Radioactive | Bucky Barnes

THE AVENGERS: CHAPTER THREE

The gym echoed with every brutal strike, the punching bag swaying on its chain like a pendulum in a storm. Steve Rogers moved like a machine—focused, relentless, fists wrapped in tape and sweat glistening down his temples.

"Trouble sleeping?" The voice came from the doorway, smooth, unbothered.

Steve didn't stop. Another punch. Then another. He let the bag swing before catching it in his hands. He exhaled hard through his nose, not looking.

"I slept for seventy years, sir," he replied, peeling the tape from his knuckles. "Think I've had my fill."

Nick Fury stepped into the room, the soles of his boots silent against the polished floor. "Then you should be out. Celebrating. Seeing the world."

"I went under, the world was at war." Steve finally turned, grabbing a towel and wiping the sweat from his neck. "I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say we lost." His eyes lifted to Fury's, sharp with something buried. "Is Rhiley—?"

"She's okay." Fury's response was immediate, as if he'd anticipated the question. "She was the same way when she woke."

Steve stared for a moment, lips pressed in a firm line. "The difference is... she didn't have anyone."

Fury's silence stretched for a beat. Then he nodded. "Yeah. You had her."

The moment hung in the air like a weight neither of them could quite set down. But Steve shifted, brushing it off like the towel on his shoulders.

"You here with a mission, sir?"

"I am."

"Trying to get me back in the world?"

"No." Fury stepped forward, extending a slim black folder. "Trying to save it."

Steve opened it, eyes scanning. A glint of blue caught his attention—an image of the Tesseract, humming with power.

"Hydra's secret weapon?"

"Howard Stark fished it out of the ocean looking for you." Fury's voice quieted, remembering. "He thought what we all thought—that it could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. The kind of thing the world needs now more than ever."

Steve's jaw clenched. "Who took it from you?"

"Loki." Fury folded his arms. "He's not from around here. There's a lot you're gonna need to catch up on if you're in. The world's gotten stranger than you remember."

"At this point," Steve muttered, closing the file, "I doubt anything would surprise me."

Fury arched a brow. "Ten bucks says you're wrong."

Steve smirked, just barely.

"There's a debriefing packet waiting for you at your apartment. Rhiley's already been briefed."

"How'd she take it?"

"She's pissed."

Steve huffed a quiet laugh. "Sounds like her."

"She couldn't tell us much about the Tesseract." Fury studied him. "Can you?"

Steve didn't hesitate. "You should've left it in the ocean."

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The file slammed hard against the desk in her quarters, papers fluttering. Rhiley stood stiff, shoulders squared, jaw set.

"I've told you a thousand times, Phil," she snapped. "I don't work with others."

"You work with me," Coulson replied calmly.