I don't own anything except any original/own characters and any original plot.

✨

Chapter 9 - Homesick

✨

The sun was brighter than I wanted it to be when I woke up. Groaning, I rubbed my eyes. Where was I? The hospital? SHIELD?

"I thought you died," Steve startled me, he was sitting in a chair at the side of the bed. His strong arms pulled me into a tight hug.

"Steve you're going to crack a rib. I don't have as many to spare." I groaned. Orveonians only had 20 ribs because they had an extra organ that assisted their bodies in shifting, "Where are we?"

"Sam Wilson's," Steve smiled, "Since everyone else we know is trying to kill us and all."

Steve held out a damp towel. I ran it over my face, hair, and a few other places caked in dust. Sam peeked his head in as I was putting the cloth in the laundry basket.

"Making breakfast, if you guys eat that kind of thing," the man chuckled.

I smiled happily, momentarily forgetting about my flashbacks. I stood up from the bed and stepped out of the room, almost immediately getting tackled into a hug by Nat.

"You shouldn't have done that you crazy wurn."

"You're using the word incorrectly. Sort of," I hugged back all the same, "I figured some stuff out too. I know the Winter Soldier."

Steve choked on air, Nat's mouth hanging open in shock. Sam didn't know what to do, but from Steve and Nat's reactions, whoever the Winter Soldier was, wasn't good.

"On that mission in Romania, the one with the blank spots, we assumed I got injured while getting information and got amnesia, but that wasn't it. The Winter Soldier drugged me, and tried to get information. But, I just talked to him, and I think I hit a chord because he let me go."

"The Winter Soldier doesn't just let people go," Nat scoffed.

"You got away with just a scar," I pointed out, "Whatever happened doesn't matter anymore. What does matter, is the fact that pretty much all of SHIELD is untrustworthy. Jasper Sitwell, the man from the Lemurian Star, he's the guy we want to interrogate."

"So, the real question is: how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?"

"The answer is you don't," Sam dropped a file on the table in front of us, "Call it a resume."

"What did you use?" I looked through the file, there were a few mission outlines.

"You said you flew, not like a bird," Steve held up a picture.

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam," Steve sighed, "You just got out, and for a good reason."

"Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in," Sam shrugged casually.

"Where can we get our hands on these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall."

"If you can get me there, I can get those wings in half an hour," I assured.

"You got yourself some woman," Sam said to Steve.

"You're telling me."

~*~

"Out of all of the plans you've pulled out of your kif this one tops them all," even though I used an Orveonian word, I knew Steve would be able to understand what I was saying through the com.

I was currently pointing a laser pointer at Jasper Sitwell. The man looked in my general direction, but his eyes completely passed over me. He then looked over to Sam, who waved at him casually. Sitwell slowly walked over and got into Sam's car. There, Steve and Nat were waiting for him.

I sprang up from my waiting position and ran down the street into a random building. It was the one we had chosen for the interrogation. Stepping into the elevator I gripped the rail it rose up. When it dinged, opening on the top floor, I stepped out and took the last staircase onto the roof. Steve, Nat, Sam, and Sitwell were already there waiting for me.

"Tell me about Zola's algorithm," Steve ordered, taking a menacing step forward.
"Never heard of it."

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"

"I was throwing up, I get seasick," Steve grabbed the man's collar and pushed him to the edge of the roof, "Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers."

"You're right. It's not. It's hers," Steve stepped to the side and allowed Nat to kick Sitwell off of the building.

As we stood waiting for Sam, Nat turned to Steve and I, "So are you two doing the whole waiting for marriage thing or..."

Luckily, Steve and I didn't have to answer as Sam flew up with Sitwell in his grasp. The three of us walked towards him, on a warpath.

"Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing Insight's targets!" Sitwell confessed, obviously frightened.

"What targets?"

"You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to Hydra! Now, or in the future."

"The future? How could it know?" I kneeled down next to the man.

Sitwell laughed, "You helped design the program and you don't even know. You're just an ignorant little princess who doesn't know how the world wo-"

Grabbing Sitwell by his collar, I slammed his body onto the pavement of the roof, scowling. I hated it when people used my status against me. I was a princess, so what?

"The 21st century is a digital book," Sitwell groaned in pain, "Zola taught Hydra how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."

"What then?"

"Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time."

~*~

"I can shut down the Insight Program but I need to be there in person to do it," I shifted uncomfortably. Sam's car only seated four and we had five, so I was basically sitting in Steve's lap.

