Chapter 23. With Your Shield
Jane
There is an Ancient Greek saying, attributed to Plutarch that says, "come back with your shield – or on it." It was supposedly the parting cry of Spartan mothers given to their sons as they left for battle. It meant a warrior was never without his shield, either returning home from battle victorious, alive and carrying it, or dead and carried back upon it by his comrades. I don't know why that phrase came to me on the morning the assembled law enforcement teams prepared to leave for a series of raids. That type of mindset wasn't second nature to me, and I didn't think the people on our combined NYPD / FBI team felt that way. Perhaps it was the look of determination that was on Tony Stark's face when he returned to the hidden compound after seeing to the needs of his security chief, Happy Hogan.
It's accurate to say that he took the attempt on Happy's life personally. Bruce enlightened me on the bond between the two men, saying it was more like brothers than employer and employee. Happy, despite being considerably younger than Tony, had been a caretaker for him for almost twenty years. A former boxer, he was hired as a private security guard for Stark Technology when he retired from the ring. Something clicked between the two men and Happy showed he was more than capable of heading up the security division for the company, responsible for company security as well as personal security for Tony, his wife Pepper, and their daughter Morgan.
When Tony arrived the previous night, he asked to meet with Thor and Bucky first, before the rest of us were expected to meet in his quarters. Expecting Tony's arrival, Bucky had crammed our remaining weapons training into either a full morning or afternoon session, with the help of the FBI and NYPD members on our team. It was draining to fire a gun repeatedly for hours but by the time we finished most of us were able to make those head shots and could fire off a full magazine in quick succession. We wouldn't go down without a fight. That evening was to be dedicated to planning with Tony addressing us first. When we did arrive, he didn't say a word until we were all inside and the door closed.
"First of all, Happy will be alright," he announced. "The air bags engaged like they should and although both he and Gary, his driver, suffered facial injuries, and some broken bones they'll be out of the hospital soon. Gary and his family will be joining our families in seclusion while Happy will be coming here." He pulled up a tablet and unlocked it, showing us a picture of a man in his 40s. "This is Justin Hammer, a former business partner of mine. He tried to take over the company about eight years ago, having illegally bought stock to put himself in position to take control of Stark Technology. I, as majority shareholder, rebuffed him, and sued to force him to divest his stock, after learning he used blackmail and coercion to buy up stock. His goal, at the time, was to turn Stark Technology into a sole source contractor for the American military, developing weaponized software and AI that could be used to spy on foreign entities." His face became grim, and he spat out what we all knew what was coming next. "He's involved in this insurrection and was likely behind the hacking of Happy's vehicle."
"Happy's uncovering of Hammer's involvement has spawned an internal investigation in the Department of Defence," said Thor. "He is a very powerful military contractor and the fact he is supplying our military and has friendly relations with these militias has caused a lot of embarrassment in Washington. As of yesterday, when Tony passed on this information to the federal government, all contracts with Hammer Industries have been suspended. He has aligned himself with our adversaries and will be subject to arrest."
"How did Happy find out about the connection?" I asked.
Tony gave out a bit of a sigh. "We had an operative in Hammer Industries," he finally said. "Ever since he tried to take over my company, I didn't trust that he wouldn't try again. She was a legitimate hire and did not pass on Hammer Industries proprietary information. Her only task for us was to determine if Justin was trying to repeat his takeover attempt but she saw something else, instead. She called Happy to meet with him and was in the car when it lost control. She didn't survive. That information is being suppressed as we want to draw Hammer out."
It explained why he was still agitated and displaying all sorts of negative energy. Tony, right from the moment I met him, was always this guy full of boundless enthusiasm. It's what made working for him so enjoyable as he truly enjoyed every aspect of what Stark Technology did and was capable of. The death of the operative and injuring of a man he considered almost a brother, stung his sensibilities. The man addressing us right now was angry, furious almost, and that made him dangerous. Whether it was to us or those we were up against was still to be seen but I had my money on the latter.
I hardly saw Bucky and the rest of the team on the third day as they spent the time on the firing range and going over the layout of the vineyard they were raiding. Those of us who were staying in the communications centre spent the time testing the ear and video comms pieces that team members would be wearing. The rest of the evening for us and all of the other teams was spent confirming who was going where and verifying that local law enforcement had been cleared to take the arrested suspects into custody. Arrangements with the ATF agency for explosives experts to handle the already constructed explosive devices was also confirmed. Transport had been arranged to various airfields with a synchronized liftoff expected to begin at 09:00 the following morning; those who were raiding the vineyards furthest away were taking off first. Everything was being planned with military efficiency as deadly force was expected to be exchanged with the militias.
