Chapter 6: May the 3rd: Searching for Loki

AN: I hope you are not still reeling from endgame because I've got a roller-coaster of a ride ahead for all of you. This chapter has a lot of; well it's mostly film scenes with my own twist. I think this next one might be short, but I get the feeling that it might not be.

This is going to focus on Steven's perspective, and Steve's reaction to realizing that Yasha's big brother is a highly decorated army captain and CIA operative.

So, on to the fic

At first sight, the Helicarrier is nothing special to look at, but Steven knows that looks can be deceiving. He lands on deck in a chopper, which takes off almost immediately after he exited the craft. Steven wove them off before rushing out of the way of the rotors. He looked around deck for a moment before he finally spotted Steve. He was standing by a busty redhead that could only be Natasha. Steven smiled and made his way over to the pair, catching the tail end of their conversation as he got in hearing range.

"Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet," Natasha asked with a slight smirk to her ruby lips. The look Steve gave her was surprised and a little incredulous.

"Trading cards," Steve asked with a smirk that was all Brooklyn charm, in his plaid shirt and leather bomber jacket. Steven grinned and approached the pair.

"They're vintage," She answered dryly, "he's very proud."

"Steve," Steven called out with a broad grin. Steve smiled brightly, and for a moment Steven was back in 1944, before all hell broke loose, and tore his life apart. The Captain waved him over, and Steven jogged over to the pair. He nodded to Romanoff and gave Steve a quick hug, before throwing his arm over Steve's shoulder and tugging the man into his side. "It's good to see ya," Steven said with an honest smile.

"Steven, it's good to see ya again. Yasha's told me so much about you. I wish we could have talked more that day; Yasha made it sound like we have a lot in common," Steve replied. Steven smiled warmly at the mention of his baby brother. Steve grinned back and pulled away to introduce him to Natasha. "Agent Romanoff, this is…" but Nat interrupted him.

"I know who he is," Natasha said with a bland voice and blank face, "Captain Steven Buchanan, Army CID, and CIA liaison." Steven grinned charmingly, with a bit too much teeth.

"You do know me," he said, before he turned back to the Captain, who was approaching a skittish looking man in a mousey brown suit with a purple shirt.

"Dr. Banner," Steve called to the man, who approached the trio with less skittishness then before.

"Oh, yeah, hi," he said as he shook Steve's outstretched hand. His voice was slightly rough and hoarse, and Steven was suddenly struck with the impression that he looked like an ordinary college professor. "They told me you'd be coming," he said as he let go of Steve's hand.

"Word is, you can find the Cube," Steve stated, and Steven had to roll his eyes slightly at Steve's straight forwardness. Steven saw the doctor glance over at them and look around nervously.

"Is that the only word on me," he asked hesitantly. Steven glanced at Natasha and saw her listening to her earpiece before he looked back at the good doctor.

"Only word I care about," Steve answered honestly, and Steven saw the respect and gratefulness in Banner's eyes as he looked back around.

"Must be strange for you," Banner asked honestly, gesturing to the carrier's deck, "all this?" Banner fell into line beside Steve and Steven flanked the Captain.

"Well," Steve hedged looking around at the troops on deck doing their morning jog and the deck hands working on the planes, "this is actually kinda familiar." Suddenly Steven felt a rumble in the deck and looked down as his senses told him something mechanical was moving.

"Gentlemen," Natasha interrupted, "you might want to step inside, in a minute: it's gonna get a little hard to breathe." Steven then felt a shift and smirked as an alarm started to sound.

"Flight crew, secure the deck," an officer sounded over an intercom, as Steven finally heard the loud groan of large mechanical pistons coming to life and moving. Steven saw Steve's face shift with awe as he walked closer to the edge of the deck.

"Is this a submarine," he asked with wonder.

"Really," Banner snarked, with a sarcastic smirk on his lips, "they want me in a submerged, pressurized metal container?" as the pair approached the edge of the deck Steven could feel the changes taking place, but even with the knowledge of what this carrier was, Steven felt in awe over the mechanical wonder that he was witnessing.

Steven felt even more respect and awe for the engineers that designed it as he looked over the edge of the deck with Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers and saw the sea churn under the force of the turbines as they lifted out of the sea and rose into place. The turbines locked and began to spin, the deck jolting as they were slowly lifted out of the sea and into the air. Steve took a step back, awe in his face as he glanced at the turbine then at Steven. Dr. Banner on the other hand, was less enthused.

"Oh, no," he said dryly, sarcasm back as well as the grin, "this is much worse!" Steven pulled away from the edge with a little more respect for SHIELD's engineers and gave Steve a smile that reflected as such. The deck jolted again as the Helicarrier finally lifted itself fully out of the sea, and the trio decided to take Romanoff's advice and moved towards the tower with the rest of the deck personnel. Steven saw the crew securing the jets with cables and ties before they stepped through the deck doors and into the bridge.

