...Bucky...
The room explodes into chaos as soon as I wrap my fingers around Reed's throat. For a moment, I'm not sure how long, I'm not fully aware of everything happening around me. My focus is solely on killing Reed. I see nothing but his face, and feel sick satisfaction as I see his lips turning purple and the panic in his eyes. It isn't until I hear Natasha yelling behind me that I finally pull myself out of the task at hand... no pun intended. Reed takes full advantage of my distraction and as soon as I look over my shoulder, he scrambles away from me. Normally I'd just go after him; he can't outrun me. There isn't anywhere he could hide that I wouldn't find him. However, in my haste to get to him, I missed the fact that he had opened the doors for his sleeper cells and had woken them up.
That's when I become aware of the chaos. Wanda and Vision are simultaneously taking on two of the soldiers and Natasha is working on the third. The sheer size of the man is enough to give anyone pause. He stands at least 6 inches taller than me and is built like a brick shit house. Put that together and add in the supposedly perfected super soldier serum and it all equals out to a really bad time for anyone looking for a fight. Natasha is admittedly holding her own pretty well, despite being a fraction of his size. That is until he picks her up by the throat and slams her against a wall. I spring towards them and grab the man's shoulder just as the light behind Nat's eyes go dark. "Alright, Tiny. Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" I ask as I spin him away from Natasha. With the soldier's attention now on me, she slumps to the floor. Please let her be alive, I send up a silent prayer to whoever might be listening. I don't have much time to mull over the state of my fallen friend as the soldier immediately throws a right hook my way. Catching his fist with my metal arm, I land a blow to his rib cage and he doesn't react. There isn't even any give in his abdomen when my fist makes contact with him. Bewildered, my eyes dart up to the man's face and I swear to god he smirks at me.
His left hand wraps around my right and twists so hard that he flips me onto my back knocking the air from my lungs, my head smacks hard against the floor tiles. Stars dance across my vision and my brain feels a little foggy. The good thing is when he flipped me, he released my hand and as soon as my eyes come back into focus, I swipe his feet out from underneath him and he crashes hard beside me. In a heartbeat I'm on him. I pin his arms to the ground with my knees and hit him in the face as hard and as fast as I can. One, two, three, four hits to the face. Blood sprays from his nose and lip before he manages to grab my arm and yanks me off of him once again. He tosses me through the air as if I weigh no more than a feather and I slam into the opposite wall. I groan and close my eyes in an attempt to regain my bearings, but he doesn't give me time for that. I stand up slowly, feeling every single ache in what feels like every single muscle in my body, and stumble. I lean back against the wall, letting him come to me, and... maybe using the wall as a temporary crutch to try and catch my breath before he gets to me. Over his shoulder, I see Vision and Wanda have incapacitated one of the other soldiers and the only one left to them is the woman. I see their side of the room glow red and by this time my opponent is within arms length he strikes out at me and I duck, his fist misses my head by mere inches. Instead it plunges into the wall sending drywall dust blooming through the air. As he stands over me with his hand still buried in the wall, I shove upwards with every ounce of strength in my body. His fist is ripped from the wall and he goes flying into the ceiling.
Ceiling tiles fall from the air with him, tiles and man fall to a heap in the middle of the floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Reed's huddled form underneath the desk he was sitting at when we first arrived. I walk by the desk, grab the edge of the flat-top surface and flip it through the air and keep walking as it explodes into tiny splinters against the wall. When I reach the soldier still lying in a heap on the floor, I use my boot to shove some of the ceiling tiles away from him. He appears unconscious, but the steady rise and fall of his chest tells me he's still alive. As I'm deciding what to do with him, I hear a gun cock and turn slightly just in time to see Reed, now standing, pull the trigger of the gun that he's pointing directly at me.
