Becoming a Fugitive (2) >> Steve Rogers

18-Surprise

As the truck moves I try to use my powers to break out but I feel my body hit with electricity.
"Special cuffs" the one guard says.
"It was him. He looked right as me like he didn't even know me" Steve says, a upset look on his face.
"How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago" Sam says to him.
"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and" Steve stops talking.
"None of that's your fault" I say weakly.
"Even when I had nothing. I had Bucky" Steve says sadly.

I feel a sharp pain in my arm and my leg and I groan.
"We need to get a Doctor here. We don't put pressure on those wounds she's gonna bleed out here in the truck" Sam says to the guards. The guard goes to move, when the one next to him pulls out their electric rod and neutralizes him. The guard knocks the other one out and pulls their helmet off. We look in surprise to see Maria Hill.
"Ah, that thing was squeezing my brain" she says, then looks at Sam. "Who's this guy?"

"Sam Wilson" he answers her.
"Hold on" she says as she blasts a hole in the bottom of the truck. She manages to uncuff all four of us. Sam helps me jump down the hole and the others follow.
We follow Maria to a nearby vehicle and opens the back doors. We all hop in the back and she gets in behind all of us hitting the front to let the driver know to go.

"Here" Maria says as she passes me some gauze to put on my wounds. I look over at Steve , I can see a million things running through his mind. I slightly kick his leg to get his attention. He looks at me, "You ok?" I ask him. He just tries to give me a small smile. I lean my head back trying not to close my eyes. We hit a bump and I wince in pain. I suddenly feel a hand in mine and look to see Sam holding it.
"Squeeze when it hurts" he says to me. I smile and squeeze his hand hard.

That's when I look at Steve and his face goes hard. The van slows down, "we're here" Maria tells us as we come to a stop. She opens the back and hops out. Natasha and Steve follow, I let Sam's hand go, and he goes ahead. I go to get out and see Steve waiting to help me out. As he grabs my waist to help a shiver runs though my body and I think about the kiss I gave him earlier. I hold onto the bandages on my wound on my shoulder and lean on him as we follow Maria inside and abandoned building.

We go inside and a man comes running towards us. "GSW, she's lost at least a pint" Maria says.
"Maybe two" Sam tells the man who I know assume is a doctor.
"She'll want to see him first" Maria says. We all look at her confused as she stops and pulls back a curtain. We see Nick lying in a hospital bed very much alive. I start to feel like I'm about to pass out and I start to slip from Steve's hold on me.
"About damn time" I hear Nick day before I start to pass out.

I slowly come to, to see the doctor working away on me.
"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache" Nick tells us his condition.
"Don't forget your collapsed lung" the doc adds.
"They cut you open, your heart stopped"Nat says to him.
"Tetrodotoxin B" Nick says, "slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found use for it" he explains.
"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asks.
"Any attempt on the directors life had to look successful" Maria tells us.
"Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides I wasn't sure who to trust" Nick says. I then look at Natasha and Steve. The three of us trying to process all of this.

"I need some air" Nat says as she then leaves the area.
"I should go talk to her" I say through my pain.
"You shouldn't move right now" the doc says.
"Don't care, my friend needs me" I hiss at him and I slowly stand up. I go to find Natasha standing my the door we came in.
"You okay?" I ask her.
"I should be asking you" she says.
"I'll heal" I say to her.
"This is a lot to take in. We saw him die Cassie" she says.
"I know, and we will stop Pierce and HYDRA" I tell her.
"We better, we can't keep running forever" she says.
"Oh, but I enjoyed being blonde" I say.
"You look good but you've been outed" she says.
"Yeah don't need this anymore" I say as I take off the wig and toss it aside.

"He likes you, you know. He got a tiny bit jealous when Sam grabbed your hand" she says.
"I know, I think I really like him too since I kissed him earlier" I smile at her.
"You kissed him, you definitely need to go for it" she smiles at me.
"With the things we deal with can we ever have a normal relationship" I say.
"Yeah, but wouldn't you rather be with someone who knows what you do then having to hide it" she tells me.
"We should head back" I say not answering her.
"Yeah we should" she says as the two of us go back to join the others.