Author's note: my sincerest apologies for not updating sooner. I wanted to give this story a proper ending, and then life happened. I hope you can all forgive me for the terribly long wait. So here is the final chapter! Thanks so much everyone for reading. It's been a pleasure to write.

Hide & Seek – Thirty

Captain Steve Rogers had faced a lot in his time on the Earth. He had fought men and aliens. He'd met gods from other worlds and had befriended them. So, after all that, he thought he would be prepared to go back against the Red Skull.

But he barely had time to think before he and Sharon faced the first onslaught of the Red Skull's minions. They were hive-minded, a lot like the ones years ago, but this time they were actually robots. They were easier to take down than the previous soldiers, but there were more now at a time and Steve wished he had his Howling Commandoes to help him.

Steve took half a second and glanced at Sharon. She was holding her own against two henchmen and managed to take down both with one amazing kick. But she was sporting a nasty cut on the side of her face and he couldn't help but feel guilty. This was never any anyone else's fight but his own and he really hoped that Sam, Hawkeye and Natasha were okay, too.

The last guy fell to the ground and Steve turned to grab Sharon's wrist to pull her down the hall. "Let's go."

They were going to take their chance and keep moving further into the enormous castle.

Steve stopped briefly to wipe the blood from his cheek with his gloved hand. He looked into her eyes. He looked like he was going to say something meaningful when Sharon fired one of her guns behind him. Something or someone fell to the ground and Steve turned to see.

"Thanks," Steve told her.

"No problem," she smiled. "All right. Let's go."

…

From the second that Sam put them on the roof of that castle, he and Hawkeye were besieged with the folks trying to keep them out. Hawkeye was able to take a few of them down right away and the rest were a challenge but now were laying at their feet. They would be able to see anyone approaching or anyone trying to get away off of the roof.

"Does your redheaded pal disappear that way often?" Sam asked.

"More often than you'd think," Hawkeye replied quietly.

"We need to head inside and find Cap and Sharon," Sam told Hawkeye.

"Our orders were to stay on the roof," he argued. "And…"

"You always follow the rules working for SHIELD?" Sam asked in return.

Hawkeye plucked an arrow from one of the fallen robot-soldiers.

"We'll be able to help them inside as well," Sam told him. "Probably more so."

Hawkeye looked skeptical for a brief moment and then followed Sam through the door leading down from the roof.

…

Natasha was panting as she ran around the fortress. She knew she was going the right way, she'd been here before. This was the same place she had rescued Danielle from so many years ago.

She felt some remorse as she moved on. She wouldn't be here without all of their help, but Danielle might not have been kidnapped if it weren't for their interference either.

Natasha knew she was getting close as she found more and more guards blocking, or trying to block, her passage. It wasn't difficult to take these ones down. There were merely the foot soldiers, these were the robots created just to be a nuisance, that's when she knew that they were real guards.

The guns on her wrists fired endlessly and she kicked, punched and head-butted all the rest, until she stood outside the door she needed.

Natasha moved to open it and it swung open of its own accord. Or rather, the person on the order side of the door had opened it.

"Dear sister," Sin said as she looked at Natasha. "Father and I are just sitting down to tea. Could I trouble you to join us? Or are you too busy for family?" she asked as she invited Natasha into the room.

Two huge guards, at least eight feet tall, stood on either side of the door. Behind Sin sat the aged Red Skull and he picked up a cup of tea to sip it.

I assume you still know how to enjoy tea, Natalia? Or was that lost as you began to go gallivanting around with the Avengers?"

She joined the Red Skull and her half-sister at the table in the center of the room.

"I'm not exactly dressed for a tea party, but I'm not one to decline such a welcoming invitation," Natasha said as she stared the Red Skull in his eyes.

"Still have that smart mouth, I see. You should remember your place, girl," he told her without breaking eye contact.

He sipped his tea again while Sin took a seat on his right side.

"Please explain to your sister why you took her away from her only family and had all of her memories erased, Natalia."

"It's Natasha…and I don't feel like I need to explain my actions."

