Hope y'all liked the first chapter, though I wouldn't know it, due to lack of feedback. I don't like having to ask for reviews, but I do like them, they help me know that you guys appreciate what I'm writing and they're the best way for y'all to give feedback to me about my writing and such. Anyways, here's your next chapter!
Steve yawns as he waits for his coffee to finish brewing. He blinks heavily, reaching up a hand to wipe at his eyes, getting the sleep out of them. He reaches up and grabs the first mug he can reach, setting it down on the counter in front of the coffeemaker. He shuffles over to the fridge and pulls out the creamer, grabbing the sugar on his way back over to where the coffee has finally brewed. He mixes it to his satisfaction, barely flinching as the hot coffee burns his mouth as he takes a long sip. He drains the cup and refills it, taking the mug with him as he gathers the clothes he'll need for his 'meeting'. He suits up quickly and gathers his briefcase from the hall where he left it and brings it into the living room, dumping random papers into it. He pauses a moment to touch the Colt .22 he keeps in there.
"Hey Stevie." Bucky murmurs from behind him. Steve jumps and snaps the briefcase closed.
"Bucky! Hey, I didn't wake you, did I?" Steve asks him calmly, though his heart is pounding so hard in his chest, he worries his heart condition has come back.
"Nah, had to get up early to pack for the trip, 'member?" He mutters, shuffling into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. Steve sighs and relaxes his shoulders. Bucky didn't see the gun, otherwise he would've asked about it, right? Steve shakes his head at himself and picks up his own mug, draining the now cold coffee.
"Y'know, it's weird." Steve says loud enough for Bucky to hear him in the kitchen.
"What?" He asks, padding back into the living room an settling in across from Steve.
"Just, back when we were kids, I never imagined we'd end up working in corporate offices." Steve answers with a laugh.
"Yeah, you always thought we'd be spies or something." Bucky answers with a chuckle. Steve laughs, though it's a bit strained. He hates it when Bucky gets too close to the truth, even when it's joking like this.
"Yeah, well, guess that was a bit unrealistic of me, huh?" Steve replies with a soft chuckle. He glances at his wrist to check the time and bolts upright. "Holy, shit! I'm going to be late." He exclaims, gathering up his briefcase and jacket. He kisses Bucky on the lips briefly and hurries out the door.
"Happy anniversary!" Bucky calls after him, chuckling.
"Love you!" Steve calls back, closing the door behind him.
"You're late Captain." Natasha greets him as he steps onto the tarmac.
"Got caught up with my partner. It is our anniversary after all, in case you've forgotten." Steve snaps back, stripping off his outer layers. Natasha rolls her eyes, but gives him a soft smile before turning towards the rack with their equipment on it. She hands him a dark blue bundle and he unfolds it, his eyes lingering on the white star emblazoned across the chest.
"Still not very subtle, is it?" He mutters. Natasha shrugs and slides a gun into the holster at her side. Steve scowls as he shucks his pants and shirt, revealing the skin-tight blue under-armor he wears with the uniform. He pulls on his newly redesigned suit and turns to Natasha.
"Do we really have to do this every time?" Natasha complains as she backs up.
"I've told you Nat, I need to be sure it's safe. I've got a guy waiting for me back home, and I'd like to know I'll see him again." He answers, as he does every time. Natasha rolls her eyes again and pulls her gun, firing two rounds at Steve. He stumbles back with the force of the shots, but the suit holds up, without even a dent in it to show where the bullets hit.
"Are we ready now Cap?" Natasha questions, sliding the gun back into its holster.
"Yeah, yeah." Steve mutters, picking up the shield that is, again, too obvious for a spy to be using. The two agents board the waiting jet and pull out the black duffles that hold their disguises.
"Y'know, I don't know why I can't just get one of those black uniforms like the ones everyone else uses." Steve complains again, plucking at the blue fabric.
"At least it doesn't have the bright red stripes anymore." Natasha reminds him. Steve huffs and nods, conceding her point. They pull on their warm hiking gear in silence, reading over their covers while they do so, familiarizing themselves with their story. Steve settles into his seat and straps himself in, Natasha doing the same across from him.
"So, the Winter Soldier. What do we know about him?" Steve asks, changing the subject to their mission. Natasha pulls out another manila folder and opens it, her eyes scanning over what is no doubt familiar material.
