Chapter 17
Buffy opened her eyes and realized she was laying on Steve's jacket in a dingy looking room of what seemed to be an old warehouse. She turned her head and saw Bucky passed out with his metal arm in a clamp. "Hey." Steve appeared beside her and he sat down next to her. "You feeling any better?" He smoothed her hair out of her face.
"Why is it that whenever we're around your best friend, we end up in an aircraft crash?" Buffy asked.
"At least you weren't shot this time."
"True."
"Your head took a pretty serious beating and you've got a pretty nasty gash on the back of your head." Steve helped her to sit up and lean back into him. "You're also still feeling warm."
"I wish I felt warm. I'm kind of cold."
"Not gonna throw up again, are you?"
"Maybe." She sighed. "No way in hell that you're leaving me behind, though. I'll power through this."
"I know you will." He kissed her neck. "You're one tough cookie."
"Oh, please don't mention food of any kind."
"Sorry."
"Steve…." Bucky groaned from across the room.
Steve helped Buffy to stand and they moved a little closer to him. "Which Bucky are we talking to?"
"Your mom's name is Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes."
"You can't read that in a museum."
"And just like that we're supposed to be cool?" Sam asked from the doorway. Buffy hadn't even noticed he was there.
"What did I do?" Bucky asked.
"Enough." Steve said.
"I knew this would happen. Everything Hydra put in me is still there. All he had to do was say the god damn words."
"Who was he?"
"I don't know."
"People are dead. The bombing, the setup, the guy went through all of that just to get ten minutes with you. I need you to do better than 'I don't know'."
"Steve," Buffy scolded. "Don't be so pushy. He's been through a lot." She walked over to Bucky and knelt down in front of him. Searching his face for a moment, she nodded and hit the lever to release his arm.
"Thank you." Bucky said. "I didn't get to tell you before since we were a little busy, but you're gorgeous."
"There's the Bucky I've heard so much about. Nice to finally meet you." She helped him to sit down on the ground and then sat down beside him, noticing Steve's amused face. "What can you remember about that guy beyond the fact that he was really annoying?"
Bucky nodded. "He wanted to know about Siberia."
"Were there demon polar bears?" Sam asked. Buffy and Steve both shot him glares and Bucky just looked confused.
"What's in Siberia?" Buffy asked.
"It's where I was kept." Bucky said. "He wanted to know exactly where."
"Can you think why he'd need to know that?"
"Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier."
"That's…. Unexpected."
"How are there more Winter Soldiers?" Steve asked.
"In 1991, I was sent out to retrieve the serum that made you." Bucky said, looking at Steve. "Howard Stark recreated it and they sent me to steal it. There were five pouches and they gave the serum to five Hydra agents."
"Who were they?" Buffy asked.
"The most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in Hydra history and that was before the serum."
"Did they all turn out like you?" Sam asked.
"Worse."
"The doctor," Steve said. "Could he control them?"
"Enough."
"He said he wanted to see an empire fall." Buffy said.
"These guys could do it. They speak thirty languages and can hide in plain sight. Infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize…. They could take a whole country down in one night and you'd never see it coming."
"Very comforting."
"I'm sorry."
Buffy shook her head. "It's not your fault."
"This would've been a lot easier a week ago." Sam said.
"If we call Tony…." Steve said.
"He'll never believe us."
"He might believe her." Steve gestured at Buffy.
"I'm not willing to risk it." Buffy said. "He's very much on the side of those stupid Accords. And even if he did believe me, we don't know if the Accords would even allow Bucky to help."
"We're on our own." Steve said.
"Maybe not." Sam said. "I know a guy."
"I know one, too." Buffy said. "Who's your guy?" Her eyes brightened when she realized who he was talking about. "The ant guy? Please tell me the ant guy because I want to thank him for that riveting ten minutes on the security cameras."
"There's security footage?" Steve asked. "Why haven't you shown me?"
"Because he has some footage of you and I that we thought didn't exist. So we called a truce and we both destroyed our blackmail."
"Security footage of us from when?"
"The training room a few months ago."