I was already in bed when Bucky finally got into our quarters after 10 pm as he and Thor collaborated with the other leaders once more to make sure everything was set. Turning on the bedside lamp I watched as he stripped down and excused himself to shower. When he came out five minutes later, he wore only a towel, taking it off before he slipped under the covers. I started to take my night clothes off, but he stayed my hands, wanting to do it himself.
"Are you sleepy?" he asked, as he caressed my arms. "I just want to take it slow."
"Take all the time you want," I replied, knowing that tonight Bucky didn't want to think of what the next day would bring.
For the next hour or so we were in our own world again, as the maestro lover that Bucky could be came out, giving me several orgasms before he even put himself inside me. It was intensely beautiful, as he didn't hold back with his actions or words. It was love making at a level that I only dreamed about before I met Bucky as he gave me all that he was. I willingly returned as much to him. When we were both finally spent, we laid together, the covers off because we were warm. Our legs were intertwined as we lay facing each other, gazing at each other in the dark. Bucky gently stroked my hair, trailing his fingers down my cheek and neck.
"I've never loved anyone as much as I love you," he whispered. "I'm almost frightened how much I feel for you."
"Frightened? Why?" I placed my hand on his cheek. "You know I love you, too."
"I know, but there's always this irrational fear that I'll mess it up," he admitted. "I was impulsive when I married Connie, stupid when I signed up for the army, and I just ... worry that I'll convince myself to do something just as irrational with you. It's almost as if I want to convince myself that I'm too flawed to have your love."
I didn't know where this was coming from, especially after the incredible encounter we had just shared. Even though he had admitted early on how he felt he failed with his other relationships this was the first time he was voicing any sort of doubts about us. It was a little unnerving and I wanted to attribute it to nervousness for the raids on the next day.
"What's going on?" I asked. "I have no doubts about us. You know that right? You're the man I want to father my children, who I want to grow old with."
"Just nerves, I guess," he answered. "You're just the best thing that's ever happened to me. Maybe I'm just worried about something going wrong on the raids. I just hope nothing goes wrong."
With calmness I touched and held him until he fell asleep. Although a little worried at him expressing his doubts I also felt honoured that he trusted me enough to share them with me. It was part of marriage, to be there offering comfort to him when he was down.
All of what he voiced and the saying from Plutarch went through my mind in the morning as I watched Bucky preparing for the first raid with the team. There was definitely a grim demeanour to his efforts, almost like he was listening to an internal call to battle. It was an aspect to the man I loved that I hadn't yet witnessed in our short but intense relationship. When he was ready to go, he looked at me and opened his arms.
"I'm sorry for expressing doubts last night," he said, as he held me tightly, almost burying his face in my neck. "This is all new to me. Not the preparation part but doing it this close to someone I love. I hope I've prepared you and the others enough to defend yourselves if something goes down here."
"You have," I whispered. "We all know we have to rise to the occasion. Promise you won't take any unnecessary chances or be too heroic."
I could feel him smirk as he gave out a short breathy laugh. "It won't be in the plans, but those things never are," he admitted. "Anything could go wrong." He squeezed me a little harder. "I'll be careful."
We headed out to the staging area. Those people leaving from other airfields were already en route there. Our group was taking off from the inside of that cavernous underground hangar. Carol Danvers and Jack Landon were pulling double duty as helicopter pilots. He would stay with the aircraft as Carol joined the team on the raid. They received clearance to take off and I watched them disappear from view once they cleared the opening. Our next stop was the armoury, where we were issued our handguns and holsters to put them in. Although body armour had arrived it was given to those going out on the raids, as well as Agent Darwin and two other agents who were staying to provide protection to those of us left in the command centre. Once the last helicopter left the hangar cover was closed, everything was locked down and we were hunkered down in the command centre, setting up our live video and communication feeds. Until everyone arrived at their target locations all we could do was wait.
About an hour later we began receiving the check-ins from each team, ten in all. With military precision each team landed near their targets and approached the vineyards on foot, weapons drawn. I should have been assigned to monitor a specific team but Tony and Bruce, in charge of the communications centre knew that with Bucky being out there it would be better if I acted as an unassigned support person, helping them monitor and record all communications from all the teams. Early footage and reports indicated success at the vineyards furthest from our location. The element of surprise was definitely there as they were able to get in, make the arrests and bring in explosives experts to handle the devices that had already been made. So far as we could tell no one had been able to warn the other vineyards about the raids.
