"Steve?"

Steve blew out a heavy sigh as he watched his lover quietly enter his room.

"Steve?" Bucky's expression was filled with concern, his gaze moving over him where he sat at the foot of the bed, still in uniform, covered with three days of blood and dirt. Bucky looked as filthy and weary as he did, taking a knee in front of him. "What's wrong, baby? Talk to me. Something's been eating at you for days now."

He'd been able to avoid the conversation for the last four days only because of the mission. He'd been grateful for it actually. They'd gotten a tip that their enemy had begun migrating from the base they'd targeted. Somehow, they'd discovered the Avengers were in the area and they'd had to expedite their plans.

Taking the base down had been one of the roughest challenges Steve and Bucky had ever faced and they'd lost several agents in the process. Sam was in critical condition after being blown out of the sky with skull fractures and a deep chest wound. Young Peter had been severely injured too. All of them had been through hell in decimating the HYDRA base and Steve couldn't even feel satisfied with it because…

He couldn't avoid the conversation anymore. Bucky could read him better than anyone.

"Steve?" Bucky placed his flesh hand on Steve's thigh gently. "Talk to me. Please?"

It was a long moment before Steve managed to raise his gaze to his lover's face. He was already blinking back tears just thinking about it.

Bucky raked his metal hand through his dirty hair, something he often did when he was nervous.

"Steve is it… Is it…" The fear was growing in Bucky's beautiful eyes. "Chris?"

When Steve dropped his head, Bucky's hand tightened painfully on his thigh.

"Steve, what is it? She's okay, right? She's waiting… back at the compound for us, right?"

"I don't know," Steve muttered, tears finally escaping his eyes to run down his face.

Harder than he probably wanted to, Bucky's metal hand gripped Steve's chin, pulling it up and making him look at him.

"Where is she?" Bucky demanded, his control slipping. "Tell me."

The tears kept running from his eyes as he struggled for the words to tell the man he loved that…

"Ross," Steve bit out. "He…"

"Ross?" Bucky's agitation was growing. "What about Ross? Did he… did he do something to her?"

"Sent her on an envoy to Prague," Steve said slowly, "with several agents to try and… disable the network…"

"Of the base we just took?"

Steve nodded. "Tony doesn't believe him but… "

"What did he do, Steve?" Bucky's voice was breaking.

If something has happened to her, it will kill him.

"Ross said their jet was… shot out of the air."

Bucky's head dropped. His exhale was a shaky, broken sound.

"He said… there were no survivors."

"Steve," Bucky whispered, glancing up to reveal the tears gathering in his eyes. "It's not true, right? She's not… "

"I don't know, Buck," Steve's heart throbbed painfully as he watched the same torment he'd lived with since Ross told him take hold of Bucky. "We haven't heard from anyone else that it's true but…"

"We gotta fucking find out." Bucky dragged a hand down his face, brushing away tears as he climbed to his feet. "She can't be… Steve, God, she can't be gone. She can't…"

Steve rose to his feet, feeling more exhausted than he had in his entire life, and pulled Bucky against him. At first, Bucky was resistant against him. After a moment, he relaxed against him, shaking in his arms as the tears flowed freely.

"Steve, she…" Bucky tucked his face against Steve's chest. "I love her. She's ours, Steve. She can't…"

"Shhh," Steve held him, running a hand through his hair as they shared their pain. "Maybe Tony's right. Maybe…"

It was a lot to hope. How many times had the hoped for the best only to get the very worst?

After several long moments, Steve drug Bucky into his bathroom and they shared a shower. They'd dried each other off and Bucky climbed into Steve's bed, Steve curling around him as he joined him. They were both so tired that any other time they'd have dropped off to sleep instantly.

As it was, one of their greatest fears lingered in the realm of possibility, Steve knew sleep would evade him until they had an answer, or his body gave in to exhaustion.

"She just agreed to move in with us," Bucky said sadly in the darkness of the room, his head on Steve's chest. "That's still… gonna happen, right?"

Steve nodded, not trusting his own voice because he would choke on the tears he was fighting back.

Steve reached over to his bedside table and grabbed his phone from where he'd left it to charge. With his fears preying on his mind, he'd forgotten to check the device now that he could get coverage again. He held Bucky to him as he navigated the device with his right hand.

