"So, you're telling me that Alexander Pierce—the World Security Council Secretary—is HYDRA?"

Steve nodded.

After barely escaping what could possibly be considered one of the most anxious experiences of his life, he made a beeline for the laboratory, informing both Tony and Bruce before calling Director Fury in for an emergency meeting. He was staring at the super soldier strangely and for a small second, Steve didn't think trusting him was a good move.

"It's a hard thing to believe."

"Of course it is," Tony said, "but if Steve says he's HYDRA, then what could come from not believing him? And plus, what makes you think he could come up with something as grand as that?"

"Tony, I swear—"

"And you said Sitwell is also an operative?" Fury was looking worried at this point, but somehow, Steve could tell the man wasn't at all surprised—was there really anything that could surprise him?

"Yes, sir."

Fury sighed and leaned forward.

"I've suspected something was going on within the organization. I guess I didn't think too far ahead. HYDRA...that wasn't as close a possibility as I thought it would be."

"They think I'm undercover," Steve exclaimed, "I don't know where the assumption came from, but I'm fairly certain that playing it out is the only option I have."

"You're going to have to stay that way until we can figure out how the hell we go about doing this. I'll contact Agent Hill. Since Agent Romanoff is cleared for offshore duty, it's up to the team to bring Willow home—if things go wrong, as well they might, I want as many people as I can here that's worth trusting."

"This is absolutely bonkers—"

Tony paused as archived logs suddenly began to pop up on the surrounding screens and all four men watched, horrified as the HYDRA symbol flashed over and over again amongst the many files that continued to appear.

"Stark, tell me you didn't," Fury growled.

"I can tell you everything but that."

"Turn it off before someone walks in!" Bruce hissed.

"Wait!"

Steve moved towards one of the screens as documents containing old newspaper clippings and grainy black-and-white videos emerged, but it was the name and the face next to it that caught his attention.

At first, he didn't know what to say—how could he?

The person looking at him, although different in a sense, had been gone to him for so many years. His eyes, once so bright with joy were now drained and empty and Steve's heart ached at the sight because despite the man's expression being completely indifferent, he looked so broken.

"Bucky," he breathed.

"James Buchanan Barnes—formerly 107th Infantry Regiment, presently part of the Winter Soldier Program." Tony paused from reading aloud and looked at Steve. "There's a lot of work here we have to go through, Cap."

"Take it and go," Fury demanded.

All three men turned to him, startled by his abrupt tone, but he merely raised his eyebrows as a sign to listen.

"Whatever you have on that device is dangerous," he said in a low voice, barely above a whisper, "so keep it with you. There's a chance you might have alerted their systems of a hacking situation. They're going to want to take care of it quietly, so your best bet is to leave. I'll send Romanoff's coordinates over to the lab. Now, go."

"Well, this was a great visit, it really was. Least you could've done was put out some scones or something," Tony said loudly.

He pocketed the small device and Bruce and Steve followed him as he moved over to the door.

"Bring your own damn scones next time," Fury snapped.

"Noted."

As casually as they could, the men walked through the building, keeping their composure the whole way to Tony's car and sitting in stunned silence throughout the ride back to the Tower.

"Do you know what this means?" Steve finally said as they walked through the lobby and got into the elevator.

"He's alive. He's really alive."

"Yeah, that's great and everything, but I think the bigger questions here are how and why? Obviously it's no surprise that it's possible, but unless Barnes has the same thing you do, the how is a very plausible question."

"Can't forget about HYDRA being a part of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Bruce murmured, "and if your friend survived for this long, what have they been doing with him?"

"Apparently there are more moles than we have room for. We can't look away on the grounds of him being your sandbox buddy."

"No," Steve snapped, "he couldn't have been HYDRA."

"Well, if not then, he definitely is now."

"I know him!"

"You knew him, Steve," Bruce said gently as they reached the floor that held a number of conference rooms and a back-up laboratory. "I highly doubt he's the same person from 70 years ago. What's the last thing you can recall from the past about your friend?"

"I...the last time we were together he—he fell." His brows rumpled in remembrance. "I just—I need to know."

"It has to do with something about a Winter Soldier Program."

"This doesn't make sense. He couldn't have survived—"

"But, he did. And judging by the state you were in when we found you, there's nothing bordering on illogical when it comes to your friend's survival. Taking into consideration the fact that HYDRA has him, the nutcases must've scooped him up afterwards."

"We have to find him. Pierce! And Sitwell! They must know where he is!" Steve insisted.

"Whoa, slow down there, Cap," Bruce exclaimed, shooting Tony a wide-eyed look, "let's take it one step at a time. You can't blow your cover on the first day of duty."

"My cover doesn't matter—"

"No, but what does matter is Willow." Tony's sharp voice brought Steve round and he paused to look at the billionaire. "I'll look into this more. In the meantime, we need to contact Romanoff. We should have the coordinates, just set it up on the screen and get her on the phone."

"Wait. Shouldn't I go through that with you?"

"Your friend is one important objective here: keyword being one. Willow's with a certified psychopath, we still don't know where the scepter is and HYDRA has been hiding right under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nose for years. You focus on your sister," the billionaire pointed to the screens over the main panels, "and we'll do what we can. In fact, why don't we have Nat swing by and grab you?"

"What?"

"Steve, you're not helping yourself by obsessing over this. You might as well go out with the search team," Bruce said.

"If you wanted me to leave, you could've just said so," he muttered under his breath as Tony clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll handle it. You go look for Willow."

