Happy New Year, Boys Ch 2
"Where's Natasha?" Steve asked cautiously, shaking off the cold.
Bucky was in his couch spot, a Popular Mechanics in his hands, "She had some other things to attend to. She'll catch up with us later, maybe."
"Really?" Steve asked critically glancing at him sideways, "I didn't want to chase her off. I know you both don't get … time together." Steve tried to dull the edge in his voice but it didn't' translate that way.
"No. Really." Bucky shifted in his seat as if uncomfortable averting his eyes, his voice going lower, "Actually, I owe you an apology."
"For what?" Rogers asked, coming around to the opposite chair, his cheeks ruddy from the cold making his blue eyes sparkle but his expression still wounded.
"For being an ass." James replied sullenly through his bangs like a boy being told to apologize by his mother or he'd be cuffed across the back of the head.
Steve sat there for a moment perched on the edge of the seat, hands between his knees, knuckles knitted together, looking thoughtful. There was so much "new" between them compared to their younger days. Rogers knew Barnes' heart was in the right place and it was difficult to stay angry at him. "Well, if that's the case you have a lot more of those apologies coming." Steve chuckled with a smirk at James's dark look.
"No, punk. I'm sorry I shooed you off. That was rude of me." Barnes replied, folding the magazine and setting it down on the coffee table.
"That's ok. We obviously have to work something out there, though." Steve returned trying to keep his modest composure, "Let's save the world like we always do and then get back to that, since it seems Hell has frozen over and both of us have dames in our lives."
"No, you finally have a dame in yours." James smiled slyly at Rogers as he folded his hands over his lap.
"That's another apology." Cap grinned, feeling somewhat avenged, smacking Bucky on the knee as he got up from the chair. Guilt was always an effective weapon.
"Manipulative jerk." James retorted and went back to his magazine.
Fury had stored some "provisions" for the two veterans on a rooftop not far from their apartment. At twilight, both of them donned their gear and headed out to that rendezvous point.
The tall Director in his classic black coat stood on the edge of the roof, looking towards the lights of Manhattan. His hands were clasped behind his back reminiscent of a commander surveying the battleground. "Director." Cap greeted him quietly as both he and Bucky had approached virtually silent. Rogers didn't want to startle the man; he may be older, but was still a lethal fighter.
Nick returned, pivoted to see both of them, nodding his greeting, vapor rising in the icy air, " Captain. Sergeant."
Bucky nodded in return, his game face on for the mission. In the back of his mind, he wondered what Natasha was doing at that moment somewhere out in the city. All she had told him was that Nick has a plan for her tonight too, but wouldn't elaborate on it. That annoyed him deeply because he wasn't afraid she wouldn't finish her task, but that she would be ok. His mind recalled his earlier conversation with Steve about love being a liability in times of war. Those thoughts aggravated him now and he had to try very hard to keep the unfeeling Winter Soldier locked in his cage, deep in his mind. No therapy would ever erase that part of him.
"What is our plan?" Rogers asked his thumbs hooked at his belt buckle.
"I need you to infiltrate the roof of One Times Square and set up this apparatus on the bottom of the crystal ball." Fury gestured to a brief case sized black box at his feet. "Obviously, because of the extremely heavy civilian presence, we can't just go in guns blazing and take out the HYDRA agents. This device will neutralize their tech. That portal beam will never be generated if this goes right. Oh, and you have to do it in less than sixty seconds."
"More tech than take down. Alright." Rogers commented easily with a puff of condensation absorbing the logistics. Bucky stood quietly to his left running calculations through his own mind. The rooftop gave no respite from the chilling wind but none of the men seemed to notice.
"And there is one more thing." Fury said with obvious conflict in his expression.
"What is that?" Cap replied as a growing feeling of foreboding rise up in his mind.
Fury turned his gaze out at the twinkling city lights and took in a deep breath, "Remember that conversation we had a while ago about compartmentalization?"
