Bros Reunited

After the taxi rounded a bend, Natasha suddenly pressed a concealed button on the dashboard. A holographic projection rose from the back seat, displaying a live feed from inside the Arbitrators Building in Malibu—Chen Tian, Tony, 2B, Banner, and Barton were surrounded in the conference room by agents led by Agent Hill and Coulson.

"What's going on?" Steve asked with a frown.

"After you triggered the highest-level alert, Fury immediately sent people to surround the Arbitrators' headquarters." Natasha's voice turned grave. "He suspects the Arbitrators are planning something, and all core members are now under 'protective surveillance.'"

In the footage, Tony was dramatically spreading his hands as he said something, while Chen Tian sat quietly at the conference table with a faint smile on his face. Coulson stood beside Agent Hill, looking wary while maintaining a polite distance.

"Will they be in danger?" Steve asked.

Natasha gently shook her head. "Fury only suspects something right now. He doesn't have any solid evidence yet. But..." She paused, her gaze deepening. "Chen Tian asked me to tell you that the next operation needs to be carried out by the two of us."

Steve's brow furrowed slightly. "What do you mean?"

"The other Arbitrators will remain under S.H.I.E.L.D. surveillance," Natasha said in a lower voice. "They'll make perfect bait and draw all of Fury's attention. And the real mission..." She gave Steve a meaningful look. "The two of us will complete it in the shadows."

The taxi slowly turned onto a secluded road and finally stopped before an inconspicuous warehouse. After shutting off the engine, Natasha turned to Steve. "Chen Tian designed this very cleverly. Once Fury discovers that someone used his biometric data to break into the archives, he'll immediately target every Arbitrator. But in reality..."

"In reality, we can operate right under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nose." Steve picked up where she left off, understanding flashing in his eyes. "So Chen Tian deliberately let the others be monitored?"

A sly smile curved Natasha's lips. "The best cover is making your enemy think they've already captured every key player." She pushed open the car door. "Come on, Captain. The stage has been cleared. It's time for us to step on."

The warehouse was filled with the faint scent of motor oil and the metallic tang unique to electronic equipment.

Steve looked around. The abandoned warehouse was piled Man-high with rusted mechanical parts and dust-covered wooden crates, without the slightest trace of advanced technology.

Natasha walked straight toward a weathered concrete wall covered Man-wide in graffiti and cracks. Her fingers rapidly tapped several seemingly random bricks in a rhythm like some kind of code. Steve noticed that every touch caused a nearly imperceptible blue glow to ripple across the brick's surface.

"This is..." Steve had barely begun to ask when the wall suddenly emitted a soft mechanical hum. The apparently solid concrete split down the middle, revealing a passage roughly two meters wide. Soft white lights automatically came on within, illuminating a metal staircase leading underground.

"Welcome to the Arbitrators' 'rat hole.'" Natasha made an inviting gesture, a mysterious smile on her lips. "We currently have twenty-seven safe houses like this deployed around the world. This is the closest one to the Trident."

Steve followed her down the stairs and involuntarily stopped at the sight before him. The underground space was at least three times larger than the shabby warehouse above. Holographic displays covered the surrounding walls, monitoring activity across the globe in real time. The central workbench displayed all kinds of Stark Industries' latest equipment, from nanotech suits to miniature drones, Man and all.

Natasha pulled Steve briskly to a rectangular metal table in the center of the safe house. She lightly pressed her palm against its surface, and the ordinary-looking tabletop immediately lit up, transforming into an enormous holographic display.

"Time is tight. We need to get straight to the point." Natasha's fingers swiftly moved across the tabletop, bringing up a series of gamma-emission charts related to the Tesseract. Blue holograms rotated between them, displaying gamma radiation data from different areas.

Steve stared at the spinning projection, then suddenly pointed at a blinking red dot. "Wait. Enlarge that area."

With a sweep of her fingertip, Natasha zoomed in on a desert region in New Mexico. Steve frowned. "The files I saw in the secure archive showed that S.H.I.E.L.D. has a research base here, codenamed Project Pegasus. Fury is researching energy weapons there."

Natasha froze for a moment, then laughed helplessly. "New Mexico? Chen Tian and I really do have a strange connection to that place."

