Beyond

Slight Snag

Lance stumbled along, his head was starting to get really fuzzy, he couldn't even remember where he was or why he was walking.

He bumped into something, it sent a flash of pain through his hip but it didn't quite break entirely through the fog in his head.

Someone asked him if he was okay, or at least that's what he thought they asked. They could have said anything for all he knew.

Then someone was looping his arm over their shoulders, they took away the weight from his dog-tired feet then they were moving.

Lance felt relief flood his system as he dropped his head onto their shoulder. He was so, so, so, so....

~~~

Steve frowned.

He kept shooting glances back at the door of the restaurant.

Lance had gone inside about 5 minutes ago and he hadn't come back.

They had sat outside at Lance's request but now Steve was wondering if this was a bad idea.

After Lance revealed his identity to the world lots of people knew who he was as well as they knew the other Avengers.

Lance is the blue paladin and the news had been talking about him for months now.

And with Lance's announcement to the world, it would be impossible for HYDRA or AIM to ignore that Lance existed and that he was important to the Avengers.

They had to expect trouble.

Especially after they sent the Winter Soldier after him.

Steve had to admit that Lance was a pretty big weakness for all of them.

He had landed himself into their lives and now he was a major part of it. Steve couldn't imagine their lives without him now.

"I'm going to see if he's okay." Steve decided.

"Steve." Bucky frowned. "He's probably fine."

"But-"

Bucky shot him a sharp look. "Give him some space, sometimes that's what teens need."

Steve hunched his shoulders and slumped back in his chair. He waited.

Bucky watched him the whole time he ate his food before he shook his head. "The kid doesn't need extra parents."

"He doesn't have parents." Steve explained quietly. "He hasn't got anything."

"What do you mean?" Bucky asked as he stole a forkful of Lance's food.

Steve shook his head at him. "Lance said that everyone he knew died, he's all alone."

Bucky had frozen his eyes flying wide. "Steve, go find the kid."

"Huh?"

"His food is drugged." Bucky stated as he got up.

"What? How do you know?"

"HYDRA heightened my senses, I know it's drugged," a look passed over Bucky's face one of serious concern, "we've gotta find him."

Steve didn't need to be told twice. He was quickly inside eyes scanning the room.

Lance was nowhere in sight.

"Excuse me." He said, catching one of the waitresses as he opened his phone zooming in on Lance in the photo. "Have you seen this boy?"

The waitress nodded. "Yeah, one of his friends helped him out that door over there, he was acting weird, bumped into a table and he couldn't even talk."

"Alright, thank you." Steve nodded glancing to Bucky who was already moving towards the door.

This was really bad.

He tapped in Tony's number as he and Bucky tried to figure out where Lance might be.

"Hey Cap, how's lunch?"

"Lance has been kidnapped."

Tony was quiet for a second. "What? Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"His food was drugged, he went to the toilet but didn't come back, the waitress said someone helped him out of the building but now he's gone."

"Okay, I can track his watch." Tony replied easily. "He's not far from you, ha. Whoever took him didn't think to remove the watch."

"You got him?" Bucky asked with a frown.

Steve nodded.

"Natasha's on her way to your location, I'm sending you the street name and if you need any extra back up, call."

"We will." Steve promised.

"Bring him home safe." Tony added before he ended the call.

Steve let out a short sigh. He didn't think he could handle losing Lance. He was just a teenager in their charge, he shouldn't be getting into danger like this.

Steve glanced towards Bucky as they made their way towards their escape. He would protect Lance to his best ability.

~~~

Lance flinched.

His eyes were blurry and his entire body felt heavy.

What happened?

Tugging his arms he slowly realised that he couldn't move. His arms were restrained.

Instant panic tightened around his chest, restricting his breaths. His head was still fuzzy, too fuzzy to understand where he was.

All he knew was that he was trapped and restrained. Never a good mix.

"Hello paladin."

Lance flinched again, this wasn't going to end well.

Each breath was jolting in his chest, and so shallow he could hardly breathe.

He whimpered calling out for Blue but his head was spinning and he couldn't tap into the bond, even when she called for him.

Her voice distant.

"Don't worry, you're only the bait."

"No." Lance grit out, forcing the words to form as he ignored the splintering pain.

"No?" The person asked as something gripped his face.

He pushed his eyes open to see something green.

"Who-"

"You are the one who is going to bring the Winter Soldier to us."

"Bucky."

"He is a weapon not a person."

Lance would have argued but the person dropped his head and he sagged against the restraints unable to keep his eyes open.

~~~

"You're making a mistake."

"We can handle his threats, we can keep him unconscious."

"And the Avengers? They will destroy you to get him back."

"We are luring them into a trap. We modified the drones and now we just need them to show up."

"And what about the Widow?"

"She too will fall."