Chapter 14. No Choice
They arrived at the rendezvous point and as expected all three were taken into custody by Pierce's men, one of them recognized by Bucky as a guy who had been on the Afghanistan patrol that day. When Bucky mentioned it, the guy shrugged, say it was nothing personal. He was in it for the money. All three were put into the third row of a very large black SUV with black masks put over their heads. Steve and Bucky were cuffed behind their backs. The ride took some time then the outside sounds changed and Bucky guessed they were inside an underground garage or in a warehouse. The vehicle stopped and they were all led out of the vehicle. He could hear the footsteps of the others leave and go in a different direction from him and for a moment his heart skipped a beat with concern for Natalie. Then he was taken into a room, uncuffed and recuffed by one wrist to an armchair. He was searched thoroughly then the hood was taken off, revealing Pierce sitting across from him. Bucky glanced behind him seeing the former army comrade was on guard.
"We have to stop meeting like this," said Bucky to the older man. "People will think you have a thing for me."
Pierce smiled a grim smile, obviously not amused. "I've lost 3 of my top people because of you and the woman," he said. "The Canadians are so damn honest. They're rebuffing all my attempts to buy their friendship. It didn't help that Carter shot an undercover policewoman. For a genius she is stupid sometimes. Wilson talked so I'm guessing he's trying to work out an immunity deal. It won't help him in the long run, unless the Feds already have his sister and nephews in protection. Rumlow, well you already know my feelings about him."
He stood up and walked towards Bucky then punched him viciously in the jaw, knocking him almost out of the seat. Bucky could taste blood in his mouth and licked at his lips while he sat up. Then Pierce hit him again, harder. For an old man he could still pack a punch. Pierce took his handkerchief out of his pocket, wiping the blood off of his knuckles before returning to his chair and deliberating.
"Here's my deal," said Pierce. "You become my new number two, you handle the day to day transactions, running the business, making sure the product gets to the dealers, quality control. Once in a while you go to Afghanistan, meet with Qureshi, have some tea, admire his rugs, give him his gold. You'll make 7 figures in a good year, penthouse apartment in New York, new car every year, vacation home where ever you want. You keep the woman, as long as you keep her in line. Private school for any kids you have. In a few years time, I retire to the south of France and you take over."
"Why?" asked Bucky. "Why would you do that, make me that kind of offer?"
"Because I meant what I said before to you," said Pierce. "I should have recruited you from the start. You were smart, cautious, and deliberate. Never let your emotions get in the way of doing the job. Never overdid it. When your shitty lawyer promised you a lower sentence if you pleaded guilty you fought it. When we fixed your verdict you still fought it so you were principled. Those qualities are in short supply. I want them for my organization." He looked at the guard. "Would you take orders from Barnes?"
"I'll take orders from whoever you tell me," said the man.
"See?" said Pierce. "Instant loyalty."
"Who would take over from Rumlow?" asked Bucky.
"I'll have a similar conversation with Rogers in the next room," said Pierce. "He's another one I should have recruited from the start. I'm sure with the life of his wife and kids on the line he'll see the light."
"If I don't accept?" asked Bucky.
"Use your imagination," said Pierce. "We have the woman and I'm sure you don't want to see her hurt. I wasn't happy with what Rumlow did to her but if I have to do it and more to make you say yes then I will."
Bucky was silent, thinking over the offer. He looked agonized over it then finally sat up straight and looked Pierce in the eye.
"Okay, I accept," said Bucky. "I'm tired of living on the edge. For ten years I've been struggling to make a living and I'm ready for the good life. What now?"
"Now we go in and convince your friend," said Pierce. "There's just one thing. He might need some extra convincing so we're going to raise the stakes. Kirk, uncuff Barnes and get one of the kids."
Barnes cuffs were removed and he stood up rubbing his wrist. Pierce led the way to the next door and stood, waiting for Kirk to bring one of Steve's kids over. Bucky noted which room Kirk had entered.
"Why did you have them in an outside room?" he said to Pierce. "Anyone could come through the wall and take them out of there, especially with that emergency exit next to it."
"I didn't think of that," said Pierce. "See, you're already a source of good ideas."
Kirk came back carrying the little girl, Sarah. She was playing shy with him but when she saw Bucky her face lit up. He smiled fondly at her and took her in his arms.
"Hi Princess," he said softly. "You still remember me? Uncle Bucky? Give us a kiss."
She kissed him on the cheek and put her hand on his face touching it gently.
"Sweet child," said Pierce, irritated at the display.
He opened the door where Steve was being held, walking in ahead of Bucky. Kirk entered behind them. Steve was still hooded and cuffed by one wrist to the chair. Kirk searched him then removed the hood and stood back as Steve blinked in the bright light. He saw Pierce, turned his head, saw Bucky's grim face and that he was holding Sarah. Turning back to Pierce, he could barely mask his fury.
