Annnndddd it's BUCKY! Oohhh I've been waiting soooo long! If you hadn't guessed yet, Bucky is my second favorite troubled man and he gives me the feels. I'm so glad he's officially back in this story! I've noticed we picked up a couple more followers and reviews so just throwing out a quick thank you to all the newcomers! I'm so glad you've all been sticking with me this far! Being able to share Tessa with you all has been so much fun for me! I hope you like where this story goes! With that being said, as always, I have no rights whatsoever to anything Marvel! And with that stated, I hope you enjoy! Xoxo-NickyLynn
Their group loaded back up into Sam's car and began making their way to where the hellicarriers were set to take off. Sam was driving, Steve was in the passenger seat, and Sitwell was squeezed in between Tessa and Natasha in the backseat.
"Hydra doesn't like leaks." The kidnapped agent said as Sam pulled them onto the highway.
"Then why don't you try sticking a cork in it?" Sam shot back at him, looking back through the rear-view mirror. "Remind me again why we had to bring him along?" he then directed to the other occupants of the car.
"He's useful." Tessa said with a shrug. "We can use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the hellicarriers directly." Tessa told him.
"What?!" Sitwell shouted, looking over at her in disbelief. "That is a terrible, terrible idea." He told her, shaking his head.
Tessa opened her mouth to tell him to shut up before a loud thud from the roof stopped her. Suddenly, the window next to her smashed open, sending glass flying out around her. Before she could even react, a hand grabbed hold of her shoulder and ripped her from the car through the broken widow. She was sent flying through the air before she could even register what happened and hit the concrete so hard the air was forced form her lungs as she went rolling uncontrollably. A pain tore through her shoulder as she rolled painfully along the highway and would have been crushed by a semi if she hadn't transported herself out of the way last second. She landed herself in the median of the highway, hunched over painfully as she tried to process what had just happened.
There was a pile of cars building up on both sides of the highway and the first thing she took note of was the smear of blood marring the front of the semi that had very nearly hit her. Panic filled her as she realized that it had hit somebody. Her eyes then swept over to the opposite side of the highway where a large figure stood on top of the car she had been pulled from, it still speeding down the road without her. She heard the shots being fired down into the cab and she took off running, using her powers to transport herself through the area faster.
As she closed in on the car, she transported herself up through the air, meaning to latch onto the man to pull him away from the vehicle, but someone inside the car pulled the emergency brake. The assailant and Tessa went rolling off the hood as the car came to a screeching halt. Tessa managed to steady herself on her feet before she went rolling again and placed herself between the metal-armed assassin and the occupants of the car.
The man rolled once but managed to flip himself over and used his metal arm to control his skid across the pavement, sparks shooting out from under his fingertips as he did. Tessa watched with wide eyes as he stood back up without so much as a limp, solidifying their assessment of him being enhanced. He looked up at her from behind a set of dark goggles and face mask, his head tipping to the side as he took in the image of her standing defensively in front of the grey car.
Tessa spun around to check on the others in the car, still having no idea who had wound up on the grill of that semi. Her panic eased slightly as she took in the sight of Natasha clinging to Steve on his lap and Sam still in the driver's seat. The sound of screeching tires and a roaring engine pulled Tessa's attention behind them, and she muttered a curse as she watched a large Hummer was coming straight for the back of the car. "SHIT!" she yelled out, having to transport herself out of the way as the Hummer smashed into the back of the car, pushing it forward involuntarily. She moved herself out of the way and watched at they were sent moving forward towards the assassin who flipped through the air as they approached and landed back on the roof.
"Oh no you don't!" Tessa yelled out as she transported herself through space and landed inside the Hummer. She landed in the backseat and as soon as she did, she let out a blast of energy at the man sitting next to her, sending him flying out the door with a yell. She brought up a shield in front of herself as the men in front spun around and began firing at her. With her other hand, she took hold of the gun unloading on her with her powers and pushed it in the opposite direction. A bullet went tearing into the driver who then slumped forward on the steering wheel, his foot still dropped heavily on the gas.
