Chapter Eight: Flesh and Blood

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Bucky Barnes

Beneath the thick net, the kid reaches up and yanks off his mask, his face slack with relief. "Hey," he says, a little breathlessly.

"Hey," I say back, slipping one of the black, jagged knives into the holster at my belt. I reach down and grab a handful of the thin, wiry netting, and with the other, I raise my second knife and slice through it in a smooth motion.

My heart is still hammering in my chest, my adrenaline pounding through my blood. I am still ready for a fight, my body restless with unspent energy. The moment I had caught sight of those monsters looming over the kid, trapped in his net, I had slipped into that killing calm, that place where I let my deadly instincts direct my movements.

And now, coming down from that silent, murderous part of me that would never truly go away, even with Hydra's brainwashing removed from my head, my body feels overheated, my emotions surging to the surface in a violent mix that keeps my heart beating too fast.

Peter pushes bunches of the netting aside as I make one more clean slice, wincing and clutching at his side as he gets to his feet.

I frown, but he waves me off. "Alien jabbed me. Just a bruise."

My eyes narrow at that, but I make no comment, instead nodding and turning to walk towards Banner, who is still unconscious within his net.

"How'd you find us?" the kid follows as I kneel down and begin cutting.

"Happy accident," I reply as I slide the second knife into my belt. "Those aliens were loud."

"Yeah, that'd be my fault," the kid admits, rubbing the back of his head. "I sort of pissed one off and tried to escape. It...didn't work as well as I hoped."

"Worked well enough," I point out as I pry the rest of the netting away from Banner's curled up form. "Distracted them enough for me to get the drop on them."

"Where'd you get those knives?" Peter asks curiously, his eyes on the blades on my belt.

"One of them was following me last night. I doubled back and killed it, snapped the knives from its wrists," I reply shortly as I heave the unconscious scientist over my shoulder and rise.

The kid's eyes are comically wide as they look from the knives, to the dead aliens, to me, then back to the knives. "Dude, that's insane."

"Come on," I order. "If I heard them, other hunters could have too. Grab their spears, and let's get the hell out of here."

"Right. Yes, that's-uh sure," Peter looks a little pale as he picks his way over the corpses and pools of dark blood to tentatively grab each of the spears.

"You good?" I ask him, just to be sure.

He nods, giving me a small, tense smile. "I'm a lot better now that I'm not being dragged off by an alien through the jungle. Thanks, by the way."

I adjust my hold on Banner, turning away towards the clearing I can see through the copse of thin, leafy trees. "Let's get out of here."

"Ugh. What happened?"

The kid and I look up to where Banner is slowly sitting up, the palms of both his hands pressed into his eyes.

We've taken shelter at the bottom of an embankment, the hard earth curving over us almost like a cave, a thick tangle of vines dropping over the top to make a sort of curtain to conceal us. It's slightly cooler in our makeshift shelter, but no less humid, and the air smells heavily of wet soil.

I'd kept the pace fast, unforgiving as we trekked through the jungle, but the kid kept up without complaint. He probably wanted to be as far from those alien bodies as we could get. I'd seen the look on his face when I'd killed them. I know that he is nowhere near as familiar with death as I am.

That may have to change soon. But I will do my damn best to make sure it doesn't.

My back to the earthen wall behind me, I watch as Banner comes to, still groggy and out of it.

"We sort of got captured," the kid tells him.

Banner looks up sharply, his eyes wide and panicked, but Peter rushes on to say, "But we were rescued! We're safe now, with Bucky."

"Oh," Banner blinks at me, his shoulders relaxing slightly. "Hey. Uh-thanks, I guess."

He looks to the kid. "I remember being in the tree and then...I think they gassed me. I started getting real tired, but I conked out too fast, like back up on the ship. Did they gas you?"

"Uh….no," Peter shakes his head. "I came down and you were gone. Then I found you being carried off in a net by one of the aliens-and... they ambushed me, like twenty of them-You should have seen it, they were freaking everywhere! I tried to fight them off, but they got me in the end."

I squint at him. "Twenty of them."

The kid's brown eyes flit to me as his ears begin to redden. "Er-maybe like, fifteen. I don't remember. I was too busy uh...you know, fighting and all."

Banner's eyes go round again as he looks at me with awe. "You had to take down fifteen of them to save us?"

Peter is staring at me, his eyes wide as if he's screaming at me mentally to go along with it, but his lips twitch nervously, like he's unsure whether I will out him or not.

