And here is the new chapter! It's a bit longer than usual, my meagre way of saying sorry.

There are just a few things you should know: (1) There are some triggers in this chapter. Nothing that I haven't talked about before in this story, but just thought I would mention that. (2) I jump POVs a lot in this chapter. I wrote a scene and couldn't decide who's POV to put it in, so I just kind of jump around. It should be pretty easy to tell when things overlap.

Thanks so much for your patience!

But now, without further ado, Chapter 23

Day 16

Steve

They had known he was there; that was the only explanation. There were too many Hydra agents for it to have just been a coincidence. Bullets exploded around him, and he dove to the ground. Just then, he noticed blood dripping to the floor. That must have been what Tony was talking about. Steve vaguely remembered getting shot and he wished he hadn't noticed it. It hadn't started hurting until he noticed it.

Steve picked up one of the computer screens, using it as a shield. The glass shattered as it was pelted with bullets. He threw the screen and slid underneath one of the tables, knocking out multiple agents, but he was outnumbered. So terribly outnumbered.

He crouched behind a fallen table and picked up a gun that had skidded across the floor, out of the hand of an unconscious agent. Cap may have prefered his shield, but he could use a gun. He had used guns long before he'd had his shield. Thankfully these were standard guns, not some advanced Hydra tech. After just a quick look at it, Steve was ready.

He stood up from behind the table and fired rapidly, deadly accurate. Eight agents dropped, but there were still more, and the gun was empty all too soon. He quickly scanned the floor for another free gun. Rolling into position next to an unconscious agent, Steve found the man's gun. It was a black pistol he had seen many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents use before, and he easily picked off the last of the Hydra in the room.

An alarm was sounding in the hallway; more agents would be coming. He grabbed yet another gun, but didn't like the feel of it in his hand. Bullets ran out too fast; he needed to find his shield.

He held the gun as he slowly exited the room. Quietly, he made his way from room to room, barely managing to avoid enemy agents. He may not have been a spy like Black Widow, but he knew a thing or two about stealth.

Up ahead, he saw a hallway. The very look of the entrance brought back his headache with a fury.

Well, I must be on the right track. He decided. The way the Doctor had been talking, it made him think that perhaps he had some form of memory inhibitor, something to keep him from realizing what had happened and who he really was. Obviously hadn't worked as well as they hoped, but it did hurt. Especially now.

He kept moving down the hallway, trying to ignore the way his brain felt like it was buzzing. There was one door at the end of the hallway, and he attempted to kick it open, but it was too sturdy. And his legs were beginning to feel weak. He wondered if it was because of the horrible pounding in his skull. Taking his pistol, he tried to shoot the lock. He missed. Twice. His hands were shaking profusely now and the buzzing just wouldn't stop. Finally, on the third try, he managed to shoot off the lock and open the door. There were two guards in the room playing cards at a table as if nothing were happening. Steve took them out easily, and was surprised when his gun made hardly any noise.

Soundproof. He mused. Shutting the door, he checked his gun and sighed. Only one bullet left. He stuck the gun in his belt and then took a look around the room. There was a lot of random equipment, but Steve couldn't think well enough to recognize any of it.

Except for one thing.

One thing stood out among the rest.

A red, white, and blue shield.

~A~

Tony

It was raw anger leading the Avengers. Tony had played the video of Steve on the quinjet, and Tony thought Bruce was going to Hulk out before they even got there. Natasha had a glint in her eye that revealed just how much she was going to enjoy this, and Clint had broken one of his arrows in half. If he was angry enough to break one of his precious arrows, Tony knew he had to be murderous.

But Tony was the angriest. His hatred of Rubrem and everything that had happened mingled with his guilt to produce pure rage. Tony would kill them. He would kill every single one of them.

As soon as the quinjet set down, the battle was on. They had had the sense to contact Fury and let him know what was going on, and a helicarrier would arrive with reinforcements soon enough. Not that they were going to wait.

Tony went through, blasting agents left and right. "Hey J, remember that Rubrem guy I've talked about so much?"

"Of course, Sir," The AI responded.

"Find him."

"Already scanning, Sir."

