Remorseless

Zara kept her breathing quiet and controlled as she turned, looking down the long, dark hallway, pistol in hand. She kept close to the wall, walking slowly with her gun barrel leading the way. She came to a door, much like the long line of others, only this one was ajar. She paused, tucking the loose strands behind her ear. A quick look over her shoulder told her the corridor was clear, and she proceeded, keeping cool, calm and collected as she nudged the door open and ensured the room was clear.

She wished she had a bigger team with her when her eyes adjusted to the dim light, the room full of computers and filing cabinets. She pulled the hack drive from her pocket, turning the nearest computer to her on as she did a clean sweep of the room.
"Room 19, fifth floor clear. Computer lab, hacking the system..." She said quietly into a small speaker on her wristband as the computer finally came to life.

The hardware in the room was obviously out of date by several years, how business this building once ran lasted so long was absolutely astounding. The little blue light on the USB drive lit up as she jammed it in, the computer screen coming to life as it hacked into the system and saved any useful data. Zara poked around the room in the meantime, opening filing cabinets and finding most of the information in there was useless, business related crap. She let out another breath, another useless stakeout, but at least nobody got killed or shot at this time around.
"Building clear" Came the voice in her ear, filling her with an instant surge of relief. She stepped away from the window, heading back over to the computer, keeping her gun at the ready just in case. You could never be too careful. The blue light on the USB changed to a soft orange, Zara pulling it out quickly on hearing someone approaching. She backed herself in behind one of the cabinets, gun up as per her training and watched as the person stepped into the room.
"Hey there..." She whispered quietly, a smile forming on the face of the man in the shadows. She stepped out, lowering her gun and tucked the hack drive into her pocket as she made her way to the door.
"Hey" Bucky said, flashing her a smile before he turned to check the corridor. Zara followed him out, looking over her shoulder to watch both their backs as they made their way quickly and quietly down the long hallway. They came to a stop in front of an elevator door, Bucky effortlessly pulling it open with his metal arm. Zara felt her heart skip a beat, her eyes locking onto the indent in the solid metal door that his hand had left. It was easy to forget he was so powerful as he rarely showed his strength at home.

He grabbed her around the waist, wanting to get out of the building quickly as he jumped down the empty elevator shaft, grasping the cable with his metal hand to slow them before they touched down. Zara let go of him, holding her gun up to protect them as his hand shot out to rip the bottom floor door open. The underground parking lot was empty and totally dark, save for the faint glow of the street lamps coming in through the mesh around the top of the wall.
She followed Bucky's lead, heading over to the west side of the building where he pulled open a locked shutter door and held it up long enough for them both to get under before dropping it behind them.

The car was parked around the corner a couple of blocks away which didn't take them long to get to. Much to Zara's amusement, Bucky checked it over quickly, glancing under it as well before he unlocked it.
"Can't be too careful..." He murmured as they slid into their seats. Zara reached over and locked her passenger door out of habit, and as she turned to buckle her seat belt, she noticed Bucky looking at her with a cocked brow.
"What? Can't be too careful..." She said with a shrug. Bucky let out a 'pfft' and chuckled as he started the car and pulled out onto the road.

Zara reached under her seat, pulling Bucky's laptop from its hiding spot and opened it up. Bucky shot her a slightly shocked look when she not only knew it was there, but correctly guessed the password.
"I know all your secrets..." She whispered with a wink, making him roll his eyes. She jammed the USB into the slot and ran a scan to see what was on the drive.
What are you doing?"
"I'm just taking a little peek before Shield does" She said, her eyes scanning the screen as it lit up with information. Bucky pursed his lips in disapproval, but she ignored him and kept reading, a grin forming on her face when she found what she wanted. She opened the folder, reading its contents. Transcriptions of calls and last known mission locations. Zara looked over at him and bit her lip mischievously.

