The Bridge Fight
Inside the building, Natasha tried her best to dump any file she found onto the internet for the world to see. For them to really bring down HYDRA, everything had to be out in the open where nothing could hide. The internet seemed like the best place to do that.
As a restricted access warning flashed on the screen, Pierce moved closer to her. “Disabling the encryption is an executive order. It takes two Alpha level members.”
“Don’t worry.” She smirked. “Company’s coming.”
As she finished speaking, the sound of helicopter blades could be heard, and the room watched through the glass doors as it landed on the helipad. Shaking his head, Pierce watched as Fury walked into the room and stared him down.
“Did you get my flowers?” The smug man wondered sarcastically. “I’m glad you’re here, Nick.”
“Really?” Fury wondered as he walked forward. “Because I thought you had me killed.”
“You know how the game works.” Pierce defended.
“So why make me head of SHIELD?” Fury asked him honestly.
“Because you were the best,” Pierce said without hesitation. “and the most ruthless person I ever met.”
“I did what I did to protect people.” Fury growled darkly.
Pierce shrugged. “Our enemies are your enemies, Nick. Disorder. War. It’s just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMP fries Chicago. Diplomacy? A holding action; a band-aid. And you know where I learned that. Bogota.
“You didn’t ask; you just did what had to be done. I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing twenty million. Isn’t that worth the sacrifice?”
“I have a friend who would say otherwise.” Fury told him.
“It’s the next step, Nick. If you have the courage to take it.”
Fury sighed. “No. I have the courage not to.”
Grabbing Pierce by the arm, they walked over to the screens behind them as Natasha pulled up the retinal scanner before training her gun on him.
Pierce chuckled. “You don’t think we’ve wiped your clearance from the system?”
“I know you erased my password.” Fury scoffed. “Probably deleted my retinal scan. But if you want to stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary, you need to keep both eyes open.”
Lifting his eye patch, Fury glared at the other man. He waited as Pierce shrugged, humoring him, before hearing the computer’s response.
Alpha level confirmed. Safeguards removed.
A look of surprise fell onto his face that it had worked, and he glanced at Fury in shock as the files started to download into the world.
Outside, Steve waited as Kara spoke into the comms. “Hey, Steve?”
“Yeah?”
“We’ve got company. I’ve got Bucky on the bridge in front of me.”
With his heart beating wildly, Steve took off running as guards followed behind him. “Hey, Sam? I’m gonna need a ride.”
“Roger. Let me know when you’re ready.”
“I just did,” Steve said as he dove off of the ship into midair.
Up on the bridge, Kara stared down the former best friend of her boyfriend. She knew he was dangerous, even for someone like her, but he was in the way of her mission, and she had to tread lightly.
“Bucky, you don’t have to do this.”
He glared at her. “I’m not Bucky.”
“Yes, you are.” She implored earnestly. “Your name is James Buchanan Barnes. Your best friend is Steve Rogers, my boyfriend. Whatever HYDRA did to you, this is the real you. You need to snap out of it.”
“No!” He shouted at her. “You cannot stay in the way of this.”
“Then, I have no choice.” She said regrettably.
“I wonder what will get you killed faster,” He inquired. “your loyalty or your stubbornness?”
“Both.”
Shooting her heat vision at him, he held his metal hand out and deflected it. Pushing forward against her powers, he smacked her in the face, grabbing her around the neck with his metal arm.
“Is it necessary to hold that lady so tightly?”
Looking up, Bucky watched Steve for a moment as the consciousness left Kara’s body. Throwing her body off the bridge, the men heard it hit the glass below, leaving a crack along the floor.
“Please don’t make me do this,” Steve begged his friend.
Then the fight began. Steve threw his shield, and it bounced off of Bucky’s arm like it was nothing but a piece of plastic. Throwing punch after punch, Steve heard a gunshot go off and instantly felt a stinging in his side. Knowing he’d been hit, he knocked Bucky out of the way and onto the ground.