The vineyard that the combined FBI/NYPD team was hitting was now up on the screens, courtesy of the drones that Sam had programmed. He was in the helicopter with a laptop showing all the views from the drones that were overhead monitoring the activities. As the helicopters carrying the team approached, landing just outside the perimeter of the property, they all disembarked. Quickly, they approached the centre of the property when Sam warned them of armed men coming out of a building in the centre of the operation.
"They're lining up in front of another building, facing it," he said to the others. "Shit, they're dragging Coulson out with them. He's been roughed up. It's an execution."
"Base, how close are we?" asked Thor.
"100 yards," estimated Tony.
"We come in hot then," said Thor. "Scatter them. Coulson has good instincts and he'll react appropriately. Can Jack come in with the chopper and buzz them?"
"Jack here," said the pilot. "I'm on my way." He turned to Sam. "Buckle up."
Everyone pulled their weapon out and waited for Jack's signal that he was airborne. With a great yell they charged towards the armed men as Jack dove the helicopter towards the armed men, scattering them. As Thor guessed Coulson figured out what was happening and one of the drones showed him as he charged headlong into the man nearest him, knocking him over. Adrenaline took over as he punched the man repeatedly before taking the weapon from him and running towards where Thor and the others had taken cover.
"Phil, you alright?" asked the big FBI agent, who dwarfed the older, shorter man.
"I am now," he said, his voice picking up on the comms. "Two years undercover and they caught me texting those pictures of this vineyard. That Walker asshole didn't trust me, set up video cameras on the dock."
I glanced at Tony when Coulson mentioned John's name and he just shook his head at me. My ex-husband was definitely in deep. Before I could think of anything more Sam came up on the comms again, as he and Jack were over the river, watching as someone was on the boat.
"They have boxes loaded on the boat and someone's trying to start it up," said Sam. "The others are pinned down in the yard."
"Can you two stop them?" asked Tony.
"Too many power lines near the water for me to move sideways," reported Jack.
"I can jump onto the boat if Jack goes low enough but someone has to take over the drones," offered Sam. "Can one of your guys can take over remote control?"
Tony looked at Peter and Ned, with the former handing his station over to me while he logged into another computer and looked for Sam's laptop. When he found it, Peter connected, and confirmed that the drone control was his. One of the drones showed Sam at the open door of the helicopter guiding Jack into position. When it was low enough, he dropped onto the deck and engaged the man on the boat as Jack pulled up to a safer spot. Peter continued to manage the drones over the boat and the yard, as our team took on the armed men in the compound. Everything seemed to be at a stalemate when Sam's frightened voice pulled our attention back to him.
"Take cover," he yelled, as he dove off the boat into the river and began to swim.
"What the ...?" responded Tony, unsure of what was happening.
A large explosion shook all of the drones and even sent a couple of the ones closest to the boat into the river, their signal lost.
"Sam!" Tony called. "Report! What's going on?"
"The boat went up," said Jack, his voice higher than normal, even with his military experience. "Sam was in the water, but I don't see him. Can you scan the water with one of the remaining drones?"
We watched in confusion as the sound and impact of the explosion affected the stalemate in the compound, with our team coming out with guns blazing at the opposition. Ned left his station and took over control of a couple of the drones, sending them over the waters of the Potomac, looking for Sam. For several tense moments there was nothing coming over the comms, except the sounds of gunfire at the compound. The action was chaotic, even for the drones. Then Thor's voice broke through over all the others shouting the same thing.
"Hands up! Weapons down! Federal agents! You're all under arrest!"
The drones on the rest of the team finally focused on our people advancing towards what was left of the armed men as several of them stood slowly up from where the blast of the explosion knocked them down. They had dropped their weapons and were compliant.
"Found him," said Ned, loudly. "He's hurt."
Tony spoke then, his voice surprisingly calm. "Thor, can you send someone to the river? Ned will direct you to Sam."
"On it," said Bucky and I looked away from the screen I took over from Peter so I could hopefully see my husband.
He ran towards what was left of the dock then Ned directed him further north until he came to Sam, lying on his back, halfway up the riverbank. I could hear him swearing at the devastation caused by the boat exploding but his voice to his partner was softer yet full of worry.
"Sam, buddy," he said, as Ned's drone showed him pulling his partner completely out of the water. "You with me?"
There was no answer from him other than moans and Bucky indicated there was bleeding from Sam's ears and nose.
"Stay with me, Sam," said Bucky, then he looked up at the drone hovering near him. "We're going to need a medical evacuation. He's in bad shape."
Tony looked at Bruce who made the call. Everyone in the command centre were watching the screen with Ned's drone footage on it as Bucky stayed with Sam, trying to make him comfortable. Local law enforcement arrived to take custody of the men who were at that property then Thor and Torres made their way to the river as the others cleared the rest of the compound.