"Yes." Steve said frigidly, his muscles tensing. That memory was definitely filed under "bad conversations" in his mind after returning from the Lemurian Star mission with Natasha and Rumlow's S.T.R.I.K.E. team.
Fury turned back to look at Cap and Barnes, "This old dog learned something from that experience but it's still hard for me to say this. It goes against every spying nerve in my body." He paused, his breath in white puffs, "Natasha is involved too. I believe she made contact with Barnes today?"
"She did." Barnes replied barely audible, this news making him anxious to find her. His left hand flexed involuntarily signaling his agitation.
"She should be laying some groundwork for this device to work. Don't be surprised to see her." Nick concluded.
"Thank you, Nick." Rogers stated, holding out his hand for a handshake, "Glad to see you are never too old to learn new tricks."
Fury took the proffered hand and shook it firmly with a grim smile, "Just took an older one to make me learn."
Cap smiled slightly and picked up the pack, and then looked at Barnes, "Ready to go?"
"Though you'd never ask." Bucky replied looking for an exit off the roof.
Sharon walked among the throngs at Times Square. Clouds of breath punctuated the air like wrapping tissue to be torn by the breeze. It was already shoulder-to-shoulder behind the NYPD barricades and still filling in. People huddled for warmth and made jokes about the cold. Eyes always scanning for danger, she listened to the chatter in her earpiece about revelers being disorderly but otherwise it was quiet.
"Hey! Watch out blondie!" a burly college student slurred, lurching into her, not the other way around. A can of cheap beer dangled from his fingers as a glitter-covered crown with 2015 tilted precariously on his head.
"Watch yourself, young man." She fixed him with a steely gaze and discretely showed him her badge. Quickly, he mumbled something about damn cops and moved away. In the back of her mind, she wondered what Steve would have done to the young man. Probably taken him by the scruff, let him sleep off his buzz, educate him about the dangers of underage drinking and send him on his way. The humorous scenario made her smile and then really wonder what Steve was doing right that moment. Probably sitting on the couch watching me freeze my ass off on TV, she concluded, the warm smile fading from her face. I'd kill for a venti mocha right now, she thought as the wind blew through the urban canyon sending a chill down everyone's spine. Sharon felt her toes going numb in her tactical boots. Pulling up her collar she moved on through the crowd.
Suddenly, something caught her eye up past the Jumbotron above the crowds assembled below. A flash of red hair seemed to rocket up within the supports for the various lighted billboards. Widow? Sharon wondered, trying to squint beyond the bright LED screens and swaying spotlights. What the hell? Sharon thought quickly, where there is Natasha, Nick can't be far behind. Does that mean Steve and Bucky are here too? What are they up to?
Quickly deciding she needed to get off her CIA detail to see what was up with her friends, she radioed in, "Control, this is 13. I will be out for a moment. No radio."
"Copy that. Why?" came back the voice of her commander in her earpiece.
"Sir, I think that you don't want to know." She returned in a serious tone.
"Um… Yes. You take care of that, 13." The man's voice replied and there was an audible click.
Sometimes it's good to be a woman, Sharon thought, once again smiling to herself while making her way through the crowd to One Times Square.
Widow climbed the slippery metal supports of the giant flashing billboards and building lights trying not to be electrocuted. The backpack behind her made for some tight fits between the walls and pipes, but she climbed her way roof ward as the clock began to count the time down:11:45 pm.
Her hands were bone cold and grip was tenuous in some places. Glazed ice and pigeon manure covered most of the handholds and foot rests as she climbed. Passing a window, she ducked behind a scaffold as people had an office party inside, toasting and kissing each other. A few selfies were being clicked inside. Natasha wondered how many reputations were being ruined this night by cellphones as she stayed still until they were distracted. Her mind wandered to James and that midnight kiss they probably wouldn't get to share. Finish the task, Natasha. That can wait. Indefinitely. She almost heard Bucky's voice growling at her when he was the Winter Soldier in the Red Room. The memory made her belly quiver with fear instead of desire. She never wanted to think about that place ever again. Closing her eyes to regroup herself, she breathed several deep breaths that had nothing to do with the height. Opening them again, refocused, she slowly began to climb.
