Hard to Love (Bucky Barnes fanfic)

Chapter 55

When nothing happens, Rumlows expression slowly falters, repeating his previous order into his wrist. His ego stature fading away with every passing second as nobody responds or appears. I finally dare to look back at everyone, all of us sharing a perplexed face. Except for Tony who was flitting his cold stare from Bucky to me

My eyes soften as I look to Tony, guilt riddling my bones as I watch him connect the pieces in his head slowly. Every interaction between Bucky and I, the sudden becoming 'best of friends', the defending of him, constant offerings of training together. I watched it all click into place behind Tony's eyes. My heart swelling and constricting with fear. I dart my eyes to Bucky, wanting to gauge how he's handling our sudden outing. But as soon as my eyes land on him, I'm drawn back to Tony when he speaks

"Don't you dare look at him kid."

Yup. Furious

I open my mouth to apologize, to tell Tony that I'll explain everything, but Rumlow draws my attention forward. One of the men in the front line behind Rumlow had stepped forward and said something to the ugly man, making him sigh heavily

"What the fuck was he doing out already?!" He half whispers back to the guard through clenched teeth. The agent lightly shrugged before stepping away to avoid any sudden bouts of rage

And it clicks with me

Rumlow was calling for the man, our target, to come out and fight us. Or at least me

Now I chuckle with a shake of my head, having the full upper hand in this little stand off. It fills me with smug relief, watching Rumlows features drop before masking it again with a hard glare. I focus pulling my power from my core to my hands and feeling the raging fire it contains

"Too late." With a flick of my wrist, a shield envelopes over the team and I. Rumlow included

Fury will want to take care of this bastard himself

My shield illuminates the surrounding guards in a purple hue. The power swirling and spinning faster than usual, the two purple variants dancing with the other. Resembling wet paint oozing down a canvas. The black outlining it all like a beautiful sketch from a thick pen

Bullets hit my shield, the sound similar to a heavy rain on a tin roof. The shells disintegrating, falling to ash upon impact

Rumlow flips out a pistol from his thigh holster, taking aim at me as a threat with rage in his eyes. Hydra trained him well. Always go down with a fight

Too bad he'll lose

Bucky, Sam, and Nat raise their own weapons towards Rumlow. Wanda holding a ball of her red energy between her open palms. Steve ready to strike with his shield now slipped onto his arm. Tony raising both hands with his repulsers charged

"You can't be that stupid to think you'll win this, right?" Sam cocks his gun as he spoke the last word. His voice partially drowned out by the annoying and persistent onslaught of bullets and echoing gunfire

I flicker my gaze from the fuming Rumlow to my shield. Tilting my head as I raise my arms halfway by my sides and roll my wrists once with a twitch of my fingers. Feeling my power surge out of me, releasing the overflowing tension within my muscles. The ground rumbles as what looks like a purple atomic bomb goes off outside my shield, a thick mushroom cloud erupting from the protective half bubble