A/N
We finished Civil War, my friends. We are making our way into Infinity War, but I have a little story telling to do in between. This chapter will be my take on what Nat and Steve were up to before Thanos showed up as well as how things are going for Furia and Bucky. Anyone have an awesome ship name for them? Replacing the B in Bucky for an F… lol I'm thinking that doesn't work haha!
Again, I want to thank EVERYONE who has favorited, reviewed, and followed. It's truly incredible that so many of you like this story and it makes me want to keep pushing as quick as I can!
23 years earlier….
Furia's heart pounded in her chest as her father dragged her across the soft earth of the forest.
"Father I can not keep up, you are running too quickly!" She whined, tears still streaming down her face.
Her silver hair was drenched and stuck to her cheeks as water still dripped from her soaked clothes.
Sairos' legs shook as he found it hard to breathe; the ache in his chest so deep he barely had the urge to keep going. His wife was dead. Just moments ago, Xenda had been struck by a radiation weapon and fell into the depths of the sea during their escape. He'd wanted to jump in after her, to at least retrieve her body. But the blast had struck her neck and he knew she was was no hope for Xenda, but there was still hope for his daughter. So for the sake of Furia, he pressed on.
Picking Furia up, Sairos sprinted between the dark trees. His breath was erratic as the sound of an approaching hovercraft closed in behind them.
"Not when we're this close!" Sairos cried out as their family spacecraft finally came into view.
"Sairos!" His brother Avar called, causing him to turn toward the spacecraft.
With his son Cratyk, Avar pushed the throttle at full capacity to reach his brother's side. "Get in!" He yelled, stopping just to Sairos' left. "There is no time to lose! One of the Black Order is on our trail!"
He tossed Furia inside before jumping in. Avar sped toward the spacecraft, as Cratyk looked to his younger cousin. He too had lost his mother during the escape, and though he had not witnessed the loss of his aunt, the pain in Furia's eyes was evident enough that Xenda was gone.
A single tear fell down Cratyk's cheek. At nine, he understood the depth of everything taking place better than his younger cousin. They hadn't just lost their mothers. In fact, it was much worse. Cratyk and Furia were seconds away from losing everything they had ever known.
With the spacecraft just several yards away, Avar and Sairos felt a string of hope, truly believing they had a chance to escape with their children. But without warning, the hovercraft split in half; the two pieces thrown in opposite directions.
Furia screamed as she flew threw the air, hitting the ground with a wild crash before hitting her head on a rock. Furia exhaled as everything around her began to blur. She tried to stand but stumbled to the ground with a painful cry.
"Fa-Fa-ther." She croaked, trying to see his face as her eyes barely managed to remain open.
Then… Suddenly an intense heat began to build just before her, and though the world around her appeared foggy, Furia had sworn she saw fire escaping the hands of her cousin, fending off a strange looking man with grey skin and sinister eyes. But as her father lifted her from the ground everything went dark…..
With a gasp, Furia quickly sat up in her bed. a hand on her chest as she tried to relax her heavy breathing.
"You okay, Sweetheart?" Bucky immediately sat up beside her, placing a worried hand on her face.
She looked to Bucky, shaking her head. "Gosh it was so real."
His brows creased as he spoke. "Bad dream? He started out. "I'm usually the one with those."
"It's just." Furia paused shaking her head. She looked at Bucky and he instantly saw the distress in her eyes. He pulled her back down on their bed, resting her head against his chest. "I've never remembered that until now." Furia finished.
"Remembered what?" Bucky asked as he gently ran a hand through her hair.
"The day my father and I escaped Thanos' attack on Zendika, our hovercraft split and crashed."
"Right." Bucky nodded, having already known what had happened as Furia had told him every detail. "And when you woke you were in space but only you and your father made it."
"But that's just it." She started out. "In my dream I remembered seeing Cratyk. He was fighting off one of Thanos' minions. It was like I saw him create a blast of fire from his hands, giving my dad and I the chance to escape." Furia sat up, looking Bucky directly in the eyes. "I've never been able to remember anything from after the crash. But I'm telling you, it didn't feel like just a dream. It felt like a memory."
