Chapter Text
His fists pounded the punching bag as he was lost in thought. He and Tony Stark had not gotten along on an Avengers matter; again. Steve disliked arguing with Tony, but he couldn't help but express his thoughts on the matter. Now Steve was just frustrated and full of pent up irritation. He slammed his fist on the bag, taking out his inner anger. He barely heard the door to the practice room open.
"Cap, we've got a code red."
Maria Hill's voice shook Steve out of his thoughts. Her commanding tone bringing him fully alert. He turned around, loosening the tape around his fists.
"Where?" He asked, coming over to her, catching his breath.
Maria's fingers flutters over the touch screen. Steve still didn't know how to negotiate technological devices very well and was secretly amazed at her swiftness. "We found some footage on Twitter that may interest you." She held out her tablet and pulled up some footage.
Two scientists with headlamps made their way through a cave, talking to the camera in rapid Japanese. They swung the camera around and shone their lamps on an alien looking pile of metal. Steve didn't know what they were saying, but he could tell the scientists were excited.
"Chitauri?" Steve guessed.
"Bingo. We don't know how it got in a cave in Japan, but we're sending a team to get to the scene before anyone else does. Especially Hydra. Are you in?"
"Of course. Anyone else going?"
"The whole team except Clint and Rhodes. Tony is going to run some tests, the rest will be there for back up. Since the second this hit the Internet, Hydra has known about it. We have to get it away from the scene before they get there. And if they do get there...they won't be coming in lightly. We'll need the backup."
"Do the civilians know we're coming?" Steve has seen on their many missions that some crowds were less receptive than others, to the Avengers arrivals.
"They do know, I'm not quite sure about their standing with you all yet. It's for their own good to get this cleared away though."
Steve nodded. "I'll be on the quinjet in five."
"Copy that."
----
As the quinjet flew towards Japan, there wasn't much to do but wait. The mood was surprisingly mild and calm despite the earlier argument.
Sharon Carter ran her fingers through her long blonde hair and tapped her laptop keys. She scanned through the SHIELD data files, using key words. She'd been searching for days. No one on the entire internet even mentioned the guy in a text. She was narrowing her search now, sticking with SHIELD files and documents. Most SHIELD intel was hard copy; mostly to prevent hacking but also because Nick Fury was a bit old fashioned. The rest of any possible information was protected behind hundreds of passwords and scans that Sharon couldn't break into.
Winter Soldier. James Buchanan Barnes. Bucky Barnes. Russia. Nick Fury death.
No files came up. No one had even searched his name in the database recently. Sharon gnawed on her lower lip, thinking. Finally, she typed in a totally different search, one she had put off searching. One unprotected hit came up and Sharon looked it over. She raised her hand to her lips and she abruptly got up, snapping the laptop shut. She spotted the redheaded agent Natasha Romanoff immediately. The agent was strapping on her wrist weapon, Widows Bite.
Sharon slid discreetly into the seat next to Natasha. "I got a lead on Barnes."
Natasha's eyes flickered over at Sharon. "Let's go to the back."
She quietly followed Sharon to the back of the jet, into a small sitting room. She locked the door.
"What intel did you get?" Natasha asked in a low voice.
Sharon slid the laptop over and showed Natasha the search result. Natasha blinked before clearing her throat, pushing back any sort of facial reaction.
"Should we tell Steve?" Sharon asked.
"Not before a mission. He has to focus." Natasha was deliberating. Her breath was uneven. "When was this information posted into the database?"
"This was the last update recorded of him, about a week ago. It would have had to have been recorded by someone of high position." Sharon gazed at Natasha, awaiting a reaction.
Natasha nodded her head slowly. "I have to go get him."
Sharon's brown eyes widened in disbelief. "Natasha, you can't."
"Did you look at that photo of him?"
Sharon cast her glance at the screen. It was pathetic. Her resolve became definite. "What can I do?"
"Book me a plane ticket to Russia. I'm going the second this mission is over."
"We don't know he's in Russia," Sharon pointed out.
Natasha peered closely at the image. "I've see that room before. Agents were threatened to go there if we misbehaved." Her voice wavered. Only she knew the immense pain he was in. No one else had the same background. "I have to go get him." This time when she spoke, there was no emotion. It was fierce, flat. Natasha was not to be argued with.
"We should tell the others though, after this mission." Sharon recalled the argument earlier that day amongst the Avengers. It had been about keeping secrets from the team. Steve had jumped into a mission the previous day, on his own, to rescue civilians from a rigged train. He saved them all, but not without a cost. The team was generally pissed off that they weren't alerted to this and able to help. Steve hadn't even told them until that morning, explaining that there was no time for an organised debate about it. Needless to say, one thing lead to another and the argument shifted to when it was ok to not tell the team things and when it was.
