The first missile ripped straight through the palace walls, tearing through the reinforced stone and concrete like a blade through fabric. Shrapnel went flying, spraying the occupants on the other side, and causing a chorus of screams. Shuri sped up, running at her full speed, ignoring her damp clothing. Bucky was acutely aware of their state of undress, particularly as he tailed the princess, his sole focus on protecting her. Without her amour she was vulnerable.
A second explosion quickly chased the first, soaring through the new vulnerability in the palace's defense and crashing in a wall of fire onto the roof. From his point down on the ground, Bucky could recognize that the gaping hole had once been Sam's room, just down the hall from Steve and Sharon. Panic gripped his heart, its ice cold tendrils seizing up his muscles.
Another projectile came flying in, then a fourth and a fifth, landing in quick succession over rooms he recognized as his teammates'. The only room to be spared was his own. He considered the ramifications of this for a moment, even as Shuri scrambled through the still burning gash in the wall. He reached for her with his vibranium arm, pulling her back firmly.
"Bucky," her voice, normally so calm, was teetering on the verge of cracking.
"Just wait," he plead with her. Dread was rising in him and he could not afford to ignore the feeling. The world around them was going up in smoke and flame, punctuated by screams in Wakandan. Despite this, the sky had fallen eerily silent, an omen of something to come. Bucky bent down to investigate the remnants of the missile that had struck the fence, ignoring the heat as he scooped up a piece in his metal hand.
"Vibranium," Shuri's ever watchful eyes identified the fragment. "He has used it to penetrate our enforced walls. Klaue knows our defenses."
"And where our rooms are," Bucky's chest clenched as he turned his eyes back towards the smoldering palace. Guards were streaming out of the building, running towards the princess at high speed. Bucky's relief at the sight of them turned to dread as the piece in his hand began to vibrate.
"Wait!" he yelled at the Dora Malaje, searching frantically for the rest of the missile. Blessedly, Shuri repeated his command and the woman stopped in their tracks, looking restlessly at the princess, worry carved into their faces.
"What is it?" she asked him urgently.
The realization came all at once, an old memory of his time under HYDRA, of the weapons he had seen. With no time to speak, he simply reacted, tossing the piece as far as he could away from them and seizing Shuri under his vibranium arm. He felt the heat before the sound of the explosion reached his ears, desperately hoping that his arm would be enough to keep the woman beneath it alive. The warmth prickled at his skin and he felt strangely calm; if this were to be his end, at least it was on his own terms.
A scarlet light flashed brightly, penetrating through his closed eyelids, putting an end to the heat that was threatening to consume them. Bucky forced his eyes open as a young woman dressed all in red came hurtling through the air towards them, her body glowing an ethereal scarlet.
"Are you ok?" Wanda's thickly accented voice grew louder as she landed near them, concern palpable all over her face.
"You saved us," Shuri was breathless, her eyes darting around, taking in the damage. Nothing had changed, despite the fact that all of the weapons had omitted a second explosion.
"You contained them all?" Bucky asked in awe. He knew something of Wanda's powers, but had yet to grasp the full scope.
"I think so," Wanda's voice was shaky and she seemed on the verge of tears.
"You did great," Shuri assured her, reaching out with a hand to steady the young woman.
Wanda nodded, looking as shocked as Bucky felt. "Have you seen the team?" she asked.
"Mr. Wilson and Miss Carter were with us," Ziwadi ran to them, breaking rank from her guard. "He has gone to retrieve his suit."
"And Clint? Natasha? They had children," Wanda was on the verge of panic.
"We have word that they are secure, but trapped in their room" Ziwadi told them. "We are still looking for Mr. Lang, Mr. Stark, the Captain and the King."
"We'll find them," Bucky announced at once.
"I will help," Shuri said.
"Your highness, you require your armor," Ziwadi imparted calmly.
"She's right," Bucky cut off her argument before it began. "Go with them. Suit up. Find your brother. We'll meet you." Loathe as he was to leave her, she needed her suit. She was safer with it. "Wanda, can you get us both up to the palace?"
"Yes," Wanda steeled her nerve, looking determined.
"I'll meet you," Bucky told Shuri.
"Be safe," she kissed him swiftly, ignoring Wanda's widening eyes.
Bucky gave her a long look and a smile, trying to look confident. Inside, fear was clawing at his veins. He wanted to find Steve first, and T'Challa, but they were the two least likely to be in need of rescuing. Scott was by himself, and Clint had his family. They took precedent. It was what Steve would want. The fear intensified as Wanda lifted them both into the air. The world became a reddish cloud as they hurtled towards their destination, Wanda clearing the smoke and flames with tactical precision. She steered them into the wing of the palace they all shared, releasing Bucky from his safe bubble once the air was clear.
"Stay close," he instructed, acutely aware that the young woman was much more powerful than he was, but still feeling some urge to protect her.
"Try Scott's room first," she said, her eyes still glowing, her hands up and ready to defend or attack.
Bucky gripped the handle in his metal hand, tearing the door off of its hinges. Smoke funneled out of the room and into the previously clean air. Wanda was on it at once, blowing it up and out. The room was a mess of wreckage and overturned furniture. Bucky took a deep breath to will himself to walk in, expecting the worse. The carpet was smoldering and melted, and the air had an acidic smell, like melted plastic.
"Oh no…" Wanda's voice broke behind him and he turned to look at her. Her wide eyes were full of sadness as she surveyed the scene.