Steve looked confused for a moment, but then the memory dawned on him and his face reddened. "Oh." He shook his head. "I told you that would come back to bite us."
"Hey, you started it, Captain. I was just finishing it."
"Who's your guy?" Sam asked.
"An old friend who's really good with a bow."
"Good." Steve said. "We can ask him to pick up Wanda."
"You think she'll be ok with that?"
"I honestly don't know. But we need her."
"I don't disagree with that. Especially with Willow signing those accords."
"Any idea why she did?"
Buffy sighed. "Guilt? It's made my best friend do some interesting things in the past."
"It worries me that she can flay a guy alive with just a flick of her hand." Sam said. "Thanks for that image."
"She would never do that to any of us. Hey, while we're at it, I want my scythe back. Think Sharon will help us?"
"Probably. You call Clint, Sam you call your guy, I'll call Sharon." Steve nodded and walked out. Sam left a few seconds later.
Buffy looked over at Bucky. "You ok?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" At her confused look he nodded at where Steve's jacket was laying. "I heard you say you're feeling sick."
"It's on and off. I'll survive. By the way, thank you for saving us that day at the river."
"That day is still really…. Confusing."
"I had a lot of blood loss that day, so I'm right there with you."
"I'm sorry about shooting you…. Three times."
Buffy shrugged. "I'm over it. Why did you save me that day? You didn't know me. You barely seemed to remember Steve."
Bucky looked over at her. "I remembered Steve. It came back to me…. Well, enough of my memories did, anyway, that I knew I cared about him once. And the way you looked at him and touched him…. I knew you loved him and I was glad he had you. I couldn't let you die."
"I appreciate that." Buffy looked at where Steve had disappeared.
Bucky picked up her left hand. "When is the wedding?"
She admired the ring with Bucky. "I have no idea now. It was supposed to be in a month and a half, but we're kind of fugitives now. I think a wedding would draw too much attention. Besides, Tony might be mad enough at me to not pay for anything anymore." She sighed. "Guess my dream of being two normal people having a completely normal wedding is out the window."
"If that's what you want, Steve will find a way to get it for you."
Buffy squeezed his hand. "It really is nice to have you back, Bucky." She stood up. "I need to call Clint."
Buffy sat in the back seat of the stolen old VW bug with Bucky. Sam was sitting in the passenger's seat and Steve had driven. He was currently getting out of the car to meet Sharon. She had agreed to bring them their gear.
"Could you move your seat up?" Bucky asked Sam.
"No." Sam said, not even looking back.
"Seriously?" Buffy asked. She kicked his seat. "Be nice, Sam."
"I am nice."
"Why the hate for Bucky?" Sam didn't answer, so Buffy scooted into the middle seat and leaned forward to wrap her arms around his neck in a hug. "Just cause he's back doesn't mean we're going to ditch you, Sam. Steve and I love you. We've adopted you as our own."
"Quit getting sappy on me." He was smiling as he said it.
She kissed his cheek and saw Steve pull her scythe out of Sharon's car's trunk. He wiggled it at her enticingly and she smiled brightly. "Oh, I've missed that beautiful piece of weaponry." Buffy squeezed out of the car and walked over to Steve. She took her scythe from him and her muscles relaxed when she felt the power in it. "You left the hardware on."
Sharon handed her the gloves that called her scythe and Steve's shield to her and her suit. "I just stole it from lock up. I wouldn't even know where to begin to take it apart."
"Thank you for this Sharon." Buffy began moving the scythe around in a deadly balletic circle.
"You guys take care." Sharon got in the car and drove off.
Steve turned and looked at Buffy playing with her scythe. "You feel complete again?"
Buffy smiled and set the scythe down to lean against the nearby wall. "Wrong choice of words, Captain."
"How so?"
"I feel complete with you. My scythe is just an extension of myself."
Steve smiled. "Yeah. Those were the right choice of words."
"Thank you."
He glanced at the car and its passengers before turning his attention back to Buffy. "Speaking of the right words, I heard you talking to Bucky earlier. Thank you for being so kind to him. I know he's caused you a lot of pain."
