A/N. Hello, everyone! I'm so sorry about my absence. All I can say now is that I SHOULD be updating regularly now (or at least more often than every two months). I'm hoping to finish this story this summer and then work on some original fiction so you may not hear from me for a while after this story is finished. When next I post, I'm going to try a different method: I'm going to finish the entire thing, edit it, and THEN post it all at once (not in the same day, that would be too many chapters). Until then, I'll continue posting sporadically. But don't worry guys, it's almost over! We're heading to the climax! Bear with me (please).

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)

Chapter Fourteen

After Hill hopped into the van, Steve and Nat caught her up on everything that had happened. It was the least they could do for someone who had just saved all of their lives. Hill nodded in understanding, not looking the least bit surprised. Then again, she had a mask almost as impenetrable as Natasha's, so maybe she was just internalizing her reactions.

In any case, Hill told them about how Fury had called her to DC right before his attack. She had been overseeing the reconstruction of the New York base and had rushed right over, but had been too late.

In the middle of her story, the van arrived at its destination. The doors opened and Hill stepped out first. Sam went next before turning and offering a hand to Natasha, who hesitated, then took it and jumped out. She immediately let go and started following Hill, who was walking briskly toward the small door at the bottom of a man-made dam of some sort. It was a humongous concrete wall that stretched up and up from the bottom of a ravine to the tips of the trees in the surrounding forest.

Steve jumped out of the van and turned to face Tania, who stood hunched over, with all of her weight on her good leg. He reached up and grabbed her waist without thinking. She held onto his shoulders and tried to hop as he easily swept her into his arms. Exhaustion began to creep up on her. She could feel the weight of sleep growing heavy in her limbs. She let her head loll onto his shoulder and sighed. This was the comfiest spot she had been in for the last several hours - maybe days. She couldn't remember.

Steve caught up to the others easily, carefully squeezing them through the sketchy tunnel and into the dark corridor. The interior lighting was sparse and shadows stretched along the hallway, elongating its depth. A man burst from the darkness, jogging toward them.

"GSW," Hill said at normal volume. Her voice carried far in the confines of the corridor. She gestured to the woman under her arm. Natasha loosely held Hill's waist. "She's lost at least a pint."

"Maybe two," Sam piped up. "Tania's lost a lot of blood too, but at least we managed to stem the bleeding."

The running man reached them just as Steve caught up. "Let me take them," he suggested. Tania assumed he was a doctor of some kind. The latex gloves were a bit of a giveaway.

"They'll want to see him first," said Hill matter of factly.

"Um, yeah, no, pretty sure I want medical attention first," Tania slurred, drifting towards unconsciousness.

The doctor nodded, pushing up his glasses. "He's in the med bay. We can do both. Follow me." He turned on his heel and began walking purposefully down the hall.

Steve followed, keeping pace easily. "Hey," he whispered to Tania, shifting her slightly in his arms.

She groaned and burrowed into his chest.

"You've got to stay awake for me, okay?" His words were punctuated with a concern and guilt.

She nodded into his shirt and forced her eyes open, turning to see where they were going. Steve stopped just behind the doctor, who pulled open a plastic curtain to reveal the makeshift med bay. "Makeshift" was a generous word. But that wasn't the most surprising thing.

On the bed, lying serenely under the covers, was Nick Fury - a very much alive Nick Fury, who raised his head to look at them. "About damn time," he muttered.

Tania was suddenly very awake.

The doctor ushered Natasha into a chair and gestured for Steve to place Tania on the bed next to Fury's. He lowered her onto the thin mattress and she slid back on her elbows to sit up against the headboard. Steve stood vigilant by her side, left hand laced with hers.

Since Natasha's wound hadn't been bandaged, the doctor started treating her first, applying pressure to both sides of her shoulder.

Tania couldn't stop staring. Nick Fury was alive. She had watched him die. From the moment he'd been shot to the moment he'd flatlined, she'd been there. This wasn't possible. She was friends with Iron Men and Norse gods and super soldiers and master assassins; had fought mad scientists and giant robots and time traveled.

But this.

This took the cake for craziest thing she'd ever seen.

Time travel had been a theory. Norse gods had been mythology. Robots were technology in the wrong hands. Aliens were intelligent life forms from other planets. But resurrection? That was just plain fiction.

