Review time!
First of all, even though i try to answer every review i get and usually write it then:
Thank you all so much for typing reviews! I/We really appreciate it.
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Guest: I'm glad you like our version of Bruce. We figured with all the shit he sort of have to face (if it is the hulk or not, well-...) he has to be pretty...accepting and calm about various things. xD Also, Sam. Really, sometimes i think he's the only remotely sane person between those reckless people. Though one can argue about it. I hope you haven't lost interest in this story, even though i take my sweet time updating it. ^^°
Thank you again for leaving a review!
-Review Time End (i guess). Now onwards to the chapter! Enjoy!
"The source is moving..." Thor mumbled to himself, altering his course to...the graveyard?
Where the magic power got...stronger?
"Who is there?" Thor asked, entering the graveyard. "My name is Thor, and i promise to not do any harm to you as long as you don't do harm to me and the people living in this town." -which, in his mind, included the Prince.
The two girls looked at each other, a bit unsure and scared but both gave firm nods.
"We don't want to hurt anyone," Sharon spoke, hands in the air and stepped from behind one of the grave stones.
"We simply wish to deliver a message," Carter added, and cast a quick glance at the witch.
"You're city is in danger," Wanda stood up, eyeing the wizard as a red aura surrounded her. She could feel them here – her family. If it came down to a fight, this place was her best chance to win.
Thor's gaze focused on the two females. He patiently listened to them (not that they were talking long anyway). He nodded at them, signaling them they could lower their hands.
"What danger? Tell me more, please."
Clint felt a bit awkward. "...well, i have no idea to whom you're talking now, but it really would be easier if you would either sleep or wake up. This in-between-stuff is confusing..." he didn't even know why he was talking, as the last few times he tried that she didn't get any of it. So, the archer focused on their way. However, he stopped the horse (who neighed quite a bit panicked) at the loud tune of horns. "...an army signal..." he waited for a moment, the signals repeating. Then he groaned. "They noticed them." He got the horse going again, leading it straight to where the signals came from.
"Yeah, yeah," James smirked, cutting off a head as the blood spilled around.
"But it's still stupid as hell," he saw Sam was already gone and grinned.
"C'mon! Show me what the Red has!" he was letting it loose. The rush of the battle, fighting alone side his old friend, it all made his body numb, but in a good way. It was one of the only ways he wasn't shaking and worried about this place. It's never nice to get reminders where you died. But the longer they fought, the more soldiers came.
New, fresh and ready bodies replaced their fallen companions, and the two rebels were in no condition to take on an entire army.
"Aghh!" Barnes hissed, getting an arrow in his shoulder. Bearing his teeth, the assassin got back up and swung his sword, effectively taking down another knight with an axe.
And then another swish, sharp pain and a restrained hiss, as the arrow head implanted itself into his left thigh, but the Winter Soldier kept attacking, even throwing a dagger past Steve's face and hitting the upcoming dual wielder.
It didn't take long after that for the two to get captured and brought before the Red Skull.
"My, my…" Schmidt grinned at the two chained and wounded men.
"What a gift I have received…" he leaned in closer and took Rogers' chin in his fingers.
"Captain… An honor to finally meet you."
They were forced on their knees before the leader of the Red's army. Steve ignored the cuts and slashes on his body, he rather stared at Red Skull, pulling his head away from the man's grip.
'Move! Run! You need to get out!' Sam kept yelling in his head, biting his lip as he jumped and dashed past the trees, bushes and roots.
'Don't look back. They're fine,' he closed his eyes for a second and that was all it took for the Falcon to trip over and slide across the ground.
"Shit," he hissed, picking himself up quickly before he heard a horse and froze for a second, and took out his bow, ready to shot at the approaching figure.
The horse was getting more panicked with each meter they were getting closer to...a canyon? The map in Clint's head said it was the canyon they were approaching.
And then, the horse stopped, nearly throwing him and Natasha off.
"Hey- stop it!" Clint had some trouble getting the horse to half-calm down and cursed several times, before he got it to stand still, so he and Natasha could dismount it. "Man you're trouble..." he told the horse - because hey, yeah, he was talking to an animal, why not...
"Alright Natasha. We're continuing, but no horse. This one's obviously not used to army sounds." He told the sleeping woman, carrying her on his back. In all the trouble he didn't notice Sam at all - or that anyone was close anyway, so he had spoken normal and not silent.
"You wound me Captain," Skull smirked, not bothered by the movement.
"But I am surprised to find you here… Away from your beloved Kingdome and King," he moved back the smirk never leaving his face. And then he looked at the second man from the corner of his eyes.
"…I was told you betrayed your ruler," he moved next to James, the kneeling man keeping his eyes on the ground and panting slightly as he was losing blood.
"I wondered why… Could it have been a person?" Red grabbed Barnes' neck and forced his head up, looking him in the eyes.
"Tell me… Just what could delude the great, legendary, honorable and loyal knight of the Iron to do such horrid actions against his home?" his smirk grew wider as Bucky tried to get out of his tight grasp, but it was all for naught.
"I'm loyal to the Stark's. Not Stane" Rogers said. For a split moment worry clouded his eyes, seeing his best friend bleeding. "I also don't know what possibly could interest you in my betrayal. It seems to be more of a favor for you."
"Well it is simple Captain," Skull still had his grip on Barnes, as if admiring him. And that only made the whole situation worse for the Winter Soldier.
"You are someone who I had no control over, nor did Stane. An unknown, a risk I did not wish to take… But now that you're here, it makes it a lot easier," finally letting go of James, Schmidt grinned.
"I should bring you to Stane as a gift. And I believe I'll keep this one for myself," his teeth were showing, that's how much he was smirking.