"There's not much on the Winter Soldier. One of H.Y.D.R.A's best agents, known to have over a dozen confirmed kills over the last seven years, he is largely shrouded in myth. Most in the intelligence community don't even believe he really exists, that he's a ghost story spread around the fire to warm new spies against the dangers of this world. Don't mess up or the Winter Soldier's going to come and get you." Natasha explains. Steve cocks and eyebrow at her.
"But you think differently?" He comments, recognizing the tome the Widow used.
"No." Steve's eyebrows raise in surprise. "I know differently." Natasha pauses and sets the file down, leaning closer to Steve. "The Soldier, Yasha as he liked to be called, trained me in the Red Room. He's the reason I'm here and not still under the Red Room's control. But make no mistake, I will put a bullet in him without hesitation if needed."
"Agents, we'll be arriving shortly." Their handler, a man around Steve's age named Brock, tells them before returning to the cockpit. Steve and Natasha unstrap themselves from their seats and slide on their chute packs, strapping the heavier hiking backpacks to their fronts. The bay door opens and they prepare for the jump.
"Ready?" Steve shouts over the sound of the wind.
"When you are." Nat shouts back. Steve rushes at the opening of the jet and jumps out, Natasha following shortly after. They pull their parachutes and descend slowly, landing among a copse of trees. Their chutes retreat back into their packs (thanks to Tony and Bruce realizing that it took away time from the mission if the agents had to restful their packs every time they parachuted down) and they stand up, brushing themselves down. They stuff the chutes into their big backpacks and head out, hiking towards their goal.
"Colorado isn't exactly the place I'd imagine H.Y.D.R.A would send their top agent. Seems more like somewhere Bucky would go on his business training seminars or something." Steve comments as they trek through the dense forest.
"We need to do a little recon before taking on the Soldier and the rest of the H.Y.D.R.A agents, which is why we're starting the mission undercover." Romanoff informs him, checking a StarkPad for the information they didn't go over on the jet. With a flick of her wrist she pulls up a projection of the resort H.Y.D.R.A is masking itself as.
"During its 'on' seasons, the resort is fully functional, catering to a wide variety of guests, only a small portion of which are affiliated with H.Y.D.R.A. During the 'off' seasons, like now, it holds 'business seminars' that are covers for H.Y.D.R.A training and debriefing. H.Y.D.R.A is known for using sleeper agents, so they use the cover of a training seminar to bring them to their base, where they activate them and debrief them for their ops. We have to be very careful when infiltrating this base, we don't know what might happen to the sleeper agents if attacked." Natasha turns to Steve and levels him with a Look. "Can you do this?"
"Of course I can Nat. They may think they're civilians, but they're just as deadly as we are, possibly more so if provoked." Steve shifts his pack and looks around, checking their surroundings. "We should go over our cover one more time, to make sure we know it."
"My name is Natalie Robinson, I'm a yoga instructor from New York. You're my adopted brother Stephen, called Steph by your friends. I'm engaged to a business man from Montreal named Mark, and we scheduled a week of camping before the wedding to get in some final sibling bonding memories before the rush of planning begins." Natasha recites perfectly.
"As you said, my name's Stephen Robinson, though I prefer to be called Steph. I'm a therapist for the VA and a former veteran myself, serving two tours in Iraq and rising to the rank of First Lieutenant. I'm not currently in a relationship, though I did come out as gay the year after I returned from service permanently. I sometimes get annoyed at you for pointing out possible gay men in my immediate area and trying to set us up. Which, funnily enough, is how you met your fiancé. I enjoy taking morning hikes through Central Park and of the two of us, I'm the more adept at camping." Steve responds. Nat nods and they set out again, trekking through the forest. While walking they begin to banter, settling into the personas they've been assigned.
"We're only a few clicks away from the resort." Steve whispers to his partner, who nods slightly.
"C'mon Steph, just admit we're lost already!" She whines, walking sluggishly through the trees.
"We're not lost Talie, I know exactly where we are." Steve responds, rolling his eyes.
"Oh really? Then how come you said we'd be back at the campsite in half an hour?" She throws back, adding just the right amount of sibling teasing into her voice.
"Because we will be back at the campsite in half an hour." Steve insists.
