A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! :D I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday! I was actually going to post this around Christmas time, but I was sick and Kristyn was having some computer troubles. I'm going to stop blabbing now. Let's get on with the story! This chapter takes place immediately after the last one!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers.

Chapter 14

The flight to Winchester turns out to be a short one, only taking around ten minutes. Tony has JARVIS scanning the area continuously for the other three Avengers, but coming up with nothing. The brunet bites on his bottom lip, feeling a gnawing worry chewing away inside him.

Not being connected to the entire Avengers—to Steve—is starting to take a toll on him and causing his mind to image horrifying scenarios that he doesn't want to consider possible. The Avengers haven't been apart since Fury forced the team to live together all those months ago and it feels odd not having everyone together. Not the good kind of odd either—the bad kind where you feel like a part of you is missing.

Even though Tony doesn't believe in a God, he's hoping that someone is watching out for Steve, Bucky, and Hulk.

"Guys, look!" Clint calls pointing at something in the distance.

The city of Winchester lies ahead with thick, dark smoke rising from the skyline and large flames swallowing the buildings and the surrounding brush. The four Avengers watch in horror as the largest structure, a cathedral, falls into itself and collapses into the flames right before their eyes.

"Do you think—?" Clint begins before cutting himself off.

Everyone immediately knows what he's thinking.

Moments later, the foursome land amongst the ruins of the city, looking on in silent terror at the amount of destruction surrounding them.

"Search for survivors," Tony silently commands JARVIS as the A.I. immediately begins a scan. He slowly walks ahead of the others, seeing if he can find any clues as to what happened as well as for people. The sinking feeling in Tony's gut won't subside and he takes a deep breath to try to calm himself down. Having an anxiety attack won't help him find the others any faster.

The billionaire hears the sound of choking a few feet from him on his right. The brunet rushes to the rubble and hauls it out of the way, revealing Cap's shield underneath the massive rocks. Panicked, Tony carefully raises the shield from the destruction, uncovering the exhausted form of Bucky Barnes below.

Bucky grins at Tony through his coughing. He climbs out of the rubble before falling on the ground and rolling onto his back.

Tony lifts his faceplate and yells, "Guys! I found Bucky!" He sets the shield down, kneels next to the man, and glances over his form not seeing an immediate injuries. Tony shakes his head and says, "Bucky, you lucky bastard."

Bucky snorts before erupting into a series of coughs. "That's what they used to call me . . . in school . . . Lucky Bucky. Ha-ha."

Thor, Natasha, and Clint arrive and kneel near Bucky, glancing over the man with both concerned and worried expressions. Bucky lifts his hand in a nonchalant gesture before slowly lifting himself into a sitting position and sliding over so he can lean his weight against Thor, knowing that the God wouldn't mind.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Natasha asks.

"And why do you have Cap's shield?" Clint asks curiously, as he picks up the iconic object and gives it a look over.

"I'm actually doing okay despite the fact that a huge ass building fell on me," Bucky says casually before scrunching his face. "I think it was the cathedral . . ." he shrugs.

"As for what happened, I'm not exactly sure. After Hulk grabbed Steve and me, he kept running until he was sure we were safe. Steve suggested that we head to the city, and try to call for backup. When we got here, the city was already under attack. We never saw what did it, but whatever it was, must have attacked at the same time we were hit."

Bucky coughs and slightly shifts into a more comfortable position against Thor before gesturing towards the shield. "I think he threw that at me; it explains why my brain isn't crushed." He tries to shrug nonchalantly and ends up grimacing in pain.

"And where are Steve and Hulk now?" Tony asks.

"No idea," Bucky answers in a grim tone. "We spilt up to help evacuate the city. I think I saw a flash of blue running south, but I can't recall. Then, the cathedral fell on me . . . and now I'm talking with you guys."

"Shit," Tony says under his breath.

"We're still down two Avengers," Clint says before biting his lip.

"What do we do?" Natasha asks, directing her question at Tony.

"Let's begin by heading south," the billionaire responds as he, Nat, and Clint rise to their feet. He looks to Bucky and says, "Can you stand?"

Bucky thinks for a moment. "I might be able too, but I don't know if I can walk."

