Snap Out of It - Arctic Monkeys
I wanna grab both your shoulders and shake, baby
Snap out of it
I got the feeling I left it too late, but baby
Snap out of it
If that watch don't continue to swing
Or the fat lady fancies having a sing
I'll be here waiting ever so patiently for you to
Snap out of it
Amara Stark watched the news, intently, hoping for any headline saying that Bucky had been found, without Steve's name attached to it. Her hopes weren't all that high, especially considering her last conversation with the man.
"Miss Stark? Colonel James Rhodes is entering the building. He should be entering the vicinity, shortly."
"What's Rhodey doing here? He's supposed to be with Dad, right?"
"There's been a change of plans."
"What kind of change?"
"I'm afraid, I'm not authorised to tell you. But I can tell you that he is carrying the Accords ready for you and the Maximoffs to sign."
Amara breathed in shakily, but shook it off, quickly. Now she was out of the loop. She had no idea what was going on. Only this time, she didn't know if it was her father keeping things from her, or if it was the Accords not allowing them to say anything.
Amara got up from the sofa and muted the TV just as Rhodey walked out of the elevator and into the room, holding a briefcase.
She walked up to him, "Uncle Rhodey. What are you doing here? I thought you were with my dad."
"Yeah, I was," Rhodey said. "They found Barnes."
"Bucharest, I know."
"I got the job to bring them in."
"Them? Who's them?"
"Come on, Amara," he said.
"Steve?"
"Possibly. We don't know for sure, but... there's a good chance."
Amara exhaled and nodded her head, knowing that Steve was already there, probably with Sam.
"Uncle Rhodey?"
"Yeah," he replied.
"I know that I have no right to ask this and it's probably the worst thing I can ask, right now. But... please. Leave Steve and Sam out of this."
"Amara..."
"No, I know what you're gonna say. But Steve doesn't know what he's doing. It's Bucky. He just wanted to protect his friend. But they're not criminals. Please, Uncle Rhodey. Even you know that."
Rhodey sighed, "Amara... I can't make any promises. If Steve fights back, it's not up to me what happens to him."
He watched Amara's face fall as she nodded.
"But, I can try and talk him down. I'll try my best kid. I can promise you that."
"Thank you," Amara said, gratefully.
Rhodey looked down at the briefcase he was holding and handed it to Amara. "The Accords are in here. When you're ready, just sign 'em. Then you can head over to Berlin. Your dad's waiting for you."
Amara smiled and nodded. "Bye, Rhodey."
Rhodey nodded and walked down to where his suit was.
—————
Steve made his way, calmly, into the coffee shop, where Sam was waiting.
"They tell you to stay out of it?" Sam asked. When he was met with Steve's silence, Sam nodded and said, "Might have a point."
"He'd do it for me," Steve said.
"1945, maybe. I just want to make sure we consider all our options. The people that shoot at you, usually wind up shooting at me."
Steve looked at his friend, as Sharon walked into the same shop and stood next to Steve, at the counter, trying not to talk to him directly. "Tips have been pouring in since that footage went public. Everybody thinks the Winter Soldier goes to their gym. Most of it's noise. Except for this," She slid a file over to Steve, which he picked up. "My boss expects a briefing, pretty much now, so that's all the head start you're gonna get."
"Thank you," Steve said.
"You're gonna have to hurry. We have orders to shoot on sight," Sharon walked away from the counter and left. Leaving Steve looking down and contemplating his next move, Sam shook his head, knowing there was no way this could end well.
----------
James Buchanan Barnes was restarting. His life, his job, his home, everything. And it felt good. To finally be free. Free of HYDRA and its demands.
He was living contentedly in Bucharest. His apartment was small, and he only had limited money, but it was enough to get by.
That morning he had gone to the market looking for some fresh fruit and vegetables. Now he was walking back to his small apartment, but as he stood on the end of the street, he noticed a local street vendor staring at him, as if he recognised him. Which was impossible as James had never seen this man in his life. The man was reading a newspaper before he left his stall and ran. What was even more strange was the fact that he left all of his belongings there, out in the open, for anyone to take for themselves.
James walked over to the stall and picked up the newspaper. He immediately recognised his face in, what looked like, some security camera footage. As he read on, he found out that he had been accused of bombing a United Nations assembly. His stomach dropped. He had finally restarted, and now everything was crumbling down, once again.
