168 Hours Chapter 5
Steve sat across the table from Rhodey. The coffee shop was crowded; so many people milled about that all the hustle and noise turned into a constant background hum. He couldn't even see their faces. Light from TV monitors mounted on the walls played across the table, creating odd, distracting patterns.
"I still can't believe I got you out of there, Steve." Rhodes said, sipping at his coffee.
"I'm just...just glad you did," Steve mumbled, trying to make sense of the muted cacophony around him.
Rhodes smiled. "You were pretty out of it when I got there. Do you remember any of it?"
Steve had to force himself to think for a moment, his thoughts were all over the place. He shook his head slowly. "N-no. Nothing."
"None of it? Really?" Rhodes looked surprised. "Not how I came in? How many men were with me? Where our hideout was? None of that?"
Steve just shook his head helplessly.
Rhodes smiled sympathetically. "Mm. Well, I'm just glad you got us out of that crash site. How'd you know which direction to send us?"
The crash site. Achebe's troops rushing into the forest clearing. Steve blinked. For a moment, the coffee shop vanished, replaced by dark walls and flickering computer monitors. Brilliantly bright lights flashing in his eyes.
He looked down when something pinched his arm, but saw nothing. When he raised his head again, Rhodey was sitting across from him, quietly smoking a cigarette. Steve frowned.
"D-didn't know you smoked...."
Rhodes glanced down at the cigarette and smiled ruefully. "Bad habit." He put it out on the table. "You know, I can't remember who all got out of that crash. You and me, obviously, but who else was there...?"
Steve huffed a laugh. "Thought I-I was the one having memory problems."
Rhodes' expression didn't change. "So, you don't recall who else survived the crash?"
Coleman, Liufau, the communications specialist...was it Daki? He could see there faces in his mind's eye. Steve tried to clear his head, but the constant hum and flickering lights were so distracting....
"Coleman was the commanding officer, correct?" Rhodey asked, tapping the screen of his Starkphone.
Odd, Steve didn't know he'd said that out loud. He frowned. "You don't remember Coleman?"
"Should I?"
Steve's frown deepened. He shook his head again, squeezing his eyes shut and then looking around again. The coffee house was gone. The room was dark, the air cold. He looked back across the table and saw two men, silhouetted against a bank of bright, flashing lights, one smoking and writing something down, the other turning knobs on a control panel. The light patterns hurt his eyes.
Ghudaza. Achebe. HYDRA.
Shaking his head more forcefully, Steve forced out the only word that came to mind. "N-no."
"You are wasting time."
The new voice startled Steve. It was higher pitched, modulated, like it was from a speaker. Electronic, maybe.
All the TV screens in the coffee house shifted to a fluctuating pattern of green and black. The jumbled lines formed shapes. Circles, angles...a face. Glasses. Reminded Steve of...something. Someone. He couldn't think.
"Subject is too strong willed. You must bring order to his mind before you can continue. Order comes from pain."
Rhodey glanced off to his left, looking at something or someone Steve couldn't see. He was frowning deeply. He didn't sound happy when he spoke. "Of course, Dr. Zola."
Zola? Steve's mouth twisted into a grimace. Arnim Zola was dead. Twice over, in fact. He'd seen the burned and crushed computer banks after the missile strike. He and Natasha had barely gotten away from that in one piece. He wondered what she must be thinking, right now. Probably worried, though she'd never admit it. She was probably waiting on the carrier with an 'I-told-you-so' for coming on this mission.
"The Fräulein is with you?" The electronic voice sounded excited, even pleased. "Alter your methods. The subject must be broken. You may be running out of time."
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Washington, D.C.
9:45 PM, Local Time
Sam Wilson elbowed the front door of his house open, growling when his key stuck in the lock. He tossed his duffel aside and yanked the recalcitrant key out of the door, muttering curses under his breath. Three weeks sifting through rubble with Mike Howard in Arizona had produced nothing. No idea what was at the HYDRA bases that had been obliterated, and no sign of who torched the places-though he knew exactly who it had been, he just couldn't find evidence. Things had only worsened from there.
