Warning: mentions of death


Chapter 3

The Quinjet arrives at the Shield Helicarrier about an hour later. Coulson and Sharon carefully land and park the jet in the surprisingly busy hangar. Usually there aren't this many people around, but then again, it is a little after sunrise and they must be returning from overnight missions.

It doesn't take long for everyone to pile off the Quinjet and Steve finds himself standing in a circle near the still open loading ramp. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Bruce, who is standing next to Coulson, giving him and Bucky concerned glances probably in response to their laughing fit. When Bruce looks away, Bucky indiscreetly nudges him in the ribs and it's taking everything they have not to grin and burst into a giggle fit like when they were kids and discovered their first porn magazine.

Coulson clears his throat, bringing Steve's attention back to the task. The mission might be over, but they're needed for a debriefing and Steve has to remain completely professional. This, he will admit, is hard to do with Bucky around.

"Thank you so much," the Agent says to both Sharon and Amira. "We couldn't have done this without you."

"It was our pleasure," Amira says with a small smile.

"Happy to help," Sharon responds.

"Are you two going to be around for a while?" Steve asks. "I mean, after the debrief we're probably going to get some food or something, and you're welcomed to join us."

Sharon shakes her head. "We would love to, but um, we have already been assigned another mission. Amira got our orders while we were in flight."

"That's okay, some other time?" Steve offers.

Sharon looks to Amira. Both women smile before nodding.

"We'll definitely take you up on that, Captain," Amira says. "Until then."

Steve nods curtly. "Until then."

The Avengers, Coulson, and Loki say their final goodbyes to the two women before they leave the hangar.

Coulson pulls out his cell phone and checks it. "Fury's waiting for us. Let's go ahead and get this over with."

"It's a shame they couldn't stick around, I actually sort of liked this Agent Thirteen," Loki comments as they head towards the meeting room.

Thor clasps his brother on the back of the neck as a wide grin crawls onto his face. "It is good to see you making friends, brother."

Loki scowls and rolls his eyes. "Don't ruin this for me, you oaf."

Thor laughs deep in his chest, grin not leaving his face.


"We're here," Coulson announces after several minutes of walking through the Helicarrier's various corridors. He opens the double doors and leads the way into the meeting room.

Fury is already standing in front of the round, circular table in the center of the room, eye cast downwards at the tablet in front of him. He glances up when he hears the door open and gestures to the table. "Have a seat," he says.

The Avengers move further into the room and take their places around the conference table. Coulson seats himself first, sitting in the chair on Fury's right. Bruce sits next to Coulson, followed by Thor, Loki, Bucky, and finally Steve. Only half of the seats are occupied, almost serving as a cruel reminder that Avengers are not completely together. Steve's mind drifts to his missing teammates, hoping that everything is going smoothly.

As if sensing his worry, Bucky nudges Steve in the side and offers him a small smile that says, "everything will be alright, Stevie, just you wait and see." The blond returns the smile with one of his own. He reaches over and ruffles Bucky's long hair, which earns him a noise of disapproval.

The door to the conference room opens and Agent Hill walks in carrying a stack of files. She pauses on her way to her seat to hand Bruce a paperback novel, which the doctor accepts with a smile. She speaks with him quietly for a few moments, presumably about the novel, before nodding and walking away to her seat. Hill sets down the files on the table and settles in the empty chair on Director Fury's left.

Fury clears his throat. "Now that everyone's here, we can get started."

Bucky twitches in his seat and Steve can't help but grin. The debrief hasn't even started and his friend is already restless. Bucky has never been able to sit still; he always has to be in motion, even in his sleep. Steve remembers Bucky physically kicking him out of bed, on one of the rare nights when the blond was actually well, and only awoke when Steve attacked his tickle spots. His friend had apologized profusely, but Steve saw the amusement dancing in his eyes.

"To start off, I have seen Coulson's, Agent Thirteen's, and Agent Baines's reports on Holdrege and I must say that I am impressed with the results," Fury says. "The operation was a complete success."

