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Secret Bit of Right From Wrong	By : ChrisCross Category: Marvel Verse Movies > Avengers, The Views: 9417 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Captain America or The Avengers. I make no money, and live on reveiws alone

Chapter List
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Tanya Popova was a compactly muscular girl with a deep gold tan and curly black hair. When she came to meet the team, they could tell she had obviously been on a date, from the smudges of long-wearing make-up and the lingering smell of wine. No one wanted to mention it, but they all felt nervous about going on the trail that night with someone not in full capacity. Their concerns were answered by a similar sentiment from her elderly relations. Although the conversation was held mostly in Russian, Natasha later translated the interaction for them all.
“Ay ay ay! Tanya, you shame your family. We talked you up to the rich gadje, and you’re drunk.”
“To be fair Zhenya, she didn’t know that, and they aren’t all complete gadje. The one with the bow could make a fine Romani, with a little work.” A thoughtful look crossed his face. “You’re not getting any younger, out there carousing.”
“Oh, no. No, Uncle Dmitri. No more blind dates! Our family is big enough that I can take my time, don’t you think? And I’m not drunk. I was out with that clumsy-but-persistent nephew of Aunties bridge partner, and he spilled wine on me. I can show you the stain on my nice top, if you like. I’m lucky I started keeping a change with me after he dumped borscht on me last time.” Spotting the group, she awkwardly waved at them, before hissing back at her nagging family members. “Not that it matters now that Auntie and I’ve shrieked at each other like harpies. Just let me do my job.” Walking away from them without waiting for an answer, she headed over to the group.
“It’s getting close to when the woods are dark, so if you’re determined to try for a few hours tonight, I can do that, but I’m not going to take untried folks into that heavy of terrain at night.”
“How long can you take us out?” The anxiety in Cate’s voice was rising with each delay. “Karen’s already gone more than twenty four hours without her meds, and night’s not a great time for anyone with depression.”
“You never told me Karen had depression.” Hawkeye’s voice pitched higher in surprise. “I guess that’s the reason you’ve been at the bit since you woke up, huh?”
“Well, yes, she does, and yes, it is. I don’t think she’s a danger to herself, yet, but I need to find her soon, so can we get moving?”
Acquiescing to the near-panicky agent, the group climbed into the two ATV’s and set out into the lengthening shadows, in hopes they could recover their people soon.
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Hawkeye and Black Widow spent the first half of the ride in awkward semi-silence, an unusual state for such a close team. Also unusual was his stance in the front seat, leaning out of the cab ever so slightly. It wasn’t much, but to someone accustomed to Clint’s aggravating tendency to ignore personal space boundaries, it was immediately obvious he was avoiding her. Natasha wasn’t sure what had happened to change their dynamic, but whatever the cause, it was pissing her off. Even the darkness in his eyes after his mind was hi-jacked by Loki hadn’t impacted the easy camaraderie between them, although he’d used it to push everyone else away. *If anything this is like the tension we felt in Budapest, after falling into bed together. But it’s been years since we saw each other as lovers, so why the sudden moodiness?* There was only one way to find out, but in the middle of the forest at twilight wasn’t the place or time to engage in a little ‘cranial recalibration’. So she kept driving, every so often calling out for their wayward companions, as Clint swept the trees with a high-powered flashlight, using his better-than-average eyesight to scan for traces of Steve and Karen.
Cate grit her teeth at the jostling ride. Since the first moment, the battered red and blue ATV had been stuttering and coughing its objections to being used, fighting her controlling hand. Cate was used to Moto-Cross-type vehicles, and had quickly claimed the right to drive, but after only a handful of minutes it became clear that the snarling machine was a beast in its own right. Resisting the urge to fight it out of stubbornness and pride, she signaled the others their need to switch drivers, pulling to an idled stop. As she stretched her legs briefly, Tanya slid into the driver’s seat. Clint and Natasha slowed as they approached the pair, but Cate had gotten the feeling back into her legs, and waved them on, anxious to keep going. Following behind the two Avengers, she called out for her sister, occasionally letting out a high pitched whistle that was as unmistakable as it was long carrying. That whistle had been a boon to them often enough on the streets that there was no way Karen could have forgotten the sound.
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Meanwhile, by a lake on the Latverian side of the border, Steve was reveling in the praise and happiness of his girl. Knowing her dislike of the cold, and her disappointment at not having a fire their first night, he’d nearly whooped in excitement when he noticed the small, broken out-cropping of flint by the blackberries. However, to keep his surprise actually a surprise, he managed to contain it. He’d carefully gathered up pine-needles and small twigs in his pockets, making sure to surreptitiously shift some of the smaller sticks and branches from her pile of building materials over toward the broad, flat rock they’d spent the afternoon making love on. Then, when Karen was busy with some fine point of hygiene by the stream, he’d carefully assembled a campfire, striking it lit with his belt buckle and the flint. She’d returned to their camp to find a fire, bordered by rocks for safety and merrily crackling. Overcome with the effort he’d gone to for something she’d gotten bitchy about the first night, it was all she could do not to just ravish him right there. As it was, if they hadn’t had to watch the fire, she still might have when he mentioned that the little creek had fish in it, so tomorrow they could have real food.
