Steve's POV

I stood on the other side of the fire break that Clint and Tony had struggled to make. The residents of town watched in horror as everything they ever knew burned away right in front of them. One of the jets had touched down near by and was unloading medical supplies and already agents were handing out water and food. Shaking my head I walked through the snow towards the jet that everyone else had been waiting at. I couldn't dismiss the worry that ate at my stomach. Tony and Nat weren't back.

Looking at everyone's soot stained faces I could see they were in a similar state as me. Gazing up at the sky I searched the dark mass of swirling smoke for any sign of Tony. The others were doing the same when suddenly a flash of red and gold met my gaze. I let out a yell of victory as Tony flashed through the sky before plummeting into a snow mound in front of us. His suit was steaming having been cooled off so quickly by the freezing snow. Hurrying forward I noticed a small body in Tony's arms on his other side was Nat who seemed to be struggling to stay awake.

The boy crawled away coughing and wiping his eyes. Getting to his feet he observed his surroundings before rushing over to Natasha and rolling her over onto her back. He called to her in relief something I didn't understand but she gave him a small smile ad he helped her sit up. Tony clambered to his feet shaking the snow off of his suit like a dog before walking in the direction of the jet where Scarlett was handing out water.

Nat gave the boy ,who looked to be barely nine years old, a hug before wiping away his tears. It was strange to see her show such affection.

"Come on Nat let's get you cleaned up." Grabbing her arm I raised her steadily to her feet.

"He comes too." She croaked out grabbing his hand and giving him a reassuring smile. I studied the boy's tired face and shaking body deciding it would be difficult for him to walk.

"In that case..." picking him up I rested him on my shoulders and lead Nat towards the jet. She stumbled a few times dangerously close to falling but regained her footing stubbornly refusing my help. I could see her exhaustion though, how her shoulders slumped slightly, her feet dragged, and her hands twitched. Once we arrived Clint rushed forward with another agent and they began working on Nat's injuries as well as the boy.

I turned back gazing at the flames. They had engulfed everything and I couldn't help but feel slightly devastated despite it not being my home. I stood there for almost an hour hardly noticing a medic fussing over my wounds. It was somehow entrancing. The deadly dance the flames performed. Eventually I was snapped out of my daze by Thor.

"It is deceiving isn't it?" He asked resting his fingers on his chin.

"Hmm?" I asked only half listening but peeling my eyes away from the fire to pay attention.

"The way it calls your attention as if it is warm and comforting when really it devours like a hungry beast." He said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, it is." I said watching Tony zip around in the sky shooting water out of his knuckles.

"Well what do you know, a flying firefighter?" Maria muttered. I gazed down at her small lithe form. Her arm was bloodied and bandaged along with part of her side. She had received quite the injury when the explosion occurred.

"Glad to see you're okay." I supplied and she gave me a sad smile. Standing in silence we waited for the flames to die before beginning to move the people with the few surviving and running trucks. It was slow going and I tried to provide support despite the language barrier. A few people seemed relieved by our presence others were in shock. Some were mourning the loss of loved ones but one thought kept crossing my mind. How did this happen?

As the last truck pulled away I treched through the thinning snow back to the jet. There I stomped up the ramp shaking the snow off my boots. It would be a while before take off. Resting my shield against the wall I sat on one of the benches next to Scarlett who had her eyes closed and head resting on the cool metal of the wall. She must have been asleep seeing as how she didn't move. Bouncing my leg restlessly I needed to find something to do. Remembering Nat and the boy I decided to go check on them.

Getting to my feet I walked slowly down the jet until I came across the medical cots. Nat was sitting up looking slightly groggy while an agent stitched her arm and applied burn cream. She caught my eye and smirked not seeming to notice what the agent was doing.

"Looking mighty fine Cap!" She said her voice coming out scratchy. I sat next to her on the bench and rested my head on the wall tilting it slightly so I could see her. I must have had a confused look on my face because she pointed to multiple places on my body. It turns out I had been so wrapped up in my little world I hadn't cared to investigate my wounds. My suit was torn in the side where a long gash had been bandaged by careful fingers. On my leg was a large burn that had blistered and only stung when I touched it. My shoulder was covered in minor abrasions and stung lightly, but I wasn't concerned, I had suffered worse.

"It's no big deal. What about you though? What took you so long to get back?" An almost painful look flashed across her face at my words.

"That's because I couldn't get back." She judged my reaction with a raised eyebrow and realizing I wanted more than just that she took a whisper of a breath. How much smoke had she inhaled? She could hardly breath and when she talked it sounded terrible. "I got to one of the houses. There was a boy and he was crying. His mother was dead, pinned under the rubble of the house. He didn't want to leave. So I grabbed him and I turned to leave but the fire was there. It had moved so quickly. There was no way out and the ceiling was warping. So we went through it, the fire, and I thought we were fine."

"Take it easy. Speak slower if you have to." She let out a small cough and gave a little nod. Her breathing had picked up rapidly and I knew that wasn't normal.

