"Who do you want me to be?"
"Was that your first kiss since 1945?"
"I can experience it from you"
"Hi"
Steve felt a jolt of pain and he opened his eyes, he was in a dark room. He sat up slowly and he stood up. He walked along the floor and noticed that he was barefoot. He saw the faint outline of pillars and then a single light came on in the dark room. He saw Himself lying on the ground on his side and there was a pool of blood. Natasha was kneeling next to him and he had his hand on her face. Steve took a quick step forward then he felt the floor break under him. He fell and he saw a bright light and he put his hand up and he was back in his apartment. He looked around and he saw himself walk to the door and he opened it.
He saw Natasha rush in and she was furious. Steve saw himself get backed up into a corner. He closed his eyes and a bright light hit him again. He was now in his old apartment in Austria. He was standing next to the bed and he saw himself walk out of the bathroom and then the door opened suddenly. He saw Natasha, looking rugged and she was in her suit. Steve watched as he saw himself and Natasha kiss passionately and they both hit the door and it closed. The loud bang from the door closing made Steve fell a sudden lift in his feet.
Steve felt his feet leave the ground and he looked up and saw a room up above and it was as if it was an elevator shaft. Steve flew up and he landed suddenly on the floor and he knew he was in Sam's house. He could see Natasha toweling her hair and he saw himself walk out of the bathroom and sit across from her. Steve put his hand to his head and grimaced in pain.
He was behind Rumlow and he was on an escalator and he passed himself and Natasha kissing as Rumlow looked away. Steve watched as he passed himself and he blinked and then he was on the Helicarrier and he was standing next to Coulson. He saw Himself walk out of a Quinjet and he saw Natasha standing there.
Steve felt another pain in his head then his chest. He was back in his apartment and the lights were off and the early light of the city was the only lighting. He saw himself sitting at his desk watching a video of himself. Then he saw himself look through all the files on his dead Howling Commandos. He saw himself pause on Peggy's file and he saw as he looked at the phone.
Steve felt another jolt of pain in his chest and he saw a bright light. He was sitting in the back of a car and he was next to his scrawny self and he was sitting next to Peggy.
"I got beat up in that alley"
Steve closed his eyes and he was standing behind himself while he was sitting in a chair. He was flying the bomber into the ice and Steve felt a sudden pang of guilt and he reached for himself and his hand went right through him.
"I'd hate to step on your…"
Steve felt the impact and he flew back and hit the hull of the bomber and he saw the cold freezing water pour in and he felt it attack him and it enveloped him and he felt it incase him.
Steve felt another jolt of pain in his chest and he opened his eyes and he was in a well lit room and a baseball game was on the radio and he noticed it sounded familiar. He felt the bed sink beneath him and he fell and he saw the room fade away and he felt another jolt and he opened his eyes.
Steve was in a medical wing and he saw Bruce standing over him and he had a blood all over him. Steve could hear the beeping of the heart monitor and he looked to his right and he saw Clint standing there. Steve saw Thor and Tony. He blinked and he looked around for Natasha, she wasn't there. Steve suddenly remembered the last thing he saw was her being dragged away from him. Maybe if he would have been faster he could have blocked the knife. He felt like it was his fault that she was taken away. Steve knew that it wasn't, but that didn't stop him from thinking it was.
Steve felt a sudden strike in his heart rate and he felt his temperature rise a little. He gritted his teeth, why didn't Clint tell him. The heart monitor went crazy.
"Bruce, what's happening?" Tony asked
"I don't know" Bruce said putting his hand on Steve's shoulder. Steve instantly moved his hand and caught him by the hand.
"Get away from me" Steve growled
Bruce reacted to slow and Steve pulled him down close to his face.
"I said get away" Steve said shoving Bruce away, and sent him into a trey of medical supplies.
"Whoa Cap settle down" Tony said
Steve turned his attention to Stark and he sat up and he got off the table and he grabbed Tony by the throat and lifted him into the air.
"Capsicle?" Tony said through a choke
Clint took a step forward and he saw Thor to. Steve dropped Tony and kicked Thor away and he turned toward Clint. Tony was coughing and holding his throat.
Steve walked toward Clint and he looked pissed.
"You!" Steve said
Clint stood his ground and Steve grabbed him and slammed him up against the wall.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Steve growled
"Cap" Clint said
"WHY!" he barked
"I thought it was best if you didn't know"
"She's gone Barton! She's gone!" Steve yelled into his face
Clint felt his feet leave the floor and he was lifted up into the air.
"You should have trusted that she could handle it" Steve said
"I didn't know how she would be" Clint said
"She would have been fine and she would have been prepared"
"Well, I didn't let him take her" Clint said and he regretted it as soon as he said it.
Steve put his hand on Clint's throat and squeezed. Clint grabbed Steve's wrist and he tried to pull his hand away, but Steve was stronger than him and he couldn't move his hand.
"She's gone" Steve said softly and his grip decreased and he slowly put Clint back down.
Clint watched as Steve broke down in front of him and it was the first time he ever saw Steve shed a tear. Steve rested his head against Clint's shoulder and he rambled on with her name. Clint watched as Steve stood up to full height and he took a step away and he looked light headed and he fell over and hit the floor. Clint knelt down and pulled him back up and Thor helped move him to a medical bed.
