Chapter 12

Nobody slept that night.

Wanda was captured, probably somewhere being tortured by Ross' men, and they had watched it happen. Bucky's leg wound had gotten worse and was probably infected by now. The stream that they sat a few yards from was loud and difficult to tune out. None of them felt safe enough to close their eyes in fear that when they opened again, Ross' men would be in front of them – behind them – all around them. On top of that, they had to stay awake waiting for the chopper Steve was sending to get them. So of course, they couldn't sleep. Sleep wasn't even part of the picture anymore.

By the time it was a quarter till dawn, all of them had silently, probably without realizing it, had given up any hope that the chopper was coming. They sat in a lousy circle in front of the cluster of boulders and broken trees, dazed and groggy as they waited. Waited. Nothing. Hours had passed since Ross' attack on the four of them – and now here they were – a group of three instead of four, waiting.

Their eyes were emotionless – bloodshot, and were underlined with horrid droopy bags that screamed 'I need rest.' Their foreheads were creased with worry lines so harsh that it didn't look like they were ever going to disappear. Nobody had said a word in the hours that they had been sitting there – nobody had even made eye contact.

Easily, Bucky was in the worse condition out of all of them. There was a small pool of red in the leaves and the soil he sat on top of, and his left hand was stained with dry blood. His balled up grey leather jacket reeked of must and sweat from being pressed against his bullet wound. The rough material stung against his leg, so throughout the night he had tossed it aside. He was never wearing that thing again.

He pinched the fabric of his sleeve and tore it off of his shirt. It was the first time any of them had moved since Wanda's capturing. He stretched out the grey piece of cloth and began wrapping it around his injured thigh. He could see clearly, and he didn't feel any sort of dizziness – but he was sure he had lost a lot of blood during the night.

Sam's eyes wandered to Bucky's leg as he watched him wrap the sleeve of his shirt around it. Finally, he asked, "How's your leg?"

Bucky stopped mid action, but he didn't look up to answer Sam's question. He merely shook his head dismissively, responded weakly, "It'll get better," and tied off the two ends of his sleeve around his thigh.

There was silence.

Suddenly feeling the undeniable urge to ask, Bucky looked up and spoke hopelessly, "It's dawn. When did Steve say the chopper would be here?"

Sam sighed and shifted against the boulder to straighten up, letting a moan slip between his lips as he did. "Yesterday they said it would be here in a few hours... but we passed that a long time ago so I don't know what to tell you – but they'll come. They always do."

"No, I know." Bucky nodded.

Again – silence.

Sam added, "I hope they come soon though, because–"

Scott interrupted furiously, "Are we just gonna sit here and pretend nothing happened last night? Are we seriously gonna avoid talking about it?"

"What do you want us to say?" Sam argued with the same fury.

"Maybe you could at least try to think of some ways to get her back!"

"You don't think I have? Just because I haven't shared it out loud doesn't mean that I haven't been thinking about it!" Sam shook his head before adding sharply, "And why do you always expect me to solve the problem? I'm not a magician!"

Scott narrowed his eyes, "Well I just figured you'd prefer it that way – it's not like you ever let me try to fix things."

"Because you screw everything up!" Sam retorted.

"I do not – name one thing I've screwed up."

"Oh gosh... you know, that's a hard task – give me a second to think about it. Um... well, you completely screwed up our chances at finding a safe house!"

"That was not my fault."

"Your friends, your idea – your fault!"

Scott nodded, "So maybe I did blow our first – not our only – chance at finding a safe house. But other than that, I think it's safe to say that I've done nothing wrong!"

"Maybe. But if you hadn't messed up the first time, we probably wouldn't be here now." Sam looked away, annoyed.

Scott sat back and raised his eyebrows in shock, "Excuse me?" Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head, and Scott's blood boiled as he spat, "You can't blame this whole shit-fest on me!"

Sam turned back to face him and he eased, "I'm just saying, maybe we would've been out of here sooner and Wanda wouldn't currently be captured."

Bucky closed his eyes shut and leaned his head back, praying that the two of them would stop arguing. But of course, they didn't. Scott flared his nostrils and flexed his jaw, "No you know what? You're absolutely right – yeah, this whole thing–" He flailed his hands around, gesturing to their surroundings, "–Is my fault and my fault only. Thank you, Sam."