Thor attaches Mjolnir to his belt. He slowly helps the man into a standing position. Bucky hisses at placing weight on his left ankle, but otherwise he can keep himself upright. Thor lets go of the American before turning around and crouching in front of him. Bucky carefully eases his way onto Thor's back and the latter rises into a standing position, slowly adjusting the man onto his back.

Bucky wraps his arms around Thor's neck and relaxes his muscles. "You know for a muscly guy, you're pretty comfy."

Just like Steve. Tony bites his lip and then sighs to himself, trying to shake off his worry. He needs to stay focused for the mission and the team.

The archer looks down at the shield in his hands before handing the object to Natasha. Everyone knows that ordinarily Clint would carry the shield himself, but he needs his arms free for archery. Plus, the team know he worries the most about Nat and wants to make sure she stays safe. If the archer can give her a little extra protection, then he will.

"So . . . what exactly is south of here?" Clint asks curiously.

"I think there's a river not far outside of the city," Natasha responds, as she straps the shield to her back. She turns to Tony. "Do you think they might have headed that way?"

"It's a start," Tony responds, helplessly.

"Well, what are we waiting for," Bucky says, with pain laced in his voice. "Let's go find Steve and Hulk."

The group of five begins their trek south, with Natasha leading the way. Tony is walking behind the assassin, followed by Thor, and Hawkeye bringing up the rear. They carefully navigate through layers of rock, rubble, and settling dust. Thor has to be especially careful seeing as he has the added weight of Bucky and doesn't want to jostle the man too much for fear of causing more damage.

JARVIS continues to scan, picking up no signs of life in the immediate area aside from the team, which worries Tony greatly. There's supposed to be over forty-four thousand people in the city, yet he's seeing no one. Hopefully, no people means that everyone was evacuated in time.

Natasha pauses in her careful stride and Tony almost runs into her. The assassin scans the area as if she's sensing something.

"Do you see anything?" Clint asks curiously.

Natasha shushes him harshly before falling silent. A few moments later, she says, "I thought I heard a baby crying."

"Where?" Tony asks curiously.

Natasha points to the right. "Somewhere in that direction."

"JARVIS?" Tony asks.

"Scanning," the A.I. responds. Moments later, a thermal popup screen appears in Tony's line of sight and displays a cluster of red signatures in a room that is buried underneath rubble of what appears to be a house.

"Guys, JARVIS, found them. They're under that red bricked area," Tony announces.

The team makes their way over to the fallen structure, paying careful mind to the debris surrounding them.

Tony moves ahead of the group to stand directly in front of the fallen structure. "Can anyone hear me?" the brunet asks.

"Hello?" a voice filled with desperation filters through the cracks in the rubble. "Is someone there?"

"This is Iron Man and I'm here with three-fourths of the Avengers," Tony responds. "We're going to try and get you out, okay?"

"O-Okay," the voice responds, now sounding hopeful.

"Is there anybody with you?" Tony asks.

". . . Four adults, two children, one infant, and one dog," the voice responds.

"Alright, sit tight," Tony responds.

Thor gently sets Bucky down on the ground and makes sure the man is settled as comfortable as possible. The blond sets Mjolnir next to Bucky before turning and walking towards Tony. Thor stands next to his armor-clad friend and says, "Is there a way to remove the civilians from the debris without causing any more harm?"

"JARVIS?"

The AI wordlessly scans the area before displaying the results in a popup box in Tony's field of vision.

"It looks like there's a seventy percent chance of everything going smoothly," Tony answers.

Thor nods. "Then, let us begin."

"Nat, can you keep a look out?" Tony asks.

"Sure. It'll give me a chance to see if Bucky has any serious injuries," Natasha says before plopping down next to Bucky. She pokes him lightly in the ribs and shows her sympathy when the man hisses in pain.

Meanwhile, Thor, Tony, and Clint get started on carefully removing the rubble so they can rescue the trapped civilians. The three men alter between giving words of encouragement to the people. At one point, Clint beings singing a Russian lullaby that Natasha taught him to help calm down the children, who were beginning to let out terrified whimpers and cries. Nat joins in on the singing followed by Tony and Thor. Bucky makes an attempt to sing along, but the poor man is starting to have trouble breathing, and is barely able to get a few notes out.