Bad enough the already five hour flight from Luke Air Force Base had been delayed-turning it into an eight hour fiasco-then having to wait at Andrews for a security scare, his Starkphone's battery dying, having to wait on a taxi, all the while Steve was in trouble halfway around the world and no one had even told him that Rogers was leaving the country.
He closed the door, turning toward the kitchen to plug in his phone. He needed to call Natasha, or Tony, and see what the hell had happened while he was away. Two steps in, he stopped short and froze. The light in the living room was on, and the television was playing-sounded like the news. Sam drew his sidearm and crept forward as silently as he could, inching over against the wall for cover.
Edging past the entryway to his living room, he froze again. The identity of his home intruder was instantly apparent. Black jacket, ball cap, scowl, pacing the room like the proverbial caged lion- Sam lowered his weapon, knowing full well his presence had already been detected.
"We gotta stop meeting like this, Barnes."
Barnes didn't even look at him, his gaze instead transfixed on the newscast, which was replaying the same footage Sam had seen in Arizona. Steve tied, beaten, and insurgents ranting ultimatums and threats in Somali.
"How the hell did that happen?" Barnes asked. He stopped and faced Sam, pointing at the screen with a metal finger. "I thought I asked you to look after him?"
It was Sam's turn to scowl. He clicked the safety on his gun and slammed it down on the kitchen counter, marching all the way into the room. "Hey! I didn't even know he was gone! I've been chasing your ass across the desert for three weeks."
Barnes' mouth compressed into a thin line, and he took a menacing step forward. It was then that Sam's anger ebbed just enough to rethink getting into a potentially unstable assassin's face. But, damn it, Steve was his friend, too. Barnes had no right to criticize, given his own actions over the past year.
Barnes didn't come any closer, though. Instead, he glanced at the TV and then abruptly turned back to his pacing. Seething anger radiated off him. "What's Steve doing over there hunting HYDRA by himself?"
Sam sighed, wiping his face with one hand. "I don't know. Rumors have been going around that the U.S. is getting involved in this East Africa business. I guess Steve got his orders. He didn't tell me."
Stopping mid-step, Barnes looked at him, frowning. "Orders? Who's giving him orders? S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone. Those Avengers of his obviously didn't go."
Sam opened his mouth, then closed it again. Damn it. That was a subject he'd rather Steve was there to broach. He decided to plunge ahead, since he'd already said too much. "Uh...Steve, well, re-enlisted right before we went looking for you."
"He rejoined the Army?" Barnes asked softly, seeming to talk more to himself than Sam. His eyes flitted back and forth as he processed the information. "But, why would he...he was free."
Wilson blinked at the emphasis placed on that last word. He didn't want to even begin to consider what the word "free" would mean to someone like Barnes, who'd been enslaved to a terrorist cult for seven decades. He would probably think Steve-and Sam, for that matter-were crazy to volunteer for service again.
"Was-was it because of me?" Barnes asked, meeting Sam's gaze. He looked like he'd been slapped.
Sam nodded. "He knew the government would be looking for someone to blame after the whole blow up with HYDRA. He didn't want it to be you, so he made a deal. His end was that he had to re-enlist and help the military go after HYDRA."
He watched the former assassin process that, with a subdued shake of that head. Interestingly, Barnes didn't ask about the other side of the deal, what he got out of it. Sam wondered idly what was going through the other man's mind. He'd learned in Missouri that, even in his current state, Barnes' protective instinct regarding Steve Rogers was formidable.
Ultimately, he didn't get any answer. When Barnes looked back at him, his expression was contrite, even a little embarrassed. "I need your help, Wilson."
Sam's brow furrowed. Didn't expect that.
"I can't leave Steve over there. HYDRA will kill him, or worse." Sam's attention caught on the 'worse' part. "I need to get to him. He might not have long."
Nodding slowly, Sam settled against the arm of his couch, facing the TV where Steve's image was still plastered all over the news. Given the security measures still in place at airports and seaports after HYDRA's re-emergence on the world scene the year before, even Barnes would have difficulty slipping onto a plane or outgoing ship.
"I was kinda thinking the same thing, to be honest." He said, looking up at Barnes. "I may have an idea about that."
