ED WAS HERE.
Bucky groaned as he pulled at the rusted metal door. It moved slightly but not enough.
Steve reached around him "How 'bout some help." His hand was nearly on top of Bucky's; he braced a foot on the wall as they pulled and grimaced together. The door screeched across the concrete and with a few jerking pulls was open enough for them to squeeze through.
"I got this." Sam reassured as he settled on a makeshift seat of rusted trolley rails.
"First sign of trouble you fire a shot...we'll come back." Natasha patted him on the shoulder; then dropped a kiss on his head.
"Gonna be ok?" Steve squatted next to him.
"I'll just slow you down in there. Got your six here."
Bucky twitched at the six reference.
"What is it about numbers?" Steve whispered as they squeezed into the concrete passage upwards.
"Numbers?" Bucky mumbled. "What numbers?" He threw the rifle over his shoulder and scaled the metal ladder into the darkness above.
Natasha held her phone to light the first few rungs as Steve maneuvered to follow. It didn't take more than a few steps before he was plunged into the darkness. A monotonous hum grew with each tentative move forward. Bucky was nowhere to be seen, even in this confined space. A faint scraping noise came and went; a hint of labored breathing was overwhelmed by the drone from the heart of Hydra's servers. Scorching dry air wrapped around him pulling out a flash of sweat. An unfamiliar rush of dizziness nearly took him down the ladder as his foot slipped and the shield clanged against the metal. His shoulder collided with the hot surface of the heat vents; he leaned against it and chided himself, "Ok, keep it together Rogers."
He wiped at the sweat in his eyes "What's taking him so long?"
"Wait...where is he?"
He held his breath, willing his heart to beat quieter so he could listen for the telltale sounds of Bucky's breathing. "How could I lose him." His knuckles rapped against the wall and the ladder; fingers burned on the vents in front of him; he waved his hand frantically into the blackness. Irrational panic began to build "I lost him." He pushed himself up another rung and reached into the darkness. His hand slapped against a boot, slid up a leg; he tugged himself up to rest his head against a thigh.
Bucky's foot slid across the rung towards the pull of Steve's possessive grip.
He struggled with the forgotten trap door.
"It was a long time ago, Soldier, they probably put a file cabinet on top of it."
He frowned and snaked his free leg through the rungs to work with both hands.
"You'll never get out of this alive, Soldier. They know you've come for revenge."
"Not revenge." He mumbled as he shoved upwards to break the frozen latch.
"Nothing but a screw up...you attacked the Widow, got the Birdman shot. You're bleeding all over your buddy down there."
"Thanks. So helpful." He tried to placate the Voice while the door refused to give to his efforts.
"Your stupid plan is going to get them all killed. Your final act will be to get Captain America and his Secret Avengers killed."
Frustration reared up through his mind.
"Once again, Soldier you blew it. You'll die or end up back in the chair without having sex with that…."
Bucky slammed his fist into the wall and growled "Don't need your bullshit running commentary!"
"What? I didn't say any…." Steve started to protest then, "That damn voice." He dropped his head back against Bucky's leg and groaned "When is this night going to be over?"
A rasped "Soon...and yes that Voice is a pain in my ass, too." preceded a sudden rush of cold air; then a whispered "Got it," that brought both of them some relief.
"I'll stay here with the techs." Sharon sighed. "We need to get the quinjet out of sight. It's nearly dawn."
Fury hovered over the computers. "Our last contact was five hours ago. Last known location was the dance club in the North End."
She pointed at the computer screens, "All hell broke loose on the airwaves after that. Hydra's deployed an army to go after them."
"And we have no idea where they went after the dance club, is that correct?" Fury looked pointedly at her.
"Correct, Sir. No further contact. They shut down their comms; no trackers. No evidence that they're still in the club."
"This was supposed to be a controlled, covert operation, Carter. Simple in and out. He gave us workable strong intel. Now we have this shit show."
"He went rogue, Sir. He didn't follow the plan."
"Actually he did follow the plan; we have six tagged individuals, five of which we can account for; one is missing. So overall a mission success. But…."
"Here we are. He's dragged his team into some kind of revenge mission and threatens our operation." Sharon hissed.
"Someone leaked his locations, our plan. Someone hijacked our communications link. Maybe they've gone to ground to protect themselves. Thoughts?" Fury leaned against the table and folded his arms.
"Ok, so we have a mole, clearly. I will get to the bottom of it. Right now we have bigger problems. The quinjet is sitting out in the open. Hydra's roaming the streets. We need to protect ourselves or we'll never be able to get them out."