"It was mostly successful due to the hard work of Shield and The Avengers, with special thanks to Cap for planning the actual covert operation," Coulson interjects.

"Excellent," Fury says with a nod. "Now, I want to discuss—"

The Director never got the chance to finish his sentence for a loud explosion cuts him off. The Helicarrier rocks dangerously to the side, causing everyone to go off balance and nearly forced from their chairs. When the Helicarrier rights itself, everyone immediately rises to their feet and arms themselves with their weapon of choice.

"Sir, I'm getting word that we're being attacked by Hydra," Hill yells over the noise.

"What? Can't these motherfuckers get an original idea?" Fury exclaims.

"It must be out of retaliation," Bucky says. When everyone turns to him, he shrugs. "We did destroy their surprisingly empty operational base. Sharon did mention they were planning something big, so they must have kept most of their soldiers off site. Plus, it doesn't take a genius to realize that Shield was the one behind the attack."

"He's right," Steve agrees.

"I'm always right," Bucky says smugly.

"What do we do, Cap?" Bruce asks.

"Eliminate the threat," Steve says, glancing over at Bucky, who is checking his weapons.

"I thought that wasn't Captain America's style," Loki says with a slight sneer in his tone.

"Yeah, well, things change," Steve says, keeping his gaze on Bucky.

"Look, I don't care how you do it, but I want Hydra off my Helicarrier," Fury says as he pulls out his pistol. "Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," Steve says.

After he finishes speaking, the first wave of soldiers appears in the conference room. Thor immediately tosses his hammer into the crowd and blasts the enemies through the side of the Helicarrier. Hill and Coulson quickly take out those that weren't eliminated in the initial offence.

Fury's eye narrows at the gaping hole in the side of the conference room. Bucky lets out a low whistle and Steve winces. Loki sighs and mutters under his breath.

Thor calls Mjolnir back to him and gives the Director an apologetic look. "I offer you my most sincere apology. It was not my intention to damage your aircraft."

The Director remains silent for another moment before sighing. "Just watch your strength."

Thor nods his confirmation. "I understand and shall do my best to comply."

Any further conversation is hindered when the larger second wave of soldiers arrive. Bruce transforms into the Hulk and charges, taking down a massive chunk of the enemies with one swing of his arm. Loki creates spells and illusions in order to trick the enemies into attacking their own. Thor isn't far from Loki's position, using Mjolnir to keep the soldiers way from his brother. Fury, Hill, and Coulson have taken to cover and are providing assistance with their firearms.

Steve charges into the mass of soldiers, knocking the enemies away with his shield and taking full advantage of the hole in the side of the Helicarrier. Occasionally, out of the corner of his eye, the Captain will see a black and silver blur speed past him and keep the enemies off his six. Steve smiles to himself, thrilled that Bucky has his back again. If he tunes out the Hulk's roaring and his teammates shouting over the comms, it's almost as if they're fighting together during the war. Captain America and Bucky Barnes destroying Hydra alongside the Howling Commandos one base at a time.

The blond is pulled from his musing when a bullet grazes his shoulder. Steve swears under his breath, pissed that he let himself get so distracted.

"Sniper on the balcony," Hill informs while popping her head out from behind cover and firing two shots into the enemy approaching her. "There's a vent located above his head and an adjuring one located on the furthest wall to the right."

Steve quickly locates the vent, which is close to the ceiling. Cap turns to address his team and already sees Bucky heading towards him at full sprint. He tightens his grip on his shield and braces himself as Bucky jumps; placing both of his feet firmly on top the star in the center, Bucky crouches low, nearly curled in completely on himself. Steve musters his strength before launching his friend to the vent. He watches Bucky grab the hatch with his metal hand before crawling inside.

He waits with baited breath before the hatch over top the sniper is kicked open and Bucky is throwing himself from the vent, landing on top of the enemy sniper and forcing him to the ground. He gets a glimpse of Bucky's metal arm rising into the air, knife catching the light before he thrusts the weapon down.