"I'm offering you the job of a lifetime," said Pierce, sitting on the edge of the desk. "Number three in my organization, high 6 figures salary, large country home with a swimming pool, vacation home, two vehicles, private school for your kids. You would answer to Barnes but you would be responsible for managing our warehouses, running our sellers, our bought politicians and cops. Kind of middle management. When he moves up after I retire you move up to number two with all of the perks that go with it."
"If I say no?" asked Steve, his face serious.
"Then Barnes will put a bullet in your daughter's brain," said Pierce. "If you still say no, he will put a bullet in your son's brain, and if you still say no after seeing your kid's brains splattered all over the place we'll bring your wife in. We'll do something else to her first before Barnes shoots her in the head."
Steve screwed his face up tight and gave a cry of anguish, rocking back and forth. Then he looked at Bucky who looked at him grimly.
"Trust no one," said Steve.
"Trust no one," replied Bucky.
Steve turned to Pierce and glared at him before giving him his answer.
"No," said Steve, in an agonized whisper.
Pierce nodded at Kirk who took his pistol out and removed all but one bullet before handing it to Bucky. He looked at the gun then at the beautiful little girl in his arms. He bent his head close to her ear and kissed her head.
"Sweetheart," he whispered. "I'm going to make a big noise, so big it will hurt your ears. I want you to cover your ears hard and close your eyes tight. Can you do that? Show Uncle Bucky you can do that."
Sarah did as she was told and Bucky whispered to stay that way until he said otherwise, even though she couldn't hear him. Then he put the gun to her head and with a grimace while he looked at Steve he began to pull the trigger. Instead of pulling it he quickly aimed it at Kirk and fired, putting a bullet between his eyes. While he did that Steve jumped up, with the chair and charged Pierce, knocking him over then hitting him with his free arm over and over. Sarah was screaming in fear as Bucky was trying to calm her but she kept screaming for her daddy. Reaching inside Kirk's pocket he found the handcuff key and got Steve's attention. He tossed the key to him, Steve unlocked his cuffs, and they changed positions. While Steve comforted his daughter, Bucky pulled Pierce up from the floor, putting the cuffs on him, then checking for a gun, which he found.
"You're both going to regret this," said Pierce gamely. "My people will find you."
"Your people will follow whoever you tell them to," said Bucky. "You said that and now you're going to tell them I'm in charge."
"Like hell," said Pierce sullenly.
Bucky slapped him several times to the point Pierce's lip bled. "Yeah, you will."
They went out to where several of Pierce's men were waiting outside the door with guns drawn. Bucky walked out with Pierce in front of him, holding the gun at his back.
"Tell them," he said.
"Put your guns down. Barnes is in charge," said Pierce. "You take orders from him now."
"Get everyone in here," ordered Barnes. "Now! Steve, go check on the others. They're in a room in the corner, outside wall."
Steve went and opened the door where Peggy, Jimmy and Natalie were. They came out, receiving hug from him, then transferred Sarah to Peggy. Natalie heard a transmission from her earring comms and opened the exit door beside the room where his wife was held. The rest of the team came in with black balaclavas on, handing Steve a weapon. Together they surrounded Pierce's men, about twenty of them. Bucky pushed the gun into Pierce's back.
"Are there any more?" he asked. "Tell me, or so help me God I will put a hole in you."
"No, that's it," replied Pierce sullenly.
The team started stripping the weapons off of everyone and zip tying their hands and feet together.
Fury pulled his balaclava off and stood in front of Pierce. "Money?" he asked. "Where's the money?"
"No, I won't tell you," said Pierce, his face full of hate. "I should have known you were behind this."
Fury put a gun in between Pierce's eyes. "Last chance," he said.
Pierce shook his head no and Fury pulled the trigger. It clicked and Pierce breathed out heavily. "You never did have the stomach," he said to Fury, who punched Pierce in the gut, putting him on his knees.
He nodded to Peter and Stark and they went into the main office with their laptop. They came out ten minutes later, giving him a thumbs up. With his hand to his comms piece, Fury asked Majel if the audio from the two offices had been sent to the police. She confirmed it had with Barnes and Rogers names muted. Fury asked for the gun that Barnes shot, wiped it clean and placed it in Pierce's hand, telling him it was his fault the man died.
"Just so you know," said Fury to Pierce. "We also sent an altered audio file to your suppliers and to a couple of cartels you supplied. We made it sound like you made a deal with the Feds. So, even if you're slippery enough to worm your way out of this when the police arrive, your former friends will be quite angry at you, looking for the money you owe for what they paid you for undelivered product. Good luck with that. Tie his legs up, Majel has already called the police and we need to get out of here."