"So you think it happened?" He asked.
She nodded. "Yeah. I don't know why I would all of a sudden remember it but I'm sure as shit it happened."
"Huh." Bucky said curiously. "Well if you're right then your cousin was a hero. He saved you and your dad. Kissing her, she smiled at him.
"Feeling okay today?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah." He nodded. "It's been two days out of cryo and I think my stiffness has finally passed."
Furia smirked."You were frozen asleep for six months as your body remained in one position. Of course you had stiffness, James."
Bucky chuckled. "I'll tell you what, though. Last night sure loosened me up." He gave her a wink before she bit her lip.
"Last night I think I might have gotten a little too loud." She admitted sheepishly.
T'Challa had provided Bucky and Furia their own hut; that sat next to several others near a body of water, but with the other huts not far off, Furia wondered if their neighbors had heard all the excitement.
Bucky beamed, as if suddenly pleased with himself. "What can I say. I know just how to please you, doll."
"Well, you're not wrong." Furia grinned.
"Sergeant Barnes, Furia?" Shuri called from outside their hut. "T'Challa would like to see you." She finished.
"Yeah, no problem." Bucky answered, rising to his feet.
Furia was quick to follow, placing on a set of clothes that Shuri had given her months ago.
As the two stepped outside, Shuri greeted them both with a mischievous smile. "Furia." She started out. "You are positively glowing. Did you have a good evening?"
Bucky chuckled before hiding it with a cough as Furia gave Shuri a playful look. "Possibly."
"Anyway, as fun as it is teasing you both, T'Challa requested you come straight to the Citadel"
"Anything for the King of Wakanda." Furia said with a grin. She'd been playing, but in all honesty, she really cared for T'Challa. He was a good man who had treated herself and Bucky with amazing kindness. He could have asked for anything and had she been able to grant it, Furia would have done so without question.
"Good." Shuri started out. "Because Captain Steve Rogers and Agent Romanoff recently arrived and they are anxiously waiting to see you both."
The Citadel was The Golden City of Wakanda's grand throne room. Furia had stood inside this very place over a dozen times, but its' beauty was still magnificent.
The Citadel was round in structure and its" lavish windows reached from floor to ceiling; showcasing the unique architecture of the Golden City. Marble-like floors glimmered from the sun's touch as a member of the Dora Milaje stood guard every several feet against the round room, with the throne sitting at the center of everything.
T'Challa stood next to Natasha and Steve as he turned upon Furia and Bucky's entrance. Smiling, Steve looked to them both, thrilled to see Furia and Bucky again.
"Steve." Furia said in delight. "It's good to see you."
Bucky shook Steve's hand before the two hugged. "How ya been, Buck?" Steve asked.
"Pretty great since the Winter Soldier is gone for good." He explained.
Natasha smirked. "That's a relief." She started out. "I was getting tired of having to kick your ass whenever you went haywire."
The four of them laughed like old friends while
T'Challa smiled as he watched them interact, happy they could reunite under the protection of his city.
"And you?" Steve looked to Furia. "Everything good with you?"
"Great." Furia looked joyful before gesturing toward Shuri. "Shuri has been amazing. She's explained everything to me that she was doing to and for Bucky with every step. While Okoye took the time to train me with the Dora Milaje." She paused and with a grateful look, turned to Okoye, who gave a courteous nod. "It honestly kept me from going stir crazy while he was under-"
Furia seemed to pause suddenly, causing Steve to raise a brow. Her eyes went large before she spoke. "Holy shit, you actually admitted to each other how you felt?"
It had been an involuntary vibe on Furia's part but realizing they were together made her so unbelievably happy. Natasha held back a smirk as Steve looked toward the woman he loved.
"I was just too damn irresistible right, Rogers?" Natasha played, but by Steve's gentle and heartfelt smile, her words couldn't have been more on point.
"That won't change. Ever." Steve admitted, sincerely.
Natasha drew in a breath, but tried to conceal just how much his sentiment touched her heart. She nudged him with her shoulder before looking to Furia and Bucky. "Aww, see how twitterpated he is?"
"Seriously." Bucky started to say. "I'm happy for you Steve. Really. I am."
