The Winter Warrior // Captain America

«Chapter 22»

Several months passed, and Anna had vanished from the radar. HYDRA had been on the low as well, but they popped up from time to time. 

Steve had returned to the Avengers, and he and Bucky had moved into the Avengers Tower. Sam Wilson visited them every once in a while because even though he lived in DC, the three had become great friends. 

In between missions, they kept a close eye on the news and the internet to see if they could find any trace of Anna, and where she might be, Bucky most of all. He had spent countless nights doing research and running tracers. Nothing. No sign of her. It was as if she had never existed. 

The Avengers had just returned from a mission in Sokovia, and to celebrate their victory on retrieving the Scepter that Loki had once used back in 2012, Tony Stark did what Tony Stark did best: Throwing a party.

They had invited everyone they could think of, and Steve hadn't hesitated to shoot Sam a message, inviting him to the party. He said he'd be there, and he hadn't lied. He showed up half an hour after the party had started, considering he lived four hours away from New York after all.

At the moment, Steve and Sam were caught up in a game of pool while Bucky chatted with Natasha and James Rhodes, Tony Stark's best friend.

"So it was the six of us against an entire fort of HYDRA soldiers. Piece of cake." Steve shrugged as he fully missed the ball he was aiming for. 

Sam chuckled. "Yeah, I bet," he said, skillfully shooting the black ball into the hole in the corner. 

Steve held up his hands. "Good game," he admitted, and the two shook hands. "Let's get a drink." 

"Sounds like one hell of a fight. Sorry I missed it," Sam said as they walked to the bar. Two drinks were placed in front of them. 

"If I had known it was a firefight, I absolutely would have called," Steve replied.

"No, no," Sam scoffed. "I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing person case," he said. "Avenging is your world.  Your world is crazy." 

"Be it ever so humble," Steve said.

"You find a place in Brooklyn yet?" asked Sam.

"I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn," Steve answered. 

"Well, home is home, you know?" Sam shrugged. Steve smiled, nodding. "I'm gonna find Bucky." Sam patted Steve's shoulder before walking off. 

Steve sauntered through the tower and ended up at the bar with Thor. The god fished out a small bottle from his pocket and held it up. 

"I gotta have some of that," one of the elderly men said. 

"Oh, no, no, no," said Thor. "See this... This was aged for a thousand years." He poured some in a glass and handed it to Steve, who held it to his nose. He expected it to smell very strong, but it actually wasn't so bad. "In the barrels built from the wreck of Grunhel's fleet. It's not meant for mortal men." 

"Neither was Omaha Beach, Blondie," said another man. "Stop trying to scare us. Come on." 

Thor glanced at Steve with amusement, and the supersoldier shrugged. "All right," Thor agreed, adding a tiny amount to the man's drink. 

"So, nothing?" Sam asked, sitting across from Bucky, handing him a beer. 

Bucky shook his head. "Absolutely nothing. I constantly end up on some blog that posted about the Triskelion. They took pictures, but they keep getting deleted. You can't even see her face, so it could be anyone," he answered.