Chapter: Scatter

Mika did not like this plan. She did not like this plan at all.

She still didn't know most of it, and she still didn't know exactly where they were headed, but the details she had about the situation leading up to Bucky's flush out of hiding were less than satisfactory. She could see Tony's point of view, but of course she would choose Bucky's side. She didn't know whether or not the Sokovia Accords were the right or wrong way to go, and she found herself unable to care. They would not affect her and Bucky.

After they got the gear from Sharon, it was straight to the airport. The closer they got, the more stressed she felt, and despite their earlier conversations she was still trying to figure out how she could stow away on the plane with them. Just in case this really was it, she refused to let go of Bucky's hand, and despite him being the one about to go on some super secret dangerous mission, he was the one rubbing her knuckles in a comforting manner. He didn't want to leave her, but he knew that was the only way to keep her safe. Steve rounded the floors of the parking garage at a slightly nerve wracking speed before coming to a halt on one of the upper floors. No other cars were parked on that level except for a suspiciously large and nondescript white van that definitely made Mika nervous.

Steve got out of the car first, followed by Sam, and they both went to greet the man that got out of the van. Mika couldn't remember his actual name, but knew he was listed in the SHIELD registry as Hawkeye. Wanda Maximoff (a bit of a hometown hero to them in Romania, even if she was from Sokovia) followed him, looking even younger in person than she did on television. Bucky got out of the car then too, and Mika had no choice but to follow suit, lest she be left out of any more planning. She got out on the same side as Bucky, not wanting to be too close to this crowd of super strangers. The other two Avengers gave her a sparing odd look, but quickly returned to the subject at hand.

"How about our other recruit?" Steve asked, nodding towards the van. Another recruit? How many people had he called exactly? Mika glanced at Bucky, who looked just as on edge as she felt.

"He's rarin' to go." Hawkeye (God, what was his name?) said, dramatically sliding open the door to the van. Bucky angled himself slightly so that he was between Mika and whoever was there; he trusted Steve, yes, and Sam was growing on him, but he didn't know these new people. Inside the van, another man they didn't know laid sprawled out on the seat. "Had to put a little coffee in him, but he should be good."

The man startled awake as Hawkeye smacked his leg, groaning softly as he painstakingly crawled out of the seat. "Gah, what time zone is this?" he asked, his jetlag evident.

"Come on. Come on." Hawkeye said, shoving him lightly towards the group. He looked a little more awake then, wide and confused eyes taking in the sight of everyone. He smiled brightly as he spotted Steve, and held out a hand for him to shake.

"Captain America." he said, as if he didn't believe he was in the same place as him. Steve shook his outstretched hand, trying not to smile and the childlike wonder on the grown man's face.

"Mr. Lang." he said. Mika turned to Bucky with pinched eyebrows and he shrugged in response; he had no idea who this person was either.

"It's an honor." he said reverently, still vehemently shaking his hand. He seemed to notice this and said, "I'm shaking your hand too long." Steve didn't say anything, but his face said it all. "Wow. This is awesome. Captain America! I know you too, you're great." he said, looking back at Wanda. He looked at Bucky and Mika, who both gave him a perked eyebrow, and he decided not to chance mentioning them and instead addressed Steve again. "Ah, look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people so, thinks for thanking of me. Hey, man!"

"What's up, Tic Tac?" Sam asked dryly, though there was a bit of a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. Bucky and Mika were still waiting for him to acknowledge them, and he seemed determined to avoid the awkward situation of having no idea who they were.

"Uh, good to see you. Look, what happened last time when I-"

"It was a great audition. But it'll never happen again." he said shortly, and Mika realized that his attitude wasn't something he only shared with Bucky.

"They tell you what we're up against?" Steve cut in, trying to bring them back to the situation at hand. His voice was so serious now compared to when he was chatting at breakfast this morning, and it made Mika even more nervous. It was suddenly very real, too real, that Bucky was about to leave her, and she couldn't follow. She reached down and took his hand, trying to hold on to him for the few moments they had left.

"Something about some psycho assassins?" the guy asked, and Mika immediately turned to Bucky, her eyes wide and angry.

"What?!" she hissed, trying to keep her voice down. The last thing she needed to do was derail the conversation. Bucky refused to look her in the eye; actually, his eyes were closed and he had a pained expression on his face.

