"Oh you've got to be shitting me. You!" Bucky Barnes remarked as he gazed upon Katerina Orlova. He immediately grabbed his gun, holding it up to her.
"You!" Katerina spat back, drawing her gun on him aswell.
"What the fuck is she doing here?!" Bucky almost yelled, fingers hovering over the trigger.
"How the hell do you guys know each other?!" Natasha and Steve yelled in sync.
"She tried to kill me!" Bucky exclaimed, glaring at Katerina.
"You tried to kill me!" Katerina replied, defensively.
"Buck, put your gun down." Steve urged, looking at Bucky sternly.
"You too, Katerina." Nat said making her way slowly to Katerina.
The two groaned as they put their guns away, clearly upset that they were to be working together.
"So. Why have we called a psychotic killer to help us defeat another psychotic killer?" Bucky said harshly, still glaring at Katerina.
"I could say the same about you, pal." Katerina smirked, leaning on the wall, enjoying how bothered Bucky was by her presence.
"She can't be trusted." Bucky snarled, and Katerina rolled her eyes at his comments.
"Oh for gods sake, Bucky. Get a grip. You both tried to kill me and you don't see me drawing my guns out on the two of you." Natasha exclaimed, irritated by the childish bickering. "Now can we focus please, you know, so we can all live." She said looking at Katerina and Bucky.
They barely looked at each other. The Avengers and the Wakandan's wondered how they could possibly work together without killing each other, if they couldn't even stand being side by side.
"I tell you what. Put aside your history for this mission, and when we defeat Thanos, I will personally ensure that you never see each other ever again." Natasha bargained.
"Sounds good to me." Katerina winked at Bucky. He just rolled his eyes and nodded at Steve, as a sign of approval.
The team got together ammunition and suits for the fight that was on its way, thinking about tactics and possible ways to defeat Thanos' children. They had to prepare for the unexpected.
Vision was still led wounded on the operating table in Shuri's lab, most of the team eagerly watching over him.
"We need to get that Stone out of his head." Katerina said to the others.
"Can you do it?" Wanda asked Shuri shakily, tears filling her eyes.
"Yes but there are more than 2 trillion neurones here. It'll take time brother." Shuri said looking to T'Challa.
"How long?" Steve asked Shuri, leaning on a chair.
"As long as you can give me." Shuri sighed. All of a sudden Okoye's defence system pinged, showing an energy signature coming from outside the protective dome.
"Something just entered the upper atmosphere." Okoye said worriedly.
The team looked out of the large glass windows to see several pods hurtling towards the ground, wiping out anything in its path. Vision tried to sit up off the table, wincing in pain.
"It's too late. We need to destroy the Stone now." Vision stated.
"Vision get your ass back on the table." Nat said walking over to help him sit back down.
"We will hold them off." T'Challa said heroically.
"Wanda. As soon as that Stone's out of his head, you blow it to Hell." Steve demanded.
"I will."
"Evacuate the city. Engage all defences. And get this man a Shield!" T'Challa ordered, giving a reassuring glance to Steve Rogers.
The team made their way to the dome, cautiously standing far enough away from it, waiting for Thanos' minions to approach them. Wanda and Shuri stayed inside with Vision, waiting for the Mind Stone to be removed.
The Wakandan warriors and armies laid their shields in one order. T'Challa, Steve, Natasha and Katerina made their way to the front of the dome where they could see Proxima Midnight approaching on the other side.
"Where's your friend?" Nat smirked, referencing to the other minion who she stabbed through the chest.
"You will pay for his life with yours. Thanos will have that Stone." Proxima replied.
"You are in Wakanda now. Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood." T'Challa stated.
"We, have blood to spare." Proxima smirked at Katerina, raising her sword as a signal to let the creatures escape from the pods.
The others made their way back to formation, Katerina glaring at Proxima still.
"You betrayed us." Proxima snarled.
"I was never one of you." Katerina replied, glaring.
"Your blood will be on Thanos' hands." Proxima tried to intimidate.
"And yours will be on mine." Katerina smirked, walking back to catch up with the others.
"Did they surrender?" Bucky asked Katerina as she stood next to him. He was gripping his gun tighter, not taking his gaze away from the enemy outside the dome.
"Not exactly." Katerina replied, sighing. She knew she had to get to Proxima first.