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Village of Abaya
Northeastern Ghudaza
0430 Hours, Local Time
"HYDRA is the future! The world needs order-"
Coleman didn't try to hide his disgust. Farouk had been ranting and raving for hours. His interrogation of the traitor had turned into a long, exhausting argument with a fanatic. "And who decides what that order is, Daki? A bunch of murder-happy neo-Nazi assholes? Or the soldiers out there putting their lives on the line to protect people? Soldiers like the men and women you killed out there?"
Daki didn't even blink. "Order requires sacrifice."
The cold, detached zeal was getting on Coleman's nerves. They'd made it to shelter in the village, setting up in an abandoned outlying building. Rhodes had swooped down and lifted the three of them to safety, but Rogers had gone down holding Daki's friends back.
It shouldn't be that way. Coleman's rage resurfaced. Daki's enthusiasm for HYDRA was making his blood boil. He yanked his sidearm out of its holster and pressed it into the soft skin under the bound man's chin. "Oh yeah? How 'bout we sacrifice you, traitor?"
"Cut off one head," Farouk ground out. "Two more take its place."
Coleman growled, pressing the gun into the Egyptian's flesh. "I kinda want to see that trick-"
"Captain?"
Coleman turned to find Liufau on the stairs that led up into the main house.
"Better get up here, sir. We've got a visitor."
Suppressing a frown-both in disappointment at being interrupted and in confusion over his sergeant's cryptic comment-Coleman turned back to Daki with a sneer. "I'll be back. Maybe we'll try that head trick, then."
He didn't wait for a reaction, turning on his heel and climbing the stairs quickly.
The house was empty; whoever had once lived there had left little behind. A ratty blanket on a shelf for them to rest upon, and a solitary wooden chair-to which their prisoner was currently chained in the basement-seemed to be all that was left of the former occupants.
Taking the steps two at a time, Coleman entered the ground floor and stopped short. Colonel Rhodes was there, arms crossed. The Patriot armor was standing empty a few feet away. What caught his attention, however, was the woman in a black armor vest, conversing quietly with Rhodes,.
"Lieutenant...Roman?" Coleman asked, eyeing the supposed intelligence liaison with suspicion.
Rhodes appeared contrite. "Yeah...I guess reintroductions are in order. Captain this is Natasha Romanoff, formerly of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Coleman looked from him to her and back. "The redhead from the Congressional hearings. Former assassin."
"On occasion," Romanoff replied. To Rhodes, she murmured. "At least the hair fooled someone."
"What are you doing here?" Coleman demanded. One of his own men had turned out to be HYDRA, and now secret agents were infiltrating the operation with Rogers. The mission had gone to hell almost as soon as it launched, and Coleman was running out of patience with all the surprises.
"Looking for you," She replied simply.
"I found her outside when I made my security sweep," Rhodes explained.
"You picked a good place." Romanoff added. "Outskirts of the village. Easily defensible. Back exit is covered in case you have to run."
"You alone?" Liufau finally piped up.
"If you mean the cavalry, then yes," she said. "There are plenty of insurgents around, though. The forest was crawling with them just a few miles out. The Army's intel says this village isn't exactly friendly with Achebe's men, which is probably the only reason they haven't come any closer."
"Great..." Liufau muttered, settling against the wall near the door to the basement.
Romanoff's eyes suddenly swept the room, then landed on Rhodes. "Where's Steve?"
Rhodes' grim expression grew darker. "I couldn't get to him. HYDRA captured him."
The former secret agent looked alarmed. "We have to find him."
Coleman chuckled bitterly. As if it were easy. "Not with just four of us. Even the Patriot armor isn't enough to get us through hundreds of HYDRA troops and insurgents. We wouldn't even get close to that camp, assuming that's where Rogers is at all. I don't suppose you can get a signal out to any of those Avengers of yours."
"Nothing," Romanoff held up her phone. "The jamming covers everything for miles. I came in with the search and rescue team, but the comms went dark even before we reached the crash site."
"Did you happen to mention this village to the SAR team?" Coleman asked, narrowing his eyes.
Romanoff, to her credit, appeared chagrined. "I wasn't exactly invited to join the group. They had a game plan, I tagged along. I've been playing things by ear since I got to the Marine's base camp."
"Wonderful." Coleman sneered.
