I Walk The Line (A Bucky Barnes Fanfiction)

Chapter 22

We finally pulled up in a Berlin airport where they kept the Quinjet. Once we got out of the car, a plain white van pulled up next to us. Two people came out - a girl with long brown hair dressed in red, and a blond guy with a quiver of arrows on his back. I had no idea who the girl was, but I recognized Natasha's friend immediately. Bucky pulled me out of the car and we stood in silence, watching Steve say hi to Barton and the girl.

"You're not going in there", said Bucky suddenly. I looked up at his face, but he wasn't looking at me. He was staring straight ahead. His jaw was clenched tight, like he was angry.

"What do you mean? Of course I am."

He sighed. "No, Andrea. It's too dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt because of me."

I was perfectly aware of that. It was way too dangerous, especially for me. I was out of shape and my legs were still aching from all the running in the underground tunnel back in Bucharest. But I wasn't going to just sit back and watch someone I care about fight for his life. I couldn't.

"I'm not gonna get hurt. You've got my back", I said simply. I noticed he finally turned to face me, but I refused to look at him. I stared straight ahead as some random guy jumped out of the white van and started shaking Steve's hand.

"Andrea..." Bucky started. His tone was harsh.

"Hey, look, after we kick some ass, how about dinner? My treat", I cut him off, smiling as I finally faced him. But, I was as worried as he was. Maybe even more. The reality was - we couldn't just go back after this. Ever. We couldn't go back to Romania, continue our 'normal' life. Bucky will want to be close to Steve. He was his best friend after all. I was worried that he'll just... forget me. I'll be all alone. I was being a bit paranoid. Bucky would never do that, after two years of taking care of each other. Still, there was a small voice in my head, telling me that, after everything settles down, I'll be on my own. That's why I invited him for dinner. Making future plans together made me feel less anxious.

Bucky was glaring at me. "Can you at least pretend to take this seriously?" He asked, clearly annoyed by my laid back attitude. I shrugged. "Nah."

He clenched his jaw again and turned to Steve, Sam and the others. "We should get moving", he said loudly, turning their attention to us. Steve opened the drunk of the car and handed us our gear. With one last cold glance, Bucky left to change.

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We divided into three teams - Scott Lang (the guy from the van) and Steve, Barton and Wanda (the girl from the van), and Sam, Bucky and I. If I understood correctly, Wanda had magic powers, and she got them thanks to HYDRA. Lang was... an interesting lad. Apparently he went to jail at some point and I saw surprised that he even survived that. He was around my height, which wasn't very tall, and he had no muscles whatsoever. I was a little skeptical about him at first, but then I saw him put on his suit and shrink to the size of an ant.

Scott and Steve went out to try and get into the helicopter that was left at the airport when it was evacuated, while Sam, Bucky and I waited inside the vacant airport. We were kneeling behind a glass railing. I could feel the weight of my guns and extra ammo in my belt, and the cold steel blade of my knife, hidden in my boot. I tried to appear calm and laid back, but my hands were sweating like crazy and I kept wiping them on my thighs. The tension between the three of us was unbearable. Sam obviously wasn't Bucky's biggest fan, nor was Bucky really keen on him. His jaw was still clenched, so I guessed he was still mad at me because I refused to stay out of the way. I was beginning to feel angry at him too. Did he really think I'd just let him go into this all alone? Or just stand idly by and watch him possibly get killed? He knew full well I'd never do anything like that, he was just being a stubborn ass.