"No, no!" he shouted and started to cough. "You tell her and you tell her now!"

Natasha stared with narrowed eyes. "Our mother made me promise to take care of you, Danielle."

"My name is Sinthea!" the dark haired woman shouted. It was shrill and the hairs on Natasha's arms stood on end. "And our mother was a whore!"

Natasha was out of her seat now. "You don't have any idea what you're saying!"

"She abandoned you as well!" Sin yelled. "She would have anything she wanted but she chose…" Sin yelled. "She chose someone else…"

Natasha's face softened. "Is that what he told you?"

"Guards!" the Red Skull shouted and the two enormous guards swooped around Natasha. Crossbones also showed his covered face in the room.

"Take her to the dungeon and do what you have to. She's always been a problem." The Red Skull stood shakily to his feet and moved to address Natasha while looking her in the eye.

The guards wrestled strength-dampening cuffs on her and she was powerless to move to fight back when the man grabbed her jaw to focus her eyes on him.

"Remember the children's hospital? Those of us that were there, we remember," He told her solemnly. "And you somehow had it all removed from all records. I am going to see that credit is paid where it's due. Take her away," he said with a small flick of his wrist.

The two guards picked her up under arms and moved toward the door.

"Danielle – our mother loved us very much. And your beloved father there? He had her killed because she tried to keep you from becoming…this," Natasha said quietly as the door opened and she was escorted from the room.

"Do you believe her?" the Red Skull asked his daughter.

She shook her head. "No," she told him. But she was lying; she didn't know what she believed now.

…

Steve pulled Sharon and himself out of sight as two huge guards, clearly enhanced or perhaps not of this world, moved Natasha in cuffs down the fortress' hall.

Sharon gave Steve an uncertain; with the Black Widow captures, they were really out-manned.

"The Red Skull is just through there," Steve told her. "It's that easy."

"Unless there are more of those giants in there. What were those?"

Steve shook his head. "I don't know."

He moved with this shield, but Sharon caught his arm. "You can't just go running in there."

"Yes, I can."

"It's just the two of us, Steve. And…"

"We won't know unless we go," he told her.

"You can work on any guards that might be there. The Red Skull is mine," he told her.

"Who does that leave for us?" Hawkeye asked as they joined the other two.

Sam and Hawkeye were both sweating and sporting injuries, like Steve and Sharon, but at least their group had doubled.

"The Red Skull is in there. And Black Widow has been captured," Sharon explained.

"I'm going in," Steve told them.

"So are we," Hawkeye told him and Sam nodded.

Sharon rolled her neck and shoulders and nodded. They were all ready to go, despite what was on the other side of the door. But they were going to find out because they trusted Cap. He just hoped he wasn't leading them to their doom.

Checking all around them, they waited to see if anyone was coming. They were alone, so to speak, so Steve moved to the door and put his heavy booted foot to it to break it down. The swift kick sent the door flying into the room. But when they all rushed in, they found it all empty.

"Damn it!" Steve shouted. He whipped his shield at the wall next to him when he found the other door standing open.

He pulled on the shield and it came out of the wall.

"Let's go."

The four of them moved towards the other door while listening for any signs of movement.

Out the door in a flash, Steve threw his shield hard and it bounced off the walls and zigzagged back to him. Four men lay unconscious on the ground. While Steve caught his shield and put it in place.

Steve moved them all forward out into the next hall and then up a flight of stairs.

He waited on no ceremony to kick the door down that stood in front of him. Steve was rewarded and he was happy, but only for a split second.

The Red Skull was speaking with a woman who looked remarkably like Natasha. It was a good thing that she'd inherited her mother's looks.

The woman was seated at the table and at first, she wore a worried look. But upon seeing the intruders her face turned to anger and rage.

She flew out of her seat and confronted Captain America.

"You!" she screamed. "You bastard!"

She struck out with her fists and she landed a punch that knocked an unsuspecting Steve Rogers back a step.

"No! You must not fight him, girl!" the Red Skull ordered while the other people in the room tried to decide what was going on.

