Here's the newest chapter. Action and stuff!
Peacemaking Games
The opening ceremony was a huge success. Thor used mjolnir to ring the gong that started the games. It was a hit with the crowd. Dancing and music performances from each nation follow as part of the opening celebration, and the organizers made some speeches. Thor said a few words about how wonderful and beautiful Midgard was, words he genuinely meant, and then it was over.
"There's a few speeches and performances still, and then we need to meet after dinner."
"Will Gerardus be meeting as well?"
"I don't know. Frankly, promoting your friendship with him has backfired in a big way. So being seen with him or being caught sneaking around may be detrimental to all the PR you did today."
"I am disheartened by this situation. I had no idea these countries would be so sensitive to my presence."
"We're a delicate species. In fact, every time a meteor hits the earth we have to start life all over again," Coulson quipped. "If not for the mosquitos…"
"I don't understand," Thor said, looking perplexed.
"Sorry," Coulson said, smiling. "It's a reference. Couldn't help myself. Don't worry Mr. Odinson, this isn't my first rodeo."
Everyone had dinner in the dining hall again. Thor took in all the different food smells and the combination of languages mixing in the dining hall. He loved the different clothing and colors of each country. Asgard lacked the creativity and diversity of Midgard. Thor had a newfound appreciation for the minds of mortals as he gazed about the room.
"Pretty incredible, isn't it?" Coulson said, leaning over his shoulder. "All these cultures in one room."
"I wish I could visit their homelands. I have seen so little of this realm."
"I'll talk to Hill. I think it would be a great PR move."
Gerardus was far more chatty at dinner, joking with Thor and several other representatives. He was in a good mood after hearing that several countries were ending their campaigns for power and territory.
"It makes me sad that something like your visit can cause so many people to become power hungry in the first place," Gerardus was saying. "I'm honestly embarrassed. I know the leaders of Earth can do better."
"Do not be embarrassed. You would have cringed at my own leadership skills only a few years ago. Asgardians do not inherently possess a better or wiser mind than any other beings of the realms."
"That's quite nice of you to say, but it is a bit sad how easily we fall into conflict."
Thor wasn't disagreeing with Gerardus, but he was also hopeful that this could be overcome. He was only just beginning to realize how much of an impact the presence of Asgard was on Midgard's way of life. To him the idea of other realms was as familiar as any, but to Midgardians it was a terrifying concept only thought of as fantasy. Until he came along.
He thought Odin was a bit inconsiderate in sending him here without thinking of the impact it would have an seven billion people.
A security agent approached Gerardus at the table.
"I'm sorry sir, but there is a Ms. Summers at the entrance with an invitation from you. Unfortunately, it is not signed. Did you authorize her as a guest?"
"What? Oh, yes. Yes, I asked her to come, very last minute kind of thing. Here, let me sign that."
"Very good, sir."
"And could you please tell her that I will meet with her around eight, after dinner is over."
"Right away."
"Sorry about that," Gerardus said, waving off a wine refill. "I'm hoping to speak with the representative from India, but I don't know him at all. I've called in a friend as a go between. Very last minute stuff. We're desperate to make friends."
Thor nodded.
"I've met with fifteen people today, talked about SHIELD disbanding, your presence here, the necessity to come together for a joint statement to the world, blah blah blah," Gerardus waved his fork. "So far, its going well. I'm just hung up on a few countries. But we're making progress."
Thor had to admit, he was a bit frustrated in that moment. Coulson and his advisors had not allowed Thor to do any serious work since he arrived. He simply wandered around making appearances and shaking hands.
"I've yet to meet the representative of India, though I was offered some delicious food from his country earlier today. Should I speak with him this evening?"
Coulson appeared out of thin air. "The representative of India had to be persuaded to come at all. He's very reluctant to get involved in all this political controversy. We'd better tread carefully on this one. Let me talk to the experts about the best way to approach him. We may want to use a middleman ourselves."
