As always, thank you for all your continued support! Enjoy this latest instalment, where we get to the final fight of the film and start getting some Buky vs Steve action!
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April 4th, 2014. Helicarrier Charlie, Washington DC.
Beth felt sick approaching the helicarriers. Every instinct was on fire, desperate for some sign of Bucky. So far though, nothing. It was too quiet, which unsettled her more. She instinctively snuggled into her jacket further, not caring that it was really too big and would likely hider her in combat. If it helped Bucky remember even a minute amount, it was worth the risk. What also helped was Steve's speech to the other agents of SHIELD, his words encouraging her further that they would succeed.
The sound of engines whirring made Beth pause slightly, he head cocking to figure out exactly where the sound was coming from.
"They've initiated launch" Maria explained over the line, her voice direct, but with a hint of worry Beth could easily empathise with.
Running alongside Steve and Sam as they exited, she gasped. Beside her, Sam let out a groan.
"They're a little bigger than I thought" she admitted.
"Yeah. I forgot to say just how big they are." Steve confessed.
As Sam's wings flared next to her, Beth smiled. He truly was like a falcon. She followed behind Steve as he leapt down onto the level below, bones jarring from the impact, but no damage taken. She knew she could take a lot of impact, but she didn't necessarily enjoy doing it.
The moment they hit the ground, HYDRA soldiers began firing at them. As Steve rushed ahead, she began firing back, deciding to save using her rifle for a while. Bodies dropped, dead or alive, Beth didn't particularly care. AS long as they were down, she took it as a win. In front of her, Steve also continued knocking people down, though she knew none of his hits aimed to kill. It was definitely one area where they had diverted and conflicted. Steve was still a man who would rather incapacitate than kill. Beth was a woman who understood that in certain situations, it was kill or be killed, and no way was she going to be the one getting killed.
Explosions began to litter the sky, Beth's attention drawn to where Sam was gracefully dodging shells being shot at him from the helicarriers. She didn't doubt his skill in the slightest, but when one shell came close enough that he dodged like a butterfly who'd just been swatted at, she flinched.
"Stay safe Sam" he found herself muttering as she caught up to Steve, surprising herself at how quickly she'd grown fond of the man.
"You ready for this?" Her brother asked, observing the number of people still coming towards them.
"It'll be a good warm up." She retorted dryly.
They continued fighting their way through until Beth heard Maria ask about Falcon's status.
"Engaging"
A moment passed, before…
"Alright cap, I'm in….shit"
Beth didn't have chance to reply and see what was happening as another swarm of soldiers came out to them. She threw herself into the fighting, blocking out anything going on in her ear so she could clear a path for Steve to get through.
Finally, they made it, Beth waiting at the entrance with her trusted rifle as Steve ran to the control panel to insert his chip.
"Alpha locked."
She wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but knew it was too early. They had less than 7 minutes now to put two more chips in place. They began making their way across to the next helicarriers when Sam proudly announces the second chip was in place. The band of anxiety began to squeeze Beth's chest. If they hadn't seen Bucky yet, she had no doubt he'd turn up on the third and final helicarrier.
"Sam, gonna need a lift." Steve called over the comms.
On the end of his words, he reached out for Beth, who immediately grabbed on to him. He launched off into the air, Sam barely catching them. Hearing their new friend yell in strain, she waited until they were close enough before detaching herself from Steve, landing on the helicarrier a little awkwardly, stumbling slightly. The two men landed seconds later, Sam reaching to rub at his shoulder as he complained about their weights.
Beth grinned, about to reply, when a black blur slammed into Steve, sending him sliding off the edge of the plane. Beth froze as Sam ran forward, the metallic arm of Bucky snapping out to grasp his wings and halt him from his rescue.
"SAm, no!" she yelled as he began to fire at Bucky.
"He needs stopping!" he argued back as Bucky ducked out of the way.
"Go get Steve!" she called at the same time he'd already started flying.
She saw Bucky re-emerge and moved towards him a second too late. In one movement, a wire latched on to Sam, slamming him onto the ground. Another movement as she crashed into Bucky and the wing was torn off. She hit the ground, Bucky tearing her off him so violently, she almost slid off the side of the plane. Jumping to her feet, she could only shout as Sam was kicked off the helicarrier to what she feared was his death. Torn between jumping after him and finding Steve, she eventually settled for heading inside the carrier and praying Bucky didn't notice. She missed the glower on Bucky's face as he snapped his head in her direction, fully aware where she was headed.
When Steve's voice came into her ear, she could have cried.
"You okay bro?"
"I'm okay. See you in a few."
She continued running towards the final control panel, seeing Steve enter from the her left. They caught each other's gazes, sharing a look of resolve and simultaneously rushing to the panel. What Beth hadn't noticed until she almost ran into him was that Bucky had already made it there, and was facing Steve head on.
'Crap' she thought as she began to back away.
"People are going to die Buck. I can't let that happen"
Her heart tugged, praying somehow their words would get through to him. A glance at his face told her that for now, he was still very much HYDRA's puppet, and god how she hated admitting it. One hand strayed to her holster, even as every fibre screamed and pleaded with her not to harm him.
"Bucky, please." she pleaded, as Steve's own voice joned her with a broken beg of its own.
"Please don't make me do this."
She waited one second. Two. By the third, she saw Steve's face harden. Four, and he launched his shield at the man he'd called brother, the act a raw pain she could see in every movement he made. It was deflected effortlessly by Bucky and Steve barely caught it in time to block the bullets Bucky fired at him.
Beth could only watch, physically unable to squeeze the trigger her finger rested on. The gun may as well be a useless block of metal. Reholstering it, she barely dodged as the two men came crashing towards her. It was enough to allow Bucky to graze Steve's side with one bullet, and Beth assisted Steve in pushing Bucky away from them.
"Tell me what to do." she demanded.
"Get to the panel."
Nodding, she darted past Bucky, feeling something slash against her as she danced from his reach. Looking down, she saw a rip in the jacket she wore, and her eyes narrowed.
"You're going to be so pissed off about that someday." she promised.
He stared back blankly at her for a split second, until Steve began a second round of hand-to-hand. She typed the code into the panel until there was an impact to her side, causing her to land heavily on the floor. Bucky stood above her, metal elbow pointing towards her from where he'd attacked and she felt herself growling. He had no opportunity to continue attacking her as Steve landed a solid punch of his own to knock him off balance enough for the captain to continue inputting the code. The panel slid open, but Bucky was already back for more combat. He unleashed onto Steve, Beth barely able to track what was happening, let alone help. Suddenly, Bucky let out a cry and charged Steve, the pair being flung over the railing to the floor below.
"Steve! Bucky!"
"Stay there, I'll throw the chip to you!" Steve replied, sharper than she'd heard him in years.
This fight was taking its toll both mentally and physically on all of them and honestly, she didn't know if they were going to make it out in one piece this time.