Sin obediently joined the Red Skull on the other side of the room while more Hydra soldiers, led my Brock Rumlow joined them.

"You told me he was dead," the Red Skull hissed loudly, then coughed. He was furious as he looked at the expression on Steve Rogers' face.

"He told you I'm dead?" Steve grinned. "Just like you, I don't give up that easily."

"You and I are nothing alike!" the Red Skull shouted. "You have always failed to see what you can do with this power! But I am going to take it all back! I am going to take what was always rightfully mine!"

The other soldiers with their leader Rumlow lead an all-out rush to the four intruders into the room. They were all distracted to the point that they didn't see the Red Skull and Sin leave.

Rumlow took a blow from Steve and he snarled. "Why won't you just die?!"

Rumlow and Steve launched into a fight that was fist to fist and it moved into the hall out of sight. Sharon was fighting a couple of Hydra soldiers in the far corner and managed to take two down, but a third man had her by the arm and pulled hard.

Sam was able to use the wings to take some of the soldiers down while Hawkeye used as much of the limited space the best he could.

…

"My dear, you'll only feel it for a moment," the Red Skull said. "It'll be extremely quick."

Sin remained skeptical. Her father told her that he needed her blood. That he needed the serum that was within it so he could be strong again. She wanted to help him, but she doubted some small part.

"But can't your scientists create a new serum? A more powerful one? So you can destroy Rogers once and for all?" Sinthea asked.

"People have been working for years to recreate the serum developed by Erskine and no one has been successful. And Rogers is the reason we don't have it any more. He destroyed the final vile of the serum, Sin. But you could…"

"I'll do it," Sin said.

"All right, let's go," the Red Skull said as he pulled her into yet another room.

…

Natasha Romanoff wasn't a stranger to being held captive, but the strength-dampening cuffs around her wrists were really going to slow her down. The tall guards at either side of her made the occasional grunting sound, but so far had not uttered anything to her as they led her to the dungeon of the castle.

She did a double take as they walked past a hall; she thought she saw someone, but shook it off when she looked back and saw nothing. Her mind was clearly playing tricks on her.

It happened so quickly that Nat almost didn't realize what was happening. One of the giant guards had collapsed to the ground and the other guard pushed Nat behind him to fight whatever they were being ambushed by.

But Natasha immediately recognized the assailant: Bucky Barnes.

The other guard grinned down evilly. It was just a man, or so he thought.

Nat held out her cuffed hands and he slashed through the mechanism with his metal arm. It fell apart and crashed to the ground. Both Natasha and Bucky stood ready to take down the man.

He still didn't look like he was concerned, but that didn't last long. Bucky moved fast, so fast, and the guard tried to watch him. Bucky waited until he was properly distracted and he brought the man down.

"Thanks," Natasha hissed as she rubbed her wrists. "Stark said you bailed."

He nodded. "I did. And then something made me come here," he finished.

"Where is everyone else?" he asked.

Natasha shook her head. "I have no idea. My sister and her dad, the Red Skull had me locked up," Natasha told him. "The Red Skull…"

Bucky held up his non-metal arm and nodded. "Some things I can remember."

"Do you remember me?" Natasha asked in a low voice.

"Bits and pieces. And I'm sorry," he said. "I had no control."

Nat nodded.

"Let's go make sure Steve hasn't done anything stupid," Bucky said.

"I think it's a bit late for that," Natasha replied.

…

Sin was strapped down to a chair, but only on her arms and across her ribcage. She was trying to slow her breathing and tell herself that this was for the greater good. Her father needed her help. He needed to become strong again and she was the only one that could help him do that.

One of her father's men came in with a large needed and was prepping something at a table she couldn't see behind her. Her father wasn't in the room yet and it had been explained to her that it would be a simple transfusion. The Red Skull had told her that both would be present for the work and it would be quick and painless.

"Now, Sinthea, I am going to deliver the anesthesia to the area…"

"What?"

"You won't feel a thing," he told her.

"I want to speak with my father before the procedure begins."