Thor once again was obliged to socialize and dance with various representatives after dinner. He didn't mind so much, except that he felt his time was being wasted. He wanted to do sit down with each person one on one and tell them frankly what he intended. He didn't see how any of this social posturing would reassure the people of Midgard that he was here to protect them.
Coulson left briefly to deal with an 'issue at the gate', and Thor danced for a while more. He was just finishing a dance with a French ambassador when he noticed Gerardus and his sons sneaking out a side entrance. Thor excused himself from his dance partner and followed.
Thor knew it was probably nothing, but he was so frustrated with promoting his image rather than solving problems that he was willing to eavesdrop on Gerardus. Thor wanted to be as involved as Gerardus seemed to be.
It took Thor a while to convince his security guards he didn't need them following him. He snuck around until he found a balcony above a side room, where he could look down at Gerardus and his meeting.
"Summers, I'm so sorry to make this request at the last minute. I know it isn't easy for you to pick up and leave your work at a moment's notice."
Gerardus was greeting a woman, maybe mid twenties or younger.
"You look like you've walked straight out of the Serengeti into this living room."
"Just about, I came from a bush plane to your jet, and straight here. I'm sorry I'm a bit dusty."
She was small but sturdy looking. She had on a khaki utility vest with loaded pockets over a tank top. Cargo pants tucked into worn combat boots caked in mud. Bandana around her neck. A slouched leather belt. Thor recognized a few knives tucked away here and there. A big canvas backpack on her back. Dirt under her nails and fingerless gloves. Olive skin with a tan that looked like it came from long hours in the sun. A plain face, but pleasant. She had a strange hodgepodge of jewelry and accessories, obviously from a variety of cultures. And she was a bit dusty, Thor noticed.
"Please, sit down and let me get you something to drink. Rob, take her bag will you?"
She greeted both his sons affectionately. They seemed to know each other outside of work. She made a comment about Richard's beard that sent everyone into laughter.
Thor listened while Gerardus gave her the rundown of the politics. He cringed when Gerardus mentioned him.
"He's very nice. Everything they told us about him is true, he is very friendly towards Earth. But of course, the very idea of an advanced alien culture has sent the whole planet into a political free-for-all. You can imagine what has happened now that Scandinavian mythology has turned out to be based on truth. The whole peninsula is a mess. I'm frankly surprised they're acting this way. As if Thor's presence gives them any right to govern over, say, Portugal. But that's how these radical groups see it."
"India will be a bit tricky for you," Summers said. "I know the representative well, he's a nice guy, but he's very worried about dragging the Indian government into this. You're at the heart of it, Gerardus, and I can't downplay that. There just isn't a way. But I'll talk to him tomorrow. He likes you, I know that. Thinks very highly of you."
The conversation turned to other countries and Thor listened as Summers gave Gerardus advice on every country she seemed to know about. She also gave him advise on proper customs and language tips.
"Are you sure," Gerardus asked after nearly thirty minutes, "that you don't need to return to your work?"
"It's no problem, really. I'm actually quite excited to see the games. And my work was at a good stopping point for now. We've just finished a big project for UNICEF. I honestly could use a break."
Thor nearly gave himself away from his spot on the balcony when his phone buzzed. He hurried out of the room and back towards his security detail before answering.
"Thor, where are you? There's a situation here and we need you in your room. We think we might have a security breach."
"I can help, where is the attack?"
"No, no, its fine. They can handle it. We just need you in a safe place so we can focus on the other guests."
"Fine. I will go back to my room now. I have mjolnir with me should I need it."
"Please try to avoid fighting, the situation is delicate enough as it –"
Coulson cut off suddenly.
"Phillip?"
"Ok, we've got a situation, get mjolnir."
"What is happening?"
"Get mjolnir and keep your eyes open for the robot."
"Where is lady Darcy?"
"I don't know. Of course, a robot, what else? Why do I always end up on jobs with supernatural, super advanced robot things? Cover the left!"
"I will find Darcy and take her to our rooms. Do you need assistance?"
"Shit! It just left. Thor, its loose on the grounds!"