----------
Captain America, walked cautiously through Bucky's apartment. He took note of the layout and objects he could use for defence, should things get ugly.
As he looked around the place, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. There were kitchen utensils, notices hung up and post-it notes around, to remind the resident of things they needed to get done.
This isn't the house of a killer. Bucky isn't a killer. Steve convinced himself of this on the way over here.
He picked up a small, black notebook from on top of the fridge. When he opened he saw a small photograph of himself inside.
"Heads up, Cap. German Special Forces, approaching from the south."
"Understood." Steve turned around, sensing someone's presence and he knew who it was immediately. He looked at his friend's face, "Do you know me?"
"You're Steve. I read about you in a museum."
"They've set the perimeter," Sam's voice came through his earpiece.
"I know you're nervous, and you have plenty of reason to be. But you're lying," Bucky knew exactly who he was, he knew he did.
"I wasn't in Vienna. I don't do that anymore."
"They're entering the building."
"Well, the people who think you did are coming here now. And they're not planning on taking you alive."
"That's smart. Good strategy."
"They're on the roof. I'm compromised."
"This doesn't have to end in a fight, Buck."
Bucky looked down, disheartened, "It always ends in a fight."
"Five seconds."
"You pulled me from the river. Why?"
"I don't know."
"Three seconds."
"Yes, you do."
"Breach! Breach! Breach!"
Two grenades smashed through both windows, Steve hit one with his shield back outside, and Bucky kicked the other one to Steve who covered it with his shield, blocking the explosion from escaping.
They heard shouting on the other side of the front door and a bang as they tried to ram the door open.
Agents were shooting at Bucky from outside the windows. He picked up the old mattress on his bed and used it as a shield from the oncoming fire.
He noticed the front door moving as the agents on the other side tried to barricade the door, he threw a table to block the door from opening.
Two agents burst through the windows, smashing them fully as Bucky planted a punch in the face of one of them.
Steve watched as the other one aimed his gun at Bucky. Steve used his foot to pull the carpet from underneath the agent's feet, causing him to fall over and open fire along the roof of the apartment.
Bucky used the grappling hook on the other agent's back to push him away and pull him back, aggressively.
Steve grabbed the gun of a new agent who walked through the patio door and Bucky used his leg to kick him out of the way he came in.
Bucky moved to follow the agent out when Steve grabbed his arm, "Buck, stop! You're gonna kill someone."
Bucky used Steve's arm to push him down to the ground. He threw a punch, which Steve thought was aimed at his head as he moved away. When he looked at the broken floorboard, next to his face he realised.
"I'm not gonna kill anyone," Bucky said as he pulled a bag out from the hole in the floor and threw it out of the window. It landed on the roof of the building next to them.
Another agent came through the window and started shooting at the pair. Steve got up quickly, blocking the bullets from hitting them both.
When another agent opened fire from the other window, Steve turned to block those as well. Then Bucky pushed Steve in the direction of the new agent, leaving Steve to fight him off.
The other agent began shooting again, as Bucky held up his metal arm to block the bullets. He moved gradually closer to the man and then grabbed his head, slamming it into the shelf next to them.
When the agent got up, again, Bucky quickly grabbed a nearby cement block and threw it at the man's stomach, making him crash into the door.
Steve was still fighting the other operative when he heard one of the agents on the other side of the front door shoot three times at the hinges on the door. They moved to use the battering ram to knock the door down, once and for all, when Bucky's metal hand punched through the wall next to the door, hitting the soldier in the face.
Then he punched the door, causing it to fall off its broken hinges. He punched two agents in the face, knocking them back, and flipped one over.
Another operative burst through the skylight at the top of the stairs and slid down on a wire, firing his gun at Bucky. He blocked the shots with his arm and grabbed the gun, using it to pull the man and push him into the wall.
Bucky picked up the battering ram that the agents were using and hit a nearby officer with it.
Bucky looked down and noticed dozens of soldiers climbing the stairs to get to where he was.
He jumped and grabbed onto the guy who can in through the roof. He used the momentum from his jump to swing them both to the wall on the floor beneath them.
He punched and kicked multiple soldiers, trying his hardest to get out.
Suddenly, Steve came through the front door where Bucky was standing moments ago.
"Suspect had broken containment," he heard a soldier say into his radio. "He's headed down the east stairwell."