She tried to stand, to fight the straps holding her down, but the chair held her too tightly.

The man smiled. "You are doing a wonderful thing. You are saving your father – it's unfortunate that both of you cannot continue on together, but we have found no other way."

She fought the man who had approached her with the needle and kicked him away. The needle flew away and crashed on the floor, breaking upon impact.

"You think this will stop the procedure? I will simply get another needle. We will take your blood…all of it…and…"

Sinthea had waited until he was close enough and when he was, she wrapped her legs around his neck and squeezed. He clutched at her ankles, but his nails were weak against the leather of her boots. His eyes bugged as he gasped for air. A moment later, she forced him to the ground and he was unconscious.

"What's going on here?" Crossbones shouted as he ran for Sin who was still tied down. He undid the belts that were over her arms and across her chest and she stepped over the fallen scientist.

"My father plans on killing me in order to make himself stronger," Sin said evenly. "Did you know about this?"

Crossbones shook his head.

"I need to speak with my father."

…

The four huddled and regrouped. Fighting their way through this castle was, at the very least, exhausting. Sharon tended to a wound on Sam's arm and Hawkeye counted how many arrows he had left in his quiver. There weren't that many left.

Steve was quiet while he was trying to contain the rage that was building through him. He'd had a chance to take the man down and he'd lost it. And now all of his friends were injured.

He was nursing his own injuries, too, but he didn't tell anyone. He'd taken one of the robot helmets to his ribs and hadn't been expecting it. Steve knew he had a broken rib, or three.

The corner they were in allowed them to hear what was going on and if anyone was coming towards them.

Sharon finished taking care of Sam's arm and peeked around the corner. Two men, not robots, came out of the room directly opposite them and what she saw was a wall of security camera feeds.

Ducking back into the corner with the guys, she smiled.

"I'm going across the hall. It's the surveillance room. I'll get in and figure out where the Red Skull is holed up," Sharon said.

"I'll come with you," Steve said, wincing as he stood up. He was doing a terrible job of hiding his injury.

"It'll be easier to slip in unnoticed if only one person goes. I've got this," she told him.

"We'll be the look outs," Hawkeye agreed.

Sam flexed his injured arm and found it usable. "Yeah, we'll cover you."

Steve was not happy with the idea of Sharon going alone, but she was already moving away. She peered both directions and took a step into the hall. Sam was one step behind her and chose to look to the left while Hawkeye faced the right.

Sharon put her hand on the door handle to let herself in and she opened the door. She was grateful that someone had left the damn thing unlocked.

Inside the room, she found it bright and clinical and TV monitors were on two of the four walls. The man who watched them, turned and looked at her in silent disbelief.

"You have all these security cameras and you didn't see me coming?" Sharon asked. She iced him as he opened his mouth to sleep and he fell over out of the chair and onto the floor.

Sharon moved to the door and called out to Steve to join her.

He eyed the man on the floor and shrugged.

"What do we have here?" he asked.

Sharon began to systematically scan the screens. She needed to find the Red Skull. She didn't see him, but she found Sin and Crossbones running through the halls.

"They're heading somewhere quickly," Sharon commented.

"Maybe we should go find them," Steve told her.

Sharon nodded and they both headed out of the surveillance room.

"We're heading down a flight and finding the northeast corner. That's where Sin and Crossbones are headed," Sharon told them.

Everyone was ready to collapse, but the job wasn't done. They all plucked up the last energy they had and found a staircase.

…

Converging in the hall, the four of them came face to face with Sin and Crossbones.

"You won't stop me," Sinthea said to them. "I have to speak with my father. And I believe your blood could help him just as much as mine can…"

They were all surrounded by the giant guards. One lunged at Steve and broke him out of the group. He fought the man, but in an instant, he was hit with some kind of strength dampening dart and was suddenly powerless to fight against the guards.

The others were forced back and Steve was dragged into the room while all the others could only look on.

"What is the meaning of this" the Red Skull shouted as Sin, Crossbones, the guards and Captain Rogers came into the room. He was clearly caught off guard, but when he saw Captain America in such a weak state, his eyes lit up.

