so bad guys can't see me bleed

•tape thirty-eight•

"Sorry about Redwing," Bucky says as the three of us walk down an empty road.

"No, you're not," Sam says.

"I was starting to like him," I tell Sam.

"Starting," Sam repeats. Then, after a moment, he asks Bucky, "What's going on in that big cyborg brain of yours?"

"It's computing."

Both Sam and I chuckle. "You know what?" Sam says. "I can actually see it."

"All the gears turning," I say, looking past Bucky to see Sam, who smiles at me. "Oh, no," I say, putting my hands to the sides of my face, "they're malfunctioning."

"Oh, now they're shutting down," Sam says. "Yep, they're on fire."

"We gotta figure out where the serum's coming from," Bucky says, acting like we weren't just making fun of him.

"Yeah," Sam says. "And how in the hell, after 80 years, are the eight Super Soldiers running loose."

"Probably the same way C3PO over here is still kicking," I say, nudging Bucky, who rolls his eyes.

"I hate that name," he mumbles.

"Hey," Sam says, reaching around Bucky to lightly hit my shoulder, "we should paint the arm red in his sleep. Then we could really call him C3PO."

"I think I have some spray paint in my closet," I say with a smile. Sam nods and smiles some more.

"Would the two of you just be quiet?" Bucky says, staring straight forward.

A car horn honks as a military jeep drives by us. They slow down to a stop a few yards in front of us. The back of the jeep opens, and Lemar and Walker sit in the back.

"So that didn't go as planned, huh?" Walker asks us. We ignore him and keep walking. "Okay," he grunts, closing the door. "Let's keep going."

The car starts driving, and they go slow to keep in front of us.

"Look, at least we know what we're up against now, huh?" Walker says. "And we're pretty sure it's one of the Big Three, so..."

"Aliens, androids, or wizards?" Sam says.

"Pretty sure," Walker replies.

"There's no such thing as wizards," Bucky says, then points to me. "Don't say it," he says quietly.

"Then it's aliens or androids," Walker says.

"Or Super Soldiers," Sam says.

"Shit," Lemar says. "Super Soldiers, for real?"

"Yeah," Sam says.

"Wow. All right. Well, now we gotta work together," Walker says.

"That's not how it works," I say.

"Yeah, that's not happening," Bucky says.

"I think we stand a much better chance if we all just—"

"We stand a better chance if you shut the hell up," I say.

"No, listen to me—"

"Just 'cause you carry that shield, it doesn't mean you're Captain America," Bucky says.

"Look, I've done the work, okay?" he says.

"You ever jump on top of a grenade?" Bucky asks.

"Yeah. Actually, I have. Four times. It's a thing I do with my helmet. It's a reinforced helmet. It's a long story, but, any—Look, it's 20 miles to the airport. You need a ride. Guys." He opens the back door. "Gary, stop. Get in."