Welcome! This is my first Avengers story, so I hope you enjoy! Please leave a review and tell me if I can make anything better!

Lights were flashing all around him. He wanted to close his eyes and let death come, but he didn't. The aircraft began to shake as its descent became too fast; his resolve was unshakeable. Peggy Carter gazed at him, begging for him to come home. Every fiber in his being pulled at him to leave, to abandon ship and go back to his best girl. But he couldn't. Freezing water rushed up at him. Everything broke apart as the plane hit the water, throwing him forward. Peggy was lost in the impact as water began to fill the cockpit. He never closed his eyes.

Steve jerked awake as he sucked in a huge breath. A cold sweat was beaded on his forehead. He was still here, still conscious. He rolled onto his side and drew the blankets tighter as memories rolled in like the tide. They washed over him, battered him against the shore. All those people dead, their souls lost in the ferocity of war. Peggy now out of his reach, ill and dying in a hospital bed. Bucky was alive, but lost and wandering like a child without a home. SHIELD was deeply, uncurably infected with the virus that was Hydra. And here he was, believing every lie that was spoonfed to him and unable to do anything to stop it. He was a man out of time.

He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. They were set to leave for the Swiss Alps in three hours. Five in the morning was a long ways away, and he knew he wasn't getting anymore sleep. He swung his legs out of bed and tugged a shirt over his head. He might as well do something productive before they left.

The apartment was empty as he walked to the elevator. JARVIS would have said something if someone had come in. Quiet music played as he descended. Tony just had to have cheesy elevator music, despite the fact that everyone hated it. Including him. A bitter smile crossed his face as the doors opened. The one tradition that Stark clung to was the one that needed to go out of style.

Two hours later he was riding the same annoying elevator up from the gym. It stopped a floor early and the doors slid open, allowing Natasha to step in. She nodded at him and pressed the button for the shared floor.

"I didn't know you sweat like that in your sleep," she commented.

His mind flicked back to when he had first woken up. "You don't? I must be doing something wrong, then." He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. A ding heralded their arrival at his apartment. Rogers nearly decided to skip showering and instead go to the rec floor with her. He enjoyed her company. He walked out anyways.

He showered in silence, choosing to focus on organizing his thoughts instead of allowing himself to become lost in music. The water pounding on his body seemed to rinse off the dirt and grime of his nightmares. The tidewaters were murky and full of sand that got into every bit of his mind, and though the tide would be back later, it still felt good to be clean. He turned the water colder so as to sharpen his mind. Of course, their destination was plenty cold, but routine was routine. The frigid water was what he used to fully wake up. He finally shut off the water and used a towel to rub himself dry.

The rec room was largely empty when he walked in. Of course, it was like this much of the time. Only a few of them were always in the building at the same time. Tony was sprawled out on the couch while Nat was seated at the bar. Clint was perched on the counter in the kitchen, nursing a pot of coffee. The archer was often too sleepy to bother with pouring a mug of the stuff, so he drank straight from the pot. Even Wanda and Pietro, who were generally fairly early risers, weren't up yet.

"Look who finally decided to wake up," Stark sat up and rested his elbows on his knees as Rogers sat on the couch opposite. "Mr. United States, beaten to the waking world by none other than Clint Barton, father of three and notorious zombie. Anyways, let's get down to business. How are we going to do this, exactly? Just go to the Swiss Alps and ski for the fun of it?"

"I'm down for that," Barton grumbled.

"We're going in to extract some data and pick up a known stolen arms dealer. It should be a pretty quick in-and-out." Steve explained. "Clint, you're going to be on watch, and Tony, you're going to grab our guy. Natasha, you'll help with getting the data."

"How are we getting there and back, exactly?" Nat was staring out the window.

"We're going to take the quinjet. Drop off is around a mile away from the base we're targeting."

"This had better work, or I'm going to personally take Fury's head off." Clint hopped off of the counter and walked out, taking his coffee pot with him.

"Hey, you'd better bring that back!" Stark called after him. The pot suddenly came sailing back into the room and would have shattered on the floor if Rogers hadn't snatched it.