"There's no blood," Bucky told her. "Scott could be ok."
Wanda called his name out experimentally. "Scott, can you hear us?" she whispered loudly.
Bucky nearly leapt out of his skin when a voice called back. "Can you get this off of me?"
"Where are you?" he questioned, already bending down.
"The closet!" the muffled voice was quick to respond.
Both Bucky and Wanda made a run for the closet doors, Wanda throwing debris out of the way with her telekinesis. In seconds, they had the doors open and Scott popped back to normal size, nearly knocking Bucky over.
"Thanks," the man breathed heavily. "I heard the first explosion and ran for my suit. I had just enough time to get in on when it hit my room. I got trapped in the closet, like R. Kelly." When Bucky and Wanda responded only with confusion, Scott sighed. "You two really need to brush up on American music culture."
"Some other time," Wanda said. "We need to get Clint and Natasha."
"Where are they?" Scott snapped to attention, his good humor gone.
"Trapped in their room," Bucky told him as they all made their way to the doors.
"With the kids?" Scott ran ahead, already beginning to shrink.
"What's the plan?" Wanda called after him as he disappeared down the hall.
"I'll go under and see how they are. If they're cool, you two break the door down!" Scott called back at them, already disappearing under the door that led to Clint's room.
Bucky ran after him, pressing his ear to the frame, trying to listen in.
"Do you hear anything?" Wanda whispered, her hands glowing preemptively.
"No," Bucky was tempted to force his way in now, but he gave Scott the benefit of the doubt. He was sure the man could handle it.
There was a sudden commotion on the other side, a children's scream and then Scott shouting.
"Jeez, Scott!" that was Clint's voice.
"My bad!" it was clear that Scott had popped back to full size in the middle of Clint's family. "Break it down guys! We're far enough back," the formerly diminutive man yelled back.
A few moments later the 9 of them were in the hall, Clint's family looking frightened but otherwise unharmed.
"Get them to safety Wanda," Bucky told her. "Scott, Natasha, we need to find Sharon and rendezvous with the others."
"Normally I wouldn't sit this one out, but…" Clint gestured to his family.
"No need to explain. Save your energy for them," Bucky shook his hand.
"I'll see you on the other side," Clint told them.
Natasha hugged him, then his family. "Let's go get these bastards," she told Bucky and Scott as Wanda pulled Clint and his family up and out of the hole in the ceiling.
"Where's Cap?" Scott pulled his helmet down over his face.
"He was with T'Challa and Stark," Bucky led them down the halls.
"And your girl?" Natasha asked.
"She's with the Dora Malaje. I think Sam and Sharon are with her."
"What's the game plan once we're all together?" Natasha and Scott volleyed their questions back and forth.
"Get Klaue." It was simple enough.
"Get him? The permanent way?" Natasha asked.
"Maybe we let T'Challa decide that…" Scott imparted, sounding worried.
Bucky remained silent. If there was one thing that could drive him to kill again, it was the threat of losing his best friends. He wouldn't enjoy it, but if there was only one way to neutralize the threat, he knew he would take it. He could live with that guilt, but not the pain of losing Steve or Shuri or Sam.
They increased their pace as another barrage of explosions rained down. As they ran past a window, Bucky glanced outside. The Dora Malaje were leading an assault, running in formation across the remnants of the palace gardens. Above them, Sam was wheeling overhead, blasting missiles out of the air. From somewhere nearby, Wanda's scarlet energy was tossing the bombs backwards. Bucky thought he could see Sharon's blonde head among the ranks of the Dora Malaje. They were all fighting an unseen foe, doing their best to simply contain the destruction. They needed the team to take the fight straight to Klaue.
The conference room came to focus in front of them, separated by ruined hallway and fire. Smoke was pouring in, necessitating that Bucky break a window, just to clear the air.
"How do we get through?" strong though he was, Bucky could not withstand direct contact with flames.
"I'm going to shrink," Scott's mind was working a mile a minute as he took in the obstacles in front of them.
"Even if you get to the door, you can't open it," Natasha sounded worried.
"Maybe I can get inside. Shrink down something that could put out the fire."
"Are there sprinklers?" Natasha asked, glancing up at the ceiling.
"If there are, the pipes are damaged. We won't be getting help that way." Scott's eyes traced upwards, forming a plan. "I'm going to go. I'll be back soon."
Bucky nodded, no better strategy in mind. He watched Scott shrink down, feeling helpless as he and Natasha stared at the black doors.
"I hate this," Natasha muttered, her hands twitching restlessly. Bucky nodded. Feeling useless was not something he was used to.
The doors of the conference room exploded off of their hinges all at once, flying open with a bang that vibrated down the halls.
"I got it open!" Scott was standing there, one giant hand shrinking down to size as the dust cleared.
"Congratulations," Natasha smirked, looking impressed.
"Buck, you ok?" Steve came running out, ignoring the flames.
"I'm fine." Bucky met him halfway, embracing his best friend. "Where are the King, and Stark?"
"We're here," Tony managed to sound sardonic, even in the face of an emergency. "Took you guys long enough."
"Where is my sister?" T'Challa's regal voice asked urgently.
"With Ziwadi. She needed to suit up." Bucky felt a pang of guilt for leaving her alone.
"Then let us find her," T'Challa took off down the hall. "Captain, Mr. Stark, suit up. We go to war."
A/N: Apologies for the delay; life has been reasonably busy lately. Thank you all for your support and reviews, follows, and favorites. Please continue to send your critiques!