"It wasn't him. The Bucky you know and the one I know through you is in the car right now. He's got a lot more guilt than you're used to, but he seems to be dealing with it ok."
"I also wanted to apologize for all of this mess. I know you were looking forward to the wedding and now…."
Buffy wrapped her arms around his waist suddenly and laid her head against his chest. "We'll figure it out." He dropped the shield containing his and Sam's suits and wrapped his arms around her.
"You deserve the wedding of your dreams."
"Well, what I deserve and what I get are two different things. But come hell or high water, I'll have you and that's all that matters to me. I love you." She looked up at him and he leaned down to kiss her. When they pulled apart, they caught Sam and Bucky both nodding their heads in approval.
"Let's get going." Steve picked his shield up and Buffy grabbed her scythe. They shoved everything in the luggage compartment of the VW and climbed back in the car.
"It's nice that you two can take a moment to get romantic with everything that's going on." Sam said. "I'm sure we could wait if you two wanted to 'work out'."
"Shut up." Buffy said, kicking Sam's seat again.
They drove to the airport and pulled into the parking garage. Clint was waiting there with Wanda in a white van. The level they'd chosen was near the top and nearly abandoned. Perfect for a covert meeting.
"Buffy." Clint said, coming around to meet them. "Cap."
"We wouldn't have called if we'd had a choice." Steve said.
"Hey, you guys are doing me a favor." Clint glanced at Wanda getting out of the van. "Besides, I owe a debt."
"Thanks for having our backs." Buffy said to Wanda as she hugged the girl.
"It was time to get off my ass." Wanda said.
"How about our other recruit?" Steve asked.
"He's rearing to go." Clint went to open the van door. "You might want to put a little coffee in him, but he should be good."
When the door slammed open, Scott Lange jumped awake. He looked confused for a moment as he climbed out of the van. "What time zone is this?"
"Come on." Clint shut the door of the van and pushed Scott forward. "Go on."
Scott realized who was standing in front of him and walked up to shake Steve's hand. "Captain America!"
"Mr. Lange." Steve said.
"It's an honor." Scott didn't stop shaking Steve's hand. "I'm shaking your hand too long. Wow! This is awesome!" He looked at Buffy. "Captain America! Hey! I know you, too. You're great. A lot smaller in person, though." Buffy lifted an eyebrow at him. She heard Bucky let out a snort behind them. "Sorry! That sounds dumb coming from me." Scott looked back at Steve and gripped his biceps. "Ah! Gosh! I just wanna say, I know you know a lot of super peoples, so thinks for thanking of me." Scott spotted Sam. "Hey man!"
"What's up Tic Tac?" Sam said.
"Uh, good to see you. Look, what happened last time was…."
"A great audition, but it'll never happen again."
"I kind of hope it does." Buffy said, looking back at Scott. "That was highly entertaining. Thanks for that, by the way. I got to see the whole thing and it was hilarious."
"Did they tell you what we're up against?" Steve asked Scott.
"Something about some psycho assassins?" Scott said.
"We're outside the law on this one. So if you come with us, you're a wanted man."
"Yeah, well, what else is new?"
"We should get moving." Bucky said.
"I've got our travel lined up." Clint said.
Suddenly alarms sounded all over the airport. A German voice came over the speakers and began calling orders. Steve and Buffy looked at Bucky. "They're evacuating the airport." He said.
"Stark." Sam said.
"Stark?" Scott asked.
Steve looked down at Buffy. She sighed and headed for the car to open the luggage compartment. "Suit up." Steve said to everyone else. He joined Buffy at the car as she handed out suits. "We're going to need to split up. Divide their attention. Buffy, I need you with me. Stark will come for us first. You're the only one here that stands a chance of him listening to our side."
"I'm a little worried we've pushed him too far." Buffy said. "But I can try talking to him again. If only to keep him distracted."
"Do you think Willow will be here?" Sam asked.
"I don't know. I really hope not."
"She might listen to you better than Stark would."