"You said that half an hour ago! C'mon Steph, we're lost and you know it!" She insists, resting by a tree while Steve takes a few more steps forward, triggering the security system they know H.Y.D.R.A has in place to keep random hikers off of their property.
"Fine! We'll rest here and have a snack and I'll try to find the trail back when we're done, okay?" Steve responds testily. Natasha heaves a sigh of relief and collapses to the ground.
"Finally! I thought you'd make us keep walking forever. I've never been a soldier Steph, there's only so much hiking I can do before I collapse." She tells him, rummaging through her pack to find a granola bar. Steve rolls his eyes at her and opens his mouth to say something, but is cut off by the sound of a vehicle driving through the woods. A black and red all-terrain four-wheeler rolls to a stop in front of them and a friendly looking man in a black uniform steps out.
"Excuse me, this is private property. You can't be here." He tells them, pointing a flashlight at them, even though it's barely the afternoon yet.
"I'm sorry, I think my brother got us lost." Natasha says while she stands, a warm smile on her face. Steve scoffs at her and steps forward, towards the H.Y.D.R.A agent.
"We're looking for the Green Meadows campsite, it should be nearby." He explains. "And I didn't get us lost." He adds, pointedly looking at Natasha.
"The nearest campsite is a few miles to the west of here, so I'm afraid you have gotten yourself quite a bit of track." The agent tells them. Natasha smacks Steve's side and gives him an 'I told you so' look.
"Ow, hey! It's not my fault we got off track, you're the one that dropped the compass into the river." He tells her, wincing when she smacks him again.
"Well you're Mister Boyscout Army Guy, shouldn't you have a spare or something!" She resounds indignantly.
"Oh so now it's my fault for not factoring in your clumsiness into my packing for our trip?" He counters, crossing his arms over his chest. "Aren't you supposed to be the really graceful yoga teacher?"
"You little-"
"Excuse me, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave the property or book a room." The H.Y.D.R.A agent interjects. The two 'siblings' turn to look at him at the same time, one apologetic and the other slightly indignant.
"You wouldn't happen to have a spare compass would you?" Steve asks, pulling out his puppy dog eyes. The agent considers it for a moment before shaking his head.
"I'm afraid I don't have one on me, but I could find one at the resort." He suggests, playing the role he's been given beautifully. Steve and Natasha both smile gratefully at him.
"Oh that would be great, thank you." Natasha says, picking up her pack and walking towards the vehicle, Steve following after her. Steve climbs in the back as Natasha takes the seat next to the H.Y.D.R.A agent, who starts the vehicle and carefully turns them around, following a slightly wider path in the forest to the large estate H.Y.D.R.A uses as a base/resort. Steve stares out the window, watching the H.Y.D.R.A agent out of the corner of his eye and occasionally bantering with the Widow.
They round a bank of trees and suddenly they're on a gravel road with a clear view of the resort. The vehicle stops and the agent pulls down a small radio mic.
"I've gotta radio ahead to make sure the staff knows we're coming." He explains, pressing down on the side of the radio. "Breaker One, this is Scout One. I've got two hikers that got turned around and I'm bringing them in to help them find their way back. Over."
The radio crackles for a moment before a grainy voice responds.
"Scout One this is Breaker One. You've got blue skies. Over."
Steve catches Natasha's eye in the review and they both nod slightly at the other, recognizing the code phrase. The vehicle lurches forward and continues down the gravel road. Just as their vehicle is rounding the front edge of the resort, another vehicle pulls up. The black SUV stops right in front of the glass double doors that serve as the entrance to the resort and two men in suits come out to greet whatever poor soul they're brainwashing. Steve and Natasha's own car stops a few yards behind them, so Steve has a clear view when they open the SUV's doors.
He stops breathing when the sleeper agent steps out, his heart pumping wildly in his ears, drowning out whatever lies the H.Y.D.R.A agent is telling them about their 'clientele'. Natasha puts her hand on his shoulder and he jolts, turning around to look at her with wide eyes. She gives him the 'are you okay' look and Steve just shakes his head. He doesn't think he'll ever be okay again.
Because they both just received word that the Winter Soldier just entered the resort.
And Bucky stepped out of that car.
Hope y'all like this one! Please leave reviews, it doesn't take that long to leave a message of support, and I really appreciate knowing what y'all think of my writing. Even if its just 'ashkfsd', it's appreciated. See y'all next chapter!