"I found that you were planning to kill me, father," Sin said as they dumped Steve on the ground in a heap. "Luckily, for the both of us, I've got an alternative that will be beneficial to the both of us," Sin continued to explain.

The Red Skull moved slowly to his feet and crossed the room to Steve. Steve could barely move as the Red Skull crouched to look at him.

"You are going to be my key to everlasting life, Captain," he smiled evilly. "Take him to the procedure room," the Red Skull told the guards that held Steve. They nodded.

The guards dragged the terribly weak captain throught the door on the other side of the room. He was too weak to fight back.

Sharon, Sam and Hawkeye fought the wall of guards that separated them from where they needed to be. They were doing as best they could, but were only successful when they were joined by Black Widow and Bucky.

He was angry, and he used that anger to take down the eight guards that stood there.

"Where's Steve?" he called to Sharon.

"In here," Sharon said as she tried the handle to the door. Locked. She put her shoulder to it, but it didn't budge.

"I've got this," Bucky told her before rendering the door into several pieces.

They were inside the room. But this room was empty.

"I am really starting to get tired of this shit," Sharon sighed. "I don't know what they hit him with, but it made him really weak," Sharon explained.

The door on the opposite side of the room was closed, but they heard a scream of pain that had to have come from Steve.

"Steve!" Sharon shouted.

Bucky found Steve's shield discarded by the door that they had just come through. He threw it hard and it crashed into the other door.

All of them rushed into the room. An IV was in Steve's arm and the tube led into a machine. It appeared to simply be harvesting his blood. On the other side of the machine, the Red Skull was attached to the same machine and some of Steve's blood had already reached him. It appeared that he was gaining strength.

Bucky took down the doctor who was working the machine and Sharon moved to shut it down.

"It's no use you stupid girl!" the Red Skull shouted. "Simply turning the machine off will kill him faster!" He smiled an evil smile.

Steve was groggily trying to speak and Sharon rushed to his side.

"Just get the skull and get out…" he whispered.

"Not without you," she told him as a tear rolled down her cheek.

The Red Skull broke free of the bindings a moment later, having regained his strength. He turned on Bucky who was using Cap's shield.

He unhooked himself the rest of the transfusion and moved towards Bucky. "You've turned on me boy!" the Red Skull shouted.

"You used me for a science project," Bucky snapped.

The two began to fight while Sam and Sharon inspected the machine.

"There is a ton of blood in the machine still. If we could reverse it…he looks so pale, Sam," Sharon said sadly. She touched his hand and it was cold. Her hand moved to the carotid artery in his neck and his pulse was weak. "We have to do something. Anything."

The Red Skull and Bucky moved out into the other room and a scientist appeared from the other way. He was stunned that so many people were there.

Hawkeye grabbed him and forced him to the machine.

"I'm – I'm just a scientist. We aren't trained…"

"Reverse this!" Hawkeye demanded.

"It can't be…"

"Figure it out," he told him. "Or you'll look just like that guy," he pointed to the dead science officer on the ground.

…

It seemed like forever before the machine made a booming noise and then blood began to move back towards Steve's body in the tubes. He wasn't moving yet, but Sharon could feel his pulse getting stronger. She sighed in relief.

"He's alive," Sharon breathed. "He's alive."

Hawkeye nodded and moved out the door. Sam followed him out to go help Bucky take on the Red Skull. Sharon stayed behind to defend Steve and hopefully get him out of his restraints.

Sharon was able to break Steve out of the bindings after a bit of a struggle and his weight began to collapse on top of her.

"Steve, if you can hear me…" Sharon said through gritted teeth. "…you need to use your legs," she said as they were almost falling on the ground.

He got the message, though, and started to regain his balance.

"Steve?" Sharon asked as the confusion was still in his eyes.

"Where is the Red Skull?" he asked as he stood.

"Steve, you have to rest. You can't…you aren't strong enough yet…"

He heard the fight out in the hall and he moved away from Sharon.