White hot pain rips through my shoulder as the bullet embeds itself within my body. Blood sprays out of the wound and the force of the impact within such a compact area knocks me off balance. I compartmentalize the pain as I regain my balance. I will feel this later, right now I need to get back to Reed and finish the job I set out to do before Natasha distracted me earlier. Before I reach him Tiny is back on me. He pulls me back into the fray and I let out a growl of frustration. This guy is the absolute worst. He lands a bone crushing kick to my ribcage but I manage to catch his foot before he can pull away from me. With my hand on the heel of his shoe, I push upwards and sned him stumbling away from me. I'm simultaneously catching my breath and gearing up for another hand to hand with this guy when Natasha appears out of nowhere. She seems to materialize from thin air and silently lunges at Tiny. She jumps at him, grabbing the top of his shoulder and uses her momentum to swing her legs up through the air to propel herself onto his shoulders. A move I am very familiar with. It never ceases to amaze me at how fluidly she moves. She wraps her legs over his shoulders and locks her feet around his shoulder blades. With enough force to knock out any normal man, she brings her elbow down onto the top of his skull three times in quick succession. He is reaching up towards her all the while, trying to get a hold on her that would dislodge her. Instead I watch her take a wire and wrap it around his thick neck.
The wire is so thin I almost don't see it; like fishing wire or something. And it's coming out of the cufflink on her wrist. After what feels like forever (but is actually maybe two minutes) Tiny's eyes roll into the back of his head and he hits the ground like a fallen tree. He lands directly on top of Natasha, but she doesn't release him from her wire until he lets out one last sigh and his entire body becomes still. I kick him off of her and offer her my hand. "Thanks for the help," I say as she grabs my hand. I pull her to her feet and with the motion my body seems to remember all the pain it's in and my shoulder screams in protest. I grunt with pain. I am not looking forward to having this bullet dug out. Natasha's eyes go to the bullet hole in my shoulder but she doesn't say anything. Instead we both glance over to where Vision and Wanda are standing. That's good news. They're both standing and the other two super soldiers are lying on the ground at their feet. They catch us looking over at us and give us a nod, they're okay. As if on cue, Natasha and I both turn away from them and towards Keiran Reed.
Reed is standing against the wall, looking much smaller and way less confident now that he doesn't have any bodyguards to protect him. He raises the gun in his hand and points it at all of us in turn. "Don't come near me, I'll shoot you!" His voice tremors and I grin. I take three quick strides towards him and manage to grab the barrel of the gun with my left hand as he fires off another shot. My arm jolts back just slightly, but the bullet does not go through the vibranium.
"Not so tough now without your protection detail, huh, Reed?" I yank the gun out of his hands and he falls to his knees at my feet.
"Please," he begins. "Please don't kill me."
"You disgust me," I say staring down at him. I turn the gun over in my hands as he grovels in front of me. "Begging for mercy after you just tried to kill me. After you killed my friends." It's this thought, the thought of my friends lying dead in the ruins of a warehouse in the middle of the woods somewhere, that compels me to press the barrel of the gun against his temple. I hear him hiss at the contact, the gun is still hot from being fired and burns his skin. I clench my teeth and push the metal hard against his head.
"James!" Wanda steps towards me. "Tony wants him alive!" She puts her hand on my shoulder but I shove her off.
"Tony's dead." I don't elaborate. Instead I press harder still against Reed's head and pull the trigger. Wanda and Natasha both yell at me, but nothing happens. There's a click as I pull the trigger and then Reed sags with relief.
The magazine was empty and there were no bullets in the gun. Reed gives an anxious chuckle and opens his mouth to say something. Not wanting to hear anything he has to say, I flip the gun over in my hand and swing the butt of it as hard as I can at his face. I smack him across the temple and he crumples to the floor. I drop the gun in front of his unconscious body and turn back to the others. With a nod, I inquire about the two bodies on the floor where Vision stands.
"Dead," Wanda's voice is void of any emotion and I nod. Good. The world doesn't need any new super soldiers.
"We should take him back to headquarters, so we can get in contact with the team," Natasha says. I nod, even though I do not share her optimism. Reed blew up the rest of our crew. With one final glance down at Reed, I leave the room and head for the elevator bay.
