Confusion mixed with pain washed over me as I slowly came back to consciousness. My head wasn't nearly as sore as it was before, but there was still a dull ache. The familiar whirring of a Quinjet engine reached my ears as I slowly opened my eyes. I winced as the bright daylight hit my eyes so I quickly closed them again. I took a moment to myself before I opened my eyes again.
"Hey, you're awake." I heard a familiar voice say from beside me. I glanced to my left and saw Bucky sitting in the chair beside me. His blue eyes reflected a small amount of worry as he looked at me.
"Hey." I said with a small smile. I shifted in my seat and winced at the tension in my neck.
"How are you feeling?" Steve asked me from the front of the ship
"Sore. What happened?" I answered
"We made it out by the skin of our teeth. T'Challa almost stopped us but Nat took him out so we could get away. You collapsed after Rhodey let out a sonic explosive. Bucky managed to catch you and keep running." Steve explained
I turned to Bucky in surprise. "Thank you." Bucky nodded to me in return and shot me a small smile.
"Where are we now?" I asked as I turned to look out the front window.
"We're in Siberia, we're almost at the Hydra facility." Steve replied.
The three of us fell into a relatively comfortable silence. I took the moment of silence to examine the view outside the window. There were tall mountains covered in a thick layer of snow, the tips of them were covered in thick fog, it was quite beautiful.
"What's gonna happen to your friends?" Bucky asked out of the blue. I glanced over at him and saw that he was staring at the floor with a sad and guilty experience on his face.
Steve sighed softly. "Whatever it is...I'll deal with it."
"I don't know if I'm worth all this, Steve." Bucky said softly. I frowned at his comment, the pain in his voice made my heart break for him.
Steve hesitated for a moment before he responded carefully. "What you did all those years...it wasn't you. You didn't have a choice."
"I know. But I did it." Bucky said with a resigned look on his face. I wanted to reach over and comfort him, to do something to ease the heavy burden that he carries. But it seemed like an impossible feat. 70 years of pain and torture won't just go away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Intense gusts of wind blasted the side of the plane as Steve lowered us down onto the snowy ground. The landing was rough with turbulence but Steve tried his best to keep the jet steady. I sat up in my seat and unbuckled my seat belt in preparation for exiting the plane. Bucky stood up quickly and walked towards the back of the plane where the weapons were held. He opened up a compartment that held several guns.
Steve's calm voice interrupted my attention on Bucky. "Are you sure you want to come with us?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I?" I asked him, taking note of his furrowed brows and concerned eyes.
"You took a hard blow. You were unconscious for at least two hours." He said
"I'm okay, Steve." I said with a small smile of appreciation for his concern. Steve nodded and walked past me towards the back of the ship where Bucky was checking weapons.
I glanced away from the two men and took in a deep breath. My head wasn't nearly as sore as it was before, but there was still a slight ache behind my eyes from the intense sound. Luckily it wasn't too bad, but even if it was, I would still go with them.
"Y/n, you comin?" Steve called over to me, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah." I said with a small smile. I walked across the ship to the back where the ramp was. I stood beside Bucky as Steve reached over and pressed the button that lowered the ramp. The moment the ramp began to lower, I couldn't help but shiver involuntarily. The wind was icy and bit painfully at my skin.
"You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?" Steve suddenly asked Bucky, trying to see if he remembered the moment from their past.
"Was that the time we used our train money to buy hotdogs?" Bucky asked
"You blew thee bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a redhead." Steve stated with an amused tone
"What was her name, again?" Bucky asked
"Dolores. You called her Dot." Steve said
"She's gotta be a hundred years old right now." Bucky mused
"So are we, pal." Steve said. He placed his hand on Bucky's shoulder in a friendly manner.
"Let's go before I get hypothermia." I said jokingly, winning a smile from both Steve and Bucky. The three of us then walked down the ramp and out into the snow. While the pure white snow looked beautiful, I couldn't help but wish that I was admiring it from inside somewhere, where my feet wouldn't be almost numb.
