13
Here we go
A few days later the team had woken up just before sunrise and got to work. For the last few days, they were exhausting their resources. Darla sat beside Nat at a computer desk in the lab nursing a cup of coffee. They'd just finished a FaceTime call with Rhodey discussing the fact that he was attempting to keep the United Nations off the Avenger's backs for the time being and that things on his end were in an uproar due to the mess Ultron's been making. He was wiping out robotics facility's around the world with little to no casualties.
Bruce was attempting to recover and re-draw up some of his work a little ways away and Tony was sitting on a couch with a laptop working on his plans for the new compound his construction team was currently working on in upstate New York. Thor was pacing the upper deck of the lab when Cap and Clint walked in. "He's working with the Maximoffs," Steve said holding an iPad as he approached the desk.
"Who?" Darla asked with a yawn.
"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, they're genetically modified twins. They were a problem for us in Sakovia." Tony explained as he got up from the couch by the window behind her and approached. Thor did so too.
"Well, it makes sense. They have a common enemy." Natasha said.
"Not anymore," Cap replied as he turned the screen to show nat. Darla tucked into Nat's right shoulder to get a better view of the screen. The photo was of Strucker who lay in a cell with his hands tied behind his back and a bullet hole in his forehead. The word 'Peace' was smeared onto the wall in his blood.
Thor yanked the tablet out of Steve's hand and looked at the photo before shoving the tablet into Tony's chest. He'd been extremely angry with Tony since the party and not speaking much to anyone. Tony turned the iPad around to look at it. Bruce walked up and also looked over his shoulder.
"Damn. And he did a Banksy at the crime scene just for us." Tony said as he stared at the photo.
"This is a smoke screen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Nat asked looking up at the group.
"Maybe Strucker knew something that he wanted you us, to miss," Darla said correcting herself as the team looked at her. Natasha looked like a lightbulb went off in her head and started typing quickly on the computer.
"I Bet he- yup. Everything we've had on Strucker's been erased." Nat sighed in defeat. As the words 'data corrupt' came up on the screen. Darla grabbed the keyboard and began to type on it to see if there was any way to get it back as the team continued to talk.
"Well, even if we can't recover it he doesn't have everything," Darla said. The team looked at her confused. "I gotta make a phone call." She said as she got up and left the room.
Within the hour a shield truck rolled up to the tower and a group of delivery men filled the elevator with boxes of paper files. At this point, everyone had moved up to Tony's penthouse and each member of the team grabbed a box and began to dig into the folders as they sat around Tony's dining room table.
"Well, these people are all terrible," Bruce said as he read a file of people that Strucker was in business with. He showed the man to Tony.
"Wait, I know that guy," Tony said as he grabbed the file from Bruce and the group crowded around. "I met him back in the day, he operates off the African coast, he's in black market arms," Tony explained as he handed the file back. Steve shot Tony a glare.
"Look, there are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything." Tony reassured Steve. He dropped his look and read into the file with Thor. Tony thought back to the conversations he'd had with the man. "At the time he was talking about finding something new, a game changer. It was all very, Ahab." Tony said as Bruce got up and moved to Tony's computer desk. Thor pointed at the picture of the guy in the file. He had a brand on the back of his neck.
"What's this?" Thor asked as he showed the photo to Steve.
"Ahhh it's a tattoo, I don't think he had it at the time," Tony said as he looked over at the photo.
"No, those are tattoos, this is a brand." He said pointing at it once more.
"Can you bring that here?" Bruce asked. Thor brought it over and he scanned the photo into the computer. He started running the database for the meaning of the brand in hopes to find a match. Darla continued to look through files, Nats feet were propped up in Darla's lap as they read through them together.
"Oh, yeah, I found it, it's a word in African dialect meaning "thief". Bruce said to the group. "In a much less friendly way." He followed up after reading something off the screen.
"What dialect?" Steve asked.
"Uhhhh W-Waka-Nada?" Bruce said as he read it off the screen. He thought that wasn't right and read it again. "W-w-Wakanda." He corrected himself. Tony and Steve shared a concerned look.
"If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..." Tony started as he addressed Steve solely. Steve dropped the file he was reading and turned to look at Tony.
"I thought your father said he got the last of it," Steve replied. A light panic in his voice.