Fury trained a skeptical eye on her.
Sharon paced quickly towards the generators. "We'll need to switch to these while the jet is gone." Fury continued to silently assess her.
She turned to confront him "I've got this...I will find the mole; I will break through the layers of security around our hijacker; I will get them out."
"You do that Carter. You do that." He abruptly turned and headed for the quinjet. "I'll be in touch."
"Don't you dare threaten me." Sharon hissed at the caller. "I gave you what you wanted and then some. Now you've got all four of them. If they get away it's on you."
"How hard can it be to track down four people in an abandoned subway? You can't handle that? Fine, one of them has a tracker….last known location….the old Scollay Square Under station. That's it... I can't do any more for you. Take care of it."
Thousands of tiny glowing bulbs bathed the room in a sea of cobalt blue interrupted by pinpoint white pools; like stars in the night sky was all Steve could think. The deafening hum of the servers was overridden by a radio playing at the far end of the room. The cold air dried his sweat soaked neck too quickly. He glanced to his right, watching for Bucky's signal to move forward through the long tight rows of server racks. Natasha emerged from the trap door to take up the center aisle approach. She slipped in a pool of blood.
Bucky nodded and pointed towards their destination; the secured computer control room; they silently moved forward. The cool air was doing nothing for the throbbing in his thigh although it may have helped the vision wavering headache he had going. "No fucking water. I swear I'll never make fun of him again the next time he mothers me." He shot a quick glance between the racks towards Natasha, hoping he hadn't said that out loud. She was busy corralling a skinny girl working on a server; she made a quick shushing motion and pointed to the floor. The girl was obedient.
A sudden onset of flashing red lights signaled that their intrusion was noted. "Took them long enough." Natasha muttered as they faced the reinforced wall of glass separating them from the main terminals. A revolving glass door, a mantrap enclosure, was the only access and it was electronically shut tight.
"We could destroy these racks, right?" Steve offered as they assessed how difficult it would be to get into the room.
"No. We need to get in there." Bucky put all of his strength and weight into pushing on the door with no success.
"The data is probably backed up somewhere. Destroying these will only slow them down, it doesn't stop them." Natasha dragged the girl forward.
"You can get us in there, right?" Natasha pointed to the room.
The girl shook her head 'No.' But had a change of heart when a bloody, sweaty Barnes stalked up to her.
"What's the plan, Buck?" He let the warmth from Steve's hand on his flesh arm ground him.
"Makin' it up as I go." He muttered and stared at the screens.
"That's reassuring." Natasha tugged at Steve; interrupting his growing constant contact with Barnes.
"Steve...he's bleeding. He must have been shot." She whispered and nodded at the oozing wound.
"Damn it."
"I don't want to know how you got his thigh wound blood on your face." She scraped at the evidence.
"I'll find a bandage." Steve deflected.
"No time. They'll be here soon." Bucky muttered. "Romanova, can you send a message from here?"
"Easier with a password."
Steve beckoned the girl forward. "Password, please."
She hesitated.
"My friend is crankier than usual, plus he's been shot." He pointed at a scowling Bucky. "Rethink your answer."
A few seconds later, Natasha was connected to the outside world. "Now what Barnes?"
"Send the pictures of the guns and this location, and anything you can."
"Send it where? You said not to Fury."
Bucky looked uncertain then, "Send it to Stark."
"What?" Steve looked surprised.
"Are you sure about this?" Natasha looked between them.
"You trust him, don't you? You sent him the phone if he needed you...so would you trust him with all this?" Bucky stared intently at Steve who took a deep breath and answered hesitantly,
"I trust him with the data, Buck."
"But?"
"I don't trust him with you. I think he was the ….."Steve shook his head. "I don't know what he'd do to you."
"Well, I'm not asking you to turn me over….just the data."
"He'll do the right thing with this information." Natasha tried to reassure both of them.
The muffled sound of a gunshot broke into the debate about Stark's ability to do the right thing. Natasha and Bucky raised their weapons, Steve readied the shield.
"Sam." Natasha looked at Steve. "I'll go check on him."
Steve countered "No. You need to send out that intel. Keep working on that. I'll go."
"I got him." Bucky headed for the revolving door.
"No...stay here...tell her what you want sent out. I'll go." Steve pulled him to a corner out of sight of Natasha and the girl. "Listen, don't do anything stupid."