After an hour, the rubble is finally removed. The victims consisting of a mother, a father, the mother's brother and sister, the parent's young children (a boy and two girls), and the family dog are rescued safely. The family rejoices hugging each other and each of their rescuers. The mother's sister tugs at her ripped and dust covered clothing, but stops in favor of lifting the young boy into her arms and hugging her tightly.

The mother of the children, who was the person Tony spoke with previously, repeatedly thanked the Avengers for rescuing her family.

"Ma'am, it was no trouble at all," Tony responds. "We're happy to help."

"Yes, of course," the mother says. "I wish that I could give you lovely people a proper thank you, but . . ." she trails off, looking down at the destruction of her house with a hopeless expression.

One of the children, a young girl, tugs on her mother's pant leg. "Mummy, where are we gonna live?"

The mother gives her child a heartbreaking look before picking the girl up and into her arms. "We'll think of something, dear. I promise."

"Sir," JARVIS says suddenly, nearly startling Tony. "I have located a large clustering of heat signatures east of the city, exactly three miles from the outskirts."

"JARVIS found more survivors," Tony announces to the group.

"Is it a refugee camp?" Clint questions.

"I'm assuming," Tony answers.

"Allow me to escort your family to safety," Thor says to the mother.

"We would be delighted by your further assistance," the mother says with a smile. "Thank you."

"It would be my pleasure," Thor responds. To Tony, he says, "Whilst you be remaining in the area?"

"Yeah, we'll wait here until you return," Tony responds.

"Excellent," Thor says with a nod. He turns to the family and holds out his hand in the direction of the assumed camp. "Let us begin."

The father smiles as he carefully leads the way from the destruction of the family's house, with his dog loyally at his side. The mother (holding the young girl) walks behind him, followed by her brother (holding the infant girl), her sister (holding the young boy), and Thor bringing up the rear.

Clint watches his friend walk away from the area for a few moments before turning to Bucky. "So, how's our wittle soldier doing?" the archer says in a higher pitched tone as if he's talking to a child.

Bucky scowls. "Ha-ha. Very funny, asshole."

"From what I can gather, he has four broken ribs, and a twisted ankle," Natasha reports as she rises from the ground and stands next to Bucky. "He'll still need to see a proper doctor, and he'll be sore for at least three to four months."

"That means you guys will have to take care of my every waking need," Bucky says with a smirk.

"Uh, that's why Tony has a talking house," Clint responds.

"No, that's what I have Pepper for," Tony corrects. He opens his mouth to continue speaking when static begins cracking in the brunet's ear. A confused looks befalls his features. "What?"

"What the hell is that sound?" Natasha asks irritated as she places her right hand against her ear.

"I think it's the comms," Clint responds uncertain. Like the other two, he is also fiddling with the device in his ear.

"He—Hello? He—" a barely audible voice says over the static.

It couldn't be . . .

"Steve?" Tony asks, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"T—ony?"

A relieved smile crosses Tony's features. "It's Steve."

"That's who I thought it was," Clint responds while wearing his own smile.

Bucky snorts and then winces. "It's about time that weenie makes his reappearance."

Natasha rolls her eyes at Bucky's comment, failing to stop the grin that's creeping onto her face.

"Steve, where are you?" Tony asks, concerned. "Is Hulk with you?"

"Hulk . . . here . . . don't know . . . outside . . . maybe?"

"JARVIS, can you get a lock onto their signal?" Tony asks his AI.

"I have already begun scanning for the location," JARVIS responds. "I have traced the signal eight miles south of Winchester near the River Itchen."

"JARVIS, found them," Tony announces to the present Avengers. "They're eight miles out of town."

"How'd they get so far out?" Clint asks in a curious tone.

"They must have gotten lost after evacuating the citizens to a safe location," Bucky pipes up. "At least, that's what I'm assuming."

"Steve, you and Hulk stay put. We're coming to get you," Tony says.

"Okay . . ."

"I hope Thor got all of that," Clint wonders.

Mjolnir launches herself from the ground and flies in the direction that Thor went to take the family to the refugee area.