"What is. What enemy did you see?" Thor asked, running towards the dining hall where he hoped Darcy was waiting. An alarm starting blaring. Someone had pulled the fire alarm in the main hall.
"It was the destroyer. Or C-3PO. I'm not sure but it definitely didn't look Midgardian to me."
"The destroyer was vanquished in New Mexico, I ended it - "
Thor had to eat his words, because standing in front of him in the doorway to the dining hall was a large robot. It was nearly identical to the destroyer, although not the same.
"This is what you call the C-3PO?"
"Do you have eyes on it? You need to destroy it!"
Thor threw mjolnir as hard as he could. The machine dodged it easily and mjolnir lodged itself in the far wall of the dining hall. People screamed as it impacted.
This doesn't bode well, Thor thought.
Macedonia
When they finally landed it was midnight in Macedonia.
Steve looked at the GPS again. They were at least thirty minutes from Bucky's location. They had just landed at a private airstrip, probably a remnant SHIELD facility.
Sam was standing on the tarmac looking around.
"I don't know man, I don't like how this feels."
"Let's hope we've got the jump on hydra. This'll be easier if they're not looking for us."
Steve carried the GPS equipment and his shield, and Sam picked up his suit. Their second pilot was checking them in at the counter, arguing with a Macedonian man over paperwork.
"Any issues?"
"No Captain, just trying to figure out which ID number they want."
"Which one are you using?"
"One Romanoff had for us. It's not SHIELD associated sir, its registered to a millionaire from Dubai."
"Good."
Steve didn't want to say it out loud, but Sam was right. The air was so still here, almost too still. And he felt like there were eyes on him.
"I'm just going to say it one more time, I don't like the feel of this. The sooner we get on the road –"
"Get down!" Steve shoved Sam to the ground as a blast rocked them.
The plane was fine, but the car they were about to get into was a fireball. Gunfire started around them. Steve got his SHIELD up and covered Sam as they ran for cover into the security building.
The building was more like a tollbooth, with barely enough room for four people and paper thin walls.
"This isn't good man!" Sam shouted over the noise. "Our weapons are still on the plane."
"If they damage the plane we've got no way to get out of here," Steve said, taking a brief peak over the front counter to see if he had a visual on anyone.
"We don't have a way out of here now! Did you notice the bullets on all sides?"
Steve knew this was bad. He could take on armed men, but with bullets coming from 360 degrees he wouldn't last ten seconds outside the building.
"You have your suit?"
"Yeah, and my glock, but that's it. If I take off now they'll shoot me down. Won't last ten second."
"Me either."
"Can you call for backup?"
"You know anyone in Macedonia?"
"Don't be a smartass, I'm trying to help!"
Steve considered just making a run for it towards the nearest person he could see and trying to take their weapon. He peaked his head up again for another look.
Glass shattered and cut his face. They were truly surrounded. Bullets at all sides. Plus he couldn't actually see anyone in the dark.
Suddenly there was a gun in Steve's face. Someone had gotten close enough to stick their weapon inside the shattered window. Steve batted it away with his shield, hit the guy in the face, and tried to take his weapon. As he stood up to use it, he realized he was face to face with another gun.
Pop!
The man in front of him fell forward with a bullet hole in the back of his head. The first pilot was standing at the door to the plane, giving suppressing fire. Steve jumped up and tried to aim at the vague shapes of the hydra agents in the dark. That's when he saw the bazooka.
"Shit!"
"What?"
"Bazooka."
"No, no way, no. This is not happening. I am not dying in a country I just learned existing yesterday. This is not how I'm gonna go."
Steve was genuinely at a loss. They would be blown to bits any second. He put himself between Sam and the direction the bazooka was coming from and put his shield up. They'd have to just ride it out. Maybe the other pilot could take out the bazooka first…..
Steve waited, but nothing happened. In fact, the noise was decreasing.
"What's going on?" Sam asked.
"I don't know. I don't hear any suppressing fire."
