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We Walk on Water (Don't Let Go)

Chapter 4

Taking cover had been instinctual when the firing started, but Bucky made no effort to join the fight and only listened half-heartedly to the snatches of conversation the others were using to keep informed of how everyone was doing.

HYDRA had never bothered to keep in such close communication with him. He went out, completed a mission, and was told before he left when and where to meet with his handlers for extraction.

And then there was the face on the screen, the one that looked so familiar in his darker dreams. He had panicked, and rather than be upset, the others had been worried. Steve he understood, because Steve worried about him a lot, but Clint, the archer, had not been angry with him for panicking.

It was…different.

A moment later the archer ducked behind the low stack of discarded metal crates that the Winter Soldier was currently taking refuge behind. He looked winded, as though he'd been ducking bullets the whole way.

"Good grief," he muttered as he sidled over towards Bucky and sat next to him. "Mind if I hide here? I'm a bit tired of being shot at at the moment." He said with a grin, them he noticed the distress in the Winter Soldier's eyes.

"Bucky." At the sound of the familiar nickname, the other man turned to face him.

"Are you okay?" Clint asked.

"That man, on the screen…I knew him." Bucky admitted quietly.

"I'm sure of that." Clint told him. "He's been hurting people for a long time. You and Tony probably happen to be at the top of his list. But it's alright. Our friend Vision is going to track that guy down and make sure he never hurts anyone again. Now, are you going to be okay? Because if you're not, I can get Steve over here to get you out of here, I can get you out of here. I can probably even convince Tony to get you out of here, if that's what you need. It's your call."

The concept of aborting a mission was such a ludicrous thought that he couldn't help but give a bitter laugh. "I don't abandon my missions." He said quietly, looking at the floor.

Except for that one.

"You're my mission!"

"Then finish it…'cause I'm with you to the end of the line."

"We're not HYDRA." Clint said, having guessed some of what Bucky was thinking. "We don't run people out until they crash. If you can't handle it, someone will make sure you get out. It's not worth it to us to watch you break down here and get hurt. But if you can handle it, we could sure use your help right about now."

There was silence other than the sounds of the fight. Over their earpieces, Steve swore, and Tony sing-songed, "Language!"

Steve groaned.

"We aren't going to tell you that you have to come help us. We're not going to make you come out and fight. It's your decision." Clint went on, before he turned and sat looking out at the wall behind them.

There was the sound of a collision, and over their heads Tony hit a wall. He fell to floor a few feet away with a muffled curse. The first word out of his mouth and into the communicator after that were, "Don't say it."

"Are you gonna let it go?" Steve asked acerbically.

"I was having fun," Tony noted as he got back to his feet and took to the air.

"I wasn't." Steve said pointedly.

His memories were still sorely fragmented, but Bucky was sure that by now, someone would have hit him for this level of refusing to act. Instead Clint continued to sit there silently, studying the wall.

"Is this a joke?" He asked finally.

"What?" Clint seemed genuinely confused.

"Telling me I can walk away."

"No. It's not a joke. It's a decision I'm not going to make for you." Clint said. "You decide what you want. Really, I'm not supposed to be here, and neither is Tony. We're both technically retired."

There was the noise or an explosion, then Natasha's voice.

"Tony! Steve! Somebody!"

Clint started to get to his feet, but Bucky grabbed him and pulled him back down just as a rain of bullets cut through the air where he had been a moment ago.

"Thanks." Clint said breathlessly.

"Hold on Agent Romanov, I'm coming." Tony replied. There came muffled sounds of metal on metal.

"Tony, are you busy?" Steve asked tersely.

"Uh, just a little. Can it wait?"

"I'd rather you didn't."

"O-kay…I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Hurry."

Then Bucky spoke. "Cover me."

Clint nodded. "You got it." He said as he reached into his quiver. There wasn't much he could think of that could help, but he could distract the robots.

Steve had his shield between himself and the robot which was putting all its weight into crushing him. They were evenly matched at the moment, with Steve being able to push back against the weight on him using his own super human strength, but he didn't want to think about what he was going to do if one of the other robots showed up to assist the first.

Then he heard the sound of whirring mechanical gears, and knew it wasn't the robot. He moved to the side a little as Bucky showed up next to him, and released his hold on the shield as the other man drew back his robotic arm and grabbed the edge of the shield. The assassin punched the shield from behind, and the force of the blow was dispersed around the disc. It was enough to push the machine back, and Steve seized his weapon and threw it at the robot as hard as he could.

The shield lodged in the robot's neck, and the height was not so high that the two of them could not jump and reach it.

Bucky went first, using the shield as leverage to gain a hold of the robot before dropping the shield back to the ground, and using his robotic arm to rip open the chest plate. The machine responded by spinning it's torso around, building speed until Bucky couldn't help but be thrown off.

