villain | STEVE ROGERS 18+

f o r t y t h r e e

Steve followed him, his sneakers squeaking off of the tarmac. His runs with Sam paid off in times like these. He was really regretting not waiting until nightfall, when he could've come with full tactical gear and his suit.

The market came into view again. Steve chased him towards it, the guy knocking someone's market stall over in the process.

Civilians began to freak out as a gunshot was heard, this time being shot in Steve's direction. It distracted Steve only for a split second.

"Steve, you good?"

But it was enough to loose him in the crowd.

They had lost their only lead to this drug ring, and blown their cover.

"I lost him." Steve said into his comms, panting heavily.

He heard Bucky sigh at the other end of the line.

July 30th 2017
Avengers Quinjet

Bucky sat on a bench in the Quinjet with an ice pack against his ribs. Steve sat next to him, the jet on autopilot,

"That was a disaster."

"Sure as hell it was." Bucky muttered a reply. "I think I broke every single one of my ribs."

"You're a super soldier. You'll be fully healed in three days."

"I was supposed to be taking Addy out tonight," Bucky groaned, "And post mission sex is no good when all your damn ribs are broken."

Steve rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"There's such a thing as oversharing."

"Uh, coming from the person who told me about the dream you had about fucking Ember against the bathroom sink while you—"

"Stop. Just stop."

Bucky hung his head. He shouldn't have mentioned Ember, it always made Steve grouchy. And annoying.

"Sorry."

Bucky swallowed. The tension in the air suddenly becoming thick.

"What?" Steve asked. He knew his best friend well enough to know when he was hiding something.

"Nothing."

"James what have you done?"

"Ewwwww not the full name."

"James Buchanan Barnes—"

"Okay okay, shut up I'll talk." Bucky agreed, "I just uh— I looked at the files backed up on Tony's hard drive on Ember... I just needed to know if she—"

"Was brainwashed." Steve finished for him.

"You've thought about it too?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah. But it doesn't make any sense. I saw the video of her talking to John Garrett—"

"And I saw a video of her asking to leave."

"The videos have sound?" Steve asked.

"Yeah." Bucky replied, "The spider kid showed me how to turn the volume up. There were more videos I never got the chance to watch. Doesn't even look like Tony has watched them. They need a password to get into, the rest he's moved to his desktop for easy access."

"The password is I am Iron Man." Steve replied with a sigh. Tony was a dumbass sometimes.

"How'd you know that?"

"Used the same computer when I was looking for information on how to find you." Steve said. A small smile on Bucky's face.

"I think Ember was manipulated— I know it's not the same as brainwashing, but... Something had to have happened. There's no way any human could last that long, pretending to show that kind of emotion."

Steve had hung onto the tiny piece of hope that something like this would happen and they'd find a way to get Ember back. There was a tiny slither of him that knew in his heart she was innocent.

The small amount grew a little more everyday.

"Next time Tony leaves we'll watch them. We need to know the truth."

Steve's phone began to ring, cutting off their conversation as he pulled the device out of his pocket.

"Tony?"

"Where are you?"

Tony's voice sounded panicked, scared.

"About an hour out, why?" Steve asked, the tone of Tony's voice causing him to become instantly concerned.

"There was a security breach on the raft. 3 escaped."

Steve's mouth went dry. 

"She's one of them, Cap."