**I haven't forgotten about this story, I promise, I've just been kinda stuck on particular dialog exchanges. Big thank you to everyone out there reading and following, it helps give me that little push I need to keep working on it.**
**Enjoy!**
Chapter Ten: No Time
Kade reached out, grasping the small orb within her fingers and lifting it from the straw filled box in was in. It had a bit of weight to it, and it felt both cool and hot to the touch; no doubt reacting to the original stone inside of herself. Smirking proudly, she tossed the orb into the air, quick to catch it in her open palm, watching it glow slightly brighter with contact.
Tucking it into the inside pocket of her jacket, she turned back toward the open area of the warehouse; at least what was left of it. The overhead walkway was practically torn to shreds and hanging from the cabling, the walls were scored with burns and deep gashes, and each of the enforcers strewn about the disaster laden building remained motionless.
"Well, can't say I didn't warn you" she murmured.
The hair on her neck seemed to stand on end and a tingling chill raced down her spine before the faint whistle even reached her ears, only to get louder and louder before a deafening explosion rang out above her. Kadence hunched over, bracing herself as the roof began to cave down behind her, sending debris and smoke in every direction; though she heard nothing save for an annoying ring echoing in her skull.
She stumbled forward, trying to shake off the unrelenting feeling that things just took a turn for the worst, barely getting enough of her hearing back to mutter a string of choice words as she made for the what looked like the main door. Flinging her arm outward, a steel latch in the center practically shattered and the large metal doors flung open. Glimmers of sunlight, and beaming white snow momentarily blinded her, and the rich smell of pine was tainted with gun powder, smoke and diesel fuel.
Gunfire rang out all around her, coupled with another shot from a tank approaching from the tree line. Indistinct shouting quickly became clear as the ringing finally subsided, and she watched in momentary distraction as what appeared to be U.S soldiers storm the HYDRA base, seemingly oblivious to her presence…or so she thought.
Vibranium was a distinct sound she had long since grown accustomed to, and she reacted within a fraction of a second as the famously colored shield came flying toward her. The force of stopping his shield so abruptly pushed her back further than she anticipated, and she exhaled slowly to compose herself; glancing up to see him at the far line of the trees. Even at that distance the shock on his face was easy to see, forcing a bit of a smile to her lips, but her moment of glory was short lived when she remembered that this wasn't her time period, this wasn't the Steve she knew, and for all they knew, she was HYDRA…the guns suddenly aimed at her proved that.
Giving no quarter, she pushed as much energy as she could back into the shield, rocketing it back to Steve with enough juice to stagger him when he caught it; fading into a puff of blue smoke before any of them had a chance to pull the trigger. When the world came back around her, she was deep into the trees on the opposite side of the swarm, looking back into the clearing to see them scatter in a partial panic, shouting amongst each other; Steve seeming the only one not affected by her disappearing act.
She took no time to revel or wonder his next course of action before she took deeper to the forest, hoping to find a safe enough spot to give her time travel abilities another go; without the obvious distraction of the war going on around her. Kade wasn't sure what prompted her to stop, digging her feet into the snow to halt herself, but she held her breath and strained to hear what sounded like a soft exhale and the faintest shift of a grip against metal.
Her attention snapped to the left, feeling the pulse of her power as it grabbed hold of something hiding in the shrubbery, yanking it toward her with the least amount of care. A grunt of surprise and discomfort came crashing along with a dark clothed body that slid to a stop, belly down, a few feet away, his sniper rifle landing at her feet. His deep blue jacket riddled with twigs and splotches of snow, dark brown hair in clear disarray, but even mildly disoriented she saw his left hand move for his hip; toward a gun no doubt.
Kade narrowed her eyes and he let out a strained yelp when his body was yanked upward, forcibly immobilized as he hovered a few feet off the ground. Her intentions of teaching him a painful lesson evaporated the moment she saw his face. Though his shorter hair and near shaven face made him look a little younger than she was used to, her heart still skipped with a beat of recognition.
"Bucky" she breathed, releasing him from her hold.
He crumbled to the ground, and grunted in pain, harboring no sign of grace or coordination as he struggled to get his legs back underneath him. For a brief moment, Kade felt relieved to see a familiar face, or at least one more personal than Steve, but that moment was gone the instant he was on his feet; his gun drawn and aimed at her.
The look of aggression on his face, a clear intent to kill in his eyes, his steeled stance; she saw the soldier again. There was a part of her that wanted to react with equal hostility, put him down and make him beg for his life, but she stopped in her tracks, raising her hands gently in some attempt to quell the threat before things got out of hand.
"Take it easy…I'm not the enemy here Bucky" she assured, with the softest tone she could muster.
There was a flicker of panic in his eyes, and his grip on the gun tightened. She saw the whites of his knuckles, and swallowed hard, feeling a knot in her throat when she realized his left hand was still human; HYDRA has yet to break him.
"How do you know my name?" he asked, gritting his teeth.
Kade sighed, mentally kicking herself for getting too personal with a version of her husband she had never met before.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" she answered.
"Try me" he growled.