Everything about that man had been seared into the billionaire's brain. He wanted it to be enough for Jarvis to be able to locate him amongst the other heat signatures. It wasn't likely, but worth a shot.

"Sir, there seems to be some sort of meeting taking place in a secluded room," the light British accent suggested. "There is a chance that Mr Rubrem may be among them."

Tony's lips parted in a murderous smile as he followed the map in Jarvis had laid out for him. He burst into the room. There were two men talking to a much older man on a screen. He didn't know the man on the screen and he didn't know the well-dressed man sitting calmly before him, but he did know one man. The man who had haunted his dreams: Mori Rubrem.

Rubrem turned to face him, shocked. He recovered however, and began firing on the Iron Man.

Tony flung himself at Rubrem, bullets uselessly pinging off his iron suit. He pinned the other man to the wall.

"How does it feel, huh?" he asked, his metal gauntlet closing around Rubrem's throat. "To not be able to breathe? To slowly feel the life being sucked out of you but not be able to do a thing about it?"

Something hit the back of his helmet, causing him to release the now-unconscious man, who slid to the floor. Tony turned around and saw the smartly-dressed man standing exactly as he had been. Screen guy was gone.

"You must be the great Tony Stark," the man smiled. "What a pleasure."

Iron Man levelled his repulsor at him, but the man just shook his head.

"I wouldn't if I were you, not yet at least." He stood perfectly still, as if the repulsors pointed at him didn't faze him at all. "I am Dr Leon Zuger, a... well, shall we say... friend, of Steven's. Though perhaps I should begin to call him Captain Rogers." The man hadn't stopped smiling the whole time, and it was really getting on Tony's nerves.

"What did you do to him?" Tony growled. The ZuZu guy laughed.

"Ah, they told me you were quite protective of him. Should have known you would find this place eventually. Such strong loyalty, you people." He continued to chuckle, Tony knew that he should take this guy down, but he couldn't, not yet. He needed to know about Cap. About Steve.

"It wasn't as hard as you may think," the Doctor continued, "though he is quite a fighter. He was already worn down enough physically that it was much easier than it otherwise would have been."

"What are you talking about? What was easier?" Tony didn't know if he was scared or angry or both.

"Why, reprogramming his brain of course! A few minor surgeries, along with various forms of shock therapy, made him adequately susceptible to us. It was quite easy to turn him on you. Granted, we should have realized that, between his enhanced healing and his close work with the Asset, he would eventually remember. But, alas, perhaps we were always meant to fail."

Something wasn't right. Tony glanced behind him to where Rubrem was still slumped unconscious. Where was this conversation going?

"But, of course, that is why I put in a fail-safe." The man smiled so gleefully that Tony felt he was going to be sick. The Doctor hit a small button in his hand. Tony panicked and sent a repulsor blast at his chest, just strong enough to knock him out. He needed these two alive.

But what was that all about? Minor surgeries? What kind of shock therapy? Who was the Asset? The Winter Soldier? And most importantly, what had the button been?

The answer to his last question came as an urgent voice over the comms. It was Natasha.

"Rogers is down," she said. "Cap's down!"

~A~

Natasha

It hadn't taken long for Steve to join the fight. He hadn't said much, but he'd given a nod of reassurance to Natasha. It was the most she'd gotten in two weeks, so she would take it.

The fight went surprisingly quickly. Cap seemed to be on an adrenaline high, and he was more powerful than Natasha had remembered seeing him since New York.

Hulk went around rampaging even after the fight was over, and Clint followed the raging beast at a safe distance. Natasha began to walk over to Cap. He was breathing heavily and leaning against the wall, but as she got closer he looked up and smiled at her, she even smiled back.

But then something happened. He gave a short scream, falling to his knees. His hands pressed at his ears like was trying to block something out. His breathing was coming in short gasps and he was shaking. She dropped to her knees beside him.

"Cap! Cap," she called, touching his face. "Steve, can you hear me?" He didn't answer. He just began to shake even harder.

"Rogers is down," she said, trying not to panic. "Cap's down!"