It wasn't the unknown number that he'd received the text from that had gotten his attention. It was the cryptic message.

I'm with her. Just wish we had Monopoly or some playing cards. Even trading cards.

Steve jerked up in bed, dislodging Bucky and reaching to turn the lamp on in short order.

"Oh my God," Steve whispered, reading the message over and over again.

Bucky's blue eyes filled with hope and terror. "What?"

Steve showed him the message. When he watched the fear drain from Bucky's face, he knew he'd drawn the same conclusion he had.

"Thank, Jesus," Bucky muttered. "Who is that from?"

Steve was still just trying to wrap his mind around the message itself. I'm with her. Not only did someone else know what happened, but they were also with her. She was alive.

Just wish we had Monopoly or some playing cards.

The request for Monopoly or playing cards? That was old. Thanks to the Geneva Convention, assembled in the aftermath of World War II, prisoners or war were allowed packages from their families or relief organizations. Steve had read everything he could on the end of the war and everything that had happened after he'd gone into the ice. He'd been fascinated by the methods used to help prisoners escape on both sides. Monopoly games had been used to smuggle prisoners things like maps, money, and passports so they could make their escape. Maps had been concealed in playing cards for the same reason.

The party that had sent him the message was with her and looking to be rescued. But who was it?

The last part of the message?

Even trading cards.

Steve knew one man who might make that reference. In a flash he was on his feet, pulling on jeans and a shirt while Bucky scrambled to do the same. He didn't even ask where they were going, just followed Steve out of the room and down several doors.

Steve had only begun to pound on the door when it jerked open to reveal a very tired Tony Stark. Holding up his phone, he watched Tony quickly take in the message. Tony's face split into a wide grin.

"Coulson is missing," Tony explained. "It's got to be him."

Bucky's eyes were wide on Steve. "Agent Coulson? You think it's him? He's with her?"

Tony nodded while Steve knew a moment's relief. He didn't know how or why Coulson was with their girl, he was just so grateful that he was. Steve sent up a prayer of thanks for it. With Coulson, they had a chance of getting her back.

Tony glanced around them before motioning them into his room. "What I want to know is what really happened? Ross wants us to believe they blew her jet out of the sky and that she's dead. What did he really do with Chris?"

"I'm going to really fucking kill him," Bucky growled. "I promise you that."

"Let's get her back," Tony told him. "Then I'll help you fucking kill him."

Tony paced before them for a moment, thinking out loud. "I'll put Pepper on it, see if there's any chatter out there. In the meantime, you two need to get back to the states - without alerting Ross."

Steve nodded, agreeing with that plan.

"Then we've got to find her," Tony mused, his expression grim.

Bucky blew out an exhale, casting his gaze down at the floor.

"Most likely, she's someone's captive," Bucky told them with a certainty that filled Steve with dread. "Ross likely sold her off to one of Athena's enemies. Someone who would pay top dollar to stop her… or to use her abilities."

Tony stopped pacing again, nodding. "Yep. And Chris used against us is a dangerous thing."

"Not to mention what that will do to her psychologically," Steve added, unable to get his mind off their girl in a cell somewhere, scared and feeling threatened. That Agent Coulson was there made him feel slightly better. Still, he wanted her back, with him and Bucky where she belonged.

"Tony, honestly," Steve was thinking out loud, "a lot of technology is over my head, so I don't know the answer to this. How much of a threat is Chris to us?"

Bucky stopped and waited for the answer to that.

Tony stopped moving them, paused his pacing. "The only thing that would be worse, Cap, is if they had me. And she's grown her skills in her time with us at the compound. They can use your girl to start wars, to take out nations, to take down any network in the world. She might just prove to be the worst nightmare we've faced yet."

Rage took over Bucky's expression at that. "I've been used as a weapon. I'm not letting them do that to her. How do we find her, Stark? Surely you'd know her coding if you saw it?"

Tony seemed to consider that. "It depends. If they use her, they'll make damn sure that she doesn't drop any clues."

"What about that kid?" Steve asked. "The one the FBI sent with her on the Australian mission."

Tony's hazel eyes widened on Steve. "Fred Jennings. That's not a bad idea, Cap. I'll see if Crenshaw would be willing to let him help us."

