Chapter Text
“Sam copy,” Steve said hurriedly into his com as he kicked down another metal door in front of him.
To say the least, he was not thrilled when Fury had pulled him and his team onto this mission to track down an old Hydra base that they believed Pink Skull had taken residence in. He was supposed to leave for vacation tomorrow with his husband and son. Although, more than anything he wanted to bring Pink Skull in. It was his fault Peter was hurt and his team was put at risk, all because Skull was after him. The only way he would ever get a proper’s night sleep again was if she was behind bars.
“Sam?” Steve called out again into his com, his voice growing in concern. It had been twenty minutes since he had last heard from any members of his team and he was growing weary as to why they weren’t responding.
“Sorry Steve,” Bucky’s rugged voice finally replied back. He sounded out of breath and strained. “We ran into some trouble. Pink Skull kept some of her goons here to keep us busy while she got away. Sam took a few hits, I am helping him back to the jet where Nat is waiting. The area is clear.”
“Copy,” Steve said, taking a breath of relief, happy to know his team was safe. Although, he hoped Sam wasn’t injured too badly. Why was it every time Pink Skull was involved, a teammate got hurt. He had to stop this.
“Be there soon.”
With that Steve took off down the long dark hall, passing by kicked down doors that led into more empty rooms.
He was just about to take the next left where he knew he would find the exit to the underground building, but froze mid-step as he heard a weird static noise buzz through the air behind him. Slowly turning around, keeping his shield up he spotted a faint pink light glowing from the very end of the hall.
Strange, he thought taking a step closer for a better view.
A faint laugh echoed from the room and hair raised on his arms as he thought that laugh sounded too familiar.
“Pink Skull,” Steve whispered to himself, treading quietly down the hall. He wouldn’t let her get away this time.
As if he was walking on the broken glass he carefully edged up to the open door, straining his ears to hear more. Suddenly, the laughing stopped and the room became eerily silent. Taking a deep breath in, trying to regain some of his energy Steve barged through the door.
The room was not what Steve expected. It was a small hangar, a lone single jet sat at the far end. Strange medical equipment sat on a desk cluttered around test tubes and paper piles. An examination table sat in the center of the room.
“I see you came to join in on some of the fun Captain,” Pink Skulls voice echoed out.
Steve spun on his feet, his eyes searching for where the voice came from. But Pink Skull was nowhere in sight.
“I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I let a lady party alone now. Come show yourself Skull.” Steve called out, his stomach twisting in hurtful knots of worry. He did not like this, it felt like he had walked into a trap.
“Oh this is not a trap Captain,” Pink Skull said as if she could read his mind. Out of the blue, she emerged from the shadows of the jet. “I am actually shocked to see you here. I didn’t realize how many resources Fury had. And that I am apparently worthy of his time. But now that I do I will be sure to be more careful. Although, soon no one will be able to stop me. I will be untouchable. Just like you.”
A cruel twisted smile formed on her lips. From across the room, Steve’s shoulder started to ache.
He had felt fine throughout their journey to the base and his shoulder only started to burn a little a few hours ago. Nothing to worry him. Now though, the pain was amplifying and he had to blink back tears in his eyes as it almost became unbearable.
“What did you do to me?” Steve choked out, leaning heavily against the examination table for support as his legs wobbled below him feeling like jelly. He hadn’t felt this weak since he was a kid.
Skull studied him intently from afar, before carefully as if she was stepping around mouse traps, started to make her way over to him.
“Oh, my dear Captain, I think you know what I did to you. You just don’t want to admit that I have defeated you so easily.” She said mere inches away from him.
Steve couldn’t help but flinch as she grabbed his face in her hands making him look straight at her. The instant contact made the pain running through him a thousand times worst, which he didn’t even think was possible. A sharp agonizing moan left his mouth as he tried to contain a scream. He would not give her that satisfaction.
“I am becoming you, Steven Grant Rogers.” Pink Skull stated, her face shining with excitement. Her smile vile. “That little object I embedded in you is draining you of all your strength. Eventually, you will lose that serum that runs through you and when you do your body will catch up to you from all these years. Exciting stuff isn’t it!? You have mere months at most to live.”
With that, she let go of Steve’s face and took another step closer. Their faces close enough to kiss.
“And all of that serum that is leaving you is being transferred into my bloodstream. The weaker you become the stronger I grow. And when you’re at your weakest I will take everything, and everyone from you like you did to my great-grandpa. When I am through with you, you will die alone and unloved.”
Steve’s whole body became rigid. The fear pumping through him almost masked the pain. There was no way that anything she had said to him could be true. How could his serum be transferred to her? She had to be bluffing, but he was much too weak to call her out on it as his body began to tremble.
“Leave my family alone. Your problem is with me Skull. Not them.”
A harsh laugh escaped Skull’s mouth as she cocked her head, appearing to be studying him.
“You’re a fool, Steve Rogers. And you will let your whole family die because of that.”
With that, Steve lost it. Serum or not he would not let her hurt his family again. He would rather die. Lifting his shield, which was pretty much falling out of his tired arm, he jabbed Skull in the chest, catching her off guard and sending her flying backward.
“That was a mistake,” she yelled back charging straight at him. A sharp punch to Steve’s ribs caused him to fly backward, crashing him into a wall with a thud. His vision went black as he tried to blink away stars. There was no way Pink Skull should be able to hit him that hard. She was not enhanced.
His stomach knotted as he remembered what she had told him. He was somehow losing his serum and she was gaining it. She hovered over him smiling.
In the distance, Steve swore he could hear people shouting. Steve choked as she grabbed him by his neck and dangled him off of the ground. Too weak to do anything, all Steve could do was gasp for breath.
“I will not kill you now, I want you to suffer as I did.” With that, she dropped him to the ground where he crumpled into a heap gasping for air. “As I stated before Captain, the transfer takes some time and can be extremely painful. At most you have months. I would make the most of it as soon as possible because your family has even less time.”
With that Sam, Bucky, and Nat appeared in the room firing their weapons at Pink Skull who had run back to her jet and was taking off in the air.
“Steve!”
Steve heard someone shout his name from the way. His ribs felt like they had all been broken, the throbbing on his shoulder pounded into him, and he could feel bruises forming on his neck. Tony would not be happy.
“Hey Steve,” Nat’s sweet voice called out to him. Slowly he opened his eyes, squinting in pain he tried to move his head to look at her.
“We’re going to get you home okay. You’re going to be fine.”
And Steve didn’t know if it was because of how much pain he was in, but Nat sounded like she was almost crying.
“I-Im s-orry,” he mumbled out as a harsh cough racked through him.
Natasha shushed him as he tried to talk. Gently she pulled his body onto hers. She smelt like Nat, sweet as vanilla even though they just fought a battle. A small smile formed on his face, and he knew he must look crazy. But Nat was here with him and Sam had Bucky. Those three would make sure he got home safe.