When Steven walked onto the bridge, after a quick detour, it was to a flurry of motion. He watched the crew with passing interest and all but ignored the constant chatter that came with bridge operations before he heard Hill speak.

"All engines operating," she announced, "SHIELD emergency protocol 193.6 in effect," she turned to Fury and finished her report, "we're at level, sir."

"Good," Fury said and looked up before ordering, "Let's vanish."

"Engage retro-reflection panels," Hill ordered. Steven could practically feel the panels activating. It was a rush like no other, feeling the flow of electricity as the panels activated in a wave, slowly overflowing the vessel and changing its skin to be all but invisible from sight.

"Reflection Panels engaged," Jonathan confirmed and glanced over at his brother with a slight smile. Fury turned around and approached Steve and Dr. Banner.

"Gentlemen," he said as he walked towards the table. Steve approached the man with absentminded awe, as he slowly pulled out his wallet and handed Fury a ten dollar bill. Fury smirked at the bill and stuffed it into his pocket. Steven approached and finally caught the director's eye. Needless to say, he looked less than thrilled to see him. "What the Hell are you doing on my boat?" Fury barked. Steve turned around and saw Steven smile blandly at the one eyed man. Steven walked up to the director and handed him the file in his hand.

"Nice to see you too, Nick," Steve replied blandly. Fury scowled at the younger looking man and opened the file. After less than a second he looked up with incredulous disdain on his face.

"You've got to be kidding me," he asked as he shook the paper at Steven, "now of all times the CIA sends a liaison!" Steven smiled with bland amusement, his eyes twinkling with vindictive glee.

"Orders are orders, Nick," Steven said calmly, "I go where I'm told." Fury scowled and saw Steve walk over to them.

"Captain Rogers," he said gesturing to Steve then to Steven, "Captain Steven Buchanan, US Army Ranger, member of Army Covert Intelligence Division, Central Intelligence Agency counter intelligence and counter terroristism analyst, and," he ground out with disdain, "our new CIA and Army liaison." Steve took the file from Fury and began to skim through the dossier noting the numerous medals for valor and bravery in combat as well as a few purple hearts with valor. Steve looked up at the younger man with raised eyebrows.

"I know we met, briefly. I thought Yasha said you worked with Army Intelligence," Steve said, "not that you are their covert operative, and a spy." Steven smiled and chuckled.

"I'm not a spy, Captain," Steven corrected, "I'm an analyst. I analyze data and intelligence about foreign operatives and run counter intelligence if necessary. I'm not a field agent. Well," he corrected with a roll of his eyes, "not anymore."

"But you were a spy," Steve hedged. Steven nodded with a wince.

"Sort of," he answered and Steve's raised eyebrows prompted more. "I did a few ops back in the day, but I screwed up, and got demoted to desk duty. I played handler for a little while, but my agent has since retired, so… now I'm an analyst." Steven smiled just as blandly and calmly as Coulson, and it was very different from the man Steve had discussed with Yasha, after their brief introduction a few days before. Steve smirked, genuinely impressed at the young captain's credentials, but Fury was less than impressed.

"I assume that since you're here," Fury said snidely, "one of your little attack-dogs will be joining us." Steven sent Fury a gleaming smile that was all teeth and razor sharp; one that spoke of pure politics, and had an edge that was more than a little unnerving.

"Oh, he's already here," Steve said with his shark like grin. Fury paled a little but otherwise held his cool, and Steven's smirk slowly lost its edge and became genuinely amused. "Probably skulking around the lower levels," he added with a chuckle. "He wasn't too pleased … that we had to drag him into this," Steven explained with a serenity that seemed natural, if it weren't for the sharp look in his eye. "After all," he continued, "he is, technically, retired." Suddenly Steven's face became a picture of the Siberian tundra, cold and hard as stone, "and he is not my attack dog," he said. "He is a trained CIA operative with expertise in mind-control and brainwashing," then add as an afterthought, "mostly because he'd had every technique known to man used on him for forty years. And if you want to get technical, Director," Steven said as he loomed over the dark man, his face once again like stone, "one could say he is no one's attack dog but his own." Fury stared back at the man, not wanting to look as cowed by the ferocious man as he felt, before he looked away and Steven let out a smug little huff. "That's what I thought," he said softly before he backed away and towards the table.

"I hope your agent has security clearance," Fury grumbled. Steven smirked and sat down in the chair at the table, before he leaned back and threw Fury a self-satisfied smirk.

"My agent has the same clearance as I do, Director," Steven reminded him, and his smirk pulled into a shark grin with all teeth, once Fury scowled and turned back to Dr. Banner. He won this round and Steven knew it, and he wasn't afraid to rub it in just a little. Steven settled back and watched with passive interest as Fury traded words with Banner about how to find the Cube. Once Banner had explained what they needed to do Fury turned to Natasha.