"I didn't want you to worry." he whispered. Her jaw dropped.

"Didn't want me to - Bucky, I was already worried! You didn't mention assassins! As in, more than one assassin! Multiple assassins! You can't go, I'm not letting you, it's too dangerous-" her brain was going faster than her mouth could follow, but she didn't care if her words were tripping over each other. This was too much, there was no way she could let him leave.

"I have to." he said, interrupting her. He sounded defeated, his voice so low she could barely hear him. "I'm the only one who knows where they are. And I'm the only one that can stop them."

"Or, consider this, you can let literally all those people over there take care of it." she said. Her heart was in her throat and she was choking on her emotions. He finally looked at her then, and his eyes were so sad that she was rendered speechless.

"I have to take care of it. I can't let them live in the same world as you." he said, making her heart skip a beat. He squeezed her hand, and while she still vehemently disagreed with it, she knew that there was no talking him out of this one, and no going with him. With a sigh of resignation, she nodded. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she simply pressed her lips together and turned her attention back to the others. His fingers stayed intertwined with hers, and she didn't know if he was rubbing his thumb over her hand to comfort her or as a display of his own nerves. Either way, it helped at least keep her tears at bay, even if the emotions in her chest were still threatening to spill over. She didn't know if she was angry or scared or a little bit of both, but either way she felt like she was going to burst.

"Yea, well, what else is new?" the guy was saying, and Mika had to admit that she had no idea what they were talking about. Again.

"We should get moving." Bucky said. He was shifting his feet, as if ready to take off running at any moment. But his hand still held hers.

"We got a chopper lined up." Hawkeye said, looking way too comfortable with this situation. Mika held her breath, waiting for the moment when they would finally leave. An alarm started sounding, and a voice echoed through the loudspeakers. Once again, she cursed herself for not learning German.

"They're evacuating the airport." Bucky said, finally letting go of her hand only to put his on her cheek.

"Stark?" Sam asked, and Steve nodded grimly.

"Suit up." he said, and while he sounded confident, there was a hesitation in his face that Mika wasn't sure anyone else could see. He moved to the trunk of the car, going to grab the things that Sharon had given them earlier.

"You need to go back to Nicoletta's." Bucky said, bringing her attention back to him.

"Once you're in the air, I will. I'm not leaving until you're out." she said. This was where she was putting her foot down.

"Mika-"

"No. At least give me that much." she said, though any bite from her statement was broken by the crack in her voice. She couldn't stop him from going, and she couldn't go with him; this was all she had left. He sighed heavily, and she knew he was lamenting her stubbornness.

"As soon as we're in the air, you go, okay? Promise me that." he said. It pained him to give in to her, but now was not the time to try and fight. She nodded again. Steve stepped next to her then, holding out Bucky's backpack to him. He hadn't realized Sharon had gotten it out with the rest of their stuff.

"Here you go, Buck." he said quietly. While they were still learning how to be friends again after spending so many decades apart, there was still a quiet fondness between them. He wasn't happy to pull Bucky into this, but he was going to stick by him no matter what. Bucky took the back pack from him, unzipping it and pulling a thick black shirt from it. He hadn't worn it since the day he walked away from the handlers, but he would put it back on today. Steve moved away to get his own gear, and Bucky sighed as he exchanged the soft shirt he'd bought with Nicoletta on a cold November day for the rough fabric of the tactical gear. Mika looked at him with sad eyes, almost as if she knew what it meant for him to be back in it.

"Is it bullet proof?" she asked, idly fixing the shirt even though it wasn't out of place. She didn't like the way it felt against her fingertips; it was so abrasive, and it looked uncomfortable.

"Unfortunately no." he said. He tried to give her an encouraging grin, but it came out as more of a grimace. She responded with an annoyed look.

"I appreciate you being honest, but that was the perfect opportunity to lie to me." she said, finally stopping her fidgeting with his shirt and just clasping her hands together. He covered them with his, trying to instill a confidence he wasn't sure he felt. He opened his mouth to respond, even if he didn't know exactly what he wanted to say, but he was interrupted by Steve.

"It's time." he said, holding an earpiece out to Bucky. He nodded, slipping it into his ear with resigned practice. Once again, Mika couldn't keep her hands still, reaching up to fix his hair where it was mussed. Steve grinned before turning to Bucky. "I think Clint needed your eye on something real quick, before we go."

