Viper's Bite: The Other Rogers

32.

"Mr. Stark, what could possibly bring you here?"

Tony was still staring at the gorgeous appearance of his friend. "I am here to support my friend Rhodey. What brings you here?"

Tony noticed the makeup that appeared to be on every inch of skin on display. This was not the Sally he was accustomed to. Why would her chest and arms need makeup? 

"Oh, you know, some work needed tending too and this was a requirement. Would you like to take this elsewhere?"

Tony looked at her in complete shock. Had his best friend just made a pass at him? What in the world? He decided to roll with it though. His hands went to her waist and hip, pulling her close as he began to sway with her. "How about a dance before you pull me from the boring festivities?"

Sally gave him her best flirty smile before nodding and allowing him to pull her to the dance floor. 

Before long, he had her spinning on the floor, pulling all attention to the pair as they moved to the music. Tony had noticed a few bruises on her thighs and calves as they danced. He wanted to ask her about them but was also aware that she kept her focus on him completely. Something his friend never did. She always assessed the room, people, exits, buildings nearby, and everything in between. Something was going on. Before he could ask her though, there was a tap on his shoulder. 

A handsome man with a heavy German accent asked if he could cut-in. Tony was inclined to say no when he saw the smile growing on Sally's face. He relinquished her but was far from happy about it as the man began to expertly twirl and spin Sally around the floor. It was not something he was used to seeing and he was beginning to truly worry about what was happening to his friend. 

He moved to a nearby table to watch the new pair carefully. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Stepping away from the party, he answered the call from Nat.

~Phone Call~

Romanoff. Fancy hearing from you right after running into the missing Rogers. What is going on?
Hey Stark, short version? Sally knows how to take down two of the leaders from the newest bad guys inc. but she needed it to look like she was here for someone else and wasn't aware of them. You were her best option. Sorry. I have to keep an eye on her though. Clint is keeping an eye on the target. Right now, I need you to leave her alone. Appear to want to be near her, but no different than you would any other beautiful woman, not in the bestfriend, familiar way.

~End Call~

Tony looked over at the pair dancing again and watched how the man seemed to grip Sally's hip instead of her waist. The way his smile seemed to be focused on her and her alone. This guy knew Sally. Moving his gaze from the man, back to his friend, he watched how shuttered her eyes were. She was familiar with him but she didn't have the same adoration or attraction that he had for her. It was a one sided thing. The guy seemed to notice and his face fell, his eyes turning almost cold in response to her lack of want. Tony did not like what he was seeing and made a move to step towards them when the man gripped Sally's wrist and pulled her from his line of sight. He began to move around the room without showing his own panic at losing Sally again.

"Ow. Dan, you're hurting me. What- How are you hurting me?"

"You left me fraulein. You were gone. Hydra needed me to survive and keep going. I was given a variant of the serum. It was not as potent as yours, however, it got the job done. Add in my own adventure in which I found another source of youth and this is what you get."

Sally was watching him carefully. "For what it is worth, I hadn't meant to disappear. I was sort of taken off-world. Had my own adventure too."

"Ah, that is why no matter what we did, we couldn't find you. How did you end up back at Hydra?"

"That is a secret I will probably take to my grave. Let's just say betrayal isn't a strictly human trait." 

"So, Stark is your mark for the night?"

"Actually..." Sally struck him in the face and signaled Clint to restrain Whitehall before turning around and facing an angry Tony and a worried Nat. She followed Nat's eyes and found her wrist broken where Whitehall had grabbed her. 

"Well, that happened. Guess we need to talk? Going to need you to wait for a couple more days. I have another man to go and grab. Nat, make sure he stays out until you get him to Fury. He has some version of the serum in his veins. Be safe, please?"

With that, Sally was off and running, her heels and dress barely slowing her down. She stopped at the hotel just long enough to change and grab her go bag. Then she was off to use Baron Zemo's plane, a gift from the man himself while he was imprisoned in Wakanda. There was a trial coming up to have him extradited to Germany or the Raft. There was still some debate. All she wanted was to get Devlin apprehended before he disappeared again. He knew too much to be let go. With Whitehall in custody, Devlin would be able to seize control which would be a very bad thing. 

As soon as the plane landed, Sally was off to Dev's place. She let herself in like normal and waited for him to get home. When he did, he already had his weapon drawn and was firing before Sally had a chance to apprehend him. 

"This is why you are always the pawn and not the queen. Learn the game before you try to seize the board." His face was too close to hers. Sally was losing too much blood to react to him invading her space the way he was. All she could do was look him in the eye as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. "This isn't the end love. You are needed still, so up you get." He picked her up easily and carried her to his vehicle where there was a familiar face that she thought was dead. "Doctor Cho? Didn't you die?" She smiled kindly and immediately got to work patching Sally up. Since there was no anesthetic, Sally held the wrist restraints that had been placed on her to keep her still to brace herself. Cho saw her pain and did the only thing she could think of. She removed her own belt and placed it between Sally's teeth to clamp onto. "This is going to get worse before better Ms. Rogers. I would recommend you find a happy place in your mind and don't fight passing out." So Sally did just that. She went back to when she and Steve were teens with Bucky always hanging around them. Always having to help the ladies catch his eye while sitting by her brother and accepting that she would always be in the shadow of the boys. She remembered how Howard always made her smile. The time the lab nearly blew up because Howard thought that he had found a stable chemical to eat through walls while being small enough to fit into a projectile. It was far from a success and had nearly killed both of them. Sally had jumped on top of him and burned the backs of her thighs pretty bad but it had been worth it for Howard to be in good health and physically sound so that he could help her brother more. The scars had disappeared when she was given the serum but she didn't want to remember that. Instead she thought of the big dinner they had all had one Thanksgiving. Sally and Howard had cooked while Peggy had kept the boys out and busy all day. When they walked in to see the full spread, their faces had been worth it. All the blood, sweat and tears were forgotten when both Bucky and Steve had beamed at her. Everyone knew Howard was mostly there to assist and be her personal stepladder when she couldn't reach certain things. It had been an amazing night. The following day had been when Bucky had taken her out back and taught her how to use a gun and a few basic self defense moves with hand to hand and a blade. Not enough to look for a fight but enough to know how to defend herself if ever in a tough situation. The memories swirled together as she began to lose consciousness. The last thing she heard was Cho telling Devlin that her wrist was broken on top of the abdominal injury and what appeared to be a couple broken ribs. Something about getting to a cradle. That scared Sally, she couldn't be pregnant, right? They hadn't meant a baby cradle right? She wanted to ask but was too far gone. Between the pain and the blood loss, she was not going to stay awake. She finally gave in and fell into a dreamless sleep, surrounded by deafening silence.