Steve took a chance and looked over the counter again to see. He looked up just in time to see someone take out the bazooka guy with a kick to the face, pick up the bazooka, and fire it towards the group of hydra agents to Steve's left. Then they disappeared, reappearing seconds later on the other side of the plane to take out four more hydra agents.
Steve ducked back down and looked at Sam. "I don't know, but there's someone out there taking out hydra agents like its picnic in the park."
"First of all, that's not a saying. Second, do you actually know anyone in Macedonia? Because I already suggested calling for help and you shut me down."
"Who would I know in Macedonia?" Steve started, "I don't have any friends in…."
Steve stopped short and gave Sam a look.
"Barnes?" Sam asked, realizing what Steve was thinking.
"I'm not sure, honestly it didn't look like him. But I don't know who else it could be."
"Really?" came a voice from above and behind Steve's head. "You don't know another person, not a single person, who could save your ass? You know, like me?"
Steve and Sam startled and turned, and were staring straight into the face of Clint Barton. "It's not like a need to be thanked, but I did come all the way up here just to save your ass from a bazooka. And I'm not about to give the credit to Barnes."
"Barton!"
"Yes," Hawkeye replied sarcastically. "Correct, now lets go."
Steve saw the bow. He hadn't heard any return fire, and now he knew why. Arrows were silent.
"How did you find us?"
"Nat told me you were headed up here, and there were some complications. I knew you'd run into a welcome party. You still have the GPS?"
"Yeah, right here."
"Who is this guy?" Barton asked, looking at Sam with a cocked eyebrow.
"This is Sam Wilson, he's a friend of mine. He helped –"
"Crash the hydra killing machines into the Potomac, right. She said you did some nice work on that one."
"Thanks."
"Where have you been?" Steve asked, a little incredulous that Hawkeye was actually standing in front of him. He'd barely heard a word about the guy since New York.
"Focus Cap, we've got bigger issues. Hydra only has so many men in country right now, but they'll send more as soon as they realize you've escaped this welcome wagon. You've got to move."
"Did they reach Bucky?"
"I don't know. I just got here myself. It depends how many units they have in country. If we're lucky, this was all of their men and we've got some time."
"If not?" Sam asked.
"If not, then the other units probably deployed to find Barnes. They may have caught up to him already. We can't be sure."
"Then we need to go," Steve said, grabbing his shield.
"You have the GPS, follow it. And be prepared to run into hydra on the way. We've got to assume they're everywhere. This is priority number one for them right now."
"You're not coming, are you?" Steve realized.
"He's got places to be."
Natasha was walking towards them, sniper rifle over he shoulder and a grin on her face. Just a supermodel with a gun, nothing new.
"You're here too?"
"What? Was I not invited?"
"You're always invited," Sam offered. Hawkeye and Nat just deadpanned a stare at him.
"Ok, so you and Barton just showed up to save us from the hydra welcome party and you're taking off again? You're not concerned we might need backup finding Bucky?"
"Look Steve, if you move fast enough you'll get to Barnes before hydra sends reinforcement. So hurry, and you won't need backup."
"Fine, but give me some way to stay in contact with you."
"Got it covered," Clint said, handing Steve a phone. "Secure line, our numbers are in there. Only call if it is an actual emergency."
"God, you and your gadgets," Natasha said, pulling him away by the arm. "We have to jet off. Go hotwire one of those cars over there and get moving. Be careful, Steve. Sam."
"Yes, ma'am," Sam replied.
And they were gone.
Peacemaking Games
C-3POs were crafty, Thor thought. This one was particularly good at dodging him, and he was struggling to get a hit in. Coulson was right, this was Asgardian technology. Actually this looked a lot like tesseract technology, but Thor didn't want to think about that right now. Too many bad implications.
The dining hall was emptied out, and Thor was trying to keep the machine from leaving and putting anyone else at risk. He knew Coulson and the rest of the security team was on their way. He was worried they would not handle this machine and would be seriously injured.
Thor maneuvered the machine into a corner and tried to pin it down. He threw a bolt of lightening at it, which seemed quite effective. The machine started smoking and seemed to stutter.