A body is tossed over the edge of the balcony and lands on the ground some feet away from Steve. Bucky pokes his head over the railing, catching Steve's eye and nodding his head. Satisfied that is friend is now the one behind the sniper rifle, Cap turns away from the balcony and throws himself back into the battle.


"Steve, on your left!" Bucky shouts.

Cap turns to deal with the threat, but before he can react, he is tackled to the ground with the hands of the enemy soldier wrapped around his throat. Steve hears his shield clatter to the ground a few feet away as he struggles to fight off the soldier, unable to get a purchase on the man leaning over him. He works to try to get his feet underneath the enemy so he can kick him off, when the man is forced off him. The blond hears a single gunshot before Bucky's face comes into view.

Bucky's frowning and looking at Steve disapprovingly. "I told you to watch your left."

"Don't be an ass; help me up," he responds while still trying to catch his breath.

Bucky rolls his eyes and holsters his gun. He reaches out his hand to help Steve up when bullets start whizzing past his head. "Shit," he swears, raising his metal arm to deflect the bullets. He looks around for a moment before grabbing Steve's shield and using the object to cover them both.

Steve's friend is successful in his defense attempt until one of the foot soldier fires a ray gun that blasts Bucky out of Steve's field of vision. Bucky drops the shield and flies out of the open hole in the Helicarrier that Mjolnir had made.

"Bucky!" Steve scrambles to his feet, slightly stumbling while he runs to where Bucky fell, hearing the faint sounds of Thor keeping the soldiers off him. He pokes his head around the open side of the Helicarrier, eyes widening in horror at what he sees.

Bucky is a few feet away and hanging on to a jutted out piece of metal for dear life. His eyes are fearful as he looks between Steve and the endless void below.

"Hang on!"

"Steve, what do you think you're doing?"

"Just hang on!"

Steve grabs onto the side of the Helicarrier and slowly eases his way around. He carefully makes his way to Bucky's position, not liking the way the metal groans under his weight. When Steve is close enough he reaches out his arm in an effort to grab onto Bucky and—

It's 1944, they're on a mission to capture Zola in the hopes he'll lead them to the Skull's position. They were ambushed in the back, Steve went down, Bucky protected him. He was blasted out of the train. Steve is screaming his name, he's reaching out his arm, and the metal gives away. Bucky's slipping, falling, and Steve is crying, repeating his name as a mantra in his head. All you had to do was catch him, Rogers; you had one fucking job. Catch him.

"Grab my hand!" Steve yells over the memories and forcing himself back into the present.

Bucky shifts his position slightly, left arm outstretched as far as it would go. "I can't reach."

The blond can feel the desperation and panic starting to crawl through him. He forces down his emotions and focuses on getting Bucky. They've been inching towards each other and Steve can almost reach him when the metal Bucky is clinging to finally gives away and he's slipping, falling, and Steve lunges, catching Bucky around the wrist with his right hand and clinging to the metal of the Helicarrier with the other. Steve uses his strength to twist his body and toss Bucky through the open hole, feeling relieved when he hears the sound of Bucky's metal arm colliding with the floor.

Steve takes a breath before easing his way back into the Helicarrier, allowing himself a brief moment to relax when his feet touch the solid floor. He looks around for Bucky before seeing the other man stalking towards him, face twisted in anger, and shaking his head as if he's disappointed. Cap is about to get the lecture of his life and he doesn't care because the important thing is: Bucky's alive.

"Are you out of your goddamned mind?" Bucky starts yelling once he's only a few feet from Steve. "You could have gotten yourself ki—"

Steve cuts Bucky off when he wraps the other man in a hug. He's acting unprofessional right now, seeing as there's a battle still going on around them, but he nearly lost his best friend again in the exact same way as before. He thinks he's entitled to a hug. The blond smiles when he feels Bucky's arms wrap around his torso and his reluctant sigh.

"You're an idiot," Bucky says, pretending to be exasperated and only sounding nothing but grateful.

"Got it from you, Buck."

Bucky pulls away and grins, hitting Steve on the arm. "Come on Cap. Let's finish this."


