Who Won in the End?

      The Soldier already knew that this gym would be a great outlet– he gave one mild swing at the punching bag, causing it to reel backwards. It was odd to be back in a semi-normal setting, and he was trying to be professional about it. As it was, he could hear the heavy gym door creak open.

        “Sorry, the course hasn’t begun yet. Still setting up.”

“Like i’d take your class, punk.” Steve mused from the doorway, tossing down his own gym bag and making his way over to his old friend. “Were you just planning on saying hi in the halls eventually, Buck?” He’d been taking it easy the past few days, serum making the healing process almost unneeded. “when did you get in?”

And once he did look up, he smiled. Steve had seen Frankie at the warehouse, helping carry out Alissa and others to safety. It was something that made him proud, seeing how the boy had grown into someone so fit for a team, especially in the absence of his father. “Hey, kid. Good to see you.”

@cap-rcgers

Brooklyn didn’t even know what room her dad was in, but she kept running. The blonde sprinted down the hall until a particular mop of blonde hair came into view. She stopped so suddenly she slipped on the floor and fell, but quickly scrambled up and into the room. Brooklyn didn’t even break stride and she jumped onto the bed and hugged him tightly. “Don’t ever do that again.”

Steve had been floating in and out of consciousness for a few hours now, the meds given to him enough to tranquilize a horse. Even then, he was not fully sedated. He heard a small scuffle, looking up just in time for the blonde bundle of his daughter to come flying at him. The bullet wound to his side not yet healed, he hissed as her form met his. “Careful B, your old man still has a hole in him.” He teased through gritted teeth, though he did his best to send her a smile. “I’m back, nothing to worry about.”

Natasha had an interesting time knocking out the guards. They had been a different from normal humans, and she chalked that up to Madame Hydra. She and the team had made their way over to where the people were kept. 

Upon arriving there she saw Steve hurt. She made her way over to where he was. “It was silent, Rogers. Would have been better if you had been there.” She said a tight smile at her lips. In her own way that was her saying that she had missed him. She moved over to the door of the cage opening in before making her way inside. She made her way over to him wrapping an arm around him. “Come on, Rogers, It’s time to go home.”

He chuckled weakly, relieved to see her of all people. There was no doubt in his mind that with Nat there, they’d all make it out. “And the team said they hated my jokes. I knew they grew on you.” He took the arm, slowly raising to his feet, leaving his free hand to hold the cloth to his ribs to staunch bleeding. “Good, i’m glad to go. Kinds tired of vacations for now, this one blew” 

Margot shot on instinct, there was no need to second guess now. Each bullet lodging itself exactly where she needed it to as she gracefully moved through the organised chaos to the cage. Spotting him immediately ( hadn’t changed in the 7 years since she’d last saw him ) and having to hold back the relief that threatened to destroy her concentration. She’d been given a second chance to make things right between them.

“The weather could have been a little better but I can’t complain.” The Super Soldier daughter indulged him with a dry reply, unsure whether to offer a hand until her blue eyes landed on the wound and then there was no question. “People are gonna start thinking you like being shot, Rogers.” Margot smiled tightly, free arm wrapping round her dads waist to take some of his weight.

It always stung, the realizations of how much he missed. And looking at Margot now, he was reminded of that. She looked so...grown. She was grown, no longer someone who needed to be kissed goodnight and told monsters weren’t real. So much had passed between them, it felt like a chasm at times. 

All he felt was the dull resounding ache of pain that pulsed through his body. It had made sense at the time, to put himself in harms way rather than the student that the villains had been attempting to ‘study.’ and then suddenly there was a bullet hole in the side of the star-spangled man. such a silly name he mused idly, groaning as he struggled to an upright position. The shot had been two days ago, but due to the confines of the bars draining his serum, Steve had yet to completely heal. He held a jacket to the wound, it still bleeding sluggishly even as the bars hissed, alerting them all of the release of the dampeners.