"Prepare to head out. Remove this one's arm and keep Rogers in chains. Today fate has smiled upon us," the Reds did as their master ordered, surprised to actually see Bucky had a metal arm which could he removed, and chained Steve's hands and legs.
"Good. Shall we?" Johan snapped his fingers as the two wounded men were tied to with some more chains to the saddle on Skull's horse, before they were being pulled along the rocky terrain.
"Clint?" Sam asked, heart racing a mile per hour as he lowered the bow.
"My God! It is you!" he dropped the weapon and rushed to the archer, even gladder to see Romanoff next to him.
"Widow! How is she?" Wilson quickly checked her pulse and all, even though he knew she was at a doctor, just to assure himself she was alright.
"Sam? Man you surprised me-" Clint had his hand over his erratic beating heart, trying to calm down again. "She's alive and sleeping, sometimes dreaming about Barnes, i suppose...Banner gave me a balm to give her when she wakes up. How are things here? I guess you found them? I mean, the signals were pretty clear..."
"Well, she really must be worried if she's dreaming about him…" Wilson chuckled before looking at Clint with a serious expression.
"It's bad Barton… Really bad… But we can't go that way. We need to get to the Iron and help them spread the word. Winter and Rogers… they bought me time. They're probably dead or captured…" Sam swallowed, clenching his fists in frustration. He felt so weak!
"Mm…" Nat groaned and opened her eyes, the light invading her eyes.
"We're back?" she muttered, putting a hand on her head.
Sharon and Wanda relaxed slightly and smiled.
"The Red is coming with an army. We're not sure how many, but Stane is working with the Red Skull. He porously sent the knights away so the city would be defenseless!" Carter hurriedly explained.
"…If I may, I can show you," Maximoff slightly put her hand in the air, a red energy around it.
"We had a run in with Sir Clint Barton. He spoke with Stane not too long ago. And we found one of the Reds moles in our ranks. Our friends extracted the information."
Thor's eyes widened at the news. So Antony had guessed right...
"How is Sir Barton? He had to flee from the castle, i believe-" he interrupted himself and nodded to what appeared to be really the Scarlet Witch. "Please do so. I believe you, but i would like to see proof."
"He is fine… as far as we know. He set off to help one of our friends," Sharon explained.
Wanda slowly moved closer, showing she was no threat and gently put her hand on Thor's forehead, her memories of what Barton and Brock told them flowing into his head.
Steve clenched his teeth. It wasn't comfortable to be pulled along when you can't move your legs to walk.
He just hoped Sam was okay and could warn them...
He threw a look at Bucky. "You more or less okay Buck?" -it was a stupid question, since both of them were bleeding, chained, pulled along by a horse and obviously not okay.
"Oh yeah… Deja vu is all," James slightly tripped over the rocks. With his left arm gone, his balance was… less than perfect.
"Just like that time when Falsworth got me and Morita to be a diversion," it seemed the Skull didn't like the two talking as he pulled on the chains, knocking the assassin over.
"Now, now… Slaves should stay quiet," Red glanced back at them when Barnes managed to get to his feet. His wounds were getting infected by the damn smoke around and it only increased the pain.
"You don't really think you'll win do you?" despite what happened before, Bucky wasn't about to stay silent. It wasn't in is nature.
"They'll stop you," he was grinning as Schmidt looked at him, annoyed.
"You apparently don't have ears," he hissed nodding and before anyone could do anything, a whip cracked loudly as it connected with the assassins' back and James hissed in pain.
"Oh yes… I'll have my fun with you," Johan smirked and turned back as three more cracks snapped and the third one got a low groan.
"Hey, stop it!" Steve was more than just a bit angry, struggling against his chains, but it was of no use.
He still continued, resulting in cutting his wrists.
"You will pay, Skull. We will make sure of it."
"Magnificent Magic..." Thor muttered, before concentrating back on the proof he just got. "We need to evacuate the town. No civilian should be harmed by it. I will try and contact the soldiers still at the front, but they will take some time until they can get here. I am deeply sorry for the loss of your friends at the camp. You can return to your friends and help them, while i will take care of evacuating the town."
"We could still help around here. Our friends are pretty strong, they need us working here. Do you know anyone who could do something more with this information? Someone who could make sure the knights get back sooner and that Stane would be delayed?" Sharon asked, moving closer to the two.
"Otherwise we can help the evacuation. I could use my power to make sure everyone is calm and not panicking," Maximoff gently held her head, eyes closed. Using her magic this much usually caused her a bit of pain, but nothing she can't handle.
"Optimism, Sam. Optimism. They are both strong...it could break the will of the Iron army when they see Rogers in chains, even though they see him as a traitor, they still know he's strong - so they still could still be of use for him..." Then Natasha moved. "Not 'We'. You are back. You were sleeping for some time, glad that you're awake. Headache?" Clint asked, already searching for the balm. "Put this on your neck and temples. Doc Banner said so. And i guess we should hurry a bit."
Natasha wasn't really sure what was happening; only that her head was killing her and her friends were around. But only two.
"Where… Where are the others? James and Steve?" she asked weakly after feeling the pain grow down.
"And hurry where? What's happening?" she looked at them with questions.
"Widow…" Sam started, not sure how to word it.
"Winter and Steve… they got captured…"
"That's right. Captured. At least we think they are. Optimism. So, boss" Clint looked directly into Natasha's eyes, that were still processing due to killer-headache and a certain drowsiness that came with just waking from sleep. "What are we going to do now? Return to the town and help Wanda and Carter? Or try to take a look at the huge army marching this way through the canyon? You feeling up for that decision?"