Steve crept down the corridor resolutely trying to ignore his situation. He focused intently on the mission and nothing else. Truthfully it was getting more and more difficult not to think about what was going on, and he was beginning to worry that he would end up doing something stupid. At first he had been too shocked to really process what had happened to him. As the hours had passed, the situation had become more real and he was having a hard time dealing with it.

He supposed he should be used to being abruptly flung through time. It was a testament to the ridiculousness that was his life that travelling seventy years into the past, a past he had been living in only a few years ago, was not the strangest thing to ever happen to him. There were other more pressing complications than just disorientation and annoyance though. Mainly Bucky. Natasha had known that this was hard for him, but he wondered if she understood the horrible guilt and temptation.

The more he thought about it the more he wanted to change things. It would be so easy to just talk to Bucky. To tell him, "Don't go on the train, talk me out of that plan." Or "Don't save me, I'll be fine." He wanted so desperately to fix things. If he could stay, if he didn't have to switch back with his past self, things could be better. Maybe he could stop Bucky from falling, or he could kill Zola, or he could find the Hydra base and save Bucky, prevent the Winter Soldier from ever being created.

It was better for him to tune it all out, force his thoughts away from these dangerous ideas. He had to focus on the mission and not on Bucky. For the most part he failed. It was hard to ignore Bucky even when he didn't look or speak to him. It was also hard to ignore the constant reminders that he had gone back to the forties. The architecture, the weapons and uniforms of the Hydra soldiers, it was all a constant reminder. He was also used to using better equipment. Mentioning his knives had been a mistake. It had been so simple really, to tell Bucky to suggest them to him. He remembered Bucky suggesting he carry some. Had he changed the past? Could he change anything more important? He really needed to take his own advice and stop thinking about it.

On the other hand, there was a part of him desperate to interact with Bucky. This could be his last chance to ever be with Bucky, and he was going to waste it by ignoring his friend. Against his better judgement, he wanted to talk with Bucky. To tell him about the future, to have the friendship he'd been missing for years. To fill the hole he'd had since Bucky had fallen.

Caught up in his thoughts, Steve barely paid attention to where they were going. He focused only on what was happening in the moment, trusting Natasha to lead. Finally they reached a door, and Steve readied himself to kick it down. He needed the action to take his mind off everything; taking down the guards they'd come across had helped. He reached out and tried the handle first, just in case.

It was unlocked. Sighing internally, mostly at Hydra's stupidity, Steve opened the door.

A startled Hydra guard jumped to his feet swinging his gun wildly towards them. Steve shifted his shield to cover his torso and flashed his best Captain America face.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked sternly. The guard looked caught off guard. Steve had to admit that there was very little chance of the guard confusing him for one of Hydra's many other, shield carrying, American flag wearing enemies.

"You know that there's no way you can beat me." he said, "I've faced the Red Skull himself."

The guard's face clouded with anger. While he was still fearful, he appeared determined, steeling himself.

"You will die Captain. You are no match for us! Hail-" He was cut off abruptly as Natasha hit him on the head from behind.

"He's not our guy." She jerked her head toward the agent on the floor "He wasn't prepared enough for this to be a trap, so the phone has to be in here." She turned and began to search the room.

Steve looked around. It looked like a normal office. There was a desk and two chairs. Two filing cabinets sat next to a nearly empty bookshelf.

"Is it in here?" Bucky asked, holding up a small box, "This was in the desk."

"Let me see," Steve took the box and broke the lock off. Sitting inside was a smartphone.

Natasha took the phone and began fiddling with it.

"His password was "Hail Hydra"" she said, grinning.

"Really?" Even Steve knew that that password was a bad choice and he knew very little about choosing passwords. Tony had complained and teased for weeks when he'd found out the password on Steve's phone was his birthday.

"No but that would have been much funnier."

Steve smiled, and Bucky looked at the two of them with a strange expression on his face. Steve felt another pang of guilt. He'd only been thinking about himself, his desire to fix his past mistakes and his selfish need for something that had been lost to him. He hadn't worried about how Bucky might take his behavior. He hadn't been ignoring Bucky exactly, but he'd been withdrawn and a little cold. He didn't know how to fix this. He needed to keep his distance without being such a jerk. There didn't seem to be any way this could end well for him.

"I know why he brought his phone now." Natasha announced grimly, "It's proof."

"Proof that he is from the future?"

"Yes, but he also needed a way to prove that Zola could trust him." She paused, deciding how to tell him whatever it was.

