𝐚 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 [romanogers]

chapter twenty-three

Steve sighed, "Okay, where's Bruce now? I mean Hulk."

"He was just behind me—what happened to you?" Natasha stopped short, fully staring at his bleeding side. A small frown engulfed her lips while her eyes glinted in concern. "Loki did this?"

He nodded, still pressing his hand to his side, involuntarily letting out a hiss. "Yeah, don't know why it hurts this much, though."

"The amount of blood is too much for a wound like this, you need to get that checked quickly." She looked over to the two men behind him, specifically, to James. She sighed exasperatedly, "I'm guessing you're here because you can't afford to sit around doing nothing."

James flustered up, looking guilty. "Sorry?"

Natasha shook her head, starting to run off as they followed her. "Tell me, among you three, whose idea was this?"

"Pardon?" James asked, confused.

 "Allie and Peter—"

Just on cue, a string of web fluid shot from a distance. Natasha swiftly avoided it, ducking down and rolling over to a perfect stance. 

Peter emerged, sweating profusely with wide eyes. His mouth dropped when he realized he'd almost hit Natasha. "I-I'm sorry, Ms. Romanoff! Loki was here and I fired at him but then he was gone and I... I don't know how."

"It's fine, Peter." Natasha rose up to her feet, "Where's Allie?"

"Allie?" Steve echoed, eyes narrowing.

Peter took a glance over his shoulder. "Oh, she's right—"

"Right here!" Allie supplied, running into the scene with a pistol in her hand.

Steve had to refrain from making any sarcastic comments because now really wasn't the time (even if he specifically gave orders not to follow them here). 

"Everyone here for attendance? Great." Tony said with a hint of sarcasm, eyeing the kids flatly. 

Natasha ignored him, not wanting the kids to be here as much as he was, but leaving them with no choice. Time was ticking, and they needed to finish this before it's too late. "We need a plan now. Fast."

"We need to corner him." Steve said.

Tony snorted. "I recall Natalie over here doing it and it didn't work. Even with the Hulk."

"Well, now there's a lot of us and we will make it work. We need to distract him. If playing games is what he wants, then it's what he should get." Steve stated.

Everyone was silent for a moment before nodding.

"Alright," Tony agreed. "Your call, Captain."

Steve lightly smiled before starting to relay his plan to them. All the while, he couldn't help but sneak a glance at James, who was uncharacteristically tensed throughout. Even Allie was giving him a look, to which he just simply dismissed. 

During that moment, Steve had realized something. He didn't mean to sound like a creep but James' words kept haunting him—it wouldn't leave his damn mind no matter how much he tries to brush it off. 

He might be crazy but, only then, he started to notice all the subtle features in James. His notable blonde hair, his face structure, and his mannerisms. They were oddly and terrifyingly, familiar. And as soon as James glanced up, for the first time, Steve realized that James had a very distinct eye color.

Bright emerald green eyes.

Suddenly, he felt something twist in his stomach, and it wasn't just because of his stomach wound. Because as scary as it sounds, he'd seen that eye color on someone else before, someone so dear to him.