"Christ," the billionaire stood up and turned to go. "JARVIS, lock him out of his room for a few minutes." He ignored the AI as he began to protest.

Steve quietly got up and replaced the coffee pot. Barton would come back for it eventually. He sighed and leaned on the bar behind Natasha. She was lost in thought, her gaze still directed outside. The super soldier took in a breath to say something, but decided against it. It wasn't often that his friend was able to be at peace. He hoped and prayed that this mission would go as planned. There weren't many possible variables, but the ones that did exist were fairly major. The danger of a number of weather occurrences was high, as a snowstorm was forecasted for the day. A large amount of fresh snow had already fallen, which raised the danger of an avalanche as well. Being caught in one of those would lead to an icy death. And this time, there would be no thawing out.

"What are you thinking about?" Romanoff didn't turn to face him, and her voice nearly slipped his mind. He felt a twist of humor as he realized that he was the one that had been lost in thought.

"The mission," he murmured. "There's a lot that could go wrong, and I'm a strong believer in Murphy's Law."

"There's always a lot," she replied, "but I understand. Natural occurrences are not something you can just fight your way out of." The spy turned and looked at him. "There's something else, isn't there?" Her gray eyes searched his face.

"In a sense, but it isn't relevant." He glanced away.

"You're a bad liar, Mr. Rogers. Do I need to wash your mouth out with soap?" She smiled.

He couldn't help but smile back. "I thought those days were gone for me."

The redhead stood up. "They're going to be back if you keep lying like that." He thought she winked before she left, but he wasn't sure. He sighed and straightened up again. His mind was playing tricks on him. The super soldier found his way out of the room and down to the armory. He pulled on his suit and grabbed his shield. He was going to make sure that nothing happened to any of his team today.

What would have been an eight hour flight was cut in half by the quinjet's speed and distance capabilities. They reached their destination in a mere four and a half hours. It took another half hour to reach the base.

"Alright, you guys know what to do. Let's do this." Rogers took off at a run. He was surprised at the biting cold, though it was fading as adrenaline began to pump through his veins. Their first objective was to find the computers and download all the information they had. Fury hadn't specified what kind of intel it was, which had immediately raised red flags in Steve's mind. The last time he hadn't been told, it had led to the fall of SHIELD.

He kicked in the door and stood back as Natasha rushed in. Two men started to sound the alarm, but their cries were quickly cut off. The soldier joined the spy and they began the process of finding the control room. Intermittent reports from Hawkeye and Stark kept them informed on the status of the weather and number of men approaching. The snowstorm that he had been dreading was drifting in. It was already wreaking havoc on their communications. Static would overtake their earpieces from time to time and leave them in near silence.

"Cap! Over here!" Romanoff called. She disappeared through a doorway that he soon followed through. One wall was entirely dominated by screens. Several rows of desks ran the length of the room, and one central bank of computers sat in the center.

"This is not what Nick talked about. He said they didn't have the funds for this kind of thing," Rogers said as he pulled out the drive he had been given. He plugged it in and started the download.

"I don't know what to tell you, other than one of you two was very, very misinformed." Nat was keeping a wary eye on the two doors at the back of the room.

"Hey lovebirds, there's quite a few of these guys heading for the main base. I'm currently searching for our target." Stark broke in. Steve rolled his eyes and quietly thanked the powers above for adding a headpiece to his suit. His ears were burning.

"Is that thing nearly done? I'm not liking what I'm hearing on the other side of those doors," Natasha said as she ducked behind one of the desks.

"Yeah, yeah, nearly there." Rogers felt his throat tighten as he saw the images that were beginning to flash across the screen. The documents they were taking weren't intel on the arms dealer's clients, they were information on the super soldier project. Not only on him, but also on failed subjects and numerous other cases that had occurred with the human experimentation. Several black-and-white pictures of Bucky appeared, each with his body in various stages of reconstruction and health. A few had a mere metal skeleton in place of his left arm, while others had the full product of their work. He grit his teeth and yanked the drive out as soon as it was finished. He and Fury were going to have a talk.