He nodded.

"You're right. She's my first priority. Just...you'll let me know what you find?"

"Every bit."

The doors to the elevator suddenly slid open and the billionaire's face lit up as a tall woman dressed in a navy jacket and matching pencil skirt with long blonde hair walked in, her eyes full of relief.

"Pep, when—"

He didn't get the chance to finish as she ran forward and threw herself into his arms.

"I was so worried about you," she said breathlessly, "everything I've been seeing on the news when I was in D.C. I had to come back."

Tony squeezed her tightly and Bruce and Steve awkwardly avoided eye contact with each other as the couple shared an intimate kiss when the super soldier let out a small cough.

Pepper broke away from a reluctant Tony with a slight gasp, her cheeks pink and a polite smile gracing her lips.

"I'm so sorry, I'm Pepper. Pepper Potts," she said with ease as she moved to shake the men's hands.

"Steve Rogers, ma'am."

"Bruce Banner."

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Not a thing. By the way, did you see the the top floor? An absolute wreck," Tony pointed out.

"Yes, I did and I bet you wish your elevator was full of sweaty workmen now, huh?"

"How dare you."

The woman laughed and pressed a kiss against his cheek.

"I'm gonna go get the repairs started and we have a lot to talk about. It was nice to meet you," she called to Steve and Bruce as she moved towards the elevator. Tony watched her go with a small grin before turning to the men.

"Where were we?"

"You were kicking me out of the Tower," Steve said bluntly.

"You'll live. Any word on Nat?"

"They're clearing Moscow right now, she's gonna head back in about 4 hours."

"Alright, we have a lot of time on our hands, so you'll stay on communications while Banner and I dig deeper into the HYDRA situation. We won't touch your friend's files until you come back with Willow. Deal?"

Tony stuck out his hand and Steve shook it once.

"Good. Now shoo."

The super soldier took the earpiece Bruce handed him and put it on, sitting at the mainframe.

"Agent Romanoff?"

"Always so formal, Captain," the woman said.

"Anything?"

"Nothing yet. We're about to pack it up soon. I heard you're being kicked out, by the way. You and Tony fighting again?"

Steve sent a scowl at Bruce who merely shrugged in response.

"Just working out the kinks."

"You seem to be having a lot of those."

"Trouble in paradise?" Barton chimed in over the comms with a snicker.

"You've seriously got issues," Natasha muttered.

"Don't we all."

"Thor, what do you think?"

"Let us focus on the possibility we have before us. It will do no good to get ahead of ourselves," he replied, the sound of loud clattering interrupting the system.

"What is that?"

"Thor's rifling through a building he just knocked down."

"He what?"

"The door wouldn't open so he kicked it down and the rest of the building came down with it. Hey, watch it!" Clint yelled. "Anyways, there's no need to worry. It was abandoned and we're pretty far out from the main city."

Steve sighed, fingers drumming along the console. He was itching to do something other than sit there and wait for updates, but he had no choice as he spoke into the comms.

"Keep me posted," he said.

"Sure thing, Cap."

His eyes wandered over the screens displaying different countries with red pins flashing here and there and information that ran along the sides. It would often zoom in closer to small towns and cities and his mind quickly pieced together the maps until he could see a full scale image of what it all meant in his head, something he'd taught himself to do way back when such a skill was needed. Now, it seemed that there was enough advanced technology to calculate certain locations and strategies while still being able to tell you what the weather was going to look like for the rest of the week with a single notification.

He remembered when things were simple in a way— when he and Willow used to dance across the floor of their home, the mesmerizing music of Benny Goodman floating through the only piece of technology they owned and filling the emptiness that tried to swallow them at times.

A faint smile appeared on his lips at the memory of Willow accidentally breaking his radio when she'd kicked it off their rickety little coffee table. She had felt so guilty that she immediately went out and came back with a brand-new radio, presenting it to him proudly. It had cost her a lot, but she insisted on buying one since she knew how much he loved music.

Steve often wondered what their lives would look like if they had not risked it all. It was very strange to think about the fact that ever since Willow was born, they'd been practically inseparable and now to have her gone and not know where she was, if she was safe...if she was alive; it was absolutely killing him.

"Hey, uh, you alright?"

The super soldier turned to find that Bruce had walked over and was looking at him in concern.

"Oh, yeah. M'fine," he said quietly.

He watched Steve for a couple of seconds before taking a seat next to him.

"I was kinda wondering how you're adjusting to all of," he gestured around the room, "this. It's gotta be pretty weird for you."

"Weird doesn't even begin to explain. It's like I woke up in a completely different world—took me awhile to realize it was the same one and it had just moved on without me. Everything and everyone I knew just...gone. Everyone except Willow."

"Well, that was a sucky attempt at casual conversation," Bruce said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

Steve chuckled.

"It's the thought that counts. Really, I don't mind."

"I know Tony wanted you to stay on comms, but I don't think it'd make any difference if you and me went and got a coffee or something. He said something about a kitchen on this floor?"

"What about Tony?"

"He actually followed Pepper out. I don't think he'll be back for awhile." He shrugged. "Besides, I'm sure you know a lot about the HYDRA organization and I could pick apart your brain."

Steve thought for a moment before nodding.

"Sure. I could use a drink."

"Great."

——————
☀︎ celine's corner ☀︎

i don't know where i'm going with this,
but i'm going somewhere—
thank you for reading <3