FIC: 'Til the End of the Line 4/?
Title: ‘Til the End of the Line
Fandom: Marvel Avengers
Author: alexcat
Type: FCH, FCS
Rating: R - NC-17
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters nor do I profit from their use.
Warnings: None
Beta: Jaiden
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Archive: OEAM, Ao3, Alex’s Story Book
Spoilers: Yes, for both the Avenger universe movies and for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Summary: Steve Rogers can't let Bucky go. He needs to save him and Sam pledges to help. Along the way, he finds unexpected friendship and a little love as well.
~~~
Chapter Four
“Time to rise and shine, Cap.” It was Stark, standing over him in striped boxer shorts.
“Go away.”
“God, Captain America is grumpy in the morning! I brought coffee. There is toast, fruit, yogurt and granola in the kitchen.”
“Granola?”
“Pepper,” was Stark’s one word explanation.
“Be out in a minute.”
He sat up after Tony left. Despite the wonderful bed, he’d had a fitful night, dreaming of Natasha and of all people, Stark. The three of them had been all tangled up in his dream. All naked and tangled up.
He ran his hand over his face and got out of the bed, cleaned up and made his way out to the kitchen. Stark was eating and talking on his phone. From the sounds, he was talking to Pepper.
“No, I’m eating yogurt and granola. I promise. No. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Love you, too.”
He motioned Steve to the table where food was laid out, several fruits, yogurt, granola, juices and a big pot of coffee. Steve helped himself to everything.
“You eat like a horse!” Stark looked at his plate after he got off the phone.
“It’s the serum. It’s made me eat this way since I changed.”
“Your perfection is annoying, Rogers.”
“Your being an ass is annoying as well, Stark.”
Unexpectedly, Tony smiled. “We’re even then. Two asses.”
They finished their food and headed for the makeshift S.H.I.E.L.D. station. Sam was already there as was Maria Hill. She had come in overnight.
“Maria, good to see you. It must be bad news though, if Coulson has sent you in person,” Stark said as a greeting.
“We think that HYDRA is in this area as well, looking for our target, too.”
“He’s a man,” Steve said curtly.
“I apologize, Captain. But they are after the Winter Soldier, nevertheless, and we have to find him first, and we have to protect Jemma and Leo as well. They are very valuable to us since so many of our young scientists were lost when HYDRA struck,” Maria said, her eyes dark with anger. “I have more guards for this facility, and I’ve come to aid you and Stark, Captain.”
They divided up and began their search through the city again. Steve had that being watched again feeling.
“I don’t think we’re alone, but I don’t know who is following us,” he said to Maria.
“Are you sure that Barnes has the serum in him?” she asked.
“Pretty sure. He was stronger than a normal man in the war and now, he’s as strong as I am.”
“Then it’s not him. If it’s HYDRA, they think we’ll lead them to Barnes. If not, then I have no idea.”
It occurred to Steve that it might be Natasha, but he said nothing. If she wanted to be hidden, then he wouldn’t blow her cover.
They met the others in Crystal City for lunch. Stark and Sam had not seen anyone, but they had found a couple of warehouses with some odd electrical signatures. They were using much more power than an empty warehouse should, which suggested computers and cooling equipment. Maybe they were HYDRA facilities of some sort.
They all went to the first of these warehouses together. Stark and Sam took the back exit and Rogers and Maria took the front. It turned out to be a drug trafficking headquarters, so they turned the criminals over to the DC cops and headed for the second one.
That one turned out to be more promising, and it also turned out to have guards, guards who shot at them before they entered the building. Agent Hill was a crack shot and took two of them out as they rushed them on the outside while Steve took the entry door with his shield, deflecting a hail of bullets. Sam and Tony had apparently met no resistance from the back. Hill lined up prisoners and called for a cleanup detail while Steve led the others on a search.
Gunshots rang out again when they entered an office in the back section of the warehouse. Captain America was in the front and held his shield out until a small woman ran out of bullets.
Sam went around him and grabbed her by the arm. “Are there more?”
She glared at them but didn’t speak.
Reinforcements arrived and they cleared the building, hauling the gunmen and the woman away.
“Who were they?” Stark asked.
Maria said one thing and would not elaborate. “Not HYDRA.”
“You knew the little woman?” He asked her.
She said nothing, barking orders into her Bluetooth instead of answering Stark. Stark slammed his fist into his hand and walked away.
Steve was fairly sure she had nothing to do with Bucky, so he said nothing.