"Something like that," I reply, and the kid's shoulders sag with relief. He gives me a small grin, and I raise my brows as if to say, you owe me.

"Jesus," mutters Banner, going back to rubbing at his eyes. "Really getting sick of this whole alien thing. When we get back to Earth, I am retiring from field work. Just a nice quiet lab, far, far away from Tony Stark and his mad scientist schemes and Avengers work. I'm done. This is...I'm done. I need a break."

The kid looks worried at that, but I can read Banner better. I don't know him well, but I can see enough signs that although this man is clearly overwhelmed and exhausted, when it comes down to it, he can no more stay away from the fight than Steve can.

"So what do we do now?" breathes Peter, looking to me.

I can see the relief in his eyes, a little responsibility lifted off of his shoulders. Banner isn't exactly a liability with his genius intellect and green secret weapon, but traversing an alien jungle wouldn't be his forte. And with the kid being so inexperienced...I'm more than a little surprised that they have lasted this long on their own.

"Steve will be heading for high ground," I answer confidently. "There's a mountain range not too far from here. If we follow the sun, we should make it there by tomorrow."

"What about Wanda and Vision?' asks Banner, frowning.

"We have to work under the assumption that they are smart enough to figure that out, or that they are hopefully with Steve. Either way, we can't stay in this valley. Too many of the aliens. Too many traps."

Peter shudders. "High ground. Got it. I'm in."

Banner's eyes are on the knives on my belt. "Are those...from inside the aliens' wrists?"

In answer, I slide one free, flipping it in my hand to offer him the blade, bone handle first. He takes it carefully in both hands, examining it closely, tapping the flat sides and rubbing his thumb gently along the jagged edge.

A bead of blood appears on his skin and he lets out a soft hiss. "This was part of their bone structure," he murmurs. "That's insane. Look, it's not even the same material as their bones."

He's right. What I'd been using as handles was actually part of the alien's radius, the bones as white as ours.

"Is it the same stuff they use to make their armor?" Peter asks, peering at it.

"Looks like it," Banner replies.

"It is," I confirm. "That's why I was able to stab straight through their chest plates, because my weapon was just as strong."

"How the hell would they manufacture something like that?" Banner frowns at me.

"If I had to guess...from the bodies of their dead. Those who die in battle, who get killed in the hunt, when they kill each other out of spite, who the hell knows?"

"Seriously?! That's...disgusting," the kid shudders, eyeing the knife in Banner's hands with an appalled look. "So wrong on so many levels."

"These guys are something else," Banner mutters, handing me back the knife. "Even Sakaar wasn't this barbaric."

I take the knife back and slide it into my belt, leaning forward to pick up the two spears Peter had brought with us. I slide them into the holster across my back, the one I'd picked up from the same alien I'd killed and taken its hidden blades.

"Awesome," I think I hear the kid whisper to himself.

"We need to keep moving, try to make as much ground as possible before nightfall," I look to Banner. "You up for it?"

Banner sighs. "No, but when do I ever get what I want? Let's go trek through the jungle and try not to get killed, shall we?"

Clint Barton

I never pegged Stark for a kid person.

If you asked me six months ago which Avenger I would trust the least with my kids, my finger would be pointing straight at Tony Stark.

Now? Well, I guess it would be Banner. Bruce is nice and all, but kids are really good at getting under your skin, and when your skin tends to turn green when you get pissed off, it's maybe best you don't look into child care as a hobby or career.

I watch as Stark idly fiddles with the Wakandan technology, flipping through 3-D holographic images and blueprints. I can tell he isn't actually paying attention to any of it, though this should be like a flippin theme park for him. His eyes are unfocused, his mouth downturned, and I can count the wrinkles on his forehead from here.

Heaving a sigh, I slip off my perch on the counter, passing Sam and Rhodey in what appears to be a deep conversation concerning flight patterns and the most badass move they've ever done. I slide into the chair beside Tony, planting my feet on the ground and swivelling back and forth in my seat.

"How many times are you gonna cycle though that thing?" I ask, nodding towards the 3-D diagrams.

"A few hundred, maybe," Stark replies as he swipes through several more.

"You're worried."

"No shit, sherlock."

"The kid'll be ok."

"Why does everyone insist on telling me that?" Tony swivels towards me, his face full of impatience. "We don't know that. We can't possibly know that."

I raise an eyebrow. "It's called comfort, Tony."

"It's called bullshit, Clint. God, I am so sick of doing this."

"Doing what?"

