Burning

The fortress where Natasha had been held wasn’t far from the center of Novi Grad, Sokovia’s capital city, and Bucky felt a weird sort of déjà vu traveling down its stone pathways. It wasn’t so long ago that he, Steve, and Stark had made this same trek after capturing Baron Strucker. Back then, they had been transporting a prized prisoner and Loki’s scepter, thinking it was a hard won victory. Now, in hindsight, it was clear that had just been the beginning of their battle.

He shook his head. It was only fair that they would be making their last stand in the same city. But now, the number of Avengers had increased significantly.

“A red guy?” Natasha repeated his last sentence as she jogged along beside him.

“Yeah, he’s red. And has the mind stone in his forehead.”

“And you’re sure he’s on our side and not Ultron’s?”

Bucky shrugged. “Thor seems to think so. Stark is supposed to be distracting Ultron right now while the others clear out the city. Twins are helping too. So when….”

His voice trailed off, puzzled as he realized his girlfriend had suddenly disappeared from his side. Slowing in his steps, he drew to a halt as he turned to look for her.

She wasn’t far, just a few paces back, in the shadow of a nearby building. Right next to an older model motorcycle. Bucky cocked his head, his confusion evaporating into admiration as he realized Natasha was manipulating the bike’s wires.

She glanced over her shoulder to meet his curious gaze. “I’m not a super soldier, so I’d rather save my strength for the battle instead of running all the way to town.”

She straddled the motorcycle and the engine roared to life. “Besides, this will be quicker.”

Bucky couldn’t keep the smile from his face as he shook his head. “God, I love you,” he muttered as he made his way towards her.

“Good,” Natasha replied, returning his smirk. “But I’m driving.”

“No complaints here,” he said, mounting the bike behind her and wrapping his arms around her abdomen. He pulled her close, back flush with his front, his lips to her ear. “Believe me, this is just fine.”

He thought he felt Nat shiver against him, sending a flash of heat through his body like an electric current. But before they could linger in the sweetness of the moment, she hit the throttle and they were off.

He kept his body snug against hers as she steered the bike through the city. In perfect sync, the pair rocked and leaned together through each turn of the road. Her crimson hair tickled his cheek as they sped toward the center of town, but Bucky didn’t mind. After fearing for her life, he was grateful to feel as much of Natasha as possible.

Their ride was anything put peaceful, however. It was only a few minutes until the first of the robots showed up. The former Iron Legionnaires showed themselves by crawling over buildings and creeping up from sewers. Bucky snarled a warning as he reached behind his back and unsheathed his handgun.

A few squeezes of his beloved SIG-Sauer’s trigger and just as many bots went down. A pulse of satisfaction suddenly surged through Bucky’s body. Destroying robots wasn’t like killing human enemies. It didn’t carry the same weight on his shoulders, the same guilt that wrapped around his heart each time he took a life.

He popped off a few more rounds and allowed himself a half smile. This might actually be fun.

“More up ahead,” Nat barked, drawing his attention to the front. One, then two, then a whole wall of robots suddenly rose from a dip in the road. He mentally ran through their options in a split second. It was too many for him to take out, no side streets to turn down, and retreat would leave their backs exposed. The robots raised their blasters.

“Put it down!” he barked, and his girl reacted instantly. She turned the motorcycle violently to the left and they both leaned hard into it. Gravity did its work and the machine nearly flattened against the cobbled road. Bucky reached out behind them with his metal arm, hand extended, fingers scraping the ground to catch cracks and stones, slowing their slide. His other arm was wrapped tightly around Tasha, holding her instinctively, protectively against him.

After a few seconds, they had slowed enough for Bucky to loosen his grip, and he and Natasha rolled away from the fallen bike, it’s spinning wheels sliding forward to bowl over a couple robots. He barrel rolled to one side, she to another. He ended up on his belly, whereas she gracefully maneuvered into a crouch, left leg bent and ready to spring, right leg extended behind her for balance.

“Did I ever tell you that pose is pretty hot?” Bucky called over to her.

Natasha tossed her hair out of her eyes. “It’s not a pose, and yes, you have.” She sprung to her feet before flashing him a quick grin. “But I don’t get tired of hearing you say that.”

Bucky pushed himself upward when a blast hit the road just inches away, nearly knocking him back down. But before he could raise his gun to retaliate, a flash of dark blue zipped in front of him, knocking the remaining enemy robots to the ground. Pietro came to an abrupt stop with that cocky smile on his face that Bucky knew so well.

“We’re on the same team now, but I seem to be doing all the work,” the boy scoffed, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement. “While you do what? Lie around?”

With a grunt, Bucky rose to his feet. “Hey, you might not be so spry when you’re around 100 years old.”

“Speak for yourself.”

Steve’s voice came from around the corner of a building just as he did, with a nervous looking Wanda in tow. Bucky swallowed hard and reminded himself that though these kids were no strangers to the reality of danger, they didn’t have a lot of experience being in the middle of a battle. And they would surely face more horrors before the day was up.

Now would be a good time to say something motivating… inspiring. Bucky’s eyes shifted between the twins and he fought for the right words. But those kinds of speeches were in Captain America’s realm, not the Winter Soldier’s. Fortunately, he didn’t have to dwell on what to say for longer than a few seconds, because Natasha could break the ice as easily as she could break someone’s neck.

“Is that my jacket?” she asked, gesturing towards Wanda.

Bucky followed her line of sight and noticed Wanda was wearing a crimson coat. While he certainly couldn’t keep track of everything in his girlfriend’s wardrobe, he had to admit it was her style.

“I told you,” he said, trying to keep his voice gentle despite the adrenaline in his veins from the recent fight, “she’s on our side now.”

Nat whirled on him. “That doesn’t explain the jacket.”

“Take this in exchange,” Steve interrupted, tossing her a com link. “Probably not as fashion forward, but…”

“No, I like this kind of jewelry,” Natasha replied, securing the device in her ear. She glanced over to Wanda, throwing the girl a wink. “And you can keep the jacket. Looks better on you anyway.”

Steve gave a curt nod. “Tony and Ultron are in the church in the center of town. We should-“

He was cut off as a rumble suddenly began beneath their feet. The quake quickly grew in its intensity, to the point where the Avengers were having trouble staying upright. To the point where fragile molding on nearby buildings was starting to crumble. To the point where the ground was beginning to crack.

Iron Man’s voice crackled through their coms. “If there are any citizens left in the city, now’s our final chance to get them off before liftoff.”

“Liftoff?” Bucky repeated. He turned to meet Steve’s eyes and had to suppress a shiver when he saw a faint gleam of fear mirrored in them.

This was going to be bad.