Combustion ✦ STEVE ROGERS² [✓]

29 | THE TRUTH HURTS SOMETIMES

IT WAS SILENT AS STEVE FLEW THE QUINJET TOWARDS THE MOUNTAINS, SEVERAL DIFFERENT CONFLICTING FEELINGS SWIRLING AROUND IN HIS CHEST. He sat next to Bucky, his face grim and stony as the silence lengthened. It was tense in the jet, knowing that his friends had sacrificed everything to help them, and after today, things would never be the same.

"What's gonna happen to your friends?" Bucky asked after a while, finally breaking the silence.

Steve stared ahead, heavyhearted, before he sighed and shook his head. "Whatever it is... I'll deal with it."

Bucky was silent for a moment, looking down thoughtfully. "I don't know if I'm worth all this, Steve."

Steve turned and glanced at Bucky. "What you did all those years...," he said to him, "it wasn't you. You didn't have a choice."

Bucky nodded slowly, his eyes downcast. "I know. But I did it."

Steve fell silent, unsure of how to respond.

Several hours later they arrived in Siberia. Steve brought the Quinjet to land besides a caterpillar truck on the remote icy mountain top, folding the wings and turning off the engine. As they prepared to leave, Bucky pulled out a rack of guns labeled 'Romanoff' and took a light machine gun, while Steve fitted his shield onto his arm. And with that, they turned to the exit ramp, standing there as they waited for it to descend.

"You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?" Steve asked Bucky.

"Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?" Bucky replied.

Steve nodded. "You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a redhead."

"What was her name again?"

"Dolores. You called her Doll."

Bucky chuckled. "She's gotta be a hundred years old right now."

Steve grinned. "So are we, pal," he said, clamping his hand on Bucky's shoulder and shaking it gently.

Then, the ramp opened. Steve put on his helmet, and together, the two of them left the Quinjet and walked up to the entrance of the base, which was set in rock, and they were not surprised when they saw that the door was still open.

"He can't have been here more than a few hours," Steve said.

"Long enough to wake them up," Bucky answered grimly.

Steve led him into the cast bunker. They traveled down into the depths inside a caged elevator, and it stopped in the bowels of the bunker, the doors sliding open. Steve nodded to his friend and heaved up the cage door, and after Bucky readied his heavy duty machine gun, they walked along a corridor, keeping close to a wall. As they walked, Bucky looked into an alcove full of junk before he and Steve moved on up a flight of stairs, but then, a loud thud suddenly sounded from behind them, and they spun around, aiming down the corridor.

"You ready?" Steve asked Bucky.

Bucky nodded. "Yeah."

Then the double doors parted, forced open by none other than Tony himself, in his Iron Man suit. And, to Steve's shock, Kato was right behind him, still wearing her own suit as she met Steve's eyes.

Steve and Bucky stared in surprise as Tony walked towards them and retracted the suit's helmet, and Kato stepped inside as well. However, Steve kept his shield in front of them in case Tony tried anything.

"You seem a little defensive," Tony said to them.

Steve walked over to meet Tony, his shield covering his body as Bucky kept his gun up. "It's been a long day," Steve said to Tony.