Alright, so maybe he hadnât considered getting stuck in a situation like this when he started chasing down his friend. But if Steve were honest with himself, he also hadnât particularly cared. The discovery that Bucky was alive had been a shock to his system that was for sure. But besides the shock, it had given him this horribly warm feeling in his chest that was something akin to hope. He had forgotten a little bit about that feeling until his friend came back. Steve had woken from the ice and immediately thrown himself into another fight. With aliens. And from then on, he hadnât really given himself much time to process the world around him and his place in it. He hadnât wanted to.
He hadnât wanted to and he had continued surviving, because that was what Steve was good at. But knowing Bucky was alive had made him more reckless. Sam offered to join Steve on his hunt to track down his friend. And for a while Steve had let him. But the months started wearing on, and there was no sign that the former assassin was close. There were clues and guiding points to track, but they never properly caught up. The man was always a step ahead of them. Steveâs frustration when they came up short at another Hydra base was terrible. His anger at Hydra and what they had taken from him building and building until he would swing at machines and whatever else in each base, swing and swing until Sam tried to catch his hand and draw him away from the building.
So Steve sent Sam home, telling him that he was going to just explore that city a little more before following him back. It was a lie, and he knew Sam knew it too, but the pretense kept Steve going. So he continued after Buckyâs trail, taking down remaining Hydra agents where he could. But some days, like this one, Steve didnât take into account the possibility that he would end up somewhere that Bucky hadnât shown yet. Steve got to the building and quickly discovered that this one was still operating. It was still operating and there were a ton of agents. The voice in his head that sounded kind of like Sam said Steve you know this is reckless. Back off and wait for him to show. If he will. But Steveâs anger took over. That anger at the people who had dehumanized his friend. Who hadnât cared what they were doing to a human being.
And so Steve Rogers launched himself forward, swinging at the first guys he saw. He let the anger take hold and drive him on. These guys had contributed to the problem. They were members of a horrible organization. Steve kept swinging. He kept swinging and twisted around to knock two of them together. His heart was pounding, adrenaline spiking as he moved toward the entrance of the base. Men came pouring out of the base like ants from an ant hill. But Steve wasnât alarmed. He didnât let himself be. He just kept going, like he could go straight to the root of the problem like this. Then one of the men brought out a strange looking weapon, and Steve only had time to throw his shield up before it fired, hitting his shield and launching Steve backwards. He hit the ground hard and cursed up a string.
Steve forced himself to his feet, a cold smile spreading across his face as he pushed himself at them. âGonna take more than that to get me. I can do this all day,â Though as more men came out of the base, a couple more with that same destructive weapon...a small chill came over him. But he was too far into this to not see it through. He steeled himself up, much as he used to when he was scrawny in Brooklyn facing down some bullies. âHiding behind your fancy guns? Come on now,â Steve taunted, though his eyes didnât draw away from the most dangerous of the agents. If he missed one of them firing that one he would be screwed. Already there were more agents than he started with, and he knew Sam would shake his head at this. But Steve had no intention of letting these guys continue. He would find a way to fight his way out of this one too.