After the area was cleared and all the tech was hauled away, the four of them drove to headquarters. Tony hadn’t spoken a word since the fight. He motioned for Steve to follow him away from the building once they got out of the car. Hill went inside and Sam hung back, waiting for Tony and Steve to have the talk that Stark seemed to want.
“Do you know what that was all about?” He asked Steve, his anger evident in his dark eyes.
“No. I suspect it has something to do with whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. was working on before HYDRA hit the fan.”
“I hate secrets. No, I hate secrets when I don’t know them.”
Steve just shook his head. “I’m not sure Agent Hill’s goals are my goals. I’m going to find Bucky. Good luck with whatever she is after,”
He took off in a jog back toward the city. He didn’t bother to tell Tony that he still had the Serum detector with him. He turned it on when he got back near the capitol and for a moment, a second dot bleeped on the screen and was gone.
The bleep was near the Smithsonian. Bucky was there again! He rushed to the exhibit. Bucky might be able to disguise himself, but not that metal arm. There weren’t many people nearby and none of them could have been Bucky, so he walked around the whole area, making increasing circles as he went. Nothing showed up on the device when he checked it again, but it had only shown up for a second before. Was Bucky able to cloak it?
“Bucky, where are you?” he said to himself.
That was when he felt that presence again. Nat? Or Bucky?
“Come out. I know you’re there,” he said quietly.
Nothing.
“Natasha?”
Silence.
“Bucky?”
“Who is Bucky?”
“You are.” Steve turned slowly. Bucky was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt though both were a little worse for wear. He had on a baggy hoody to hide his arm. He wore the heavy boots that the Winter Soldier had worn. On his head, he wore a ball cap with the brim pulled down to hide his face.
“I don’t know who Bucky is.”
Steve’s heart was pounding hard. “Do you know who I am?”
“I - You’re someone I know, but I can’t remember exactly who. I think we may have been friends.”
“I’m Steve. You and I were best friends as kids and as young men.”
“We were? I - oh, ‘til the end of the line?”
Steve wanted to throw his arms around Bucky, to jump up and down with joy, but he was afraid any sudden movement would spook him.
“Those others are not my friends. They want to strap me into the chair, to look inside my head.”
“Maybe they do. They do not mean harm though.”
“I will see you again, Steve.”
And before Steve could react, Bucky was gone, as if the very earth itself had swallowed him up.
~~~~
Fandom: Marvel Avengers
Author: alexcat
Type: FCH, FCS
Rating: R - NC-17
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters nor do I profit from their use.
Warnings: None
Beta: Jaiden
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Archive: OEAM, Ao3, Alex’s Story Book
Spoilers: Yes, for both the Avenger universe movies and for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Summary: Steve Rogers can't let Bucky go. He needs to save him and Sam pledges to help. Along the way, he finds unexpected friendship and a little love as well.
~~~
Chapter Four
“Time to rise and shine, Cap.” It was Stark, standing over him in striped boxer shorts.
“Go away.”
“God, Captain America is grumpy in the morning! I brought coffee. There is toast, fruit, yogurt and granola in the kitchen.”
“Granola?”
“Pepper,” was Stark’s one word explanation.
“Be out in a minute.”
He sat up after Tony left. Despite the wonderful bed, he’d had a fitful night, dreaming of Natasha and of all people, Stark. The three of them had been all tangled up in his dream. All naked and tangled up.
He ran his hand over his face and got out of the bed, cleaned up and made his way out to the kitchen. Stark was eating and talking on his phone. From the sounds, he was talking to Pepper.
“No, I’m eating yogurt and granola. I promise. No. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Love you, too.”
He motioned Steve to the table where food was laid out, several fruits, yogurt, granola, juices and a big pot of coffee. Steve helped himself to everything.
“You eat like a horse!” Stark looked at his plate after he got off the phone.
“It’s the serum. It’s made me eat this way since I changed.”
“Your perfection is annoying, Rogers.”
“Your being an ass is annoying as well, Stark.”
Unexpectedly, Tony smiled. “We’re even then. Two asses.”
They finished their food and headed for the makeshift S.H.I.E.L.D. station. Sam was already there as was Maria Hill. She had come in overnight.
“Maria, good to see you. It must be bad news though, if Coulson has sent you in person,” Stark said as a greeting.
“We think that HYDRA is in this area as well, looking for our target, too.”
“He’s a man,” Steve said curtly.
“I apologize, Captain. But they are after the Winter Soldier, nevertheless, and we have to find him first, and we have to protect Jemma and Leo as well. They are very valuable to us since so many of our young scientists were lost when HYDRA struck,” Maria said, her eyes dark with anger. “I have more guards for this facility, and I’ve come to aid you and Stark, Captain.”
