Buzzkill: The Reckoning

Chapter 49

Ruth extended her hand to shake his, "It's good to see you too, Captain."

The Captain quickly turned his head, snapping his gaze to his assistant, audibly shooing him away. He then turned back to shake Bucky's hand, "You're a lucky guy, Mr. Soldier, to have this incredible assassin by your side."

Bucky gave a hint of a smile, returning the handshake, "I'm thankful everyday."

The Captain scrunched his brows, putting his hands on his hips and glancing to the troop behind them. He looked to both Ruth and Bucky, nodding to the team, "Why did you bring them into this? You both here to take me in?"

"Not at all, Captain. You know my loyalty to you, so don't question it," Bucky quickly retorted, his tone turning dangerous.

Internally, Ruth's eyes widened at Bucky's boldness, stifling a surprised laugh before catching herself, remaining calm.

The Captain shifted his weight.

"They're safe. We have a big job and needed the help," Bucky continued.

"We also need a plane," Ruth spoke up. "One large enough to store our bikes, equipment, and a team of people."

"So a military jet?" The Captain asked.

"Yes."

"How big of a team?"

"Us and a couple more," Ruth replied.

"Gotcha," The Captain muttered, looking off to the side to think for a moment. "Gotcha." He snapped his fingers suddenly, his expression lighting up once again. "I got just the thing. Follow me."

Bucky motioned for the others to stay as he and Ruth followed close behind the Captain.

"I only have a few of these, and I keep one or two at each of my larger bases, so you'll be happy to know I got one just downstairs," The Captain continued, his posture elevated, as if anything in his path would split apart just out of respect.

"Here we are," The Captain announced. Him, Ruth, and Bucky stood in the lower level basement that doubled the size of the hangar above-ground.

"Wow," Ruth uttered, standing in front of one of the most magnificent Quinjets she had ever seen. It's design more advanced than the one at SHIELD she had rode in all that time ago. In the back of her mind, she wondered what kind of deals the Captain made to have this kind of technology.

"Top of the line engines that purr like a baby lion, large enough to store your motorcycles and equipment, but compact enough to land on a helipad," The Captain told them with the voice of a multi-billion dollar salesman. "This beauty can take you anywhere you need to go."

"Built-in stealth mode?" Bucky asked.

"Of course."

Bucky glanced to Ruth, a smile hinting on his face, looking to her for approval.

"We'll take it," Ruth told the Captain.

"Beautiful," The Captain replied, taking what looked to be a blank, steel gray credit card out of his suit jacket pocket and handing it to Ruth. "You can transfer the payment through that card there, and once you're done with the jet, drop it off back here or any of our other international bases."

"Thank you, Captain," Ruth said, shaking his hand to seal the deal.

"Anything for you, Buzzkill," he replied with a charming smile. "And if any of your friends up there need a plane, give me a call."

"The jet'll be ready to load up in a few minutes," Bucky told the team as he and Ruth walked back over to them, all stood a bit spread out from each other. Steve and Sam shared small talk while Natasha used her deadly gaze to survey the room.

Everyone voiced their acknowledgement.

Sam walked away from Steve and over to Ruth and Bucky, crossing his arms, speaking low, his tone serious, "Ok, I've been kind of trusting you two throughout this whole plan—"

"We literally just left the facility, Sam."

Sam ignored Bucky's comment and continued, "But how exactly are we paying for this plane? This place looks kind of...expensive."

Bucky's expression switched like a light to a deadly, cold expression, "I'm the one who takes care of his...messier business; body dumping and all. He still owes me a couple plane rides worth."

Sam's face contorted to confused disgust, "My god."

Ruth had to bite her lip to keep from smiling, even glancing down to her feet for a moment.

"With money, Sam," Bucky said finally, his seriousness breaking. "We're paying him."

Ruth let out a laugh that stifled into more of a chortle, turning her head away.

Sam stopped, losing all expression, fed up with these two damn assassins. "You two scare me."