"Steve. He brought some of Zola's notes on the Winter Soldier."

Steve froze.

"What do you mean?" he asked trying to keep calm.

"Zola had plans for this project since," she glanced at Bucky before looking back to Steve, "Since he heard about Erskine's success with you. Our guy must have known that the best way to get Zola to trust him was to feed Zola's ego, show him what he had accomplished. Zola did say that the Winter Soldier was instrumental in his plans for a new world order."

"That information doesn't help us find our guy." Steve said. Tracing the signal had been their best way to find this guy, he needed to concentrate on a new plan. He didn't need to think about how Zola had already planned-… No. He took a deep breath. Dwelling on things he could no longer change would help nothing. Except, as a voice in his head was still persistently whispering; he could change this. He didn't even have to warn Bucky. He could kill Zola, punish him for everything he'd done and would go on to do in the future.

"Steve? You alright?" Bucky's voice startled him out of his vengeful reverie. Bucky and Natasha were both staring at him. Bucky looked a little wary, and very confused. Steve realized he was scowling fiercely. Steve forced his face to relax remembering that he was trying not to push Bucky away.

"Sorry" He said, feeling slightly abashed.

"It won't be as easy to find him as we thought." continued Natasha, as if Steve hadn't just been trying to glare a hole in the floor, "But this isn't a major setback. We know he's on the base somewhere. It's just a matter of finding him."

"Great." sighed Bucky, "More sneaking around."

Steve smiled slightly. He could do this.

"Black Widow?" gasped the frightened Hydra agent, "How did you find me?" Natasha smiled.

"Lucky guess."

Steve suppressed a smile. Of course Natasha could make the truth, "We wandered aimlessly around the base for several minutes until we happened to stumble on you" sound mysterious and threatening.

"You shouldn't even know I'm here. The timeline should have been altered once Captain America died."

"Clearly Captain America's still alive." said Bucky sounding annoyed. Steve couldn't blame him this whole situation was getting more ridiculous by the minute.

"Not for long." Snarled the man, "I've told Zola about what happens to Captain Rogers. If they can't kill you before the war ends, Hydra will dig you up and make certain you won't be a threat." He smirked at Steve. "Maybe when I get back to the future you'll be taking orders from me. If you aren't dead."

Steve kept his cool. The man was desperate to escape and trying to get him angry.

"Give it up." He said, "If you had succeeded Black Widow and I wouldn't be here."

This seemed to throw the man.

"You're the Steve Rogers from my time? But… that shouldn't be possible. It'd be a time paradox."

Bucky sighed. "If you had changed time, you should be a time paradox too. Can we just stop talking about all this? It really doesn't seem very important."

"He's got a point." said Natasha, "This conversation is a waste of time. You're coming with us if you don't want to die."

"Ahh, I'm afraid not." Steve tensed as he recognized the voice. He turned slowly to face Zola flanked by several armed guards. "Unfortunately I can't let you take him with you. Or permit you to leave at all."

Zola was as ratty and twitchy as Steve remembered him. During the war Steve had almost pitied Zola. He had always seemed so nervous, afraid of Steve, of Red Skull, of everything, as if he hadn't quite known what he had gotten himself into. Steve had still hated him of course, for being Hydra and for what he'd done to Bucky, but it hadn't been the same kind of hatred he'd held for some of his other enemies. It had made the realization that Zola had been quietly plotting the entire time all the more horrible.

Now he could barely stand to look at Zola. He wanted intensely to punch Zola in the face and have it actually be effective this time.

"So, understand that you are from the future." He began, "Sargent Barnes excluded of course."

Steve said nothing glancing out of the corner of his eye toward the others. Natasha had hung her head in defeat, but he could see her fiddling with the handcuffs behind her back. Bucky stood straight, looking afraid but determined. Steve supposed that for Bucky being captured by Hydra was one of the first things to make sense in this whole ordeal.

"You will all understand that I am… curious. You won't mind answering a few questions would you?"

Steve stared at Zola, doing his best to show utter contempt. He needed to stall and give Natasha the time to break out of her handcuffs. He tested the chain of his own. It wasn't particularly strong he could break them easily. He really needed to think of a plan. It would be much harder to overpower the guards with the tesseract powered guns, especially since they had lost the element of surprise.

"Why don't you ask the one person from the future who is actually on your side?"

Zola didn't even glance back at the man in question.

