The van moved through the broken street. Adam sat on one side with Steve beside him. Across from them, Sam and Natasha sat shoulder to shoulder. Two soldiers in black masks sat near the front.
Steve had not looked away from the floor since they were pushed inside. His hands were locked in front of him. His shield was gone. The noise outside faded behind the metal walls, but the shock on his face had not faded with it.
Finally, Steve spoke in a low voice.
"He looked at me like he didn't know me."
Sam looked at him. "That is impossible. That was seventy years ago."
Steve's jaw tightened. "Zola had him. Bucky's unit was captured back then. If Zola experimented on him... maybe that is how he survived the fall."
The van went quiet again while Adam listened without cutting in.
'It is still adjusting to the original timeline.' Adam thought. 'The words match the path. Only Natasha is different.'
His eyes moved to her shoulder. In the original scene, Natasha should have been bleeding there. Sam should have noticed it. That wound should have become the reason Maria made her move.
But Natasha was fine. Adam had changed that part.
Natasha noticed his look and raised one eyebrow, as if asking what he was staring at. Adam looked away.
He had already pushed one part of the scene aside. Now he had to see if the rest still held.
Steve lowered his head a little more. "Even when I had nothing," he said, "I had Bucky."
The silence stayed until Adam looked at the restraints on his own arms.
"That is sad and everything," Adam said, "but do we have a plan for getting out of this van?"
Sam looked at him like he had just remembered Adam was there.
Natasha leaned back against the wall. "I thought you had one. You keep pulling new powers out whenever things get bad. Use one and get us out."
Adam gave her a look. "So now I am the emergency exit?"
"You transformed into a giant and jumped away from S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters," Natasha said. "That makes you at least a door."
Sam's mouth almost opened. Then he closed it and looked at Adam again. Steve was still quiet, but even he glanced at Adam for a second.
Adam turned his head toward the two masked soldiers. His eyes stopped on the soldier sitting slightly to the left.
"Why don't you get us out?" Adam asked.
The soldier did not answer. The second soldier shifted his gun slightly.
The left soldier reached down and pulled out a short black rod. A white electric charge snapped to life at the end of it.
Sam leaned back. "Okay, I take it back."
The soldier moved fast. Instead of striking Adam, the rod slammed into the other soldier's side. The charge cracked against the armor. The second soldier jerked once and dropped hard against the floor.
Steve's head snapped up. Natasha's eyes sharpened.
The first soldier reached up and pulled the helmet off. Maria Hill's face appeared under it.
She took in a breath and grimaced. "That helmet was trying to crush my skull."
Sam stared at her. "Who is this?"
Maria looked at Adam first, not Steve. "How did you know it was me?"
Adam smiled. He looked at Steve, who was still staring like the world had decided to throw one more surprise at him.
Adam did not explain. He only lifted one restrained hand as much as the metal frame allowed.
The locks answered him.
Steve's cuffs opened with a soft click. Sam's followed, and Natasha's opened right after. The metal around Adam's wrists loosened next. The collar around his throat clicked open, and the frame around his legs released with a small snap.
Everyone looked at him.
Adam rubbed his neck and acted like nothing strange had happened. Natasha held up her open cuffs.
"You could do that before."
Adam brought both hands together in front of his chest and smiled politely.
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
Natasha stared at him for half a second. Then the corner of her mouth moved.
Maria moved to the back of the van and opened a hidden panel near the floor. The metal plate lifted and showed a dark opening below.
"Move," she said.
The van slowed near an underpass. Maria dropped through the opening first, and the others followed one after another, with Adam last.
A few moments later, Rumlow's men stopped the van above them. By then, the group was already gone.
The scene changed to another vehicle.
Maria drove this one herself. The road outside grew quieter with every turn. After some time, the vehicle reached an old dam facility that looked abandoned from the outside.
Adam looked through the front glass. The place had the same dead feeling he remembered from the movie. It did not look like a hospital. It did not look like a S.H.I.E.L.D. base either. That was the point.
Maria parked near a side entrance and led them inside. The corridor was cold. Lights buzzed above them. Machines hummed beyond the walls.
Steve walked first, but his steps slowed when Maria opened the final door. Natasha stopped beside him. Sam froze behind them.
Nick Fury was lying on a medical bed.
He looked badly hurt, but alive.
Adam stood near the door and watched the reactions. Steve's face changed first. Natasha's eyes widened for only a moment before she controlled herself again. Sam stared with his mouth open.
Fury turned his head slightly.
"About time," he said.
Natasha stepped closer. "We watched you die. Your heart stopped in the operating room."
Fury looked at her like the answer should have been obvious.
"Tetrodotoxin B," he said. "It slows the pulse until the body looks dead. Banner made it for stress, and I found a better use for it."
Steve stared at him. "Why hide it from us?"
Maria stood near the bed. "The attempt on his life had to look successful."
Fury's one eye moved over all of them.
"If I was already dead, they would stop trying to kill me for a while."
Natasha's face stayed cold. "And you could not tell us?"
Fury did not smile.
"I did not know who to trust."