protect the civilians from HYDRA's rogue fires.
Steve froze when he hears a pained grunt over from the comms as Natasha called out.
"Clint!"
Clint hadn't responded, but Natasha's tone indicated the redhead was nearby and would assist the archer. Suddenly Steve felt someone pushed him instantly with a grunt and luckily, he didn't topple over as he looked around to find the culprit but can't find it. "We have an enhanced in the field." He spoke out in the comm before running as he heard Natasha informed them that Clint has been shot.
Steve charges himself towards the hostiles before throwing his shield and swing it in an impact on each of these soldiers while calling out Tony in the comm. "Stark, we really need to get inside." He said with a grunt.
"I'm closing in," Tony replied casually.
Steve continues to fight off the soldiers one by one with kicks and punches. He'd just finished up in his section when Tony called out. "Drawbridge is down, people." He lifted his shield by using magnetic as he heard Thor called out.
"Need enhance?"
He jogged his way towards him and replied while looking around. "Piece of luck, of all the players we've faced I've never seen this, in fact, I still haven't."
They were interrupted as Natasha called over the comms. "Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac."
Suddenly an advanced technological tank is coming towards them along with more groups of soldiers.
"I can get Barton to the jet," Thor interjected. "The sooner we're gone the better."
Steve nodded then replied. "Copy that."
As the soldiers are coming near, Thor tilts his head and spoke out almost thoughtfully. "It looks like they're lining up."
"Well, they're excited," Steve replied with a slight shrug before lifting his shield as Thor slams it with a sharp ringing pierce through the forest, knocking out straight towards the tank and the hostiles.
Thor faces Steve and said before flying up. "Find the scepter."
Steve nodded when he heard Tony called out on the comm. "And for gosh's sake, watch your language!" He quipped.
The blonde-headed captain sighs annoyingly. "That's not going away anytime soon."
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Baron runs up the stairs until one of his men got hit right in front of him on the other side of the door when Steve appears in his presence. "Baron Strucker." Steve slowly paced around him. "HYDRA's number one thug."
Baron scoffed. "Technically, I am a thug for SHIELD."
"Well then, technically you're unemployed." Steve stood in front to face him then interrogates him with a question. "Where's Loki's scepter?"
"Don't worry, I know when I'm beaten." He looked to see from Steve's side, seeing one of the Maximoff twins appearing from dark slowly approaching the Captain from behind as Baron begins to distract him. "You mention how I cooperated on—" his words were cut off when Steve spoke out.
"I'll put it right on illegal Human Experimentation. How many are there?"
Baron stayed silent for a moment until the female Maximoff twin uses her telekinesis to push Steve down the stairs. Quickly lifting himself up from the floor, he saw the young woman moving backward near the doorway, shutting the door closed immediately.
Steve called over the comms sharply. "We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage." He turned to face Baron who mockingly smirks.
"You'll have to be faster than—" Immediately, Steve professionally kicks his shield at Baron, knocking him out on the floor as he silently whimpered at the shield's impact on him.
"Guys, I got Strucker."
Steve relaxed as he thought that this mission was over but unbeknownst to him, Tony had struck out a terrible vision that most of his teammates didn't know.
Their death.
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~April 4, 2015~
Tony flew them back to New York with Natasha sitting on the co-pilot seat while Steve tries to reassure Clint of his injuries. The archer had slowly woken up a few hours ago, Steve and Thor stood with him and the three chatted at the intervals as they made their way back to the base.
As they are almost on their way to New York, Natasha got up and walked her way towards Clint to check on him while Thor wandered over the scepter. Natasha leaves Clint to rest before wandered over to the corner of the jet where Bruce was huddled, listening to the opera over his headsets as Natasha sat in beside him, murmuring. "Hey."
The scientist looked up, a bit startled before he pulled off his headphones as Natasha continued softly. "The lullaby worked better than ever."
Bruce smiled a little, but it dropped quickly as he sighed then admitted. "Just wasn't expecting the CODE GREEN."
