This is a fan made story. I don't own the rights to Captain America, any of its characters or any characters within the MCU… Much to my disappointment. This will have some violent content and possible triggers. Steve/Bucky Established Relationship. Constructive criticism is welcome but if you don't like it simply because you don't like the line of thinking, please don't attack me for it.
Author's Note: Apologies again for the delay. I have been suffering from writer's block and weather chaos.
Chapter 14: Siberia
The next morning, Tony woke the occupants of the tower at just after six in the morning, calling a meeting. He had spent the remainder of the night, after Bucky's visit, hacking satellites to look up the coordinates of the base that Bucky had listed as his base of operation in 1991 in hopes of finding more than what the initial one had shown. It was listed as longitude and latitude so the location was easy to pin point. Tony completely ignored the glares he got from most of those who were woken at this ungodly hour. Hill in particular was even less impressed when she was informed that she needed to immediately assemble a security team to aid Bucky in taking and cleaning out the base.
"Wait… how did you even find out this place exists?" Hill finally asked as Tony rambled on about the importance of gathering the entire archive.
"Bucky remembered it as one of the places that they had him work out of. He gave me the coordinates last night after he remembered them. Unfortunately, he didn't remember this before the press conference because what remains of Hydra now knows he is regaining his memories so they might move to empty the place fast," Tony pointed at satellite images. "So far there hasn't been any recent activity around the area which means at worst it is abandoned and already empty and at best, it is dormant and Hydra is going to move fast to empty it. Bucky anything to add?"
"Yeah. While I was there, they got a hold of an attempt of replicating Erskine's formula. It wasn't perfect, or at least I think it wasn't. They gave it to their five best operatives. They turned unstable mentally. Only an extremely skilled physiatrist could control them with trigger words after that. Mostly they, like myself, were kept in cryostasis until they were needed. I only worked with them in terms of training. If you find them in cryo pods, the best bet for dealing with them for now would to keep them in there until it's decided what to do with them," Bucky was blunt.
"Barnes, I want you leading on this one. We know that, thanks to Wanda, trigger words are no longer a risk and you actually know the layout of the place. Hill, pick and assemble the team quickly. Clint, if you don't mind, I know you are still settling in but could you go be a third for the mission? I want you guys there to empty the place asap. We have no idea what we will find so take about thirty guys," Tony stated.
"So, that's it? Why didn't you just wake Bucky, Hill and Clint if they were the only ones you needed to run this mission?" Natasha asked.
"Because the rest of you deserved to know what was going on. We're a team. No secrets… Which is why I should probably tell you the serum that Bucky mentioned earlier was in the car my parents were driving the night they died. Hydra killed my parents. Bucky remembered it and came directly to me. That says a lot to me, it speaks of trust," Tony answered bluntly.
"Tony… how are you not experiencing Alcohol Withdrawal yet? It has been two days since you had your last drink. Honestly, you shouldn't be this rational right now," Helen Cho suddenly asked.
"That? Not really sure to be honest. I think it just hasn't started yet. Some people take a while for it to set in. It's why I am trying to get as much done now as I can before it does set in. It will probably take me out of action for a few weeks once it does," Tony shrugged and focused back on the rest of the group.
"So, Steve, Laura, I went through those files you gave me last night and did the approvals and rejections that were needed. I need you to send them out and sort through the rest of the mess that Miss Potts left us to deal with. Wanda, Pietro, would you two get started on the basics of the nanny and tutor applications? I know Hill was supposed to start on that today but she going to be busy on that mission. Just go through them all and pick out any of the Hydra that you know and those who are overwhelmingly under qualified and send the information for the rest to Happy so that he can arrange for background checks. Bruce, I sent all the patent request approvals to you. I suggest we get those in as soon a as the patent office opens today. I already sent messages to our best patent lawyers so they will be meeting you there. Is there anything I'm missing?" Tony asked looking around.
"Did you get any sleep last night?" Cho asked calmly.
"No. Not that I really tried. I am feeling a little wired and I haven't had coffee for hours," Tony answered with blunt honesty.
Helen got up and pulled a flash light out of her pocket and checked his eyes before sighing, "I take it back. You are going through withdrawal. Insomnia and jitters are probably just the first symptoms. I'm going to get you a mild sedative so you can sleep for a few hours at least. Elsewise, you're going to hurt yourself by pushing too hard. I am also going to have FRIDAY monitor your vitals. FRIDAY, anything from a temperature spike to irritability is to be reported to me immediately. You have been an alcoholic for a long time Tony. We want to make sure that it isn't going to kill you coming off it. If you feel off at all just have FRIDAY get me immediately. Consider yourself under medical observation."
Tony nodded slowly in understanding before Cho backed off, "I am going to go get that sedative. You lay down on one of those couches. Any work you do can be done on this floor, if you go down to the labs, bring someone with you. A human can pick up on things a computer program might miss."