Stark pinches the bridge of his nose with his fingers, squeezing his eyes shut as he waves around us with his free hand. "This. Getting the kid out of some kind of trouble. All this anxiety about whether or not he's actually dead this time. I feel like I'm on my last goddamn life every time."

I nod thoughtfully, then lean forward to rest my forearms on top of my knees. "Can I tell you something?"

Stark looks at me, brows furrowing. "What?"

"That feeling never goes away."

Irritation turns his expression into a scowl. "Thank you for that helpful tidbit. Don't you have other people to snoop on or arrows to count?"

"Worrying comes with the territory. It's part of the whole kid thing. But Pete will be ok. Cap's with him."

"Pete?" It's Stark's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Sure," I shrug. "I call him that all the time."

"I'm sorry, you've lost me," Tony gives me a puzzled look. "Since when are you and Parker buddies?"

"Oh, we're not, exactly. He babysits."

"He...babysits."

"The little bastard owed me for nearly strangling me on Christmas Eve," I point out. "I asked him if he was good with kids, he said he didn't know, but he thought so. Then I got his number and now he babysits for me and Laura. The kids love him."

Stark looks absolutely baffled, the expression so satisfying, I wish I could take a picture of it to show Nat later. "When the hell were you going to tell me that?"

I shrug again. "Thought you knew. He's been to the farm at least ten times since Christmas. You should see some of the shit he and Cooper get into."

"Huh."

Stark seems lost for words, a first for him probably, then he shakes his head and lets out a short laugh.

Okoye's voice calls back to us from the cockpit. "We should be arriving in three hours."

Tony stiffens, eyes to the front, then looks back at me with a grim expression. "Time to gear up."

Wanda Maximoff

There are more than we expect.

Four alien hunters are in the clearing, murmuring in their strange, guttural language.

I press my back against the smooth bark of the tree, careful to avoid a line of insects crawling up and down its trunk. Slowly, I reach up and tighten my ponytail, then risk another glance.

The dense jungle plants are ankle deep to the aliens, the canopy above trailing down curling, leaf covered vines in a scattering across the clearing. Two stand with their backs to me, armed with spears. Another is crouched low to the ground, its gloved hand brushing against the still smoldering campfire we had left purposefully behind.

The last one is standing a few feet away from its companions, its eyes searching the trees as it holds a menacing looking gun in its hands.

They seem to be debating how fresh the fire is, how far we might have gotten, which direction. Good. That means they have no idea they just stumbled into a trap of our own making.

We had planned on at most two pursuers, not four, but it is too late to stop the events from unfolding. The aliens are here.

Steve told me to minimize my attacks, to keep my power as contained as possible to avoid drawing attention. I don't like it, but I understand that the crimson psionic energy would be a beacon to other hunters.

Taking a steadying breath, I let the faintest wisp of power come to my fingertips. I lean against the tree, slowly peeking around its edge until I can see all four of them clearly.

Steve and Vision wait for me to make the first move, hidden on other sides of the clearing.

My eyes trail up the dangling vines, and an addition to the plan comes quickly to my mind.

Here we go.

I bring up my hand, fingers curling as I reach it above my head, then slam it down. Red light encircles the vines, yanking them down, and with a crack like a whip, a pair of them wind themselves around the two aliens' necks whose backs are to me.

Half stepping from my cover, I bring up both of my hands, my palms facing each other briefly before I shove one upward towards the sky, my power stretching between them.

The vine nooses jerk up towards the trees, taking the aliens with them at least twenty feet off the ground, their weapons dropping to the ground as they clutch at their throats, legs kicking.

I glance back, and the alien with the gun is staring down its sights at me, its finger curling on the trigger.

Vision phases up from the ground behind it, wrapping his arms around the creature to shove the gun up just as it fires. A burst of pale light shoots towards me, and I dive to the ground, feeling the heat sear my skin as the bolt passes above me.

Pushing myself up on my forearms, I look to the clearing as Steve slams his shield into the third alien's skull.

Above, the two I'd yanked up by their throats with vines slam feet first into the ground behind Steve, the blades on their wrists glistening. They'd cut through the vines. Vision still grapples with the gunner, and Steve is adjusting his grip on his shield as he turns in a slow circle to keep all three aliens within his sight.

Gritting my teeth, I surge to my feet, stalking into the clearing, a red aura of power curling around my arms. Drawing my hands into my chest, I bare my teeth into a snarl and shove my right palm towards one of the aliens cornering Steve.

