Summary: A year after the civil war, the Avengers are still divided with friendships broken and loyalties torn when they are sent to find a powerful young woman whose life has been destroyed by HYDRA. While Bucky seeks redemption, Martine seeks to get revenge on the people who murdered her grandmother. Co – Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Bucky/OC, Wanda/OC, Clint/Natasha and Steve/Sharon. Rated M.
Divided We Fall
Chapter 4
"Until now...that's how they found me in New Orleans...is that why Adrian left?" Martine asked, shocked.
"Yes. Adrian left to protect you and your grandmother, and that's why he sided with Captain America. He didn't want anyone finding out that he was a superhero protecting New Orleans. HYDRA would have found him and done to him what they did to Bucky, and it would be hell for him," Fury said gravely.
Martine swallowed quietly. She'd been so horrible to Adrian since he had come back, and in reality he'd suffered as well.
She still needed to arrange grandmama's funeral.
"Why did my brother go missing?" she asked quietly. Fury answered by showing up a file of a prison that literally came up from the water.
"This is where your brother was kept prisoner by Thaddeus Ross during the civil war. However, he was rescued by Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Winter Soldier," Fury said grimly.
"I'm guessing you didn't agree with it either?" Martine guessed. Fury nodded briefly.
"I didn't, and it costed lives. Not to mention nearly costing Rodger's life. As for Stark...he's now paying the price for his part," Fury said grimly.
Martine looks down at the files, her eyes traveling to Bucky once more. "He helped save my brother? With Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye?"
"Yes. Bucky...he's still not normal, at least in today's standards. He's still a bit loose on the rocks, but he has been getting better slowly. He won't ever truly be recovered from his time at HYDRA. It's just what's had to be done. But that was the first sign we saw that he was truly trying to be a good person, ever since he saved Rogers."
Martine looks at Fury, biting her lip. "Al...Alright. But I don't want people to know about me. I can't let that happen. Everyone would be afraid."
"Why do you think they all have names and costumes? Except for Tony, everyone usually keeps their identities secrets, or lives out quietly so they don't draw attention. SHIELD is quite good at keeping things a secret. You would be safe."
"And no act?"
"I have a feeling if I said yes you would melt this whole entire place."
"You would be correct."
Fury chuckles at her blunt answer before shaking his head. "No act. Not yet. You will be protected at all costs and kept alive. There's no need to worry. You can be one of the best fighters we've ever seen."
"How?"
"We can get Wanda to help with your powers and the others to help with easy skills. Fighting, hacking, anything that could come in handy. You can be a real good person to society. You just need the proper training, and we can give that."
Martine looks at him, as he sticks out his hand, and then quietly reaches forward.
"Okay."
Fury smiles and nods. "Good. Now, let's get you to that apartment. You'll start training here in a couple of days, but you should get used to the environment for a while."
"Wait!" He looks over at her. "I still...I still didn't get to say goodbye to..."
Fury sighs and then nods. "We'll figure out the funeral arrangements. But the most important part is you going to your apartment and getting some rest. It's been a long damn day. You need it."
"Thank you, Director Fury," Martine said quietly but gratefully. The man nodded at her before heading towards a car. And quietly, they drove to where she would be.
It was in a quiet neighbourhood, nothing major. He let her out, telling her the apartment was on the fifth floor. 5B. So she grabbed her bags and headed up. He left without a trace a moment later. When she opened the door, Martine got a good look inside.
It was a very large and spacious apartment with a window that overlooked the area. There was a desk with her laptop on the desk, along with her mouse.
Someone must have gotten it for her back at the house. She picked up a framed photograph of her, Adrian, dad, grandpa and grandmamma that had been taken a year ago.
Martine stroked their faces gently and decided to take a shower. She took off her boots and the rest of her clothes, before pulling on a black silk robe that had black lace on it. Then she entered the bathroom, and was startled to see Salem purring away. He entered from the balcony and cuddled her.
"This our new home, Salem," Martine said softly. Salem purred at her and snuggled into her for a minute before going to the bed. She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
Hot water came out as she took off her bathrobe, and stepped into the shower, sighing heavily.
She was a superhero.
Or going to be. How on earth had this happened in less than twenty four hours?
Just shows that she had shitty luck.
