Hi!

Okay, so let me start off by apologizing. The last update was February and school was kicking my ass (which has paid off). But the really big kicker was losing my mom in May unexpectedly. I dropped off the face of the earth for a while because I was, and still am, completely devastated. I'm still a mess, but the birth of my niece has pushed me to start coping and slowly get back to my normal life.

Thank you guys for sticking with me. Seeing the follows/favorites and reviews gave me something to smile about through my really rough days.

And since this opening author's note is entirely too depressing, here's some good news: I've officially decided on the baby's gender. Woo!

Disclaimer: Marvel isn't mine.

On we go...


The Violinist

Chapter 15

Chaos erupted around them. Max's training kicked in and she tried to focus on the closet thing happening to her.

The Winter Soldier was approaching them quickly with his gang of followers. She knew they were trapped on the overpass. They couldn't turn and run and risk being shot at from behind. The only option was to fight- something Max couldn't do now that she was expecting.

Gunfire interrupted her thinking. She was immediately pulled behind Steve as he threw up his shield to protect them. Nat had taken off farther down the driveway and Sam was out of sight, probably somewhere in the sky. Max watched Steve peer over the top of his shield and his body tensed. Peeking out, she saw that the soldier was holding a rocket launcher on his broad, metallic shoulder.

He pulled the trigger, aiming straight at them.

Steve pushed her away from him, a gasp escaping her lips. She stumbled and fought to regain her balance. The sound of clinking metal made her snap her head towards Steve just as the rocket hit his shield. He was thrown backwards over the side of the expressway.

Max was left alone, defenseless and terrified.

Suddenly, a shot rang out. The bullet ripped through the air beside Max and struck the Winter Soldier's face mask, cracking the lens. He flinched, pulling off the goggles and tossing them to the side.

She turned to see Nat standing up from behind an abandoned car, gun pointed at the enemy. Max scrambled to the side of the road.

"Она мeня. найти его," the Winter Soldier ordered his men. Natasha had taught her enough Russian to know they were about to split up. He was coming after them, and they were going after Steve.

He began strutting towards them, a hard look in his eyes. Panic set in Max's gut. Nat was still too far away to help her. She was as good as captured, or dead, at this point.

A shadow wisped across her face along with a sharp gust of wind. The sound of mechanical whirring filled her ears. She raised her head just as Sam landed in front of her. The Winter Soldier opened fire, but the wings of the falcon suit protected them.

"May I?" he asked and gestured to her waist. She nodded and he wrapped his arms around her. He spun in the direction Natasha was in and shouted, "Go, I got this!"

The assassin nodded and sprinted to the side of the expressway, launching herself over the side. Sam wasted no time lifting them into the air, making Max's stomach drop. She squeezed herself tighter against Sam and glued her eyes shut.

They didn't fly for long, landing within a matter of minutes. He released her and she could see that they were in a park, far from the action. Part of her was relieved, but the other part of her was freaking out about leaving Steve and Natasha behind.

"Alright, you stay here. I've gotta go save your boyfriend's ass," Sam told her with a smirk.

"He's not my-."

"Psh, I know," he laughed. "Just messin' with ya."

He ascended into the air, heading back to the fight. Max was alone once again, but this time she had time to think without some murderous HYDRA dude trying to kill her.

She pulled out her phone and dialed the number of the only person she trusted enough to help.

"Aunt Maria, it's Max. I need your help."


Natasha was racing along the street with the Winter Soldier hot on her trail. Her lungs burned as she ran. Her mind was hopping between Max and Steve and how the hell they were going to get out of this situation.

The gunfire had died down. She ducked behind a car and pulled out her phone. Quickly and quietly, she recorded a fake backup call and set it on a loop. She propped it up against the front car tire and sneaked off somewhere high to lay-in-wait for the Winter soldier to arrive.

"I make an LZ, twenty-three hundred block of Virginia Avenue. Rendezvous two minutes. Taking fire from above and below expressway. Civilians threatened. Repeat, civilians threatened."

As it looped and her voice drifted out, Natasha saw a small silver ball roll under the car seconds before it exploded. It fell back to the ground with a large crash and, through the flames, she could see the smokey figure of the soldier. Just as he came around the car, she jumped onto his back from her hiding spot. Right before she could get her grip secure enough to snap his neck, he locked his hands around her wrists, slamming her against a car located behind them, and threw her off of him into another car. She crouched on the ground, gravel sinking into her palms as she caught her breath. The soldier bent down and retrieved his assault rifle, quickly aiming it at her. Right before his finger could pull the trigger, Natasha pulled out a small metal disk from inside her coat sleeve. She launched it at him, the disk landing on his metal arm. Electric pulses shot through the man, sending him into spasms and rendering his arm useless for the moment. Wasting no time, she sprang up and bolted into a crowd of terrified citizens.