But the moment it stopped spinning, Steve was ready. He jumped and grabbed hold of the machine, and ripped out the handful of wires Tony had told them about. The robot shut down and collapsed to the ground.

Steve picked up his shield and slung it onto his back, and then walked over to where Bucky was lying. The other man was starting to get up when Steve got there and offered him a hand. "Thanks."

"Did you have that thing on the ropes, too?" Bucky asked as he took the proffered hand and let the other man help him back up. He didn't know what made him say it, but it seemed right; like it was something he would say.

Or had said. Or should say. Or something.

"Well," Steve grinned. "You can't let make you start running. They'll never let you stop."

Behind them, Clint had come out from hiding and was actively helping Natasha and Tony take down another robot. Steve looked at Bucky for a moment, then both of them went after one of the remaining machines.

When it opened fire on them, Bucky ducked behind Steve and let the other man take the lead, using his shield to protect them both. Then it stopped firing and began to retreat.

"Do you think it's sentient?" Steve called to Bucky, who shrugged.

"I'm not Tony."

"What do you think about how to stop it?"

"I think I should have brought the grenade launcher."

Steve grinned, and threw his shield again. It bounced off as before, and he caught it. The machine backhanded him, and sent him flying across to the other side of the chasm in the floor, tearing out part of the railing around it as he landed.

Bucky pulled out the smaller grenade he still had and stuck it to the larger one as the robot lifted into the air. He tossed it after the machine, which cut it's thrusters and dropped back into the chasm, leaving the explosive to arc overhead.

But Steve was back on his feet and running. He jumped and cleared the railing, before using his shield to smack the grenade down the chasm after the machine. He landed on the other side, and both he and Bucky moved away from the chasm as the grenade went off.

On the other side of the room, Tony and the two spies had finished taking down the other robot.

"Do you think we got him?" Steve asked as he and Bucky approached the railing. Steve peered down, but could see nothing in the gloom.

"Whatcha lookin' for, Cap?" Tony asked, landing behind them.

"I'm trying to see if we got the other robot." Steve replied.

"Hold on." Tony said as they were joined by Natasha and Clint. "I'll run a scan." There was a long moment, and then Tony said. "That's it. We got 'em all."

"There was a smaller one when we came in." Natasha told him. "Are they anymore like that?"

"I'm not picking up any other robotics." Tony said. "The small one may have just been a prototype. In any case, there are no more around here."

Then FRIDAY chimed in. "Sir, I have an incoming message from the Vision."

"Yeah now that the fight's over he calls," Tony grumbled as FRIDAY switched the display in his helmet. "Hold on guys, I have to take this."

"Hello?" Vision asked.

"So I take it you got the message then?" Tony asked. The others stood by silently, listening to the conversation.

"I did, and I have investigated the situation thoroughly. Armin Zola has been neutralized as a threat to safety of humankind." Vision informed them.

"Please tell me you're sure. Not that I doubt you, but I don't ever want that guy popping back up." Tony told him.

"You may rest assured that he will live on in history books only. His consciousness has been wiped from the Internet."

"Thank you. That's what we've been needing to hear." Tony said. "We'll be in touch."

"I look forward to it. Have a pleasant evening." Then the call ended.

"He doesn't know where we are, does he?" Clint asked. Tony shook his head.

The five of them made their way back out of the base, to the Quinjet.

"Where are you all going from here?" Tony asked, lounging on the chairs in the back of the jet, still in his armor.

"We left from Virginia." Steve told him, and checked the clock. Surely they had spent longer than that in the base, in the fight, in…everything. It was not as late as he had expected.

"We're in upstate New York. That's practically my backyard. Why don't you all come by the Tower for the night and you can fly out in the morning?" Tony offered.

"Sounds good to me." Clint said.

Natasha, who was co-piloting, nodded.

"What about you?" Tony asked, looking at Bucky.

"It doesn't matter." The assassin replied.

Tony looked at Steve. "Looks like it's your call, Capsicle."

"Why not?" Steve said.

"You can land the jet on the roof. I did some redesigning after, you know, everything."

"Got it." Steve said, flicking the controls in front of the pilot's chair. "Next stop, Avenger's Tower."

[A/N:] So we have wrapped up the fight scenes and sort of unwrapped some of Bucky's issues. He's surprised that Clint didn't hit him, but on the other hand, he doesn't see Clint as someone he needs to answer too, so if Clint had hit him, Bucky would have attacked him. But unlike Piece, Hawkeye never even gave the idea a thought. I like how Clint was characterized in Age of Ultron, and I've brought a lot of that here. He's definitely the most stable member (or ex-member, as the case may be) of the Avengers.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story so far. I appreciate your support! Please review this chapter and let me know your thoughts.