Chapter Ten: Stronger
"So, you like cats?" Sam asked the man in the catsuit. His helmet had been taken off, revealing a handsome, yet stern face beneath.
"Sam." Steve said as a warning. His friend shot him a look, sighing in annoyance.
"What? Dude shows up dressed as a cat and you don't wanna know more?" he retorted. Steve pursed his lips sternly, not looking at Sam.
"I'd like to know." Don shot a glare at the man, angry at him for his hand in her own destruction. The regal man didn't even glance at her, only looking straight at the wall.
"Your suit… it's vibranium?" Steve asked, and Donnie's eyes widened, looking over the black material. The mysterious metallic protection that could harness kinetic energy and repurpose it… She'd only heard of it, it was so rare she never thought she'd have a chance to even get a glance up close. But here was a man wearing full body armor made of that so-called rare metal, and an uneasy suspicion settled in her gut.
"The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations. A mantle, passed from warrior to warrior. And now, because your friend murdered my father, I also wear the mantle of king. So I ask you, as both warrior and king, how long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?" his cool tone chilled her to the bone, and Donnie bit down hard on her lip.
"You're all idiots. We were in Bucharest the whole time, how on earth could Bucky have been in Vienna to kill your father?" she sneered at the group of men. Steve looked uncomfortable, shifting his eyes between her and Sam as he thought of what to say.
"Listen, I don't know who you are, or how much you know about Bucky…" he trailed off. She rolled her eyes and leaned back onto her bound hands.
"More than the lot of you do. He wasn't. In. Vienna." she spat. Sam eyed her warily.
"Look, your boy has a condition where he isn't himself all the time." Sam revealed to her, and she scowled.
"I know who he is. I know about the Winter Soldier. And I'm telling you, he was with me the whole time. Nobody came and brainwashed him. Why won't you all believe me?" She pleaded. Sam and Steve made alarmed eye contact, while the Black Panther sat quietly.
"And what is your word worth?" the king of Wakanda asked calmly. She opened her mouth to retort, but paused, leaning back.
"Absolutely nothing." she laughed hollowly, closing her eyes.
Was this it for her? Would she spend the rest of her life in prison because no one believed her? When they were let out, she stumbled as she jumped out of the van. Steve reached out to steady her, but she wrenched herself out of his grip.
"Don't touch me." she snarled. His eyes flashed with disappointment, and she felt bad for a minute before she remembered that he was one of the reasons Bucky got caught. Sure, he'd been trying to help, but… he should have just left them alone. Her eyes immediately found Bucky, who glared down at the ground as he was escorted by six different soldiers. Her heart wrenched at his expression. He looked… defeated. They were led inside of some sort of gray bunker, and they were led into a meeting room, not a jail cell, to her surprise. But Bucky wasn't there. Her cuffs were taken off, and she rubbed the red marks on her wrists, wincing at the sore skin.
"You remind me of someone. Someone a lot smarter that I met at a biomechanics in medicine conference two years ago in Napa." she heard an easygoing voice appear behind her and winced as she realized who it was.
"Mr. Stark." she lowered her head, partly in shame and partly because she didn't want this extremely powerful genius to see her when she was down.
"Donatella, was it? I'm confused as to how you are now an accomplice to an ex-HYDRA assassin who is under government scrutiny for blowing up the accords meeting." the billionaire leaned towards her with his arms crossed, and she pursed her lips before replying.
"Tony, was it?" she decided to cut the shameful act and speak her mind. "With all due respect, you've got falsified information. As a key witness to Mr. Barnes' whereabouts during the bombing in Vienna, I'm appalled that no one has attempted to take my statement yet." she met his eyes fiercely, and something sparked as he uncrossed his arms.
"There's the spitfire I know. Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on? I don't take too kindly to being left in the dark." he called to the rest of the people watching. "Miss Belluci was in the top of her class at MIT and on the fast track to graduate with a double MD and PhD from NYC School of Medicine. I'd like to know why she's here and not being shipped back to finish those endeavors." Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Because of her parents." a new woman spoke up, stepping forward. She was blonde, tall, graceful, and had a certain air about her that made Donatella not want to mess with her.
"Elaborate?" Tony gestured to her, crossing his arms once more.