"I have to."

He was obviously still weak as he headed to leave the room. But he moved out anyway and Sharon was hot on his heels.

Bucky had discarded the shield and was taking on the Red Skull hand to hand. Steve had enough strength to lift the object and throw it. He used all of his strength left to send it flying.

The Red Skull didn't even see it coming. The thing flew through the air and crashed into the Red Skull's head. He barely had time to look confused before he collapsed onto the ground.

…

In the hours immediately after the Red Skull's defeat, they were able to take the castle from Hydra. All of the operatives were prisoners, except for the pair of Sin and Crossbones. They'd been through the entire building, but the two of them had gotten away. That would be a search for another day.

And now, now it was time for all of them to go home. The Hydra soldiers were turned over to Interpol and the World Security council; they could handle this.

Natasha and Clint decided to find Sin and Crossbones. She had a hunch where they could start looking.

Natasha kissed Steve on the cheek and he smiled while Hawkeye shook his hand.

"It's always a pleasure, Cap," he said before following Natasha to an awaiting car.

Bucky had been lying low, waiting so he wasn't seen by many. He caught Steve's eye and Steve slowly walked to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked Steve.

Steve smiled and nodded once. "Are you?"

"I guess. I'm going to take some time and figure things out."

"Where you headed?" Steve asked.

He shook his head. "I don't really know. I don't anything anymore."

"You don't have to do this alone, Buck," he told his friend.

"I know. But I think I need to figure things out on my own before I can be Bucky Barnes again," he told Steve. "But I'll find you. Don't worry."

They shared a brief hug before Bucky climbed in the loaned vehicle from Tony Stark and launched it up into the air.

"Stark has made some real improvements on those since the forties."

"There are only three in the world," Sharon said. "So, now that you almost died…again…saved the world…again…what would you like to do?"

The two of them headed for the jet and climbed in slowly.

"So how do you feel about Chicago?" he asked as he closed the door after himself.

The End

…

EPILOGUE

…

It was rainy and cold. Supposedly it was still fall, but winter seemed to have come early. It had been three months since everything in Germany and the world was beginning to rebuild without SHIELD, even though Steve had heard whispers that SHIELD was in the process of reorganizing.

The move to Chicago had been an easy transition. Recently, neither Steve nor Sharon had roots anywhere, so starting in the new city had been easy.

They had a nice apartment, it over looked a park and was in walking distance of several stores that Sharon liked.

The two of them hadn't seen much of Avengers group since then, but all of that was about to change. Steve was waiting for Sharon outside the Art Institute for an event being thrown by Tony Stark.

As he waited, some people stopped and gawked, obviously recognizing him, while other simply smiled and moved on. He was enjoying the semi-privacy that Chicago had given them.

Just then he spotted her; she was hard to miss in the bright red trench coat in the grey of the day. Sharon was moving quickly, dodging around the slow moving walkers. She couldn't believe anyone was out for a stroll in the cold drizzle that was happening. Her eyes met Steve's and she smiled widely.

When she finally reached him, Steve leaned down and kissed her.

"It's about time…" he teased. "I was going to have to assemble the Avengers to go out looking…" he laughed.

Sharon playfully punched his shoulder. "Not all of us run at super speeds, Captain," she replied. "I'll bet you weren't even wet until you stood still…"

"For your information, I walked here," he smiled.

He took her hand and the two of them moved up the stairs past the stone lions. Steve smiled, remembering their first official date, which happened to be at the Art Institute not too long ago.

Outside of the doors, they stopped and looked in. An enormous statue of Tony Stark stood in the middle of the lobby.

"He's not every good at subtle, is he?" Steve asked.

"I don't think so," Sharon replied, laughing.

"Sharon, before we go inside, I have a question I need to ask you," he said seriously.

Sharon knew she looked horrified, to which Steve burst out laughing.

"I was just going to see if you'd thought anymore about a pet?" he laughed. "I'm 96 years old; I can't just rush into things like marriage," he smiled.

…

Author's note: okay, what did you think?