Chapter 10 - Showdown and Happy Endings
Cap ran over to Bucky and held him in his arms.
"Bucky?" he whispered, terrified he was about to lose his love, even if he was the Winter Soldier. "Bucky, stay with me…" he pleaded, but Bucky's eyes were struggling to stay open.
'Steve?" he croaked. "…I've loved you since the day we met…" he said as his eyes rolled back and his body went limp.
'No…" Cap breathed. "No!" he turned to face the Witch, still absorbing the power of a broken soul, and anger clouded his mind. Steve ran towards her, letting out a yell as his genetically enhanced muscles sent her over the side of the ferry. For a few moments, all was silent, until a loud rumbling began to grow beneath them, and the little ferry was sent flying as the head of the Scarlet Witch broke through the surface of the water, at least 100 times bigger than it was before. She let out a thunderous cackle and lifted her arms into the air, bright balls of burning red flames awaiting her command as obedient servants in her palms.
"FINALLY…" her now demonic voice boomed "NO ONE ON EARTH CAN STOP ME NOW. PREPARE TO SAY GOODBYE TO EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR." her voice sounded across the vast lake. "JUST AS I DID."
Moving her arm around in a circular motion, Wanda began to make a whirlpool that engulfed not only the ferry but the corpses of sunken ships that lay on the bottom of the sea floor, being suddenly resurrected from their watery graves as memories from medieval times came to light. People everywhere were screaming.
"Cap, instructions, please?!" Nat called to Steve over the roar of the water. Steve stopped to think, ignoring his pain and letting his heroic instincts take over. Looking around, he saw one of the broken ships slowly moving along the slanted waters of the whirlpool, noticing its razor sharp bowsprit.
"I've got an idea. Nat, can we get to that ship over there?" he said pointing, and Natasha nodded. Cap ran to edge of the ferry's railings and knelt down, and Natasha ran up his back like a ramp, flipping perfectly and landing steadily on the body of the deceased vessel. She gave Cap a thumbs up and he leapt himself, landing next to her. "Ok, you control what's left of the sails, I'll steer the ship." he commanded.
"Got it." Nat answered, and went to the riggings of the medieval ship and tried to change the direction of the tattered sails to the direction the way the wind was going, and it helped somewhat as the ship began to pick up speed.
At the wheel, Cap used every ounce of super soldier muscle to steer the stubborn wood from years ago towards the back of the Witch. It was a slow moving process, but they were making progress. Cap would avenge Bucky, no matter what. The jagged end of the ship's long bowsprit came closer and closer towards the witch, and luckily she seemed too distracted with monologuing to pay attention to her surroundings.
"WATCH AS I DESTROY YOUR WORLD, MORTALS." She boomed over the cowering people who were tiny to her in comparison. "LEARN HOW IT FEELS TO LOSE EVERYTHING. WANNA KNOW HOW IT FEELS?" her voice became even louder, bringing a spell to her fingertips that would kill every single human being beneath her. "IT FEELS LIKE…" she trailed off and let out a scream of anguish as she was impaled by a sharp object behind her, stabbing right through her heart. The lighting and thunder banged and flashed, rumbled and crashed, until she began to sink into the water below, her scream filling the heads of everyone who heard it, the last breath of the Scarlet Witch mimicking that of the sharpest banshees wail.
As the Witch plummeted below the surface, she sent a tidal wave of water crashing down on every civilian, washing them all out and leaving them spinning out of control. When the sea calmed, the reign of the Scarlet Witch was finally over. The storm cleared and the night became still, the moon still shining high in the sky, oblivious to the tribulations of earth. It seemed that the waves that pulled her under were the hands of her past victims who would never be avenged, dragging her down to join them in her watery grave.
By some miracle, everyone who had been on the ferry had ended up washed up on the beach, unharmed and safe, however it was hours before anyone woke up. As the light of the sun shone over the horizon, Steve began to open his eyes and took in the shipwrecked civilians. How many times was he going to end up like this? Looking around him, he turned to see that it was Bucky who had woken him up, his soul fully restored now that the Witch was gone. The two looked at each other with concerned faces.
"Hey, Buck." Cap croaked gently.
"Hey, Steve." Bucky replied. "So. I guess we have a lot to discuss."
"I suppose we do." said Cap.
"Well, I'm the Winter Soldier." Bucky said, sitting down next to Cap in the sand. Steve was probably never going to love him now, so he may as well just let it all out. Not sure where this new-found courage to tell the truth was coming from, Bucky told exactly that. The truth. "I was sent by HYDRA to kill you, but when I couldn't I ran away instead. Hopped a train, it led me here. Zemo took me in. Made a deal with a creepy Witch, got to have my old arm back for three days, and, well you know the rest." Cap nodded.
"Well…" he began "I'm Captain America. Nat invited me on her mission to have a vacation, but… the whole time I was always thinking of the man from the train." he trailed off, his voice becoming softer and slower. "…which was you."
The two sat in silence for a few moments, before Cap broke it.
"I thought I lost you back there." he said. Bucky chuckled.
"You're welcome." he said sarcastically.
"I have to ask.'' Cap said. "Why did you do it?" Bucky raised an eyebrow.
"What, come back from the dead? I didn't exactly have a choice."
"No. I mean make a deal with the devil. Did you really think I wouldn't love you if I knew you were the Winter Soldier?" he said. Bucky almost scoffed.
''Of course I did. I was brainwashed by HYDRA for years and tried to kill you!" he replied. "Who could ever fall in love with that…" Bucky looked away, unable to face his shame and instead stared down at the ground, wishing it would open up and swallow him right there.
"Bucky…" Cap said as he reached over to cup his cheek, and Bucky turned to look at him, his heart beating faster and faster. "I've loved you since the day I met you." and with that, the two shared their first kiss, closing the distance between them in an instant, their eyes closing dreamily as the thing they had waited for the most was finally given to them. Bucky wrapped an arm around Steve's waist and Cap wrapped an arm around Bucky's shoulder, knowing that no matter what material his arm was made out of, he would love him for who he was.
Now it made sense why their fight on the train had been so effortless. The two had weakened each other because they were soulmates, unable to bring themselves to kill each other deep down. Cap and Bucky enjoyed every second of their new-found freedom, neither one of them wanting it to end.
Zemo and Natasha eventually came-to and managed to locate the two lovebirds, where they both watched in joy from afar.
"Yes!" they both said in unison and pumped their fists, so happy that their friends got the ending they deserved.
Eventually, the two had to break for air and the kiss ended; however neither said a word. They remained staring into each other's eyes intently, never wanting to look away. Steve brushed a strand of beautiful brown hair out of Bucky's face as people began waking up around them and joining in to see the couple that everyone had been rooting for for the past two days finally come together, and applause broke out along the crowd.
"Hey, give them some privacy, guys." Nat said to control the crowd.
"Yeah, back it up you peeping toms!" Zemo called out playfully. Nat couldn't help but laugh as she took out her walkie-talkie.
"Well, we fixed our supernatural threat. I'm also gonna need a couple medical vans down here, everyone got shipwrecked. Again." she spoke into the speaker.
Steve and Bucky stood up and embraced, in heaven just by being in each other's presence. They weren't sure what was going to happen to them, or if HYDRA would find Bucky, or if the world would even accept them, but they both knew that could wait. For now, the two leaned in for another passionate kiss as the sun reached its peak in the sky behind them, both of them finally happy to simply be alive.
The End
Authors note: well, there you have it beautiful readers, my incredibly cringey take on combining Marvel with Disney. Hey, you're only a teenager once, right? Feel free to review, I always appreciate feedback. Love you lots! ;)
