Coming Down ➢ Steve Rogers

thirty three

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Of course they'd get caught," Delaney muttered to herself, storming along the sidewalk. "Of course Rhodey would be there. Of course King T'Challa would have enhanced superhuman abilities. Of course nearly the entire bloody police force would surround them and go after Bucky. Of. Bloody. Course."

She spat out the words between her gritted teeth. People who passed her veered out of her way and anxious glances over their shoulders.

Let them. She wasn't happy, she would be the first to admit that.

She had thought Steve and Sam would be fast. But it hadn't been enough. It seemed everyone in the world was after Bucky Barnes – and now Steve and Sam were in hot water for breaking the Accords.

So Delaney was fulfilling her earlier promise, and was going to rescue her best friend, and her boyfriend.

She knew the place would be heavily guarded. Delaney had a small stunner on her, and a knife down her boot in case things turned ugly.

She hadn't expected to not even make it to the building.

So consumed in her own frustration, she hadn't paused to think, oh, hang on, they have the Winter Soldier locked up here, of course security won't even be remotely lax. She'd only been determined to reach the other two people within.

As soon as she saw Tony approach, Delaney knew there was no way she could fight.

Police officers? Sure. 

Tony Stark? That was an entirely different matter.

He raised his hand as she approached. "Hypnosis! I've been expecting you."

They came to a standstill in front of each other. Delaney raised an eyebrow.

"That easy to read, am I?" She glanced over her shoulder. "No back up?"

"No. I convinced Ross you wouldn't attack."

"Tony, did you borrow my power for a moment? Because I don't see how that could be possible."

"Ah, young Lane, when you have a silver tongue like I do, you can make many things go your way."

Delaney snorted and pressed her lips tightly together to prevent herself from dissolving into hysterics. She couldn't stop her shoulders shaking, however.

Tony folded his arms. "You don't believe me?"

Delaney somehow managed to straighten her features out somewhat. "'Course not."

Tony squinted at her. Delaney rolled her eyes, sighed, and hit him on the shoulder. "Tony, this is getting ridiculous."

"It is, isn't it? Especially when we have more serious matters on hand. Don't worry," he said, when Delaney opened her mouth, "Rogers and Wilson are fine. They're not even in a cell."

"Really?"

Delaney's eyes were wide. She'd thought that Ross would have ordered them both locked away at the earliest opportunity.

Tony nodded. "Yeah. Though in the case of Barnes..." He sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "To keep him out of too much trouble, it looks like the best we can do is get both Rogers and Wilson to sign the Accords, and Barnes gets sent to a ward."

Delaney's heart stilled. "No," she breathed.

Time slowed down. She groaned and held her face in her hands. She knew Steve would do anything for his best friend, even this, but he wouldn't even remotely like it. It was an arrangement that would make him miserable.