"Because my parents were HYDRA." Donatella pursed her lips. The blonde gave her a once-over before nodding.
"You have an undeniable link to Barnes. We need to research the situation fully before you can be released back into the public." she replied with a sharp look towards Tony.
"Ties to HYDRA?" Steve's spine stiffened, and the rest of the room looked uncomfortable. A redhead looked at her with pity.
"I'm not worried." Donatella laughed bitterly. "The only reason I found out was because of Bucky. You must have realized that they abandoned me when I was only ten." she shook her head in disbelief at her situation. The air turned stale as people averted their gazes, obviously feeling sorry for her. She glanced towards a screen and stared at it as a conversation started between Steve and Tony. She winced internally at the quarrel.
She stiffened once she really began to focus on what was going on on the other side of the screen. Bucky was in a glass reinforced box. He was just… sitting there, staring blankly ahead. It stung, knowing that he wasn't seeking her out at this time. She hesitantly stepped closer to the screen as a man entered the room, sitting down. This must be his evaluation. The man began to speak to Bucky, and she saw the blonde press a button and the conversation began to fill the room.
"I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions." she did not like this man. Not one bit. The way he was talking to Bucky was just off. "Do you know where you are, James?" she hated that he called him James. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."
"My name is Bucky." she sighed in relief at the sound of his voice. It was cold, menacing, but it was him nonetheless.
"Why would the task force release this photo in the first place?" Steve tossed the photographs that were apparently Bucky after the bombing. Donatella looked away from the screen to focus on him. She knew they weren't right. They were him, but he was nowhere near Vienna.
"Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?" the blonde sighed, shaking her head.
"Right." Steve nodded, staring intently at her. "It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. You've got seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier."
"You're saying someone framed him to find him." the blonde's eyes were alert. Donatella straightened, completely intrigued by the way the conversation was going. They were finally getting it.
"Steve, we looked for the guys for two years and found nothing." Sam sighed, shaking his head.
"Obviously not hard enough. I wasn't even looking when I found him." Donnie muttered. The group ignored her comment.
"We didn't bomb the UN." Steve gave him a conspiratory look. Don pursed her lips, what he was saying made a lot of sense. Bucky had to have been framed. "That turns a lot of heads." Steve glanced at the blonde again.
"Yeah, but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him, it guarantees that we would…" she glanced down at the evaluator, her eyes widening for a moment before narrowing.
"Yeah." Steve looked up to the screen as well.
"Who is the evaluator?" Donnie asked suspiciously, but no one answered her question. There was something off about him, she couldn't put her finger on it, but… She knew it wasn't right.
"Tell me, Bucky, you've seen a great deal, haven't you?" the evaluator questioned. She had goosebumps. She slowly was realizing that this man was bad, very bad.
"I don't wanna talk about it." Bucky deadpanned, his voice hoarse. His eyes were alert on the evaluator, and she knew that he sensed the distrust for the man too.
"You fear that, if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop." the evaluator glanced down at a screen that was blocked by his body, but her body tensed nonetheless. What was he doing? "Don't worry. We only have to talk about one." the lights went out, and they lost power to the screens that were showing them the evaluation.
"What's going on?" Donnie demanded as she whirled on the rest of the group. They looked ready for action.
"Sublevel five, east wing." the blonde said to Steve, and he nodded before he and Sam bolted from the room. She quickly followed, the blonde doing nothing to stop her. She took that as a good sign, but kept a safe distance behind the two men, not wanting them to know she was coming along. The safety lights made her dizzy, but she managed to make it to sublevel five and followed the two to the east wing.
"Help me." a weak voice called ahead, and Don jolted back from checking the pulse of a guard on the ground. He was there, but just barely. Steve rushed forwards towards the evaluator, who was in the room that they had watched on the screens. "Help." he moaned out again as Steve reached him.
"Get up." he commanded, and she crept closer. The man on the floor glanced away, but Steve grabbed him by his jacket and forced him up, shoving him against the wall. "Who are you? What do you want?" the man hesitated before answering.
"To see an empire fall." he answered with a smirk, and Sam began to enter the room. A metal fist swung, hitting the concrete wall and busting it open. Sam ducked and tried to take Bucky on. No, it wasn't Bucky. It was the Winter Soldier. She shivered, stumbling back as the Winter Soldier picked up Sam and threw him at the cage he had once been held in. Sam was down for the count. She rushed forward to check on the man. He was nice to her, and she had to make sure he was okay.