Once Helen left, Steve stared at Tony until he reluctantly obeyed Cho's order to lay down on a couch. Once he did Steve went over to the kitchen and started making breakfast while Hill, Clint and Bucky went to prep for their mission. He didn't like not going with them but a part of him realized Tony's logic. They had four kids, both of them going could increase the odds of making four orphans. He was finishing making the food when FRIDAY announced that the children were awake. He left the last bit to Bruce and talked Wanda and Pietro into collecting his kids with him. Natalia was already on the common floor, having been awake through the entire thing.
When they returned to the common floor with the children, it was to see Hill, Clint and Bucky eating quickly while in uniform. Hill stated that their team for the mission was already on the way. Rebecca had a sudden look of panic when she realized Bucky was going somewhere without her.
"Daddy? Where're you going?" She asked as she began hyper ventilating.
Bucky immediately set aside his food and went to her, "Rebecca, it's ok. I have to deal with a Hydra base, but I will come back. I promise. Your Papa is going to stay right here though. He is going to be here the whole time I am gone, okay? You are going to be perfectly safe. Do you understand?"
Rebecca attempted to control her breathing while he spoke and held her. She finally calmed after a few minutes, "Okay. You promised so I believe you, Daddy. Don't get hurt."
"I will do my best, kid. Hey, this place is likely completely empty and I can get home quickly but it may be a few days. I need you to promise me that you will be good for Papa. He's going to need help with George and Joseph," Bucky smiled at her as she nodded, a determined look on her face. "Good."
He kissed her forehead before doing the same with Sarah and the boys. During this distraction, Helen had managed to sneak by the group unnoticed and give Tony the sedative without any fuss. Clint was less stressed with his departure since his kids wouldn't get up until they were dragged from bed by their mother and they were used to his coming and going. As the rest settled down for breakfast and another day of running a multi-billion dollar tech organization, Hill, Clint and Bucky headed for the QuinJet hanger where most of their team was already assembled.
Minutes after that, they had them split into five different QuinJets and were taking off for the other side of the world. Everyone settled in for the flight quickly and most of those who were rushed out of their homes so abruptly in the early morning were munching on what quick food they could grab on their way to Avengers Tower and talking quietly amongst themselves. This lasted most of the way until they were a half hour out from the base in Siberia.
"All right everyone, get your coms synced," Clint ordered from his seat as a pilot of one of the QuinJets. "Hill and Bucky are about to go over the briefing. Channel four please."
Once everyone was synced and listening, Hill began immediately, "Alright. Here is the gist of the mission. The base we are heading for is believed to be either abandoned or dormant, though we are hoping it is dormant. It is a simple retrieval mission but there are a few security concerns. We are gathering anything Hydra might have left here. Hopefully, if it is dormant, there will be a lot of intel to be gathered from it. Our last known operational time period for this base was in the nineties so we are looking at what is likely a lot of paper and VHS level of intel. Sargent Barnes is familiar with the base and he will be leading the mission."
"Alright, I'm Sargent Barnes, you can call me Bucky though. This base was used primarily for undercover ops and as Hill said, it probably hasn't been operational since the turn of the century. That being said, there are still potential traps and dangers. Scan the doorways before you enter a room. Don't start anything up without my explicit direction and if you find people in cryostasis, do not, I repeat DO NOT let them out. If Hydra kept them in cryostasis it is because they were too dangerous to allow any unsupervised conditions. If Hydra thought they were dangerous, it is likely they were and we may or may not know why that is. We will transport them back as is in cryostasis. Is that clear?" Bucky was in full military mode which seemed to make the team comfortable with him. A chorus of confirmations later Bucky continued. "For the most part, our best case scenario is a lot of boxes and perhaps a few people in cryo, worst case scenario, an empty base filled with traps."
As he finished the first QuinJet landed followed by the others. Fortunately, there was plenty of space around the entrance of the base as Bucky lead the way to the hidden door in the side of the mountain and used his metal hand to break the ice off the keypad. The ice was actually a relief for him because it meant, due to its thickness, that no one had been there in a while. He posted a few sentries at the entrance before leading the rest of the team into the base.
Flash lights flicked on around him and began moving around the dust coated entrance hall looking for any signs of traps or activity. Once again, the thick layers of dust spoke of a long period of activity. Bucky led them through the dark, windowless halls of the base. Since it was built into the mountain it had been a rather simplistic design. Clint bit back a comment about how he didn't think they were going to find anything as Bucky reached a second door and punched in another code. After a minute a hiss was heard and a gust of air even more stale than what they had been breathing already passed them. The room they entered was lit only by the glow of five cryostasis pods which held five people within it.
"Looks like we got the right place," Clint stated obviously as he followed Bucky over to a control panel. "Any ideas of how to transport them?"
