I Thought You Were Different: Part 3

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"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Stark? You got a problem with me, then say it!" Bucky growled, pushing Tony back. "You got something to say?"

"What do you know about this that you aren't telling me? Where did he take her?"

"I don't know!"

"Don't lie to me! You and Rogers have a hell of a lot in common, Barnes, including a nice round of Hydra brainwashing," Tony hissed. "You can't tell me that just goes away, because I happen to know those ten little words that can flip you into beast mode."

"Fuck off, Stark."

Tony took another step back at Pepper's urging, feeling her hands pulling against his arms to try to keep him calm. He tried to pull back against her, but he stopped to heed the only calm person in the room. "Tony, that's enough, come on. Let's just figure this out, okay? Fighting each other isn't going to help."

"If anything happens to her," Tony spat, pointing angrily at Bucky again, "and if I find out that you knew anything...anything at all...I will kill you. Do you hear me? I will kill you."

"Sir," FRIDAY broke in urgently, "Captain Rogers and (Y/N) have returned."

~~~

Four Hours Earlier

"I swear, (Y/N), I was only doing what I had to do to keep you all safe," Steve whispered as he drove. He glanced in the rearview mirror to see a hint of sunrise and gripped the wheel tighter, pushing the gas pedal with a bit more determination. "You know I wouldn't do this if I had any other choice."

"There's always a choice, Steve. You could have told me. You could have told the team."

"I couldn't take that risk, not with the four of your lives at stake. They told me things about you, things that they would know only if they were close enough to get at you and I didn't see any other way but to do what they said. Maybe I made a mistake, and that's something that I have to live with now, but (Y/N)," he urged, "I couldn't live with myself if I let anything happen to you knowing that I was able to stop it."

The darkness of night still kept your view of Steve's face shadowed, but as lights from passing cars illuminated the inside of your vehicle, one thing was painfully clear even in your peripheral vision; the deep red of the star on the chest of his black suit. It felt like a sick joke that Hydra was playing on you; still dressing Steve in his Captain America uniform but with the colors of the enemy adorning it. They were giving you just enough of him to hold a false sense of security, but at the same time reminding you that you had lost the man that you thought you knew. They were stripping away your hope one little piece at a time; they were stripping away your reasons to fight back, and a cold fear washed over you for the safety of your children and your team.

"Steve," you sighed, "we have to find a way out of this." You looked down at the gun in your hands and groaned quietly, slipping it into the thigh holster of your new, sleek Hydra uniform. With each passing minute, as your mind raced through the events that brought you here and how they only increased your fear, you found yourself beginning to understand how Steve had brought himself to it as well. "We can finish this mission and go home, but we have to tell the team. You can't keep doing Hydra's dirty work on their false promises. They're liars, and you know that it's only a matter of time before they make a move on the kids."

"They weren't going to come after you," he hissed, "until you wouldn't stop and I had to bring you in. They were keeping their word as long as I did what they said."

"And how many have you killed, Steve? How many people have you killed for them?"

His posture lost is assuredness at the question and he stared ahead as he continued on towards the destination ordered to you both by your Hydra Commander, or HC, as you now came to be familiar with as Steve had. He would never answer the question, and by the pain that you could see even in the light reflecting in his eyes, you knew well enough to never ask it again.