The Night We Met | Steve / Bucky

thirty-six - in the end

Steve paced up and down, Sam stood to the side chewing on his fingernails with anxiety. "We're out of our depth here. It's been twelve hours!" Steve spoke, pacing the weaponry tent. In the center of the tent rested a large table with a paper map spread out, red marks on previous locations of weapon seizes the team had successfully concluded. "How could you let this happen?"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Steve." Natasha spoke as a warning of tone to Steve. Natasha held a small handheld device in her hand, examining the screen. "They called her a witch." Steve and Sam both looked to Natasha, questioning her understanding of the Arabic language, "I heard it before they took her ear piece out. She's a threat to them - her powers, her abilities."

Steve shook his head, "I can't lose her." He spoke softly, "Not again."

"And you won't." Natasha spoke rather calmly. "We're going to find her. She's going to be fine." Natasha turned slowly to Steve, exhaling heavily, "We know you love her." Natasha glanced to Sam. 

Steve looked to the pair, furrowing his brows at the pair, "Well, I didn't know it was a secret." Sam spoke, "But it's Kat we're talking about. That girl can survive anything!" 

Sam and Natasha's encouragement was barely enough to keep Steve calm. Steve couldn't bring himself to confess to the team about he and Katherine's fight. The dread of something happening to her, knowing that those words would be the last spoke to her hurt him. There was nothing else he could do, there was nowhere to look, nowhere to start. She could be anywhere in the city. "Look." Natasha spoke, "There was a power surge - right here." Natasha held up the device to show Sam and Steve. On the screen showed a pinpointed location, "That has to be it."

Sam approached Natasha and taking a good look at the map, taking in the co-ordinates. "About ten miles from where they took her." Sam looked to Steve, but he was already making his way to the quinjet. Sam looked to Natasha, "We have to hope that she is okay because I don't think Steve will be if she's not."

Natasha glanced between Steve and Sam, "Yeah."

The pair quickly caught up with Steve, boarding the quinjet. Natasha took control as pilot while Steve and Sam stood behind her, Sam weaponing up with his wings - not that they were much use as one of the wings remained damaged. Steve pushed his fist into his open palm, stretching out his hands. Sam noticed this, Sam took note of how Steve was reacting - he was not fully there. A part of him was distant. Sam looked to Steve, "Look, we don't know what we're walking into." 

Steve stepped away from his post and approaching the wall, pushing hard on a panel, a rack of weapons extending from the wall. Steve picked one of the assault rifles - still adjusting to battle without his shield. "They took her, Sam." Steve checked the chamber - fully loaded. He turned to Sam, "And they're going to pay if she's hurt."

Sam felt worry build up within him - worry for Katherine and her condition but also worry for Steve. The power surge that he and Natasha witnessed on the map is near fatal - if that came from a weapon used on Katherine, there wasn't much hope of her being alive. That thought alone ate away at Sam. He knew that Steve would not be okay if anything happened to her - Steve was being naïve. But Steve knew how strong Katherine was, he knew her resilience and her stubbornness would keep her alive - long enough for them to find her.

Natasha sat quietly in the pilot seat, guiding the quinjet to the desired location. Natasha soon landed the quinjet not far from the where the power surge had originated. Natasha armed herself with some of her nifty gadgets - tasers, pistols, electrified rods. Sam also armed himself with a rifle, preparing for anything that could happen.