"Do you have footage of who was on the boat with Sam?" asked Thor, as he knelt down and put his hand on Sam's shoulder.
Quickly Peter scanned through the recorded drone coverage of the boat then came up with an image, using imaging software to improve the quality. When he finally got one up and showed it in the communications centre, we all took a sharp breath. It was Emil Blonsky, the rogue FBI agent, who had shot Erik Selvig. Tony told Thor and we could see how visibly upset he was at this identification. A fire department boat approached with a medical crew, and they jumped onto the bank, taking over from Bucky, Thor and Torres.
"I want a search for human remains," said Thor, to the fire department captain of the boat. "There was another person on the boat who set off the explosives. We have to confirm he is dead. If he's not ..."
Within the hour there were dive teams searching for the body of Emil Blonsky or whatever was left of him. ATF came in with their team to take possession of the explosive wine bottles, and any remaining liquid that was in storage. They also wanted a report on the boat explosion, considering the blast radius. This explosive liquid that had been developed was dangerous and we had no idea if it had already been shipped out to other locations and planted at their targets.
Sam was transported via the fire department boat to a safe location for a medevac helicopter to land while the others returned to our base in the two helicopters that brought them there. We were waiting for them when they landed in the underground hangar. When our team came out of the aircraft, I could tell they were all hurting. Bucky came right to me, desperate for me to hold him. With my arm around his waist, I helped him get to our quarters. He never said a word until the door was closed then he dropped to the floor and began to cry for the man he was so close to.
"I don't know if he'll live," he finally said. "He felt the full force of the blast while he was in the water. It's a miracle he made it to shore before I got there."
"Did he come to at all?" I asked, not sure what to say or do for him.
He shook his head then looked down at the mud on his clothes from where he kneeled beside Sam on the riverbank. Wearily, he got up and began undressing. I took his things as he went to shower. While he was in the bathroom there was a knock on the door. It was Tony, once again his demeanour was totally different from his usual extroverted self.
"Debriefing in 30 minutes," he said quietly. He could hear the shower. "How is he?"
"Not good," I replied.
"Tell him we're getting Sam's girlfriend and sister to him. His captain has been notified as well." He looked like he wanted to say something else then shook his head. "I'll see you both at the debriefing."
By the time we got there the place was full as the other teams wanted to see the footage of the explosion. These devices the militias were making using wine bottles were deadlier than we thought, and they all wanted to know what potential there was for injury or death before they began undertaking the next set of raids. As we walked further into the room others were stopping Bucky and murmuring their support for his partner. We sat next to Torres, who looked pretty shaken himself. Even as devastated as he was Bucky leaned to the younger police officer and placed his hand on the man's shoulder, whispering something to him before squeezing his shoulder again. Joaquin nodded and smiled grimly, before placing his attention on Thor who was up front with Melinda May and a shorter man, Phil Coulson.
The latter put his hands up until everyone was paying attention.
"Well, looks like my so-called wild goose chase has shown what I feared two years ago when I undertook this deep undercover operation," he said. "This force being assembled with the assistance of people we worked with and trusted is no better than the worst foreign terrorist group. They wish to seize control of our government by violent means, and we had a brutal demonstration of how effective those means are today. The blast damage was considerable, even though it happened in an unpopulated area. One of our own was critically injured." He looked at Bucky. "I'm sorry about your partner."
"We all live with the possibility of this happening to us," replied Bucky. "Sam Wilson is strong, and he'll pull through. If that had happened near an office building or a residential area the damage would have been much worse. We have to stop these people."
Coulson nodded in agreement. For the next 90 minutes they went over the different raids, debating what worked, and what didn't work. There were some good news as more federal resources were being made available. More manpower, plus access to wiretapping and other surveillance methods was being increased. A larger security force was being sent to guard this location, especially when the teams were out and those of us in the communications centre were on our own. As the debriefing session finally wrapped up, we were all hungry. Bucky asked if I wanted to eat in our quarters. He was both physically and emotionally drained and wasn't feeling up to being social with other people. Before we got there with our food Peter met us in the hallway with a laptop.
"Bucky?" he asked tentatively. "We got word your daughter wishes to have a video visit with you. I can set it up in your sitting area. Is that alright?"
"Sure," he replied, unlocking the door, letting the younger man in ahead of him.
When Bucky sat in front of the screen and saw Rose, I saw his whole body change in reaction to how she looked. He became softer, calmer, and focused just on her.
"Daddy?" she said, then her voice broke. "Are you alright? They told us about Sam, but they couldn't say if anyone else was hurt."