"Are the Marines coming?" Liufau asked.
"They're gearing up, but for the invasion. I don't know how they plan to look for us, if they are thinking about a rescue at all. Last I heard, the orders came down to move up the date of the attack."
Coleman noted the use of the word "us." He shook his head, but given the extent of how fucked up the rest of the situation was, he wasn't in a position to decline anyone's help, even a professional liar like Romanoff.
If she sensed his resentment, she wisely didn't address it. "You have a map? Maybe we can find a way around the militia out there and get to Steve."
Rhodes glanced over, raising an eyebrow in question. Coleman grinned sourly and shrugged. "Make yourself at home. I'm going to go see what I can wring out of our traitor."
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New York City
11:00 PM, Local Time
Tony Stark moved to a darkened corner of the ballroom and brought up a news site on his phone. Fundraisers had never been his favorite, though over the years he'd shown his face at hundreds of them. Pop in, lots of cameras, couple of martinis and then back to the workshop. That was the Stark way. Lately, though, with all the politics, backdoor deals to get his Arc reactor technology accepted as alternative power sources, and what Pepper called "the superhero obligation," Tony was forced to actually attend the damned things from start to finish.
It was especially hard when his mind was somewhere else. The news was carrying another video: Steve being paraded around again, with more demands and threats hanging over his head. President Ellis was playing hardball in the press, unwilling to negotiate with terrorists, but Tony's contacts in the DoD hinted that he was about to put the screws to Ghudaza in a big way.
All that was fine, more power to them, but the trouble was, Tony wasn't sure Steve had time to wait for the Army to swoop in and save him. Steve was being tortured. Tony knew exactly what that looked like. And while he knew that if anyone could take it, it was Steve Rogers...it didn't make it any easier to watch.
Not to mention that he'd heard nothing from Rhodey since-
"Ellis has really blown it now, eh Stark?"
Tony turned to see the source of the alcohol slurred voice. "Senator Boynton."
Boynton was one of New York's sitting senators, a renowned neo-isolationist, and a loud critic of the Avengers and Tony Stark in particular. He'd been on TV after the Chitauri invasion piling blame on the Avengers instead of the marauding aliens that had ransacked the city. In the past few months, he'd taken the White House to task for their efforts to take on HYDRA and clean up the geopolitical mess left behind by S.H.I.E.L.D..
"Aren't you at the wrong party, Senator?" Tony asked, not bothering to mask his dislike, since the good senator seemed three sheets to the proverbial wind already. "Last I checked, the governor has a different letter than you behind his name."
"There's a difference between endorsing him and enjoying his food, Stark."
Not to mention his booze, Tony added mentally.
"You don't seem to be having a good time, though." The senator added, oblivious to Tony's attitude or, it seemed, the expression on his face. "There was a time you'd've been setting up camp at the bar."
Tony smiled back, with false cheerfulness. "I prefer getting toasted when there are cameras around. More fun for everyone."
There used to be some truth to that, Tony thought ruefully. Boynton, however brushed it aside. "I'm surprised Ellis hasn't dragged you in to clean up this mess with Rogers."
Tony spied Pepper near the buffet table, and began edging toward her. Boynton followed. "Well, if he calls, I'd be willing to serve." Tony said. "You know me, always a patriot first."
He wondered how many more empty-and non-quotable-platitudes it would take to ditch the drunken political hack.
"The military shouldn't even be there," Boynton went on. "Just another bloody crusade on the other side of the world."
At least one more empty platitude, I guess, Tony thought, continuing to make his way through the crowd toward Pepper. She always knew how to blow off unwanted guests.
"Now America's Golden Boy is showing up on TV, looking as dirty as Ellis."
Tony stopped mid-step and rounded on the other man, fake smile frozen on his face. "I'm sorry?"
Boynton continued, unfazed. "I'm surprised Rogers went along with this dog and pony show in Africa. I thought 'Captain America' would be smarter than that, underwriting Ellis' ridiculous foreign policy. The boys in uniform deserve better than-"
Tony's eyes narrowed. "I think, Senator, that if you actually knew any of 'our boys in uniform,' instead of just making headlines off their misfortune, you might-"
"Excuse me," Pepper said from over his shoulder. "I hate to interrupt, Senator, but the governor wants to speak with Tony for a moment."