"If we tell Steve what they're doing to Bucky, he's going to do brash things." Natasha didn't mean it as an insult. She highly admired Steve's constant strive to protect people. She also knew that Steve occasionally became so determined to protect people, he made moves and choices that had consequences. Bucky always was a topic that was sensitive for Steve. She was aware that if he found out about what was happening, Steve would be a loose cannon.
"We could tell Tony," Sharon suggested. Natasha considered it. Tony would be unbiased, as he was totally unfamiliar with Bucky.
At this point, Natasha didn't care who knew or not. It didn't matter to her anymore. She drew in a deep breath, composing herself into a façade of briskness. "Let's just complete this mission and please book me the flight. We'll decide who to tell later."
----
The quinjet landed in a clearing in a densely wooded forest.
"I thought this was a mission, not an episode of Survivor," Tony remarked, stepping out of the jet, closely followed by the others.
It was deadly quiet in the forest. Branches cracked beneath their feet as they trekked through the woods, following the GPS to the cave. Vision's large, intelligent eyes were soaking all in. Wanda Maximoff came over next to him, matching her gait as best she could to his.
"You've never been in a forest before," she remarked, fascinated by his look of awe.
"I am afraid I have not. This is all quite new." He spoke in his low, voice which immediately soothed Wanda. There was something achingly innocent and pure about Vision, a stark contrast to the rest of the world. It was almost bittersweet.
They walked in silence, trailing furthest behind the others. Wanda was apprehensive about the mission. She rarely went on missions, only just having joined the Avengers a few months ago. She was jealous of Vision's inner peace. He had automatically fit in with the Avengers. She still felt out of place, and frightened of her own powers.
He spoke up, suddenly. "You envy me?"
Wanda blushed. She frequently forgot that Vision could sense her thoughts. "Maybe a little, yes. Everyone has their place in the world, even you."
"Miss Maximoff, despite what you think, I have no place in this world. Neither do you. We will adjust, however and earn our place."
Wanda dropped her gaze onto the ground. She stumbled on a tree root, and a gentle hand steadied her. His hand slid down her arm and laced his fingers through her's. Wanda felt warmth come over her cheeks and she smiled softly to herself.
Up ahead, Tony and Steve located the cave. The team quickly joined them at the entrance.
"Try not to use your powers or weapons unless necessary," Steve directed. "The cave is unstable, the last thing we need is for the roof to fall through."
It was unanimously agreed and approved, wth no objections raised. They went inside, on alert. Their footsteps clicked against the damp stone. The cave appeared to be deserted of any Hydra agents, but Sharon, Natasha and Sam Wilson kept their guns raised, acting as a line of defence. You'd never have guessed Natasha's internal turmoil, as she kept her face stoic, the only visible emotion was focus. Sharon kept a quiet eye on her.
A half hour passed. The ceiling of the cave was still high but it was dark as night in there, and they all kept their flashlights on.
"Eyes on the prize," Tony said, who was further ahead with Steve. He signalled the others who drew close. It was a mound of alien metal, the same armour the Chitauri had worn. Fragments of an alien body was amid the scraps of armour.
Wanda peered at it, curious. "What is that?"
"Remember Thor? His brother had some anger management issues and sent these things down here to scare us," Tony said, summarising the entire New York battle in one sentence.
Wanda still didn't look like she understood but she backed away. Tony pulled out a radioactive testing device and scanned over the pile of metal.
"Completely inactive," Tony assessed. "We can get this cleared away without any issues."
"We can call the quinjet," decided Steve.
The words no sooner left his mouth then the sound of gunfire echoed down the narrow cave. Sharon, Sam and Natasha whipped around, guns poised at the entrance of the cave. A silence followed, the calm before the storm, the peace before the chaos.
They were at an immense disadvantage; they were cornered at the end of a cave, their only escape blocked by the shooters who started raining bullets at them.
Wanda did the only thing she could think of in the heat of the moment. Her hands tensed, her energy flooded her veins. A force field encircled the Avengers. She'd never made one so intense in her life and her knees shook from the amount of strength involved. The cave roof began to splinter as her force field pushed against it. The Avengers were stunned, having had braced themselves for intense gunfire.
"Wanda, you're hurting yourself!" Steve raised his voice above the hollow pounding sound of the steady gunfire. Wanda ignored him. She was the only one who could hold off the attack for as long as possible.
Wanda's arms shook. She felt the bullets hitting the field, the sensation running down her arms. The pain became excruciating and she couldn't hold it up anymore. With a cry, she dropped on the floor, scraping her hands and knees. A final surge of energy flung towards the entrance of the cave, knocking out all of the shooters simultaneously.
She was only vaguely aware of the events that took place afterwards. She felt Vision lift her in his strong arms. She felt a sharp stinging feeling on her one knee especially, and her hands were moist with blood. Blurry images of the others fighting off the shooters occasionally came into eyeshot. The bright light of day shone in her face and knew they all were safely outside the cave. Only then did she allow herself to fall unconscious.