Suddenly Coulson and the other security staff showed up, guns and other weapons raised. The machine seemed to weigh its options, looking back and forth between Thor and the rest of the security staff. Thor raised his hammer again and made to smash the chest of the robot before it could attack anyone else.
The machine was faster than him, though, and dodged his hammer again. It made a run for it down the hall, Thor and the rest hot on its heels.
Crash!
The machine took off up into the air, straight through the ceiling. Thor began to spin his hammer to go after it, but Coulson stopped him.
"Wait! There could be more. You're the only one with the weaponry to fight them."
Thor realized he was right.
"We have air support on the way. They'll take care of that one," Coulson said.
Gerardus and his sons came bursting into the dining hall with a handful of other representatives and Summers, armed and looking tense. Thor thought it was an odd sight, all these wealthy people in historical clothing carrying firearms.
"Please, return to your rooms, and we will let you know when the situation is resolved," the security team was shouting, ushering the representatives back. Gerardus and his sons approached Coulson and got the story on the robot. Thor sat debating for a moment before following the rest of the security team out of the dining hall to look for any more attackers.
They scoured the pavilion, every country's camp site, the stadium, and all the floors of the hotel where the representatives slept, but found no sign of another C-3PO. Darcy was alright, having grabbed the representative of Hungary and hiding under a table in a side room during most of the fight.
"By the time air support got here, there was no sign of the thing," Coulson said as they walked back to the main building. "I should have let you go after it when we had the chance."
"I doubt we've seen the last of it," Thor said, a grim expression on his face. "You will need to keep keen eyes out for any sign of its return."
"Agreed. And we're adding extra security and imposing a few more safety measures. We'll be keeping the representatives indoors after dark and moving them all into the same hotel building to keep it easier to protect them."
"Very good," Thor said, setting mjolnir down and slouching at a wooden table in the dining hall. Workers were already quietly tidying up the mess he and the machine had created.
"You look tired," Coulson said, giving Thor an understanding look. "You should take the night off. The representatives are being asked to stay in their respective camps tonight anyway, nobody to impress right now."
"Thank you, I will," Thor said, giving Coulson a genuine smile. The man was a good person and a very good friend.
Macedonia
Steve had the GPS streaming a precise location to his phone, which he had out in front of him.
"We're only about 5 miles away," he said, watching the traffic from the passenger seat.
"Yeah, well, this car was not made for these roads. Let's hope hydra has crappy suspension too or we might not beat them."
"Assuming they're not already there," Steve said grimly.
"I'm no expert, but if hydra already had Barnes, I don't know why they'd just chill in the middle of nowhere in Macedonia with him."
Steve checked is phone again. It was becoming a nervous habit.
"This is leading us off road, into those woods up there," he pointed up a hillside. "Up that hill. Must be where Bucky camped out."
"That is a small mountain, not a 'hill'" Sam corrected, looking less than thrilled at the idea of climbing it.
They drove a few more minutes before pulling over. "On foot from here," Steve said. "You bringing the suit?"
"Depends. How badly do you want air support?"
"Bring the suit," Steve said. He was trying to be realistic when he knew he was probably emotionally compromised.
Sam geared up and they started off up the mountain/hill. Steve followed the GPS northwest towards a ridge with another bluff ("cliff, Steve, that's a cliff") where he couldn't see far enough to detect any activity.
Once they reached an open enough area, Steve turned to Sam, "Might be the best place for you to take to the air. We've got comms, you can tell me if you see anything ahead."
"Sure thing," Sam said. "Bustin' out the wings."
He opened up the suit and took off towards the dark skyline. It was 2am and the stars were out. Steve could just make out Sam's suit above him.
"Ok, I got a reading here that looks like people. Multiple. But I don't see any signs of a fight."
"Could be a house, or a hotel," Steve offered.
"Negative, no structures. Just heat signatures. Hey wait, there's a plane or something parked there. I think somebody beat us here, Cap."