"And so am I." Furia interluded. "But why don't you tell us why you're really here." She crossed her arms. "Because I know you didn't come to Wakanda to give us an update on your current relationship status."
T'Challa, who had been quiet up until this point laughed. "She has been this abrasive every day since her arrival."
"You should have seen how angry she was when I mentioned a certain family problem we had with an unexpected cousin." Shuri, who had stood just several feet away, chimed in. "She looked like a wild bear at the sight of her cub being attacked, when she discovered we'd let her 'sit in a hut in the country the whole damn time' as she put it."
T'Challa had seen how much Furia had come to care for the ones he loved, and though she'd never said it, her actions had expressed it more than enough. And for that, he would always care for her.
"Sounds about right." Steve added.
Bucky touched Furia's back who rolled her eyes with a small side grin."Alright. Now that everyone's had their fun, can you tell us what's going on?"
Natasha nodded to Steve before pulling up an image from her wrist-tech. The projected photo was some kind of weapon. It was definitely nothing like Bucky or Furia had ever seen and did not resemble any of Earth's designs. At first glance one might assume it was a staff but a green energy source aligned itself along the structure, before coming to a circle on one end.
"After the battle in New York, Chitauri weapons have popped up time and again. SHIELD had discovered many of them but a few still roam the earth with the Chitauri tech being used for brand new designs." Steve pointed to the photo before continuing. "But this one. This one is by far the worst. A single blast from that staff killed eighty five innocent lives, vaporizing them to dust." Steve looked to T'Challa, signaling for him to step in.
With his Kimoyo beads, T'Challa began to play a video of the incident. "This took place in Hamburg. Shuri was able to obtain footage of the incident."
As the video began to play, a tall man clad in black held the staff in his right hand. His face was hidden behind the hood of his jacket and he stood amongst a large crowd outside the Kunsthalle Hamburg; a notable tourist attraction and beautifully constructed art gallery.
With the staff outstretched he began to yell in German, Furia looked to Bucky who whispered the translation in her ear.
"He is coming. He is coming. But I will have mercy on you all. And you will die free of pain and by one of your own. Not by him."
Pointing at the crowd the blast vaporized whomever it touched, leaving nothing behind. Furia's eyes filled with sorrow as men, woman, and children screamed and ran to avoid his attack but were unable to escape. Finally the man pointed his weapon toward the camera before everything went dark.
"The Federal Intelligence Service of Germany has contacted several other agencies across the globe in order to track him down but no one's been able to get a single trace of him." Steve paused looking straight at Furia.
She crossed her arms, knowing exactly what he was about to ask. "You want me to vibe him." She said before he got the chance.
"We need you to." T'Challa added. "If he strikes again it will be another massacre. This weapon must be destroyed and he must be brought to justice."
Furia shrugged. "I'll need two things." She started out. "My ipod with an appropriate playlist, and time."
London
The abandoned warehouse was filled with old shipping equipment and appeared to be nothing more than another building in need of demolishing, but underneath, was one of Graham Grayson's many illegal arms operations.
Byron's hands threatened to shake from fear as he looked to the armed guard who now held the staff he had wielded in Hamburg. Byron, an inhuman, was plagued with visions of the future. Some of which had driven him mad. It was his madness that had caused him to steal the staff, and from a man who had killed for far much less.
"You think you can take one of my weapons because you're some kind of freak who can see the future?" Graham stood beside his armed men, pointing to the staff. Graham was a tall and stocky man in his thirties. His brown eyes were stern and merciless and he carried himself fearlessly.
"You don't understand." Byron whimpered. "Something much worse is coming and people will die at his hands. I had mercy on them! They died by one of their own and not by his plan!"
Graham had heard enough. He didn't care about Byron's delusions nor did he have the time. He was an arms dealer first and foremost and psychos like Byron were a waste of time
"Get rid of him." Graham told Jaimie, his right hand man.
With a nod, Jaimie dragged Byron from the room as Graham carried the staff toward his collection.
"Bloody bastard." Graham started out, speaking to Damien; another one of his loyal men.