It doesn't take much longer to defeat Hydra.

Hulk roars and finishes off the last of the soldiers by knocking them through the hole in the side of the Helicarrier. Everyone slowly uncurls themselves from their cover and looks around the conference room suspiciously, not entirely sure if the area is completely clear. After a few moments, Loki speaks up.

"I've done a complete scan of the aircraft with my magic. There is no trace of Hydra on board."

Everyone relaxes at Loki's words and holster their weapons. Hulk transforms back into Bruce and Thor welcomes the good Doctor back. Steve turns and looks at Bucky, who is standing next to him and wearing a neutral expression on his face. He can't get over the fact that he nearly lost Bucky for a third time. The Captain wants nothing more than to keep Bucky by his side and not let the man leave his sight, but he knows that if he coddles Bucky too much, he'll get mad and retaliate by yelling or punching Steve in the face. Or both.

Steve bumps his shoulder against Bucky's watching the other man turn towards him, expression morphing into a grin. He watches Bucky's eyes roam over Steve's face and body as if checking for any injuries like he used to do when they were younger. The Captain only has a few cuts and bruises in addition to the wound in his shoulder where he was grazed by a bullet. All signs of those injuries will be gone within a few hours, at best.

Bucky bumps against Steve's shoulder, grin faltering slightly. The Captain wonders what his friend could be thinking about, whether it's the fall or the memories from their past, he has no idea. He's about to ask Bucky when the sounds of footsteps cause him to turn and face the door as several Shield agents arrive in the destroyed conference room, dragging carts and bins behind them.

"Alright, cleanup is here. Avengers stand down," Fury says and he barely finished speaking before Thor, Bruce, and Loki practically drop where they stand. Hill and Coulson remain by the Director's side and the three begin whispering amongst themselves.

Steve tries to aid with the cleanup before Agents Sanders and Martinez, who are in charge of the cleanup effort, pull him into a conversation about the battle. The blond relays everything that happened in as much detail as possible while Agent Martinez takes notes. During the whole conversation, he's aware of Bucky propped up against the wall behind him, remaining silent and Steve can bet that his friend is bored out of his mind.

"Thank you so much, Captain Rogers," Agent Sanders says with a small smile. "As soon as the area is cleared, that hole is the first thing we're fixing. We wouldn't want someone to accidentally fall through that thing."

Steve tenses as his mind replays what nearly happened again during the battle.

Bucky stifles a snort.

"That's not funny, Bucky," the blond hisses under his breath.

"You have to admit, it is kind of ironic," Bucky responds.

Steve frowns and decides not to answer Bucky in favor of continuing his conversation with the Agents.

After a minute, he feels Bucky nudge his side. Before he can look at his friend, Bucky's whisper of "Your boy's back," reaches his ears and he can hear the smirk in the other man's tone. The blond politely excuses himself from the conversation with the Agents and turns his head, spotting Tony on the other side of the room with Nat, Rhodey, and Clint surrounding him. A wide grin breaks across his face. The four look worse for the wear and like they've seen a ghost, but they're all alive and back. Finally, the Avengers are back together.

"Tony!"

"Steve!"

Steve crosses the room, watching as the brunet sets a box to his side. When he reaches Tony, he wraps the other man in his arms, pressing his face into the brunet's shoulder to hide his wide grin. His best friend is okay, and his teammates and the love of his life have returned to him. Steve would be damned to say if he was anything less than completely content.

"Why does he get the first hug?" Clint asks, and Steve can imagine Natasha rolling her eyes at the archer's words.

"I missed you so much," Steve whispers, turning his attention back to the man in his arms as though he never heard Clint speak.

He can feel Tony grinning against his shoulder. "I missed you too, you big lug."

Steve snorts.

Tony pulls away from Steve and smiles at him, one the blond returns whole-heartedly. After a few moments, Tony furrows his brow, confused, and looks at the destruction surrounding them. "What happened here?"

Bucky snorts from somewhere on the other side of the room. "A whole lotta shit."