Burning

Natasha Romanov let out a long breath, her face turned toward the sky. Though her moss green eyes were trained on the cold, white clouds above, her mind was somewhere else. Somewhere warmer.

“It sounds nice though, doesn’t it? A little sun, hot sand, tropical drinks… the whole thing.”

She turned back to the man before her, watching as he finished stuffing some extra ammunition into a black duffle bag.

“I can’t go to the beach, Tasha,” James “Bucky” Barnes replied. “How am I going to hide this?” He gestured with his real hand toward his metal arm, a grimace on his face.

Undeterred, Natasha continued, a smile painting her lips. “That’s why I suggested a private beach, darling.”

The man rolled his icy blue eyes. “We still have to get there through an airport. I’m sure to draw attention rolling up in a floral print Hawaiian shirt with this thing sticking out.”

He zipped up the bag with more force than necessary and shoved it into the back of the Jeep. “Besides,” he grumbled, “my arm isn’t exactly seaside compatible. Sand gets caught between the plates.”

Biting her tongue, Natasha opened the vehicle’s door and slipped into the driver’s seat. Planning a vacation with the Winter Soldier was turning out to be an exercise in patience. They had both decided they needed to get away together, to take a break from the stress, painful memories, and frequent combat that raiding Hydra’s bases brought along. They had both agreed that it would do their relationship some good to isolate themselves from the troubles of the world, even if only for a week or two. Agreeing had been easy. Getting the moody man to commit to a destination and itinerary was more of a challenge.

The low rumbling of a motorcycle engine drew her out of her thoughts as Steve Rogers pulled up beside them. “You two ready?”

“Yup,” James replied shortly, moving toward his own bike.

Natasha placed a communications piece in her ear in time to hear the rest of the team checking in. Dragging her mind from crystal waters and mai-tais, she turned her attention to the job at hand. “Lead the way, Tony,” she said, glancing upward to see a crimson and gold figure soar overhead.

This base turned out to the better fortified than the others they had encountered turning their quick takeover into an all out battle. It would make sense that as they lost one station after another to the Avengers, Hydra would dedicate more and more firepower to protecting their remaining assets. But this seemed excessive enough to promise there was something of high value inside. The extra fortifications were certainly keeping all of the Avengers busy. Steve and James zipping through the forest on their motorcycles, shield and bullets flying, Clint’s arrows taking out individual targets, Thor’s hammer sparking, Tony hunting from above, and Hulk… well, smashing.

When a barricade made sure her Jeep could go no further, Natasha sprung into the fray with the rest of them. There were more Hydra soldiers here than usual, certainly. But they went down as easily as usual too.

“‘At long last’ is lasting a little long, boys,” she remarked, shaking her crimson hair back from her face after taking out two enemies at once.

Her friends continued to fight, and continued their banter. Nothing wrong with having a little fun while they worked, she supposed.

Another soldier crumpled at her side, and Nat looked up to find James standing over the body. He gave her a nod, but she didn’t miss the flash of fire in his eyes. The Winter Soldier was in there, reveling in blood, drinking adrenaline, destroying their enemies. It was part of her job to be sure he didn’t get lost in that side of himself. Just like it was part of her job to put the Hulk to rest at the end of the battle. God, sometimes she felt like everyone’s mother.

She really needed that time off.

“Well, what about Iceland?” Natasha asked, taking cover behind a tree as a storm of bullets flew past.

James pressed his back against a second tree, taking a moment to fix his blue eyes on her. “Iceland?” he repeated, disbelief coloring his voice. “You’re still talking about vacation?”

“I’m multitasking,” she said with a shrug. “Northern lights, pretty scenery, interesting food. You could get away with long sleeves and gloves everywhere. Maybe we would even see some puffins. They’re cute.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “You didn’t get enough snow in Siberia?”

Nat let out a long sigh and leaned her head back against the bark, choking down her exasperation as her boyfriend whirled from behind his tree, taking out another target.

That’s when she was suddenly distracted by Clint’s cry of pain.

The archer had fallen to the ground, and Natasha was at his side in no time. His abdomen was wounded, scorched and bleeding. It looked bad. Natasha gritted her teeth. He needed medical attention, but the gunfire that rained all around them was a stark reminder of their vulnerability out in the open.

But she couldn’t move Clint. Not with his injuries, and not on her own. The only alternative was to eliminate the Hydra soldiers that were shooting at them. But in her position, she couldn’t do that herself, either.

“Someone wanna take care of that bunker?” she asked into her earpiece.

James’ voice was the first to come through with an affirmative, and she looked up to see him moving with purpose toward the target in question. But he wasn’t the only one, and the Hulk was faster. In only a few seconds the green monster left the little fortification in shambles.

Natasha’s green eyes watched James as he drew to a halt, his gaze fixed on Bruce. A flash of frustration crept over James’ face before disappearing in a blink, hidden away beneath his usual mask of cool stoicism. But Nat had seen it, and she logged it away in the back of her mind.

Clint groaned as he tried to sit up, bringing her back to the here and now. She put her hand gently on her friend’s shoulder, urging him not to move. She worked to bandage his side as best she could with limited supplies. She could stop the bleeding, at least temporarily, at least for long enough to get him back to the jet.

The scraping of dirt under heavy boots indicated that James had taken a place at her side, but Nat kept her eyes on her work. Her friend was muttering something, and she did her best to listen without breaking her concentration.