"What are you? Crazy?" Sitwell leaned forward, "That is a terrible idea."

"Can it," I snapped, "I will not hesitate to throw you out of this car."

Without any warning, Sitwell was pulled from the car and thrown into oncoming traffic. Nat climbed over the seat to the front, moving all of us away from gunshots that were potentially deadly. Sam braked, sending the Winter Soldier off of the car. We were dead.

A car rammed into us from behind, sending us towards the soldier. He jumped back onto the car, breaking a hole in the roof and taking out the steering wheel. Steve slammed his shield into the side of the car, pulling us out and onto the street.

"Run!" I yelled when I saw what gun they gave the Winter Soldier. There was no hesitation, no recognition, they had wiped him.

I dove behind a truck as we tried to avoid the onslaught of bullets coming our way.

"Toss me a gun!" I yelled, finger hovering over the trigger when she gave it to me, "You need to go and find Steve."

"And let you fight him on your own? Not happening," Nat shot back.

"You're hurt," I noticed the blood near her shoulder, "And I've been near him before and lived. Now go!"

Nat nodded hesitantly, running off to go find and help Steve. I ducked behind another car, looking around cautiously for the soldier. Spotting him closer to me than I would have liked, I kept running, sprinting onto a busy street.

I could basically feel his breath on my neck as I set down a recording, running in the opposite direction as stealthily as possible. He blew up the car I set the recording near. I took the chance and jumped towards him. Gripping his metal arm it heated up under my fingertips, then became limp.

Taking off again, I ran in a straight line through civilians, "Run! Get out of here!"

I knew if I ran in zig-zags, the chances of an innocent person getting shot would raise by a lot. I didn't need that on my consciousness.

Diving behind a random car, I jumped when Nat joined me. Peeking out, I saw Steve fighting the soldier now. Nat was paler that usual, clutching her shoulder tightly.

"Oh Atreya, it's getting worse isn't it?" I moved her hand away, looking at the wound, "The bullet is still inside though, that's good. Here, take this."

Tossing Nat her gun, I moved out from behind the car. Running towards Steve and the Winter Soldier, every muscle in my body stopped moving when his mask was hit off.

"Bucky?'

That was it. The final string. It was why Bucky Barnes' picture seemed so familiar, why those eyes were so strange.

Large SHIELD vans surrounded us, at least ten men storming out from each one. Given the current circumstances, there was no way we would be able to take all of them.

"Drop the shield, Cap! On your knees! Get on your knees! Now!" Rumlow pointed at me, "Knock her out. We don't need that freak shifting or using magic to get out of this."

Something cold pressed against the back of my neck. Jolting pain rolled throughout my body without pause. I cried out, falling to my knees. Nat, Sam, and Steve were yelling as my vision blacked out. I prayed that I would pass out so the pain would end.

Even as I was being pushed into a truck with the others, the electricity continued. Nat, despite her shoulder injury, tried to reach forward and pull the small device from my neck.

"You touch that, and you get shot again," One of the guards threatened. The other guard activated their baton. Worried that I would be electrocuted even more, I backed up. But the guard electrocuted the other guard instead.

"Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain," Maria pulled her helmet off. She reached forward and deactivated the device.

"Oh thank Atreya," I fell against the seat, my limbs still jerking every few seconds, "That was the worst thing."

"You alright?" Steve put his hand on my shoulder in worry.

"Fine," I groaned, "Nothing I can't handle."

Maria pulled out a burner, pressing it against the bottom of the van. She created a circle large enough for all of us to fit through. Nat slipped out first, rolling out from under the van after it passed. Sam went next, then me, then Steve and Maria.

"Where to now?" I looked to Maria, sore from all the work my muscles had done.

~*~

"We need a shot of morphine," Maria motioned towards me, "And we got a GSW. She's lost at least a pint. Both of them will want to see her first."

Maria pulled back a curtain, allowing us to ee a very much alive Nick Fury. Fury smirked, "About time."

Someone handed me a shot of morphine, which I put in my arm as Nick explained how he survived.

"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache."

"Don't forget your collapsed lung."

"Oh, let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good. 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 questioned.

"Can't kill me if I'm already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."

After a small struggle to stand, Fury ushered us to a small round table, where files on what was going on were spread out.

"Alexander Pierce declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said, 'Peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility.' See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."