"He's already given me all the information I need from him. It is important to know what your enemy will do too you understand. After all he did say that you managed to destroy Hydra's plans."

"I tend to do that often." Steve said, "It's one of my many talents."

Zola scowled at him.

"You are not as amusing as you think you are, Captain. It doesn't matter. You will answer my questions soon enough."

"You haven't actually asked anything yet." Natasha butted in. Zola's scowl deepened.

"I still don't understand why you can't just ask him. He's on your side you know" added Bucky, "He's way more likely to tell you the truth than we are."

"It is rude to interrupt, Sargent Barnes." Snapped Zola. He seemed to be getting frustrated.

"Now you will answer my questions. After the war was I allowed access to your blood? I may need to take some samples now, the secret to immortality is at stake."

"I'm not immortal." Steve hated being called that. He had no idea if it was true or not but the thought was horrifying.

"You'll forgive me Captain, but you've been alive for almost a century and you look almost exactly the same as when I last saw you. If you aren't immortal you certainly-"

"Wait," interrupted Steve, "What exactly has he told you about me?"

"I will ask the questions here."

Steve glanced toward the Hydra gent from the future. He was at the back of the room standing by the guards. He looked very out of place slouching in his modern jeans next to the ramrod straight soldiers. He had been smirking at Steve but now he looked…worried.

"I don't know if you got my blood. I wasn't involved."

Zola scowled at him.

"Although I do remember being called in to give samples a few years after the end of the war. They never told me who was using them though."

"Very good Captain." Zola smirked. He continued on for a while talking about cooperating or something else vaguely menacing. Steve tuned him out. The good news was that the agent had not given Zola a lot of information. He seemed to know about his continuation of Hydra and Steve stopping Hydra's plans but he didn't seem to know any specifics. Besides the plans for the Winter Soldier. That meant if they could get out with the guy they could leave without destroying time or something equally horrible.

"You will answer me." snapped Zola. For a moment Steve was confused. He tried to figure out what exactly Zola had been saying.

"Sir!" cried a soldier running in, "These are not the Captain's only accomplices. Some Americans have been spotted."

"And you could not take care of it by yourselves? I'm occupied at the moment."

"Sir we do not know what damage they-"

"You are useless." spat Zola. "You stay and guard the prisoners. I will be back soon."

He walked out. He seemed to be angry, yet he still looked nervous somehow.

As soon as the door closed Natasha leapt at the guards. Steve rushed to help her tackling their guy.

"You can't do this!" he hissed, struggling, "Zola will protect me he needs me."

"I don't think he can do anything for you now."

"It doesn't matter, we are Hydra! Cut off one head two more will take its place!"

Steve knocked him out.

Natasha pulled some rope out and tied him up quickly while Steve broke Bucky's restraints.

"Come on" Steve said hurriedly, "Either the rest of the team got caught or we're gonna get caught in the explosion."

He slung the now unconscious Hydra agent over his shoulder, kicking aside the Hydra guards.

Alarms were going off now, he could hear feet pounding along the hallway. There was no need for subtlety now, he pulled his gun, Natasha and Bucky following his example. It wasn't really necessary, the whole base was in a confused panic, they barely had to fight their way out.

The base went up in flames as they reached the tree line. They made their way back to the camp quickly. Natasha was fiddling with something on her wrist.

"As soon as you're ready we can go back." she said.

Steve nodded.

"There you are." said Dugan, "We were beginning to think you'd been trapped on the base."

"Nah, we're way too lucky for that." said Bucky.

"Luck's one name for it." said Falsworth.

"I guess you'll be on your way then?" asked Jones.

"Yes" said Natasha, "You'll have your Steve back soon."

"Well, it was nice to meet you, but I can't say we're sorry to see you go." The rest of the commandos shuffled a little but seemed to be in agreement.

"We're off anyway." said Dugan, "We've got to move on. We'll leave you to say good bye."

"So." said Bucky awkwardly, "I guess this is good bye."

"Not for you." Steve said, "I'll be back as soon as I'm gone."

"Yes." agreed Bucky, "but the real you, not, I mean the you that's from my time not…"

"Yeah." Steve wished he could think of something to say. He had dreamed of being able to go back and see Bucky, to change things or just get a proper good bye. Now that he had it he wasn't quite sure what to do. As much as he'd missed this he didn't really belong here either, it seemed he was out of place in both times.

"Look" he said, "I know things have been strange between us. I guess it's just been so long without you I kind of didn't know what to do. And I just want to say thanks. For everything."