“There was a kid,” Clint was saying, his voice coming out between gasps. “He was fast.”

She felt James’ feet shift in the dirt next to her. “How fast?” he asked.

Both Natasha and Clint paused to look up at him.

“Inhumanly fast,” Clint replied, slowly.

The words had barely left his mouth when the Winter Soldier was on the move, and Natasha watched him go with a frown on her face and a feeling of unease growing in her stomach.

—-

Captain America was fighting nearby, shield glinting in the cold sunlight as it swung, dropping yet another one of Hydra’s soldiers. James made his way toward his friend with urgent but precise steps, his eyes scanning the surrounding trees.

“Steve!” James barked as he advanced, drawing his friend’s attention from the unconscious body beneath him. “We’ve got enhanced on the field!”

Steve straightened, his eyes widening slightly. “What kind of-“

Bucky barely saw his target before it struck, a blur of black zigzagging through the forest. It knocked into Captain America, but the super soldier managed to land on his feet. Surprise was written all over his face as his eyes moved to meet James’ again.

The blur approached again, and this time James was ready. He spun to meet it, squaring his shoulders and facing it head on. His metal arm was flexed, knees slightly bent, eyes fixed in his target. But the streak drew to a sudden stop just out of his reach.

The boy… well, he was nearly a man now, wasn’t he? He had stopped and was blatantly staring at James. His sky blue eyes were wide with terror, his chest rising and falling rapidly, as if he was looking at a ghost. “No,” he muttered, his voice just above a whisper.

James held up his metal hand and lowered the gun in his other. “Pietro,” he replied, keeping his voice firm and even. “Wait just a moment.”

The boy shook his head and he took a step backward. “No,” he repeated, his voice carrying an edge of panic. “Not you!”

He was gone in a flash.

Stifling a sigh of disappointment, James lowered his eyes to the ground. He should have expected that.

“Friend of yours?” Steve asked, dryly, from behind him.

James didn’t particularly feel like talking about it. “Long story.”

“Drawbridge is down, people,” Stark interrupted over their communicators.

Steve straightened his shoulders and glanced toward the stronghold. “I’ve gotta get in there with Stark,” he said. “Can you take the lead out here?”

“What?” Bucky replied, surprised. “No. Natasha, Thor, and Banner can easily handle things out here. I’m coming with you.”

His friend shook his head. “We know Strucker is here, and we want him alive. It’s better you keep your distance.”

An angry fire ignited in the Winter Soldier’s chest. Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. One of Hydra’s mad scientists that had experimented on him. And on others. Strucker was a monster, and he deserved an immediate and painful death. James wouldn’t deny that he would absolutely love to be the one to deliver that end.

But if his orders were to bring Strucker in alive, then so be it. His best friend, apparently, didn’t seem to have the same faith that the Soldier within him could resist taking his revenge.

“You don’t think I can control myself,” he said, more of a statement than a question.

Steve let out a long sigh, exasperation written on his features. “I just don’t want to put you in a situation where-“

“Bullshit.” James checked his ammunition and started off toward the fortress. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t look back to see Steve’s reaction, but listened carefully as he heard the other man’s feet shuffle in indecision before finally moving to catch up to him. James stifled a sigh of relief.

They pair walked in silence for several seconds before Steve turned toward him again. “Look, Buck, I know this isn’t the time or place to talk about it… But is there anything else I should know about this situation? About the enhanced?”

“Yeah,” Bucky replied, glancing up to scan the landscape around them. “There’s also a girl. Don’t let her get close enough to touch you.”

—-

Storming the stronghold was easy once Stark had the shield down, and it wasn’t long before the two friends found their target.

Strucker was everything Bucky remembered him to be: a coward wrapped in a cloak of power, a weasel pretending to be a lion.

“Hydra’s number one thug,” Steve mused aloud as he faced the villain.

“I remember when that title belonged to your comrade,” Strucker replied, grinning at the Winter Soldier.

James scowled at him in return. “The difference is I was brainwashed and forced into it. You're a monster by choice.”

The man chuckled, but failed to keep the nervous quiver out of his voice. “I could be quite an asset to SHIELD,” he pleaded, raising his hands in submission. “You’ll mention how i cooperated, I hope?”

“Yeah,” Steve replied with a snort. “I’ll put it right under illegal human experimentation.”

James circled their target, coming to a stop just behind the baron. A flash of amusement pulsed through him at the way Strucker flinched when he leaned in closer. “We’ve already seen Pietro. Where’s Wanda?” he demanded.

“Who knows? Both the twins have become more headstrong lately. She could be doing anything. Whatever she wants,” Strucker responded, an ugly sneer on his face. “All of you are the same. We gave you everything. Power, strength. We made you special. And what do you do in return?”

He was growing bolder in his anger. “You turn around and bite the hand that feeds you. All of you are no better than dogs!”

That was when the Winter Soldier decided he had had enough. A metal fist met the side of Strucker’s head, and their enemy crumpled to the ground at his feet.

“Aw, c’mon Bucky…” Steve moaned.

James shook his dark hair back from his face and shrugged. “All you said was not to kill him.”

His friend shook his head, a short laugh escaping his lips in spite of himself. “I guess you’re right. It’ll be nice not to hear his chatter while we take him in, anyway.”

“You’re welcome,” James replied with a smirk.