Stark looked up at Caden with a blank expression. "What are you talking about?" He innocently.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Caden shouted. "There are reporters out there. What did you tell them?"
Stark rolled his eyes, sighing dramatically. "Why do you always suspect that it was me?" He asked.
"Because it was you," said Rogers as he stormed into the room, pointing to a television. "Turn it on, Caden."
Caden grabbed the remote controller and turned on the T.V. to the local news station.
"We have a new story in the making, ladies and gentlemen. Is Tony Stark hiding a secret in his Tower?" The reporter asked the screen.
Immediately, the screen changed, showing a gritty picture of Stark talking to someone on a street corner. "An anonymous source claims to have heard Mr. Stark speaking to a colleague about needing a tool to pry off the 'metal arm of his guest.'"
A blurry video of Tony started playing. "Yeah, man, I'd love to see what it looks like on the inside. The only thing is, it's this huge ass thing. All metal and heavy. You'd need one hell of wrench to pry it off of his shoulder. If you sedate him first."
The reporter came back on a screen. "Reports are now coming in of seeing a man with a metal hand walking around Central Park in the early hours of the morning.
Caden gasped. There on the screen was a picture of Bucky and Caden sitting in the grass at Central Park. You could barely make out a silver hand.
"The source was not for certain if this man's entire arm was made of metal, but we can tell from the profile that he strongly resembles the lost criminal of Hydra, the Winter Soldier."
A picture of Bucky as the Soldier flashed on the screen. This time it was Bucky who shakily gasped.
"If this man is the alias of the Winter Soldier, authorities have demanded that this man turn himself in, for the sake of the country. That's all we have for now. More to come."
Rogers grabbed the remote controller, shutting the television off. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He looked at Stark.
"It was harmless chitchat with a colleague," Tony said. "How was I supposed to know someone was recording me? Besides, I didn't take him to Central Park." He looked expectantly at Caden.
Caden's mouth formed an 'O.' "You son of a b-"
"That's enough!" Rogers cut her off. "What were you thinking, Cade, taking him out there? Didn't you know it was dangerous? Did you think of the risks?"
Caden glared at Rogers. "Do you think I WANTED this to happen?" She demanded. "Do you think I KNEW it would happen? I am a DOCTOR, Rogers. I was doing my job. I wasn't blabbing my mouth like an idiot to some stranger."
"You didn't even think about Bucky-"
"Yes, she did."
Caden jumped slightly, turning around. Shed forgotten Bucky was there.
"She thought of me," Bucky continued, stepping forward. "She helped me, Steve. You weren't there, you didn't see it! This morning, being out there, with no people, it was calm. It was relaxing!" He cried. He put a hand on Caden's back. "She made me smile. She made me laugh! Do you know how long it has been since I've felt like that? Because I don't." His eyes started clouding up as his anger grew. He ripped off his ball cap, pointing at his hair. "She helped me remember things, Steve! Have you done any of that?"
"You know I've tried, Buck," Rogers said, taken aback by Bucky's words.
"Enough, Steve," Caden hissed. "Bucky," she said softly. She turned towards him, grasping his hands.
She could tell he was getting worked up. He needed to be calmed down, and fast.
"Look at me," she commanded, holding his hands up between the two of them. "Just close your eyes, and take a deep breath."
Bucky closed his eyes, his breathing slowly turning back to normal.
Caden turned back to Rogers- she could tell he had been hurt by those harsh words. "Steve, listen to me. We're all at fault here. We weren't careful enough. We let them get by us unnoticed. It's been done, it's over. We can't do anything about it."
"Then what do you suppose we do?" Rogers asked harshly.
Caden looked at Bucky, then Stark, then back at Rogers. "We need to get him out of here."
~~~
It was later in the morning. Caden had just got off the phone with Director Coulson. She had urgently described their current situation, citing the immediate action of safety protocol 12 be carried out.
"Evacuation," Coulson had said slowly, as if in thought. "Caden, we don't have any safe houses that Hydra or the world doesn't know about. We don't have anywhere for you to go."
"Director," Caden had pleaded. "Send us an aircraft. Let him stay at the Playground."
"We currently have no quinjet that isn't tracked by the government, you know that, Caden."
Caden had put her phone on the table, rubbing her face in frustration. Suddenly, she looked up at her wall, specifically a picture on her wall. She picked her phone back up.
"Phil," she had said slowly. "Who said it had to be a quinjet?"
"Doctor Stark?" A voice called, breaking through Caden's thoughts. She looked up to see Bucky standing in her bedroom doorway.
"Have you finished packing, Bucky?" She said, moving to her wardrobe, pulling out an assortment of shirts and pants. "Director Coulson will be here soon enough."
"Where are we going?" Bucky asked stubbornly, for Caden had refrained from telling him.
"I'll tell you when we arrive, I promise," Caden said, putting her last shirt in her bag and walking over to Bucky. She grasped the rough skin of his right hand in her much smaller, smoother ones, holding it to her heart. "You just gotta trust on this one, Bucky. Do you trust me?"
Bucky looked down at his feet, nodding.
"Come here," Caden instructed, sensing how anxious the super soldier was at the moment. She wrapped her hands around his back, rubbing small circles into it. "You're going to alright, I promise. They'll never find you where we are going."
~~~
No more than thirty minutes after her phone call with Coulson, Caden was informed by J.A.R.V.I.S. that he had arrived.
"He's waiting for you on the roof," his robotic voice said.
"Thank you, J.," Caden said, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder and walked out of her apartment.
She met Stark, Banner, Rogers and Bucky on top of the Tower's roof. She walked over, standing next to them, as a great rumbling sound neared, a sudden wind blowing their hair about.
"I hear it, but I don't see it," Rogers yelled over the noise of the jet engines.
"Cloaking device, Cap," Stark shouted, hands in his pockets.
The noise of the engines moved closer and closer, until finally it came to just a low rumble.
Caden looked over at the four men, her eyes resting on Bucky. "It's time," she said.
Bucky looked at her, nodding. He looked over at Rogers, waiting to follow him.
Rogers simply shook his head. "Not this time, Buck," he said over the vibration.
Bucky looked at him wide eyed. "Why not?" He asked.
"Caden alone is escorting you," Banner said. "For your safety."
"It's too risky if I, or Doctor Banner go," Rogers said. "The public will suspect something if we simply disappear."
"Bucky, they're right," Caden called. "We must do this swiftly and silently."
Bucky looked at her, breathing shakily.
"You will see me again, Bucky," Rogers said, grasping his arms. "In a couple of weeks, I promise I'll be there."
"You have to hurry it up!" Stark yelled. "Agent won't wait forever!"
"You're right," Caden said. "Bucky, we can do this," she took his hand. "Together."
They turned, walking towards the noise. As they neared, what was once the slightly cloudy sky opened up to reveal the inside of a giant aircraft.
Director Coulson stood in the doorway.
Caden stepped closer to the edge, placing her foot out over it, but Bucky stopped her.
"What are you doing?" He cried.
"Trust me," Caden said, starting again.
Bucky took a breath, closed his eyes, and took one step over the edge.
He opened his eyes. Looking down, he expected to see a board or ramp.
He was standing in mid air.
"Come on, Buck," Caden said, walking in to the plane.
As soon as they were in in, the mechanical door sealed shut.
Caden and Bucky turned around, face to face with Phil Coulson.
"Welcome aboard the Bus."