Chapter Eight
Steve

"Stevie, wake up. Babe, come on." Lee urges, and reluctantly I open my eyes, finding myself laying on the hard ground without him as my pillow.

I groan as I rub my eyes. "What time is it?"

"Early."

"Is everyone else awake?"

"Well we are now," Jo grumbles from a few feet away, rubbing her eyes as well. "What the hell are you two doing?"

Lee gestures to his Kimoyo Beads. "They sent a video back."

Every single one of us sits up instantly, with Zy asking: "You're positive?"

Lee nods. "I heard mine beep and when I opened them up to check out why, I saw that a new video has been added to the cloud storage, and it's from back home."

Lee sets the beads on a rotting workshop table and waits for everyone to gather around. Mom and Dad both stand a little ways away from everyone, but still close enough to see the video, and once Lee presses play, their mouths gape open with awe.

Mom, my real mom, has tears in her eyes in the video, and she sounds seconds away from sobbing. "I am so grateful you're all okay. We-we feared the worst."

"Yeah, it's a good thing you didn't get trapped in the stone ages or something," Uncle Alex shakes his head. "Though I bet cavemen threw some killer parties."

Mom rolls her eyes, and Uncle Khari ignores him entirely. "Jo, baby, please just promise me you'll be careful. I know you can fight and I know you're powerful, but don't take any unnecessary risks."

"And when you do take risks, make sure you kick some ass." Uncle Alex adds with a wink. I glance at Jo and find her eyes lined with tears.

Dad appears next to Mom in the video, his face fuming with rage, not a single speck of relief or happiness like the others. "They're already taking an unnecessary risk. They should know better than to run off to Siberia. It's stupid and it's dangerous."

Mom sighs, and by the look in her eyes, I can tell they've had this conversation before. "They just want to make sure you're safe."

"They don't know what I'm capable of. If something happens to them, if I do something to them—" Dad cuts himself off, and when he speaks again, his voice sounds very raw and very quiet. "Don't underestimate me. The moment things go south and I act up, you run, don't try to make it through to me. Because if I'm reset...I'll kill all of you without a second thought. I won't be able to stop myself."

The harsh truths of Dad's words ring through me like a chiming bell. I glance at Livy and find her face contorted in thought, looking just as struck by Dad's words as I am.

Mom in the video reaches over and cups his cheek, and Dad visibly relaxes under her touch. "They'll be fine. We all trained them well."

"You guys won't be stuck there much longer, only three or four more days," A familiar voice says from behind Mom, Dad, and my uncles. Aunt Shuri pushes past them and smiles at the camera, assuring us that: "Ana and I are fixing the machine. The moment we're done, these guys will go to alternate 2012 New York, to Stark Tower. Make sure Stark is expecting their arrival and please be there when they do arrive."

Three or four days. That doesn't give us much time to free Uncle Alex and our grandparents. We'll have to move quickly if we want to make it back to New York in time.

Aunt Nakia replaces Aunt Shuri in the video. "I don't want you to worry about Wakanda, Zy. I've been handling things in your absence, everything has been going smoothly."

Zy lets out a long sigh, shutting his eyes for a brief moment. In all this craziness I kinda forgot that Zy runs an entire kingdom. He looks so relieved to hear that things back home are okay, as does Livy. Their hands intertwine between them, their knuckles whitening from how tightly they're holding onto one another.

"Tell Steve to watch me like a hawk," Dad says, so many emotions swirling on his face as he addresses his best friend. "If I start acting up, let him deal with me. He's gotten through to me as the Winter Soldier before, and I know that I can't hurt him the way I can hurt the rest of you. And tell him that I...I'll see him soon. I'll see all of you soon."

"We miss you all so much." Mom tells us, her tears finally falling.

"And we love you." Uncle Khari adds with a smile.

The video ends, and all of us are left silently staring at the frozen images of our family. Slowly, our eyes lock onto Mom and Dad, who are silent as the grave, their eyes wide as they stare at the older versions of themselves in the video.

"What happened to Alex?" Mom asks, her voice just above a whisper.

"Same thing that happened to me," I point at my vibranium leg. "The Kree war."

"And that was Khari? His husband?"

Jo is the one who replies: "Yeah."

Mom's brows furrow in confusion. "He seems so nice, so sweet. How does he put up with Alex?"

Jo cracks a grin. "Baba has a lot of patience."

Mom glances back at the beads, releasing a sigh. "He'd have to to be with Alex for twenty six years."

"The other me is right," Dad's voice is solemn and hard. "I can't be trusted. It's what I've been telling you all since you broke me out."

"We're not abandoning you." Steve looks rattled after watching the video, just as much as Dad does.

"You should. I'm not worth it, Steve."

"Don't say that," Livy urges, taking a step towards him. "You're worth everything, Dad."

"I'm not your father. That man is." Dad points to the frozen image of himself in the video.

