Glass [James Bucky Barnes]

Chapter XXV

December 20th, 5:30 pm, Switzerland

The choppy noise made by the helicopter's spinning blades made it impossible to hear Steve's voice from the cockpit.
James grabbed Ivy's hand, dragging her to the chopper, a bullet missing his head by a fraction, ricocheting off the brick wall.
He turned around and fired his gun, hitting his target.
Natasha helped Ivy to get into the cabin. "How did they find you?" She shouted.
"I don't know!" He yelled back, walking to the ledge and looking down, seeing a group of men rushing into the building.
"James! Get in here!" Nat called, motioning him to jump in.
He shook his head, checking how many rounds he got left. "Go! I'll buy you some time!"
Natasha gaped at him. "Don't be stupid Barnes! They're gonna kill you!"
"Move! Take her to destination, you already know what to do!"
"What are you doing?" Ivy fretted, turning around and looking at Natasha.
He took a step towards her, smiling, her eyes big with fear. "It's gonna be ok, Doc. Just like I promised you."
"We have to go!" Steve shouted, fixing the headset on his head.
Ivy stepped out of the helicopter and walked to him, her fingers wrapped around his arms. "I'm not leaving without you!"
James tried to push her back, but she pinned her feet down taking his hands off her shoulders. "We don't have time for this, Doc."

"James?" Nat hesitated, not knowing what to do when she saw how determined he was.
He gave her a nod, and her heart seemed to crack a bit. "I'm sorry."
Natasha pulled Ivy inside, she lost her grip on his wrist, squirming as the door closed. "Steve take off." She ordered.
The chopper started to shake, ready to take off. "No, no wait! We can't leave him here- James!" Her eyes fixed on him, her sight turning blurred with tears.
She pressed her forehead to the window, watching powerlessly as the chopper lifted from the ground.
"What did you do..." She whispered, seeing the door on the roof open, and men surrounding James with their guns drawn.
He dropped his gun, and then nothing else. They flew away in the blue sky, as tears streamed down her face, his watch in her hand.
Nat placed her hand on her shoulder, trying to give her comfort but couldn't find any word. She wasn't the only one who had lost someone that day.
James had been like a brother to Natasha, helped her turn her life around. "He's gone isn't he?" Ivy's voice broke, her heart was unable to bear the menacing thought.
Natasha didn't say anything, her gaze lost in the infinite grey outside. He was gone.

Ten hours earlier, France

The rain was pouring from dark clouds, clogging up the highway with cars. They had been stuck in the traffic for an hour, the radio playing on a random station, announcing the bad weather was not going to stop until night.
James sighed his right hand on the gear stick, impatiently tapping on it. He gazed at Ivy in the passenger seat, her head bowed, a blanket over her lap. The old car didn't have a heating system.
He took her chin, lifted her head, and looked into her eyes. "Hey."
She seemed surprised for a moment and suddenly pulled back from her thoughts. "Hey." She said back, a soft smile forming on her lips.
They hadn't talked much since James managed to call Steve and organize a pick-up. The last one.
He was going to take both of them to Cuba, and hopefully, take Ivy out of the ongoing nightmare she was brought into.
James felt his heart beat faster, his stomach twisted. They were going to never see each other again, and a part of him wondered how fast she would forget him. Would she miss him? He hated to admit that he was going to miss her, but he was trying his best to convince himself it wasn't going to last long. It never did.
"I'll have to dye my hair." She said, grabbing the new passport from her bag. Zacharie had it delivered to them as he promised.
James glanced at the picture on the passport. "Black suits you though."
"Thank you." She put it back, turning to James. "What about you? I saw another passport in the box."