Nick seemed to sense their shock. "Lacerated spinal column… cracked sternum… shattered collarbone… perforated liver… one hell of a headache."

No one laughed.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung," reminded the doctor.

Fury threw a deadpan look at him with his one eye. Even on his deathbed, he wore his eyepatch more menacingly than any movie character Tania had ever seen. "Let's not forget that. But otherwise, I'm good."

Right. Good. Because having been dead must have been so easy.

Natasha said exactly what Tania was thinking. "They cut you open. Your heart stopped." Her expression was carefully blank.

"Dendrotoxin B," Fury sighed. "Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."

"Bruce gave that to you?" Tania asked incredulously.

"Not exactly. This was before the alien invasion. He was on SHIELD's radar. He'd had an incident so SHIELD cleaned up his mess. Turns out he left this behind. We thought it might come in handy."

"Why all the secrecy?" Steve asked. "Why not just tell us?"

It was Hill who answered, clinically detached and standing in the corner of the room with her arms crossed. "Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful."

"Can't kill you if you're already dead." Nick sounded as tired as Tania felt. "Besides… I wasn't sure who to trust."

No one said anything at that. Fury obviously believed that they had all done something to warrant suspicion. Natasha looked down almost guiltily.

A shot of pain spiked through Tania's thigh and she gasped, throwing her head back and groaning. Steve was there, stroking her hair and whispering to her. She fisted the scratchy sheets in her hands and twisted. Her thigh felt wet and soggy. She knew without looking that the bandage was completely soaked through.

"What was in your car, Sam? A broken pipe?" She bit out through gritted teeth.

Sam ducked his head slightly. "Uh, yeah. I like to… tinker." His hands turned back and forth in the air, but Tania had no idea what that was supposed to mean. "With cars." Sam's hands found their way to his pockets and he shrugged. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she breathed, squeezing her eyes shut. The room felt hot, humid, like a cloud of heat had just descended upon them. Every inhale was like slurping up steam. Fire ignited in her leg and her hands instinctively reached toward it. She had enough sense not to touch it. "It burns," she croaked, shifting on the cotton of the bed, her skin glistening.

"I know. I know, Darling, I know," Steve crooned in her ear. "You're doing great. And now you can't use the word 'fine' against me."

She huffed out a breathy laugh. "Isn't there… more than one doctor here?"

"I'm sorry," said the one voice in the room Tania wasn't familiar with. "It's just me. Like the Director said, he didn't know who to trust. I, uh, work at the hospital around the block. I'm almost done here, Ma'am. I'll be right with you."

Tania nodded, the back of her head scratching the sheet. She gripped Steve's hand tighter, focusing on the callouses on his fingers and the size of his palm. His skin was rough but he was always gentle with her. He gave her hand a light squeeze. She knew he was holding himself back. If he wanted to, he could shatter every bone in her hand - but he wouldn't. He always had to be careful with his strength.

Fire sprang from her thigh up to her chest and she sobbed.

"I'm coming!" Footsteps. A pair of hands pressed to her wound. She screamed.

She had no way of knowing that somewhere out there, someone else was also screaming.

Her body seized.

"Hey, hey, easy." Steve.

She was in some sort of crappy hospital room. It was dark and dingy and bare. Her mind felt fuzzy along the edges. Pain medication? Probably. Her leg wasn't on fire anymore, so that was something.

"Tania." Steve came into focus. He was leaning above her, brows furrowed slightly. His face was cast in shadow. "You're safe."

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to make he ringing stop. She most definitely had a concussion. "Where are we?"

A beat. "Underground. Fury's secret lair or something."

Right. Nick was alive. She was glad but also extremely pissed. Unfortunately, she wasn't that motivated to react at the moment. "How long was I out?"

"Not long. Maybe thirty minutes. Insight's launching in fifteen hours. I just came to say good-bye."

"What?" Tania's eyes snapped open and she sat up quickly. The world spun. "You're not leaving me here."

"You're injured-"

"I don't care! I'm coming with you."

"Tania-"

"Don't speak to me with that tone!"

"What tone?"

"The one where you're trying to explain something to a toddler. I'm old enough to make my own decisions and this is my choice."

Steve sighed. "I thought you didn't want to be a superhero."