Livy shakes her head, closing the distance between them, making Dad tense up. She places her hands on either of his cheeks, and Dad looks stiff under the contact. "You're the same man as the one in that video. You have the same strength, compassion, intelligence, and spirit that he does. You may not have done all that he's done, but you will do things that are just as good. HYDRA didn't change the good person you are. It didn't damn your soul."

Something tells me Livy was eavesdropping on his and Mom's conversation late last night too. Dad doesn't look convinced, he looks even more sorrowful, on the verge of tears. Without even sharing a glance, Lee and I approach Livy's sides, needing to show him that we agree with everything she's saying.

"You're worth any level of danger, any risk." I say.

"We won't abandon you, we never will," Lee smiles at Dad, raw emotion covering his face. "No matter what you may think or believe, you're our dad. And we love you."

Dad's face crumples under Livy's hands. He sulks against us, leaning his head against Livy's, resting his chained hands on mine and Lee's shoulders. I take it a step further and wrap my arms around his waist, making him let out a yelp of surprise. He doesn't push me away though, he lets me hold him. Maybe he knows how much I've needed this, needed the safety and familiarity of his embrace. Seeing Dad, my dad, in that video, has made the ache in my heart worse, my longing for home greater.

"I miss you." I whisper against his chest. So low I'm not sure he heard me.

He did. "He misses you too."

"If you want to get back to New York by the time your family gets here we should get moving," Natasha cuts in, her tone softer than usual. "If we drive without stopping we can get to Yakutsk in two days."

"Then lets go," I glance over my shoulder at Jo, who's expression is hard and determined. "My dad is waiting."

-

Josephine

We drove for two days straight, with only a couple stops for the bathroom and gas. Steve and Natasha took turns driving while the rest of us stayed in the back talking, looking through photos, and watching videos. Aunt Soroya and Uncle Bucky both were enthusiastic to learn more about their other selves, about their relationship, their lives. They were also keen to learn about Dad, especially Uncle Bucky.

"Do we get along in your time?" He asked during the first night.

"As much as any brothers do," I replied. "You get on each other's nerves and you want to strangle Dad most of the time but...you love each other."

"It took a while though," Stevie added. "According to you and Uncle Alex, you hated each other when you first met."

"Dad said he hated everybody, that he was an unforgiving jackass before he met Baba."

"Alex isn't exactly a people person. It still shocks me Alex got married, especially to a sweetheart like Khari," Aunt Soroya had said with a melancholic smile. "The brother I know shuts out everybody and thinks the world is a cold and selfish place. That was before HYDRA. I can't imagine what he's like now."

Neither can I.

Aunt Soroya is going to use her animal senses to figure out where his cell is. Once we find Dad, Lee will use his trusty vines to pick at his cell locks. The four of us will slip out from HYDRA's grip and hopefully they'll be none the wiser. The three of us are outside the Yakutsk HYDRA base right now, with the others hidden away in the van waiting for us to return. Hopefully we will do so in one piece. We're sneaking around the cargo bay right now, slipping past the supply trucks and agents unloading them with ease. My powers really do come in handy for situations like this. The door to the base itself is open for the agents to bring in boxes, so we don't even have to break in, we just walk right through, careful not to bump into anyone.

Aunt Soroya thinks the prison level will be at the bottom of the base, just like with her old base in Lensk and the base in Siberia. We take the stairs down to the lower levels, which makes sense, it would look weird if the elevator went to different floors but seemingly carried no one inside. But does the prison really need to be at the bottom? Does there have to be so many stairs?

"I didn't think doing a prison break would involve so much cardio." I mumble under my breath as we finally make it to the bottom floor. Aunt Soroya was right, thank Bast, the prison is down here. I would have strangled her if we had to go back up those stairs and search for the prison.

The prison kind of looks like a store, the cells are set up in isles, all connecting to a long walkway. We head down this walkway now, passing by dozens of HYDRA prisoners. Some of them are old, some of them are young. Some of them are men, some are women. They all have different skin tones, different eye colors, different hair, probably speak different tongues, but they all have the same hopelessness in their expressions. They all look gaunt, sick almost. They look like all life has been drained from them.

I slip my hand into Lee's, and he squeezes in response. I glance at him and find his face equal amounts horror and sadness. I bet I look the same.

"I think I smell him. Fourth section." Aunt Soroya whispers. 

We head that direction, keeping our eyes peeled for Dad as well as any agents or guards. After a few minutes of searching, Aunt Soroya's breath catches. I follow her line of sight and land on a hunched over figure five cells away from us. It's a tall white man with dark brown wavy hair and a broad build. I know instantly that it's Dad. We proceed forward with caution, not wanting to get too caught up in the moment and blow this whole mission. My self control wavers however when we make it to the cell and I see Dad's face. He, like this version of Aunt Soroya and Uncle Bucky, looks much younger than the dad I know. He also doesn't have the burn scars and mechanical eye, and he has a fully grown beard, which is odd to see. Despite these differences though, it's still Dad's face, and I let out a soft whimper at the sight of him.