"Donatella what are you doing here?" Steve roared as he ducked a swing from the metal fist.
"Oh, I thought this would be a fun way to spend my evening!" she snarled sarcastically as she checked Sam's pupils. Not concussed, and he was alreadys stirring. She looked back to the fight, seeing Steve punch Bucky hard in the face, but it barely phased the soldier, and he retaliated with a kick to Steve's sternum, causing him to fall onto his back. He got up quickly, fending off the Winter Soldier's advances until he was backed into the elevator doors at the end of the room.
Don scrambled to her feet, rushing towards the pair, needing to do something. No matter what, this was Bucky, and she'd never forgive herself if she let something happen to him. She winced when Bucky punched straight through the metal doors beside Steve's head. Steve caught the next punch, and Bucky struggled to pull back from his old friend's grip. She hesitated before picking up an abandoned stun gun from a guard's belt. Suddenly, Bucky smashed the elevator doors open using Steve, and threw him down the shaft. Bucky looked down before heading for the stairwell, Donnie hot on his heels.
He was fast. Bucky made it to ground level a floor ahead of her, and by the time she burst out of the stairwell he was exchanging blows with T'Challa. What she needed was to get up there and get him to calm down. She raced after them on the mezzanine floor, cursing when Bucky was tossed over the edge by T'Challa. She raced back down, following him through a back hallway that nobody else had noticed them go through. They were on a helicopter pad.
"Bucky stop!" she shouted, rushing up behind him. He paused, whirling on her. His eyes squinted, but there was no recognition. "It's me, it's Donnie. Do you remember?" she panted, her hands raised non threateningly, the stun gun tucked in her waistband. He gave her a once over, looking confused. "Remember Bucharest? Remember the apartment?" she pleaded. He furrowed his eyebrows, but seemed to make the ultimate decision that she was wasting his time. She swore, pulling out the gun and activating it, the electrodes attaching to him. He convulsed for all of three seconds before he snapped the wires, stopping the current, and he whirled on her. "Fuck, that was supposed to work." she tossed the gun aside and stumbled backwards. He was going to kill her. Honestly? If it was him, she would accept it. He made it to her quickly, swinging for her. It felt like slow motion, his flesh hand coming towards her, and she raised her arms protectively. She maintained eye contact, and there was something there. He recognized her. For a brief moment, he recognized her. "I love you." she whispered to her Bucky quickly as his hand met her side, sending her tumbling over the side of the helipad. He rushed to the edge, watching her with an unreadable expression as she fell down. She thought she would meet her untimely death splattered across concrete. When she hit the reservoir, she gasped, lungs filling with water. Then everything went dark.
…
Donatella groaned when she woke up. She felt waterlogged and mushy.
"You ok?" she heard a voice ask. Don rolled her head towards the noise. She was laying on hard concrete, and Sam was sitting next to her.
"Where's Bucky?" she mumbled, sitting up with a wince. "Oh god I think my ribs are bruised." she groaned, grabbing her side. "Oh shit, did you give me mouth to mouth?"
"Your boy is right over here for now." Sam gestured towards Bucky, who was sitting upright with his metal arm in a literal vice. "And I did nothing, that's a conversation you'll have to have with Steve."
"Is he okay?" she scrambled to her feet. "What happened?"
"The man tossed you off a building and you're not even mad about it?" Sam scoffed. "You've got a real ride or die vibe going on."
"It wasn't him." she shot him a look. "You know that. If you thought otherwise, you wouldn't be here right now."
"Perceptive." he nodded with a chuckle. "Yeah, Buck over here is seriously disturbed. But Steve cares about him. And I guess you do too." he sighed. "I'm not about to let him take the heat on this one."
"Thank you." she smiled softly. "Thank you for being on our side." she whirled to watch as Bucky began to stir.
"Hey, Cap!" Sam called, and Steve appeared, giving her a small smile before walking up to his old friend. Her heart ached, and she hid in the shadows of the room, behind Bucky's eyeline, letting them have some time alone. God knows they deserved it after this ordeal.