"Does the bureau know about Chris?" Steve wanted to know.

Tony nodded. "Before we left for this mission, I got in touch with Crenshaw, got the bureau involved in trying to help us find her."

Steve nodded, grateful for that.

"Now, off with the two of you. I'll arrange a jet to take you to a place I've got in Florida," Tony explained. "You can operate from there and be ready to go at any time if we get a lead."

"What about Ross?" Steve wanted to fly under the radar until they had a better grasp of the situation.

"I'll keep us tied up here for another week," Tony assured him. "I know that's not a lot of time but it's something."

Steve nodded. It was actually better than he'd expected. They headed back for their rooms to pack up and to get on the jet to Florida. With any luck, someone would figure out where their girl was. Or Coulson would provide them with another clue. He just hoped Coulson would be able to keep her safe.

Chris lay curled on the small cot in her cell, grateful that the weather was warm wherever they were. She had a pair of old pajamas that were way too big to sleep in, a cot, a sink, and a bucket for a toilet in the tiny cell where they kept her since she'd arrived.

When the sun came up each day, an older woman who spoke fluent Spanish brought her breakfast. Usually, it was a dry piece of toast, a plain egg over easy and a cup of water. Chris always said thank you, one of the few Spanish terms she knew. The woman tried not to talk to her but from what little she'd said, Chris thought her accent was Argentine. Was she in Argentina?

There guards that went by her cell several times a day. She had only a small barred window on the door to see anything outside the cell. No one came back to see her until after sundown and that's where Chris was losing her mind. Nothing to do but change into her clothes for the day, and they hadn't been washed in almost three weeks, staring at the walls or sleeping. No devices, no books, no television. It really made one think about where they were as a society that they didn't know what to do without technology.

The same woman came at night, bringing a towel that she used to cover the bucket she removed, leaving a clean bucket. She also brought another paper plate and cup with water and her dinner, usually a salad or some type of wrap. It wasn't much but Chris didn't eat much anyway. She wasn't starving.

Chris thought about Bucky and Steve a lot and oh, how she missed them. Her heart sank to think about that. They'd been told she was dead. They wouldn't just believe that, would they? Would they come to find her? To bring her home?

Or were all her old fears correct after all? Would they move on without her? Or worse, find someone else?

She cried a lot and tears came on now just thinking about it all. She was so lost in thought, she didn't immediately realize that someone was opening the door. The light in her room was out, she did have a light switch, and her heart pounded furiously in fear as she watched the door open slowly and a man walked in.

Chris scrambled on her cot, making herself small in the corner against the wall.

"Agent Danforth?" he whispered.

She knew that voice. "Yes?"

"It's me." He moved closer to her cot but slowly, kneeling by its side and keeping his distance. "Agent Cole."

Her heart knew a moment of happiness. He'd survived! She wasn't alone.

"Have to be quick, quiet," he whispered. "I'm trying to reach help."

"Thank you." She reached out to put a hand on his, getting the strangest feeling when she did. Again, there was something about him that didn't quite fit. Still, she wouldn't question it now. He was all she had and if he could reach the compound or Bucky and Steve…?

"Tomorrow, he arrives," Cole said almost too quietly.

"Who?"

"Odysseus," he said.

Oh, God. The moment she'd been dreading. Her old enemy had been somewhere else, and Chris had been relieved, hoping she could find a way out before having to meet him. It didn't appear that she was going to be that lucky.

"How much do you know about him?" Cole asked.

"He's into human trafficking, drugs, and he runs a huge ring of cyber thieves," she told him.

"Correct," Cole told her. "Play along when you meet him and watch what you say. In person, he's volatile. Rely on your empathic abilities."

Her empathic abilities? How did Cole know about that?

Chris nodded.

"I'll come by again when I can," he told her. "Just wanted you to know you're not alone. I'm going to get you out of here."

Chris blinked back tears. "Thank you."

Cole nodded before quietly rising and heading back out of her cell as quickly as he came.

Hope stirred in her heart and it was the best gift she could have received. Just maybe she'd live to go back to the compound and see her boys again. She missed sleeping between them even though it was like being sandwiched by two furnaces sometimes. She missed having Bucky wrapped all around her, the way Steve would give orders in his sleep. She missed two pairs of beautiful blue eyes… Chris's heart ached for them, realizing all her petty worries were just that.