"Get out the way!" she shouted, her voice cracking under the strain, as she shoved her way past people. "Stay out of the way!"

Suddenly pain ripped through her and her ears finally registered the sound of a gunshot ringing in the air. She stumbled, gripping onto the wound in her shoulder, and somehow ended up on the ground. Her head snapped back to see where her attacker was, and tried to keep calm when he stood only feet away.

A split second before she turned to run, Steve came barreling in from behind the Winter Soldier. He threw his shield up as he jumped onto the car where the enemy stood.


A shockwave rumbled through the ground when the soldier's metal arm came in contact with Captain's shield. The masked man grabbed the shield, pushing it to the side, leaving Steve vulnerable. Before he could block himself, the Winter Soldier dropkicked Steve off the car, sending him skidding across the pavement with a grunt. He swung his shield up just in time to block incoming shots.

Steve retreated around the back of the car after it was vacated by their enemy. Bullets pinged against the windshield. Springing up, Steve swung himself legs first over the roof of the car. He kicked the machine gun out of his offender's hand. As he landed, a handgun was pulled and being fired. His shield went up automatically.

He threw a punch, which was deflected, but he immediately swung his shield. The soldier grabbed it in his metal hand, thrusting it back towards Steve. A punch landed on the Captain's jaw, then his shield was grabbed and twisted around, making him flip through the air. When he landed, the Winter Soldier had his shield. Aggravated, Steve started throwing punches until he was sent flying backwards. Rolling over, Steve jumped up and sprinted directly at the man. His shield soared by him, nearly hitting him, and lodged into the rear door of a van. Steve kept running.

The glint of a knife caught his attention. He switched from offensive to defensive tactics to avoid being cut or stabbed. Blocking every advance, he waited for an opening so he could make a move. Finally it came and he landed a solid punch to the masked man's face. Then he spun, picking up momentum, and connected his foot with the soldier's chest. The man flew back and hit an old truck. Steve surged forward while his opponent was off guard and rammed his knee into his chest, pressing his body into the passenger door of the vehicle. He got in one more punch before he was pushed backwards. Using the fall, Steve grabbed the soldier's arm and threw him over his shoulder and onto the ground.

Not missing a beat, the soldier popped up and got his metal hand around Steve's throat, squeezing full-force. He was dragged closer, then thrown over the hood of the truck. The soldier came over the top of the truck, jumping down onto Steve, who shoved him off. Standing, they engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

A knife came racing at Steve's face. He put his arms up to block it, thrusting it up into the side of a van. They slid down the side of the vehicle until the knife was set free. Steve ducked behind the man, wrapping his arms around his waist and lifting him over his shoulder and dropping him onto the street below.

Spotting his shield, he ran to it, ripping it out of the van door. He went back to fighting defensively, avoiding the knife the soldier had. They struggled, evenly matched. Steve managed to shove his shield into the metal of the soldier's bicep, damaging it. He spun the shield up under the same arm and smashed it into the man's face. Finally, he grabbed onto his face and threw him a good fifteen feet away.

The Winter Soldier stumbled, his mask coming off along the way, until he steadied himself. The man stood up, his long hair hanging in his face. When he turned back to look, it felt the ground beneath Steve's feet had disappeared.

Standing before him was someone Steve thought he would never see again. Someone that haunted his dreams. Someone he thought was dead.

"Bucky?" his voice came out shaky, unsure. His mouth hung open in disbelief. He blinked, certain his mind was playing tricks on him. His best friend was dead. He had watched him fall to his death seventy years ago.

The man didn't even register the name. "Who the hell is Bucky?"

A gun came out, pointing directly at Steve, who was too shell-shocked to do anything but stand there frozen. Before a round could be fired off, Sam swooped in and kicked Bucky to the side. He sprang back up, aiming once again at Steve. This time it was Nat's turn to save Captain America. She hoisted the rocket launcher Bucky had used earlier onto her shoulder and pulled the trigger.

The rocket hit the van next to Bucky, sending the world around him into a chaos of smoke and fire. When the smoke cleared, the Winter Soldier was gone.

Sirens sounded, closing in on them quickly, but Steve couldn't bring himself to retreat. He stood there, glued to the pavement, and stared at where his best-friend-turned-enemy had just been.