"Steve." Bucky grunted, gripping his arm with a gasp of pain. She winced, wanting to go forward to comfort him. She knew it was him, it was her Bucky, the Winter Soldier banished for now. And it hurt to know that his programming could take him away from her in a flash again.
"Which Bucky am I talking to?" Steve asked menacingly, not showing any weakness. She could understand his suspicion. The man had just fought with him, after all.
"Your mom's name was Sarah." Bucky recalled, his tone almost wistful. "You used to wear newspapers in your shoes." he chuckled weakly, his voice rasping with disuse.
"Can't read that in a museum." Steve commented. Sam shot him a look.
"Just like that, we're supposed to be cool?" he sounded frustrated. It must have been hard on him. Don could tell they were close, he was Steve's present, but Bucky was his past. She would be jealous too if she were Sam. It was impressive that he was mature enough to even be helping.
"What did I do?" Bucky sounded defeated, and she bit her lip, her eyes welling up. His worst nightmare was becoming the Winter Soldier. And the worst nightmares are the ones you can't control.
"Enough." Steve sighed.
"Oh, god, I knew this would happen." Bucky whispered, lowering his head. "Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there." he shook his head, letting out a hollow laugh. "All he had to do was say the goddamn words."
"Who was he?" Steve demanded, keeping his cool.
"I don't know." Bucky admitted.
"People are dead. The bombing, the setup. The doctor did all of that just to get ten minutes alone with you. I need you to do better than "I don't know."" Steve sounded like he was pleading with him. Bucky paused, looking pensive. He was trying to remember, she realized.
"He wanted to know more about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where." Bucky revealed, looking confused.
"Why would he need to know that?" Steve asked, looking just as uncomfortable as Bucky did.
"Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier." her veins turned to ice at his words. He wasn't the only one? He was… oh god. She felt sick. They could barely contain one Winter Soldier, and the man was going after who knows how many more. This could be the end. Steve helped him get his arm out of the vice and Bucky leaned forwards. Don shrunk back into the wall, keeping herself hidden.
"Who were they?" Steve leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Their most elite death squad." Bucky sighed. "More kills than anyone in HYDRA history. And that was before the serum."
"They all turn out like you?" Sam nodded towards him.
"Worse." Bucky deadpanned.
"The doctor, could he control them?" Steve asked.
"Enough." Bucky looked down, clearly not comfortable with what he was disclosing. It must have been terrible there.
"Said he wanted to see an empire fall." Steve revealed. Bucky winced.
"With these guys he could do it. The can speak thirty languages, hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize, they can take a whole country down in one night." he listed, shaking his head in disbelief. "You'd never see them coming." Sam walked over and murmured to Steve as Bucky hung his head. They finished their conversation, coming to a conclusion they both seemed satisfied with. Bucky's head shot up. "I… when I was the soldier, I… Donatella, is she...?"
"Right here." Sam nodded to her hiding place. Bucky leaped up, turning to see her as she stepped out from the shadows.
"Hey Buck." she smiled weakly. He crossed the room in long strides, holding her by the shoulders and looking her over.
"You're okay?" he asked, worry in his blue eyes. She reached up with a grin, pushing his hair out of his face.
"My pride is a bit bruised, I couldn't even take you down with a stun gun. Apparently your arm is not conductive." she rapped her knuckles against the metal. "How do you feel?"
"I threw you off a building, and all you care about is how I'm doing?" he sighed, frustration clear in his tone.
"Hey. It's okay, I'm fine. Nothing time won't heal." she shook her head, soothing him.
"So you did get hurt?" his eyes flashed over her frame again.
"No!" she groaned. "I'm completely fine. Bruised ribs and a little cut on my leg, but I'm fine! I've had worse falling down the stairs in my own home." Don sighed.
"Donatella…" he pursed his lips, eyes meeting hers intensely. "You said something. On the helipad."
"O-oh, yeah, that…" she chuckled nervously, not quite knowing what he was going to say next.
"Did you mean it?" he asked quietly, lowering his face closer to hers. She smiled softly, barely nodding.
"Course I did, wonder boy. It's always gonna be you." she whispered. His mouth barely quirked into a smile, and he pressed a kiss to her lips. She felt the tenderness of it, she knew he cared. She didn't expect him to say it back. Hell, she wasn't sure if she could even say it out loud again. But she would treasure this moment. It might be the last one they had in their little bubble.