"What...?" Bucky asked with caution.
"How much ammo do you have on you?"
"Enough to wipe out a small town, why?"
"Take this next left" Zara said, pointing up ahead.
"Why?"
"Just take it!"

Bucky screwed his face up, taking the turn somewhat aggressively, shooting an annoyed look over to Zara as he accelerated up the street.
"Talk, Zee. Right now."
"Calm down. There's a warehouse a few blocks up, the address came up a few times on their system. I wanna check it out."

Bucky let out an exasperated breath and pursed his lips, not being a big fan of surprises, or unplanned missions of any sort. He nodded, despite himself and followed the directions she gave him, pulling into an industrial estate.
"Why is it almost always night time when we do these things?" Zara complained as she checked all her weapons.
"It's not night time, it's four thirty" Bucky argued. Zara cocked her head at him.
"It will be dark in half an hour, you know what I meant." She said, rolling her eyes. Bucky stifled a chuckle as he reached out, taking her wrist to stop her as she went to get out of the car.
"I know this was your idea, but we do it by my rules. I lead, you follow." He said, a serious look on his face. Zara swallowed and nodded, knowing better than to argue with him.
"Got it" She said.

They stepped out of the car, closing the doors behind them quietly. They both flicked the safeties off their handguns and made their way quickly towards the building, their feet crunching in the ice. They slowed when they approached the side door, Bucky putting an arm out to remind her to stay behind him which she did. He glanced over his shoulder giving her a nod which she returned before he snuck through the iron door.

It never ceased to amaze Zara just how quiet Bucky could be when he wanted to. For such a big guy he was surprisingly quick and light on his feet, with the stealth of a cat. It made her self-conscious of her own footsteps which she made an extra effort to lighten. She followed Bucky through the dark warehouse, keeping cool and calm, following the barrel of her gun, regularly checking behind them. Bucky's arm shot out again to stop her in her tracks, pushing her against the wall quietly as he listened hard. Zara looked at him puzzled, suddenly hearing what he had a few seconds later as their eyes both shot up to the door they'd just come through. Bucky crouched, pulling her down with him as the overhead lights were turned on and a couple of carloads of people came through the front door. She looked up at him, grateful that he'd already come up with a plan of action, but slightly concerned that he was screwing a silencer onto the end of his pistol. He threw one to her and she wasted no time kitting her gun up and following him to the next nearest door, staying hidden behind the piles of conveniently placed machinery.

Awesome idea, Zara... Awesome.

She shook her head, scolding herself as she followed him, approaching another door and quietly slipping through.

Shit...

They found themselves in a small room with some giant machine, but at least they were alone. Bucky's eyes darted around the room, up to the roof and then back at her. Zara swallowed hard.
"I'm so sorry, Bucky..." She whispered with regret in her voice.
"Don't worry about it" he said to her as if it was no big deal, pointing to a vent in the roof. She nodded, once again surprised at how relaxed he was in such a situation. He reached up, feeling the machine for heat and testing its strength before climbing it. Zara furrowed her brows, following him when he gestured to her that it was safe.
He pushed at the grate on the roof, and pulled himself up into the opening, again checking that it was safe. He reached down to pull her up after him, and once they were both in the roof duct, Zara carefully replaced the grate and followed him again on all fours. They were careful not to make a sound as they moved through what turned out to be some sort of an air conditioning duct, thankful that it was turned off on such a cold night.

Bucky put his hand out to stop them as he peered down through the next grate before they crossed it. He turned to Zara who was rubbing her hands together for warmth, breath hanging in the air.
"You okay?" He mouthed, Zara nodding in reply, giving him a smile. Bucky frowned a little, the way he always did when he was thinking, absent-mindedly biting his lip for a few seconds as he looked down the grate and back to her.
"Don't look down as we go over the grate, okay?" He whispered, leaning in close to her.
"We're up high aren't we?"

Bucky smiled softly, leaning over to give her a kiss. Zara let a breath out and nodded to him, shaking any trace of nerves off.
"You're lucky you have a cute butt..." She said.
"Yours is cuter. Stay close" He whispered, giving her a wink which gave her butterflies in her stomach.