Steve started running, dodging between trees and up the hill towards the GPS location. It became more accurate as he got closer, and he could see Bucky was moving. Fast.
"Any sign of a fight yet?"
"Hard to tell, I'll have to get closer."
"Be careful."
Almost a full minute passed. Steve was nearly there. Bucky was half a mile away. That was nothing.
He heard it before Sam told him.
"We have shots fired. I'm guessing hydra's here. Cap, you gotta be careful, its raining bullets down there."
"Do you see Bucky?"
"They're shooting towards someone at your eight o'clock. If Bucky's here that's gotta be him."
"Do they have a visual on you?"
"Negative, not yet."
"Stay out of sight, I need you to surprise them. Give me a minute."
Steve was armed enough to deal with a few hydra agents at a time, but not an army of them. This would take some strategy. Not to mention Bucky was out there somewhere, and there was no way to know what he might do when he saw Steve.
"Cap, there's a big group headed to your eleven o'clock, and Bucky's about thirty yards ahead of them."
"I'm going to cut them off, and you need to go take the plane. We need to draw them back to the aircraft and try to give Bucky a chance to get away."
"Copy that."
Steve could see the group of hydra now, and he could see Bucky's red dot moving incredibly fast through the woods ahead of them. He started sprinting through the woods to get ahead of the group.
Shots were ringing out around him. He could even hear wood splintering. Steve suddenly flashed back to a firefight mid War, Bucky next to him, the Commandos following. Steve could almost see Dum Dum to his left, waving Pinky in front of him and shooting Cap victorious grin.
Steve saw the front of the hydra agent hoard. They were about to start spreading out to flank Bucky, although Steve didn't yet have a visual. He was running out of time. He opened fire on the first agent and he went down. Shouting erupted.
"Ok, Sam, now would be a great time to create a distraction."
"Got it."
Not two seconds later the sound of an explosion rocked the air. A fireball went up behind Steve. The hydra group was scattered. Some turned back towards the plane, others spread out to find Steve, who was picking them off as he sprinted back and forth.
He thought there had been fifteen when he got there, and he was already seeing only seven remaining. He hadn't had the chance to check the GPS, but Bucky was nowhere to be found.
Probably for the best, Steve thought to himself. He still had no idea what to do if he actually came face to face with the man. The last time he'd seen him was on the helicarrier plunging towards the ground, fist raised to finish Steve off.
Falcon showed up and took out the last of the hydra agents with Steve. It took them a while, a short back and forth firefight.
"We need to get back to that plane," Sam said, landing next to Steve. "There's some hydra intel on there we should grab."
"I thought you blew it up."
"Nah, just all their ammo."
Steve and Sam trekked back to the plane and Sam set out grabbing as much intel off the hard drive as he could and uploading it to the tablet Hawkeye gave them.
"Look, there's a ton of stuff on the Winter Soldier program. This looks new. We may be able to use this."
"Great, take it all," Steve said as he and Sam walked out of the plane.
"Here's the GPS program they've been using to track him. And more info on his arm. Huh. Well, there's a lot on the memory stuff in here too. Details. This wasn't in the original file we got."
"Well, we're going to need all of it. Was that their only GPS link? Or will they still be able to track him?"
"Looks like they've got a direct satellite feed. They can pull up his location from any computer of theirs. Which looks like….." Sam trailed off.
Steve turned to look at Sam.
"Oh my god, Steve…."
Sam looked up at Steve and then past him into the woods. Steve turned to see what it was.
Bucky was standing barely fifteen feet from him, just a silhouette against the trees. His face was only half shadowed, and Steve could see his eyes. His body language was tense. His eyes glared at Steve with anger and confusion.
"Bucky….?"
And he was gone again.
Ok guys, here it is! Soooooo, if anyone has any song suggestions for Bucky/Winter Soldier I need some inspiration, because guess who's getting a POV in some upcoming chapters! Hope you like this one. I'd love some reviews, let me know what you want to see more of in the future chapters, I'll try to work it in for you.