You're taking all the stu..." Steve stopped the comment with his mouth firmly planted on Bucky's; his tongue teased along his lips, flirted with his tongue. Bucky stiffened at first, it was all so out of context; but the feel of Steve's mouth over his; the wetness on his lips pushed past his uncertainty. The threat of gunfire only underscored the urgency; he opened his mouth to take all he could get from Steve. He was hungry to take the taste of him into the next few moments, whatever that might bring. It ended in a sigh and the unspoken promise of more.
Bucky clung to Steve's hips and rasped against his cheek "Don't let go of me."
"Never pal, never." Steve ran a thumb across his cheek and headed towards the door. He called back "Send it to Stark," as he tossed his phone to Bucky and pushed through the mantrap to help Sam.
Natasha worked furiously to download the pictures and connect with Stark's phone through the computer. "Come on, come on. Answer it." She muttered as it kept ringing then went to voicemail. "Such an asshole." She muttered and dialed again. "Pick up, Hydra calling." It went to voicemail again. She dialed directly from her phone. "Barely any battery left….don't' fail now."
Bucky stalked back and forth by the door to the hallway listening for the impending onslaught of Hydra soldiers. "They're coming." He pressed his ear against the door.
"Nothing yet….no answer….he's such a jerk." Natasha huffed and dialed again...this time from Steve's phone.
"I'll hold them off." Bucky's hand went to the doorknob.
"Barnes, no! Stay here." He was out the door before she could finish.
"Shit...shit ….shit….well hello….Tony….love to chit chat but I have some very important data to drop in your lap with the expectation that you'll do right by the world." Natasha hit send.
Steve slid down the ladder and nearly landed on top of Sam.
"They came from out of nowhere. I swear it was like they knew exactly where we were." He whispered. The rusted metal door was still partly open letting the swaying beams of flashlights fill the tiny space.
"How many?" Steve peered out at the approaching group.
"A dozen?"
"You up for this?"
"Any better up there?"
"Marginally….soon to be just as bad."
"Well, let's get this over with."
Steve kicked open the metal door and somersaulted into the tunnel, using the shield as a spring board. A burst of surprised fire followed his rolling form. Sam followed him, skirting along the wall to dive behind the discarded trolley rails.
"Captain America so good to see you." A woman's voice cut through the ringing aftermath of the first round of shooting. "My colleagues tell me your old friend is not far away. I hear the two of you are...inseparable."
Steve landed in a crouch, shield up, braced for more fire; not braced for the voice of Ellingwood, Bucky's last target.
"His capture is inevitable; it's taking place as we speak. We outnumber your little band of "secret" Avengers." She added air quotes around secret and laughed. "Save us all time, energy and bullets and give up."
He straightened and faced her, keeping the shield between them. "We've dealt with worse odds than this. I'm afraid we're going to disappoint you."
"Fine. Perhaps the next few minutes will change your mind." She stepped to one side to allow her soldiers a clear path towards him. He braced behind the shield.
The distinct sound of prolonged gunfire wafted down the shaft from the server room. Ellingwood laughed. "That would be your soldier being taken down. A rogue operative getting his retribution for defying his keepers. What a fool, thinking he could confront Hydra."
Steve's faith in Bucky wasn't shaken. His faith in himself was questionable. "I left him; he said 'don't let go of me and I left him again." He didn't let his self-doubt show.
"I have complete faith in his ability to destroy you."
"Soon he'll be home, not that lovely yellow farmhouse." She smiled with sarcasm. "How romantic, the two of you." She paced up the tunnel, closer to Steve, past Sam's hidden position. "Home with us where he belongs."
A rollicking explosion shook the ceiling and dumped dust and stone onto their standoff. "They have orders to take him alive, if that's any consolation. He's still a valuable asset."
Steve's jaw tensed unconsciously; he sighed, "Entirely too much talking going on here, Sam."
He stepped back and hurled the shield towards the front line of soldiers. He caught it on the rebound as he charged forward with a spinning round house kick to the closest target; he connected with a throat punch to the next; then slammed the shield into a cluster of three soldiers too green to know enough to spread out.
The soldiers opened fire in the midst of his charge. Bullets whipped around him, pinging off the shield, searing past his hearing, the dust and smoke churned up in the stifling space was choking. The unrelenting sound of gunfire off in the distance drove his urgency; he barely felt the bullet rip through his left arm. He shook off the pain; somewhere far above him, Bucky was being taken.