Steve looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Natasha lightly swiped across the hologram, marking the New Mexico coordinates in red. "It's a long story." A smile tugged at her lips. "When this mission is over, you can look up the complete records of the Thor Incident in the Arbitrators' archives."

She strode toward the equipment area, took a black tactical suit from the wall, and tossed it to Steve. "What we need now is action, not a history lesson." Her voice turned serious. "We need to get there fast. That vigilant fox Fury will move it soon."

Steve caught the tactical suit. The instant his fingers touched the nanofibers, the uniform automatically adapted to his body. "How are we getting there? S.H.I.E.L.D. must have blocked all conventional transportation routes."

Natasha pointed toward the depths of the warehouse and pressed a concealed button on her wristwatch. The floor suddenly split apart, and a sleek, aggressively designed motorcycle slowly rose from below. Its jet-black armored surface gleamed with a faint deep-blue light.

"Tony's work." She stroked the motorcycle's gleaming fairing. "It has a miniature arc reactor installed, and 2B added a special tactical coating—it can evade radar and interfere with surveillance." Natasha suddenly showed an unusual look of hesitation. "It's just... a little too fast. The last time I test-drove it, I nearly hit a wall."

She took a high-tech wristwatch from the wall and tossed it to Steve. "So I'll leave this important responsibility to you, Captain. This thing can directly link to the control system through your nerves. With your current reaction speed, you can handle it."

Steve caught the wristwatch, and a holographic interface immediately lit up across its metal surface, displaying a three-dimensional structural diagram of the motorcycle. He noticed miniature weapon modules concealed near the handlebars and the faintly visible energy vents near the rear wheel.

"This isn't a motorcycle." Steve raised a brow. "It's a fighter jet with wheels."

A sly curve formed on Natasha's lips. "That's why it takes Captain America to tame this Beast." She pointed toward a concealed exit at the rear of the warehouse. "We need to leave during a gap in the S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite scans. This bike can take us straight to New Mexico at 0.8 to 1 Mach."

She suddenly took two streamlined black helmets from a hidden compartment in the motorcycle and tossed one to Steve. "You'd better put this on, unless you want to know what it feels like to have your face torn off by supersonic airflow." The helmet gleamed under the lights, with an 'A' emblem printed on its side.

"One Mach?" Steve took the helmet, his fingers brushing over its nanocoating. "Tony turned this thing into a supersonic missile?"

Natasha had already put on her helmet. A soft mechanical sound rang out as its visor automatically sealed. "More precisely, a supersonic missile that flies close to the ground." She swung onto the back seat and patted the front. "Get on, Captain. This will be far more exciting than the Harley you rode back then."

Steve put on the helmet, and holograms immediately lit up within the visor, displaying speed, altitude, and route information. When he mounted the motorcycle, the seat automatically adjusted to the optimal riding position, while the touch panel on the handlebars glowed deep blue.

"Hold tight," Natasha's voice came through the helmet's internal comm system, carrying a trace of excitement. "The first acceleration might remind you of how it felt when the Super-Soldier Serum transformed you."

The motorcycle engine gave a deep roar, and the energy vents began glowing blue. Steve could feel the mechanical Beast awakening beneath his hands, impatient to tear through the restraints of the air.

Pierce stood in his office, Washington's Independence Monument visible in the distance beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. He gently swirled the whiskey in his hand, lost in thought.

Sitwell strode into the office, fine beads of sweat still covering his forehead. "Sir, we just received word," he said in a low voice. "Director Fury has already sent people to surround the Arbitrators' headquarters. All core members have been placed under house arrest in the conference room."

The corner of Pierce's mouth lifted almost imperceptibly. "Why?"

"Captain America triggered the highest-level alert. Someone used Fury's biometric data to break into the classified archives." Jasper wiped away his sweat. "Fury suspects the Arbitrators planned it."

Pierce set his glass on the desk. Glass struck marble with a crisp sound. "Interesting." He turned to look out the window, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes. "It seems the Arbitrators also believe Fury is hiding something."

Jasper hesitated. "Sir, our surveillance shows that Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers are not among those under house arrest."

Pierce suddenly laughed, and the sound sent a chill down Jasper's spine. "A perfect opportunity." He walked to his desk and pressed a concealed communication button. "Tell the Winter Soldier. We move tonight."