"Okay, you can stop making out now. We've got a game plan to start." Steve called from across the room. She pulled away with a laugh, a scowl already forming on Bucky's face.
"Punk." he replied as he turned, but she saw the smile playing on the edges of his lips. Bucky was back. And she'd do whatever it took to keep him from being taken from her again. Her eyes lit up as she saw a pile of electronic scraps in the corner, and she untangled herself from Bucky's embrace.
"While you guys do whatever it is you planned to, I've got an idea for a new stun gun. I've realized I'm completely defenseless in the company of superheroes." she backed towards the pile. "And I'm sure this is far from the last conflict that we'll face." she called out, fully focused on pulling working pieces out and assembling a mental blueprint. This'll work, she thought as she pulled out an internal power source that would be easy to boost with some scrap alloy. When her eyes fell on a particularly useful piece of equipment, she smiled. Oh hell yeah, this would work.
…..
Her crimes were racking up by the hour. Sitting in a stolen oldsmobile, she sighed. Bucky sat behind Sam as they watched Steve and Sharon interact. She'd agreed to bring the confiscated suits and weaponry to their rightful owners. She wondered why Sharon would betray her employers for these new criminals. Then again, if Don hadn't had Bucky, she'd probably have done anything Captain McDreamy asked her to do too.
"Can you move your seat up?" Bucky asked, squashed behind Sam in the cramped vehicle.
"No." Sam didn't even crack a grin. They really did not like each other.
"Buck, we can switch if you need me to." she offered, but he ignored it, scooting to the middle seat. Sharon and Steve glanced inside the car, probably discussing Bucky. It was painfully quiet in the oldsmobile, each time she moved there was a really loud, annoying rustling. But they all just watched Steve talk to Sharon, not talking inside the car at all. When they kissed, she gave a small chuckle. "Good for them." Steve looked pretty self satisfied. The two men in the car nodded at him, and she rolled her eyes, smacking Bucky's arm. Men. Steve gave them a look before unpacking Sharon's trunk and putting it all into the back of the car. Bucky turned to her, a worried look in his eyes as he glanced down at her weapon.
"You sure you'll be fine with just that?" he gestured to her lap, where her new EMP ray laid.
"If you want me to test it out on you then be my guest. It's no repulser shooter, but it'll knock you off your feet." she jokingly aimed it at him, and he used his metal hand to cover the muzzle in case it discharged.
"I'm not worried about that. I'm worried that they won't stay down for long." he sighed, shaking his head and lowering her weapon. Steve got back in the car and they zoomed down the highway.
"I appreciate the concern, but I'm not looking to do any permanent damage. If someone with a high tech suit comes at me, bam, that tech is incapacitated for a few seconds. Long enough for me to run the other way." she explained. He frowned at her, clearly not happy with her explanation. "And if anyone without a high tech suit comes at me, I switch the amperage up and it hits you with a zap that topples you." she sighed. He smiled, nodding.
"Do me a favor and keep it on that setting." he said as they entered a parking garage. Going up to an empty level, they parked the tiny vehicle next to a shady looking van, and Steve and Sam got out, giving her and Bucky ample time to crawl out of the tiny backseat.
"How about our other recruit?" Steve was asking a man as Bucky helped her out of the car.
"Listen to me." Bucky murmured, leaning on the car and watching the group alertly. "If we get separated, if I get compromised, if anything goes wrong, you run."
"Buck." she stepped back, crossing her arms. "I'm not going to run away."
"Donatella." his voice was sharp as he turned to her. "This isn't gonna be like Bucharest. We're up against people who even I'd have a hard time taking down. They won't try to hurt you, god I hope they won't, but they won't be going easy on you either. If you get arrested…"
"Don't worry about that." she waved his concern away. "Worry about keeping yourself safe. I'll be right by your side. We're in this together, Buck." she reminded him.
"Together." he reached out, grabbing her hand. They glanced over, seeing the rest of the group was about ready.
"Everyone, this is Bucky and Don." Steve announced to the three new people, one other woman in the midst.
"Uh, hi." Donatella greeted.
"Wait so which one's Bucky?" the dark haired man asked, glancing between them. Donatella grimaced.