The wind howled harshly against my ears and whipped against my skin. Goosebumps were rising under my tactical suit even though it was sufficiently insulated thanks to Tony. The snow crunched under my boots in a satisfying way, all three of us leaving footprints in the fresh layer.
I slowly came to a stop as I took notice of the large door that was engraved into the side of a cliff. The door was wide open, indicating that someone was already inside.
"He can't have been here more than a few hours." Steve said
"Long enough to wake them up." Bucky said gravely. Steve took the lead and walked through the door first, Bucky and I followed after him.
The hallway was dark with hardly any lighting, there were a few light strips but they were incredibly dim. The only other lightsource was the bright white snow coming in through the open door. At the end of the hall, there was an old lift door.
The three of us cautiously approached the lift, eyes darting towards every nook and cranny that there was. Steve pressed the button on the lift and we had to wait for it to come up to the floor we were on, giving more evidence that the doctor was already here.
The lift pinged as it finally stopped in front of us, the doors slid open with a loud creak, which didn't fill me with much confidence in its stability. There was another door on the inside of the lift that was just metal grating. Steve stepped forward and bent down, grabbing the grating from the bottom and pulling it up. He then stepped inside.
Bucky stepped in after him and turned to face his best friend. I walked into the lift last and stood between the two men so I was facing the grated door.
We stood in silence as the lift brought us down a few floors. Adrenaline coursed through my system as I awaited what could be on the other side of the lift doors. My fists clenched and unclenched several times as we slowly descended. The lift then shook slightly as it came to a stop on what I assumed to be the ground floor. I took in a deep breath as the doors slid open.
An old hallway greeted us on the other side, and luckily it was empty. The walls were painted green and beige and the paint had begun to chip off. The lights seemed to be more of a dull yellow than a bright fluorescent, showing how dated this base must be. The hallway being empty didn't fill me with any relief, it only made my nerves more on edge.
Steve bent down and pulled the grating upwards, it rattled slightly and I couldn't help but subtly cringe at the noise. If there were several super soldiers awake, their enhanced hearing would surely pick up on that sound.
Bucky stepped out first with his gun raised, checking around the corner to make sure it was clear. I stepped out immediately after him and Steve came out last to watch our six. Every time we came up to a door or a window, Bucky would swiftly turn to look inside. Watching him move in a situation like this really put his army training on show. You could tell he had done this before.
Cobwebs and rust decorated the long dim hallway, showing that it had been vacant for quite a while. We came up to a set of stairs that led up to another hallway. The railing on the side used to be painted yellow, but time had left it mostly silver.
A loud thud took my attention away from the minute details. My heart jolted painfully in my chest at the sudden noise and the three of us spun around on our heels in sync. Steve held his shield up to protect us and Bucky stood to the right of me with his gun raised above Steve's head.
The door down the hall suddenly creaked loudly, indicating that someone was entering from behind us.
"You ready?" Steve asked quietly
"Yeah." Bucky replied in a similar tone.
The heavy gray doors of the lift in front of us creaked open, someone was prying them apart. My heart hammered in my chest as I prepared myself for a fight. But when the door cracked open, my guard dropped pretty quickly.
It didn't take me long to recognise the bright blue glow coming from the man's chest, and his red and orange armor wasn't hard to miss either. It was Tony Stark. He fully pried open the door and then walked down the hallway with a slight swagger. His mask dropped from his face to reveal the man himself.
"You seem a little defensive." Tony said casually. Steve stood up from his crouched position on the stairs and carefully walked towards Tony.
"It's been a long day." Steve said
"As ease, soldier. I'm not currently after you." Tony said to Bucky, who still had his gun rained.
"Then why are you here?" Steve asked
"Could be your story's not so crazy." Tony said
"Maybe." Steve said
"Ross has no idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I gotta arrest myself." Tony shrugged as he leant up against the wall in a casual manner.
"Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork." Steve replied, causing Tony to scoff. Steve finally relaxed and dropped his shield to his side.
"It's good to see you, Tony." Steve said
"You too, cap." Tony said almost fondly
"I'm glad you guys have made up." I said with a joking smile, almost tempted to bring up their evident bromance.
"I'm glad that you're not dead." Tony said in a weirdly nonchalant tone
"What? Why would I be dead?" I asked him In confusion
"Well, when I last saw you, you were unconscious." Tony explained with a shrug
"You thought I was dead?" I asked in confusion and bewilderment.
"Well, I hoped you weren't. And I'm glad you're not." Tony stated. Confusion was written across my face as I stared at the man, though from the look in his eyes, I could tell he was messing with me a little bit. Before I could say anything else, he turned his attention to Bucky.
"Hey, Manchurian Candidate, you're Killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop..." Tony trailed off, referring to Bucky's weapon that was still aimed at Tony. Steve gestured for Bucky to lower his weapon, which he reluctantly did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony walked carefully around a corner towards an open door, his hand was outstretched with his weapons powered up. Bucky crept along beside him with his gun drawn. Steve and I were behind them, taking cautious and quiet footsteps to avoid drawing attention.
"I got heat signatures." Tony said quietly
"How many?" Steve asked him as the two of us rounded the corner behind them. There was a short round hallway that led into a massive dark room.
"Uh, one." Tony replied.
The four of us cautiously stepped into the dark room. I couldn't make out much, but there seemed to be tanks lining the sides of the room. The moment we were all standing inside the room, the lights turned on. The tanks lit up a deep shade of orange and there was smoke rolling off of the sides.
"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep." The voice of the doctor suddenly came over a speaker. It was only then that I took a closer look at the tanks and noticed the lifeless bodies of several men and women. Every one of them had a bullet hole straight in their forehead.
"Did you really think I wanted more of you?" The doctor spoke directly to Bucky.
"What the hell?" Bucky said in confusion as he tightened his grip on his gun.
"I'm grateful to them, though. They brought you here." A light suddenly came on to reveal the face of the doctor. Steve threw his shield at him out of reflex, but it only bounced off of the glass and ricocheted back to him.
"Please, Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand. The launch blast of UR-100 rockets." The doctor said
"I'm betting I could beat that." Tony said
"Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came." The Doctor said
"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve asked as he stormed up to the window.
"I've thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here...I just realized...there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw." The Doctor chuckled to himself.
"You're Sokovian." Steve deduced. "Is that what this is about?"
"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I'm here because I made a promise." The doctor stated
"You lost someone?" Steve asked
"I lost everyone. And so will you." The doctor stated bitterly. A screen suddenly turned on next to Steve. I moved closer to him to try and get a good look at it. I could make out the number 16 and the date 1991. The month was written in a different language.
"An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from whithin? That's dead. Forever." The Doctor stated ominously. That was his plan all along, to tear the avengers apart. And it was working. We had been so busy fighting each other that we couldn't stop this from happening.
Tony walked over to stand beside Steve and I, he gave us a brief look of confusion before he turned his attention to the small screen in front of us. An image appeared on the screen of some CCTV footage. There was a road in the middle of the night.
"I know that road. What is this?" Tony called out. I could hear a hint of panic in his tone that caused concern to flood within me.
Suddenly, a car came screeching into view and immediately crashed into the side of the road. It all happened so fast I hardly had the time to acknowledge what had actually happened with the crash.
The hood of the car was bent upwards and smoke was pouring from the engine. A motorbike then pulled into view just as the engine of the car caught fire. I watched with furrowed brows as I tried to figure out why we were being shown this.
A man in a suit came crawling from within the car, he was injured but still conscious. "Help my wife. Please. Help." He called to the man on the bike. Once he stepped up into the light and grabbed the man by his gray hair, I realized who it was. The fire of the engine reflected off of the silver metal arm.