Bucky finally interrupted, "Come on, guys – now isn't the time to point fingers... Scott's right, we have to save Wanda."

Sam crossed his arms and looked at him, "How?" He asked.

"I don't know." Bucky shook his head sadly, "I wish I did... So let's start thinking. Maybe we can come up with something while we wait for the chopper to get here."

Sam looked at the ground and raised his eyebrows, "You know Steve isn't gonna be happy when he finds out."

Bucky nodded, "Trust me – that's a good thing."

They heard the sounds of propellers swooshing through the air. Immediately, Sam thought it was the copper that had been sent on behalf of SHIELD to get the three of them. But as the sounds got closer, he worried – was it SHIELD's? Or did it belong to Ross. His eyes grew and he began to freak.

Shifting onto his knees, Scott offered, "Okay, so maybe we could–"

"Shhhh." Sam warned with his attention towards the sky.

Scott glared at him unbelievably – he assumed that Sam didn't want to hear his ideas and lost his control. "Are you serious!? This is what I'm talking about, Sam. You never let me–"

Sam leaped to Scott's side on the ground and covered his mouth, "Shhhh!" He turned his attention back to the sky, removed his hand from Scott's mouth, and pointed; unsure of which direction the sound was coming form. Carefully, they listened. The sound of the chopper grew closer and they all shared a tense looked.

"What is that?" Bucky whispered, following Sam's gaze towards the sky above them. "Is that Steve?"

"I don't know." Sam said quietly. That's when Bucky realized what he meant. Carefully and quietly, Sam and Scott raised themselves onto their feet and rushed over to help Bucky up off of the grown. Though they were surrounded by large boulders and tree trunks, they chose to sit in plain sight – which now seemed like a terrible idea. They hurried over to one of the oddly shaped trunks, trying cautiously not trip over themselves, and they slid across the leaves onto the ground to hide. They heard the propellers of the chopper land just feet away from them and felt the gush of wind blow the leaves downward towards them. Nobody moved, nobody said a word.

They heard the door of the chopper open, a pair of feet land against the rocky ground, and the same door shut loudly. A couple steps were taken by the person who stepped out of the chopper and they all tensed. They were so quiet, it was almost as if you could hear one another's heartbeats if you listened close enough.

They heard a soft sigh, a throat clear, and a female voice boom in the silence, "Alright – you guys can come out from behind the tree trunk now."

Sam squinted his eyes and furrowed his brows... he recognized that voice. Hesitantly, he poked his head out from behind the broken tree and laid his eyes upon a familiar blonde in dark blue jeans and a black vest covering her grey shirt. "Sharon?"

Following Sam's lead, Bucky too raised his head above the trunk; certain he'd heard the name before, and chuckled, "Sharon!"

Lastly, Scott popped his head up as well. "Who's Sharon?" He asked confused.

Bucky nudged him, "Steve's girlfriend."

"Huh." Scott furrowed his brows, I'd always thought he had a thing with Natasha...

"With all due respect," Sharon stuttered, "I'm not his... it's not, uh, he's not – we're not dating."

"Huh." Bucky furrowed his brows, Good.

Scott nodded, "'Not Steve's Girlfriend'," He extended his arms and gave her two thumbs up, "Got it."

Sharon smiled uncomfortably and brushed a strand of her blonde hair out of her face. She and Steve's dynamic was a complicated thing – surely everyone they worked with knew that. She had always admired him and everything he had accomplished as an Avenger and even before that, especially considering she had a hand-in-telling from Peggy, but she had never really looked at him as a potential love interest. It was more of a 'male role model' type of interest – which had always made sense in her eyes why he and Peggy found love in one another during the war. The kiss between herself and Steve almost felt wrong due to her knowledge of her aunt's past relationship with him. So the question of whether or not Steve was her boyfriend was funny to her – not that the concept wasn't desirable, but she knew it was wouldn't be right nevertheless.

Sam let his hands dangle loosely at his sides, "What are you doing here?"

Sharon turned to him, "I'm with SHIELD," she explained, "Or what's left of it. They sent me with the pilot to come get you – figured it might be easier if you had a familiar face as your escort."

"Who's 'we'?" Bucky asked.