Chris smiled through her tears in the darkness. If she were lucky enough to make it back to them, she'd never let them go.

The next morning, she'd just finished her breakfast and she'd made sure she was dressed before that, when two guards, neither of them Cole, came for her. Roughly they grabbed her arms and hauled her out of the cell and down several dingy corridors lined with other cells. Chris didn't fight them. She just tried to keep up. Finally, they walked out of the building where she'd been kept and she was taken across the property to what looked like a beautiful mansion. When she looked back, Chris saw the foliage hid the building with her cell very well.

They entered the mansion through a back passage and she took in the rich opulence of her surroundings as they dragged her through a few nicer hallways until they reached what looked like an enormous living room. There were furnishings and a widescreen that was pretty much a small movie theatre screen. To the right was an entire wall of computer screens and equipment that all looked pretty familiar to her.

When she looked left, she saw a man sitting in a plush chair watching her. His eyes were small, brown and mean. His dark hair was shot through with gray and thinning. His leer as he gazed up and down her form was unsettling. Then he licked his lips as his gaze met with hers.

"This?" Odysseus began, "is the famous Athena?"

The guards said nothing. Chris didn't know what to say either, so she just nodded mutely.

It looked like it took some effort, but he hauled his huge body out of the chair. He was as tall as Steve and Bucky. His gut was enormous, really sticking out. Chris would have considered trying to evade him and make a go at escaping except that he had a piece on each hip. They both looked to be .45 caliber.

Odysseus came to a stop right in front of her, grabbing her chin painfully in his pudgy fingers. He'd hauled her face up for her inspection and Chris avoided making eye contact with him.

"You stink," he told her. "My people have not cleaned you?"

Chris shook her head. His English was heavily accented with what she was now certain was an Argentinian accent.

"Yes," he muttered to himself. "I think cleaned up you will be better. I didn't expect Athena to be… attractive."

Chris tried to tamp down her escalating fear.

"Do you fucking talk?" Odysseus raged, slapping her face hard the moment he released her chin.

Her eyes watered from the sting but still, she held on to her composure. "Yes, I speak."

Odysseus punched her in the midsection hard, doubling Chris over in pain and surprise. Chris retreated but he lumbered towards her, kicking her hard in the thigh once, twice and again until she rolled onto her side. Pain bloomed in her ribs, hip, and leg from the kicks and she scrambled across the carpet away from him as he kept coming.

She cried out as he grabbed a handful of her hair painfully and hauled her up enough to punch her repeatedly in the face. Chris was able to block a couple of the blows, but it just pissed him off and he started hitting harder. It wasn't until she curled up into a ball on the floor that it stopped, and she heard the rasp of his labored breathing above her.

"This? This is just the beginning," Odysseus informed her. "You have no idea how much you've cost me, little American bitch. You ruined three of my proteges, led your FBI to them."

Another kick that connected with her back and stole her breath for a moment.

"I paid even more to bring you here," he informed her. "You will help me get my proteges back. You will use your talents to make me money."

Tears flowed freely from her eyes, one was swelling shut, as again he grabbed her by the hair and hauled her head up, forcing her to look at him. "I'm going to be repaid for everything in every way you can possibly repay me."

Chris didn't miss his meaning as his hard eyes moved down over her slight form.

"I'm not going to fuck you while you're smelling and bleeding like a pig," he told her. "Take her back. Tell them to clean her up. I'll be sending for her when I get back from the island next week."

When the guards grabbed her arms and pulled her out of the floor, every part of her hurt. The trip out of the mansion and back to the building with the cells was torture and the two guards weren't gentle with her. Not far from her cell, they passed another pair of guards. Cole's eyes were wide as he took in the state of her.

When they reached her cell, they roughly threw her in. Chris sprawled across the cool tile floor, seeing her own blood smearing across it. She just stayed down. Then the sobs ripped from her body, raw, painful sounds that she knew they had to be able to hear outside of her cell. She couldn't bring herself to care.

Hope was a fragile thing she barely had a memory of. Still, before darkness took her, she found herself thinking of their faces, their smiles.

Please let Cole be able to reach them so they can get us out of here.

Chris would have given anything to just hold either Steve's or Bucky's hand in that moment.