"I'm fine, baby," he said soothingly. "No one else was hurt. Joaquin is fine. We're all just hurting inside over what happened."
She wiped the tears that had fallen from her eyes. "I don't know if I can do this," she whispered.
"Do what, Rose?" he asked calmly, watching her intently.
"Be in love with a cop," she replied, her voice breaking again. "I can't ... I don't know if I can handle this."
"Isn't this something you should be talking to Joaquin about?" he asked gently. "You handled it as my daughter growing up."
He glanced at me as Rose started to cry. "Do you want me to get him?" I asked in a whisper.
He nodded and put his attention back onto his daughter, speaking so kindly to her in order to draw out her fears. I went to Joaquin's room, knocking on the door. He looked surprised when he opened it to see me there.
"Bucky is talking to Rose," I said. "She needs you."
"Is she alright?" he asked, a worried expression on his face.
"She's afraid for you," I replied. "What's happened to Sam has shaken her." He hesitated and I smiled at him. "Do you love her?"
"Very much." I waited a moment for more and he blushed. "I want to marry her. She's amazing."
"I think she needs to hear that from you." He still hesitated. "It's okay. Bucky sent me for you."
Closing the door behind him he followed me to our rooms. When we walked in Bucky acknowledged Joaquin and turned back to Rose.
"Sweetheart, I want you tell Joaquin what you just told me. If you want to end it then you need to do it honestly, to his face." She began to protest as Joaquin frowned at Bucky. "Rosie, don't misunderstand me. I don't agree with this. I think what you have with him is very special. Trust me, that kind of special doesn't come around very often. You're young but so is he and you could have so many years of true happiness together."
"But what if he gets hurt or killed? I don't think I could bear that."
"He could get hurt or killed regardless of the type of job he did," replied Bucky, patiently. "There's no guarantee in life, sweetheart. All any of us can do is grab hold of the happiness that is staring us in the face and keep it close. You can have that with him. I know it."
He looked at the younger man who smiled at Bucky, understanding what he was doing. With a nod he motioned to Bucky to get up and took his place, looking at Rose with all the love in his being. Picking up our food Bucky motioned for us to go to the bedroom so they could have privacy. We sat on the bed and he sighed.
"She's always had fears," he explained. "Night terrors when she was little. Whenever there was something on TV like a child abduction, she would fixate on that. All she needs is to voice her fears and have someone there to talk her through it. If he's serious about her then he needs to know what to do when she gets like this."
"You like him," I said.
"I do," he admitted, as he bit into his sandwich. "Did I ever tell you of an encounter I supposedly had with him when he was a teenager?" I shook my head. "He told me of it when we first got to Quantico. God, it seems so long ago when we sat around and talked about it."
I took a bite of my sandwich and Bucky cleared his throat before sharing the story.
"He and his friends were at a party in a different neighbourhood from where they lived. They got noisy and a complaint was laid. I answered the call. I could see they were just young and full of themselves but I told them to chill while I spoke to the neighbour who laid the complaint. He was focusing on the fact they were Latinos, not in their neighbourhood and were surely part of a gang. He kept getting more and more upset so I asked him what he was like when he was a teenager; if he ever went to a party in another neighbourhood and raised a little hell. Slowly, he admitted he was a handful and agreed to withdraw the complaint if they just toned it down a bit. Then I went to Joaquin and his friends and reminded them that the people who lived there had kids who were sleeping, jobs they had to get up for in the morning, and that their neighbourhood was their safe space, just like their own neighbourhood was to them and their families. I asked them to tone down the noise and respect that people wanted to feel safe." He chuckled softly then. "Joaquin said that was the day he wanted to become a cop, because I had treated him and his friends like people and it made a difference in his life."
"Did you actually remember him?" I asked.
"No, but what he said touched me," he replied, blushing. "I did remember him in the academy as I taught him how to handle a weapon. He was attentive and focused. When the time came to assign the recruits to their precincts, I told Steve that this was a young guy I could mentor. Now, I look at him as someone I could trust to look after my daughter. I never had a son but if I did, I would want him to be like that young man."
It was a heartfelt admission from Bucky. When Joaquin eventually knocked on the door to say he and Rose had worked it out Bucky hugged him, making the younger man embarrassed. But the affection and respect that 25-year-old Joaquin Torres felt for my husband was definitely there, as were similar feelings Bucky had for the younger man. After what happened that day, I knew each man would do all they could to protect the life of the other. They both planned to come out of this side by side and if that wasn't possible then one would carry the other. It was a bond as strong as any forged on an ancient battlefield.