"We have to stop the launch."

"Agent Altovar, you are the most experienced with the tech on the ship. However, Pierce was one of the few people who knew every access code. He would have changed them all by now."

"It doesn't matter," I said surely, leaning back in my seat, "Sorry Fury, but I have trust issues too. What with the possibility of being experimented on always present. There's a backup protocol. A way to get past everything. I need a knife. Anyone got a knife?"

Nat pulled a knife out of her boot, handing it to me. Gritting my teeth, I sunk the blade into the skin on my arm.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked in a panic, hand out, ready to stop me.

"The safety measure," I grunted, holding up four of my scales, "Requires DNA, not just hair either, I made sure of that. It will scan the scale and give access to the shutdown measures of the ship. Now can I please get a bandaid?"

A doctor rushed over and held out a pack of bandages. I set the scales down on the table. One for each of us. One person on each helicarrier, and an extra person in case one of us got captured or well, didn't make it.

"Once the Helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized," Maria placed a few bandaids on my arm, "How does the DNA thing work?"

"Where the targeting blades are, we need to replace only one with the scale. The ship will scan it and the backup self destruct measures will kick in. I'll have to put in some codes on one of the ships, but after that they'll go down." I noticed that everyone was looking at me in astonishment, "What? Royals know how to cover every scenario. It seems like no one on Earth knows how to."

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA. We take the ships down and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage-"

"We're not salvaging anything," Steve crossed his arms, determined, "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down SHIELD."

"SHIELD has nothing to do with this."

"SHIELD has everything to do with this," I stated, sighing, "SHIELD took us in, but Fury, there's nothing left to save. HYDRA grew right under all of our noses."

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed."

"How many paid the price before you did?"

"Look, I didn't know about Barnes," Fury turned to Steve.

"Even if you have, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? SHIELD, Hydra, it all goes."

A strange thought popped up in my head. I looked to Nick, curious, "Did you know about my encounter with the Winter Soldier?"

"He destroyed the devices on you, but I had a good guess that he was who you encountered. Even if you didn't remember."

"Unbelievable," I threw my hands up, "Unbelievable. All of you Midgardians, all of you Earth...people. I came here to help, to fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves. But none of you wanted that did you?"

"(Y/n)," Nat placed her hand on my arm. I jerked it away.

"No, no. I'm sorry if I'm a little upset, but all of this...This isn't what I wanted. I had more hope for Earth. But everyone lies, and fights. It's what this planet thrives on. No matter how hard I worked, it was always going to end up like this. And that's worse than any experiment the government could do on me. I need some air."

I stepped out of the stuffy cave and walked onto the bridge. The fresh air was nice, helping me clear my head as well. I knew I was being a bit more than a little hypocritical back there. I had lied to, not only as part of my work at SHIELD, but a lot in my life in general. The public had no idea what I was until New York, the other Avengers all thought I was human until I couldn't lie anymore, and Steve. Atreya, I lied so much to Steve and it was eating me alive.

The first lie was about Project Insight. Well, it wasn't really a lie because I didn't even know that he didn't know. But that put a rift in our relationship that I was lucky to be able to repair. Then, perhaps the biggest lie I had ever told, was Peggy. I didn't regret doing what I did, but I did at the same time. There was a strange, grey line that I was stuck on. I loved Steve, and I gave him that push to ask me out, but it wasn't morally right.

"Hey, you good?" Steve stepped onto the bridge beside me, "You kind of blew up back there."

"I'm fine, just overwhelmed," I wiped under my eyes, "All of this conflict sort of makes me miss my planet."

"Have you been back since you left?"

"Nope," I said simply, before laughing slightly, "I haven't seen my family in years. I've talked to them, but I haven't seen them. I haven't felt ready to go back. Now I don't feel ready to do a lot of other things."

"There are things you feel like you can never do. If you don't push yourself to do them, they'll never get done," Steve looked into the distance.

"There's hope for him you know," I nudged Steve's arm, drawing his attention back to me, "He saved my life. There's good in him, Steve. He'll remember you."

Steve pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged him back just as tightly, ignoring the throbbing pain that rang throughout my body. Steve was just as stressed, and tired as I was. Both of us just wanted to go home, and save Bucky.

"Thank you," he kissed my temple, "Now, let's suit up."

"You don't have your suit. Where are you going to go?"

Steve thought for a moment, "Do you remember when we visited the museum?"