Zara kept her eyes on Bucky as he crawled ahead on her, moving carefully over the metal grate. She couldn't help herself, sneaking a glance down as she crossed it, immediately regretting it. She kept moving without missing a beat, ignoring the fact her stomach had twisted into the world's tightest knot and she was sure she'd either cry or be sick. Her heart started racing and felt her body trembling a little. She clenched her jaw shut, hard, as they pressed on.
They were a long way up, the warehouse hadn't looked that big from the outside, unless it was her mind playing tricks on her...

Yes, definitely just a trick. It's not that high at all! ... Just your eyes, it's all good- Oh shut up, brain!

The height bothered her more than the men did in the room, there had to have been at least 20 of them, possibly more. All uniformed and working hard. Some were crowded around a map, others were in front of portable computer setups, and some were just standing around with guns looking scary. She was suddenly glad Bucky was with her.

They pressed on, the end of the duct in sight. Zara let out an inward sigh of relief, she'd be glad to get out of there. Her relief was cut suddenly short when the metal underneath them made a clunk as it gave way and the panel in front of her snapped from its support strut, dropping from the roof with Bucky in it.

Zara let out a gasp, reaching out in vain, hoping to catch him around the ankle or something. She watched in horror as he leaped from the falling piece of tunnel and started shooting like crazy. Zara pulled her gun from her holster, holding it up with furiously trembling hands and began firing shots, thinning out the number of opponents he had.
She stifled a scream as bullets ricocheted off the metal walls around her as they began firing at her. She was cornered and there was nothing she could do about it. She kept shooting, watching as Bucky tried to keep the heat off her.
"Zara, JUMP!!!" He called up to her desperately as he ran underneath her.

There's no fucking way I'm jumping-

Her thoughts were cut off by a loud bang, the front half of the duct she was in dropped violently. She gasped in terror, her hands sliding down its metal sides before she realized she was falling. Panic gripped her in mid-air as she dropped like a stone from the height of the roof, landing in strong arms with an 'oof'. She was set down on her feet in half a second, a metal arm reaching over her shoulder, firing three shots from a high powered handgun. Zara turned her body facing his, and peered under his raised arm. She held her gun up, not needing to crouch much and took two soldiers out from behind them. She glanced up, making brief eye contact with Bucky before he grabbed her hand and they ran towards the roller door at the rear of the building, ducking as more shots were fired behind them.
"Pick me up!" Zara called, Bucky swinging her over his shoulder without breaking stride as he ran. She took the rifle that was strapped to his back, hit the safety, pumped it once and held it up, and shot. Another six soldiers went down, Zara reloaded, taking ammo from his belt as he smashed his way out the door.

"STOP!" Zara called after a gasp, holding the gun back up again as she locked onto a target.
"Not a chance!" Bucky called back. She held the gun up, firing shots desperately, frustrated that she was too far away.
"Let me go, it's Ward!" She yelled, struggling against him as his grip tightened and he picked his pace up. "God-damn it Bucky!"

He didn't stop running till they were back at the car, setting her down beside the passenger door. She threw the rifle down, shoving him in the chest hard with both hands. Bucky grit his teeth, anger flashing across his face as he turned and shoved her against the car, holding her there.
"What's WRONG with you!?" She demanded, furious. "He was right THERE!"
"Nothings' wrong with me, I just saved both of our lives!" He snarled back, releasing her. She picked up the rifle, looking over her shoulder for a moment, Bucky snatching it back off her.
"Don't even think about it. Get in the car."

