Fracture
Neither Allie nor Steve could remember the last afternoon or evening that they had spent alone together. For having spent a majority of their youth by each other's side, they found that it wasn't quite the same after the two had their priorities shift.
Allie sat on Steve's couch with a mug of hot chocolate that she had made for herself. Steve was relaxed in his chair, a sitcom playing on the television as the two sat silent. Allie's eyes would flick to the different pictures containing Sharon that remained sitting on the shelves. She felt two separate stings as she saw Sharon's smile: the longing to see a friend and the betrayal committed by said friend.
Turning to Steve, she cleared her throat softly.
"How are you doing?" her voice was soft and gentle, not wanting to be obvious in her attempt to pinpoint what was going on with her brother.
"Fine," he shrugged.
"Really?" her brow raised.
"Yes, really," he said. His voice had a cool edge to it, as if he was dismissing any form of conversation in the moment.
"I see," she whispered as she brought the mug to her lips and took a sip of the warm drink.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Steve asked, almost as if he was just a bit shocked.
"It doesn't mean anything," Allie was taken aback slightly. It wasn't like her brother to be short with her. "The past few weeks have just been a lot and I wanted to make sure you were okay. That's all, alright?"
"I'm fine," he frowned.
Silence settled between the two as the television continued to play in the background. Whatever Allie had hoped to ask about or even mention already seemed to be shut down before she could even let the words leave her lips. Her brother was in a mood that she had never seen him in. Concern filled her, but she didn't let it show.
"I wanted to say thank you again for joining the team," she settled on saying as she continued to drink her hot chocolate. "It means a lot to have my brother beside me."
"You were by my side during the war," Steve shrugged. "It was nice to have my sister by my side during that."
"Is it because I was your sister or because I was the best nurse out there?" Allie attempted to tease.
Steve gave a ghost of a laugh, almost as if it had been forced in some way. Allie didn't let the hurt show in any way as she took note of the tone in his voice, the way he was sitting. She knew that she had been right when she noticed him looking distracted at the team's meeting in Washington. Shaking her head slightly from the thought, she remembered why she had decided to visit Steve.
"Wanda and Sam told me that they had dinner with you last night," she looked over at him.
"They did," he confirmed.
"Well, they were attacked out in the city after they left," Allie spit out the news, Steve turning to her in concern. "They made it to our house and we were able to help them out, but it happened."
"They were attacked?" Steve's voice was sharp.
"Yes," Allie nodded.
"Was it Annika?" he pressed.
"No," she shook her head. "But it was someone with the same powers."
"Damn," Steve muttered. "They didn't get a look at them or anything?"
"I don't know how intense of a look they got," she answered honestly. "All I know is that they said that there's more people with these powers and they've aligned with Annika."
"It's starting to feel like the Flag Smashers in a way," Steve muttered.
"Yeah," Allie nodded. "I just wanted to make sure you knew what's going on right now."
"I appreciate that," Steve nodded.
Allie had opened her mouth to say something more when her phone began to buzz in her pocket. Looking to the screen, Bucky's contact was bright. Answering the phone in confusion, she held it to her ear.
"It's Peter," Bucky said the instant Allie answered her phone.
"What's Peter?" Allie asked, Steve perking up in his seat.
"Peter needs us, I'm coming to get you," Bucky continued.
"What? Why can't I just go on my own?" Allie asked.
"Trust me," Bucky said and the sound of a car door closing could be heard. "And we're bringing Steve."
Not wanting to make a fuss after the awkward and serious visit she'd been having with her brother, Allie agreed and motioned for Steve to be ready. Saying a quick goodbye over the phone to Bucky, Allie prepped herself for whatever she thought might be there to greet them whenever they made it to where they'd be going.
Steve felt the dread begin to settle in.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
"Where exactly are we?" Allie asked Bucky as she straightened out the front of her top.
"A Halloween party," Bucky shrugged.
"Oh really? And where exactly is this Halloween party being held?" Allie continued.
"Some other kid's apartment," Bucky continued.
"So what exactly did he tell you?" Steve asked he leaned forward in his seat, listening to the two.
"He just told me that something feels off at the party," Bucky shrugged.
"Feels off, how?" Allie furrowed her brows.