"I don't follow, what comes out of Wakanda?" Bruce asked as he approached the table again. Steve sighed and looked back at his shield.
"The strongest metal on earth... where is this guy now?" Steve asked Tony as he turned his attention back to him.
"Coast of Africa," Tony said once more.
"Yes! finally a field mission," Darla exclaimed quietly to Nat who smirked at her. Steve turned his attention to Darla.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Steve said carefully.
"What? Why not?" Darla asked as the disappointment crept in just as it did the other afternoon.
"Wanda can get in your head, and control minds, I can't trust that she won't turn you on us with what HYDRA did to you and I'm sorry to say it makes you a liability if she's involved." He explained.
"Steve that's not fair this is the second time in a row that you've-"
"You're not coming, that's final," Steve said sternly. Darla stood and placed her hands on the table. "You know I heard women's rights were all the rage these days. Didn't realize we were still living in the 40's cap." Darla hissed at him before turning and walking out of the room and heading for the elevator.
The rest of the team sat in silence for a moment while Steve hung his head and let out a sigh. He picked up his head and looked at Nat who stared at him with a raised eyebrow. He nodded slightly and pushed off the table and went after Darla. He caught up to her as the elevator doors began to open.
"Darla wait, I'm sorry." Steve began as Darla stepped inside the elevator.
"I don't want to hear it, Steve. All I want to do is help but you won't let me!" She said as she hit the 'door close' button. Steve slipped into the elevator as the doors began to close. "Darla, you're just not ready for the field." He said to her as the elevator doors closed and began to depart. Darla crossed her arms, turned away from him and averted her eyes to the floor. Steve ran a hand over his face in frustration.
"Darla if you really want to help then you can do so by figuring your crap out and coming back with a clear mind and not distracted." He pushed. Darla turned to face him, she nodded a little.
***
After stopping for lunch Steve pulled into a driveway in Brooklyn. Darla recognized Sam's truck. Darla stared at it for a second while she ate her breakfast sandwich. "Are you sure about this?" Darla asked as she looked at him through her sunglasses after washing down her bite with her iced coffee.
"Yes, I am, do you trust me?" He asked her after he took a sip of his own iced coffee.
"In theory," Darla admitted to him with a small smirk. Steve laughed lightly and killed the engine. He climbed out of the car and Darla reached for her door handle as Steve jogged around the side of the car and beat her to it opening it for her. Darla chuckled as she handed Steve the coffees. He placed all three of them on top of the car and then reached for her hand to help her out. Once on her feet, she smiled at him.
"Thank you," she said with a smile.
"You know, I appreciate hanging out with you," Steve said honestly as he closed the passenger side door and handed her back her coffee. "I try and do these things to be nice, and women these days immediately think I'm trying to sleep with them." He said as he moved to the trunk and popped it.
"Been buying lunch and opening doors for all the ladies Rogers?" Darla teased. Steve laughed and pulled Darla's suitcase out of the trunk then closed the hatch and made his way back to her.
"Oh, you know it," Steve replied with a small smirk. Darla laughed and grabbed Steve's coffee off the car and handed it back to him then grabbed Sam's and headed up his front steps and kicked his door a few times with full hands to knock.
A few minutes later Sam opened the deadbolt door shirtless in some shorts. His eyes squinted at Darla who was clutching the coffees in her hands.
"What the hell are you doing on my front stairs this early in the morning?" He asked her in a grumpy tone.
"Sam it's almost noon," Darla said as she stood on the platform on the other side of the screen door. "And we brought coffee." She finished up.
"We?" Sam asked. Darla stepped to the side so Sam could see Steve with his coffee at the bottom of the stairs. Sam looked between the two and sighed then opened the door for Darla. She handed him his coffee and moved into the home. Steve followed behind her with her bag and put it down beside the door. Sam stared at it as he took a sip of his coffee.
"What the hell is that?" Sam asked steve as the grogginess in his tone began to dissipate.
"Darla's staying with you for a little bit," Steve said with a confident smile.
Darla assessed the home, it was one floor with not much furniture, there was a tv, a couch, and a chair. An empty space where the dining room table should be and a kitchen. Then there was a hallway and a few doors. The place smelled clean like it had barely been lived in. Sam moved to sit on the couch.