Boynton's surprised gaze shifted from Tony to Potts and back. Before he could reply, she added. "Maybe you two can finish this conversation when one of our close friends isn't being viciously beaten on global television. Excuse us."
Pepper snaked her hand under Tony's arm and all but dragged him toward the front of the room. "Sorry, it looked like you were going to punch him."
Tony grinned. "Not like he would have remembered it in the morning."
She smiled back, lowering her voice while guiding him through the crowd. "Any word from the rest of our friends?"
Tony looked at her with a frown. "How did you-"
"You think you can get the band back together without me knowing?" Pepper said haughtily. "JARVIS keeps me informed."
"Traitor," Tony murmured. He nodded. "Barton's about an hour out. Thor was supposed to be on his way from London, but I haven't heard anything else. He might have gotten tied up. Bruce is in Peru, so he can't make it in time.... Proving a little harder to round them up than I thought. We need a Bat-signal or something."
"Hmm, well, it looks like someone got the message," Pepper said, nodding slightly in the direction of the front entrance. Tony followed her eyes, seeing Sam Wilson trying to silently get his attention in the foyer.
Tony turned to Pepper. "Listen-"
"I won't wait up," She lied, planting a light kiss on his cheek. "Go find 'em."
With that, Pepper headed for the bar. Tony watched her leave for a moment, then hurried toward the door. Wilson was waiting with Happy Hogan just outside the security checkpoint.
Tony jabbed a thumb in the direction of the party. "Happy, I'm heading back to the Tower. There are some Congressmen hanging out with Pepper who don't have security badges, you might want to tackle them."
Hogan grimaced, but headed for the door. "You know, you think you're funny, but...."
Tony watched him enter the ballroom, then turned a mockingly stern look on Wilson. "Don't tell me. Someone tore your wings off again."
He couldn't help it, sarcasm was a defense mechanism.
Wilson ignored the remark. "So, Rogers leaves the country and gets into trouble and no one calls me...."
"We sent Romanoff after him," Tony retorted defensively. "Obviously things went worse than we thought they might. You should really talk to your mentor about running off in the middle of the night."
Sam sobered. "We need your help, Tony. We're going to try and find Steve, but we don't have a quiet way out of the country. I was hoping you could solve that problem."
Tony snagged on the first word. "Who's we?"
"I have someone in my car who's very nervous about meeting you. Can I give you a lift to the Tower?"
That was actually Tony's plan, since he'd arrived there with Pepper in the limo, and needed to leave it for her. He grinned mischievously. "You didn't buy another Cruze, did you? I hear the steering wheels come out of those things pretty easily. And who the hell are you talking about, by the way?"
Even as they spoke, Sam was leading him out to the street and down the sidewalk. Around the corner of the building, away from the glaring lights of the gala, Tony saw their destination and frowned. It indeed was another Cruze. Eh, what the hell? It beats walking twenty blocks in January.... "I'm driving. Give me the keys."
Sam eyed him doubtfully. "You want to drive a Chevy?"
"I'm no snob." Tony said. "Besides, I want to see how she handles when you don't have a crazed assassin on the roof."
Something indiscernible crossed Sam's face, but he ponied up the keys and headed for the passenger side. Tony opened the door and dropped into the driver's seat. He froze when his eyes connected with the shadow in the backseat through the rear view mirror. His eyes cut to Sam as the other man fell into the passenger seat. "I stand corrected. He's not on the roof, now he's inside the car."
Wilson smirked faintly, nodded to each man in turn. "James Barnes, Tony Stark."
"Mr. Stark." The shadow said, sounding distinctly uncomfortable.
"Are you here to kill me?" Tony asked, only half joking. Maybe less than half.
Barnes' silhouette stiffened. His next words sounded offended. "If I were, you wouldn't have time to ask."
Brutally honest. Tony eyed Sam skeptically. "Start talking, bird boy."
TBC
A/N: For the record, I am not one of those who thinks the Winter Soldier killed Tony's parents. I think that's too coincidental. The MCU can't be THAT small a world. Just my humble opinion.