"He didn't go into too much detail," Bucky sighed. "Just said that he was at a Halloween party and his senses told him something's up."
"His what?" Steve furrowed his brow in confusion.
"His senses," Bucky shrugged. "Spider-senses or Peter-senses or whatever he calls them."
"Oh," Allie was surprised. "I see."
The car made its way down the streets and closer to large buildings in a bustling area of the city. Allie and Steve looked through their respective windows, taking in the view of where they were at.
"Are you sure we're headed to the right place?" Steve questioned.
"It's the address that Peter sent me," he sighed and parked the car outside of a nice apartment building.
"Wow," Allie's brows shot up at the sight. "What on earth is Peter doing up there at this Halloween party?"
"He said it's one that his former classmate's hosting."
"Great," Allie sighed. "Drunk college students. Just my idea of fun."
The three got out of the car together, each taking a deep breath as they walked up and into the front doors of the expensive building. Bucky and Allie exchanged a look before turning to Steve. Steve's jaw was set in determination as they walked to the elevator. Not another word was spoken as they stood and Bucky pressed the floor number.
They could hear the music pouring through the building before they even reached the proper level. Allie hummed along with a smile to try and distract herself, Bucky not being fazed by the action. Steve had a small, disapproving glare from the corner of his eye. As if she weren't being serious enough.
It took a great amount of effort to push through the sea of drunken college students once they were let into the party. Having been used to other women fawning over Bucky, Allie had to suppress a laugh when he placed a hand low and against her while drunken girls began to loudly profess their attraction to him.
"I thought I was supposed to be all over you in those situations?" Allie smirked.
"You can be all over me later," Bucky shrugged. "Besides, I like having my hands all over you."
"I'm still her brother," Steve scrunched his nose in disgust. "And we're on a mission right now. Remember?"
"Steve, it's okay," Allie sighed. She was not about to stress herself out more than was necessary. Having been dealing with what she had been dealing with since the end of August, she needed something to make her smile, and if that was Bucky making a suggestion for later, then she was going to enjoy it.
"Here," Bucky said as he attempted to ease the moment. "I have the comms."
Each of them took one and nodded to one another when they were ready. Each of them went in different directions, continuing to push through the crowd while keeping an eye out for Peter or anything suspicious. For it being a Halloween party, Allie wasn't finding that she saw many true costumes. It seemed more like the club that she and Bucky had gone to on their date the night before his pardon hearing.
As she paused to look around, trying to see if Peter's face would magically appear somewhere, she was bumped by a few people that were drunkenly swaying and jumping to the pounding music. Hand brushing through her hair, she gave a small sigh.
"You're looking good," a drunk boy spoke with slurred words as he looked Allie up and down.
"Kid," she sighed as she looked over at him. "I'm about ninety years too old for you, have three kids, and have a hundred and twelve-year-old husband with a vibranium arm. Keep moving."
"Geesh," he slurred out as he walked away.
"Yeah, this is giving me even more reasons for why I no longer drink," Allie muttered through the comms. "Do you guys see Peter yet?"
"Not yet," Bucky sighed. "He's got to be here somewhere."
Bucky was still scanning the area as he looked for the familiar face. There were moments were he saw Allie across the way or could see Steve scanning the area from a different angle. He sighed to himself, wondering where the kid could be.
"Who's got be where somewhere?" a voice chimed in from behind, nearly startling Bucky as he wheeled around.
"Found him," Bucky sighed into the comm. "Peter, have you seen anything since you last talked to me?"
"No," Peter shook his head. "But I've still been on edge. Something's wrong, I just know it."
"Hey Queens," Steve said as he and Allie joined the two.
"So do we like this former classmate or?" Allie smirked at him.
"Not the time," Steve chided.
"Oh come on," Allie rolled her eyes. "Lighten up, it is still a party."
"And he's got a bad feeling about something," Steve argued.
"Steve, again, lighten up," Allie hissed. "They'll be able to tell we're on the search for them if you keep acting like that. Relax, we're going to find whoever it is that's putting Pete on edge."
"You're letting your guard down," Steve argued.
"No, I'm not," Allie huffed.
"Guys, not the time," Bucky sighed.