"After what he did, the governments going to be looking for that weapon." Damien added cautiously.
Graham nodded. "Fucker." He took a drag of his cigarette before shaking his head. "I could have sold it for at least ten mil to any one of the world's extremists and they would have killed whomever they liked and kept it under the radar."
"Should we have Viktor dispose of it?" Damien asked, referring to their groups top designer. He'd taken plenty of Chitauri tech and turned it into amazing machines of death that had brought Graham millions.
Graham gave a nod. "Maybe he can make it into something else."...
With a gasp, Furia opened her eyes. She'd been vibing for almost three hours as the others, aside from Bucky, waited in the Citadel.
With Red Hot Chili Peppers currently playing in her earbud, she pulled it out and looked to Bucky, who knelt beside her in their hut.
"The man we're looking for is already dead." Furia started out. "It's why it took me so long. I had to filter through other minds who remembered him."
"But what about the staff?" Bucky asked.
"That's the thing, James. This whole thing just got a hell of a lot stickier." She started to explain. "Byron, the man who had the staff, stole it from an arms dealer named Graham Grayson. He's been selling chitauri tech for years and to a lot of bad people. He's powerful. Rich. And has a lot of men protecting him."
"Alright." Bucky began, already aware of the man she'd mentioned. "Let's get this to everyone else. I'm sure Steve and T'Challa will have a plan."
Furia explained everything she had seen, with Steve adamant she leave no detail untouched.
T'Challa, Shuri, Okoye, Natasha, Bucky, Furia, and Steve had made their way to The Wakandan Design Group Building; standing amongst Shuri's most advanced tech.
Steve looked thoughtful, before turning to the others. "Grayson as in-?" He started out, certain he knew the man.
Shuri gave a quick nod. She pulled information from several government sources as a photo of Graham appeared in the screen before them. "As in the leader of the major crimes organization, Black Scorpion Syndicate."
"These guys are a dark bunch." Bucky added. "I was sent to put a hit on one of their men- who had tried to blackmail Alexander Pierce when he still ran HYDRA- and the guy was one tough son of a gun. One of my most difficult missions."
"So how do we stop them?" Furia asked, feeling unconvinced they could.
"It's not that simple." Natasha moved forward looking at Graham's photo. "We're talking a major crimes organization. Even if we take down several locations, they just rebuild and replace."
"But we can stop and track every ounce of their Chitauri tech. " Steve finished.
Shuri indicated that she agreed. "That is possible. The Chitauri tech have a unique signature. It reads like A.I. I am certain I can build a device to locate them."
"We should start by infiltrating the location Furia saw. It shouldn't be hard to draw in a signal from Shuri's device, by narrowing our search to abandoned warehouses in London." Steve decided.
"Give me twenty four hours." Shuri stated confidently.
"I will come." T'Challa added.
Steve looked thankful. "We'll take all the help we can get."
"Feel free to stay in one of my guest rooms." T'Challa offered to Steve and Natasha.
"This'll be a five star experience." Natasha started out. "Normally we sleep in cash only motels. It's like Googling for Yelp's worst reviews."
"It'll be a nice change. Thank you King T'Challa." Steve said.
Natasha shrugged before giving Steve a knowing look. "We always seem to make the best of it, though."
Steve rubbed the back of his neck, giving the rest of them an awkward smile. "Yeah."
Okoye raised a brow, picking up on their not so subtle meaning. "Just to be clear I reside in one of those guestrooms. So try not to make the best of it too loudly."
Furia snorted, giving Steve and Natasha a little wink.
T'Challa chuckled to himself, before changing the subject. "How about breakfast?"
"Great idea." Furia said, smacking her hands together excitedly. "I'm famished."
"No wonder Zendika had a shortage of food." Shuri started out, shaking her head with a smile. "You all ate way too damn much."
Natasha, who had been exploring The Golden City with Okoye, moved next to Steve. He stood next to the river outside the city. It was peaceful and up ahead she could see several huts; one of which Natasha assumed was where Bucky and Furia resided. She understood the appeal for Steve. He had always enjoyed simpler things, and found the world moved too fast for his liking.
