HESTIA⇒S.ROGERS

2.5

{gif by theavengers}

All of them were sitting in a car. Lilly sat in the back between Sitwell and Nat. They were driving to Triskelion, as Sitwell said "HYDRA doesn't like leaks." "So why don't you try sticking a cork in it," Sam commented. "Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here." "I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly," Steve said back to Nat.

Lilly felt odd. She was sensing something, something bad, but didn't know what. "Guys, this is a no-context comment, but I have a bad feeling about this." "About what?" Steve asked her. "Everything—" she was cut off as a hand pulled Sitwell out through the wind of the car and threw him into the oncoming traffic.

Nat was shocked and so was everyone. Lilly screamed, which she didn't realise. Suddenly a man started shooting and Steve pulled Lilly onto his lap and pulled the break handle, causing the man on the roof dropping down onto the street.

All of them looked at the man as he stood up. He had a metal arm, long brown hair and a mask on his face. Nat scooped to the middle of the backseat and pointed a gun at him, but another car smashed at them and pushed them along with them.

A man jumped on the roof once more and broke the back window. Glass fell on Natasha and in that moment Lilly screamed "Nat!" As the man was balancing himself on the roof, she got out of Steve's lap. "Where are you going?" "Help," she said and went to the back of the car. She nodded at Nat and with that she jumped out of the back window.

"Ugh!" Lilly said as she landed on the other car's hood. She saw the man aiming a gun at her and with that she flew into the sky. She was too slow and a bullet grazed her. "Shit!" She yelled. The man jumped to the place she was and with that the car behind them pushed them into a side.

Lilly aimed a fire blast at them, but another man shot at her. She dodged successfully this time and flew a little further than the rest of them were.

Lilly noticed how they jumped out of the car and the car behind them stopped. She turned back and saw the man shooting at Steve and Nat. "No!" She said and blasted a fire, but one of his sidemen blocked the attack, which fired the blast back at Lilly. "Woah!" She dodged it the last second.

The man was shooting at Nat, but she shot him in the goggles and ran off. Lilly noticed other men shooting down at the bus, where Steve was hiding behind his shield. Sam was covering for him.

"Help is on its way," Lilly said and dived down, shooting blasts of fire at men surrounding Sam. She landed next to him and covered for him as he was getting up and readying his gun. "Here you have this, you idiots!" Lilly yelled as she was shooting fire at them. Sam noticed the fight between Steve and the man. "Want to give me a lift?" Lilly looked at him. "I don't think I am able to control my powers in a way it won't burn you," she said with a worry. "I trust you." She gulped and rose her hands in the air. She closed her eyes and focused.

A ball-like thing was forming around Sam. "Come on, Lilly, I know you can do this." She focused so much, it drew almost all of her energy. She was scared, even though she knew this won't make things better. The 'ball' was closing in, trapping Sam in it. "Now put me one level lower," Sam said. Lilly started moving her fingers and the ball was raising. She successfully lifted Sam off the bridge. "Come on, you're doing great!" With that Lilly smiled and carefully placed Sam down.

Sam ran off to Steve, as Lilly tried to fly down, but was too exhausted. "Nngh!" She pulled herself up. "I can do this. I did my best and it was safe. I have to help them," she said and flew up, but landed unsuccessfully. She was laying on the ground.

The next she saw was HYDRA men lifting her off the ground and putting her inside the van.

——— in the van ———

"It was him. He looked right at me like he didn't even know me," Steve said. Lilly was leaning on his shoulder. "How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago." Lilly tried to straightened, but couldn't. "Ouch," see whispered. "Stop. You're making it worse," Steve said to her. "Who are you talking about?" Steve fell silenced. He looked down at his hands who were close to his body, held tightly by a metal thing. "Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..." "you found Bucky?" Lilly asked. Again no answer.

"None of that's your fault, Steve." "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky," Steve said to Nat. Lilly knew what the situation was with them, so she stayed quiet.

Sam noticed that Natasha was bleeding from her shoulder and looked at the guards. "We need to get a doctor here. We don't put pressure on that wound she's gonna bleed out here in the truck—" he was cut off when one of the guards pulled out an electric rod.

After all of them were taken aback, the guard neutralised the other guard and knocked him down.
The guard pulled down their helmet, revealing it was Maria the whole time. "Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain." Sam looked at her in confusion. "Who's this guy?" She asked Steve.

——— later ———

Agent Hill has taken them to a secret facility. Steve helped Nat get out of the car. Lilly felt better when they arrived. They went inside where a man ran up to them. "GSW. She's lost at least a pint," Hill said to the man. "Maybe two," added Sam. "Let me take her," doctor said. "She'll want to see him first." Hill said and took them to a place where Fury was laying. "About damn time," Fury said and all of them were shocked.

"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache," Fury said and listed all the injuries he suffered. "Don't forget your collapsed lung," doctor reminded him. "Oh, let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good." "You fucking liar," Lilly said. "Watch how you speak, young—" he was cut off by a hug from Lilly. "If you don't stop, I'll have to take another paper and wrote down another injury." She let go off him. "I thought- WE thought we lost you," she said getting emotional. "I sure hope you shed some tears for your lovely boss," he said back to her.

"They cut you open, your heart stopped," Nat said.
"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it." "Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asked him.
"Any attempt on the director's life had to look successful," Maria answered him. "Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust," Fury also answered him.

Later as they waited for Fury to come to the table, Steve and Lilly walked away from the group. "I am so mad and happy about Fury. He didn't have to lie," Lilly said and placed her hands on her hips, revealing a spot where the bulled grazed her. Steve tilted his head as he noticed and put a hand just below the wound. "So, that's why your 'rib' hurt,..." He looked her into the eyes. "It's nothing, it will heal," she said and pushed his hand away. She crossed her hands below her chest and looked away from Steve. "Look at me," he told her but she didn't. He kissed her exposed skin on the neck. "What are you doing?" She asked him. "I'm sorry, I just—" she cut him off with a kiss. "If you want to kiss me, just do it. I'm not stoping you," she said and smiled. He smiled back and leaned back at the wall.

"You should tell about your wound to the doctor," Steve said and crossed his arms. "It's just a scratch, it will heal." "Lilly,..." "what?" "Stop being stubborn for a second and listen." Lilly rose her eyebrows. "Sorry,... I care about you," Steve added, trying to save himself from the situation. Lilly sighed. She walked closer to him and leaned onto him. She wrapped her hands around his torso and he wrapped his around her back.

"I know Steve, I know."