The archer shrugs. "I stand corrected."

"When Thor gets back, we'll head over and rejoin with the others," Natasha officially announces. To Tony, she says, "Out of curiosity, what are we going to do about the rest of the trial?"

Tony shrugs, even though the assassin can't see the motion. "Our first priority is to get Bucky to a hospital and don't give me that look, Barnes, you're going."

Bucky huffs.

"While whiny-baby is being taken care of, the rest of us can figure out what to do," Tony continues. "A couple of us will probably come back here and try to look for the grail, while everyone else stays with Bucky."

"Sounds fine with me," Natasha responds. She smiles mischievously. "You know, you make a decent Cap away from Cap."

Tony snorts. "After being around him for this long, you're bound to pick up a few tips."

Thor suddenly flies into focus and lands next to Tony. He reattaches Mjolnir to his belt before speaking. "My friends, our comrades are calling on us for aid."

"And now that you're back, we can head over to their location together," Tony responds.

Thor nods his understanding. The blond walks over to Bucky, and slowly helps the man into a standing position. He carefully eases the severely injured man onto his back.

With everyone secured and in tow, the team quickly and carefully makes their way to the remaining Avengers locations.

The group has been walking to meet up with their comrades for roughly thirty minutes. Thor informs his teammates that the family had safely reached the refugee camp, and has been reunited with their friends and neighbors, much to the delight of the team.

Natasha officially fills Thor in on Bucky's condition. The God praises the man for remaining strong and courageous despite the severity of his severity of his injuries. Bucky quickly brushes off the comments, but can't help feeling a swell of pride at the God's kind words.

Tony spots Steve and Hulk first, both men standing by the water's edge with their backs to the other Avengers. "CAP!" he calls. The brunet watches Steve turn around, confused, before finally spotting everyone.

"Hey!" Steve calls with a joyous smile.

Hulk lets out a victorious roar, while the rest of the team join up with their missing comrades.

Tony pauses in his joyous stride as a tinge of worry seeps into his mind. He's surprised that Hulk hasn't let Bruce back into control yet seeing as the green man usually does after battle. There's only one reason why the scientist isn't panicking that he's naked in public in this moment: it's not safe. The brunet scans his brain trying to determine what variable he missed. There's always a catch when it comes to magic, and he's trying to figure out what it is. Part of Tony wishes that Loki was around to explain the laws of magic to him. He furrows his brow and suppresses a shiver. That was a weird thought and he hopes he never has another one like that again.

"Tony?"

At the sound of his name, the billionaire comes out of his thoughts. He continues his stride towards Steve until he's standing directly in front of the blond. Tony lifts his faceplate and immediately connects their mouths together. He smiles inwardly when he feels Steve press back enthusiastically.

The pair part after a few moments. Tony looks up at Steve with a wide smile on his face, finally feeling like he's whole again.

Steve matches Tony's smile with one of his own and presses their foreheads together. "I love you."

"I love you too," Tony responds.

Steve's smile widens. He nudges Tony's armored covered hand with his gloved one before placing their fingers together.

Tony looks down fondly at their joined hands and snorts. "You're still wearing that stupid watch?"

"So, I could count the minutes until I was able to see you again," Steve responds with a crooked smile.

Tony smiles brightly. He leans forward, and kisses Steve hard on the lips.

Clint makes a vomiting noise in the background. "Are you two going to be disgustingly . . . you for the rest of the trial?"

Tony pulls away from Steve and says, "You can count on it, birdbrain."

"Oh, Cap, I have something for you," Natasha responds as she shrugs the man's shield off her back.

Steve steps away from Tony for a moment and takes his shield back from Natasha with a grateful thank you. He secures the shield to his left arm and looks at each of the Avengers. When he notices Bucky, he grimaces. "Bucky, you look like hell."

Bucky snorts and then winces. "You don't look any better yourself, sunshine."

The blond cracks a smile before frowning. "Is he going to be . . . ?"

"He'll live, but he still needs to go to the hospital," Tony responds.

Bucky groans.

"I know you don't like hospitals, Buck," Steve says in a mothering tone. "But, you're going to the doctor."