Steve looked to Nat, still talking on an old burner phone as she approached. "Alright, just remember to-" He paused, having clearly been interrupted by the person on the other end. Steve wore a crooked smile. "I'll check in tomorrow." He shut the phone before looking at Natasha.
"Maximoff and Vis okay?" She asked, knowing Steve only used that phone to check in on them.
He nodded. "Enjoying Paris. She can see the Eiffel tower from their hotel room."
Natasha smiled. She looked out at the river as the sun slowly began to set. "This place." She paused, taking in its' beauty. "You need to see the Golden City, Steve. It's amazing."
Having been with T'Challa all afternoon, making a concrete plan for London, he was glad Nat had a moment to just breathe. For them, it was always the next mission. There was always somebody to save and the need to stay hidden. He wanted to give Natasha a normal life but it wasn't in the books for them. But while they were there, Steve would take the chance.
"Dance with me?" Steve stretched out his hand. There was a soft and meaningful look in his eyes like he'd been waiting seventy years for that moment. And in truth he had.
Natasha swallowed. She hadn't really danced in years and for good reason. Doing so took her back to a place in her life that had stripped her of so much. The Red Room. And yet, as she looked at Steve, there was nothing she would have enjoyed more.
Her smile was wide, and this time she couldn't hold back how grand he'd made her feel. Grabbing hold of his outstretched hand, Steve pulled her close. Natasha's head rested on his chest as their feet moved slowly to Steve's gentle humming.
Natasha closed her eyes allowing the contentment Steve brought to overwhelm her. Over the years, she had learned that any mission could be her last. Life wasn't guaranteed and just because she was great at what she did, that didn't mean she was invincible. Not even super soldier Steve was invincible. So it was possible that something could separate them, but that was okay. Because in her heart, Natasha knew it would never be by choice. She loved him and she trusted that he loved her. If it was up to either of them, they would always be together.
T'Challa connected the device Shuri had made into the jet's hard drive. With several clicks, a satellite image of London appeared on the large screen.
"I've narrowed our search to six possible locations but as you can see, thanks to Shuri, there is only one that shows a Chitauri signal."
Okoye, Bucky, Natasha, Furia, and Steve all looked toward the image that T'Challa had referred to while the jet flew in stealth mode toward London.
"I am sending a schematics of that building to you now." Shuri said, each of them able to hear her over their comms.
As the image suddenly appeared on screen, Steve moved toward T'Challa. "If Graham is as smart as I think, he'll have at least two men on the roof, which you and I can take out." Touching the screen, Steve pulled the image back in order to get a glimpse of nearby buildings. "Buck I'll have you land here on this rooftop. You'll take out anyone who might sound the alarm before we can handle them. If that happens the tech could be gone before we can get our hands on it. Nat, Furia, Okoye, I want you coming from the north entrance. That way, we can flank 'em."
Steve looked to each of them with a stern expression. "We ready for this?' He asked them all. With several nods, Steve spoke. "Then let's suit up."
As each of them began to place on their gear, Furia moved toward Bucky. She touched the black vibranium that was his new arm. "How does it feel?" She asked.
He rolled his shoulder before speaking. "Good. But when has anything made in Wakanda been shitty?"
Furia smirked. "True."
Bucky gripped his rifle. It somewhat resembled a Barrett M82, but having been made from vibranium the gun was surprisingly lightweight and had even less recoil. The weapon also had both lethal and nonlethal capabilities; allowing the user to stun its' target when plausible.
Furia rested her hand on his cheek as Bucky leaned into her touch. "I love you." He whispered before moving to kiss her.
Their kiss was soft and neither of them intended to deepen it. It was meant as just a simple gesture of how they felt "I love you, James." She answered.
"We're in position." Natasha announced from the pilot seat. "Jet's in stationary mode." She finished.
As the hatch began to open, Natasha looked to Steve who was seconds away from exiting with T'Challa. As their eyes met, it was clear both of them were telling the other how much they meant to one another without words, until both Steve and T'Challa fell out of sight.
Next to go was Bucky, who gave Furia a quick wink before sprinting for the exit head first.
"We can't let the boys have all the fun." Okoye said playfully, throwing herself into the night sky with Furia and Natasha not far behind.