An annoyed huff escaped her, thankful to know his challenge all attitude wasn't just a side effect of the soldier disposition. She gently nibbled her bottom lip, praying that J.B was right and that she wasn't about to screw the entirety of the space-time continuum.
"Because, sometime in the…very distant future…I'm your wife" she remarked.
He looked as if he lost a shade of color, and his face contorted into something crossed with confusion, disbelief, or perhaps shock. Kade sighed softly with relief when he slowly lowered his gun, but nothing prepared her for the abrupt jolt to the back of her head. There was a burst of pressure she felt through her nose, a high pitched ringing in her ears and she tasted blood for a brief second before everything went black.
Low thuds echoed out in the sparring room, broken only by mildly labored breathing. He stayed focused, keeping his eyes on imaginary targets painted across the punching bag. Sweat glistened against his skin, his brows furrowed; taut white skin clashing against the ragged red of bare knuckles. JB tried to concentrate, delivering each blow with precision accuracy in some bland attempt to occupy his mind. Her face, however was impossible to ignore, the hurt in her voice kept ringing in his ears.
It was becoming harder and harder to admit he might have crossed the line this time, but gritting his teeth he swallowed down his guilt and kept punching. Again and again, faster, harder. Growling in aggravation his restraint snapped in a violent display of power, the force of his hit breaking the support chain and sending the bag flying across the dimly lit room. He stood there for a moment, panting softly, his fists clenched.
"Pent up frustration?" Bucky asked.
JB shot an annoyed glare at his father, watching him intently as the soldier walked casually into the room, stopping a few feet away with his hands rested on his hips as if to give the impression he had since cooled his anger; the gesture was somewhat unnerving for JB. The boy scoffed, turning to head for the secondary bag nearby.
"So let me guess, they're figuring out what to do with me?" JB asked, hoisting the bag up with ease and walking back to the mounting hook.
"Not even close. You're the last thing on anyone's mind right now" Bucky remarked, folding his arms across his chest.
JB hesitated for a moment, quick to process the passive aggressive tone before he reached up to hang the bag, barely taking a step back before he continued his earlier rhythm.
"They're meeting with Simon to discuss the next course of action…now that Kade is out of the picture" Bucky stated.
"How's Connie?"
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" The soldier quipped, relaxing his arms and walking slowly toward JB.
"She's not talking to me anymore" JB answered, his frustration coming out with the power of his strikes.
"Do you blame her?" Bucky asked, his tone slightly lower.
JB stopped punching and turned on his heel, closing the gap between them with a few mere strides. His face was red from both exhaustion and anger as the last bit of his mental restraint shattered like a glass vase hitting the floor. Brows furrowed in rage he stared the soldier down; veins starting to surface on his swollen neck.
"You can knock it off with this roundabout crap! If you want to fight me, just fucking do it already because this pansy ass attitude isn't-"
JB didn't get a chance to finish before a metal fist was driven into his gut, knocking the wind out of him in the most violent way possible. He stumbled backward, nearly doubled over and desperate for air; riding out the painful throbbing in his abdomen.
"What were you gonna say? You didn't finish" Bucky mocked.
"Is cheap shots all you're good for?" JB growled, forcing himself to straighten up.
"You said you were ready to fight, so let's see what you got kid"
The boy's eyes narrowed dangerously, his knuckles white, muscles straining as they went taut.
"I'm not a kid" he snarled, baring a fist as he came at the soldier.
Bucky held no expression as they exchanged initial blows. It was impressive watching JB go toe to toe with him, even after taking such a hit to the gut, he was almost on equal terms; but something was lacking. He saw it in the boy's eyes. Filled with rage, sadness, loathing…there was no room for confidence. Granted, he was clearly skilled in fighting, but he was fighting with emotion, not logic. He knew what happened when you fought that way.
A left hook came out of nowhere, nailing the soldier in the jaw and forcing him back a few steps; he cursed himself for getting distracted.
"You're nothing special! You were made a super soldier…I was BORN ONE!" JB hissed, lunging again.
Bucky held his defense, seeing right through the boy as he charged. Locking his arms near his head, the soldier steadied himself, suffering through each strike, feeling enough power to break bones as easy as snapping twigs. JB continued to wail on his father, unleashing as much force as he could with each punch.
"Your power came from a syringe!" he barked, driving a hard right hook into the soldier's ribs.
Bucky let out a groan as the air was forced from his lungs; partially doubled over.
"You're just a science experiment!" he continued, driving his knee up into Bucky's face.
The soldier was sent stumbling backward, dropping his guard and seemingly trying to regain his bearings. JB advanced, reaching down to grab a handful of Bucky's shirt with his left hand; rearing his right fist back. He held his stance, his breathing somewhat labored, staring down at his father with both sorrow and contempt.
"I'm the real thing" he seethed, driving his fist down.
His fist slammed into a metal palm, held there as Bucky's fingers wrapped over his hand; trapping him there. JB wasn't sure what to do, but the slightest panic surfaced in his chest when he tested his father's grip, finding no quarter.
"Is that so?" Bucky growled.