"Maria Hill, the Bartons, Nat, and my 'Not-Boyfriend'." Sharon answered, raising her brows at the last one. She crossed her arms and straightened up, slightly more tense than when she arrived. And it was only a matter of seconds before Scott began pestering her with accusations.

"How do we know you're not lying and that you're not actually here on behalf of Ross?" He questioned, tilting his head towards her for emphasis.

Sam almost laughed, "At ease, Tic-Tac." He stepped closer to Sharon, crossing his arms, and asked softly and concernedly, "I gotta know... Are the others; everybody back at the SHIELD safe house, I mean... Are they okay?"

Sharon met his eyes and saw how worried he looked. She sighed and said truthfully, "Everybody's fine right now... Steve's tense – he was worried something bad was gonna happen while he was gone."

Sam swallowed hard, and almost on cue, Bucky raised his voice from the ground as he clutched his arms over the width of the broken tree he was behind. "Can I get some help?"

Sharon shifted her eyes onto Bucky, narrowed them, and then shifted them back to Sam and raised her eyebrows. Without an explanation, Sam sighed and paced over to Bucky's side, as did Scott, and they tugged at his arms. As he stumbled to his feet in their grasp, he flashed his leg and caught Sharon's eye. Her mouth dropped at the sight of his bloodstained wrapping around the wound and her eyes widened.

She rushed towards them and turned to Sam. Raising her voice, she wined, "They were gone for one day! What happened?"

Hardly acknowledging her, Sam grunted, "Ross happened."

Her eyes widened and her eyebrows shot upwards in an arch, "He found you?"

"His men did," Scott explained, "And they did this."

Sharon placed her hand on her hip and rubbed her forehead with her free hand, unsure of how to respond or how to explain what happened to Steve – who she had assured many times over that nothing bad could've possibly happened in the day and a half that they were gone. She shook her head, "How long has he been bleeding like that?"

"A while," Sam answered, "There was nothing we could do except wait for the chopper to get here." He gestured towards the running helicopter behind Sharon. She looked back at it quickly and sighed.

"I don't suppose you have any cotton gauze with you...?" Bucky asked innocently.

"We'll manage." She promised. Frantically, she made head gestures and urged them, "Come on – get him on the chopper. I'll call in Maria and let her know to get the medical team ready at the facility." She helped them guide Bucky towards and onto the chopper, looking around to make sure that nobody was around as she led him on.

Sam patted her shoulder as he passed her, "Thank you." And he meant it. She nodded softly and stepped off to look at their surroundings with her hands in her pockets. She scanned the area with her eyes, making sure one last time that they were completely alone and that none of Ross' men were watching them, and for the first time since she landed here, she relaxed.

Then she realized something that should've caught her attention before, but hadn't until just now. Didn't they say there were four of them?... She thought. Her eyes lowered to look at her feet and she thought again, No, maybe they said three.

She swiveled around to face the chopper and she leaned against the entry way, counting the faces she saw inside – Sam; one, Bucky; two, and Scott; three... did they say three?

She paused; her thoughts going crazy as she retraced her steps in her head to the conversation she had with Maria before she left. She tried to recall her exact words... 'We need you to go with the rescue team to pick up the others from their ex-safe-house. The pilot knows where they are – you're just going along for the ride as a friend. Sam, Scott Lang, Barnes, and Wanda Maximoff – make sure all four of them are brought back safely.'

Wanda... she thought. Her face dropped. She's not on the chopper, I don't think... I'll recount. She poked her head in again and counted three again, aside from the rescue team. She shook her head in confusion and called for Sam, "Sam?"

He looked up at her, getting up from his seat onboard and walking hesitantly to her side as if he already knew what she was gonna ask. "Yeah?"

She leaned in closer and whispered firmly, "Where's Wanda?"

He hesitated, and his breathing hitched softly. Swallowing hard, he sighed and explained guiltily, "She tried holding off Ross' men after Bucky was shot... she wanted us to get a head start, and..."

"And what, Sam?" She asked worried.

He gulped and looked away, forcing the words, "They got her."

She sank back in disbelief. Her eyes wandered around the area and found their way back onto Sam's guilty expression. She exhaled shakily and mumbled, "Jesus Christ..."