As soon as the man stopped firing, she dropped her shield and fully took hold of him with her powers. With a grunt she sent him flying out through the windshield, it exploding out in thousands of tiny shards of glass that Tessa had to bring her hand up to keep from hitting her face. Now that the occupants were taken care of, Tessa moved herself into the front seat. She watched as Sam's steering wheel went bouncing off the hood of the Hummer and was filled with a new wave of urgency. She pulled up on the emergency break, and as the Hummer came to a screeching halt of its own, Tessa was sent flying through the open windshield. She flew through the air, and as she did, she latched onto the dark dressed man and teleported them both away from the car, landing them several feet ahead on the road. Tessa felt his metal hand press against her chest and with a forceful shove, he sent her flying off of him as they went rolling against the concrete again. She came to a stop first, pushing herself up on shaky arms and quickly spun around as the sound of crashing could be heard behind them.
She watched in horror as Sam's car came flipping down the highway after them. She moved herself out of the way as the car came barreling towards her and felt a sigh escape her as she came out behind it and saw her brother clinging to a door panel with Natasha pulled against his side and Sam rolling along the road just behind them. After accessing that they were okay, Tessa spun back around to face the Winter Soldier. Her heart went hammering against her chest again, however, as she watched him pull back his metal arm and send something flying out towards them, something that looked very much like a grenade. It was flying right towards Steve and Natasha who were struggling back to their feet. She transported herself in front of them and brought up a large shield of power. The grenade made contact with it, and the force from the explosion sent Tessa flying back through the air. Her back hit the guard rail and she went tumbling over it to the road below.
She dropped down from the overpass and landed painfully on the hood of a passing car. The car's tires screeched to a halt as the driver let out a terrified scream and Tessa was sent rolling across the pavement again. She lay flat on her back for a moment, looking up at the overpass she had fallen from, her body screaming in protest. She could hear more gun shots occurring above her as she struggled back up. The driver had gotten out of the car and was screaming if Tessa was okay when a large explosion went off on the side of the overpass. The woman who had hit Tessa took off running as a large fireball went swirling through the air. She watched Natasha dropped down from the highway, using a wire imbedded into the underside of the bridge to control her fall.
Tessa pushed herself back up onto her feet as Natasha dropped down and looked up to find the same dark soldier coming to a stand over the edge with a large gun in hand. Tessa sent out a blast at him that hit him dead-on in the face and sent him stumbling back over the edge again. Knowing he would be back up soon, Natasha ran over to Tessa and the two took cover behind the car that had been abandoned. Sure enough, a few seconds later the whole area was rained upon with bullets and the sound of them tearing through the metal of the car had Tessa's heart rate racing all over again.
"We've got to get him off that overpass!" Natasha yelled out to Tessa as they crouched down as low as they could.
"I got it. Cover me!" Tessa told her. Natasha gave her a nod before standing up and firing back up at the man, eliciting a small break in the bullets being rained down by him. Tessa shot up and reached over the distance, wrapping her powers around his body, and yanking down, sending him falling over the edge and slamming down into the ground below. She dropped her hold and drew in a few deep breaths, trying to steady herself as she began to feel the beginnings of the drain on her powers. She grabbed hold of Natasha and transported them further down the road, ducking down behind a large bus.
She looked over at Natasha, noticing that she was holding her shoulder and her face drawn up in pain. "Are you hit?" she asked Natasha, looking over her in concern.
"Yeah." Natasha breathed out, trying to keep pressure on the bullet wound.
Tessa let out a breath of anger as she peaked out from behind the corner of the bus. The man had gotten back up to his feet and was slowly making his way down the road, looking for them. "You stay here. I've got him." She told Natasha as a cop car burst into a ball of flame down the road from them. Without giving her a chance to argue, Tessa transported herself from behind the bus and brought herself down on top the man.
He caught her movement out of the corner of his eye as she dropped down on him, but he didn't have time to react before she wrapped herself around him, kicking the gun out from his grip. She transported them away from the weapon, but as she did, he gripped onto her thigh and pulled her off of him, flipping her through the air. She landed on the ground on her hands and knees and wasted no time in pushing herself back up and sending out a blast that hit him in the chest that sent him flying back and landing on his back on the car hood behind him.
