Red, White & Blue | Bucky x Reader

Chapter Thirteen

"It's gonna be an hour before they can scramble the National Guard!" I hear a young police officer shout to his Sergeant as we approach.

"National Guard?!" The Sergeant yells back. "Does the army know what's happening here?!"

"Do we?!" The young officer asks before another explosion goes off above their heads.

Steve jumps onto the vehicle in front of them, and the officers look up at him like he's a crazy man in a Halloween costume.

"You need men in these buildings," Steve instructs, pointing to the buildings nearby. "There are people inside and they're going to be running right into the line of fire. You take them to the basement, or through the subway. You keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th.

"Why the hell should I take orders from you?" The Sergeant demands, still gawking at the man in front of him.

Suddenly, a car explodes behind Steve, and he raises his shield as a blast of energy soars at his head. Two Chitauri soldiers attack, and the officers watch in stunned awe as Steve fights them off with ease, using his shield to knock one of the Chitauri into my line of sight, where I fire off two rounds into its chest. In the same motion, Steve uses his shield block a second blast of energy before punching the Chitauri in the face and using his shield to slice through the arm of the second Chitauri, separating it from its energy rifle before smacking it away.

Regaining his composure, the Sergeant turns to his men. "I need men in those buildings. Lead the people down and away from the streets. We're gonna set up a perimeter all the way down to 39th street."

Seeing the civilians are out of the way, Steve and I make our way back up to the Central Station bridge, where Barton and Natasha have held their own since we last saw them. Barton trips a Chitauri soldier before ramming an arrow down its throat, while Natasha swings around the energy rifle she managed to get her hands on, twirling and shooting Chitauri in every direction.

Steve and I jump into the action, helping them fighting off the mass of alien invaders, and suddenly, a lightning bolt strikes down from the sky, electrifying a group of Chitauri nearby. They convulse, dropping to the ground in a heap as Thor touches down.

I smile at him in thanks as Steve addresses him. "What's the story upstairs?"

"The powers surrounding the Cube is impenetrable," Thor informs us.

"Thor's right," Tony agrees through the communicators. "We gotta deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Natasha asks.

"As a team," Steve answers.

"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor states.

"Yeah? Well, get in line," Barton argues, preparing another arrow.

"Save it," Steve demands. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top. He's gonna need us to..."

Steve trails off as a Banner arrives at the scene, riding a small motorbike.

Dismounting, he looks around the city. "So, this all seems horrible."

"I've seen worse," Natasha states.

"Sorry," Banner apologizes, no doubt referring to when turned into the Hulk while on the helicarrier.

"No," Natasha assures him. "We could use a little worse."

"Stark?" Steve calls through the earpieces. "We got him."