Steve arrived back at the apartment to find Lucy pouring over the files Fury had mentioned. When she heard the door open, Lucy quickly stood from her blanket huddled over the table to give him a long awaited hug.
"I need to take a shower, Lu." He chuckled deeply, giving her a squeeze back.
Her arms tightened around his waist, mumbling into his chest, "I don't care." She curled closer to his form, giving him a wordless gesture of support. Looking up, she studied his tired face, "Are you feeling any better?"
He gave her a small smile, hands tracing up and down her spine, "A little." Nodding toward the table, filled with electronics he noted, "Fury told me was had an assignment."
She stepped back, releasing him; "I'll brief you after you wash up."
Steve walked back into the dining room after his shower, his hair still damp, now in his pajamas. Lucy picked up a tablet and motioned him to join her on the couch where it was cozier. She taught him how to use the pad and how to navigate its file system. A few hours later Lucy's eyes were drifting shut head resting on Steve's arm as he continued to read about his fellow 'Avengers'.
"You need to go to sleep, Lu." He gingerly roused her; "We've got a big day tomorrow."
"Hmm." She replied, here head snapping forward, waking up, "Oh, there's one more thing I was going to give to you." Reaching into her sweater she pulled out something he'd thought he'd lost a long time ago.
"Where did you find it?" He whispered picking up the worn compass from the palm of her hand.
"We almost missed it. One of the agents fount it in the wreckage of the Valkyrie." She watched as he flicked the tiny cylinder open, laying her head back on his shoulder. Her picture was still inside, and by some miracle it was perfectly preserved, "I thought it was time you had it back."
"Thank you." He grinned gripping it tightly and looking down to her, finally feeling more like himself for the first time that night. "I needed this."
-sublimation-
Even though Lucy was exhausted, she still greeted her friend with great gusto when he arrived to collect them the next morning. "Phil!" she beamed, embracing him as he stood waiting in his customary black suit next to a standard unmarked SHIELD car. When she finally released him she made the introductions, "Steve this is Agent Coulson. Phil meet Captain Rogers." She smirked at the flustered agent.
Steve held out a hand cordially, "Nice to meet you Agent Coulson. Lucy has told me much about you."
"Likewise." Coulson stuttered giving Lucy a slight glare, "We're on a tight schedule, Fury is expecting us." He ushered the two super soldiers into the vehicle. They were taken to a private landing strip where a small quinjet was waiting for them.
"We are 40 minutes from home base, sir." One of the pilots notified the Agent as they took off from the ground. Coulson stood up from his small communications console, removed his headphones and went over to speak with Lucy and Steve. They were occupying a bench in the back of the aircraft, looking over some of the files from Fury.
"So this Doctor Banner was trying to replicated the serum that was used on me?" Steve looked to Lucy for clarification.
She nodded, "A lot of people were."
"You were the world's first superhero." Coulson explained, "Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."
Steve frowned looking at the footage of the Hulk on the tablet, "Didn't really go his way, did it?"
"Not so much." Coulson agreed.
"They were never close. Not to the original anyway." Lucy added watching the video as well; "I checked out their formulas, gamma radiation was never part of the answer. But I didn't think anything like this would happen."
Coulson shrugged, "But he's got that thing though. Guy's like a Stephen Hawking." Steve looked up, confused at the simile; Lucy pointedly nudged the agent with her elbow, "Uh…" Coulson expounded, "He's like a… smart person." He finished lamely.
Steve looked away, puzzled as to why the agent was acting so strangely.
Lucy had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the exchange she could feel was about to happen.
Coulson cleared his throat, carrying on, "I've got to say, it's an honor to meet you, officially."
Steve gave him a polite smile whilst Lucy ducked her head to hide her giggles.
"I sort of met you. I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping." Coulson continued.
Steve's eyebrows lifted slightly as he averted his gaze from the agent.
"I mean," Coulson tried again nervously, "I was…I was present while you were unconscious… from the ice."
Taking a deep breath Steve stood to look out the front windows of the plane attempting to disrupt the awkward tension.
Coulson followed the Captain, trying to redeem himself, "You know, it's really, it's just a… huge honor to have you on board."
"Well," Steve nodded seriously, "I hope I'm the man for the job."
"Oh, you are." Coulson mimicked the Captain's position at the front of the quinjet, "Absolutely." He finished decisively.
Lucy grinned, "Tell him about the suit." She prompted the agent.
"Uh… SHILED made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input." Coulson exclaimed proudly.
Steve looked at them perplexed, "The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little…" he struggled to find an appropriate term, "old fashioned?"
Coulson sighed staring out the window, "Everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light… people might just need a little old fashioned."
