Burning

“Buck, I could use a hand when you get your feet on the ground.”

Clint’s voice came loud and clear through the comms as the jet began its landing cycle. Bucky’s blue eyes wandered, briefly resting on the twins before meeting Steve’s gaze. His friend gave a nod, silently acknowledging that he would look after Pietro and Wanda.

Once landed, the squad of four parted ways. The Maximoffs, looking apprehensive but determined, stuck with Steve while Bucky broke off to help Clint in his search for Natasha. Having been Natasha’s partner back in the pre-Avengers days, Clint Barton was the best person to search for clues about their missing friend. When Bucky found him, Clint was hunched in front of a computer station, staring at satellite images.

“Are you ready to work?” the archer asked, pausing to glance over his shoulder at his friend.

Bucky grunted. “You even have to ask?”

Clint scooted his stool to the right, giving Bucky room to lean onto the desk in front of them. “What am I looking at?” he asked, nodding to the computer monitor Clint had been studying.

“Rooftops in Madripoor. I was just looking at the awnings. Don’t they look like…” he traced his fingers over the shade cloths, “like they’re in the shape of a spider?”

Bucky pursed his lips, considering.

“You know, cuz she’s the Black Widow?” his friend continued.

He shook his head. “I guess, but it doesn’t seem right. It’s not clear enough. Too sloppy for Natasha’s work. Besides, signaling us through satellites is risky when Ultron can actually control satellites.”

Clint huffed out a breath and folded his arms across his chest. “Tony suggested I try to find her outside the internet, but so far-“

“What’s that?” Bucky interrupted. He pointed to a tiny green light on a device to their left.

“Radio signal!” Clint nearly pushed Bucky aside as he scrambled to the receiver. “I’ve had this tuned to the channel we used to communicate through back when we were partners, but nothing’s come across yet. Now…”

He held the headphones to his ear, face a mask of concentration, right hand furiously scribbling symbols on a piece of scratch paper.

Morse code. Bucky instinctively sucked in his breath in anticipation

When Clint lowered the headphone several seconds later, both men eyed the mess of dots and lines. It would look like scribbles to anyone else, but Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier could read it just fine.

This is nothing like Budapest

Clint clapped his hands and began laughing, and Bucky leaned back against a nearby pillar. He squeezed his eyes shut, all the tension in his body being replaced by waves of relief. They had found her. She was alive, and they had found her.

But his optimism dissolved quickly when raised voices carried down from the lab above. The two friend drew their eyes upward to see their teammates, Stark, Banner, and Steve, along with Pietro and Wanda through the glass floor. Though their words were muffled by the separation, it was clear a fight was brewing.

Quick as a flash, Pietro zipped around the lab and came to a stop, holding the cradle’s plug in one hand. Bucky opened his mouth to suggest they get upstairs, but Clint beat him to it.

“I got this,” the marksman quipped.

Bucky turned to see his friend pointing a handgun at the ceiling.

“No, wait-“ he didn’t have time to finish his protest when the weapon fired and Pietro crashed through the glass divider and landed between them.

“You didn’t see that coming?” Clint muttered, an amused smirk on his lips as he stared down at the boy.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “He’s on our side now,” he growled at his friend, leaning to help Pietro up.

“When did that happen?” Clint replied, exasperated. “No one ever tells me anything.”

With the aid of Bucky’s metal arm, Pietro hopped to his feet lightly. The boy opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by a boom from above.

Thor had reappeared, perched on top of the cradle. Lightning coursed from his hammer through the lab, knocking everyone on the upper level backward. Before Bucky could make heads or tails of the situation, a figure rose from the cradle.

The Winter Soldier eased into a fighting stance, instinctively, protectively, moving in front of Pietro. “What the hell” he ground out between clenched teeth, “is that thing?”

—-

Natasha was leaning against a stack of crates in her cell, doing her best to meditate, to keep from going stir crazy. She had sent the message seven times now, whenever she was sure Ultron or his drones weren’t paying attention. Now that the robots were out of the room, it was all she could do to keep herself from sending the message again. And again. And again. It would be easy to obsess over it, so the Black Widow held herself back.