"So you're telling me Tony created a murder bot and now you gotta go across the world to deal with the terminator?" He asked.
"The what?" Steve asked as he leaned on the wall.
"The Terminator. It's a movie about a cyborg." Darla chimed as she sipped her iced coffee and leaned on the kitchen island.
"How come she knows this stuff and you don't?" Sam asked.
"Because I spent a year with people who wanted to catch me up on the things I missed while I was gone." She explained. Sam nodded.
"Nice, what did you think of Trouble man?" Sam asked.
"Sorry?" Darla asked, not sure what he was talking about.
"Trouble Man! Marvin Gaye? It's an album that came out in 1972." He explained.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, never heard of it," Darla said. Sam squinted his eyes at her.
"It's like one minute I love you and the next I don't even know who you are." He said to her dramatically.
"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around lately." She replied.
"Alright I'm gonna get out of here, I got an errand to run then I gotta get back to the compound," Steve explained.
"What? I love errands! Why didn't you take me with you?" Darla asked. Steve smiled softly. "Better you don't know where I was going." He said to her. Darla nodded at Steve silently. She placed her coffee down on the counter and made the stride across the room. She wrapped her arms around his waist tightly and hugged him. Steve hesitated for a moment then hugged her back just as tight.
"Don't die out there cap," Darla said, her voice shaky. "Your one of the only things I've got these days" She explains. She'd grown very attached to Steve, even more so than Natasha. She refused to tell him but he quickly became her best friend. The entire time she was at shield she didn't make any real connections with anyone for a long time besides Fury but he was more of a parental figure to her. The fact that she and Steve were so honest with each other made her have a connection to him she'd never felt with anyone but Betty before.
"I'll be back." He said with a smile as he looked down at her. Darla let go and smiled back then he nodded at Sam. Steve walked out the front door and Darla turned to look at Sam.
"I'll be back." She said with a devilish smirk.
"Wait Darla no," Sam said but it was too late. Darla made her way to Sam's side door and ran outside.
Sam cursed at himself under his breath but then went to the door and got Steve's attention. "Hey man, can you come back in here for a sec?" Sam called. Steve was confused, he had already unlocked the car but went back into the house. While Steve was distracted Darla crawled into the backseat of Steve's car then the trunk and closed the seat behind her.
She laid down quietly. She wanted to know why he didn't want her to know where he was going. A few minutes later the driver's door closed and the car started and moved into motion. He'd turned on the radio and was singing along to some soft 40s music. Darla tried to fight the urge to nod off. She hadn't got much sleep since the party and she was laying down in the dark. Despite her efforts, she must have fallen asleep. She woke up when the car finally came to a full stop. Steve turned it off and got out. Darla waited a few moments before pulling the emergency latch of his trunk. She crawled out and closed it quietly just as the car locked.
She looked around while she crouched behind the car to gain a visual and saw Steve starting to turn. Darla got up and quickly followed him and attempted to blend in with the other people walking on the street. She followed him as he ducked down an ally and into a back entrance of a building. Just as the door was about to close Darla stopped it with her foot and followed him inside quietly. She tracked him to the top floor of the apartment. Only to find him going into a unit and the door being closed behind him. Darla quietly went up to the door and pressed her ear against it.
"Buck?" Steve called as he looked around the dark small flat. The windows had all been covered with newspapers. When Bucky didn't answer him he turned on the light, only to find him sitting on the floor in front of the couch staring at the wall surrounded by 3 empty whisky bottles and a glass in his right hand.
"Buck? What's wrong?" Steve asked as he walked over. Bucky took another swig of his whisky.
"It's my fault." He answered. The expression on his face didn't change. Steve crouched next to him confused.
"what's your fault?" He asked.
"Darla." He replied. Steve hung his head for a moment. He knew he had bigger things to be worrying about right now but Bucky was his best friend and was in pain. He stood and walked over to the cabinet and grabbed another bottle of whisky and a glass. He walked around and sat on the couch beside Bucky and cracked the bottle. He poured himself a glass while Bucky switched which hand he was holding his glass in and held his cup up to Steve with his metal arm. Steve poured him a glass also.
"She the reason you're sitting in the dark and attempting to get drunk?" Steve asked as Bucky took another swig of his whisky and nodded.