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The team finally stopped their search when the light got low enough that the woods took on a haunted feel. Even Cate had to admit that trying to find someone in such low light was an exercise in insanity. As the ATV’s pulled into the gravel parking area, they heard another vehicle pulling up. A classic Harley, well-kept and purring, pulled up next to them, its rider unmistakably the man called Wolverine. His face was set in grim lines, but the only thing that betrayed his emotions was the way he swept his fingers though his thick black hair in frustration.
“I hear you folks are looking for somebody. Somebody the fur ball says I know. Anyone feel like telling me why I’m here?”
“We should take this inside. I’d prefer not to discuss this out in the open.” Widow was stiff in body and voice, still quietly pissed off at her partner. Once in the cozy living room of the little shack, she began briefing the Tanya and Logan on their situation. After a quick run-down of the events that led to Steve and Karen’s disappearance, carefully omitting Magneto’s role, the spy asked if they had questions. Tanya didn’t, but Logan did.
“So, you’re telling me that some guy named Steve, who Hank seems pretty sure I know, just happens to get a full S.H.I.E.L.D. security detail, including two Avengers? I ain’t stupid, you know. Who is he really?”
The former agents tensed up, instinct demanding they keep quiet. Catherine McCann, however, was tense enough already that the added pressure popped some invisible spring that had been winding tighter and tighter. “The man we’re looking for is Captain Steven Rogers, better known as Captain America. According to our best records, you served in a joint Allied task force with him and his Howling Commandos.” Ignoring the shocked look on her teammate’s faces, she continued. “We’re also looking for my sister, Karen. I can’t rest until she’s safe, I haven’t slept in any chunk longer than 45 minutes since she went missing, and if you refuse to help, I can’t be responsible for my actions.”
“Understood. I don’t know if Beast told you, but I track by scent. Do you have something that they wore?” The animalistic mutant, the daughter of gypsies, and the straitlaced agent settled down to discuss tracking patterns. Although an odd assortment of personalities, the three worked well together, working long into the night planning the next day’s search.
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In the morning, as the rescue team geared up to comb the northern end of the area, pushing south, Steve and Karen were trying to catch fish without any civilized means of doing so. The thought had been to weave a net of sorts out of branches, but their first try had let the fish slip out easily. The second try had been better, but still needed work. Only the raw hunger for any form of protein kept Karen working, when she’d much rather repeat the previous afternoon’s love-making. Steve, on the other hand, seemed very invested in the work. Invested enough that he seemed not to get her subtle suggestions that they ‘take a break’. Finally she’d had enough of trying to be delicate, classy, or indirect.
“Ok, so we’ve been at this since the sun came up. Let’s just grab some blackberries, go back to camp and fool around.” At his confused look, she continued. “I haven’t had sex that good in years and now that I have a source, I’m understandably less willing to diddle about with food when I can just smear blackberry juice on you and lick it off.”
“I’m not sure we should.” He shifted uncomfortably in place. “I don’t want to take advantage of the situation more than I have already.”
“What do you mean ‘take advantage’? We’re both consenting adults who love each other. Aren’t we? Because if that thing about loving me was a line of bull, then yes, you took advantage, but I don’t think it is.”
He whirled about to face her. “Of course I love you. Karen, you know me better than that. I just think that maybe we should take things a little slower, because I’m not a skirt-chaser, and I never have been. I’m just not sure it would be right to go any farther just now.” He sighed. “I’m sure these words will precede a good number of fights between us, but in my day there was a right way and a wrong way to treat dames.” Seeing her glower, he course-corrected. “Women, sorry, I meant women. And the world may have changed while I was frozen, but I still think there are a right and a wrong to an awful lot of things. What we did felt great, don’t get me wrong, but should we do it again, just because it felt good?”
“You may have a point. We could make all the promises in the world about keeping it safe, but until we have access to condoms and the pill, we’re always going to be tempted.” Seeing Steve’s stunned and slightly confused face, she began to think maybe she’d stumbled into another cultural minefield. “Wait, safety was what you were talking about, right? Not knocking me up?”
“Er, um, no. I was thinking more of the ‘sin’ factor.”
About to lay into him again, she put her hands up in mock defeat, instead. “Ok, ok, it adds up to the same thing. But trust me, when we get back to civilization I am finding you a ‘history of the sexual revolution’ text book.”
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Secret Bit of Right From Wrong