This noise catches his attention. His gaze searches the seemingly empty space on the other side of his cell, but he finds nothing. He stands up from his bed, wrapping his hands around the bars, and takes in a deep breath. I know the look on his face, the concentration in his eyes. He's trying to sense if anyone is near. He stiffens suddenly, his mouth parting slightly, something like hope filling his hardened gaze. I think he senses Aunt Soroya.

"Alex." She whispers.

Dad jolts, looking around again. "I must be finally losing it." He mumbles.

"No, you're not. It's Soroya, I'm here. I'm really here. I'm just invisible. We've come to get you out of here."

"We?"

"It's hard to explain."

Dad looks skeptically at the air around us, crossing his arms. "Alright, prove it. I'm not just gonna trust talking air."

"There used to be a Madonna poster on the back of your closet door and you made out with it so much that you ripped a hole in the poster around her mouth."

I have to hold back a chuckle. When we get back to our time I am so going to hold that over Dad's head. But I can think about that later. I need to focus on this version of Dad, who's face breaks open in the most dazzling smile.

"It's really you?" He asks in disbelief.

"It is. Back up, we're going to unlock the door and come in so we're out of sight of the cameras." She says, then nods to Lee. I make sure to extend invisibility to the vines he shoots out from his suit, and within seconds, the door swings inward, allowing us to slip inside. Once we do, and once the door shuts behind us, I drop our invisibility, letting Dad see us.

Aunt Soroya lets out a sound that is half laugh and half sob. Tears brim her eyes as she reaches out for Dad, and he does the same, his expression mirroring hers. She jumps up and wraps her arms around his neck, and he in turn hugs onto her waist, burying his face in her hair. His chest heaves as he begins to cry, and his voice is barely above a whisper as he says: "I have missed you every single moment of everyday."

He says this in German, and her response is in German as well. "So have I. Never again."

"Never again." He promises, squeezing her tighter. When he finally sets her down, his eyes trail over Lee and I, that skeptical look returning.

"Who are the kids?" He asks.

I didn't feel any pain when Uncle Bucky and Aunt Soroya didn't recognize me, but seeing the unfamiliarity in Dad's eyes...my heart feels like it's physically being squeezed.

"Too difficult to explain. I promise I'll tell you everything when we get out of here. All you need to know right now is that this is Jo, she can turn herself and others invisible if you touch her. So grab onto her shoulder and don't let go until I say so."

Dad does as she instructs, gripping onto my left shoulder tightly, barely even acknowledging me. I try to ignore the sting it leaves me with. Lee and Aunt Soroya grab onto me too, and without another word we exit the cell, Lee locking it behind us. We easily evade the guards who trot along the walkway, then we exit the prison area and trek back up the infernal stairs.

Halfway through the journey, Dad grumbles: "Why couldn't we have taken the elevator?"

"Less chance of getting caught this way." Aunt Soroya explains in a hushed tone.

Dad huffs. "I didn't sign up for a cardio workout."

Aunt Soroya and I lock eyes, and I have to fight off a grin. When we reach the top, Dad lets out a curse in German, swearing he'll never use stairs again. That's impossible, but I chose not to point that out. We go out the way we came in, none of the agents or truckers having any clue of our presence. Once we are far enough away from the base, I create a forcefield around us and fly us the rest of the way to the van. Dad yelped when we lifted off the ground, and when I set us back down, dropping the shield and our invisibility, he looks genuinely rattled.

"A little warning would be nice next time." He tells me.

I wink. "Where would the fun in that be?"

Lee opens up the back of the van, revealing the relieved expressions of Livy, Stevie, and Zy. They don't say anything though, and neither do Steve, Natasha, or Uncle Bucky, they just stare at him. Dad stares right back, particularly at Uncle Bucky. The anger and hatred in his eyes was expected, but it's still odd to see regardless.

"Why the hell is the Winter Solider here?" He nearly spits out. Uncle Bucky flinches, looking away.

Aunt Soroya sighs. "Again, really complicated to explain. We need to get out of here, just get in the van and I'll tell you everything. I promise."

Dad takes a second to think about it, then climbs inside, sitting as far away from Uncle Bucky as possible. Aunt Soroya climbs in after him, then Lee, then me. As Steve pulls the van away from the base, I feel like I can finally catch my breath, like I can take a second to let what we've just done sink in. We did it. We actually did it. We saved him. We got him out. I can't put into words the relief and happiness I feel having Dad here, having him safe and out of HYDRA's clutches. But my relief is bittersweet. Yes he's here, yes he's safe, but HYDRA still looms over his head, as it does with Aunt Soroya and Uncle Bucky. He's far from being free, from being at peace. I guess that's a torture in of itself. It's a prison just like his now vacant cell.

"Tell me everything." He demands the second the base fades into the distance.

So we do.