She huffed indignantly. "You want to bring that up now? I am coming with you."

"You don't know the plan."

She was trying not to be offended that they had some sort of meeting while she was unconscious. "So tell me the plan."

He narrowed his eyes. "No."

"Damn it, Steve!" She swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Lie down!" He barked.

"Don't give me orders!" She barked back. Her grip on the sheets tightened. "I don't even feel pain right now. I can walk." She stood up tentatively. She moved her leg around. It tingled and prickled with numbness. "See?"

"You are being reckless and you aren't thinking straight."

She glared at him, lifting her chin to do it. "There was a time when I was okay with sitting on the sidelines and waiting for you to come home. Now is not that time."

His shoulders sagged and he brushed his hands along both of her arms. "Please don't fight me on this. You're in no condition to fight."

"I can if I have to. You, Natasha, and Sam are only a small team compared to the likes of Hydra. You need help." Speaking of which… "Have you called the others?"

Steve dropped his arms and sighed. "Yes. Natasha said the Stark comms are being monitored, probably by SHIELD hackers, but Tony answered his phone. Apparently he was in the middle of attacking an A.I.M. compound but it ended up being some sort of distraction to get to Bruce. He was exposed to some sort of chemical and now he's stuck in Hulk form for the foreseeable future. A.I.M. did something to anger him and now he's on a rampage in the forest. Tony called in Thor and the two of them are currently chasing him towards Mexico. Tony promised to come as soon as he can, but he has his hands full with Bruce."

That was a lot to take in and Tania found herself sitting back down again. "Is Bruce gonna be okay?"

"I don't know. Tony sounded optimistic on the phone, but you know how he gets." He shrugged.

"All the more reason for me to come with you," Tania pushed, standing again as if to make her point. "The three of you can't take on Hydra alone."

"Five. Hill and Fury are part of the plan too."

"Fine. Five against Hydra is still low odds."

"Tania, please." The blues of his eyes dimmed as he begged. "Stay here."

She considered it. He was right. She was injured and on painkillers, therefore not thinking straight. But she could walk. She could fight. Back when she'd been the girlfriend waiting anxiously for Steve to return from missions, she'd been okay with waiting because she didn't know how to do anything else. Now she had the power to do something and if she had that power, she would be damned if she didn't use it to help Steve in any way she could. "I'm coming."

They stared at each other in electrifying silence. They were both stubborn but Tania knew that Steve would never force her to do anything. He glanced at her newly bandaged thigh before returning his gaze to her face. "The doctor said that if you put too much strain on your leg, you could permanently damage it."

Oh. She supposed that just because she couldn't feel the pain at the moment, didn't mean that her injury had magically gone away. "I'll deal with that when the time comes," she said firmly.

"My problem with that statement is the 'when'," he argued. "You could ruin your leg. You might need a cane."

"I can't sit here in this cave and watch you put yourself in danger. If it were the other way around, you wouldn't let me do this either."

He pursed his lips because he knew it was true.

Without waiting for his approval, she hobbled past him to the door. "I'll try to avoid putting as much weight on it as I can," she compromised. "What's the plan?" It took several steps before he eventually emerged from the room and into the hallway, catching up to her with ease. His face was set in a deep frown.

"Sam and I are going to infiltrate the three helicarriers and replace their targeting chips with the ones Fury whipped up. They'll tell the carriers to target each other as opposed to the people. We have to do this for every ship or the whole thing fails.

"Nat is going undercover at the Triskelion as a member of the World Security Council to take out Pierce and expose Hydra to the world. SHIELD won't survive the fallout, but it's not meant to." He paused to let that sink in.

No more SHIELD. No more spy missions. No more fighting for a living. Tania could live with that. But could America? Could the world? What would happen if a threat like aliens or killer robots appeared? Sure, the Avengers would be there, but SHIELD was a peacekeeping organization with government funding and resources as far as the eye could see. Tony's money could only stretch so far.

But SHIELD was corrupted, rotten almost to the core. Hydra was so deeply rooted inside the organization that to take out one was to take out the other. It made sense, even if it destroyed the government's only defense against "special" threats.

She nodded for Steve to continue.