Quickly, they left and piled into two dark vans, one driven by Barton and the other by Thor. They pulled their balaclavas off and calmly pulled out of the parking lot. They stopped to pick up Steve's car and all drove to the warehouse where Majel opened the garage doors, letting all three vehicles in then closing the door. After exiting the vans Steve immediately hugged Bucky.
"You had me believing you were going to pull the trigger," he cried. "Shit, I was scared."
"So was I," said Bucky starting to get upset. "I had to kill him. I had no choice."
"No, don't go there," said Steve, holding his friend. "You saved Sarah's life. You chose right and I will always thank you for that."
Natalie put her arm around Bucky, walking him up the stairs towards the operations area. There were two people waiting and Bucky stopped when he saw them.
"Bruce? Natasha?" he looked bewildered. "What are you doing here?"
"Trust no one," said Bruce. "I'm kind of team doctor. Natasha is kind of paperwork and office organization."
Natasha, a beautiful redhead, stepped forward, offering her hand to Natalie. "Congratulations," she said. "Majel told me he proposed and you accepted? Good, he needs a good woman in his life. Oh, I'm Bucky's ex, Natasha. I'm married to Bruce now and very happy."
They crowded into the operations room where Majel was monitoring the drones they left behind. The place was crawling with police, who found the drugs which were being loaded into secure cases by a hazmat team. The media were already broadcasting outside so Majel turned on the audio for one of their live reports.
A big drug bust here today in the New York area. Police were called to a warehouse in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn and discovered a large cache of drugs believed to be heroin. About twenty men were left bound in the warehouse including disgraced Army General Alexander Pierce who was out on bail for a similar drug bust in the Philadelphia area. Police also revealed an audio recording was sent to them of Pierce offering positions in his drug business to two unknown men who were apparently acting in an undercover capacity. To force the men to work for them Pierce was heard on the recording threatening to kill the wife and children of one of the undercover officers. Police are not saying anything about the undercover operation but they are obviously happy that over a million dollars in heroin has been kept off the streets. Pierce's bail has been revoked and he will remain in custody until his trial on the Philadelphia charges.
In a related story the extradition hearings for known Pierce associates Sharon Carter, Brock Rumlow, Sam Wilson, and an unnamed man hit a roadblock for the four today when RCMP undercover officers in Canada revealed the group met with known drug gangs in the Vancouver mainland and on Vancouver Island before travelling to the Tofino area where they were arrested for the attempted murder of an undercover officer and the kidnapping of a young woman. Additional charges are expected to be laid tomorrow against the four.
This is Marybeth Stevens for KMNY News.
Fury looked at all of them. "Good work today," he said. "Our newest recruits came through for us and we transferred about 60 million dollars into our bank account. There are two more warehouses that we know of that we need to infiltrate and disable. Planning starts tomorrow 10 am. Don't be late."
He looked at Bucky and Natalie when he said the last part. Someone brought beers out and passed them around. Bucky was still upset about killing Kirk until Peggy tried to put it into perspective for him.
"Kirk made his choice ten years ago when he went in on the drug deal," she said quietly to Bucky while he watched everything from the side. "In front of me and the kids Pierce asked who wanted a go at me if Steve didn't play ball. Kirk was one of the first to say yes. He was beyond redemption if he was willing to do that and kill the kids. You chose Sarah's life over his."
Then she placed her hand on one cheek while kissing the other and returned to Steve. Bucky took a drink of his beer and made eye contact with Steve who just nodded and smiled a grim smile. Then he turned away and went up the stairs towards the roof. Natalie saw him go and went to the stairs.
"Majel, where did Bucky go?" she asked.
"Mr. Barnes has gone to the roof," replied the AI.
She ran up the stairs after him, coming out onto a rooftop patio. Bucky sat on a sofa finishing his beer. Quietly Natalie sat next to him. The sun was low in the west and the long shadows from the potted plants on the roof had cooled the space down. She said nothing but just sat quietly with him. Eventually he looked at her and she put her arm out to encircle his shoulder. He leaned into her and cried silently into her neck for the life he took that day. After a while she pulled the back cushions away and laid with her back against the back of the sofa. Bucky put his beer down and laid with her, moving a cushion for their heads. They laid with their legs intertwined and just faced each other.
"I swore after Afghanistan I would never take another life," he said softly. "Even though I know in my head he was scum I still feel like I murdered him. Is that wrong?"
"No, it's human," she replied, her hand on his cheek. "You cherish life. If you were a religious man you would ask God for forgiveness."
"But I'm not so what do I do to stop this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I've committed a terrible crime?" he asked plaintively.