Before JB even processed what was happening, he found himself face down on the floor, his left arm trapped under the harsh press of a knee and his right arm twisted back and upright. He let out a howl of pain, struggling against his father's hold briefly before realizing that any unjust movement would result in a dislocated shoulder…or broken arm.
"Sure, you got natural power, but without training and discipline you're just another idiot with a short fuse!" Bucky snarled, tweaking JB's arm a hint higher to drive home a point.
JB hissed through gritted teeth, seeing no way out of the hold.
"The day you start thinking you can't be beat, is the day you get put on your ass"
With a rough shove, Bucky released JB, the latter groaning while he straightened out his arm; the soldier said nothing more, turning to leave. His knuckles went white and the thought crossed JB's mind that if he clenched his jaw any tighter he'd likely lose a few teeth. He was at his breaking point…he couldn't keep quiet any longer. Ignoring the severe pain in his arm he scrambled to his feet, setting his eyes on the retreating soldier.
"You never said good-bye!...neither of you did!" JB spat.
Bucky stopped in his tracks, glancing back at the older version of his teenage son. Rage was storming in his eyes and judging by the stance, he looked ready for another round despite his arm. Yet there was something else that Bucky picked up…pain. Brimming at the corner of the youth's eyes was evidence of hurt and suffering that Bucky was all too familiar with. It was the same thing he endured when he was putting together pieces of his past; a past he'd sooner forget.
"I want the truth…what happened?" Bucky growled, turning to face JB.
"You both die, I told you already"
"Details damn it! What did we do that made you hate us so much!?" The soldier hissed.
JB looked taken aback by the accusation, briefly flexing his jaw and casting his eyes downward. His angered breathing hitched, and his shoulders went slack.
"I…don't hate you, I never did. Seeing you and mom again was all I ever wanted, but I knew that the only way to keep my past from happening to their future was to do anything in my power to keep Thanos away from her…no matter how much it hurt."
The air was thick with tension, but Bucky stayed silent, eyes trained on JB while the latter cleared his throat to speak.
"Four years from now, in my timeline, Thanos invades earth looking for the infinity stones. He was trying to create some kind of super-weapon…as if he needed it. The Avengers countered along with military forces from all over the world, put up a damn good fight, until we got word that Jester and Vision were captured.
Three days of constant fighting, and no progress in finding mom or Vision, then the ships just leave…abandoning those left of the ground. A week later they track down mom at a hospital in Botswana, near dead; but Vision was never found. They had a theory that mom went toe to toe with Thanos, drove him off maybe, but they were wrong. A couple months later, we all find out that mom is pregnant"
Bucky stiffened, the hair on the back of his neck standing on edge and his eyes narrowed.
"Don't worry, it's yours…or at least it was. We didn't know then, but Thanos somehow corrupted the fetus, using dark magic or whatever, nobody knew, mom never talked about what happened. She'd cry every time we worked on the baby's room, she shut herself in…she died a little each day that passed. It wasn't until she tried to terminate it that you realized something was definitely wrong…but it was too late. Some months later, she birthed something that wasn't even human anymore. It had absorbed the stone from her body, and killed her in the process. I can still hear the screaming over and over in my head…it never stops."
JB's voice broke and tears started to fall down his cheeks, visibly shaken by recalling such a memory.
"We barely put her in the ground before Thanos came back with a force ten times stronger than before. You rallied the Avengers to fight them…and that was the last we heard of anyone. Stark, Uncle Steve, Banner…they were all gone…everyone. In a matter of a year, the human populace was crippled by over half our numbers. Some of us made it under ground, the rest were either killed or forced into servitude, strip mining the planet.
We spent the rest of our lives struggling to survive, being hunted by his lieutenants and that…thing…that killed mom, knowing the only way to fix this, was to stop it from happening altogether…so here we are…"
JB paused, dragging the back of his hand across his eyes to wipe away the steadily building tears, casting his eyes to the floor as if ashamed to cry in front of his father.
"…and I'm sorry…for doing what I did…but I can't go through that hell again…not again"
The flood gates came crashing open, and despite his hardened exterior, the youth broke down in tears, his body shivering with sobs. Before he had the chance to cover his face, he was suddenly embraced by a warm body, strong arms around his shoulder while a metal hand braced the back of his head; his face buried against Bucky's shoulder.
As if needing it for longer than he'd like to admit, JB embraced his father, putting aside his pride and letting the emotions flow down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry" JB sobbed between struggled breaths.
"It's alright, we'll figure it out…we always do" Bucky assured, feeling his own voice waver with emotion.
They remained in place, not speaking until JB's sobs quelled enough for him to pull away, wiping the tears away from his swollen red eyes; finally lifting them to meet the soldier's.
"I came back here to fix things and all I seemed to do was make it worse" JB remarked softly.
"You gave us a decent head start to this war, it might have already changed our future" Bucky advised.
"The only one who stands a chance against Thanos is mom, but only if she can tap into the full potential of the stone"
"Like I said…we'll figure it out"
"Hate to break up the bonding moment fellas, but we got trouble" Natasha called from the upper walkway.