"Oh, uh, okay." he said, slightly confused.

"Don't worry, you'll have time to say goodbye." he added. That seemed to appease Bucky, and he left the two of them to go talk to Clint. When he was out of earshot, Steve pulled another earpiece from his pocket. "Just in case."

"I love you. Is it too soon to say that? Because I mean it." she said, taking it from him and slipping it into her pocket. Steve smiled at her.

"Try not to worry too much. Buck and I have gotten out of plenty of scrapes before." he said lowly, making Mika perk an eyebrow.

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better." she said with a dry laugh. Steve nodded, and he made her feel like maybe he understood what she was feeling, even if she wasn't completely sure that he did.

"After this is all over, I'd like to get to know you. It's been a long time since I could pester his girlfriend." he said. It was such a silly sentiment, considering everything that was going on, but Mika couldn't help but smile at the nostalgia in his voice.

"I'll allow pestering only if you give me embarrassing stories." she countered. She tried to make her statement sound playful, but it fell flat.

"Of course." he said. He looked like he was going to say something else, but instead he just patter her shoulder and walked away. Bucky quickly replaced him, a suspicious look on his face.

"Please don't tell me you two were conspiring." he said lowly. If anyone would figure out a way to get her on that helicopter, it would be Steve. She shook her head.

"He was just giving me some last minute assurances." she said quietly, looking at him through her tears. He was standing up straighter now, his eyes sharp. She didn't have to touch him to know that every muscle was tight in anticipation. She put her hands on his cheeks, and his face softened just enough that he looked like her Bucky again. "Be careful. I love you."

"Say it again." he whispered.

"Be careful." she said, laughter building in her chest but dying in her throat. He rolled his eyes.

"So fucking full of shit." he breathed, his hand going behind her head so that he could pull her in for a kiss. She held him to her a little longer before finally letting him pull away, resting his forehead against hers.

"I love you." she reiterated.

"I love you too." he said, looking into her eyes like it was the last time he was going to see her. She didn't like that look, not one bit. He didn't say anything else, he just stepped away and went to join the rest of them. Mika thought about running after them, thought about telling them how she could fight, how she could help, but one look at the way they carried themselves shut that idea down. She was no superhero. She sat back down in the driver's seat of the car and allowed a few tears to fall and a few moments to feel sorry for herself before taking a shuddering breath and pulling the earpiece from her pocket. It seemed simple enough, so she put it on and sat back to listen.

"Looks like it's just Stark and Rhodey." Lange was saying.

"Nah, there's no way they came alone. They wouldn't shut down the whole airport for just the two of them." Sam said.

"Did you find the quinjet yet?" Steve's voice crackled; it was windy where he was, so they all must be separated. Mika tried to visualize what was going on, but it was difficult.

"Not yet. It's gotta be around here somewhere." Sam replied. They needed to find something? There had to be hangar records, right? She twisted around to reach into the back seat, grabbing her laptop from her bag and thanking whatever deity was listening that she didn't leave it at her sister's house. It was easy enough to connect to the WiFi, and while she was a little rusty on her hacking skills (she hadn't really used them since college), she still managed to get past the airport (cyber) security. She flew through the different logs and files until she managed to find it.

"I've got it!" she said, but no one replied. "Hello? Hello? I found the quinjet, it's in hangar five-"

"We found it." Sam's voice echoed in her ear. Great, so she could hack airport security but not a freaking comm link. Classic. "The quinjet's in hangar five, north runway."

"All right, Lange." Steve said, and Mika assumed some sort of fight was starting. She couldn't hear any sounds from the parking garage, which was killing her.

"What's going on?" she asked, but once again she was met with silence. She screamed and slapped the steering wheel, as if it were its fault that she couldn't get the comms to work. She turned back to the hangar; it seemed the door was closed. Perhaps that was something she could focus on. Before she could start overriding the program, though, a loud explosion echoed from the runways, making her jump. The comm link started to slip from her ear as she scrambled out of the car and over to the edge, and she carefully pushed it back to its position as she said, "No no no, Bucky!"

"Mika?" Bucky's voice sounded in her ear and she almost wanted to cry with relief. No matter what happened, at least he was still alive. She held her finger to the comm again.

"Yea, it's me. Just keeping tabs." she said, pushing away from the wall and going back to the car. Crashes started sounding then, and she had to stop herself from going to see what was going on. She had a job to do, even if no one had assigned it to her. "Keep going for the quinjet, I'll open the door."