Bucky stood his ground in the hallway waiting for the pack to round the corner. He calmly checked his ammunition. The rifle had a few rounds left; the pistol had one clip. He thought about tossing the useless laser gun; but decided it might come in handy as a scare tactic.
"Oh, and one knife, Soldier. You stupidly dropped the other one."
"You are so fucking helpful."
He felt a bit naked with only two guns and one knife; a slight wave of nostalgia for the days of four guns and six knives came and went.
He sighed as the soldiers came into view. He counted them unconsciously.
"Six. A good sign."
They stared at one another for a few seconds before someone in the back of the crowd yelled "Take him." They opened fire. He turned and dropped to one knee; blocking his head with his arm. The bullets slammed into the metal and tore at the kevlar vest with so much force his knee was driven back, sliding across the floor slick with his still oozing blood. He swung the rifle up towards his targets and sprayed blindly across their legs until the clip was empty. The sound of moans and dropped weapons cued him to advance. He used the empty weapon as a club against the closest soldier; grabbed at the throat of another and tossed him down the hall; three were writhing in pain on the floor at his feet.
"One left, Soldier."
The last one stood silently smiling. He appeared uninjured. Bucky looked impassively at him, assessing how much of a threat he'd be; how to make the next best move.
"Fuck...he's big." Bucky kept his sentiment hidden as he took in the size and scope of his opponent.
"We've heard a lot about the Winter Soldier. We're kinda sick of hearing about you. Not sure why we want you back but….I'm here to collect Hydra's property." The man stopped smiling.
He moved faster than his large and muscled body would have implied. Bucky barely had time to pull the knife before the man slammed into him. He dropped a metal elbow onto the man's upper back; drove a knee into his chest; stabbed at his arm. The man brushed it all off, barely grunting at the knee. A Kevlar mesh deflected the knife.
Bucky stepped to the right, locked the metal fingers into the hem of the Kevlar vest and spun the man past him; breaking the hold he had on his waist. They separated and faced one another again. Bucky stalked forward straight for him, the knife was low in his right hand; he drove his metal fist into the man's chest, a left hook shook Bucky's vision but not his forward motion. The knife slashed upwards, drawing blood but not a cut that would stop the attack. He hammered again into the man's chest, then face, his knee connected with the man's belly again; his relentless drive pushed the man backwards down the corridor. He slashed again; slicing open a forearm; he thrust towards his groin but a well placed block knocked Bucky's hand aside.
A surge of pain in his thigh broke his mindless attack; his opponent had seen the wound, used it against him; his fingers were pressing deeper; twisting into the wound; distracting him from making the final push to end the fight. Bucky growled as he wrapped his fist around the man's Kevlar protected neck.
He felt his right foot get pulled from under him; the man was lifting his leg with his thumb dug deep into the wound. The searing pain in his leg wasn't enough to take him off the task; but the knife that slipped under his own vest was.
Bucky landed on his back; the man looked even bigger from that vantage point as he towered over him.
He kicked up, catching him in the groin; a blow that would have been effective except for the damned jock cup.
"He thought of everything, Soldier."
"Fuck you." Bucky swore at both of them.
Bucky quickly rolled to his knees and staggered up; a hand snagged his hair; he flinched as his head was driven into the wall and held there. A trickle of blood fell in his eye blurring his already wavering vision. A knee pressed against his ass; pinning him to the wall. He braced his hands and pushed; fighting to escape the man's considerable weight holding him in place.
"Needless to say, Hydra's been working on the serum." The man whispered close to Bucky's ear.
He grimaced when a fist pounded into his right kidney.
"Let's make you a little more pliable, shall we."
Bucky panted with the pain searing across his back with each blow.
"Kidneys are such an amazing organ."
Another hit to the kidney brought a renewed struggle; he swung his right hand back, stabbing blindly at the man.
"Just the right amount of damage and you're out of it for a few hours, maybe days, piss some blood and then you're good to go. No one knows the difference."
One more hit to his kidney left Bucky's will to fight overwhelmed by the searing pain; he dropped his hands and let the man press his full weight against his body; didn't protest the whispered breath on his cheek.
"You'll never talk...you never did...that's what I've been told."
Bucky went limp as the man's hand slipped around his waist; his mind disconnected from the sensation of fingers struggling with the front of his pants; the feel of those fingers hot on the skin of his belly.
"Not again, Soldier. Don't let this happen again."