Bucky sticks his tongue out and Steve frowns again.

"Alright, so we're all together again, which is great and all but what are we going to do now?" Clint asks, addressing his concerns to anyone on the team. "I mean, we have no Grail, we're exhausted, and our ride is toast."

"Has anyone been able to get in contact with Fury?" Steve asks curiously.

"I've been trying, but I haven't been able to get a signal through," Tony answers, feeling helpless. "JARVIS is working on it, but with no luck. Maybe Fury will realize something isn't right and come looking for us."

Hopefully.

"And in the meantime?" Steve asks.

"The first thing we need to do is head to London. There we can get Bucky to a hospital and try to get in contact with Fury. And if he's no help, then I can call Pepper and see if I can arrange for a private flight back to New York," Tony suggests.

"Good idea," Steve agrees.

"How would we transport everyone though?" Clint asks. "I mean, Hulk can't carry everyone."

Hulk makes a noise of disagreement, offended that Clint would doubt his strength.

"Plus, Bucky shouldn't be moved too much more, especially since he hasn't had proper exam," Natasha adds.

"Captain, I would not mind remaining in the area with Bucky until your return," Thor announces.

"No," Steve responds sternly. "We go together or not at all. No one gets left behind."

Tony exchanges at quick glance with Bucky. Both men can hear the silent "not again" at the end of Steve's sentence.

"Uh, guys," Clint begins in a worried tone. "We have company."

A large shadow falls over the land. The team looks to the sky and sees a ship slightly larger than the Helicarrier hovering above them. Tony flips down his faceplate as the bottom of the ship opens and hundreds of soldiers descend to the ground via ropes, each one heavily armored.

"What the hell is going on?" Clint asks worriedly as he loads an arrow into his bow.

"No idea," Natasha responds. She pulls her gun out of the holster and checks the ammo. "But, it's going to be nothing good.

Another figure emerges from the bottom of the ship on what appears to be a hovercraft scooter. The device emits a soft humming noise as it hovers above the soldiers, who are now lined in clean rows that span from the river to the edge of the forest.

Tony clenches his jaw. He should have known that Red Skull was going to show up at some point. The villain is probably hoping to steal the grail or harm the Avengers. Unfortunately, for him, the team doesn't have the grail and like hell they're going to be defeated by Skull.

The Skull looks between Cap and Bucky with a huge smirk on his face. "Hello boys. Did you miss me?"

"We should have known you would be here," Bucky responds bitterly. He adjusts himself on Thor's back so he sits up higher despite the amount of pain he is in currently.

"Oh, big words coming from someone as incapacitated as yourself," Skull responds with faux sympathy.

"Was there a purpose to this destruction?" Steve asks in an eerily calm tone. The blond only speaks in this manner when he is absolutely seething with rage and is barely restraining himself.

Skull shrugs nonchalantly. "They wouldn't give me what I want. I couldn't let them live after blatantly refusing my request for information," he responds casually as if he didn't just ruin thousands of lives and destroy years of history and culture.

"These people didn't have to die," Cap responds with a trembling voice. He clenches his fist tightly.

"Well . . . it appears like you have more deaths on your conscious now, Captain," Skull declares with a menacing smirk.

Tony watches Steve gulp and clench his fist tighter. The man is trembling with anger with glaring eyes focused and set ablaze. Tony hasn't seen Cap this angry since Red Skull first appeared on the Helicarrier all those months ago. The brunet gulps. He knows that the blond is one wrong comment away from snapping again.

"You're not going to get away with this," Steve retorts in a low, dangerous tone.

"Oh? Do you think you can stop me?" Skull replies with a laugh. A resonating roar of agreement emerges from the foot soldiers standing beneath their leader.

Steve smirks. "Not me . . . we. The Avengers will stop you—as a team."

"Oh how marvelous!" Skull exclaims in faux enthusiasm. "It's a shame that you're all going to die." He bares his teeth and snarls, "Get them!"

A thunderous battle cry emerges from the soldiers as they begin their charge.

"Avengers," Cap begins, his tone laced with determination. "Assemble."

A/N: So I think this chapter is kind of eh, but I don't know. Please let me know what you think!