"You can do that?" Sam asked, and Mika ignored the loud boom in the background. There'd been no cries of alarm, so that meant they were okay, right?

"That's the plan. I hacked into the airport system." she said, grabbing her laptop and moving to the backseat so she would have more room.

"If only you could hack - ah, shit." Sam was interrupted by something, and Mika's stomach dropped to her shoes.

"Sam? Bucky? Anyone?" she talked into the comm (sure that it was working this time), but once again had no responses. She took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice even as she said, "You have ten minutes to respond before I start officially freaking out. But just so you know, the doors to hangar five are now open."

Luckily, she didn't have to wait long before Bucky's tired voice sounded. "Update, we're alive. No matter how much of an idiot Sam is."

"Good, cause I don't think they could handle it if I came out there to save your asses." she said, trying not to give away how relieved she was once again.

"Mika…" he said, a warning in his tone.

"I know, I know. Stay here. Leave as soon as you're off the ground. I'm being a good girl, I promise." she said, this time not bothering to cover the bitterness in her voice. Could she keep up in this fight? No. But that didn't stop her from thinking that she was supposed to be by Bucky's side, not hiding in the back of the car with her laptop.

"It'll be worth it after this, I promise." he said in Romanian, making her smile even though he couldn't see her.

"You better make it worth my while." she responded, adding a touch of sauce to her tone. Sam must have pulled himself out of wherever he was, cause he came into the conversation with,

"I hate both of you."

Mika laughed, listening hard for any other signs of explosions, but it was relatively quiet. Either they were getting close to escape, or thing were getting to bad that they weren't able to use the comms. She waited, and waited, and waited, her breaths shallow and her heart racing and the comm link silent in her ear. What was going on? She changed her tactics then, abandoning her link to the hangars and instead trying to get into the video feeds of the security cameras. It was a little trickier than the last time she did it, but she managed, and was finally able to get some eyes on the situation. It was absolute bedlam, all these superheroes she knew (and some she didn't) battling it out on the tarmac. And she could do nothing but watch.

But maybe not. Maybe she could do more than that. What was Sam trying to say earlier? What did he want her to hack? Cause the only other thing she could see that he would want her to sabotage would be Iron Man's suit. She for sure was not smarter than Tony Stark, but maybe, just maybe, she could cause enough problems to give them an opening. She opened a program she hadn't used in a long time, scanning the area for any wireless signatures. The signal was faint, but hopefully it would be just strong enough. She patched into it and got to work, her eyes flying across the screen as she interpreted the code and attempted to bug it. Without a second monitor she couldn't see what was going on, she just had to hope she was doing something.

"Meeks, is that you?" Steve spoke for the first time in a while. She didn't want to take her hand away from the keyboard, so she awkwardly pressed her ear to her shoulder to open the comm.

"Depends, is Iron Man's suit malfunctioning?" she asked, still trying to keep up with the code in front of her. It was rewriting itself over and over, changing and adapting to try and kick her out.

"Yep!" Sam said, and she couldn't help but let out a victorious sound. She was glad that they couldn't hear everything she was saying, especially as she started murmuring fuck over and over as the AI in the suit really started fighting back.

"That's my girl." Bucky said, and his pride in her made a warmth bloom behind her sternum. But she couldn't come back with any witty retort because the AI - who identified itself as "Friday" - was now very, very aggressive.

"I can't hold it much longer." she said quickly, not noticing as Bucky had to translate what she said because she'd forgotten to speak in English. She was typing as fast as she could, but she was quickly being overrun. Soon, the letters and numbers were going so fast that she couldn't even read them, and a few minutes later, her laptop completely shut down. "I'm out. Good luck."

It was silent for a while, and Mika figured the battle had picked back up. She still sat in the back seat, occasionally pushing the power button of her laptop and hoping it would turn back on. A few minutes later, the comms finally crackled again, but the words were not directed at her.

"I'll take Vision, you get to the jet." That was Steve. Wait, was he sending the others on without him? That wasn't part of the deal.

"No. You get to the jet." Sam said, and for the first time Mika agreed with him. She knew Sam was on their side, but she much preferred Steve to be with Bucky. "The rest of us aren't getting out of here."

