Monsters and Magic

Chapter 16

 "Wake up, Striga, it's almost dark, and I'm tired of your boyfriend kicking my ass at chess. You could've let me win once," Bucky told you as he shook you awake, though he addressed the last part to the raven on the floor, who was preening as the chessboard vanished. Showoff. You groaned, still exhausted. A little sleep didn't combat the hell you'd been through, but you woke quickly enough when you remembered help was on the way, you were getting the hell out of here. You sat up quickly and tossed the blanket aside. You quickly threw on your combat boots and leather jacket.

"We're above the compound, love. I'll see you properly as soon as you're outside. Stay with Bucky when the alarms go off. The team is on the lookout for the pair of you and their priority is to get you on that jet," Loki reminded you both from the raven. It perched back on your shoulder once you had the leather jacket in place.

"What about the obedience disk?" you asked, nervously. That thing hurt like hell when it went off, and was one of the main reasons you hadn't escaped on your own.

"I'll steal a remote on our way out. I know who carries them," Bucky reassured you quickly. "Is the team ready?" he asked the bird, finally used to talking to the bird after playing chess with him for hours. Though you still had the impression he thought he might be going crazy.

"We're ready," Loki replied. Bucky took your hand in his metal one and led you out of the room. He wasn't risking losing you in the upcoming chaos. The hall was nearly empty; the guards on you had lessened. They assumed that Bucky could keep you under control on his own. Bucky was the image of a perfect soldier, so they didn't know you'd repaired his mind and that he was really in there.

"There," Bucky told you and gestured to a room empty of people. It looked like a server room. You nodded and called your power to fill the room with flames. You had to be careful with fire, as vampires were susceptible to it, but you'd been working on your powers with Loki, so you had no reason to be afraid. Loki was also covering you and Bucky with magic, hiding you from the security cameras. They didn't want anyone to know you'd caused the fire and chaos. They couldn't know they were being tricked until the trick was sprung. Loki would have burned down a room full of people, but you weren't him and he and Bucky both knew that, so you were lighting a fire in a room without people. Even with what they did to you, you wouldn't stoop to being a monster.

"C'mon," Bucky told you urgently when the room was engulfed. He went to the nearest fire alarm and calmly pulled it, starting the alarm throughout the whole building. "Tell the calvary we're coming out the south entrance to the compound," Bucky told the raven. His grip tightened on your hand and he started running, dragging you with him. You ran with him, letting him use his size to clear a path through the panicked Hyrda agents and employees.

"Soldier!" A higherup called. Bucky stopped and turned to face the man, shifting his grip to your wrist, to look like he was dragging you outside instead of escaping with you. "Get Scarlet outside. Make sure she doesn't escape,"

"Yes, sir," Bucky replied in his deadpan zombie way. He turned and started leading you toward the exit again. "He doesn't have a remote," Bucky explained to you softly as he strode quickly for the exit. You had to run to keep up with his longer stride, even though he was moving at a slower pace than he had been. He couldn't draw attention, but could follow his orders to get you outside without anyone questioning.

It was chaos trying to get out of the building. There weren't many entrances to the compound and people didn't know how to leave in an orderly fashion, though you were sure they'd all be taught in kindergarten like you had.

Bucky gave you his other arm and lifted the metal one in front of him, almost like a shield. "Hold on and keep up," he told you and surged forward to barrel his way through the panicked crowd blocking the door. He didn't care who he trampled or injured, shoving them out of your way. Bucky was huge and with a metal arm as a battering ram, you quickly made it outside. All you had to do was keep hold of his arm and not fall. The raven flew off of your shoulder when you were outside and flew away with it's pair. Its job here was done.