Tessa teleported herself over to him, but as she dropped down on him, he brought up his foot and slammed it into her chest, knocking the air from her lungs and sending her flying back against the road again. She let out a grunt of pain as her back collided with the concrete and looked up as he pushed himself up from the car and pulled out another gun from a holster. "Shit!" Tessa exclaimed as she brought up a shield just as he fired down a barrage of bullets on her again.
She held the shield up as he fired bullet after bullet. When the clip clicked empty, Tessa teleported herself in front of him again, bringing her knee up into his gut before pushing him back with another blast. She was on him as he went stumbling away, bringing her fists down at him one after the other. He blocked every hit she threw at him and when the glint of a blade caught her eye she had to jump back as he slashed out at her. He drew the blade across her chest, and she let out a hiss of pain as it nicked her flesh.
Knowing she was running her energy down quickly, she gathered what she could and sent a blast out of him that hit him in the face and sent him flying back several feet. As he hit the ground, Tessa dropped down on top of him and was above to deal him another blow to the head when she froze. She looked down at his face, the mask having been knocked away by the last blast and her breathing stopped. She locked her eyes onto his brown ones and the world came crashing down around her because she knew those eyes. She knew that face. "Bucky?" she breathed out, her powers seeping away as she was swept away by impossible thoughts.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion. "Who the hell is Bucky?" he asked, the familiarity of his voice sending another wave of pain through Tessa's core. The two stared at each other for the briefest of moments, Tessa searching his face, trying to rationalize what she was seeing. Suddenly, Sam swooped down at them with his suit. He latched onto Tessa's waist and pulled her up into the air with him. An explosion consumed where she had just been, Steve having thrown a grenade once Tessa was clear.
Sam dopped him and Tessa down to the ground and she watched the flames, her breathing coming in and out raggedly, as she tried to process if what she saw was actually real. Tessa could hear sirens growing louder around her, and Steve was running over to her, shouting something, but everything was muffled as her mind was too busy replaying what had just happened. By the time she noticed the vast number of vehicles surrounding them, and countless agents emerging from their interiors, she knew it was too late. Countless guns were trained on her and Steve as they were circled from all directions, yet Tessa couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes away from the burning wreckage.
Tessa finally pried her eyes away as the agents descended upon them, shouting at them to drop down to their knees. She watched as Steve dropped his shield and raised his hands up in surrender and she knew with the number of guns trained on her and her brother's head, there was no way she would be able to get them all out of this situation. She felt her knee kicked out from under her and she dropped down to the ground with a barrel of a gun pressed into the back of her skull. Her hands were pulled roughly behind her back, and she felt cold metal snap around her wrists, locking them into place with a set of cuffs that felt unusually large and heavy. "Try anything and put a bullet in your brother's head so quick not even you can save him." She heard Rumlow seethe into her ear.
She looked over to where Steve had been forced to the ground, finding him with several guns trained on him as well, all the agents surrounding him looking dangerously trigger-happy. Her eyes drifted back over to dying flames as she was pulled roughly back up to her feet and pushed along, knowing she was already too weak to do anything other than submit to their orders. Her, Steve, Natasha, and Sam were all forced into the back of an armored truck. Tessa was forced down onto the metal bench seat where thick metal cuffs were brought around her feet as well, securing her to the vehicle. She should have been more bothered by it. She should have fought harder. But she couldn't shake the image that had been burned into her mind of Bucky staring up at her with that perplexed look. It kept replaying in her mind like a constant loop of torment and she knew she had not been mistaken. There was no denying what she had seen. Bucky was alive.
Tessa looked over at Steve who had been sitting next her in the back of the truck. He, too, had a set of thick, specialized cuffs locked around his hands and feet, the only difference was Tessa's hands were locked behind her back while Steve's were in front of him. "Steve…" she began, not knowing how she was going to be able to tell him. He looked up at her, and the words stuck in the back her throat. She had to swallow past the lump and clear her throat before she could continue. "Steve it was Bucky." She finally said.
His eyes narrowed down in confusion at that. "What?" he asked, wondering if he had misheard somehow.