"It was nothing."

"Thanks anyway."

They stood in silence for a few more moments but it wasn't quite as awkward.

"Well I guess you'll be seeing me soon."

Bucky smiled a little, "It's gonna be hard explaining this whole mess."

"I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Yup. You'll believe anything."

Steve snorted.

"Good luck."

"You too." Bucky said.

"Are you ready?" called Natasha.

"Coming." Steve turned and walked away.

He scooped the Hydra agent over his shoulder again. Natasha looked at him. He smiled at her, it may have been a little shaky, but she nodded and flipped a switch on her wrist. Steve had the rather unpleasant sensation of his body being squeezed and stretched simultaneously and then in an instant the forest disappeared.

"Wow that was fast."

"Indeed."

"Sometimes even I'm surprised with my genius. I really outdid myself this time."

"You kind of ruined the moment Tony."

"Whatever, you're not the one who just discovered the secret to time travel."

"Tony?" Steve opened his eyes. He was standing in Avengers tower. Tony, Thor, Bruce and Clint were all staring at him with interest. He dropped the Hydra agent onto the floor with a soft thump.

"Hey Cap. How was your little trip? Your replacement was really dull, he just lay around all the time. He was less annoying than your but that's not saying much."

"Don't mind him." said Bruce wearily, "He hasn't slept in over two days."

"I don't need sleep! I've had coffee and anyway I'm not tired. I'm never tired. Genius never sleeps! That's an expression right? If it isn't it should be. Jarvis make that an expression."

"I'm afraid I can't do that Sir."

"Never mind then."

"Go to bed Tony, your time machine worked."

"No."

"I'll tell Pepper on you."

"Fine."

"Do you need someone to take of him?" asked Clint gesturing with his foot toward the Hydra agent on the floor.

"Yes please." Steve was too tired to deal with Tony right now. He just wanted to go to sleep.

"I'll take care of that then. How're you doing Nat?"

"I'm fine." Natasha looked tired as well. Well not very tired, but more tired than she normally looked.

"I'm going to bed." Steve announced.

"It is good to have you back." said Thor, clapping Steve on the shoulder.

"Yeah." said Clint, "It's good to have you back. Even Tony missed you."

Tony protested halfheartedly as he wandered out of the room, presumably to go sleep somewhere.

"Listen" said Bruce quietly. Thor, Natasha and Clint were carting the Hydra agent out of the room.

"If you need anyone to talk to. I'm not that kind of doctor but I am willing to listen."

Steve felt relieved and a little grateful. HE doubted that he would take Bruce up on his offer, but it was nice to know someone was willing to listen. He suspected Bruce knew all about that.

"Thank you." He said quietly and Bruce nodded.

Steve woke up with a splitting headache lying on the forest ground. He moaned a little as he opened his eyes and sat up.

"Someone's awake." Bucky grinned at him, "Bout time too."

"How long have I been out?"

"A whole day."

"What?!" Steve jumped to his feet. "What happened? The base? We were attacked. The others?"

"Relax, they're fine. We destroyed the base without you."

"Why was I out?"

"You got your self shot you idiot."

"I was shot?"

"Yeah. It was some weapon we'd never seen before. It gave some kind of electric shock. Knocked you right out. We decided to leave someone to watch you and finish the mission ourselves. I can fill you in later."

"Ok." It was a lot to take in.

Bucky was staring at him, a strange look on his face.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just good to see you again is all."

"I haven't been out that long have I?"

"Nah. I guess your stupid's just rubbing off on me."

Steve snorted.

"You know full well any stupid I have is your fault."

Bucky grinned at him, and despite everything Steve felt like there wasn't anywhere else he'd rather be than right there.

Far off in a different time, an older and wiser Steve was sitting down with Sam discussing possible sightings of the Winter Soldier.

AN: Sorry this took so long. I had a really hard time with the ending. I had multiple different endings that never seemed to come out nicely. This is the one I was happiest with. I hope you enjoyed it. I didn't really develop the Hydra agent so you can imagine him however you like. He didn't tell Zola too much because he wanted leverage over him. Steve from the past was unconscious the entire time he was in the future because Steve from the future didn't remember traveling to the future and the Tesseract didn't want to mess up the timeline. Zola's plans for the Winter Soldier may have been influenced a little bit the plans the Hydra agent showed him but he would have come up with it on his own. All constructive criticism welcome.