"You forgive yourself," she said. "It was him or Sarah and you chose to save her innocence over his crimes. Someday, you'll dance with her at her wedding, or hold her first baby as if it were your own grandchild and you'll think back to this day and say that you've never regretted choosing her innocent life over the life of a criminal. So start with that. No regrets because that little girl was worth it."
He nodded and blew out a deep breath. Shakily he drew in another breath and let it out. After several breaths she felt the tension in his body easing. The sun had just set and they laid there in the growing dark, him breathing, her watching him. They must have fallen asleep because they woke in the morning sunrise with a comforter on them.
"You slept okay?" asked Natalie.
"I did," he replied. "No dreams, no nightmares. Someone put this on us." He motioned to the comforter.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"Better," he replied. "Hungry."
He sat up, then stood and offered her his hand. In the morning light he kissed her tenderly.
"Thank you," he said, "for putting things in perspective. Let's get some breakfast."
"After I go to the bathroom," she said with a smile.
They went down the stairs to their apartment and Natalie went to the bathroom, taking the opportunity to clean her face and change her clothes. Bucky was checking Majel's video feed of the stairwell. He stopped it at a certain point and smiled, then called Natalie over. The video showed Nick Fury carrying the comforter up the stairs then coming back down without it just a few minutes later. Bucky washed up and changed, and they both went down for breakfast. The common room was busy with everyone trying to cook and getting in each other's way. Jimmy and Sarah were both sitting with others, charming them with their innocent questions and sayings. Fury poured three cups of coffee, pushing two of them towards Bucky and Natalie.
"You slept alright?" he asked appraisingly.
"Yeah, I did," said Bucky. "Just had to put things in perspective."
"There are always hard decisions," said Fury. "The key is to learn to live with that. When it becomes too difficult then it's time for a change."
"I'll remember that," said Bucky. "Thanks, Nick."
"Just so you know we paid out a good sum of money to Tammy Dugan," said Fury. "It doesn't begin to compensate for the loss of her husband but it will let her start over without him. We disguised it as a life insurance payout."
Fury nodded at them and left the common room for his office. Space opened up at the stove and Bucky got in there to make omelettes for him and Natalie. She snagged some bread and popped them in the toaster. While she waited Natasha came to fill her cup with coffee.
"So, Natalie," said Natasha. "When did you know that Bucky was it for you?"
"When he came for me in Baltimore," she said. "I knew when we argued before that he liked me after he called me smart and beautiful. I was so pissed off with him for getting drunk over Dum Dum. Then when I was waiting in the Pittsburgh police station and I saw Rumlow coming for me I just wanted to hear Bucky's voice. He was my lifeline. He found me and saved me, then he looked after me at his parent's cabin. Why did you divorce him?"
"I loved him," said Natalie, "but Afghanistan changed him and we were both too young to handle it. We wanted different things and I found that with Bruce. But I still cared about Bucky because I knew he was hurting. I never believed the charges against him, ever. When Nick approached Bruce about the team we both became involved because this mission was two fold. To bring Pierce, Rumlow and the others to justice but also to right the wrong that was done to Bucky. He's a principled man, you know that. But as long as he lived under that cloud of a dishonourable discharge no one would ever see it much less believe it. Except you. You believed in him very quickly."
"I guess I did," said Natalie, smiling, then sipping her coffee. "He told me pretty early on and I could see the way it bothered him that he didn't do it. After seeing Rumlow kill my sister I had no doubt he was responsible for the deaths of those kids."
"The time in witness protection must have sealed it for you," said Natasha. "You had to rely on each other even more because you couldn't reach out to us. Although I suspect Nick knew where you were."
"We didn't become intimate until we were in British Columbia," replied Natalie, lowering her voice. "I wanted to before then but he wouldn't. Said that as long as I was his client that we had to have a professional distance between us. I pushed it ... we were sleeping in the same bed so that I felt safe. He was always a gentleman, never took advantage of me. Our first time being intimate I experienced PTSD right in the middle of it and he recognized it right away. Got help for me, then waited so patiently until I was ready to try again. There's not many men like that in this world."
"Amen," said Natasha. "Looks like your breakfast is almost ready. Good luck. He is a good man."
Natasha squeezed Natalie's hand and went back to sit with Bruce, who put his arm around her immediately and kissed her. Bucky brought Natalie her omelet and the toast. Together they sat at the kitchen island eating. By the time they finished it was almost time for the planning session on the next warehouse.
The plan was to pretend to have Pierce on the phone saying Barnes was in charge and Rogers his number two in order to infiltrate the remaining two warehouses. Majel could apparently imitate the man based on the recordings they already had. The rest of the team would be let in and they would notify the police after subduing the warehouse staff. To make it more believable both Bucky and Steve were to get a wardrobe upgrade and instruction on acting the part of a drug lord. That would take some time so communications at the warehouses were being monitored while the two men received their training.