"The assassin." She continued. "The Winter Soldier….it's Bucky." She said, her eyes drifting away as the image of his face filled her mind again.
"That's…Tessa that's not possible. Are you sure you-" he began before her eyes snapped back over to him and stopped him.
"It was him, Steve." She repeated sternly. "His mask fell, and I looked right at him. It was Bucky. I know it was. He looked right at me, but…it was like he didn't even know me."
"Tessa it couldn't have been him. I watched him fall from that train after you-" he began to reason, having a hard time believing that not only was his best friend alive, but an assassin for Hydra.
"IT WAS BUCKY!" Tessa yelled out at him with tears burning in her eyes, causing him to snap his mouth shut again.
"How is that even possible?" Sam said, pulling their attention over to him. "Wasn't that like seventy years ago?" he asked, not understanding.
"Zola." Tessa said, knowing just who was responsible. "They were using him as leverage against me to recreate the serum. I mean, if they succeeded in changing me, then there's no telling what they could have done to Bucky while they had their hands on him. If they pulled him that ravine-" she began before her voice broke off. "Oh God." She breathed out, realizing his death was no longer on her hands, yet the guilt now seemed so much worse. "Steve, if he's been in Hydra's hands this whole time…." She said, looking over at him with tear filled eyes.
"It's not your fault Rose." Steve told her, knowing where her mind was taking her.
"How is it not?" she asked him. "If it wasn't for me, then he would have never been captured. If it wasn't for me then Zola would have never experimented on him. If it wasn't for me, he would never have been thrown from that train." She said, feeling like she was drowning under the weight of it all. "Hydra turned him into a weapon and…..that is my fault." She admitted, letting her head fall against the metal of the truck as the tears slipped down her cheeks.
"You can't blame yourself for Hydra's actions, Tess." Natasha's quiet voice said, causing Tessa to bring her head back down to the woman across from her. Natasha was starting to look far too pale and was struggling to keep her eyes open and Tessa nearly kicked herself in the ass as she somehow managed to forgot all about her bullet wound.
"Hey! Someone needs to get pressure on her wound!" Tessa snapped over to the guards sitting in the back of the truck with them, decked out in full STRIKE armor and helmets. "She's going to bleed out if you don't do something!"
One of the guards snapped out a long electrical prod, powering it into life and aiming it out towards Tessa. Tessa felt her lip pull up as the sadness in her was replaced with a surge of anger. Just as she was about to snap at them, the guard holding the prod swung it out and stuck it into the other guard's chest, sending a current of power through him before kicking out at his head and sending him dropping down to the floor unconscious.
They all looked over in surprise as the guard pulled the helmet off and revealed the face of Maria Hill underneath it. "Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain." She commented, looking down at the helmet in her hands. Everyone was left staring over at her in shock and she just looked around before her eyes fell on Sam. "So, who's the new guy?" she asked, nodding towards Sam.
"Who am I?" Sam said finally. "Who are you?"
"Sam, this is Agent Maria Hill." Tessa said, nodding over at the woman in disguise. "And I am very glad to see you." She said, looking over at Hill with a nod, realizing they might not be a screwed as they had thought.
"Think you can get us all out of here without anyone noticing?" Maria asked Tessa with a lifted brow.
"Get me out of these cuffs and I can." Tessa responded, leaning forward. Maria stepped over to her and undid the cuffs around both her and Steve before unlocking the regular handcuffs that had been placed on Natasha and Sam. Once everyone was free from their binds, Tessa drew in a deep breath. "Okay everyone, hold on and say a prayer. I've never moved this many people at once before." She said, looking around the truck at everyone.
"I thought you said you could get us all out of here." Sam shot back at her.
"I can. It'll be fine." She said, shaking her head. "Just grab on and don't let go." She instructed. Everyone reached over and latched onto her arms as she slid her eyes closed. She focused down on her powers and drew in a steadying breath as she opened the door inside her and let the energy flow out and wrap around everyone. She focused on getting them outside, far away from the line of trucks moving down the road and in a blue burst everyone vanished from the back of the truck.