The edge of the roofline appeared, hidden behind the scaffolding of the displays but Romanov didn't take any chances. Slowing her approach to get a good look, she saw a gap from the top bar of the billboard to the edge of the roof of about five feet. If she could just balance on that last bar and give it a good jump, she should be able to reach it.
Perching precariously with no fall line to hold her to the scaffold, she sized up her situation.
11:50pm
Inhaling a frigid breath, she coiled her muscles like a cat for the leap.
The soles of her boots gave way, slipping on ice.
Cartoon-like, hanging in mid-air for a moment with just enough forward momentum, she hooked her fingertips on the roof ledge. Gasping for breath in large white plumes, she scrambled for a toehold as the tips of her fingers went numb. Brick scraped her cheek painfully.
"Need a hand?" a sarcastic voice above her asked.
Looking up, a HYDRA agent peered down at her, a wicked smile on his face and a large gun pointed at her head.
"Not from you." Natasha snarled and to the HYDRA agent's surprise, let go of the edge.
Romanov deployed two Widow Bites, killing the HYDRA soldier quietly but not before she smashed herself on the support bars below her. The breath knocked out of her, she dangled behind the FOX billboard by one arm. Glancing down, the heads of the spectators far below swam in her view, the cheerful noises of horns wafted up to her. The cold numbed some of her injuries, but she knew she wasn't 100% any more.
11:55pm.
A quick scuffle was heard above Natasha and she looked skyward. A blonde head appeared above her, "Romanov?"
With a smile, Natasha shouted back as best she could with bruised ribs, "Perfect timing."
"Happy New Year. Get the rope." Carter threw a rope over the edge of the wall. Widow took it gratefully and climbed the wall as Sharon pulled the other end.
Hooking a leg over the ledge, with a hiss of pain, Natasha hauled herself over the edge, hoping the contents of her backpack were not damaged.
11:57pm
"What's the plan?" Sharon asked, ignoring the two other dead HYDRA bodies on the roof, besides the one Romanov killed.
"Cover me." Natasha replied, limping toward the large pole at the top of the roof. Nick had assured her that the camera feed of the ball from the rooftop would be hacked and showing completely normal preparations for the ball drop. She didn't have time to wonder if he was a man of his word now.
Opening the bag, she cussed loudly as the main processor of the deflector unit she had been carrying was cracked when she fell. "Watch out!" Sharon yelled as Widow ducked a bullet from a HYDRA soldier. Carter engaged the HYDRA troops while Natasha tried to patch the broken circuits.
Gunfire became hand-to-hand combat. The HYDRA soldier had a knife aimed at Sharon's throat as he pushed her against the support beam for a billboard sign. The blade inched closer to her chin, muscles trembling in resistance and the pole digging into her spine. The telltale whistle of Cap's shield came to her ears as the HYDRA man fell, the shield ricocheting off his skull.
A broad smile covered Carters' face as she saw the man who owned that shield appear, "Took you long enough."
"Good to see you too Sharon." Rogers smiled back, beyond glad to see her, "Glad to see you could meddle in our business."
"Employer loyalty. DUCK!" she shot back, firing a bullet at the HYDRA agent sneaking up behind Rogers.
"Thanks." Steve said as he whipped around to engage now what seemed to be an army of HYDRA troops emerging from a staircase.
"Where's Bucky?" Carter asked between blows and shots.
"He's helping Natasha. Watch your right!" Cap yelled as he used his shield to block the gunfire from a HYDRA goon.
The pair fought on in tandem, looking as if they were almost having fun, but the HYDRA troops were coming almost faster than they could handle. A deep roar from the ground reached them as Ryan Seacrest's voice echoed upward from the grandstand below.