"If you hadn't been there. There would've been double the casualties." Natasha countered lightly while smiling with encouragement, making Bruce smiled a bit in return and she added as she jerked her head towards Clint. "My best friend would've been a… treasured memory."
"You know." Bruce sighed then continued. "Sometimes exactly what I wanted to hear isn't exactly what I want to hear."
His eyes lowered, avoiding hers as Natasha's face dropped slightly before quietly asked. "How long before you trust me?"
Bruce glanced at her as he pointed out. "It's not you, I don't trust."
Natasha smiled a bit, at least she was gratified that he wasn't pushing her away. She lowered her gaze for a moment, trying to think of a way to help Bruce from being guilty before she called out to the nearest person behind her. "Thor, report on the Hulk?"
"The gates of hell are filled with the screams of his victims," Thor replied triumphantly as he held up his fist in appreciation.
Tony eye rolled with a sigh and Steve winced at the God of Thunder's words, while Natasha turned around glaring at Thor. Bruce groaned before lowering his head into his hands, feeling himself being shot with words that are true. It does not end with Thor's comments as he tries to cheer him up, but sadly he keeps on making it worse.
"Uh, but not the screams of the dead, of course."
Natasha narrows her eyebrows while still glaring at Thor as Bruce just nodded with exasperation, his head still covered with his hands.
"No, no, uh… wounded screams, uh," Natasha turns her heard away with exasperation while Steve lifted his eyes to the ceiling as though praying for Thor to stop his ramblings, "mainly whimpering, a great of deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and," She grits her teeth in annoyance, one step closer to kicking him in the face until Thor finally gives up, "and uh… and gout." He falls silent before turning away.
Steve exhaled in relief while Natasha was shaking head in disbelief and Bruce finally lifts his face up from his hands.
"Hey, Banner." Tony suddenly called out from the cockpit. "Dr. Cho's on her way in from Seoul, is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"
Steve glanced at Tony's direction, hearing the mention of the same name of the woman who saved him from the bombings back in Seoul. He was going to ask Tony about her coming here but Bruce called back. "Uh, yeah, she knows her way around."
"Thanks," Tony replied back.
Steve was somehow lost in thoughts when he thinks about that woman. 'I didn't get a chance to thank her properly for saving my life.' He thought in small regret. When Steve woke up from his slumber a few days ago, he wanted to see Dr. Helen Cho in person just to thank her for healing him, however Tony informed him that she was too busy with her work and staff and didn't have time to chat with anyone, so with that Steve along with his teammates went back to New York without seeing Helen. But now that she's coming here to New York, he has a good chance of wanting to thank her properly.
His thoughts were interrupted when the playboy billionaire joined in. "It feels good, yeah?"
The two looked over briefly as Tony elaborated. "I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed."
Steve raised his brow while Thor smiled a bit as he added. "Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but…"
Thor agreed. "No, but this… this brings it to a close." He smiled at Tony, but Steve interjected tensely. "As soon as we find out what else this has been used for."
Hearing Steve's words, Tony's face dropped.
"I don't just mean weapons." He continued with a slight frown. "Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"
Tony slightly sighed, nodding in agreement. "Banner and I'll give it the once before it goes back to Asgard." He then asked Thor casually. "Is that cool with you? Banner and I'll have it for just a few days, until the farewell party."
The God of Thunder nodded, agreeing with him as Tony checked. "You're staying right?"
"Yes, yes of course." Thor agreed as he placed a firm hand down on the scepter. "A victory should be honored with revels."
"Yeah. Who doesn't love revels?" Tony murmured sarcastically before he glanced over at Steve beside Thor then asked.
"Captain?"
Steve looked down at the scepter before answering. "Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra, so…" He turned to face Tony and smiled a bit as he confirmed. "Yes, revels."
Tony just nodded in reply before staring down at the scepter, in deep thought. After a short moment, Thor moves away from the two, giving the chance for Steve to talk to Tony about a certain someone he wanted to see personally. But somehow, his words can't get out of his mouth, preventing him from asking the billionaire.