"Don is short for Donatella. Four syllables is a bit of a hassle with introductions." Sam mentioned.
"You should see my birth certificate. Full twelve syllables." she snorted.
"I'm Wanda." the woman stepped forward, reaching out to shake her hand.
"This is Clint and Scott." Steve supplied names for the other two men.
"Nice to meet you all." Donatella was speaking for both herself and Bucky, it seemed.
"Let's suit up." Steve told the rest of them. Donatella glanced down at her plain jeans and long-sleeved t-shirt, shrugging.
"You ready?" Bucky asked her.
"As I'll ever be." she sighed. They moved in silence, everyone had their game faces on. Steve went ahead and came out from under an underpass, heading towards a helicopter, but two flying suits touched down to meet him just on the other side. Tony had fried the systems on the chopper, and Bucky tensed.
"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport." Tony spoke, his helmet sliding away to reveal a black eye and deep bags that revealed how the situation had been weighing on him. "Don't you think that's weird?"
"Definitely weird." she recognized the War Machine suit, but not the wearer. She wasn't too keen on superhero news, mostly just their technological advancements.
"Hear me out, Tony. That doctor, that psychiatrist, he's behind all this." Steve warned him about Zemo.
"Captain." T'Challa appeared, leaping over a truck. Damn, they were slowly getting challenged more and more.
"Your highness." Steve greeted. She sighed, shrinking closer into Bucky's side.
"Anyway." Tony continued after T'Challa's interruption. "Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?" he asked Steve.
"You're after the wrong guy." Steve attempted to explain the situation again, but even Donnie could have told him it was futile. Stark was a man who would never admit that he was wrong.
"Your judgement is askew. Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday." Bucky flinched at Tony's revelation.
"And there are five more super soldiers just like him." Steve was done trying to clear Bucky's name for the time being. "I can't let the doctor find him first, Tony. I just can't." Natasha approached, speaking lowly to Steve. The breeze carried her words away before they could reach the group that lay just out of sight.
"We're going to the terminal." Bucky murmured in her ear, leading her away as there was a scuffle beginning behind them. They made it inside, stopping with Sam in order to send out his Redwing to scout for their backup vehicle. The quinjet.
"We found it. Their quinjet's in hangar five, north runway." Sam spoke over the intercom once his tech spotted it. They began to run towards the hangar through the terminal, but something red caught their eye through the large windows.
"What the hell is that?" Bucky asked.
"Everyone's got a gimmick now." Sam scoffed as they put on the speed.
"Yeah, okay Mr. Birdsuit." Donatella commented as the spider burst through the windows. He hit Sam as she and Bucky sprinted past, taking him down terrifyingly quickly. How many super-soldiers were in the world? The guy approached her and Bucky, and Bucky threw a punch, but the kid caught it.
"You have a metal arm? That is awesome, dude." the kid was in awe as Don powered up her ray, praying that it would do the trick. It did, blasting the kid back from Bucky and sending him tumbling.
"Okay, I like that thing. Good job." Sam approached, slapping his hand on her back. Sam went after him when he got up, and the kid actually crawled around his grasp easily.
"You have the right to remain silent!" he called to Sam.
"Is spidey arresting us?" Donnie jogged up to Bucky, and they followed the aerial battle as best as they could. The kid was swinging with some sort of long-chain polymer, an extremely strong nylon webbing. Sam blasted something at him, and the kid dodged, perching on a support beam. Bucky picked up a, was that a terminal directory? He threw it at him like it was a damn frisbee, and the kid managed to dodge, and she squeaked as Bucky pulled her behind a pillar.
"Hey buddy, I think you lost this!" the kid called, and Bucky peeked out before tackling her to the floor, the sign coming crashing through the pillar. He rolled them over and they sprang up, rushing to see Sam webbed to the railing, his wings no longer out.
"Those wings carbon-fiber?" the kid called from his perch.
"Is this stuff coming out of you?" Sam looked with disgust at the webbing on his hands.
"That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio, which, gotta say, that's pretty awesome man." spidey sounded really impressed with everything. Was this his first time out of the house or something?
"I don't know if you've been in a fight before, but there's not usually this much talking." Sam deadpanned.
"Come on grouch, liven up. At least we aren't out there." Donnie called, Bucky straying behind to launch some sort of attack.