As the slow hours passed, they found themselves landing outside of the facility where Steve and the others were. They approached the dark double doors with two SHILED agents from the Rescue Team armed behind them and another agent alongside Sharon in front of them. Sharon had said that the extra agents were armed for their protection – which made them feel a little easier about the fact that they had practically formed a human shield around them.

As they walked, Sam's chest tightened and his expression twisted. In a few moments he would have to explain to Steve why Bucky had a hole in his leg and worse; why Wanda was not with them. The thought of the look he would witness on Steve's face made his stomach churn. What would he say? Whatever it was, it couldn't possibly be good.

The doors to the facility opened and the walked in with Bucky limping in Scott and Sam's arms. The bleeding had stopped during the flight over, but the pressure of walking for the first time in hours sent little droplets of red down Bucky's leg and he had to fight the urge to keep the sharp pain from showing in his expression.

Across the large room; Steve, Natasha, Clint, and the rest of the Barton family sat at a table gathered around a computer screen. Each one of them looked up as they walked through the doors, and all but Laura and the kids rushed over to greet them.

"There they are!" Clint teased as he approached, pointing to an imaginary watch around his wrist, "It's about time." Not yet had he, or anybody for that matter, noticed Bucky's wound.

Steve half smiled at them as he followed behind Clint and Natasha, as if for the first time since they had been separated he was relaxed. That won't last long, Sam thought, but covered it up with a smile.

Before really acknowledging them, Steve turned to Sharon, "Thank you."

Sharon smiled and shook her head, "No, thank you. If you hadn't called, the next place you'd probably find me is behind bars."

Steve lowered his eyes and nodded. What are friends for? He wanted to add, but he figured it might've been best to keep that to himself.

There was a small but surprising moment of silence. Sam's eyes wandered around, hoping that the damage would go by unnoticed for a few more minutes. But of course, being the expert at reading emotions that Natasha was, she sensed the dead air between him and the others and saw the subtle hints of worry in his eyes. She furrowed her brows and asked genuinely, "What's wrong?"

Sam shot her a look that was a mixture of anger and guilt. At her words, Steve turned his attention to him and picked up on the same feel as Natasha. He looked Sam up and down; his eyes stopping at his feet, and then they shifted over to Bucky. Only now did he notice that he was being held up straight by Sam and Scott. As his eyes traveled upwards, he finally noticed the large bullet wound in Bucky's leg. His eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened, "Good God, Buck! What the hell happened!?"

Sam gulped, feeling as though he were the one that had to explain. But Sharon sensed his nervousness and spoke up before he was given the chance. "Ross' men found them and attacked; shot Barnes in the leg and captured Wanda too."

Steve's jaw dropped and his expression turned cold, he retorted, "Captured Wanda!? How'd that happen?"

"She was holding the men off while the two of us carried him away from the shooting," Scott explained, gesturing to himself and Sam and then gesturing to Bucky. "They trapped her some sort of net and tranquilized her."

"And you guys didn't go back for her?" Natasha questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"Even if we did," Bucky protested hoarsely, "The result wouldn't have differed in the right way. It would've just meant that all of us got captured."

Steve shook his head in disbelief and clamped his hands on top of his scalp. He paced around in a tiny circle and exhaled, "God... Well we have to get her back." Natasha nodded and began lightly chewing on the nail of her pointer-finger. Here we go again... she thought.

"I agree," Bucky shared seriously, but it was followed by a raspy chuckle, "But can I please get my leg fixed up before we kick Ross' ass?"

"Do you have any idea where they might have taken her?" Steve asked the entire table, but the question was more directed towards Sam, Bucky, and Scott.

Bucky had spent a few hours with the medical team and they had stitched up his leg and stopped the bleeding. Now, he sat with the rest of the group in a small room with a circular table with his leg propped up on a separate chair as they talked amongst themselves about the situation. Staring off, he said convinced, "It's got to be the stupid floating prison in the middle of the pacific."

Natasha rested her arms from her elbows down to her hands; which were laced together, on her space at the table. "Okay... Let's say she is there." She suggested, "Let's say... she's in a completely different cell – if she's even alive –and the security is upped; let's say it's doubled – tripled."