They divided up and began their search through the city again. Steve had that being watched again feeling.
“I don’t think we’re alone, but I don’t know who is following us,” he said to Maria.
“Are you sure that Barnes has the serum in him?” she asked.
“Pretty sure. He was stronger than a normal man in the war and now, he’s as strong as I am.”
“Then it’s not him. If it’s HYDRA, they think we’ll lead them to Barnes. If not, then I have no idea.”
It occurred to Steve that it might be Natasha, but he said nothing. If she wanted to be hidden, then he wouldn’t blow her cover.
They met the others in Crystal City for lunch. Stark and Sam had not seen anyone, but they had found a couple of warehouses with some odd electrical signatures. They were using much more power than an empty warehouse should, which suggested computers and cooling equipment. Maybe they were HYDRA facilities of some sort.
They all went to the first of these warehouses together. Stark and Sam took the back exit and Rogers and Maria took the front. It turned out to be a drug trafficking headquarters, so they turned the criminals over to the DC cops and headed for the second one.
That one turned out to be more promising, and it also turned out to have guards, guards who shot at them before they entered the building. Agent Hill was a crack shot and took two of them out as they rushed them on the outside while Steve took the entry door with his shield, deflecting a hail of bullets. Sam and Tony had apparently met no resistance from the back. Hill lined up prisoners and called for a cleanup detail while Steve led the others on a search.
Gunshots rang out again when they entered an office in the back section of the warehouse. Captain America was in the front and held his shield out until a small woman ran out of bullets.
Sam went around him and grabbed her by the arm. “Are there more?”
She glared at them but didn’t speak.
Reinforcements arrived and they cleared the building, hauling the gunmen and the woman away.
“Who were they?” Stark asked.
Maria said one thing and would not elaborate. “Not HYDRA.”
“You knew the little woman?” He asked her.
She said nothing, barking orders into her Bluetooth instead of answering Stark. Stark slammed his fist into his hand and walked away.
Steve was fairly sure she had nothing to do with Bucky, so he said nothing.
After the area was cleared and all the tech was hauled away, the four of them drove to headquarters. Tony hadn’t spoken a word since the fight. He motioned for Steve to follow him away from the building once they got out of the car. Hill went inside and Sam hung back, waiting for Tony and Steve to have the talk that Stark seemed to want.
“Do you know what that was all about?” He asked Steve, his anger evident in his dark eyes.
“No. I suspect it has something to do with whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. was working on before HYDRA hit the fan.”
“I hate secrets. No, I hate secrets when I don’t know them.”
Steve just shook his head. “I’m not sure Agent Hill’s goals are my goals. I’m going to find Bucky. Good luck with whatever she is after,”
He took off in a jog back toward the city. He didn’t bother to tell Tony that he still had the Serum detector with him. He turned it on when he got back near the capitol and for a moment, a second dot bleeped on the screen and was gone.
The bleep was near the Smithsonian. Bucky was there again! He rushed to the exhibit. Bucky might be able to disguise himself, but not that metal arm. There weren’t many people nearby and none of them could have been Bucky, so he walked around the whole area, making increasing circles as he went. Nothing showed up on the device when he checked it again, but it had only shown up for a second before. Was Bucky able to cloak it?
“Bucky, where are you?” he said to himself.
That was when he felt that presence again. Nat? Or Bucky?
“Come out. I know you’re there,” he said quietly.
Nothing.
“Natasha?”
Silence.
“Bucky?”
“Who is Bucky?”
“You are.” Steve turned slowly. Bucky was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt though both were a little worse for wear. He had on a baggy hoody to hide his arm. He wore the heavy boots that the Winter Soldier had worn. On his head, he wore a ball cap with the brim pulled down to hide his face.
“I don’t know who Bucky is.”
Steve’s heart was pounding hard. “Do you know who I am?”
“I - You’re someone I know, but I can’t remember exactly who. I think we may have been friends.”
“I’m Steve. You and I were best friends as kids and as young men.”
“We were? I - oh, ‘til the end of the line?”
Steve wanted to throw his arms around Bucky, to jump up and down with joy, but he was afraid any sudden movement would spook him.
“Those others are not my friends. They want to strap me into the chair, to look inside my head.”
“Maybe they do. They do not mean harm though.”
“I will see you again, Steve.”
And before Steve could react, Bucky was gone, as if the very earth itself had swallowed him up.
~~~~