The next thing he knew, he was being forced to the ground by Agent Rumlow, a circle of armed agents around him. Natasha and Sam were being rounded up, too. He felt the cool metal of handcuffs being secured around his wrists, but he didn't fight it.

His mind was still stuck on Bucky.


They had been thrown in the back of an unmarked van by Rumlow's Strike team. Three agents sat at the front, dressed in full combat armor, holding rifles against their chests. Once they made it back to the Triskelion, they would be thrown into separate cells until a more permanent containment was arranged.

"It was him," Steve whispered, shaking his head. Part of him still couldn't comprehend what he had just witnessed. "He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."

"How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago," Sam questioned.

Steve thought on it for a moment. "Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and…"

"None of that's your fault, Steve," Natasha cut him off. Her eyes were closed, head resting against the wall of the van as she held her injured shoulder.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky," Steve said sadly, hanging his head low.

"We need a doctor back here," Sam called to the guards when he noticed Nat getting increasingly paler. "We don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck."

He sat forward, leaning close enough to help the redhead with her wound, when one of the agents whipped out their electric baton. Same froze. The tension in the close quarters wass palpable.

Suddenly, they slammed the rod into the middle guard's chest. The person jerked around , the sound of electricity in the air, until they slumped forward, unconscious. Steve looked over at his friends in confusion.

"Ah, this thing is squeezing my brain."

Relief floods Steve's body. He'd been so out of it over Bucky, he'd forgotten that Max was stashed away somewhere in the city. He pushed aside the guilt, deciding to dwell on it later, and let a smile form.

Glancing over at Steve, Sam laughed, "Dude, your girlfriend is so badass." Then he spun to look at Max, speaking again before Steve could get a word in. "I left you in a park miles from here. How in the hell did you get yourself in S.H.I.E.L.D. van?"

"She had help," another familiar voice said. Turning, they all locked eyes on Agent Maria Hill. She, in turn, locked eyes with Sam. "Who's this guy? And Captain Boyfriend? Since when?"

"We're not-," Max and Steve both started to answer when the vehicle came to a sudden stop. Two doors slammed and voices could be heard at the back of the van.

"Three holes. Start digging," Steve heard Rumlow order.

Maria held her index finger against her lips. She reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a strange-looking pen. When she clicked it, a hot torch lit. She crouched onto the van floor and held the flame to it, drawing in a circular motion. On the other side of the hole was a manhole cover, leading down into the city's sewer system.

It was time to make their escape.


The sewer tunnels lead them to an abandoned building on the opposite side of the city. From there, they took a truck that had been stashed there for an emergency just like this. Everyone piled in and Hill drove them two hours outside of the city, to the middle of nowhere.

No one spoke during the ride. Hill focused on driving, making sure they weren't being followed. Sam had Natasha laid across the backseat so he could tend to her gunshot. Max was curled up in Steve's lap in the passenger seat, sleeping.

Steve stared out the window as trees surrounded them on both sides, his hands resting on Max's tiny baby bump. A river ran along the driver's side of the vehicle. The paved road had given way to gravel a while ago. He didn't know where they were headed, he was just happy it was secluded.

A few minutes later, a dam came into view. Steve definitely wasn't expecting that.

Maria put the truck in park and hopped out. Max woke up when she felt them stop. She opened the door and shifted off of Steve, landing on the ground. Sam had an arm around Nat as they followed Maria to a door on the side of the looming cement wall.

Steve and Max hustled to catch up. When they entered, Maria was shouting at the medical staff.

"GSW. She's lost at least a pint!"

"Maybe two," Sam piped in.

A doctor stepped up, his arms out. "Let me take her."

"She'll want to see him first," Hill assured the man. Then she glanced over her shoulder at Max. "They both will."

They shuffled through dimly lit halls inside the dam until they came to a large metal door. Hill twisted the handle and pushed open it. The beat-up team filed into the stuffy room, their eyes landing on yet another supposedly dead man.

"About damn time," his sassy, deep timbre echoed off the solid walls.

Steve heard Max's heart thumping dangerously fast. He was just about to tell her to breathe when she fainted.


Wow, lots of excitement!

Again, I am so thankful for you all! My heart is bursting with love :)

If you have a Wattpad account, and you want to follow me on there, it's KaitiWalker. I post both Captain America stories there, as well as my other stories that I've been working on.

I apologize for any grammar/ spelling mistakes. I'm too excited having finally finished this chapter to proofread it right now.

Let me know what you think!

Until next time -KAITi-