-sublimation-
Looking out the window, Lucy could see they had finally reached their destination. She gave Steve's hand a quick squeeze as the small jet turned and landed on the, currently floating, Helicarrier. The pilots were following the directions of a runway attendant waving two orange indicators. As the engines powered down Coulson, Lucy, and Steve made their way out the lowering back door ramp. Entering into the warm sunshine and a deck bustling with activity, they came face to face with The Black Widow.
"Agent Romanoff." Coulson introduced the two, "Captain Rogers."
Steve nodded in acknowledgement squinting in the sunlight, "Ma'am."
"Hi." Natasha said, analyzing the super soldier before quickly turning back to the agent, "They need you on the bridge, they're starting the face trace." She notified him.
"See you there." Coulson left, heading toward the command center.
Lucy leaning in for comforting hug, "Nice to see you, Talia." She whispered.
"Ree." The Black Widow greeted with a tight-lipped smile, returning the embrace. Looking back to the Captain she addressed him, her face carefully blank again, "There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice." She told him as the trio began to stroll along the deck, "I thought Coulson was going to swoon."
"Oh, he did." Lucy smiled at the memory, "More than once if I remember correctly, he got it under control after the first day."
Natasha's stone face let a small grin through, "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"
"Trading cards?" Steve questioned in disbelief, he didn't know he had trading cards.
"They're vintage," Natasha smirked, "he's very proud."
"Hey, I helped him with those. Vintage…" Lucy scoffed from behind the other two, "They aren't that old. And if you must know, he just completed the set." She finished smugly.
Steve and Natasha both gave her similar glances of amusement. Looking ahead they spotted a nervous Bruce Banner, twisting his hands and looking about as lost as a needle in a haystack.
"Doctor Banner." Steve called out offering a hand in greeting.
Bruce looked up, "Oh, yeah. Hi." He returned the handshake. "They told me you'd be coming." Over Steve's shoulder he spotted Lucy, "Agent Zero is it?" he acknowledged her, "It's been a long time."
"A lifetime and a different name ago." Lucy smiled referring to their brief meeting, when she was undercover with an alias.
"Word is you can find the cube." Steve continued.
"Is that the only word on me?" the Doctor looked around at the various agents going about their duties.
"Only word I care about." Steve smiled, reassuringly.
Banner gave a tight smile, changing the topic, "Must be strange for you, all of this." He motioned to the high tech equipment all over the giant ship.
"Well," Steve observed the men, running in formation, "this is actually kind of familiar."
"Gentlemen, you may want to step inside in a minute." Natasha notified the others, "It's going to get a little hard to breath."
The Helicarrier started to make some groaning, adjustment noises, causing them to walk over to the edge of the deck, observing the waves.
"Is this a submarine?" Steve queried, watching the bubbling waters.
"Really?" Banner scoffed, "They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?"
The calm ocean waves were starting to disappear as large rotors could be seen, lifting the giant aircraft slowly into the air. Steve and Bruce stared, their mouths gaping as Lucy and Natasha grinned at their reactions.
"Oh, no." Banner continued sarcastically, "This is much worse." From behind and all around them, agents were securing all of the equipment, planes, and cargo. The giant Helicarrier lifted off rom the ocean. Water poured out of it in long streams and faint mists.
-sublimation-
Inside, Natasha led the other three to the bridge. The command center was a great room with an enormous front window. There were many layers and decks, each signifying the operator's position. Rows and rows of monitors curved around each other, resembling a circle around the Director's dais.
"We are clear." One of the woman agents notified.
"All engines operating. SHIELD emergency protocol, 193.6 in effect. We're at level sir." Agent Maria Hill looked up to the Director.
"Good." Fury nodded from his position at the head of the ship, "Lets vanish."
"Engage retro reflection panels." Hill commanded.
A moment later another agent confirmed, "Reflection panels engaged."
Fury turned around to greet the two who had never been on a SHILED Helicarrier before, "Gentlemen."
Steve walked up to him, eyes still wide in wonder and gave the Director a $10 bill before moving to study some of the data.
Lucy observed the exchange, "Placing bets I see?" she pretended to admonished them.
Fury looked over to her slyly, calling her out on her hypocrisy, "You're one to talk." He joked.
She grinned and shrugged in response.
"Doctor, thank you for coming." Fury turned to greet Banner.
Bruce nodded, "Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh…how long am I staying?"
"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear." Fury assured.
"Where are you with that?" Lucy questioned as she observed some of the monitors with Natasha.
"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet." Coulson informed, walking to the middle of the lower floor, "Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, its eyes and ears for us."
"That's still not going to find them in time." Natasha noted as she and Lucy checked on the unknown status of Agent Barton.
"You have to narrow your field." Banner supplied, "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"
"How many are there?" Fury said, looking around.