"D-Donatella Belucci?!" the kid dropped from his perch. "I-I can't believe it, I attended one of your speeches on biomolecular robotics." she was alarmed as he approached, raising her ray. "Woah, is that an EMP transmitter made from-" Bucky lunged, cutting the kid off, but he was knocked off the platform by the kid, who perched on the railing. Sam and Bucky were webbed to the floor beneath her, and she rushed to look over the edge to check on them. "Listen, guys, I'd love to keep this up but I've only got one job here and I've gotta impress Mr. Stark, I'm really sorry. Miss Belucci, I'd love to talk to you more one day, you're like, one of my heroes-" the kid screamed when she shot him with a high concentration of EMP, sending him flying through the window back outside.
"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Bucky called up to her.
"It was nice to be appreciated for once. Nobody ever cares about my biomolecular robotics speeches." she stuck her tongue out at him, heading for the staircase to free them. "I gotta say, though, this polymer is impressive. Really strong." she had a hard time breaking it from Bucky's arm.
"You can tell us more about that once we get on the jet and head for Siberia." Bucky sat up, turning to help her get Sam free.
"I hate you. Don't encourage the science mumbo-jumbo." Sam sighed. They moved quickly, making it out onto the tarmac and meeting up with the rest of the group as they rushed in a dead sprint towards the hangar. The jet was just in sight, they would be there in a few seconds. But of course, some fizzling energy laser decided to stop them. She sighed in annoyance, looking up to see some sort of synthetic-skinned robot flying above. She would be impressed if it wasn't such a threatening sight.
"Captain Rogers, I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good you must surrender now." he spoke in a weird British accent as the rest of Tony's team arrived.
"What do we do Cap?" Sam asked as Donatella studied the opposition. They had a very slim chance to make it.
"We fight." Steve replied, and of course they were running again to meet team Iron Man. This wasn't ideal, she hung back by Clint, using her weapon in range to blast a few people off their feet. She found out that EMP had no effect on whatever was powering Vision, and she wondered if it had anything to do with the yellow glowing stone in the middle of his forehead. She lost sight of Bucky, but Clint was about to get taken down and so she had to blast Natasha off her feet. She'd never had a real conversation with the woman, but in another life she thought they could have been good friends.
"You were pulling your punches." Donatella was breathing heavily as she bent down to help her tentative teammate up. He nodded sheepishly and jumped back to his feet, and they were back to the fight. She saw Wanda helping Bucky out, sighing with relief when he was temporarily safe. And Steve, well he really wasn't pulling his punches against the kid. When he knocked the ramp on top of him she darted out to follow Steve to cover.
"We gotta go. That guys probably in Siberia by now." Bucky said. She looked at him, his brow creased with concentration, and she pursed her lips.
"We have to draw out the flyers. I'll take Vision, you go to the jet." Steve replied. Bucky glanced at her with a grim nod.
"No, you go to the jet! The three of you." Sam called over the comms system. "The rest of us aren't getting out of here."
"As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it." Clint's voice crackled to life in her ear.
"This isn't the real fight, Steve." Sam's voice was stern in her ear, and she shut her eyes tightly at the desperation in it.
"Alright, Sam. What's the play?" Steve murmured, Bucky glancing up at him.
"We need a diversion. Something big." Sam mused.
"I've got something kinda big, but I can't hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half… don't come back for me." Scott replied, and Donatella froze.
"He's gonna tear himself in half?" Bucky seemed confused, and Don squinted towards where the battle was still raging.
"He's going to grow. He can't do that, shrinking is one thing, his body won't be able to handle the stress-" Donatella was cut off by Steve.
"You sure about this, Scott?" the Captain asked. She glared at him, why was nobody trying to stop him?
"I do it all the time. I mean once… in a lab. Then I passed out." Scott's voice replied in her ear and she shuddered. He might not be so lucky this time… suddenly he was standing in the middle of the tarmac, War Machine gripped tightly between his giant fingers.
"Fuck." she was horrified, he was holding it for so long… "Move, we gotta go!" she hissed, pushing at Steve.
"I guess that's the signal." he breathed, staring up at the man. The man who would probably get very badly injured if he had to hold his diversion much longer.