A thin blast of psionic energy slams into it, sending it flying back and crashing through the trees.

Steve uses my distraction, shifting his leg back into a powered stance as he flings his shield. It spins, catching the light as it flies, the edge of it crashing into one of them by the throat. I watch as Steve charges towards it, jumping into the air and slamming both feet into its chest. They both go down, and the third alien is turning towards me, black and red eyes glinting as it snarls beneath its mask.

Vision makes a pained noise, and my gaze jerks in his direction, eyes widening in horror as I see the two grappling over the gun with one hand, the alien stabbing down with its knived wrist with the other. Vision's right hand shoots up to halt the descending blade and then-

SLAM.

Pain explodes in my jaw, my head snapping to the right from the blow, and I stumble. Another blow makes me cry out, falling to my hands and knees so hard, the impact radiates up my bones.

A boot drives into my gut, and my body is flying, hitting the ground and rolling until I slam to a halt against the roots of a tree.

Panting, gripping my stomach, my face scrunched up in pain, I look up at the advancing alien.

Behind it, I glimpse a still struggling Vision, reluctant to use the beam from the yellow stone in his forehead for fear of drawing even more attention to us, and Steve, taking on two of them on his own, his shield nowhere in sight.

We'd set this trap for them, and had it been one or two like we had been expecting, the aliens would have already been dead, and we would have been moving on towards the mountains. Instead, we fight for our lives like we were the ones who had been ambushed.

A hand wraps harshly in my ponytail, yanking me up to my knees, and I cry out again at the sharp pain in my scalp, my hands shooting up to grip the alien's.

Blinking my heavily watering eyes, I look up at its cruel face, at the black tattoos running across its brow above dark, merciless eyes. Its free hand twists, revealing the jagged blade, poised to drive into my heart or slice across my throat.

No.

I will not die like this, on my knees, tears streaming down my face.

Anger, hot and terrible, surges up through me, my skin radiating heat from the force of it. I can feel my eyes shift to a burning red, scarlet power emanating from my entire body like the undulating streams of the Northern Lights on Earth.

The alien's eyes widen, their dark depths reflecting my red light. It shoves the blade towards me, and I reach up with my palm, fingers splayed. Its hand stops in its tracks, wreathed in my power, and with a curling jerk of my fingers, its wrist snaps backwards, a loud crack filling my ears.

It lets out an amphibious shriek, stumbling back, releasing its grip on my hair, and I slowly get to my feet, chest heaving.

I let my power swell, crossing my arms in front of me and then thrusting them out to either side of my body, and the alien's spine splits in half with a horrific, muffled crunch.

Looking up, I see Vision has dispatched the alien with the gun, and is holding another back by its arms as Steve thrusts a spear through their chests, the tip of it sliding harmlessly through a phasing Vision.

The other two lie dead on the ground.

My jaw is throbbing, my stomach feeling heavily bruised, but I head towards them as they let the final alien fall.

"Are you alright?" Vision is suddenly in front of me, his hands gently gripping me by my upper arms.

"Fine," I assure him, placing a hand against his cheek.

"That was way too close," pants Steve. "We are going to have to be more careful, only attacking if they're in smaller numbers. We nearly lost that fight."

"They would have found us if we hadn't struck first," I insist, stepping out of Vision's arms to gesture at the bodies. "We were too close to the trap."

Steve nods, his face grim.

"I know it would be highly beneficial to take out as many of the hunters as we can," Vision begins. "But perhaps it would be more prudent to make it to the mountains first, gain high ground, hopefully reconnect with the others. If we stop to lay our own traps and attack every alien we come across, we won't make it by nightfall."

"Vision's right," I agree. "These fights will drain us. We need to come up with a better plan."

Steve heaves a sigh, his face looking as weary as I feel. "You're right. We need to stay low for now. Especially after that fight. We've likely just alerted every hunter within twenty miles to our position."

"Then we should leave at once," Vision places a hand on the small of my back, and I lean into his touch.

A shot rings out through the clearing, and Vision's hand drops from me as he stumbles forward, eyes wide.

With a jagged hole in his chest.

A/N: *Cough cough* Um...don't be mad?

I know, I know, I'm the Queen of Cliffhangers, I'm cruel and awful and I cannot help myself. Ah well. Onward then?

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the last chapter's response! Your reviews were extra wonderful, so I thought as I gift, I would update even faster than normal. Although, I updated with a big cliffie, so maybe it wasn't so much a gift. Point being, you guys are great, I absolutely adore your reviews. So thank you.