"No. Get off me." Bucky choked out as he regained some of his senses and drove a foot down on the man's arch; threw an elbow back; and desperately fought against his assailant's overwhelming hold on him. He turned the blade in his right hand and swung back against the man's thigh; digging in repeatedly, stabbing, scraping, trying to cut into a tender spot; an artery; anything to slow the attack.
The knee in his back jerked into him again, a hand squeezed hard at his kidney; pulling a mournful groan from him and sending blinding pain across his back and into his groin. He could hear his ragged gulping breaths but the screaming was all kept tightly inside his head.
The man pulled his hand away from Bucky's skin and tugged at his own pants; he saw the jock cup land on the floor near their feet. Panic filled his belly at the introduction of a growing erection pressed against his ass.
The man's hand went back to Bucky's skin; slow strokes at first, then rough; he tore at his pants, tugging to pull them down out of his way.
"No...no...no!" His metal elbow shot back against the man's ribs, once, twice, three times; he twisted to bring his arm between them behind his back; the fingers searching, reaching and finally connecting. He locked them down on the man's cock. At first his assailant moaned in a perverse kind of pleasure at the firm cold touch; he groaned as the fingers tightened; but the final locked down grip brought screams of pain as his organ burst in Bucky's metal fist.
He sat propped against the wall staring at the moaning, bleeding asshole that tried to take him. His breath was ragged, a prolonged shudder kept him from getting to his feet. If he wasn't so dehydrated he might've had tears for the whole event. The sound of an elevator around the corner brought him back to his wits. He poked dispassionately at the wound in his side; glanced at the bloody knife still in his hand. A quick thought about Romanova spurred him to into motion. He crawled over the man's legs to straddle his thighs. "Is this what you wanted?"He spit out as he pressed his hips against the man's destroyed appendage; it drew a loud wailing moan from the man. He leaned over him and let the blood and sweat from his head drip into the man's eyes."I gutted the last bastard that did this." He pressed his bloody metal fingers on the man's cheek. "You. Get to live."
Bucky staggered to his feet. Grabbed an Uzi and a backpack from one of the wounded. He leaned against the computer room door.
"I'm no one's fucking property, asshole."
Sam wrapped his arm around the neck of Ellingwood. "Hold your fire! I have no problem killing her." His gun was tucked neatly behind her ear.
The soldiers slowly stopped their attack; Steve backed towards Sam and his captive.
"Tell them to drop their weapons and get the hell out of here." Sam shook her to emphasize his demands.
"Don't be a fool…."
Steve slammed the shield into the wall next to her head. "Enough. Tell them to drop their weapons and go." The sounds of the battle in the server room had stopped. No one came down the ladder. No sounds of Bucky's swearing; no stun discs; no hint of their survival.
"Fine. Drop your weapons and back off. Now." Ellingwood barked. Her soldiers quickly obeyed but as they withdrew another explosion rocked the tunnel. The ground shook beneath their feet; a rumbled complaint from the walls and ceiling caused them all to scatter as dust churned up around them, chunks of the ceiling rained down.
"It's collapsing!." Sam barely got the words out when the ceiling fell down around Steve.
"Romanova. Open the door." Bucky rasped a whisper.
He stumbled onto his hands and knees as he fell through the doorway dragging a backpack and an Uzi.
"Did you get through?" He pawed through the pack and sucked down most of a bottle of water before glancing at her and offering the last sip.
She took it. "He's got most of it. A few more minutes and we should be good."
"Doubt we have a few minutes." He staggered to his feet and headed for a large cabinet to push in front of the door.
She watched the blood streaks on the floor. "You got shot again?"
"Nope." He groaned as the cabinet settled into place. "Stabbed."
"Did you get hurt this much as Winter?" She absently asked as she checked the download progress.
He stared at the back of her head. "Yeah. I guess so."
"You should bandage those wounds."
"I got a mother...actually I got at least two maybe three. Well my real mom is gone. And that Widow just called herself my mom and Steve, well, he's like a mom..." Bucky's words trailed off as he realized how she was looking at him.
He bit his lip "I usually save the loose and tangential shit for myself and Steve, sorry." He busied himself with the pilfered backpack. "Oh. Look. C4."
"Turn your back."
He looked suspiciously at her. "What?"
"Turn your back." She was unzipping her uniform top.
"Not you too?"
"What are you talking about? I've got a t shirt….for a bandage."
"You're an idiot, Soldier."
"Right." He turned around.
"Ok. Ready for this. I am looking away as much as possible. I am touching as little as I can."
"Ok, ok. Do it."