Once Steve was in place and Bruce set an I.V. he turned to Tony.
"What the hell was that?" Tony asked
Clint
Clint was the only one left in the medical wing in the tower. He sat in a chair a good ten feet from Steve. He could still feel his fingers around his throat. Clint knew that Steve was right, he should have trusted that Natasha could have handled it. She always said she could, he guessed that he never truly believed her. That was his fault there. He knew that she would have taken badly first, then that it would have settled out eventually. If he had told her as soon as he got back with his injury's that he should have told her who it was. He pulled a Fury: not telling you everything.
They had been partners long enough, Clint sat there staring at the floor. His eyes never blinked and he breathed slowly. He needed to get Natasha back, she needed him, and Steve needed her. He saw how they were together, Nat was actually happy. Clint knew when she would throw on a fake smile, she never did that with Steve. Clint had messed up, and now he needed to get himself out of this huge hole he had dug himself in. It was time to get Natasha, he wasn't going to wait around forever. Clint stood up and he began to walk away.
"Clint" a husky voice said
Clint looked back and he saw Steve sitting up. He walked back toward him and he stood close, but not close enough for him to grab him by the throat again.
"Yeah, Cap?"
"Sorry, for the whole thing" Steve said and he lightly coughed
"It's ok, I probably would have acted the same in someone did anything to Laura"
"Who's Laura?" Steve asked
Clint felt his heart rate increase.
"Just an old girlfriend" he finally said
"Clint, tell me everything" Steve said his voice back to normal and he had his usual look again.
"OK" Clint said and he pulled the chair closer and he sat next to him and he began to talk.
"We got contact with this one guy, back in November. Bucky and Hill had tried to gain Intel from a drug dealer named Zeak, it didn't end well. This man…"
"Niko Constantine" Steve stated remembering the name he told him.
"That's right, anyway he was part of old Red Room, and he is the male equivalent of Natasha and he was trained by Barnes. He was deemed a failure and they put him on ice, then they threw him into a prison"
"Yeah like that solves every problem" Steve said
"Yeah, and apparently he hates Barnes, and we think that Nat is part of his plan in some way, it would have happened sooner, if me and Morse didn't stop him."
"Barton, you should have told us"
"I know, I guess I never really trusted Nat enough to think she could handle it" Clint said shaking his head
Steve could see that he was hating himself right now.
"Clint, don't punish yourself, Natasha needs us" Steve said sitting up
"Whoa, you can't leave" Clint said standing up and putting his hand on Steve's shoulder. "You need to rest cap"
"I've been through worse" Steve said
"I can't talk you out of this can I?"
"Clint, I love her, there is no way in hell that you will stop me"
"Ok, what's the plan?"
"We need to find out where he sleeps" Steve said
"We've been trying to do that for months now" Clint said and he helped Steve stand to his feet.
"Get into contact with Bucky and Morse. Hill I don't know, um you follow your leads and I'll follow mine"
"Wait you're not going with us?"
"No, Clint, I have someone I need to speak with, and then I will contact you with a destination and you will meet me there. I'm going to infiltrate his base and get Natasha, Niko is yours" Steve said walking forward.
"Who are you going to talk to?" Clint asked as he watched Steve walk toward the doors.
Steve turned toward him "Someone from the past" and he continued walking "And I know exactly who to talk to" he said softly and he pushed the medical doors open.
Bucky
Bucky had to steal a Quinjet to get out of the helicarrier and now all he had to do was make contact with Steve. He had no idea how he was going to do that. Bucky didn't care about clearing his name, and after Niko, he was going to disappear. A part of him didn't want to. The same part wanted to go be with Maria, but this was for the best. Bucky needed to make sure there was nothing that would stop him from having anything real.
He didn't want a relationship that would be hindered by an old buddy who wants to kill you. In his book, that meant get your life together. Bucky was almost to New York when some was trying to contact him. Bucky almost hit the button and he hesitated, it could be Fury. Wait it couldn't be Fury, the Quinjets had stealth modes, given by Stark. He pressed the button and a screen popped up and Clint's face appeared.
"Barton, what's up?" Bucky asked
"We ran into a problem"
"Oh no, Niko" Bucky said
"Yeah, and its worse he has Natasha."
"What?" Bucky snapped
"Yeah and Steve was injured, don't worry he up and about. He's actually going after Niko."
"That sounds like him"
"Yeah, hey is Hill with you?"
"Yeah about that, I am actually being hunted by Shield at the moment" Bucky said
"What did you do?"
"Oh nothing, just got framed by an agent who was actually working for Niko"
"Dammit"
"Yeah, so Hill won't be with us" Bucky said
"I'll reach out to Morse, she thinks there was a mole in Shield"
"She was right, Agent Hansen lovely chap" Bucky said sarcastically
"Well, Steve is following a lead, or at least getting one. He was going to contact us when he found out where Niko sleeps"
"He does know we have been trying to do that for months now?"
"Yeah, but he seemed pretty adamant that he knew how to find out where he is, maybe we should have let them know"
"Well we're paying for it now"
"Yeah, I'll keep you posted" Clint said and he disconnected the line
Bucky exhaled and he shook his head Steve Rogers to the rescue, again.