I Can't Help It - Steve Rogers

Chapter 35

Steve enters the room with a tablet and hands it straight to Thor. Rachel takes note of Steve's unhappy expression and watches as the tablet is passed from Thor straight to Tony. "What's this?" he asks as he takes the tablet. "A message. Ultron killed Strucker" Steve answers. "And he did a banksy at the crime scene, just for us" Tony adds sarcastically as he, Nat and Rachel look at the photo. "This is a smoke screen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Nat questions. "Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss" Steve summarises and Rachel quickly starts typing on the computer. "I bet he... Yeah. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased" she states when she finds the empty files. "Not everything" Tony states.

Everyone has their own box of files to sort through in search of anything helpful. Steve grabs another box and places it on the desk as he says "Known associates. Baron Strucker had a lot of friends". "Well, these people are all horrible" Bruce adds as he flips through some papers. "Wait, I know that guy" Tony stops Bruce and points at a piece of paper. "From back in the day, he operates off the African coast, black market arms" Tony explains as he takes the documents from Bruce. Steve gives Tony an unimpressed and disappointed glance and Rachel bites back her smile. "There are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything" Tony assures Steve while everyone gathers around him and skims over the documents. "He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. I was all very Ahab" Tony continues to explain to everyone. "This?" Thor asks, pointing to a marking on Ulysses Klaue's neck. "That's a tattoo, I don't think he had it" Tony answers.

"Those are tattoos, this is a brand" Thor replies while pointing to the different markings on Klaue's body. Bruce quickly searches it on a computer and explains it's translation of 'thief' in a less friendly way in an African dialect. "What dialect?" Steve asks. "Wakanada? Wa- Wakanda" Bruce stutters. Tony and Steve instantly look at each other in concern. "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods" Tony starts. "I thought your father said he got the last of it" Steve assumes. "I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?" Bruce asks the pair. Steve looks at the shield resting against a draw behind them while Tony answers, "The strongest metal on Earth".

- - -

The team arrive on a boat on the African Coast where Klaue is thought to be operating. Tony, Thor and Steve approach Ultron, Klaue and the twins themselves while Nat, Clint and Rachel use stealth to travel the boat, hoping to use this as an element of surprise. Ultron attacks Tony and two of his bots fly straight towards Steve and Thor. Steve avoids one and makes his way towards the twins but Wanda sends her energy at him and he's sent backwards. Nat, Clint and Rachel start attacking the men surrounding them, using their combat skills and Rachel occasionally using her powers. Her violet energy mixing with the blue blur that speeds around the ship and Wanda's red energy.

"Thor, status" Steve orders. "The girl tried to warp my mind. Take special care, I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty" Thor replies before he stops responding to comms. Rachel sees Steve get knocked into equipment by Pietro and she starts running towards him when she sees Wanda appear beside Steve. Pietro quickly runs into Rachel as well, knocking her over the railing and to the lower level. She groans in pain when Wanda sends a flare of her red energy at Rachel's temple and her vision becomes hazy as her vision starts. She along with Steve and their teammates, besides Clint become distracted by their visions.

Steve enters a hall with tables set up everywhere and men standing in their army uniforms and ladies wearing dresses as the music plays. The flashes of cameras overwhelming Steve as he takes in the multiple scenes happening around him. The brawls, the wine stains, the dancing. "Are you ready for our dance?" Peggy suddenly asks from behind him and he turns to her shocked. "The war is over Steve. We can go home" she assures him as he looks around frantically, in a panic. He dances with Peggy, holding his first love close to him until he turns and sees everyone is gone, including Peggy. Suddenly, Rachel appears in front of him and he holds her close for fear of her disappearing like everyone else in his life has. Before he can do anything, Rachel vanishes from within his own arms and he could only watch as he pleads for her to stay. "Rach. Don't leave me, please".

Meanwhile, Rachel relives the worst day of her life. She sits in the living room with her parents just like she did when she was 16 years old. Suddenly, men burst through their front door with guns raised at them. Her parents scream and plead for them not to shoot while Rachel retreats to the corner of the room in fear. One man looks over at her before looking back to her parents. "She's ours" he states before walking towards Rachel. Her parents start protesting trying to get them to stop but the two of the men turn to her parents and pull the triggers. Rachel screams as she sees her parents lifeless bodies on the ground and cries. However, this vision is different from her memory when a familiar voice is heard. "Rachel!" Steve shouts as he enters the house. Rachel watches confused, knowing this isn't a part of her memory. Before Steve can react one of the men raises their gun at him and fires and Steve collapses to the floor. "No!" she screams and sobs uncontrollably. The men grab her and take her from her home and she sees her parents and Steve's lifeless bodies as she passes them.

"Rachel? Baby, look at me. Are you okay?" Steve asks worriedly as he sees her crying and trembling. She tries to take a deep breath and starts nodding at Steve before he holds her face in his hands. "It's okay, you're okay. Relax" he comforts her as he wipes the continuous flow of tears from her face. "Are you okay?" she stutters as she looks up at Steve. "I'm okay, don't worry" he answers but she knows he's lying. She continues to tremble as she takes deeper but still shaky breaths as she tries to forget the vision, the memory. Steve helps her to her feet and leads her back to the jet, with Clint, Nat and Thor following. He keeps his arm wrapped around her as she shakes and releases a sob every now and then and sits beside her on the jet.