Special thanks as always to PippinStrange, my beta, for her incredible encouragement and fangirling and kind words that occasionally make me cry, they are so nice. I couldn't do this without you! Definitely head over to her page if you haven't to read her Spiderman fics, as they are the best on the site. You will not regret it! Down Came the Rain was what got me writing MCU fanfiction, and Where They Go heals all the wounds Infinity War left behind.

I will try to update soon since I'm leaving you guys in such a cruel place. Just remember, this is a tale fraught with danger, more cliffhangers than I care to count, and no one is guaranteed survival. :D

sparklydog9: Woohoo!

EleanorGardner: OMG thank you so much! I admit I was late aboard the Bucky train, but once I jumped in, I fell for his character hard. I love him and Sebastian Stan, and I have so much fun playing with his character in my writing.

Luckias: Thanks so much! I am too!

Jeyfeather1234: Ahhhh thank you so so so much! "Sweet mother of cheese" XD that was hilarious. THank you for your amazing review! I love writing Wanda! Seriously can't get enough

Kairianna864: Thank you very much! I'm so happy to hear you are enjoying this! I will try to keep putting out chapters as fast as I am able

LoonyLovegood1981: Yassss Bucky is so badass, I love it! And Peter will definitely get some moments of his own in here. Don't worry. Yes, no one is safe here in the jungle. XD Glad you're along for the ride!

cargumentluv: Thank you! Pretty sure epic is his middle name. lol

spidermanpls: Me too!

Web-HeadSuperFan: Wow! Yeah, that's crazy! I never saw those episodes, but now I really want to! That idea is a really good one, and there may be something just slightly similar in the works...but maybe not. You'll see ;) And I understand if you wait for the next chapter to read this one XD

icotnoir: Yeah! So kickass!

StarStepper: omg thanks! Thank YOU so much! :D

AppleSpongeCake: Dear lord. I may have to hire PippinStrange to be my security detail until this fic is over. XD Glad you loved the chapter!

screechyfangirl: You know it!

GinaBoo: Ah thank you so much! Love doing epic entrances for the Winter Soldier! I love Nat and Okoye together too! Those chicks are badass, especially together. you can definitely expect more of that in the future. :)

bgib99: Yay! I love making people's day! Reviews make mine :) Thank you so much!

Andy Frost: Peter's movie references are so fun to work in! And heck yes to badass Avengers and epic entrances!

Up-In-The-Clouds1285: Ahhh thank you so very much! And welcome aboard! So glad you're enjoying them!

gandalf537: Man oh man I love your reviews. Lol. When I was writing that first part I immediately thought, ooh I have to do a Jurassic Park nod for this. XD Glad you caught it right away! Eeeee thank you so much! I love Nat and Okoye together, so badass, and I cannot get enough writing for Wanda. YOUR REVIEW MADE MY LIFE! Stan Lee? Movies? Comics? I would absolutely DIE. I AM dying, knowing that someone thinks they are good enough for that level. PippinStrange and I were even discussing how cool these would be as audiobooks! Thank you SO SO SO SO much for your wonderful words, as always. So MUCH LOVE!

SummerMistedDragon: :D

Mikaelaokatzune: I don't mind long reviews at all! I love them! Welcome aboard, and bless you for reading all my stories in one sitting! Thank you so much! I love hearing people's theories, it is so entertaining for me as a writer to see what people come up with and if they align with my thoughts and plans. I am a big whump fan too, so definitely expect plenty of that. Thank you very, very much for reading my work, for taking the time to write a wonderful review for me to read, and for just being awesome! I so appreciate it!

Heroes21: YASSSSSS

Shoyzz: I never get tired of hearing it! lol! Thank you so much! He and Wanda are my favorites to write for, for sure. Ooh and Nat. And Tony. And...ah heck I love writing all of them. lol. So glad you're enjoying! Sorry about the cliffie! lol

Shadow-wolf78: Thank you very much!

Truly, I apologize for the big cliffhanger and the backlash sure to follow :D, and want to thank you all for those marvelous reviews. This ride ain't over yet folks...it's just getting started.

COMING SOON

Chapter Nine: Five Feet and Rising

A brand new pov I have NEVER written from before, one you might not expect, Peter, Bucky and Bruce head up the mountain, bringing the word "cliffhanger" to new heights (sorry, I couldn't resist. you'll see), and the aftermath of the trap in the clearing...

...the fate of Vision