11:59pm
"Bucky! We are running out of time!" Natasha yelled frenziedly at the black clad veteran.
Ignoring her tone and the time, James asked Romanov, "Are you ok?" He saw her bruised and scraped cheek; worrying about other injuries he couldn't see. His bangs framed the uneasiness in his expression.
The ball began to move with a jerk and sound of gears. The sixty-second countdown had begun.
"I'm fine. Worry about the mission, not me." she barked back, her green eyes on fire.
Barnes took one look at the broken tech in her hands and shook his head. "This won't work. We can't fix it. Not enough time."
"We can't fail! That Diviner almost … killed you last time." Natasha said in a fury then her voice failed. Tears pricked her eyes as she blinked them away.
James reached out to tenderly stroke Natasha's face with a thumb as a different rumble filled the air. The HYDRA device was activating.
The fighting paused for a moment at the sound with Steve, Sharon and the HYDRA soldiers marveling at the pooling semi solid light around their ankles, like an aurora trapped at ground level. The air took on a metallic taste and the cold didn't seem so bitingly arctic any more.
Like a living vine, the pulsing rainbow light formed rivulets climbing up the pole to seek the ball, which was descending with the chants of the admiring public below. A separate core of iridescent light began to shoot up the pole through the ball and focus on the night sky above as one coherent beam," 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2."
Midnight
The ball touched down and the light became a blinding white radiance. Fireworks boomed and the crowd screamed happy New Year. Above, the sky opened with swirling eye like a hurricane. Rogers had seen that before, too many times. "Bucky! C'mon!" Steve called to his friend who followed him up the scaffolding paralleling the pole. The HYDRA troops seemed to have retreated.
Reaching the top of the scaffolding, Steve rapidly sized up the situation with Barnes. "My shield. We need to stick it into the middle of the beam. Break it."
Bucky looked down at the women, who shielded their eyes against the light, "Get out of here! Go downstairs!"
Natasha and Sharon looked conflicted but Carter helped Romanov up off the floor and hustled her down through the roof access doorway.
"We're not leaving them up there are we!?" Natasha asked incredulously, her arm draped across Sharon's shoulders.
"No. I'm just hoping they have a plan!" Carter gritted back and huddled them in the staircase.
James looked at Cap solemnly, each man holding the opposite side of the vibranium shield. "On three." Rogers said and Bucky nodded, "One, two - three!"
The two men leaped from the platform into the beam of light, holding the shield like it was a life raft. It pushed back as if it had mass; the vibranium not able to absorb the force of the stream. Throwing them back like rag dolls, they fell heavily to the ground, skidding across the tar and gravel flattop. Sharon heard their bodies strike the roof and ran up the access stairs to see what had happened. Both men lay still on the ground. Natasha bolted up past her.
"James!" Natasha yelled, rolling him to his back.
His eyes flickered and then opened obviously having a hard time focusing, "That guy really packs a punch!"
Natasha laughed in spite of herself. Bucky smiled lopsidedly back.
12:02am
Steve sat up tenderly with Sharon's help, "The ball. We need to destroy the ball!"
As the women helped the men to their feet, a bullet whizzed past Cap's ear. HYDRA troops appeared again in the staircase, guns raised. "Get going! We'll hold them off!" Sharon said drawing her gun.
Steve raised his shield and hit a triangle of Waterford crystal. A loud, bell-like sound pierced the air and the beam flickered. James joined in with his biomechanical left arm, striking the crystal facets that were focusing the light sky ward. With each blow, a tone like high-pitched church bells rang out threatening to deafen the men as they assailed the sphere. The rift in the night sky writhed and pulsed like a multicolored lava flow in the black night. Natasha and Sharon had beat back the HYDRA soldiers down into the staircase and Sharon could hear CIA backups on her earpiece coming up from the ground. This would be wrapped up in a moment, but her thoughts went to Steve and Bucky, upstairs.