Jasper's eyes widened. "Sir, we're going to the Project Pegasus facility now? But there are still S.H.I.E.L.D. guards there—"

"That is precisely why this is the best time." Pierce cut him off, cold light glittering in his eyes. "Fury's attention is entirely on the Arbitrators. The facility's defenses have been reduced by at least half."

He picked up a folder from the desk and handed it to Jasper. "This is the latest layout of the facility. Tell the Winter Soldier that I want the Tesseract extracted intact."

Jasper accepted the file, his fingers trembling faintly. "If we meet resistance..."

"Eliminate every obstacle." Pierce's voice was like ice. "Including Fury's lapdogs."

After Jasper left, Pierce returned to the window. He activated the communicator on his wristwatch. "Rumlow, have the strike team stand by. Once the Winter Soldier succeeds, take over the facility immediately and destroy all experimental data."

Crossbones' deep voice came through the communicator. "Understood, sir. Do we leave any survivors?"

Pierce looked at his blurred reflection in the glass and revealed a cold smile. "Leave none."

Outside, bright sunlight illuminated Pierce's face.

"Once I have the trump card, it'll be time to deal with those disobedient Arbitrators."

Night was as black as ink. The New Mexico desert lay shrouded in darkness, with only a few solitary stars glittering in the sky. Steve and Natasha lay hidden behind a sand dune, their nanotech suits automatically adjusted to a deep black that blended into the night. Even their visors had become matte, reflecting not a trace of light.

"This place is defended even more tightly than I expected," Steve said in a low voice as he observed the research facility three hundred meters away through vision enhanced by the Super-Soldier Serum. High walls and electric fences surrounded the main building. Searchlights swept the perimeter every thirty seconds, while armed guards patrolled inside the walls with military dogs.

Natasha swiftly used the motorcycle's onboard computer to scan the building schematics. "Fury designed this place to be airtight." She frowned in thought. "We need to find an opening..."

At that moment, a violent explosion suddenly erupted on the east side of the facility, fire instantly lighting up half the sky. A burst of intense gunfire followed.

"What's happening?" Steve raised his head alertly.

Natasha immediately pulled up thermal imaging. "Someone got here before us!"

The image showed at least twenty heat signatures engaged in a fierce firefight inside the facility.

As the image magnified, Brock Rumlow's familiar face appeared on the display. He was leading a fully armed special forces squad through the facility's defenses.

"Rumlow?" Steve's voice was full of shock, Man. "The leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s special operations team?"

He carefully examined the equipment of those soldiers—the standard gear of S.H.I.E.L.D. special forces, down to the clearly visible S.H.I.E.L.D. insignias on their tactical vests.

Steve turned to Natasha in disbelief. "What is this? Friendlies attacking friendlies?"

Natasha's brows knitted as she rapidly analyzed the situation. "I don't know either, but they're advancing toward the underground laboratory." Her voice suddenly grew wary. "That should be where the Tesseract is stored."

Steve stared fixedly at the surveillance feed, watching Rumlow expertly direct the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives through one security door after another. His expression gradually shifted from shock to confusion. "This doesn't make sense... They're all on the same side!"

Natasha suddenly grabbed Steve's arm. "Captain, whoever they are, this is our chance! While they're creating chaos, we can—"

Steve's thoughts were like fallen leaves caught in a whirlpool, churning endlessly between shock and confusion.

Why would the S.H.I.E.L.D. special forces led by Rumlow attack their own facility? The familiar tactical movements, standard equipment, even the encrypted S.H.I.E.L.D. signals coming through their communications channels—everything indicated that this was indeed a S.H.I.E.L.D. operation.

"Steve!" Natasha's voice pierced his confusion like a blade. "This is not the time to think!"

Steve abruptly snapped back to himself and saw that Natasha had already mounted the supersonic motorcycle. Her eyes beneath the black helmet shone with determination. He took a deep breath and temporarily forced down all his questions—the Tesseract's safety was the priority.

"Go!" He leaped onto the front seat, and his nanotech suit automatically linked with the motorcycle's control system. The engine let out a low roar as blue light bloomed from the energy vents.

The motorcycle shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, cutting a streak of black lightning across the desert. Steve pushed its speed to the limit, and the scenery around them instantly blurred into indistinct blocks of color. The HUD inside his nanohelmet constantly refreshed its route, guiding them around the blast zone and patrols.