Wanda floated Reed's unconscious body all the way to our van and we pile in. Vision drives with Wanda in the passenger seat and Natasha and I sit silently in the backseat, Reed propped up between us. The entire ride is silent and a dark cloud floats over us in a stark contrast to the now bright light streaming through the car windows. My mind drifts in the silence and try as I might, I can't shake the thought of Kit being dead. The physical pain coursing through my body can't even touch the weight of her death.
We pass people walking along the sidewalk and driving by us on the highway and it blows me away that all of these people are going through their day like nothing has changed.
Like they didn't just lose everything in a matter of hours.
...
When we got back 'home' Natasha and Vision carried Reed into the house and down into the basement where I guess they keep holding cells.
"I can get that out for you," Wanda says to me as their footsteps disappear down the stairs. "That bullet. I can pull it out for you. It isn't lodged in anything important." She twists her hands around and that warm red light glows between them. I shrug my good shoulder, sure. Why not. She nods once and stares at my shoulder where the bullet dug it's way through my skin. In one quick motion she yanks her hands back towards her sternum and I feel the bullet flying back through my shoulder with as much force as when it entered me. I clench my teeth, taken aback by the force of her magic and grunt in pain. There is almost immediate relief though and I nod my thanks before heading for my room.
I shut the door behind me and lean my forehead against it. I close my eyes as the silence surrounds me and I'm not sure what to do with myself. I feel lost.
When I first came out of Wakanda, after putting in the work with the Dora, I was aimless. I didn't know where to go, or who to be. For the first time in seventy years I wasn't being controlled by someone else and I had no direction. This feels similar. We have taken down the threat that we set out to stop, but with Kit and Steve gone, I have nothing to show for it. I have no one left. They were it. The very last parts of who I am... who I was.
I feel myself beginning to spiral so I shake my head, push away from the door and I go to the bathroom. I go on autopilot and go through the motions. Shower, wash the blood from under my fingernails and off my face. Ignore the aching ribs and pounding head. I turn the shower on as hot as I can stand it and let the rythmic beating of the water work out the tension in my sore muscles. I stand under the spray until it goes cold and the entire bathroom is filled with steam. With my towel wrapped tightly around my waist, I open the bathroom door and steam billows out into my bedroom. Natasha sits on my bed and quirks an eyebrow. "Soldier," she says lightly.
"What do you want, Romanoff?" I rifle through my drawers looking for clean clothes to wear.
"I haven't been able to reach Tony.. or anyone else for that matter. Vis and I decided we should probably go out to the warehouse to check on them. Wanda said she'll stay to keep an eye on Reed. Wanna tag along?" My heart clenches at the thought of what we might find under the rubble of that building and I don't want to go. No, I don't want to dig through a collapsed building to find the love of my life and my best friend lifeless at the bottom of it. The mental images that flit through my mind at just the thought of finding them lying in the ashes takes the breath from my lungs.
But, with all that in mind I say, "Yeah. Give me five minutes to get dressed." Because of course I'm going to go. There's no question about it.
She leaves my room and as soon as the door latches shut I pull on my clothes as quickly as my beaten body will allow me and then make my way out of the house. Natasha is leaning against the hood of the car and Vision is already in the driver's seat. "What are we waiting for?" I ask as I stride towards Natasha and grab the passenger door handle I motion for her to get in.
"Waiting for a dinosaur to get dressed," she quips back as she steps around me. "Who says chivalry is dead?" I can tell she's trying to lighten the mood, but her joking manner falls flat and I can feel the tension under her words. I'm about to shut the door behind her so I can get into the back seat when another car comes flying down the drive and screeches to a stop in front of us. Mystified, I watch as Sam Wilson flies through the air above us and lands in front of the car with a loud thud. Natasha and Vision both jump out of their seats and rush towards the car that just arrived. Tony sits in the driver seat and even from this distance and with the tint on the windshield I can see he is in bad shape. Peter jumps out of the passenger seat, his suit is ripped across his chest and his mask is split diagonally across his face exposing the anxiety in his eyes.