"Maybe. She has her reasons for signing those accords, though. And since I haven't gotten to ask her, I can only guess at why. She might be beyond listening."
"Where was she earlier?" Steve asked. "Why wasn't she at that facility with Tony and Natasha?"
"She wasn't at the compound, either." Wanda said. "She left a few hours before Clint showed up."
"That's because I was tracking Buffy." Willow said, walking up to them.
Buffy was tensed for a fight as she made her way towards her best friend. "Are you why Tony is here?"
"No. I have nothing to do with that. Tony's here because he's trying to bring you all in. I'm here because I don't agree with him locking Wanda up the way he did."
"You're switching sides?"
"I wasn't on a side, Buffy. I signed those accords because I agreed with them to an extent. We have too much power and we've both seen what that does to people. You saw what it did to me."
"Will…."
"It won't kill us to have boundaries in place. But at the same time, you're my best friend and I know you wouldn't go this far for nothing. So what's really going on?"
"Bucky was framed. He wasn't in Vienna. He didn't blow anything up. It was all so this guy could get in a room with Bucky for 10 minutes and find out more about these other Winter Soldiers."
"There's more of them?"
"Yes. And we're trying to stop this guy from activating them."
Willow looked around at the people gathered there. "Ok, so I guess I'm picking a side now. What can I do to help?"
"Stick with Wanda." Steve said. "I've seen what you two can do with your powers and we'll need that."
"Gotcha." Willow nodded and walked over to Wanda.
While they got suited up, Steve went over to talk to Scott. Buffy worked on strapping on all her gear and was trying to get her scythe harness on. Bucky noticed that she needed a little help and walked over to offer it.
"Thanks. I always get stuck on that last buckle." She said.
"Are we sure she isn't here as a double agent?" Bucky asked.
"Willow? I'm sure." Buffy turned around as she locked her scythe in the harness. "She may have a killer resolve face, but her poker face is terrible. She's not lying."
"If you and Steve trust her…."
"We do. And she's someone we really want on our side."
"Flay a guy alive with a flick of her hand?"
"She did it once. It wasn't pretty. But in her defense she wasn't herself. The guy killed the love of her life and almost killed me." Bucky shot her a confused look. "She snapped and lost it. It's a very long story."
"I feel like you have a lot of those."
"She does. And none of them are boring." Steve said, joining them. "Are you guys ready?"
"As we'll ever be." Buffy said.
Buffy and Steve walked across the tarmac, making it look like they were headed for a helicopter sitting there. Clint, Willow, and Wanda were inside the parking garage while Bucky and Sam had gone inside the terminal. At first there was no sign of anyone, but as they neared the helicopter, one of Tony's electrical stunners hit the helicopter and shut it down. Iron Man and War Machine flew in, but only Tony put his helmet back.
"It's so weird how you meet people at the airport." Tony said. He looked over at Rhodes. "Isn't that weird?"
"That's really weird." Rhodes said.
"Tony, that psychiatrist was a fake." Buffy said. "He's behind all of this. He set Bucky up."
T'Challa showed up in his Black Panther suit. "Captain, Miss Summers."
"Your Highness." Steve said.
"Anyway, Ross gave me thirty six hours to bring you two in. That was twenty four hours ago. Can you help a brother out?" Tony asked.
"Well, since you asked so nicely…." Buffy said sarcastically.
"You're after the wrong guy." Steve said.
"Your judgment is askew." Tony said. "Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday."
"And there are five more super soldiers just like him. We can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. We can't."
"Steve, you two know what's about to happen." Natasha said, showing up behind them. "Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?"
When Steve and Buffy didn't answer, Tony sighed. "All right, I've run out of patience. Underoos!" Suddenly Steve's shield was taken from his arm and both his and Buffy's hands were suddenly bound in tight webbing. A guy dressed in a red and blue onesie that covered his face dropped down on top of a nearby truck holding Steve's shield. "Nice job, kid."
"Thanks!" The voice coming from the onesie was that of a teenager's. "Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better, it's just…. New suit. Wait, it's not…. Mr. Stark, it's perfect."
"Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation."
The teen looked over at Buffy and Steve and saluted. "Ok. Cap…. Captain. Big fan." He gestured at himself. "Spiderman."
"Yeah, we'll talk about it later."
"Oh. Hey everyone."
"Just…. Good job."
"You've been busy." Buffy said, subtly trying to break the webbing.
"And you two have been complete idiots." Tony snapped at her. "Dragging in Clint, rescuing Wanda from a place she didn't even want to leave. A safe place."
"How do you know she didn't want to leave? Did you ask her? Cause we did and look where she's at."
"I'm trying to keep…." Tony took a breath to calm himself. "I'm trying to keep you two from tearing the Avengers apart."
"You did that when you signed." Steve said.
"All right, we're done. You're going to turn Barnes over and you're going to come with us. Now! Because it's us. Which is better than a bunch of SWAT guys with no compunction about being impolite! Come on."
"We found it." Sam said in their ears. "The quinjet's in hanger 5. North runway."
Without looking at each other, Buffy and Steve held their arms up over their heads. Clint shot two arrows that split the webbing on their hands and gave them free range of motion again. "All right, Lange." Steve said.
"Guys, something…." The spider kid was suddenly kicked backwards as Scott sized up to his normal size holding Steve's shield.
"What the hell was that?" Rhodes asked.
Scott walked over to Steve and handed him the shield. "I believe this is yours, Captain America."
"Oh great." Tony groaned from inside his suit. "All right, there's three in the parking deck. One of them is Maximoff. I'm gonna go grab her." He flew off and Rhodes hovered in the air.
"Barnes is mine!" T'Challa yelled, running off for where Rhodes had spotted Bucky.
Steve threw his shield up and bounced it off of Rhodes' suit as Buffy turned to go after T'Challa. She suddenly split off and moved away from everyone. The goal was to get to the quinjet, so she was going to get over there and figure out a way to get everyone else over there. She could hear different people ask where she was, but she stayed low and stayed behind things out of sight. She made it to the end of her hiding places and stopped at the edge of the tarmac. It was a wide open space in front of her now. She could hear explosions and yelling behind her as the others fought. There was no way she was going to make it across that expanse without someone noticing her.
"Miss Summers." Vision said, floating down in front of her.
"Vision." Buffy stood up straight and looked at him. She really needed Willow or Wanda to get past him.
"I really must ask that you abstain from this fight."
"Sorry. I can't. I've got this guy that I've got to stop from activating a bunch of evil super soldiers and a friend to protect. It's a whole big thing." She started to walk past him, stealing herself for the fight, and was left confused as to why he didn't even try to stop her.
"I understand that you believe what you're doing is right, but you need to think about your child."
Buffy stopped and turned back to him. "I'm sorry, think about my what?"
"I am detecting a second heartbeat from you. Your temperature is raised and I am told that you've been ill. These are all symptoms that add up to only one conclusion."
"Are you telling me…."
"You're pregnant with Captain Rogers' child. I really must insist that you stand down, if only for this reason alone. You won't be harmed and I will see to it that you are treated with complete respect. You will be protected."
"Did I really just hear what I think I did?" Natasha asked, coming around behind the Slayer. Buffy leaned heavily against the truck she was standing by and put her hands against her abdomen. The outside world fell away and she was lost in a sudden darkness surrounding her. Breathing was starting to become an issue since she couldn't remember exactly how to do it suddenly. Was she having a panic attack? "Buff…." Natasha wrapped her arms around her friend, trying to bring her back to herself and hold her up in case she passed out. "Vision, go help the others. Don't tell anyone else about this."
"Miss Romanoff…." Vision started.
"It's none of their business until she makes it their business. I'll make sure she's ok." Vision moved reluctantly off, taking flight after a few steps. Natasha turned back to Buffy. "Hey, breathe. That's kind of important."
"I can't…." Buffy shook her head, struggling to breathe around the tightness in her throat. "We're so careful."
"Well, he is a super soldier. I can't imagine a thin piece of latex…."
"We're not ready."