"Which door, Cap?" Romanoff glanced back at him and paused. Something must have shown on his face. She gave him a questioning look.

"The left. It sounds like there's nothing there." He pursed his lips and pulled his shield off of his back. His partner got the message and nodded. There was most definitely a number of men outside that door. The spy crept up to the door and placed her hand on the knob. Rogers threw his shield in as soon as she opened the door. It ricocheted off of several men and walls before coming back. He caught it and immediately brought it down on the nearest man's head. Someone jumped on his back and started to claw at his face, tearing his mask back. The captain slung his assailant to the floor and winced as he felt the scratches on his face well up with blood.

"You good?" Natasha asked as she shot a pair of men who tried to come down the hall.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He wiped the blood away and took off at a run. They soon burst outside and found themselves facing four snowmobiles rocketing down the mountain face. "Stark, have you found anything?" Snow was beginning to fall at a fast pace, limiting their visibility.

"Not yet, but I'm getting close. JARVIS found a hidden room." He replied. "I know, I know, I need to hurry up, don't rush me." The billionaire let out a grunt like he had been hit. "Geez, these guys have some guns."

Steve suddenly found that all the oxygen was knocked out of his lungs. He hit the ground and lay on his back, trying desperately to take in some kind of air. He had lost focus and allowed himself to be hit, and now he was paying the consequences. One of the snowmobilers had directly hit him. Any movement at all sent pain shooting through his side. Rogers lay there gasping like a fish out of water as a face appeared above him. The man grinned.

"What a surprise, to find the great Captain America helpless." His heavily accented voice barely reached the captain's ears. What did reach him was the gun pointed at his face. "Where is your shield now?" He was about to pull the trigger when an arrow materialized in his right eye. The man fell forward, instantly dead. Steve finally found the strength to push the man off and stand up. His side hurt like nothing else with every breath he took.

"Jesus, Rogers, could you have eaten that thing any worse?" Clint sounded concerned.

"Probably," the soldier ground out. He barely blocked a punch from another man, then kicked him in the chest. His lungs just didn't seem to take in enough air. Natasha appeared at his side and helped him take out the rest of their attackers. The storm was becoming worse and worse, but it didn't hide the unmistakable roar of more snowmobiles.

"I found the… he has…!" Tony's voice cut in and out. "Get out!" He yelled. "Barton, I'm coming to get you!"

"What's going on?" Steve grabbed a nearby snowmobile that was still running and jumped on. Whatever had Stark in such a panic wasn't good. The ground began to shake as Romanoff climbed on behind him and wrapped one arm around his waist. It would have been pleasant if they weren't fighting for their lives. A sound like that of a roaring beast met their ears. A bluish glow shot overhead, telling them that Stark had left. Rogers gunned it, wincing as the falling snow stung his face. Whatever was coming wasn't good. He felt a sudden burn in his right arm and nearly lost control of the snowmobile. The other men that had been coming were chasing and firing at them.

"Natasha, take the shield!" He yelled. The spy grabbed his shield and held it behind them in an attempt to keep them covered. "God, I hope this works," the captain lowered his head and tried to keep his eyes open. The distant roar was quickly becoming the sound of a deafening freight train. Romanoff clutched tighter at his side. He felt some relief as rocks began to zip past. He had judged his descent properly.

"Be ready to jump, Nat. On my go," his eyes searched for the overhang he had seen earlier, but the snow was falling too fast and the beast behind them was too near. It was going to consume them whether they liked it or not. Their pursuers had already fallen victim, but the creature could not be sated. It was breathing down their necks.

Someone who was watching from a distance would have seen the snowmobile shatter into a million pieces as it hit the rock.

Steve once again felt beyond winded as he reached for Natasha. She was limp and unconscious as he pulled the shield from her back and clamped it onto his own. He tucked her into his chest and tried to brace for their landing. No amount of preparation could have told him how badly it would hurt. They slammed into the ground and tumbled. And then they were falling again. It was a short fall, but it was enough. Rogers cracked his head on the rock below and everything disappeared.