"Each of the pods have independent power sources that keep them operational during transport. We just need to detach the cables from this control panel to the pods and unlatch the pods from the floor, lower them on their backs and wheel them out. It was designed for easy transport. It means that they don't have to wake them until the last minute. They were actually considered more dangerous than I was," Bucky answered as he looked at the latest read outs for the pods. "Looks like they haven't been woken for about fifteen years."
"That is a long time to sleep," Hill stated. "You want to show the guys how to detach them so we can get them loaded onto the QuinJets?"
Bucky nodded and pressed the buttons for transportation mode for each of the pods before turning off the control panel. He then detached to cables from the side of the panel itself and directed the few personnel that had been observing him and not examining the room to coil them up towards the pods. He then walked over to a pod while Hill called a few more people over to them. Bucky then talked them through unlatching the pods to the ground and lowering it so that they didn't damage the pod. Once that group got to work on the process for the pods, Bucky gathered up the rest and brought them even deeper into the base. They checked the rooms along the way but most were just bedrooms or empty offices. They didn't find anything else until they reached the archives.
They checked the room for traps before those present were ordered to start carrying the boxes out. Hill gathered up a few smaller boxes before leading them out. The rest of the day was probably what Hill would consider one of the most boring missions she had even participated in. Hydra had apparently felt the base so well hidden and Bucky so unlikely to remember it that they had just left the place without much of any protection. The most interesting part of her morning involved the moment when they had to improvise a wooden walkway to the QuinJets for the cryostasis pods when they realized they wouldn't be able to roll them through the snow. They did find a memory wiping machine that also needed to be loaded in.
Each QuinJet got a pod and then was loaded with boxes of files until there was barely enough room for the team members. They barely managed to squeeze everyone back into the QuinJets just before night fall and the heavily laden QuinJets moved a bit slower on the way back, none of them designed as cargo planes.
By the time they reached Avenger's Tower it was well past midnight because they had to stop and refuel in Germany which with so many QuinJets took a long time. When they did get back, Hill sent the team home informing them that someone else could unload the QuinJets in the morning. Tony was awake and Natalia was with him as Clint, Hill and Bucky got to the common floor of the tower.
"How did it go?" Tony asked without looking up. He sat on the couch surrounded by tablets. Natalia was watching a documentary on the Jurassic period of earth with rapt attention.
"Well, whether it was a gold mine remains to be seen but Hydra is now down five more enhanced assets and we have the entire archives from the base. We need to decide what happens to the five in those pods though," Hill stated as she slumped down in a chair.
"So, it was a success. Good. Ross is coming by tomorrow so, he can have some analysts come by for the files. He contacted me about wanting to talk about something, he didn't say what though, so I imagine if it is not so fun we at least have this to butter him up with," Tony stated before leaning back on the couch. "FRIDAY, can you lower the lights to forty percent. They're giving me a headache."
"Of course, boss," FRIDAY responded as the lights lowered a bit more than they already had been.
"Withdrawal?" Clint asked.
"Yeah. I'll deal though. I refuse to be my father. Even if it isn't his drinking that killed my mother, it still did a number on his relationship with me and I don't want Natalia to face that," Tony shifted before returning to one of the tablets.
"You're doing the right thing Tony. I know it sucks but it is the right choice," Clint offered in support.
"I know that. Just do me a favor and keep reminding me because this does suck," Tony sighed as he put down the tablet after an alarm on his watch went off. He then reached to a pill bottle on a table beside the couch and a cup of what looked like tea. "Anti-nausea medication. Cho gave it to me after I threw up earlier. It does help a bit. The tea is from Bruce. It's supposed to help me relax a little but it hasn't done much more than slow the tremors."
"You going to try to sleep?" Hill asked, concern slightly lacing her voice.
"I'm not sure I can right now. Though if I don't, I'm sure Cho will just sedate me again in the morning so I can get a few hours," Tony stated after returning the pills to the table along with the tea.
"Alright. Well, we are exhausted so, we'll see you in the morning. If you wake me at six again tomorrow, I will have your head," Hill stated before she left. Clint nodded and seconded the sentiment.
Bucky didn't say anything, just going back to his floor. It was quiet as he stepped off the elevator and he took silent steps to first the girls' room and stuck his head in. The room was empty causing him to frown. He checked the boys' room next and found them sleeping soundly. He placed a kiss on each of them gently before going to his own room. His eyes were well adjusted to the dark now and he smiled softly at the sight that greeted him. Steve was being crowded off the large bed by Rebecca and Sarah sprawling out as much as possible. He held back a chuckle as he stripped off his dust coated uniform and slipped on a set of pj bottoms and a t-shirt.
He gently lifted-up the blankets and carefully rearranged the girls to make space for himself before climbing into the bed. Once he was settled on his side, Sarah immediately latched onto him in her sleep like an octopus. Bucky mentally pushed away the thoughts of his day and allowed the comfort of his daughter's clinging to lull him to sleep, knowing full well it wouldn't be more than a few hours before he was woken by the boys' needs.