Chapter 24
Steve approached Bucky who is staring blankly at the floor.
"Buck…"
"They came out of nowhere, Steve… We weren't ready…"
Steve sat beside him on the floor.
"...Clint was with her and I…" he sighed and took a breath. "..I was talking to Sam at the gym. I wish I just didn't wake up, Steve."
Steve's heart sank. He has worked hard enough to make Bucky believe that bad things didn't happen because of him, but now… now all he can see is his best friend blaming himself for things that he didn't do.
"Buck… none of this is your fault." he assured him.
"It is. If I didn't come back, I wouldn't see Talia, you wouldn't be upset." he paused. "You wouldn't leave."
That hit home.
"It's not your fault." Steve said once again, sounding beaten. "If anything, it's my fault. It was an irrational and impulsive decision-walking away."
"You needed time to let things sink in."
Steve raised both of his brows and ducked his head. A comfortable silence has settled between the two friends.
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Bucky broke the silence between them.
Steve didn't respond right away. He took his time to collect his thoughts.
"You have nothing to be sorry about, Buck." he replied and smiled at his friend. "You don't have to beat yourself up for it. I left instead of talking to her and that's on me." he sighed.
"She loves you, Steve."
Steve met his friend's gaze.
"She was just scared to tell you. Scared to lose you. Talia has been through a lot, Steve, you probably know that. She was just scared, she didn't mean to keep it from you."
Steve didn't respond, he doesn't know what to say at this point.
"You're a lucky man, Steve."
Steve smiled at that. "I know."
"Buck… are you okay with all of this?"
His friend took a deep breath. "Took me days to let it all sink in. Talia and I talked, I'm not gonna lie to you, Steve, I still love her but I'm not gonna do anything to sabotage your relationship, she obviously loves you and it hurts, but it also makes me happy at the same time 'cause I know she's with a good man and I know you deserve her more than I do."
Steve stood up and offered a hand to his friend, Bucky took it and Steve pulled him into a hug.
"It's good to have to back, bud."
Bucky chuckled.
"I've missed you, too, Steve."
"We'll find her, Steve. We'll get her back."
Steve smiled.
"We will." he replied.
Steve was glad that Bucky was there to assure him and get his mind on the positive side of things coz all he could think of from the minute he discovered that Nat was abducted were all negative things
What if we won't find her?
What if she will never be back in their lives?
He could never forgive himself if anything happens to her.
Maria was calling the rest of the team. Bruce is already on his way back to New York. They couldn't reach Thor coz he's still in Asgard and Sam is the one telling Tony about what happened.
Sam has been on the phone explaining to Tony what has happened.
"So… you're telling me that Red knew Bucky way way way back?" the billionaire asked.
Sam rolled his eyes. "For the millionth time, Tony. YES!"
"Huh." was all the man on the other line could say.
Sam proceeded on telling him everything up unto what happened today.
"Are you telling me that the tower was attacked, my friends were hurt and NATASHA WAS ABDUCTED after babbling for minutes about Steve, Bucky and Nat? are you kidding me, Wilson?"
"You were the one babbling about everything."
Tony sighed.
"We'll fly back there later tonight."
Fury gathered everyone around the living room.
"What in the fucking hell happened?!" he was keeping his voice low but anger is evident.
Everybody was quiet for a while.
"Nat and I were already a mess, we've been drinking and playing poker since 3 in the morning. I was on my way to getting another bottle of vodka when I heard glasses, shattering. That was when FRIDAY alerted you that there's been a breach." Clint addressed Fury.
"Tear gas were everywhere, Nat got up and got her gun under the kitchen counter. Men, dozens of 'em fired at us, Nat tossed me one of her guns, we fired back, until we were out of ammo, that was when we resorted to hand to hand combat, few minutes later, Bucky and Sam arrived. I was pretty sure we would win the fight, but six heavily armed guys took on Bucky, it was pretty intense, they fought until they were practically on their way to Tony's lab. Sam was knocked over and this guy was about to shoot him, I took him down, but I saw one guy shoot Nat with something that made her lose her consciousness. He carried her, Sam and I fought him, but there were just too many of them. We managed to take them down, but too late, she was gone."
"What else did you see?" Maria asked. "Any obscure logo?"
"No, didn't see anything." Sam replied.
"One thing is clear, their objective is to get their hands on Romanoff." Fury stated.
"and they have done so." Clint sighed, defeated.
"The question is why." Maria finished Fury's thoughts.
"The guy that carried Nat, though. He said… ya vernulsya before he shot her." Sam informed them.
Bucky froze when he heard what Sam said.
"What does that mean?" Sam asked.
"I'm back.." Bucky answered. "It means I'm back."
Everybody was in shock, didn't move, didn't say anything.
Their minds were all running, asking the same question
Who could it possibly be?
"Can you describe the man that said that?" Bucky asked, addressing Sam and Clint.
"Over 6 feet tall,…" Clint trailed off, since the man was wearing a mask, he didn't see anything.
Bucky seemed to read his mind.
They all remained quiet until Sam broke the silence.
"He had a tattoo."
This caught everyone's attention, especially Bucky's.
"Where?"
"On his arm, but I couldn't make out what it was, but the one on his nape.."
"...is the USSR logo." Sam and Bucky said at the same time.
Everyone turned their attention to Bucky.
"Who is he?" Steve asked.
"Alexei… Alexei Shostakov."
A/N: heeey... tell me what you think. xxx
And oh.. that russian bit.. i'm sorry if it's inaccurate, i just used google translate for it. Lol
P. S. I've been binge-watching the casts' interviews together, especially the OG 6. .GO. i miss them😭 :(