The air was brisk as dark clouds covered their descent. Furia put her arms against her sides and legs together, causing her to propel downward much faster. Now beside Bucky, she flattened out, separating her arms and legs to slow down.
He glanced her way silently admiring how beautiful and strong she was, still gripping his weapon, before they separated without a word; Bucky heading for the nearby building as she landed beside Natasha and Okoye. They were about ten yards off and had landed in a dark alley.
As Steve and T'Challa landed stealthily on the roof, they rushed toward two guards, who never even saw them coming. With an elbow strike to the back of the head, Steve rendered the guard unconscious as T'Challa placed the other in a choke hold; his body limp after several seconds.
"Rooftop cleared." Steve announced. "Bucky, you got eyes on hostiles?"
Bucky knelt across the roof, peering over the edge. The building was dark, with enough light for very little visibiloty, and from the outside it looked vacant, but he knew this was to avoid anyone from easily discovering the illegal activity inside. With his hands on a rectangular device intended for echolocation, he held it toward the building; sighting in hostiles with their every move.
"I've got four on the ground level, two near the upstairs office, and seven in the basement." Bucky reached for his gun, aiming for the ones upstairs.
"I've got a clear shot of the two upstairs." Bucky said over comms.
As Steve and T'Challa began to lower themselves on wires near the the second level windows, Steve gently pulled one open. As the two entered, their steps were noiseless while the two men, unable to hear their approach, had simply carried on with their conversation. They stood just outside the small office, near a ledge that overlooked the ground level. Steve's eyes looked intense, ready to make his move. "Take it." He whispered intensely.
With Bucky's first shot, it hit his assailant in the center of his chest before he took his second on the other guard. As both men began to lean forward, looking as if they might fall off the edge, Steve grabbed their shirts, pulling them back and laying them down gently before anyone would notice.
"Girls move in." Steve said softly, as they walked down the steps.
The girls sprinted for the door as Furia suddenly heard a voice in her head.
You're here?
There was a certain familiarity to their tone and the sudden vibe had caused Furia tolose her footing. It wasn't her that had vibed but them. And as she was about to tell the others someone was there with abilities Bucky spoke.
"I've got two people approaching from the north entrance. They came out of no-" He paused. "I lost sight of them like they disappeared!" Bucky yelled, concerned.
To Steve and T'Challa's surprise, two men appeared on the center of the ground room floor. Realizing one of them must be able to teleport, the guards on the ground turned to shoot at the unexpected guests; their presence alerting them of Steve and T'Challa as well.
Steve moved to dodge any stray bullets as his eyes went suddenly large. He watched as one of the men threw fire toward the building with one hand, while thr other froze the men before him. The other man suddenly disappeared; the sound of chaos and gunfire breaking out from under their feet.
Looking toward the door the girls were about to enter, the man who had just frozen the guards stood as if he were waiting for them to enter.
"Girls do not engage, we have two enhanced-"
As Natasha burst through the door first, the man instantly blasted her back. T'Challa and Steve were quick to rush him, but he blocked their path with ice from floor to ceiling.
Bucky fired several shots, but the man had already covered his entire body with ice. You're wasting your bullets, Bucky Barnes. I had already felt your mind when I'd arrived.
As Furia now entered the room, she gasped. Okoye was instantly blown back before she could rush the man as well. But something about Furia had kept him from doing anything to her.
With Furia left to face this stranger alone, Bucky sprinted toward the buildings edge, leaping off of it, and landing on the hard ground below. He ran as fast as his enhanced body could take him to protect the woman he loved.
"I thought I would never see you again." The man said, with heartfelt surprise. His skin was as pale as Furia's and a maroon marking ran over his left cheekbone. The building began to burn but Furia remained frozen.
Furia swallowed. Her legs seemed to shake as the noises from below continued. She couldn't believe her eyes. All this time she'd thought he was dead, yet standing before her was her cousin Cratyk.
Wooh, I certainly left you all hangin' there! I hope you liked this chapter. I plan to move into Infinity War in the next one but there will be a few more of my own plots before it gets started as well. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this one!