Tony sensed Steve's odd silence, knowing that the Captain wanted to ask something as he then begins to spoke out. "Anything you need, Cap?"
Steve looks down for a second before looking up to face him and asked. "How well do you know Dr. Helen Cho?"
Tony raised his eyebrows at Steve's odd yet intriguing question about the Korean geneticist. "She's one of the smartest women I've ever known, rivaling me and Bruce. A very brilliant geneticist, to be exact." Looking at Steve's calm expression, he can tell that this Captain is somehow awed at this female geneticist when he talks about her and so he wanted to tease Steve a bit. "Why, you got a crush on her?"
Steve blinked his eyes twice at Tony's assumption of him having a crush on a Korean female geneticist. Him, had a crush on her? He thought. He shook his head while looking at his friend.
"No, Tony. I don't have a crush on her, and I barely even knew her. I just wanted to thank her in person, I didn't have that chance before we left Seoul." He explained truthfully.
"Oh, okay." Tony nodded in believing his words at first but continues to tease the captain a little bit. "But you gotta admit, she's really gorgeous. Cute too for a geneticist. Helen Cho has the epitome of Beauty and Brains, kind of rare to find a woman like her."
Steve raised his eyebrow at Tony's admiration for Helen. "Tony, you know you're still tied to your relationship with Ms. Pepper, right?" He asked.
"I know, Cap." Tony waved his hands in amusement. "But you know me, I just only admire women who have such great qualities. Mainly their intelligence."
"If you say so." Steve silently rolled his eyes and smiled.
The billionaire playboy smirked as he continues. "Of course, I'll let you and Dr. Cho meet up. And there you will thank her for saving your life. And maybe ask her out on a date." He wiggles his eyebrows at Steve who gives him a deadpan expression.
Tony continues as he casually leans his hand on his hip. "Come on, Cap. You need a date. I've never seen you dating anyone, other than your beloved shield."
Steve shook his head. "Very funny, Tony. And no, I don't have time for dates. I'm busy. And this is not the first time, someone has told me that." He pointed out.
"You mean, Romanoff," Tony replied.
'Damn you, Nat. I can't believe she told Tony about me being a hopeless romantic boy from Brooklyn.' He thought. Steve honestly can't believe that a former assassin and a playboy billionaire are teaming up to let Steve find a date.
"Really, Tony?"
"Seriously, Cap. Man up, will ya? Find a date. Get married. Have babies with her. Grow grey hair together with her." Tony patted Steve's shoulder with a smile. "You don't wanna live the rest of your life being a single old man forever."
Steve stayed silent for a moment before he replied with a soft smile. "I'll think about it."
The billionaire genuinely smirked a bit before turning away and walked back towards the pilot seat to take control of the quinjet leaving the Captain to be lost in his thoughts.
To be honest, Steve somehow doesn't want to go on a date with anyone else. He is still not ready to let Peggy go. He had always believed that when you meet your first love, you will never forget her, it will be such a big part of who he is and will always remember her with special tenderness. To him, Peggy Carter is his only woman, his true love and the right partner for him. Even though Peggy has found new love, had children and grandchildren and grown old with, she will always have a special place in Steve's heart. But then he remembers what Peggy had said to him, three years ago.
'I know that somewhere... out there is waiting for you… Don't ever think that no living person is willing to be with you, Steve. Don't lose hope.'
Steve took out his old compass from his pocket and opened it to reveal the old picture of Peggy Carter. His hand reaches towards the small picture and stroked it gently.
"Peggy…" He whispered softly.
In his heart, he knew he wasn't ready to move on. He really didn't want to forget her, to neglect her. In fact, he would never love someone as he loved Peggy. He really couldn't leave his best girl.
He feels that no woman would ever love him as Peggy did. And he will never love anyone as he loved her.
No one.
Yeah I know, I copied the scenes from the first opening in Age of Ultron but it would honestly be better if I included this in the plot line.
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See you soon for the next chapter ;)
Review (^/u/^)?