"Pet-"
A scream sounded across the sea of people, interrupting their conversation. Each head turned in the direction, eyes settling on ice that had been spread across the wall across from them. Allie took a deep breath as she saw a mass panic begin as drunken college students ran to try and leave the apartment.
"Well, you were right," Bucky sighed, keeping his focus forward.
"Shit!" a girl screamed as she was pushed along the crowd in front of Allie.
Frowning at the ice, Allie began to look around at the faces that were remaining as the flood of people tried to escape from the front door. Her eyes settled on the face of one young man across the room that was staring at the group. People moved in front of them, blocking her view of the man, and when the crowd disappeared, he was gone.
"Dammit," Allie cursed and she turned to the others. "I'm going to go search for that guy."
"I'm coming with you," Bucky said.
"No," she shook her head in protest. "Let's split to cover more ground."
"Allie, it's an apartment," Steve rolled his eyes. "We'll be fine."
"Steve, stop that," Allie hissed at him. "I know what I'm talking about."
"Allie, you're leading a team now," Steve argued. "You need to be thinking as a leader, not as a stubborn follower."
"Steve," Bucky warned as he took in Allie's angered expression.
"You just said it yourself," Allie frowned. "I'm leading the team. So do as I say. Split. Up."
Steve and Allie only had a moment that they were in a standoff. The only times the Rogers siblings could have been found upset with one another was long ago when he was being scolded by his younger sister. Tensions were strong before another scream alerted everyone's attention to Peter's friends that remained in the apartment.
"Peter!" a girl yelled, Peter's attention instantly snapping her way.
"MJ!" Peter yelled when he saw her pinned between to pillars of ice, his best friend, Ned, attempting to help her get out.
"Peter, go," Allie told him and without a second glance, he'd disappeared.
"I hope you know what you're doing," Steve bit out before he too, disappeared into the crowd.
Bucky sighed as he grabbed Allie's hand. She was still glaring in the direction Steve had disappeared before he managed to find something to say. "It'll be fine," he said. "I trust your judgement."
"That makes one person," she sighed as she looked back to him.
"Stay safe," he instructed like he always did.
"We've got comms if anything happens," Allie gave an attempt at a grin as Bucky squeezed her hand and disappeared into the crowd.
Allie kept looking through the crowd for the pair of eyes she had seen looking at her. There was no doubt in her mind that it had been him. There was no sign of Annika being at the party. She found herself pushing back against the final waves of people running out as she finally saw him.
Despite the flock that had left, there were still those that had stayed. In one corner of the apartment, Allie knew that Peter was still trying to help MJ out from between the two pillars of ice with Ned's help as others joined them.
As Allie kept her eyes on the man, she raised her hands only slightly at her sides. She watched the patterns of the man as he let his eyes drift along the crowd. His eyes settling on the corner of the apartment that Peter was in, Allie's instincts kicked in. In the blink of an eye, ice had met ice. She had formed a wall in front of her body, his blast crashing against it.
"Allie!" Bucky's voice could be heard from behind a wall of lingering onlookers as people watched what was taking place.
Gasps and murmurs could be heard from those that stood around. Allie found herself annoyed. For her, this was another piece of what had been weighing on her for the past two months. This wasn't just something to entertain the masses. Continuing blasts of ice were shot at Allie as she continued to deflect them.
Bucky had stopped what he was doing and ran in Allie's direction, determined to cover her. As he took just a few running steps, a figure flew down and he paused as he noticed Peter defending Allie, shooting his webs at the other man in the process before being told to stand back. Steve was ushering stragglers outside, his jaw set in a firm frown when looking at the scene.
Bucky and Allie could both be heard yelling for Peter to stop, to stay out of the way of the ice. Peter, however, was stubborn. He continued to try and apprehend the man, determined to help for once instead of being the babysitter. As Peter's webbing was directed at the man's hands, the man took off, his ice disappearing behind him.
Bucky and Steve both took off after the man, following him down corridors and all the way outside the building. In the apartment, Allie turned on her heel and practically fumed at Peter. For a brief moment, he thought he might be meeting his maker once she was done with him. Instead, he was shocked to find a seemingly relieved woman in front of him when she gave a deep sigh.
"Don't do that to me!" Allie yelled as she pulled Peter into a tight hug. "You can't do that."