"The ceiling was going to cave. I could see it before it happened but the boy wasn't getting up. I got to him just before it happened and I shielded him as best as I could. I thought it was over but when I looked up one of the beams was going to hit us. I intercepted it. I kept it from crushing him but I couldn't stay on my feet. I made him leave and he did but I was stuck. I was in that damn house on my knees trapped under a stupid log. So I stayed there but then a boy who I rescued earlier came. He rested some of the weight on his shoulders. He was trying to help me. I wanted him to leave but he wouldn't listen. We were both stuck and we knew what would happen but Tony found us. We left just before everything tumbled in on itself." She spoke the last sentence with her gaze locked on the boy who was sitting just across from us. His family was there to and despite being burned and bruised he had the biggest smile on his face. He caught sight of us and waved. I waved back and his smile grew bigger.

"What do we do with him?" I asked. She bit her bottom lip obviously hesitant to ask something.

"I want him to start training. As an agent. He's not old enough ,I know, but it would give his family a better place to stay. He's lost his father and someone needs to help support the family. Besides he's already proven himself and Maria has been wanting to train a recruit for a while now." I studied her thinking this over in my head.

"I'm not opposed to this but ask him first, then Fury. Though something is going to have to be done about the language barrier. He's to young to begin training but maybe you and I or some of the others can start teaching him English until Fury says he's ready." Her face lit up at that and she stood with renewed energy. I watched as she sauntered over to the boy. They talked to one another both of them eager. When the boy's face lit up and he jumped in excitement I knew he had excepted the offer if Fury allowed it.

Speaking of Fury he stomped up the steps giving me a curt nod before walking with quiet power towards Nat. He touched her arm and she tensed slightly turning in his direction. They spoke quietly to one another with frequent hand gestures and finger pointing. Fury nodded in understanding then sized up the boy. He held up a finger leaving the jet before coming back with a hobbling Maria. She greeted him with a warm smile and they used Natasha to translate. Knowing the conversation would last a while I decided to explore the fire. Maybe I could find how it started, after all that had been bugging me. A fire shouldn't be able to start and move so quickly in the middle of winter when the ground was covered in snow. Shaking my head I made my way towards Tony who was talking on his phone.

"Yeah I'm fine, really. No, no one got seriously injured. Yes there was fire involved but it wasn't me this time! Okay I get it. Love you, bye." He hung up and smiled at his phone shaking his head.

"Pepper?" I asked. She had gone on a business trip for Tony and was going to be back in a day or two.

"Yeah. Gosh she can be so sarcastic." I raised an eyebrow at that.

"She learned from the best." He laughed wiping his hands on his pants. "Hey I was wondering if you wanted to come with me. I wanted to see how this fire started."

Tony glanced back at the jets and shrugged. "Sure I don't really have anything better to do."

"Are we adventuring?" Thor asked coming out of no where. "I'd like to accompany you on this hunt for fire."

"Okay.... lets go." We headed in the direction the blaze had occurred staying to the outskirts of the charred town. The breeze made the trees sway slightly and the air smelled crisp as the smoke was blown away. Tony rubbed his hands together blowing in them for warmth. He wasn't exactly dressed for cold weather. Pulling off my gloves I tossed them to him and he quickly put them on letting out a sigh.

"You certainly are a gentleman Capsicle." With that we continued our hunt for the start of the fire moving in and out of the burnt trees and stepping on the moist ground. It took a long time before we arrived and when we did it was easy to see that it was where the fire had started. There was almost an invisible line running through the snow. On one half the land was unrecognizable, burnt and hallowed trees standing like ominous skeletons. The ground covered in the bones of dead and burnt animals. Puddles laying uselessly on the ground. On the other side life coursed through everything. Trees covered in a thin white blanket with birds chirping softly. The snow was untouched and sparkled in the sunlight.

"Wow." Thor remarked stepping forward and barely disturbing life's kingdom.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Walking behind Thor, Tony and I followed the invisible line looking for the cause of the fire. We looked for minutes not seeing anything or having any luck until Thor called out from down the way. Rushing over I stopped just short of running into him and studied the object in his hand. It was a small metal rectangle, a lighter.

"Guys?" Tony called a few feet away.

"What?" I asked heading in his direction this time. He was pointing to a spot on the snow. It was an almost golden color not the vibrant white of the snow around it.

"Give me the lighter." Thor passed it over to Tony who sparked the flame and lowered it to the small splotch. It instantly caught burning the snow until it melted.

"Fuel." I muttered. I met Tony's gaze and I knew we had come to the same conclusion. My ear piece crackled signaling an incoming call.

"Guys hurry back we're ready for take off." It was Clint.

"Copy that." We hurried back to the jet having to stop every now and then for Tony to catch his breath. Upon arrival the deck closed and the engine came to life. We rose steadily in the air with Clint's carefull piloting skills. I made my way to the cock pit where the others had gathered around to watch the view. I think we all wanted to see the damage that had occurred. As we rose though I noticed that something was wrong. As we hovered feet over the trees everyone was stunned into silence. In the middle of the clearing we were about to leave behind was a giant charred X.

"Cap." Tony spoke barely a whisper. "I think we know how the fire started."

"This wasn't an accident." Scarlett breathed.

"Somebody knew we were here." Clint mumbled looking at each of us. I tensed at Thor's words.

"And that somebody wanted us dead. The only question is who?"