The eyes of everyone at the table were lowered in the realization of what she meant. She continued, "There's no way we're getting through a second time – not on Ross' watch... at least not the same way as before."

"What are you saying?" Sam questioned.

"I'm saying we need to look for the loophole – there always is one." She explained, nodding her head.

"Okay; so we look for the loophole." Steve agreed and his eyes traveled around the table, "Any ideas as to what that would be?"

"If Ross really wants to keep us out, then like you said – security is what we need to watch out for; specifically that of the main entrances." Clint added.

Maria shook her head, "Why? You say Ross wants to keep you out, but why? It's not like he can guarantee that all of you will just show up accordingly."

There was silence. Wheels were turning – everyone was thinking. Maria was right – why exactly would Ross want to keep them out?

Then Natasha had a thought. She looked up and turned to Scott, Sam, and Bucky – who were sitting across from her in that order. She asked, although she already had an answer, "Why did Ross' men leave after capturing Wanda when they still had you three left to pick off? I mean, they knew Bucky was injured and that you couldn't get too far because of it – why did they just leave?"

They all opened their mouths to speak, but nothing came out. None of them knew the answer, but they figured that they didn't need to because of a feeling that Natasha already knew – which of course, she did.

But Steve was the one who answered. He sat back in his seat and exhaled, "Because Wanda is their guarantee."

"Right." Natasha turned her head to face Steve as she continued, "Because they know that having Wanda captured is an automatic advantage on their part."

Steve leaned forward and spoke with more understanding now that he was picking up on Natasha's interpretation, "It guarantees that not only would Ross get what he wants – which is all of us behind bars – but that he wouldn't have to do anything else, really, to achieve that because–"

"–We would do it for him." Bucky joined.

"We would come to him." Natasha continued, "He wouldn't have to send his men looking for us. So not only was capturing Wanda an advantage–"

"It was an invitation. He's inviting us in." Sam looked to Natasha for approval. And she nodded.

"Right."

Clint cleared his throat and exchanged looks with everyone at the table. "So do we accept it? Or do we do what we normally would and do the exact opposite?"

"We stop and think." Steve suggested, scratching the back of his neck. "Ross is expecting our RSVP to be loud and obvious – he thinks we'll show up in our uniforms begging for a fight."

"But what if we didn't? What if we took a different path?" Natasha questioned. She leaned in closer to the table and spoke in the tone of a woman with a plan – a good one too. "What if... we got them to come to us? Just like normal."

"They won't." Sam objected.

"Yes – they will."

Puzzled looks were shared from the members opposite of Natasha, except for Steve – who sat right next to her and as if he could read her mind; had a look on his face that screamed 'I know exactly what your plan is'. And she didn't doubt that he did for a second.

As the others slowly turned their attention back to her, as if waiting for an explanation to go along with her claim – she smirked and pressed forward with her idea. "Like you said: Ross wants us to come to him, one way or another. But even if we didn't and his trap fails, we don't have very many options as to what we do instead – so he probably expects that we'd keep a low profile. What he isn't expecting is for us to make a scene."

Sam sighed, "I still don't see how making a scene guarantees that he'd come to us."

"Because that's his job." Steve reminded them, "That's what the government and the public expects him to do. If he knows where we are, his job is to come for us immediately and put an end to this whole thing."

"So maybe he wants us to go to him – but if something big and loud were to happen; say..." Natasha hinted, "We cause a ruckus in the city..."

"He's still obliged to do something..."

"Like send in his men..." Sam figured, finally coming to an understanding of the plan.

Natasha blinked.

Scott pursed his lips and for the first time since they had sat down at the table, he spoke, "So what does that mean for us?"

Natasha glanced at Steve and sat back, gesturing towards him with the palm of her hands as if it was her way of giving him permission to take over. He grinned at the gesture and straightened up to face the others.

He nodded his head, with slight indication of pride behind his voice, and he confirmed what everyone was thinking. "It means we've found our loophole."

______________________

Just letting y'all know: my update schedule has changed (for those of you who haven't seen the message I posted on my profile). Instead of an update once every week; I'll be updating once every month. Sorry for the change - but I'm trying to take the necessary precautions to insure that my writing doesn't suffer and the book continues to be updated ON A SCHEDULE. Thank you. Thanks for reading!- _itsAfandomThing_