i'll always find you

CHAPTER 13

LIZZIE

I hit the punching bag in front of me with everything I have. I just feel so angry. So empty. So lost. Steve does the same next to me, it's become a daily habit for us now, going to the gym to get out our emotions. I miss Bucky with everything I have. I can't do this without him. 

"Trouble sleeping?" Fury's voice suddenly snaps me out of my daze, "I slept for seventy years, sir. I think I've had my fill." Steve replies. 

"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world. You too Lizzie." Fury smiles slightly, I don't want to do anything without Bucky.

Steve starts unravelling the tape from his hands as he sits down, "I went under, the world was at war, I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost." I think about what he says for a minute so much has changed and no matter how much I try to adjust to this modern world, I can't fill the empty piece.

"We've made some mistakes along the way. Some very recently." Fury explains, "you hear with a mission, sir?" I ask him, wondering why he came to talk to me and Steve at the gym. "I am."

"Trying to get us back in the world?" Steve asks, "trying to save it." Fury hands Steve a file, I look over his shoulder and see the file has information on the Tesseract among other things.

"Hydra's secret weapon." I recognize it immediately, I thought Hydra was gone. I thought Steve and I beat them. How is the Tesseract back? As if this day couldn't get any harder. 

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs." Fury explains, "Who took it from you?" Steve asks.

"He's called Loki. He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know." Loki who the hell is that?

"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me." Steve says sarcastically, "ten bucks says you're wrong." Fury bets, "There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment."

Steve picks up our punching bags as he starts walking out of the gym, I follow him. I'm sweaty, tired, and overwhelmed. 

"Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?" Fury asks, "You should have left it in the ocean." Steve answers. 

~

"What the hell was that?" I ask Steve after we're out of Fury's ear sight. "Did you ever hear about Hydra those few years you were here without me?" Steve asks, I shake my head "no. I thought Hydra was gone, how are they not? God, they've probably hurt so many people." I say putting my face in my hands, Steve rubs my back. 

"I don't think I can do this." I say trying to hold back a sob, "Hydra ruined our lives, they killed Bucky, they.." I trail off.

"It's okay, it's okay. We don't have to do this if you don't want to." Steve reassures me, "people will get hurt if we don't." I respond, "I can't just sit around and let that happen." He nods. 

~

I sit next to Steve inside a Quinjet, as we watch a tablet, showing the Hulk's attack on the Army at a university. I really don't want to be here on this mission, but I can't let Hydra hurt any more innocent people.

"We're about forty minutes out from base, sir." The pilot informs Coulson, who we just met he seems like a nice guy, although I think he's obsessed with Steve, which is cute.