"Approaching the west entrance!" Natasha's voice came through the internal comm. "There are two guards!"

Steve's right hand left the handlebars, and his Vibranium shield silently slid down to his wrist. Just as the motorcycle was about to crash into the perimeter wall, he sharply pulled up the front wheel, launching the bike into the air as two silver flashes shot from the edge of his shield.

The two guards fell before they could even sound the alarm. The motorcycle landed steadily within the facility, its tires shrieking against the ground.

"Clear!" Natasha flipped off the bike, already holding two miniature pulse pistols. Their helmets rapidly shifted into combat-ready forms. "Take the underground route!"

The two hurried through the corridors, leaving behind several guards who had been precisely knocked unconscious. Steve noticed that every surveillance camera had already been destroyed—Rumlow's men had clearly come prepared.

"Wait!" Natasha suddenly grabbed Steve and dragged him into a storage room. Seconds later, a fully armed squad of special operatives ran past the door. Rumlow's voice came through their communicators. "Zone A is secured. Advancing toward Zone B. The Tesseract has been contained. Prepare to withdraw."

Through the crack in the door, Steve saw Rumlow hand a metal lockbox to a special operative. A faint deep-blue glow leaked through the seams. "They've packed up the Tesseract!" he said in a low voice.

Natasha quickly assessed the situation. "We can't wait any longer. Once they leave the facility, it'll be hard to track them." She checked her pistol. "On three, we rush them."

"Three!"

The storage room door was kicked open. Steve charged out first, his Vibranium shield carving a silver arc through the air and precisely knocking down the two foremost operatives. Natasha followed close behind, firing her twin miniature pulse pistols in rapid succession and pinning down the enemies on the other side of the corridor.

"Steve Rogers." Rumlow's voice came from the far end of the hallway. "You really did come." He raised his gun to aim while signaling the operative carrying the case to fall back.

"Rumlow, put down the Tesseract!" Steve advanced while blocking bullets with his shield. "This isn't how S.H.I.E.L.D. operates!"

Rumlow gave a cold laugh. "You have no idea what's happening, Captain." He suddenly pressed a button on his wristwatch, and the entire facility was plunged into darkness. Only the blue glow from the Tesseract case flickered in the distance.

"Night vision mode!" Natasha quickly activated her tactical goggles, but when she saw ahead clearly, the operative with the case had already vanished around the corner.

They gave chase, passing through several security doors before finally intercepting their target in the underground vehicle bay. Under dim emergency lighting, Rumlow and five special operatives stood around an armored transport vehicle, while two men carefully lifted the Tesseract case into its cargo compartment.

"Rumlow!" Steve's voice echoed through the cavernous underground passage. "Put down the Tesseract!"

Mockery flashed in Rumlow's eyes. "Captain, you're always so naive." His fingers lightly tapped his communicator, transmitting some kind of signal.

Before Steve could react, a barrage of bullets suddenly screamed out from the shadows. He instinctively raised his shield, sparks from the metal impacts painfully bright beneath the dim emergency lights.

"Watch out!" Natasha suddenly grabbed Steve's tactical vest and violently pulled him aside. A cold metallic flash sliced past Steve's cheek, carving a deep gash into the wall.

Only then did Steve clearly see the figure emerging from the shadows—fully armed combat gear, a mechanical left arm gleaming coldly, and a pair of emotionless eyes beneath the mask.

"That's the Winter Soldier!" Natasha warned in a low voice. "Hydra's ace assassin. They say he's been active since the Cold War." She quickly checked her magazine. "Watch out for that mechanical arm. It can tear through tank armor barehanded."

Rumlow laughed. "Looks like our star player has made his entrance." He casually climbed into the armored vehicle. "Enjoy yourselves, Captain." With a roar of the engine, the armored vehicle sped away with the other special operatives.

"I'll go after Rumlow!" Natasha immediately charged toward a parked military jeep. "You deal with the guy with the metal arm!"

Before Steve could respond, the Winter Soldier rushed at him like a phantom. His mechanical arm ripped through the air toward Steve's throat. Steve hastily raised his shield to block, sparks bursting brightly in the darkness as metal struck metal.