With great effort, she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, fighting off a feeling of despair that threatened to creep over her like a cloak. She was trapped in a cage while Ultron threatened all she knew and loved. Try as she might, Natasha hadn’t been able to find a way out or a weak spot in the cell that held her. She felt helpless. Out of her own control.

Like she had been in the Red Room.

A bitter taste oozed into her mouth and Natasha clenched her teeth against it. These feelings were all too soon after Wanda had touched her mind. She had fought them off once, with James’s help. Now, she was isolated from her lover and her team. Alone. A literal damsel in distress. It disgusted her.

The feeling of misery swirled around her, searching for a foothold in her mind, but Natasha shook her head. She had escaped the Red Room on her own. Sure, Clint had helped her get on her feet once she was out, but she had been strong enough, mentally and physically, to defect. She still was, Nat told herself. She just needed to relax, clear her mind, and then she would try to contact Clint again.

Natasha exhaled slowly, pushing the negativity away, her breath a hiss against her teeth as she felt the tension leave her body. First her fingers and toes flexed and relaxed, then the muscles in her arms, and so on. Finally, she let her head loll to the side, suddenly feeling heavy on her neck.

She had done it. She was ready to take control of herself again.

Nat glanced over at her pieces together transmitter, her eyes hardening with resolve. It was time to try again.

But she thought she heard someone call her name. Nat blinked, drawing herself out of her own mind and back to the cold world around her cell. Was she losing it after all?

There it was again, this time closer, more clear. “Bruce?” she called back, recognizing the voice, hoping against hope. Could her friends really have found her so quickly?

But it was her fellow Avenger that rounded the corner and greeted her. And, rather uncharacteristically, Bruce had even brought a weapon large enough to blast her cell door open. Nat found herself somewhat impressed.

Once out of her cell, her mind quickly snapped back into the here and now, the world back into focus. Ultron couldn’t be far. They needed to find the others and get back to the mission.

But a firm hand on her own made her stop in her tracks.

“I’m not going,” Bruce quickly explained. “There’s a city full of civilians up there, and the Hulk can’t be a part of that.”

Natasha’s mouth went dry. The Avengers needed every one of their teammates to have any hope of beating Ultron. She held her friend’s gaze evenly, her mind whirling while trying to form a counter argument. “What’s your plan?”

Bruce gripped her hand tighter. “I need to leave. Go. Disappear. Somewhere I can’t hurt anyone. And…” desperation seeped into his voice, “and I want you to come with me.”

She tried to take a step backward, but Bruce followed, his fingers still wrapped around hers. “I don’t think-“

“I rescued you, Natasha,” he interrupted, eyes wild. “Not Steve or Clint of Bucky. Me! We can be together if we go now. We can find peace and…”

He moved even closer, and it was all Nat could do to keep her hands steady. “There is no peace if we don’t win. We need to concentrate on Ultron,” she said, firmly.

But Bruce was undeterred, pushing forward in his own semi-crazed mission. “I know we can be happy together, Natasha. If you’d just give me a chance, we can get away from all of this.”

Nat knew she had to find a way to talk herself out of this… without the big guy showing up. Her lips parted as she searched Bruce’s eyes, fighting in her own mind for the right words.

But before she had the chance to say anything else, Bruce was yanked backwards by the collar of his shirt and flung into the pit in the middle of the complex.

In his place stood her boyfriend, flexing his metal arm.

Mentally shaking herself, Natasha forced herself to fold her arms and level a glare at James. “Was that necessary?”

“Yes. For once, yes it was,” he returned. Then a crooked smile curled at his lips. “And it felt really good.”

Nat choked down a laugh and without another word, the two hurried forward into a tight embrace.

“You good?” James huffed into her hair.

She nodded against his shoulder, thankful he couldn’t see the tears of relief that suddenly threatened to spill over her eyelashes. She would have loved to linger there in the security of his arms, relishing their sweet reunion. But the roar of the Hulk forced her eyes open.

A banging sound echoed up from the pit Bruce had been thrown into, leaving no doubt that the big guy was climbing his way up and out.

“You probably shouldn’t be here when he gets to the top,” she suggested.

James pulled away and cast a wary glance at the pit before giving a curt nod. “I think I’d rather deal with Ultron.”

Nat smirked at him, “Then let’s go.”