Once again, the men looked at each other and the sizable dent they had made on the sphere as the light pulsed through the ball. Nodding, Bucky cocked back his left arm and Steve swung back his shield. Simultaneously, they struck the weak point in the sphere.
A bright white light, like lightening engulfed the men then threw them off the roof bending the scaffolding of billboards, as if they were thin wire, as it expanded. Sparks flew into the night and the beam of light faltered. The portal above wavered and closed with a flourish of lightening and thunder sounding like the ocean.
In the fall, James barely caught Cap's hand as he anchored his left on a thicker beam of steel. Dangling high above Times Square, Rogers could hear people screaming in fear and hear his name mentioned in a few shouts. Blood dripped into his eye and Rogers realizing the flying glass had injured him. "Bucky! Can you pull us up?" Steve asked looking up but saw James was in worse condition; sheer determination was all that was holding them together over the pavement.
Sharon and Natasha appeared at the top of the roof, "Steve!" she called to them as they dangled precariously, the structure pulling away from the building. "Hold on!" Sparks of electricity arced from the torn wires further hampering their rescue attempt.
"I'm losing my …. Grip!" Bucky gritted out, as the framework began to collapse.
"Don't let go!" Natasha pleaded but the bolts fastening the metal to the wall betrayed her first.
12:05am
Rogers and Barnes rode the structure down to the street level in a heap of debris. Cap had barely enough time to pull his shield up to perhaps cushion the blow for Bucky and himself.
Once the women saw the structure collapsing, they both bolted down the stairs to ground level. Sparks flew from exposed wiring as they searched the wreckage. "Steve!" Sharon called.
"James!" Natasha echoed.
Finally, as the dust settled and the NYPD was clearing the public from the wreckage, Natasha saw the silver star of Steve's chest. "Here!" she called Sharon and both of them began to dig, lifting poles and electrical components from them.
Sweating from exertion, even in the cold air, Natasha found Bucky next to Rogers. Both were unconscious but breathing and had a pulse. Romanov saw all the places the shards of crystal had cut James or were still impaled in him, oozing out blood with every heartbeat. "Bucky?" she said softly and was rewarded with a groan.
"Did it work?" he asked, his throat gravelly and dry.
"Yes." She replied as his eyes opened, pupils wide in the low light.
"Good." He smiled slightly then frowned, "It's past midnight right?"
"Unfortunately." Natasha smoothed his hair back from his forehead with a kind hand. He almost leaned into her touch like a cat.
"No kiss then." Barnes whispered, disappointed.
"I saved one just for you." Romanov leaned over him and kissed Bucky soundly.
When they parted lips, Bucky looked over slightly to see Sharon and Steve also exchanging New Years Eve kisses, even if late. Both of them smiled at the blonde couple. "They're so cute." Natasha commented.
"Yup." Bucky said then a groan of pain escaped him.
Romanov looked alarmed suddenly; "We need to get you both to the hospital! Not making out here like teens!"
"C'mon. Making out… isn't' so bad." James returned but the tight lines around his mouth suggested he was in a great deal of pain.
As if summoned by Natasha's thought, the wind began to whip rhythmically above them. Nick Fury's helicopter pivoted to make a neat landing nearby. "Let's get you both up and to a doctor." Natasha said.
"Looks like you need one too." Bucky commented between groans as he tried to stand. Medical teams were running out from the helicopter to meet them.
"I'm younger. I heal better, unlike old farts like you." Natasha quipped and Barnes smiled.
James looked at Steve as they were attended to and moved to the helicopter, "You know, Rogers, this is becoming a bad pattern for you and I."
"What hanging out and falling off and out of things?" Steve tried to laugh back, but it hurt too much.
"Something like that." Barnes responded as he was loaded onto the helicopter.
"Glad to see you've stuck around, despite our issues with gravity." Steve returned.