"Fury will join Nat once she has access to the SHIELD database. He has the password to get her in. Hill will also be at the Triskelion, monitoring the countdown and supervising on comms. She's basically the handler - if this were a normal mission."

But it wasn't. They were going to eliminate the organization that gave them their missions. This was crazy.

But necessary.

"There are only two of you," she pointed out as Steve steered her around a corner. "You and Sam. There's three helicarriers."

"I know what you're thinking. No."

"Steve." She was getting pissed now.

"You can take over Hill's position. Stay in a chair. Maria can-"

"She can work all those computers way better than I can. Just have Sam drop me off as close to the drop off point as possible and I'll be in an out before you know it." When he didn't say anything, she pulled him to a stop. "Hey. Look at me." She waited until he did. "I don't need your permission to do anything and I don't need your disapproval. I'd like your support."

He shifted on his feet. "I know. But it's hard to support an idea that will only get you hurt."

"Then don't support that. Support me making my own decisions and not abandoning the people that I love. Support me wanting to support you when you face Bucky again."

He flinched. "I can handle him." He said it like a reflex; like a line rehearsed a thousand times.

"I know. But I want to support you. Please do the same for me."

He raised his gaze from where he'd been staring at his shoes and locked eyes with her. She saw pain in the depths of his irises. Her being out there was one more thing to worry about besides his brainwashed brought-back-from-the-dead assassin best friend. But she wouldn't let him deal with that alone.

Finally, he relented. "Alright," he whispered.

She reached up and slid her hands up the nape of his neck and into his hair, bringing his lips down to hers. The kiss was slow and gentle and she felt the embers of their love glow brighter every time. She pulled back to breathe, eyelashes fluttering. "I love you."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you too. Now come on. Hill must have something for you to wear." He slid his hand along her arm to lock with hers and began tugging her in the right direction. She limped as best she could, doing her absolute best to keep all weight off of her leg despite the lack of pain. She really didn't want a cane, but if that was what it took to have Steve's back, she would gladly make that sacrifice.

Hill handed her a black catsuit. No SHIELD logos. It was just black material that clung to her form. She also handed her a utility belt. "We don't have a holster for your staff," Hill explained. "It was SHIELD-issue. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine," Tania assured, twirling her staff. "I don't need a holster." She tapped the floor with her new makeshift walking stick. "Thanks."

Hill eyed her bandaged leg with a stern expression. "You'll need a long distance weapon." She reached behind her and pulled out a gun.

"No," she blurted.

Hill tilted her head. "It can prevent people from getting close to you. You won't have to fight them-"

Tania vehemently shook her head. "No. I don't- I won't kill people."

"Then don't aim for the head."

She hesitated; shook her head again. "No thanks. I'll stick with my staff."

For several seconds it didn't look like Hill would relent. Then, with a sigh, she lowered the gun and stuffed it back in the waistband of her pants. "I might have something non-lethal. Follow me."

Using her new cane, Tania limped forward. Steve's hands fell away, but he was never far behind. She sensed his presence at her back.

Hill led them to a room that was empty except for a safe. She unlocked it and popped it open. The metal hinges creaked as the door swung to the side. Hill reached in and pulled out the Night-Night gun - or, a version of it, at least. "This is an ICER." Hill's arms snapped up, aiming the weapon at the far wall in record time. "It's a prototype developed by Agent Fitz." She lowered her arms and held the ICER out to Tania, handle first. "Knocks people out cold."

After a second of hesitation, Tania took the gun. "Is that why it's called an ICER?"

Hill huffed a laugh. "No. It's an acronym for Incapacitating Cartridge Emitting Railgun."

"Huh." Tania fingered the handle of the weapon. "Well… It's better than 'Night-Night Gun'." She raised her arm and pointed the gun at the wall. "Ammo?"

"Modified bullets that contain dendrotoxins that incapacitate people without harm or side effects. I don't have any extra cartridges so you'll have to make do with twelve bullets."

Tania dropped her arm. "This is great. Thank you."

Hill shrugged. "Get to work. We're leaving in twenty and we have a pitstop to make. She kicked the safe closed and locked it before brushing past them to the door.

"Pitstop?"

Steve took the clothes and ICER from her so that she could get a better grip on her staff. "It's like I told Sam earlier," he said. "If you're gonna fight a war, you gotta wear a uniform."