"Agent Romanoff," he said, "would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please." Natasha was already moving before Fury had even finished, and just as she passed him she talked to Banner.

"You're gonna love it, doc," she said, calmly, "We got all the toys."

Steve smiled when he finally saw Yasha lurking in a corner. It had only been a few weeks since he had last seen him, and already it felt like too long. The young sniper looked more tired than when he had last seen him but then again Yasha was an active field agent. The younger man saw him and pulled away from his perch. Yasha approached Steve with a beaming grin and pulled him into a hug.

"I missed you," Yasha said softly into Steve's ear. Steve sighed at the sound of his voice and soaked in the warmth of his son's voice before he answered.

"I missed you too," Steve replied, and pulled away. "I didn't see you in Hithlum." Yasha smiled sadly.

"I was on a mission," Yasha said, "black out, no coms. I would have been there if I had known," Yasha said sadly as he looked at Steve before brightening. "I would have loved to see it in person."

"Me too, kiddo," Steve answered with a small grin, "I wish you could have seen the coronation. It was every bit as grand as the old stories I read as a kid. If I had known, I would have asked Arthadan to try to get you there in time to see it." Steve looked mournfully at his son, who answered with a touched smile.

"I know. I got to see the recording," Yasha said, his eyes alight with wonder, "it was awesome. You looked stunning in that armor. And the speech," Yasha laughed with a childlike grin, "I had goose bumps when you said that. I don't think there was a man woman or child in that city who didn't think you were one of the Kings of Old." Steve grinned and patted Yasha on the arm before he turned to join Coulson at the railing.

Steven watched with a fond smile as Coulson asked Steve to sign his Captain America trading cards.

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble," Phil asked calmly while trying to hold back his inner child.

"No, no," Steve said, waving it off. He'd been used to it, but it was a little strange coming from a grown man; his fans were more like twelve back in the day, so this was new. "It's fine."

"It's a vintage set," Coulson said, silently preening over his small accomplishment, "Took me a couple of years to collect them all." Steven snickered at the very proud look on Coulson's face when he turned to Steve with wide childlike awe. "Near mint," and there was the pride, Steven grinned under his hand, but his smile quickly turned nostalgic.

A part of him wondered, as sad and old memories of days gone by passed through his mind, if any of those cards had him on it. He was big with the kids, back in the day. He took over Bucky's spot as Captain America's sidekick and kids loved him. The dark red coat and the army fatigue pants, paired with his boots and dark blue spats, made him look the part of a soldier, but he was older than the old Bucky in the comics, before he was changed for the older more accurate, mature version and Steven became younger. It was flattering back then, seeing Steve draw him as a young man, barely old enough to serve, fight side by side with the comic book Cap, but now it was a slightly bitter sweet reminder of how far he had fallen before he picked himself back out of the dirt and brushed off his grime as best as he could to become that man again. He hadn't quite got there, he still had moments were he was more of The Knight then Steven, but he was closer to that man now more than ever; and he was determined to be him again. But sometimes in order to step forward you had to go back, and in this case, Steven had to resurrect a part of himself that he had hoped would stay dead with old Lukin.

"Slight foxing around the edges, but…" Coulson continued, but was interrupted by Sitwell, and an alarm. Steven sat up and zeroed in on the screen.

"We got a hit. Sixty seven percent match," he said, and looked back at the screen before correcting, "Wait, cross match, seventy nine percent." Steven saw the screen and linked in quickly pulling up the cross match and he didn't need a program to tell him it was Loki, he knew. Steven stood up and slipped towards the door, glancing out of the side of his eye towards Jonathan, who gave him a simple nod.

"Location," Coulson asked, his voice all business, childlike wonder gone.

"Stuttgart, Germany," Sitwell said as Steven eased towards the door, "28 Königstraße. He's not exactly hiding," Sitwell's voice faded as Steven slipped out of the room.

"Captain," Fury's voice carried through the door as it began to close, "you're up." Steven marched off toward a blind corner to create his clone. It always took a minute to gather enough dust and material to do it, but once it was done, Steven's own Life Model Decoy could fool even a forensic scientist or the best spy. Steven barely understood how he could do it. Gabriel tried to explain it once, but the combination of magic and scientific phrases gave him a headache. All he cared about was that he could do it and everyone would be none the wiser that the Captain Buchanan that returned to the bridge was not the one that had arrived on the carrier in the first place.

TBC…

Endnote: sorry this took so long, but this part is going to be the hardest part to write. Doing actual scenes and dialogue from the movie take me either watching and taking notes like mad, or finding clips to watch half a dozen times to get my dialogue right. I'll try to get more out as fast as I can, but sometimes I just need to go at it in spurts. I think some action stuff will be done in one go so that I don't break up the flow with chapter writing.

Next up confronting Loki