There was an angry word from Clint as he promised to make his way there as soon as he could. Hulk didn't respond, but she didn't expect him too. Tony also remained silent. That was the real surprise. She briefly wondered if something had happened, but Steve's shaking caused her to refocus. She laid her hands on him comfortingly, trying to think what to do.

Iron Man took down the door. Tony's urgency was clear despite the metal mask hiding his face. The suit deactivated, opening up so Tony could stumbled out.

Suddenly, Steve's convulsions stopped. Natasha looked at him, and his eyes clouded over. Without warning, he grabbed her wrist and flipped her slightly, effectively pinning her to the ground. He stood up slowly and placed one foot on Natasha's chest. It was enough to make it difficult to breathe but not to kill her. She kicked her legs and clawed at his ankle, but it did no good.

She moved her head as much as she could, looking to Tony. He had his hands raised slightly, as if in surrender. His lips were set in an indifferent mask, but his eyes spoke of terror. She glanced up at Steve and saw the reason.

A black pistol was pointed directly Tony's chest.

"Hey, Cap, you - uh - you wanna put the gun down and talk this out," Tony asked desperately, his voice nearly squeaking.

"Нет, месть, мне нужна месть. (No, revenge, I need revenge)" he whispered.

Natasha's heart nearly skipped a beat. Russian. He had been trained, likely brainwashed, in Russian.

"Нет, Стив. (No, Steve)" she answered back. "Мы твои друзья. Тони твой друг. (We are your friends. Tony is your friend.)"

He shook his head slightly. "Нет, месть. Должен, должен завершить миссию. Миссия мести. (No, revenge. Must, must complete the mission. Mission of revenge.)"

"Что тебе нужно отомстить за Стива? (What do you need revenge for Steve?)"

He began to convulse again, this time less violently. "Я не знаю," he whispered. "I-I don't know. The-they said..."

He lowered the gun slightly, very slightly. But he didn't let up on Natasha.

Steve whispered something to himself that not even Natasha could hear. He looked down at her for a second, despair in his eyes.

Then she knew what he was thinking, what he was planning. She began to panic. She renewed her attempts to get free.

~A~

Tony

Tony didn't wait to rush out of the room. He found Natasha's coordinates and took down a door in his panic to get there. He found Steve on the floor, covering his ears and shaking rapidly, almost as if he was having a seizure.

"Let me out," he said, stopping.

"I'm sorry, Sir?" Jarvis questioned.

"I said let me out, I need to see if I can help him."

"I don't think that's very wise-"

"I don't care! I said let me out."

Jarvis made a noise that some might consider a sigh, and the suit opened. Tony stumbled out. He took about three steps before something changed in Steve. In the blink of an eye, Cap straightened and pinned Natasha to the ground with his foot. Tony began to walk backwards, but stopped when a gun was pointed directly at his chest.

He raised his hands slowly, trying to school his features. He was panicking, pure and simple. He had been so sure they had him back. Their Steve, the real Steve. Captain America, Steve.

And they had until Tony showed up. It was like he had triggered something. No, not him. That doctor, the buzzer. He had mentioned a fail-safe. Was this it?

"Hey, Cap, you - uh - you wanna put the gun down and talk this out?"

Tony heard the man mutter something quietly. Natasha's eyes widened and she whispered something back. He could be wrong, but he didn't think they were speaking English. This went on for several moments.

Then Steve's eyes cleared. Not completely, but enough to let Tony know that their Steve was at least in there. Somewhere.

The gun lowered slightly, and Tony did the same with his hands. Then Steve glanced down, and Natasha began to claw at the super soldier's leg.

Steve shook his head at Natasha and then looked up. He made eye contact with Tony, his eyes seeming to convey a silent apology.

Tony had no idea where this was going.

The gun was no longer pointed at him.

He breathed a sigh of relief for a moment.

Only a moment.

Then Tony saw where it was pointed instead.

Steve had turned the gun on himself. 

Well... That happened. And the reason I say that is because I had no intention of leaving this chapter like this. It just kept going, and going, then poof! Here we are.

Like I said at the beginning, I'm really sorry it took me so long to update.

Only one more chapter until the end of part two!

I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited!

Until next week!

God bless,