"Who are you?" Steve used the impact to retreat, trying to create distance. He felt a strange familiarity toward the Winter Soldier and tried to learn his identity through conversation, but the Winter Soldier pressed forward relentlessly, his attacks coming like a raging storm.

Natasha's jeep roared away, its engine sound gradually fading into the distance. Only the two fighters and the echo of colliding metal remained in the underground passage.

The Winter Soldier suddenly changed tactics and drew a machine gun from behind his waist. Steve's pupils contracted, and he rolled aside at the last possible moment. Bullets exploded in a shower of sparks across the concrete floor.

"Damn it!" Steve panted heavily. This opponent's fighting style was completely beyond his expectations. Every move was lethally precise, like a machine built for killing.

Natasha's voice came through the communicator from afar. "Steve, watch his close-quarters combat ability! Intelligence says he's proficient in more than a dozen fighting styles!"

Before she had finished speaking, the Winter Soldier had already closed in. A graceful spinning kick forced Steve into a corner, followed by the mechanical arm slamming down with crushing force. Steve barely blocked it with his shield, but the impact drove him to one knee and cracked the concrete beneath him.

"What do you want?" Steve gritted out, taking the chance to sweep at his opponent's legs and disrupt his balance. But the Winter Soldier lightly flipped backward to evade, his movements too fluid to seem human.

The only answer was another barrage of bullets. Steve was forced to duck behind an abandoned truck, listening to the terrifying sound of bullets piercing metal.

"Natasha, this guy is a monster!" Steve shouted through the communicator. "His reaction speed is almost as fast as mine!"

Before Steve had even finished speaking, a piercing screech of metal grinding against metal suddenly rang through his earpiece. He quickly peeked out and saw the Winter Soldier had already jumped onto a military motorcycle, its engine roaring like Beast.

"Damn it!" Steve cursed, rapidly scanning his surroundings until he spotted a military jeep parked nearby. He rushed over, tore out the wires beneath the steering wheel, and expertly hot-wired it. The instant the engine roared to life, the underground passage began shaking violently.

"Natasha! The facility is exploding!" Steve shouted into the communicator as he slammed down the accelerator. "The Winter Soldier is heading toward you!"

Natasha's rapid breathing came through his earpiece. "Understood! Rumlow's convoy is right in front of me, they—" The transmission was suddenly cut off by a burst of harsh static.

Steve floored the accelerator, and the jeep raced through the narrow underground passage.

Ahead of him, the Winter Soldier displayed incredible driving skills, weaving the motorcycle nimbly between collapsing chunks of concrete.

Suddenly, a massive section of ceiling crashed down between them. Steve sharply turned the wheel, and the jeep skidded sideways through a pile of debris.

Boom! Another deafening blast erupted behind him, the shockwave nearly lifting the jeep off the ground. In the rearview mirror, the entire passage was collapsing in a chain reaction like falling dominoes, while blazing flames surged forward like a tide.

Steve stomped on the accelerator, sending the jeep into a frantic burst of speed through the trembling underground passage. A light suddenly appeared ahead—Natasha's military jeep was being relentlessly pursued by the Winter Soldier's motorcycle.

The Winter Soldier leaped, his mechanical arm grabbing the roof as he flipped onto the hood like a cheetah. He raised his mechanical arm and aimed at a critical part of the engine.

"Natasha, watch out!" Steve shouted as he yanked the wheel, driving his jeep hard into Natasha's vehicle.

At that instant—

Boom!!!

The entire underground research facility shook violently. The explosion's shockwave caused the ceiling to collapse in a chain reaction like falling dominoes. Massive slabs of concrete, tangled with steel rebar and flames, poured down and instantly swallowed all three figures in smoke and dust.

When the worst of the collapse finally stopped, Steve used every ounce of his strength to push his shield upward.

With an earsplitting scrape of metal, the massive rock pressing down above them was shoved aside. Under the protection of Steve's shield, Natasha slowly rose to her feet.

Through the gradually dispersing smoke and dust, Steve saw the Winter Soldier standing beside a motorcycle. His tactical mask had fallen away, revealing a face Steve knew better than any other.

"Bucky...?" Steve's voice was so soft it was nearly inaudible, yet the name exploded through his mind like thunder. His pupils contracted sharply, and the arm holding his shield trembled faintly from shock.