Zara let out a frustrated breath, sliding into the passenger seat, both of them slamming their doors. Bucky started the car, driving off faster than he knew she liked. Zara buckled her seat-belt, looking over at him. He looked mad.
"We could have taken him out..." She said, annoyed.
"At what cost, Zara? Don't you think I want him dead just as bad as you!?" He snapped, shooting her a glare. "We were way outnumbered there. I can't fight and protect you at the same time."
"Oh Christ, Bucky. I can defend myself, we've been over this"
"You have NO idea what you're talking about" He came back, his voice raised and aggressive. His face suddenly softened a little, regretting his tone a little which made Zara soften as well.

"So if we had a bigger team you would have stayed?" She asked, watching him take a breath to compose himself.
"Absolutely. As I said, I want him dead, just not at the cost of either of our lives. Especially not yours" He said, Zara nodding in agreement.
"Well while they're all there, why not call in re-enforcement's? We've been chasing him for months and now here he is..." She said. Bucky frowned, gearing down and grabbing the handbrake as he spun the wheel. Zara gasped and hung onto her seat as the car spun to face where they'd come from. He looked over at her with a smug smile.

"You're right... Make the call"




It didn't take Zara long to round the troops up. They wouldn't have the element of surprise on their side, but they'd have the Avengers. Well, most of the Avengers, she was still yet to meet Thor.
She gave Luke and Jessica a call to let them know it was all going down, glad that Jessica was in a much friendlier mood than last week. They weren't going down there as Tony had only made up enough mind-shields for their team, but Jessica was quick to wish them luck, and eager to hear how it all went.

"Hey Bucky?" Zara said, turning to him in the dark car as they sat waiting for the others to arrive.
"What's up?"
"Sorry about before. I shouldn't have lost my temper, I know you were only looking out for us..." She said, feeling bad. He gave her a smile and shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. You had good reason to be mad. Maybe I worry a little too much sometimes?" He offered with a shrug. "Nothings' more important to me than you... I guess you're my weakness"
Zara chuckled, Bucky joining in with her briefly before she leaned over to kiss him. Her lips lingered on his a little longer than usual, his hand tightening around her thigh as her heart began to race.
"You need a bigger car..." She said, biting her lip. They both peered into the back seat, bursting into laughter together.
"My car's fine..."
"There's no way we'd both fit back there, look at the size of you!" She chuckled.
"It's a GTO coupe, it's not made for THAT..." He said, mock scolding her. "That's why I have a king sized bed, although we could prop the front seat back..." He added thoughtfully. Zara giggled, glancing at the time on the dashboard.
"I wouldn't wanna rush it... When we get back home tonight?"
"It's a date" He grinned, making his eyes sparkle. Zara smiled, letting out a sigh.
"How the hell did I get so lucky?" She said, leaning back over to kiss him again. "You're so gorgeous..."

Bucky let out a chuckle in between kisses.
"We've had this discussion. I'm the lucky one." He said.
"No you're not. I'm a pain in the ass"
"I have a short fuse" He argued back.
"I don't follow instructions"
"I'm... half bionic"
"Oh shut up" She scolded him. "I happen to think your arm is hot. It's totally badass"

They both laughed again, only stopping when a motorbike caught Bucky's attention as it roared up behind them. He started the car, putting it into first. It was definitely Steve's bike, without a shadow of a doubt. He planted his foot, making the V8 engine of the car roar as it took off. The bike caught up by the time they were in fourth gear, Steve giving them a nod when they made eye contact. A flash of light flew over them, bringing a smile to Zara's face when she realized it was Tony. The others were coming in a quinjet and were probably above them in stealth mode.
The warehouse loomed up ahead of them, Zara's nerves resurfacing with a mixture of excitement as they got closer and closer.

"Not parking around the corner again?" She asked, looking over at Bucky as he pulled the car up.
"They know we're here now. May as well get a good parking spot up close" He said with a confident wink. He reached over to the glove compartment, yanking it open and pulling out another handgun.
"Take this" He said, handing it to her.
"I have guns..."
"You can never have too many" He said, not letting go as she took it, pulling her towards him one more time before they went in.

"Stay safe, okay? I love you" He said planting a kiss on her lips.
"You too, Buck. Love you more."