A ton of ugly, viscous creatures began sprinting towards the dome, all being torn apart when they tried to break through the barrier.
"They're killing themselves." Okoye said horrified.
"Hey Cap if these things keep circling the perimeter there's nothing between them and Vision." Bruce Banner said over comms.
Steve looked at T'Challa and Nat worriedly.
"Then we keep them in front of us." Steve said.
"How do we do that?" Okoye asked T'Challa.
"We open the barrier." T'Challa raised his arm to speak to Shuri through his earpiece. "On my signal, open northwest section 17."
"Requesting confirmation from King. You said open the barrier?!" Shuri's worried tone replied.
"On my signal." T'Challa eagerly anticipated the right time to begin Wakanda's final battle.
"NOW!"
Warriors screamed and yelled as they sprinted towards the opening in the barrier. Trillions of blood-thirsty monsters ran towards the soldiers. T'Challa, Steve and Bucky were by far the fastest, being the first to attack the ugly creatures, killing them instantly.
Katerina went straight for Proxima. That was her goal. Her deep rooted revenge for all the things Thanos and his army made her do was buried in her soul, she never realised how powerful it was until now. It was tough getting to her, almost like the creatures were programmed to protecting her. She could barely break through. Instead, she joined Yelena and Natasha and fought by their side, putting her vengeance aside to help her little sisters.
At first it seemed like the Avengers were winning. But as they were running out of soldiers, Thanos' army were producing more. They were overwhelmed. Steve Rogers and T'Challa were bombarded by 10, barely protecting themselves. Yelena kept a safe distance, shooting the monsters from afar. Natasha and Okoye didn't hold back, they desperately tried to make ground, but were getting nowhere, and losing energy.
"Alright. That's it." Katerina mumbled to herself, throwing her weapons to the ground.
She felt her anger rise within her, this time not fighting it, but letting it all in. Her hands glowed a deep blue, similar to Wanda's chaos magic, but the origins were not the same. Katerina channelled her anger into power, using her telekinesis to kill dozens of the monsters, protecting her friends at the same time. They practically disintegrated into nothingness, freeing the super soldiers and many Wakandan's from their grasp.
"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Bucky groaned, panting uncontrollably from pure exhaustion, trying to lift himself off the dusty ground.
"I hate you." Katerina replied, although holding her hand out to help Bucky stand up.
"Got any more tricks up your sleeve?" Bucky asked, hoping for a miracle as the monsters began to pile up again.
"Nope. You?" Katerina mocked.
Before Bucky was about to give a sarcastic response, a translucent light hit the battle field. Surging with power and lightning, the God of Thunder appeared heroically, with a few sidekicks.
"You guys are you screwed now!" They all heard Bruce Banner laugh in the distance.
"Bring me Thanos!" Thor yelled, smashing his axe into the ground, wiping out hundreds of monsters with just one swing.
Bucky and Katerina proceeded to fighting together. Despite obvious hatred, the two fought well together. Both possessing similar abilities, besides the magic Katerina had developed, the two were almost unstoppable when together. The Winter Soldier and the first Black Widow were quite the pair, a powerful dynamic who both knew how to be merciless in battle.
However Bucky quickly got overwhelmed by the amount of monsters attacking him. He let his guard down when looking to see if Katerina needed assistance, making him fatally vulnerable. One of the monsters swiped at the side of his stomach, causing heavy amounts of blood to pour from his body. He winced in pain loudly, catching Katerina's immediate attention.
"JAMES!" Katerina screamed, running to his aid. For the first time since they met, she was worried for him. Sure she hated his guts, but she couldn't handle being responsible for his death. Also, she didn't really hate him.
She used her magic to disintegrate most of the monsters, the remaining few she decapitated with one swing of Bucky's blade.
"Hands off." She mumbled to them angrily, quickly drawing her attention to her dying friend.
"BARNES! Hey come on, stay with me. If anyone's gonna kill you, it's going to be me pal." Katerina joked with hidden fear. She refused to meet his eyes, worried she would realise how far gone her friend really was.
"I'm sorry." Bucky whimpered through his pain, trying his best to conceal it.
"Stop talking like that. You're talking like you're dying and you're not dying you're going to be fine." Katerina rambled, denial filling her tone.