"Sergeant Barnes?" The man asked in confusion.
"Howard!" A woman called out. My heart jolted violently in my chest as realization hit me. Howard Stark. This is the death of Tony's parents. My eyes shifted over to Bucky who was standing with red rimmed eyes. I shed tears glistened in his blue eyes as he breathed heavily, knowing what we were about to see.
I looked back at the screen just as Bucky began to pound on Howard's face. Over and over again. I couldn't help but flinch as the life drained from Howard Stark's eyes and his wife cried out for him. Howard Stark fell limply to the ground and Bucky grabbed him by his jacket, dragging him back inside the car to stage their death. I subconsciously placed my hand over my mouth as I watched the scene in sadness and in horror. Tears brimmed in my eyes as my heart broke for the couple, and for Tony.
Bucky then made his way around the car and grabbed onto Maria Stark's neck. I couldn't see it very well from how grainy the old footage was, but I could clearly hear the sound of her struggling for air.
Once both of the Stark's were dead. Bucky strode around the car and stared directly into the security camera. He then raised his gun and shot out the camera, ending the video.
Tony jerked forward and went to attack Bucky, but Steve quickly grabbed his arm and stopped him in his tracks. "No, Tony."
Tony turned his head to look at Steve as if he just remembered the man was there. The look of pain and betrayal in his eyes broke my heart even further.
"Did you know?" Tony asked him
"I didn't know it was him." Steve replied cautiously
"Don't bullshit me, Rogers. Did you know?" Tony spat angrily
"Yes." Steve confirmed. Tony backed away from him quickly with a look of betrayal in his eyes. There was a moment of tense silence, then Tony turned around and smacked Steve as hard as he could and knocked him onto the ground. Bucky very quickly raised his gun towards Tony, but Tony spun around and shot the gun out of Bucky's hand.
I quickly walked to intervene as Bucky attempted to throw a punch at Tony but Tony caught Bucky's hand in his. I raised my hand and used my telekinesis to pry them away from each other.
"No, Tony. This is exactly what he wants." I stated, referring to the man who we had come here to fight in the first place.
"Stay out of this, y/n." Tony stated firmly. He then shot two pieces of metal at me. I flinched as they flew forwards and attached themselves to my wrists. They were handcuffs. Once my wrists were tightly held together, Tony grabbed onto Bucky and flew away with him, using the momentum to slam Bucky on the ground.
Luckily, Steve was quick to get up on his feet and stop Tony from firing straight at Bucky's head. I looked down at my wrists and huffed in annoyance. I focused on the metal restraints and easily managed to tear them off, breaking them in half and destroying the mechanism. I looked back up to see that Steve was laying on the ground with the same restraints and Tony had Bucky pinned up against the wall.
Bucky was trying his hardest to keep Tony's hand away from his face so the man wouldn't kill him. He broke the arc reactor weapon on the palm of his hand but Tony only activated small missiles on his forearm. I began to run over to them but before I could stop him, Tony released the missiles. Bucky pushed his hand away from his face and caused the missiles to fly straight for the side of the room.
My eyes widened as the walls began to tumble down around us. I used my powers to protect myself as several pieces of metal and wires came toppling down upon us. Once the room had finished collapsing, I spotted Steve and Bucky right beside me.
"Get out of here!" Steve yelled at Bucky. Bucky immediately nodded and got up to his feet, running away from all the chaos and destruction.
Steve then turned his attention to me. "Make sure he gets out!" I nodded firmly and got up to my feet, racing after Bucky. My heartbeat was loud in my ears as it pounded against my chest. All I know is that I'm done choosing sides, I just have to stop them from killing each other.
I could hear Tony right behind me, the familiar noise of his arc reactor powering up echoed in my ears. I turned my head and used my powers to shove his hand to the side, forcing him to miss his target who was just ahead of me. I turned the corner after him and saw Steve grabbing Tony. Hopefully he could keep him occupied for long enough for us to escape.