The next day, since she wasn't training, Martine decided to go out and see what the town had to offer. It wasn't that for from D.C, and it was quaint, nothing major. She could see school buses, movie theatres, a Main Street.
It was just a nice town that was on the suburbs of the city. It wasn't half bad.
She heads to the park and grand a coffee from a vendor, walking around with shades on her eyes. The sun had really started to get to her lately. Even if she wasn't a fucking vampire it could still be a bit annoying.
As she looked around she spotted a lake, with some ducks swimming by, and then noticed someone sitting down. They weren't feeding them. Just watching.
Out of pure curiosity, Martine comes closer and sees it was Bucky. Same expression. But it seemed more peaceful.
Martine smirks a bit and then decides to reach into his mind. He was a complex cookie, which was for sure. He had to have something going on in there. So she focused hard enough, and after a moment she could see it.
He...he was thinking about...her.
The memory was of back in the car, while she was looking outside with her cat on her lap. And she saw how his eyes moved up and down her body. That bastard had checked her out. Creep.
But somehow it was still a bit flattering, even if he was creepy.
Martine shakes her head before walking over, stepping out of his own thoughts and into her own. She stood behind him. "Bucky, right?"
He turns his head, not an etch of surprise on his face. He doesn't reply.
"You're Bucky, right? Fury told me about what HYDRA did to you, but I just wanted to say, I'm...I'm grateful that you helped saved my brother. He could have gone into a bad place if it wasn't for you and the others."
Bucky looks away before shrugging. "Wasn't gonna let HYDRA hurt someone else."
She nods, but instead of making the smart decision and walking away, her dumb ass decides to sit down next to him, coffee in hands. "Do you live around here? Know any good breakfast places? Cause I'm starving."
"Yeah...I know a place across the street," Bucky said quietly. Martine nodded as she stood up and followed after him. They both headed into a diner and sat at a booth.
As it was early morning, there weren't a lot of people around. Martine caught sight of the local newspaper, and began reading it. She saw the front page.
'PUBLIC'S OUTRAGED AFTER LEAKED FOOTAGE SHOWS AVENGER SUPERHERO HAWKEYE BEING VIOLENTLY TORTURED BY US SOLDIERS!' the title showed. Martine stared in shock and horror, as it showed a photo of a badly beaten up Clint Barton.
"Was this during the war?" She asked quietly. She looked at Bucky, who was silent, but nodded quietly.
"Yeah, it was. Clint got captured, and that's how he met Adrian. They were next to each other," Bucky explained grimly.
Martine looked at his metal hand and held it tightly.
"I'm sorry for being horrible."
His brow furrows. Was he confused? "What the hell do you mean?" Well that was easily answered.
"I mean I haven't been treating people right here and I know everyone is just trying to help...I'm just on the defense, you know?" The waitress brings over a coffee. Martine thanks her, and when she walks away the blonde drinks it. "I'm also sorry for sorta fucking with your mind."
He snorts, sort of a chuckle coming out of his mouth. "Don't be. Chasin' you was one of the quickest things I've done in months. It's been quiet at the base." She shrugs.
"Still."
"Don't be sorry. Hate it when people are sorry for stuff that isn't their fault." He looks down at his cup of coffee before shrugging. "It's like with my arm. You can say you're sorry it happened but it's not like anything can change. Just gotta accept it and move on."
There was a sense of bitterness to his tone and even irked her, and as much as she wanted to climb right into that head of his to see what he was thinking, she held back. "I don't think your arm is weird, by the way. I have a feeling you get that all the time."
He looks up at her, stoic as usual. "What?"
"I don't think it's weird. I haven't seen all of it but-" He interrupts her by pulling off his jacket. Luckily there weren't many around do no one saw, but she did. And wow, was she impressed.
His fingers moved like regular ones. His arm bent and snapped. And it was just put metal from the bottom to the top, right around his shoulder blades. She could see where it connected skin to metal. It was remarkable.
"That is so. Fucking. Cool."
She could tell he was confused by her reply. "Why?"
"Because you're like...a sexy cyborg! It's like in those movies where cyborgs have like those arms to protect people, and they fly around and..." She could see the blank expression on her face, and then she realized why.
She forgot he was one in the 40's. He probably didn't know about a lot of stuff now.
"They're called sci-fi movies. Science fiction. They're my favorite kind. That sort of stuff always fascinates me. Could I...?"