"Way to go, tic-tac!" Sam laughed in her ear. They sprinted as fast as possible, the flyers clashing it out above their heads. Scott kicked a bus, and a fiery explosion caused her to stumble.
"God, what the fuck is this, Shrek Two?" she muttered as they darted beneath a plane. Something happened behind them, and a yellow laser beam that she knew came from Vision hit a tower, causing it to crumble downwards. Red energy from Wanda slowed its descent, and Bucky and Steve sprinted through. Something hit Wanda, and the building came down. The two men dove forwards through while she jumped backwards, barely clearing the gap.
"Donatella!" Bucky's voice called in her ear.
"I'm fine!" she gasped, winded by a piece of rubble that had knocked her off her feet. Was this the end? She sent up a quick prayer to any and all gods that might exist that they'd make it safely to the hangar and get the hell out of there. She groaned as she stood, her already bruised ribs not happy with her at the moment.
"Donatella… I can't make it back through. We've got to go now." Bucky spoke through the earpiece again.
"I know, Buck. Be safe. Come back to me, alright?" she smiled as she spoke. He didn't respond. Stumbling back towards Wanda, she raised her weapon towards the skies. Everyone was too high to fall harmlessly to the ground, so she lowered it again. After an impressive maneuver, Scott went crashing to the ground and shrunk again, but the spider kid went crashing into a pile of boxes near her. Swearing at her weakness she changed course, heading for the kid. It didn't look great for him. Tony had the same idea as they approached his crumpled body from opposite sides.
"Kid, you alright?" Tony asked as they knelt next to him. The kid rolled over in a flash, lashing out.
"Same side. Hi. Guess who, it's me." Tony held him down, and Donatella made her presence known.
"Oh my god, it's you again!" the kid gasped, looking at her before he sighed, relaxing. "Sorry for, you know, trying to web you up."
"Are you okay?" she asked, noticing his face was partially uncovered.
"Yeah. That was scary." he breathed out a laugh, blinking as if he was dazed.
"Tony, we're done now, alright? I'm staying here, I think he's concussed." Donatella shot him a look, kneeling next to the kid. He really was a kid.
"What? I'm good, I'm fine!" the kid tried to sit up, but she held his struggling frame down.
"You did a good job. Stay down." Tony ordered, but he still struggled.
"No, it's good, I gotta get him back!" the kid shouted.
"You're going home or I'll call Aunt May!" Tony threatened. "You're done!" Stark stood, walking off before flying up.
"Mr. Stark, wait! I'm not done, I'm not… okay, I'm done. I'm done." He collapsed back onto the ground and Donatella placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Here, hang on a minute, let me check your eyes." She sat him up and blocked the sun to check the dilation. It wasn't perfect, but it worked out alright. "Looks good kid. Why the hell did you come out here for this? Don't you have school or something?" She asked suspiciously.
"Spring break?" He squeaked, and she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Hey wait, you're still in school, aren't you? You can't say anything to me." He pointed out.
"Spring break, remember? Also, I'm an adult. You're, what, sixteen?" She squinted. "Wait, do you go to MSST? Is that where you know me from?" Her eyes widened as she recognized him. "No way, you're the kid that set off the fire alarms and disappeared during my presentation! That's because you… oh you sneaky little shit!" She gasped.
"Okay please don't tell anybody about that, I had to go to, well, it was an accident." He stammered as she laughed.
"Here, let's get outta here. I figure I'll be leaving here in cuffs, so I should stretch my legs while I can." She sighed, helping him to his feet and supporting him as he limped alongside her. She looked up as the quinjet soared ahead, rapidly gaining distance.
"Why were you helping them?" the kid asked. She watched as Tony and War Machine gave chase, Sam quick on their tails.
"Because sometimes even the bad guys are just trying to fix their mistakes." she murmured, eyes narrowing as a beam of light headed from Vision straight towards Sam. He tucked and rolled, dodging the blast by a narrow margin. But War Machine wasn't so lucky, it struck his arc reactor, his suit going offline. "Fuck." she muttered, gripping the kid's arm tighter. "That is really not good." her voice wavered as his suit came plummeting down.
We've finally made it through Civil War. Thanks so much for all of the support you've all given me on this story! There will be one more chapter after this, including a sneak peek at the next installment of this story!