"Allie, I'm fine," Peter rolled his eyes as he obliged and hugged Allie in return.
"And another thing! You can't just wait until you're actually in danger to tell us what's going on," Allie continued. "If we hadn't gotten here when we did-"
"I still would have been fine," Peter continued.
"You don't know that," Allie shook her head as she let him go. "What you did tonight is completely how Steve was when we were growing up. I can't watch something bad happen to you."
"You said that you trusted me," Peter could hear Steve and Bucky's footsteps approaching as the group still sat together.
"I do, but that doesn't mean you should be putting yourself into any kind of danger," Allie shook her head.
"But-"
"No," Allie interrupted. "Okay, listen to me. You make jokes about me acting like I'm your mother, but if something were to happen to you, I'd feel the exact same way that I would if something happened to Steven or Sarah or T.J. okay?"
"I wasn't trying to have something happen to me," Peter frowned.
"I know you didn't," Allie pulled him into anther hug.
Bucky and Steve looked to one another before clearing their throats and looking to Allie. Both had frowns plastered on their faces, Allie noting it and sighing.
"He's gone, isn't he?" Allie asked glumly.
"Yes," Steve nodded. "So is the rest of the ice."
"Are you shitting me?" Allie asked as she narrowed her eyes. "So we have no pictures or anything to know what his pattern looks like?"
"Well," Peter took a step back from her and pulled out his phone. "Actually..."
Placing the phone in Allie's hand, Peter displayed a picture for her to see. Allie and Bucky looked to one another with amazed smiles before looking back at the grinning boy in front of them.
"You sneaky little genius," Allie laughed.
"See, I can get things done," Peter shrugged.
"Peter, this is going to help us greatly," Allie smiled. "We'll need to get these printed and put in a secured file, but this is great!"
"Well, we can do that and tell Sam what happened," Steve sighed.
"Considering what just took place? I'm pretty sure the news is going to be covering it," Allie cringed.
"In that case," Steve sighed. "Let's get everyone home."
Allie nodded at Steve, but turned to Peter with a frown. Peter closed his eyes and gave a small dip of his head as he figured he knew what Allie was about to say.
"You know you're coming home with us," Allie nodded.
"I knew you'd say that," he sighed. "But I'll be fine on my own."
"Peter," Allie sighed. "May's not here to keep her eye on you."
"She'll be back soon," Peter shrugged. "Even if she is busy with the charities she's been helping with."
"Just come with us," Allie shook her head, Steve and Bucky looking to one another and letting out amused huffs of air.
"Yes, Mother," Peter stuck his tongue out at her.
"Oh, now you're changing T.J.'s diapers, too," Allie scoffed and pushed his shoulder forward.
As the two made their way out of the apartment, Steve and Bucky remained and looked at the apartment in front of them. Each took in a breath before turning to the other.
"That's two attacks on members of this team," Steve frowned.
"She's going to need more help," Bucky nodded.
"Do you think they'll provide her much help on their side?" Steve's brows furrowed in concentration.
"Who knows," Bucky sighed. "But we can try getting together more people on our side. We can get her back into a training center to work on the new power she found."
"New power?" Steve's brows rose instantly. "What new power?"
"She didn't tell you?" Bucky's voice held his confusion as Steve shook his head. "Well, she figured out that she can control air as well."
"That's useful," Steve nodded.
"I know," Bucky grinned. "She was really excited when she figured it out."
"Excited like her being hired at the hospital or when she told me she was pregnant with Steven?" Steve gave a small attempt at a smile.
"Definitely when she was pregnant with Steven," Bucky nodded with a proud smile of his own. "She needed that win, even if she's still having to figure out how to use it."
Steve simply nodded as the two looked back in the direction of where Allie and Peter had left the apartment. Knowing that the two had to have reached the car, the two men left the apartment behind.
The weight of the second attack on members of the team sat differently on each person's shoulders as they settled into the car. Each person thought of something different. Allie was stressed and determined to get to the bottom of what was going on. Bucky wanted to protect Allie, just as he always did. Peter just wanted to help. Steve felt his confidence shaken. Making eye contact in the rear-view mirror, Allie and Steve both thought of their words from before.
A fracture had begun between the Rogers siblings.