It was an unspoken question, a want to touch, but he nods all the same. It was discreet, quiet, but it was there. She walks over to his side and then touches the arm, from top to the bottom.
She could feel his gaze on her, which was a bit unnerving, but her eyes we're glued to the sleek metal of his arm. His arm was muscular. She wondered if his real arm was just as big.
Her hand travelled down to his, feeling his metallic fingers move a bit.
"Wow," she whispers. "How...how does this work? Do you...feel anything down there? Like pressure? Or temperatures?"
"Not really, I can feel my fingers and everything, but that's it...feel like a monster because of it," Bucky said bitterly. Martine looked at him quietly.
"That's not true. You didn't choose to become an assassin for HYDRA. They forced you into it. Made you do what you've done...you had no control. You're different now. I can see," Martine said firmly Bucky looked at her quietly.
"You didn't know me before."
"I know I didn't, but the man I'm seeing right here is different from the man I've seen on those news reports." She was being sincere. It was true.
Bucky was scary, or could be, but right now she saw a man who suffered from something terrible. And he needed reassurance that he wasn't bad, even if he thought so.
"I'm shocked that you don't have a boyfriend," Bucky said quietly. He found it hard to believe that Martine didn't have a boyfriend who loved her.
She looked shocked, but Martine shook her head, her blue eyes showing a hint of pain and loneliness. She stood up and went back over to her seat, as he shrugged his jacket back onto his metal arm.
"No guy would want me. I'm a witch, or as my mother once called me, the devil's child. I haven't had a boyfriend ever. At my senior prom, I stayed at home with Beatrice and Jax and Adrian. I took them away from their own prom because of my stupid lonely ass," Martine said quietly.
There was even a bit of a laugh in her statement, but it was anything but happy. She stirred her coffee, and a waitress served them the food. Bacon and eggs. Simple.
Bucky looked at her, and she met his gaze evenly.
"Go ahead. Laugh."
He doesn't do anything, just looked down at his food after a moment. She snorts, shaking her head. Typical. Holding in the laughter not to make her feel bad. Ass.
"Still shocked." His voice cuts her silence.
She looks up, rolling her eyes. "How?"
"Cause your powers don't make up you," he says quietly. "Sure, it's a big part...but you're still yourself. Your powers don't define you. Whatever guy doesn't want you is stupid."
She raises an eyebrow at his weird version of a compliment. He was still stoic, looking down at the food, but she could have sworn that she saw a hint of a smile there. "Really?" she muses. "I'll keep that in mind."
He looks up at her, but before she could say anything else, the stoic expression suddenly changed to a scowl, and he grabs her hand, pulling her out.
"What the he-"
He grabs money from his pockets and throws it on the counter, before taking her outside, and then into an alley. She glares at him, her hands heating up. Just because she liked the compliment doesn't mean he had the right to put his hands on her.
"Barnes, you-"
"Shut up!" he snaps, his hand slamming onto her mouth in the dark alley.
She tries to fight, but then heard them. The voices.
"Have you found the target?"
She could feel every muscle against Bucky tense, and knew instantly who this person was.
"Negative. Could have sworn she was in the diner. Wait a second."
They heard footsteps coming their way and Martine heard Bucky curse. He looks around before looking at her. A sudden idea sparks in his eyes before he looks at her reluctantly.
"Sorry." Before she could ask what for, he tilts her head so it was hidden, ran his good hand up her shirt, and then attached his lips to her neck. She was so surprised that she gasped, causing the attention of the man, but at seeing Bucky practically sticking his tongue on her skin, he snorts and turns away, leaving.
When he was gone, Bucky pulls back. Martine hits him on the chest, not surprised by the muscle she felt. "What the fuck?!" she whispers.
"HYDRA agent. Hiding your face so no one would see." She huffs.
"Couldn't have done something that didn't involve kissing me?"
"Not the point. Those agents aren't supposed to be here. We can't stay here right now." He grabs her hand roughly and pulls her away. "We gotta get to Fury. Tell him." She sighs but nods, following after him. There went her peaceful morning.
Bucky leads her towards a car, but then suddenly heard a bullet whizzing through the air. Out of instinct, she raises her free hand and builds a force field made of energy, the bullet hitting it. She looks over.
It was the agent.
"Shit. Bucky," she whispers to him quickly. "They found us."
Enjoy readers.