That's three.. where is everyone else? I watch from a distance as Natasha opens the back door, my feet seem to be glued to the ground and I'm unable to move. Then I see Steve get out from the other side and some of the weight leaves my shoulders. Steve is alive.
He limps around the car towards Nat and gently moves her aside before bending into the car. When he stands back up, my heart drops and my stomach twists into a knot. In his arms he is cradling a very limp Kit. He hoists her up a little bit so that he can get a better grip on her. Her head rests on his shoulder and her arms and legs dangle listlessly. Everything seems to move in slow motion as he approaches the house. "Is she-" Words fail me. I mean to ask if she's alive but I can't seem to get the words out, afraid of the answer. "Steve-" There is desperation in my voice. I want him to tell me she's okay so badly it hurts.
"I don't know, Buck. Come on," he says, nodding for me to follow him. So I do, I walk robotically behind him as everyone rushes inside. Steve lays Kit out on the couch and I kneel beside her, brushing the hair off of her forehead. Her face is black and blue; covered in blood. Her whole body seems to be covered in blood. I tear my eyes away from her face and take inventory of the rest of her. The reason it seems like she's covered in blood is simple - she is covered in it. Someone tied a makeshift tourniquet around her thigh to stop the bleeding from a large hole just below the wrapping and it looks like she lost quite a bit of blood before they were able to stop the flow. I look up at Steve questioningly. "When the building fell on us, a large beam splintered and went straight through her," he begins. "We were both pinned underneath a bunch of the rubble but she hit her head against a rock when we landed... I thought she was okay... she was talking to me. And then she said she was tired..." His voice trails off as he averts his eyes away from mine. He feels guilty. "I tried to keep her awake, but she said she was so tired. I couldn't get to her to keep her awake. I'm so sorry, Bucky." He drops a heavy hand on my shoulder and squeezes tightly. I don't mention that he's squeezing right where I was shot. The pain grounds me a little bit.
"You didn't blow up the building," I mumble as I stand up as Vision taps me and mutters something about examining Kit. "I'm glad you're okay, pal," I say as I face Steve and wrap my arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.
"I'm glad to see you in one piece too," he says with a watery laugh. We finally release each other and Vision straightens back up at the same time.
"I'm going to move her down to a bed and take care of some of these wounds... We'll know more when she wakes up."
"She will wake up though, right?" I ask.
"Yes, I believe she will... I can't promise anything though, Sergeant Barnes." I nod, of course he can't. "When I'm done with her, I expect all of you to come down and get your wounds looked at as well."
Everyone around me murmurs their agreement and I watch Vision and Wanda lift Kit through the air and out of view. I collapse onto the couch where she was lying, feeling like I can breathe for the first time since leaving this morning. The others follow suit, no one wants to go off to their own rooms right now. Instead we will all nurse our wounds together.
It's hard to imagine that I was saying goodbye to Kit in the driveway less than 12 hours ago, telling her to come back to me in one piece. As the adrenaline begins to leave my body I start to feel every single bump and bruise I obtained during my fight with the other super soldier. There are definitely broken ribs and some serious bruising happening along nearly every inch of my body. My shoulder burns where I was shot. I shift awkwardly on the couch trying to find a position that doesn't hurt. Turns out there isn't one. Steve is doing the same and finally settles on leaning back against the cushions with his legs stretched out directly in front of him.
"I'm getting too old for this," he jokes. "You alright, Bucky?"
"Oh yeah," I grunt, shoving a pillow under my arm in an attempt to support my ribs. "I could do this all day." Steve smirks at me as I shoot his old catch phrase back at him. "One of the perks of the serum. I'll be all better in no time."
"Must be nice," Natasha mutters from the chair to my right. "I'm going to have a knot on the back of my head for the next month." She reaches up into her long red hair and massages the back of her head. For the first time since joining up with the Avengers I actually feel a sense of comradery. Sitting here with everyone surrounding me, granted we're all wounded and uncertain where we go from here, I feel a dim light of belonging bloom in my chest.