"I spoke to Sam and Darla, but how do you think your conversation with her went?" He asked as he brought his glass of whisky to his lips.
"it was good, she only tried to kill me for the first five minutes. Now I can't stop thinking about what I did to her." He said blankly.
"It's not your fault Buck," Steve said to him. As he placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder. Bucky didn't believe him.
There was a sudden rustling against the front door. The pair looked at each other and Bucky stood up grabbing a nearby gun. Cap circled the couch and moved to the door, Bucky stayed near the couch, gun in hand. Cap looked back to Bucky to make sure he was ready and he gave a small nod. Steve flung open the door only to find Darla on the other side of it scratching the back of her head with her back turned to them looking at the door across the hall. She hoped they'd think she was someone there to see the neighbour.
"I knew I was being followed," Steve said under his breath as he yanked Darla in by her jacket then closed and locked the door. "How'd you get here?" He asked her.
"Trunk," she said like a child who was feigning innocence. Steve put his hand on his hips and shook his head with a disappointed laugh.
"I should have known Sam didn't actually need me for anything before I left." He said.
Bucky cleared his throat. Darla glanced over and double took then backed herself against the door. Bucky stood up and showed Darla the gun then he made sure it wasn't loaded and tossed it across the room. He threw his hands in the air and backed up toward the window to show her he wasn't a threat.
"I'll back up so you can sit." He said.
Darla carefully moved forward, Steve also moved forward to bridge the gap between her and Bucky. Darla was about a foot from the couch but she felt as though it was too close. She took a deep breath and sat on the couch anyway.
"May I?" She asked Bucky as she pointed at the glass of whisky. Bucky nodded and Darla reached for the glass.
"Steve pass me the bottle," Bucky asked Steve reached for it and handed it to him. He looked between the two, he could see the distress on Darla's face as she fiddled with her jacket and the discomfort on Bucky's due to the state he was causing her to be in.
"This is progress, the fact that you two can be in the same room and not kill each other," Steve assured as he stood between them.
"I still, don't trust him," Darla said lowly. Bucky cleared his throat and looked away from her. He didn't blame her for that, he blamed himself.
"Okay look, I have Ultron to worry about and I'm going to be leaving the city for a while. I just wanted to make sure you'd both be okay while I was gone. That's why I left you with Sam and Bucky that's why I'm here I was coming to tell you I'll be out of contact for a bit. This is important and now I have to bring you back to Sam's because you didn't listen to me and stay put." Steve said to Darla and paced between them for a few moments, darla stared at the floor while Bucky stared at her. FinallySteve sighed.
"Darla, do you need instruction right now?" Darla locked eyes with him and got excited.
"My god please," Dark exclaimed. Steve nodded.
"I'm gonna leave you my car, and you and Sam are gonna go to Austria so you can get some closure and see if you can figure out some stuff because yes, I did read nicks briefing and I know you've been ignoring your past. Which is another reason I've been so worried about your mental state." He admitted to her. Darla nodded slowly.
"I know a lots changed in 70 years Steve but last time I checked I'm pretty sure I can't drive to Austria from New York." She said with a small smirk. Steve fought the urge to laugh because he was trying to show her he was serious about this.
"Your right, you can't, but I know Tony's given you money and cards so I'm sure you can figure it out." Darla nodded, she glanced in Bucky's direction and caught him staring at her.
"What are you staring at?" She asked.
"Im gonna help. I owe it to you." Bucky said as if it was a promise.
"Buck, I'm not sure that's a good idea," Steve said carefully.
"This is my fault. I'm gonna help." Bucky replied sternly as he turned his serious expression to Steve. Darla crossed her arms and shook her head.
"I've already told you it's not your fault." She said to him. The soft tone she used to assure him the other night was gone. She was just frustrated now.
"I don't care. I'm gonna help anyway," he said to her.
Steve looked between the two and sighed.
"Darla with everything going on it's probably better you bring him along." Darla's face filled with confusion and she genuinely thought Steve was crazy.
"That's ridiculous, I can't handle being within ten feet of him. Let alone sit in a car with him. Steve sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Bucky meet them at Sam's in the morning." He said ignoring her complaint. Bucky nodded at Steve who moved to the door and held it open for Darla.
"Let's go." He said to her. Darla locked eyes with Bucky again then she sighed and got up and walked out.