Natasha wrapped her arms around him, pulling the ripped T shirt tight and tying a knot over the stab wound before stepping away, hands up, to signal she was done.
He threw on the vest; grabbed the backpack and Uzi to stalk towards the revolving door. "Is it done?"
She hovered over the terminal. "Looks like it."
"Great let's get the hell out of …." An explosion blew them and the barricade nearly across the room.
Bucky slammed against the wall of glass that held up despite the force of an explosion and his body. He blinked to clear the fog of the hit; but struggled with the smoke and darkness. Red alarm lights gave counterpoint to the white pools of emergency lights. He scrambled to his feet and glanced at the door. "Not yet." He told himself.
"Romanova?"
He stumbled over the debris; every breath brought coughing as his lungs screeched at the smoke bomb they tossed in with the explosion. He tripped over something soft, he slapped next to his foot and found her. "Romanova!" she moaned but didn't move.
His attention was drawn to a sobbing sound, the computer girl was still there. He pushed her into a corner and shoved a desk over her "Stay there...until there's no more shooting...then run like hell."
He crawled back to Romanova. "Hey, come on, wake up. Gotta go." He poked a metal finger into her cheek; then her side, then her shoulder. "Gotta go...let's get up...Widow...come on."
"What the hell Barnes." She choked on the air.
"Oh good. We have got to go." He pulled her up by her arm and dragged her towards the revolving door. "Get out….go on."
"No. Not without you."
"Nooo. You go. I'll go next."
"Barnes, stop arguing. There's no more time." She reached out and grabbed at his vest and yanked him inside the mantrap. It shut tightly behind him.
"Push the latch. Open it." The panic in his voice was barely controlled.
"I am pushing; I am trying to open it." Romanova was pressing the buttons; pushing on the latch but to no avail.
"Damn it. I told you to go without me."
"Well that wouldn't change things. It still wouldn't open, you'd just be stuck in there with that swarm of soldiers that just waltzed in."
They turned to gaze at the dozen soldiers staring at them stuck in the revolving door trap. One man walked forward; a bloody patch on his pants.
"You look like a fucking gerbil in there, Soldier." The man still had a sense of humor despite his recent loss.
"Shit." Bucky muttered.
"Friend of yours?"
"No. I bit his dick off."
Natasha ducked under his arm and looked closely at his face with a look of almost horror but maybe admiration. "Shut up. You did not."
"I did too." Bucky shouted so they could all hear him."Did your fearless leader tell you that guys...he wanted me to suck his dick...so I bit it off, then I crushed it in my fucking metal vibranium hand." He slapped his bloody hand on the glass in front of the man's face and smirked.
Natasha patted him on the chest and nearly gave him a hug as she directed her proud parent smile towards the would-be assailant.
He glanced down at her and mumbled. "You're touching me."
"Ok Barnes. Do not lose your shit over this….I know I'm touching you but that was beyond great even if you didn't do it."
The dickless guy knocked on the glass again. "Soldier? Hello. How about some attention here."
Bucky gave him the best cold Winter stare he could muster in the moment.
"I think it's time to put you down. No more wasting time and energy on you."
He put the gun to the glass directly across from Bucky's forehead.
"Barnes?" Nastasha stopped smiling. "Duck when you see him blink."
"So he can try again. No."
She turned to the lock and punched at it; then tried the stunners; then pried at it.
"Come on Barnes, use that arm. Hit it. I've seen what you can do."
Bucky stood staring at the man; waiting for the end.
"You're such a moron, Soldier. Here we are again facing death and you still have regrets."
"No regrets. He knows how I feel, I know how he feels. That's good enough."
"What?" Natasha wasn't as aware of the conversations with the Voice as Steve was. She couldn't weave in her part of the three way conversation. Steve was getting better at it; learning how to carry on a dialogue with Bucky and his Voice.
"You ready Soldier? You wanna kiss her or something before I blow your brains out?"
"Barnes...this is not ok...lets push together."
"Ssshh. It's ok." He whispered but never took his eyes from the man. "Maybe it's just time."
"No...no..Watch his eyes. You know we can tell when someone's going to pull the trigger. We can duck; we can fight him."
Bucky sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm tired Alena, it's ok. But I'll miss Steve."
"I'm not her, I'm not him, Barnes." She wrapped her arms around him. "But I'll hold you the way they would have." She buried her head against his chest.
He let his arms fall around her and whispered "Tell him I said…..womb to tomb, pal."
The last thing they heard was the explosion of a bullet hitting the glass.