"Somebody's gotta keep you safe." Bucky replied easing onto a gurney. Steve settled onto one as well and smiled back before wearily closing his eyes.
New Years Day
"You completed the mission, although not the way I intended." Nick's voice was a mix of amusement and annoyance.
The two friends lay in their hospital beds eating pudding when Nick came to pay a visit. "You're welcome?" Barnes returned, licking his spoon.
"Yes, thank you. But the city of New York isn't too happy that their beloved ball is destroyed as well as half of the billboards in Times Square." Nick mentioned, shifting his weight between his feet.
"No one was hurt were they?" Steve asked between a spoonful, ever concerned.
"Not really, unless you count people who tripped over themselves from being drunk. Actually, you kept civilian casualties to a minimum." Nick replied.
"Sounds like mission accomplished to me." Barnes remarked scraping the last of the pudding out of the cup.
"Anyway, I'll leave you to the remainder of your lunch." Nick remarked turning to leave, "I need to get back underground. Sharon showing up didn't help me much."
"She sure helped me." Natasha made an entrance at that moment, "Without her I'd still be strung up on that billboard."
"And your tech wouldn't have been destroyed." Nick reminder her casually, as he slowly walked out the door.
"You're welcome, Nick." Natasha called after him with a wave and smile. Turning her attention to James, she remarked, "Hungry?"
Steve joked, "Barnes has been hungry since the Depression."
"Only because I gave my portions to you, jerk." James shot back as he scraped the pudding cup for the last lick. Cap gave a slightly melancholy smile to his friend because he knew it was true.
Romanov wanted to lighten the mood, "I hear you are being discharged today."
"Yup. One last inspection by the docs and we're good to go." Steve replied, taking a drink of water.
"Sam sends his regards after I told him what we've been up to." Natasha mentioned, "He's been tied up in D.C. lately."
"And what are your plans?" Barnes asked his girlfriend with a sly smile.
"To help get the two of you home." She looked between them.
"Thanks, Natasha." Steve said but it was clear in his tone he wished Sharon was there too.
"Get you two home with a little help." as if summoned by wishful thinking, Sharon appeared in the doorway. Steve's face lit up like Christmas. She crossed the room in three steps and pressed her lips to his, ignoring the pudding that Rogers hadn't wiped off.
"Bucky, I think you've rubbed off on Steve a bit. He's a real Casanova nowadays." Natasha teased.
Sharon broke the kiss as Rogers's cheeks lit up bright scarlet. Sharon had a touch of pudding on her lip.
"He's a gentleman. Not a rogue." Sharon defended, using Cap's napkin.
A knock at the door made the two women turn. "Excuse me. The doctor is making his rounds. We'll get them checked out shortly. You have to leave."
"See you in a few, boys." Sharon commented as she and Natasha walked out.
January 2, 2015
The sound of a champagne bottle cork popping and surprised shouts filled the apartment. Steve quickly filled glasses all around and then poured his own. "To a better late than never Happy New Years toast."
James, his arm wrapped around Widow's waist, raised his glass appreciatively.
"Now be careful. Those pain meds you all are on aren't supposed to mix well with alcohol." Sharon remarked, leaning in on Steve's chest, her arm around his torso.
"Then good we aren't driving." Barnes said sipping his glass. "Almost as good as Champagne, France itself."
"Now that was wine, even if I can't get drunk." Steve agreed, reminiscing on their WWII days.
"To old acquaintance be forgot…" James began and they sang a few off key bars before falling silent because they got to thinking about all the tumult of the year.
Trying to picking up the spirit, Natasha volunteered, "I know this year was hard, but we're all here, alive. We are all in love." She batted eyes at Barnes and smiled happily at Sharon and Steve, "And I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be, no matter what has happened. Happy New Years, boys." Natasha pointed her glass in Steve and Barnes's directions.
"Happy New Year." Sharon seconded and then took a sip.
"Happy New Year." the guys intoned and somewhere deep in their old souls, they really felt it.
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