"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays." The Doctor replied, taking off his jacket getting ready to work, "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?" he finished looking at the Director.
Fury nodded, "Agent Romanoff, would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please."
"You're going to love it, Doc." Natasha stood to take the lead, "We got all the toys."
"Wait up." Lucy called, standing to follow as well, "I'll come help."
-sublimation-
Lucy reentered the bridge after a few hours. She and the Doctor worked well together. Bruce was a quite, kind, and intelligent man, perhaps one day they could be friends. She wished, not for the first time, there was something she could have done to help prevent the transformation that continued to haunt him daily.
"How's it going?" Fury asked, noticing her arrival.
Lucy walked deeper into the command center observing the SHIELD agents still hard at work, "We've got a potential equation. Bruce is running tests on it now." She told him before looking around the bridge for Steve. She found him standing to the left of the deck, next to Coulson. With a small smirk she lightly hopped down to their level, as not to disrupt them, trying to listen in on their conversation.
"…I mean…" Coulson was saying to Steve, "If it's not too much trouble." Neither of the men noticed her approaching behind them.
The super soldier reassured him kindly, "No, no. It's fine." His arms were crossed, slightly uncomfortable in a sea of technology he didn't quiet understand.
Coulson smiled excitedly, still giddy about getting his cards signed, "It's a vintage set. It took me a couple years to collect them all. Marie helped me with the rarer ones, said she just had them lying around."
Steve still found it slightly disconcerting when everyone referred to her as 'Marie'. But it did make him feel special that no one else called her Lucy, except himself.
"... Near mint…" The agent was still thinking about his cards, "…slight foxing around the edges, but…"
He was interrupted by Agent Sitwell's urgent notification, "We got a hit! 67% match. Wait," his computer beeped, "cross match, 79%."
Lucy moved to check on Steve, pacing her hand on his tense arm, he looked down and gave her a smile, reassuring her that he was fine.
Coulson walked over look at the monitor where cameras had picked up a match for Loki, "Location?" he requested.
"Stuttgart, Germany." Sitwell zoomed in on the position, "28, Canning Strasse. He's not exactly hiding."
"Captain, Agent Zero." Fury called as the two super soldier turned to regard him, "You're up."
-sublimation-
Lucy and Steve were standing in the back of another quinjet. This time Natasha and a different agent were piloting the plane. Lucy was tweaking the straps on his uniform, making sure Steve was entirely protected.
"Next time," Lucy said as she adjusted his helmet, critically analyzing the textiles, "I'm going to design your suit. SHIELD just doesn't have the same materials I use." She motioned down to her form fitting black outfit.
Steve swallowed, his mouth going dry as he studied her. He didn't think he had ever seen her wear something quite so… tight. "What's it made out of?" he questioned, his eyes snapping quickly back up to her face, trying to ignore the way the tailored material hugged her every curve.
"Bulletproof fabric," she listed, still inspecting the red, white, and blue, pulling and stretching to test it's resilience; not noticing his flustered state, "threaded with my own invention. A mirroring fiber that allows me to blend into my surroundings." She stepped back from him going to strap on her final accessories.
"It makes you invisible?" Steve asked, now intrigued.
"Not invisible, per se." Lucy clicked her sheathed forearm knives into place. "I'll show you." She pushed her clear safety glass onto her nose and pressed a hidden button on her collar. Suddenly she was gone, and yet she wasn't. If Steve looked closely, he could still see her figure. It was like looking at heat waves rising up from hot pavement. You could see a slightly distorted form if she stood still long enough, but if she moved quickly; you wouldn't be able to pinpoint her exact location. "Neat, isn't it?" Lucy smiled pressing the button again, deactivating the technology, "It took a while to perfect."
"How does it hide your face?" Steve queried, "Your uniform stops at your neck." He pointed to her bare head, covered only by the thin frames.
"The glasses help project the illusion around my head." She explained, "They're also embedded with a chip so I can target my adversaries better. Anyway the indiscernibility is helpful because I'm more of a close combat kind of girl." She grinned at his impressed expression, he'd never seen her suited up and ready for a mission, "It's also the same type of material I helped SHIELD make to disguise their Helicarriers. Converting it to fabric messed with its integrity a little. That's why it isn't a flawless illusion."
Steve stared at her in awe, "You're brilliant, you know that?" he stepped forward to give her a quick kiss good luck as she laughed.
"Arrival in 1 minute." Natasha warned from the front, "Better get ready."
"Don't forget this." Lucy turned to give him the shield she'd helped create a long time ago.
Steve hefted it in his arms, a familiar weight that had been gone from his side for far too long. Finally back in his element, he nodded "Let's go."