"Katerina." Bucky managed to urge. He was grateful his last sight was a woman like her, despite their dark past that they shared, he secretly cared a great deal for Katerina Orlova.
By then Steve had walked over, crying at the sight of his wounded friend. He accepted Bucky was at his end, after all, he had already lost him before. This time he had to watch him go.
"Katerina." Steve reassured, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Stop." She begged.
"Katerina." Bucky urged once more.
"No." She refused to admit her friend was dying.
"I'm glad you're the last person I see." Bucky smiled weakly. Those words were enough for Katerina to break into tears.
"No!" She cried out. She couldn't let go. Not now. Bucky Barnes was not going to be the one to go first. "I can help you." She said, intending for him, but really she was just talking to herself. She then realised just quite what she was capable of.
"I can help you." She realised.
She placed both of her bloody hands over his fatal wound, closing her eyes sharply. She concentrated, hard. She let her magic flow through her veins, until the colour was visible on Bucky's dying body. She began chanting something she had picked up; a healing spell. She kept chanting, she knew she couldn't stop. Bucky was barely conscious, he didn't have the strength to hold on for much longer.
Just when the entire team thought he was gone for good, Bucky let out an exasperated breath. Coughing heavily, he grasped onto the air, desperately breathing in the Wakandan oxygen.
He was alive.
"I guess you had one other trick up your sleeve." Bucky smiled at Katerina, wiping her tears. She laughed, relieved that he was healed, and hugged him tightly, never wanting to let go.
"I still hate you." She joked into his ear.
"Mutual, my friend." He kissed her cheek, and helped her back to her feet.
They smiled at each other, and ran to join the final battle.
All was going smoothly, until Proxima and her henchmen pulled a nasty trick. Gigantic death wheels poured from the pods, spinning at a speed to fast to clear people off the battlefield. There was 5 in total, each headed for all of the Avengers and Wakandan's.
"EVERYBODY DOWN!" T'Challa screamed, getting into a brace position with the rest of his army.
Natasha, Yelena and Katerina turned their heads, bracing for impact.
Although, Wanda Maximoff saved their asses once again.
She leaped onto the battles field, using her complete strength to send back all of the wheels, crushing them onto the monsters that were charging after her. Nat gave her a proud look, and Wanda simply nodded in return.
"Why was she up there all this time?" Katerina asked confused. A witch as powerful as Wanda was not somebody to be keeping locked indoors.
Their victory was cut short, as the sound of Vision and one of Thanos' children, who was supposed to be dead, crashed through the glass windows of Shuri's lab, onto a secluded part of the battlefield where nobody was around to help him.
"Guys! Vision needs back up!" Bruce Banner called out.
"I'm on my way." Wanda said into her earpiece, but was struck heavily by Proxima's sword. Wanda winced in pain on the ground, and obvious cut forming on her forehead.
"He'll die alone. As will you." Proxima muttered coldly.
"She's not alone." Natasha smirked, on the one side of Proxima. On the other side stood a mischievous Katerina, glad to finally be getting her revenge.
Proxima charged for Natasha first, viewing her as an easy target. Natasha used her own blade to hold off Proxima's attack, and Katerina stepped in form behind, swiping at her legs. It backfired, and Proxima floored Natasha. She grabbed Natasha's own blade and went for her neck. She would've been successful if Katerina didn't tackle her off of her.
"This is for Thanos." Katerina stabbed Proxima, who yelled out in pain. She twisted her blade, crushing Proxima's bones.
"And this is for fun." A cunning smile spread across Katerina's face, leaving Proxima unsettled by the sight.
Katerina used her telekinesis to lift Proxima into one of their own weapons, which teared her apart. Finally, she was dead. Katerina dropped to floor in exhaustion, blue blood hitting the girls.
"That was really gross." Natasha fake gagged, making Katerina giggle.
"This isn't over yet." Wanda's Sokovian accent slipping through. She immediately ran to aid Vision.
Katerina and Natasha groaned, flopping onto their backs.
"Am I going to have to do everything around here by myself?" Yelena looked at them in the ditch, unimpressed. The three sisters laughed, and helped each other up.
"Everyone makes it out alive." Katerina said to her little sisters, smiling at them genuinely. They all looked at each other.
"Everyone makes it out alive."