Taking a deep breath, he walked to the panel and raised the blade to insert it. He was taken by surprise as Bucky attacked again, and the blade went flying along the bridge. They continued to fight, and the blade fell off the bridge onto the lower deck near Kara’s body.
Reaching for it, Bucky tackled him, and they went flying off as well. Landing hard enough to continue the crack in the glass, they fought as hard as they could until Bucky stabbed him, and Steve choked him until he passed out.
Grabbing the blade, he ran off to insert it into the panel before anything else could get in his way. Just as he was getting to the panel, he heard another gunshot and felt multiple bullets enter his legs. Then he felt one in his stomach and couldn’t move.
“Thirty seconds, Cap.”
He couldn’t respond and waited for the worst to happen. Then, as he counted down in his head from ten, he heard a voice above him.
“Charlie lock.”
Lifting his head, he saw Kara standing above him, glaring at Bucky.
“Good job. Now get out of there.” Maria ordered them.
Kara knelt to help Steve up, and he groaned. “You need to get out of here.”
“So do you.” She told him. “Now, come on.”
“Hill, blow it.”
“But Steve…”
“Do it!”
Kara stared at him. “Steve…”
The ships shook as the blasts attacked them, and he looked at her confidently. “We have to help him, Kara.”
They heard a yell of pain and looked down to see Bucky trapped under the debris from the ship. Looking at each other, Steve winced.
“Please, Kara.”
Nodding, she kissed him. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He replied. “Now, go help the others.”
Staring at him for only a second more, she turned and flew off. As she got outside, she finally saw what their plan had caused and grimaced. “Guys, need a hand?”
“Romanoff and I are fine up here. Pierce is dead.” Fury informed her, and she couldn’t help but feel a little happy about that piece of news.
“Kara, Sam is on the 41st floor. He’s fighting Rumlow down there, and he needs a quick escape.” Maria told her urgently.
“On my way.” Flying to that side of the building, she used her x-ray vision to look for her friend and saw him running from the ship that had broken into the structure. “Shit.”
“I need some help here!” Sam yelled and launched himself out the window.
Shooting down to where he was falling, she reached her arm out and grabbed him around the waist. Slowing their descent to the ground, she looked up at the wreckage of the ships and shook her head.
“Steve, tell me you are out of there.” There was no response. “Does anybody have a visual on Steve?”
“Negative,” Maria said from her point of view. “I think he’s still on the ship.”
“Then, I’m going back up,” Kara said and prepared to pounce.
“You can’t!” Sam grabbed her arm. “With that much Kryptonite in the air, you’ll be grounded in an instant.”
“I don’t care!” She yelled back at him. “I can’t leave him up there.”
As she spoke, she looked up in time to see his shield fall from the carrier and her heart dropped. Sam’s arm went around her in comfort as tears filled her eyes. Another explosion happened, and they watched as Steve’s body fell as well.
Knowing Sam was right, that she would be grounded as soon she tried to fly to him, all she could do was watch as his body hit the water and sunk. Once the air cleared a little, she looked at Sam, and he nodded.
“Go get our guy.” He told her. “We’ll be right behind you.”
Without responding, she took off and stayed closer to the ground as she flew in his direction. Once she was over the water, she nearly hesitated at what she saw.
His body was on the shore, and Bucky was standing above him. She landed slowly and knelt next to her boyfriend. Laying her hand on his chest to make sure he was breathing, she looked up at the long-haired man.
“I know him.”
He said it quietly, but because of her super hearing, she heard it clear as day. “Yes, you do.”
Staring at his body for only one more second, Bucky turned and walked away. Kara didn’t bother to follow him as she knew he was no longer a threat to anyone. If anything, she felt bad for the man. He couldn’t remember his own identity, and that was something she could imagine was painful.
Looking down at Steve, her heart leapt into her throat. “You’ll be okay. I promise you…you will be okay.”
Then she let herself cry.