"I know." Natasha looked around and sighed. "Ok, Summers, focus up here. I know this is a lot to process right now, but I really need you to put it aside and be the Slayer. We're getting you to the jet."
"What?"
"You're my friend, Buff. One might even say my best friend if they knew some of the things we've shared with each other. I can't stand this fighting between everyone. And I really can't stand the thought of you pregnant in a prison somewhere and separated from Steve. So, ignore everything else and get to the jet. I'll make sure at least Steve and Barnes get there, too. Then I'll figure out a way to make sure you guys don't end up in prison."
"Nat…."
"You and Steve, you're not going to stop until this is resolved. I know you both pretty well. If there are evil super soldiers out there that need to be stopped, you, Barnes, and Rogers stand the best chance of doing that. I'll do what I can to help them get to the jet with you."
"I'm really sorry about all of this."
"I know. Go into the terminal through there and stay low. It lets out just over there near the hanger. There's an open space between the terminal and the hanger, but it's nothing you can't get across fast undetected." Buffy nodded and started to move away. "And Buffy? Be careful. I don't want to mourn you, Rogers, and a niece or nephew I never got to meet." Natasha turned and disappeared.
Buffy moved over towards the terminal and entered through the door she'd pointed out. Once inside, she took a moment to herself to allow every emotion she was feeling to wash over her. The most overwhelming one was fear. She fought her way back out of the panic attack, wiped away the tears, and got moving through the terminal. The exit near the hanger wasn't far and she peeked through the window to see if anyone was around.
The sounds of fighting had picked up and were a lot closer than they had been. She opened the door and stuck her head out. Everyone was engaged in battle against each other. Steve was taking on the little spider guy and she briefly thought about helping him out, but she needed to get to the quinjet.
"Buff, where are you? Where did you go?" Steve's voice sounded in her ear.
"I had a little set back and then some help, but basically…." She ran across the expanse and burst through the door to the hanger. "I'm in the hanger."
"Good work."
"You're going to need to get here, flyboy, cause I have no idea how to work this thing."
"We're working on it."
"That guy's probably in Siberia by now." Bucky said.
"We gotta draw out the fliers. I'll take Vision, you get to Buffy and the jet."
"No. You get to Buffy and the jet." Sam said. "Both of you. The rest of us aren't getting out of here."
"As much as I hate to admit it," Clint said. "If we're going to win this one, some of us are going to have to lose it."
"This isn't the real fight, Steve."
"All right, Sam, what's the plan?" Steve asked.
"We need a diversion. Something big."
"I got something kind of big." Scott said. "I can't hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half, don't come back for me."
"He's going to tear himself in half?" Bucky asked.
"Are you sure about this Scott?" Steve asked.
"I do it all the time." Scott answered. "I mean, once. In a lab. And I passed out."
Suddenly, Scott became a giant and he grabbed Rhodes out of the air. Buffy could see from the jet's windows that everything sort of stopped as the combatants stared. She saw Bucky and Steve staring, too. "I think that's the signal, guys!" Buffy called.
Bucky and Steve took off running while Clint, Wanda, Willow, and Sam helped the giant Scott distract the others. Scott was creating a massive amount of chaos. It was truly impressive. Natasha appeared in the hanger and waved Buffy onto the jet. They both ran on and Natasha started it up. Just then, the control tower came crashing down in front of the hanger. Vision had used his mind stone to burn through the floors and topple it like a big tree. Steve and Bucky just barely made it underneath with Wanda's help.
"T'Challa." Buffy said, seeing the Black Panther appear behind them.
Natasha was already out the door. "Hey Steve."
"Nat." Steve said. "Where's Buffy?"
"Safe on the jet. Get going. Don't make me regret this." She shot her electric stingers at T'Challa, keeping him down until Steve and Bucky were on board. Steve sat at the pilot's seat and Bucky buckled in next to Buffy. They took off and Steve kept it at a steep upward angle to get away from Rhodes and Tony giving chase. Sam informed them that Vision had shot at him and when Sam had maneuvered out of the way, the bolt of energy had taken out Rhodes.