Mika's blood turned to ice. All these people were here to help Steve and Bucky - and they were going to get in horrible trouble because of them too. But they didn't seem mad about it. In fact, they seemed like they had been expecting this all along. She could cry, thinking about how supportive they were.

"As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us are gonna have to lose it." Clint said. Mika held her tongue, knowing that now was not the time for her to speak. All those people helping were going to be taken into custody, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"We need a diversion. Something big." Sam said. She didn't like the sound of that. Didn't like the sound of that at all.

"I got something big but I can't hold it very long!" Scott volunteered, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was serious or if he was just making a bawdy joke. "On my signal run like hell and if I tear myself in half don't come back!"

"What the fuck?" Mika whispered to herself, but there was no answer to her question. A low rumble echoed from the tarmac, and Mika turned to see a literal giant in a red suit, his movements slow as he started throwing things around. So much seemed to be happening all at once - explosions sounded, Iron Man and War Machine flew every which way, and Vision shot golden beams at who knows what. She covered her mouth with her hands as a large tower started tumbling down towards hangar five, which she knew Bucky and Steve were going towards. But then a red energy held it up - Wanda. Whether they made it or not, she couldn't tell, the comms going silent as the brawl seemed to get smaller and smaller on the tarmac.

"Bucky? Bucky, are you okay?" she asked. It seemed like hours before he finally responded.

"We're okay. We're in the jet and taking off." he said, and Mika felt like she could breathe for the first time in a few hours. She tossed her laptop to the side and went to get out of the car.

"Okay good. I'll head back to - oh fuck." As soon as she exited the vehicle, soldiers in SWAT gear had guns trained on her, shouting at her in German.

"Mika? Mika, what is it?" Bucky asked. He sounded worried, which was fair, she thought.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." she said. She just happened to say it at the same time the men started yelling on your knees in English.

"Are they arresting you?" Steve asked, shocked. How could they do this?

"We're turning around." Bucky added, but Mika shut that down quickly.

"No! You have a job to do." she said, going onto her knees and putting her hands behind her head. Luckily, that made it easy for her to still operate the comm, though she was sure they would take that away from her soon. Unwilling to take the risk, she spoke in Romanian, "Go save the world, then we'll figure this out, okay? I love you. More than anything. Remember that."

"Not everyone speaks Romanian, Mika!" Sam chided, and she had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Of course he had to ruin their moment.

"That wasn't meant for everyone." she said, pissed that he interrupted them.

"I love you too." he said quickly, and she could actually hear the pain in his voice. That was the last of their communication, as the men roughly pulled her arms behind her back and zip tied her wrists together. The comm was ripped from her ear, cutting her off from her friends. There were still sounds of fighting from the tarmac, but she was all alone. She didn't bother trying to fight or talk her way out; somehow, she knew that there was no escaping this time.

They dragged her from the parking garage and into a waiting van, pushing her into the farmost corner. She didn't know how long she waited there - seemed like at least an hour - but it was long enough to be surprised when the doors flew open again. There stood the famous Tony Stark, looking battered and bruised, heartbroken and annoyed.

"Who the hell is this?" he asked, and behind him she could see them lining up Sam, Wanda, Clint, and Scott.

"She's a known associate of the Winter Soldier." one of the men told him. "We found her in the parking garage with this." He held up her laptop. Tony looked from her laptop to her, his jaw clenching as he connected the dots.

"You're the one who tangoed with Friday." he said. She didn't respond, only staring at him with what she hoped was cool and unbothered expression, though she suspected it was anything but. He sighed. "Another day, I might have given you a bit of a chance. But as far as I'm concerned, this is where you should be."

With that, he turned and stalked off, the sound of his suit powering to life audible even from the back of the van. The men loaded up the other conspirators, all of whom looked a little worse for wear. Sam slid in first and sat next to her, looking at her for a long moment before dropping his gaze to his shoes. She thought she knew what he wanted to say.

Despite their differences, they were stuck together now. And they needed to make the best of it.

Oh no! Poor babe got arrested! Full disclosure, I have no idea how computers work, so I apologize if the hacking was less than realistic/detailed.

Thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews! I seriously can't thank y'all enough, cause your feedback literally fuels me.

I'm not planning on writing the whole fight scene at the Hydra base, so if that's something that you really want, let me know! Or let me know if you're indifferent to it haha.

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and has a wonderful new year!

-XM