Steve lunged and grabbed the radio away from him and crushed it with his bare hands.
He jumped over the railings, trying to get closer to where Bucky was fighting the guys off all by himself.
Bucky knocked someone into a fire escape and threw another agent over the railing.
Luckily Steve caught the agent just in time before they fell to the floor. Steve looked at Bucky, disappointedly, "Come on, man."
Bucky just held eye contact and elbowed the person behind him in the face. Steve lifted the person up and threw him into the wall.
Bucky walked to the end of the railing and pulled it straight out of the floor. He then jumped, while still holding the metal bar as it bent, allowing him to slowly descend to the lower floor and kick an agent who was waiting by the door.
Steve was fighting off two soldiers when he pushed one up against the wall and used that agent's grappling hook to attach to another operative. He then dropped one of the agents off the side of the railing, leaving the other man to try and pull him up.
Bucky punched, kneed and kicked at the soldiers coming his way. He slammed one person's head into the wall and then kneed them in the stomach, only to push their head into the wall again. He kicked an oncoming person in the stomach, throwing him back against the wall.
Bucky heard a click and when he looked, he saw an agent pointing his gun at him, but Steve quickly threw his shield, knocking the gun out of his hand and throwing the man into the wall.
Steve looked at his friend as Bucky jumped straight off the railing. Falling past floor after floor, until he used his metal arm to grab a hold of one of the railings. He screamed in pain at the force that was exerted on his shoulder, but he hung on, nevertheless.
Steve moved to retrieve his shield from the wall and Bucky climbed over the railing onto the other side and walked towards the emergency exit. He kicked the door down, and walked out slowly, before gradually turning into a sprint before he reached the end of the building and leaped over the side.
He just about landed on the edge of the building that he threw his bag onto earlier, rolling over and grunting in pain as he got back up instantly and grabbed his bag on the way up. He continued running, but someone else jumped too. He landed on top of Bucky, taking him to the ground. When Bucky looked at his face, he expected to see Steve's staring back at him, but instead, he was met with a man in an all-black suit, with silver claws at his fingertips.
Bucky surged forward, aiming a punch at the mystery man's chest, which he blocked with a kick, before punching Bucky back. Bucky had never faced anyone like this before. He was skilled and strong. He delivered many blows to Bucky and before he knew it, he was thrown at the wall. The man wasted no time and attempted to claw at Bucky's face, luckily he dodged out of the way, just in time.
He aimed, again, with the claws on his suit and Bucky narrowly dodged, again. The man used the wall to push off and jump, bringing his hand down to cut Bucky, but he held his hand out, blocking him, once more. Then he dove for Bucky, but Bucky wrapped his arms around the man's torso, directing him away from him. But the man used the momentum from his dive to flip himself and Bucky over, with Bucky pinned to the floor.
Steve watched on from the balcony, trying to find a way to help.
Bucky held up a piece of scrap wood to shield him from the man's strike at him.
Steve looked to his right and saw Sam flying around the corner, "Sam, southwest rooftop."
"Who the hell's the other guy?" Sam asked as Steve moved and walked backwards, giving himself a run-up.
"About to find out," Steve said, before running forwards and jumping over the railing and landing, roughly on the same roof as Bucky and the other guy.
Meanwhile, the man sliced the piece of wood that was shielding Bucky's face, clean in half. He pushed his claws down, again, and Bucky caught them before they touched him. He held them there, the man's claws hovering dangerously over his face, only a few inches away. One of the helicopters of the agents opened fire on the scene, aiming for Bucky and the man.
But the man didn't dodge the bullets, nor did he block them with anything. He just stood there as his suit repelled them away from him.
"Sam," Steve urged.
"Got him," Sam said as he landed a kick to the tail of the copter, making it spin away. Then he dove downwards, spreading his wings just as he was about to reach the ground, flying away again.
Bucky kicked the man off of him, grabbed his bag and jumped down onto a smaller ledge on the side of the building. When he landed, he looked up and saw the mystery man jump too, digging his claws into the wall and sliding down. Without wasting any time, Bucky jumped down two more levels as the man kept sliding down. When they finally landed on the floor, Bucky continued running and the man chased after him a split second later.
Steve, evidently, had also been following them and landed a few seconds after they did, using his shield to break his fall.
The helicopter had also gained control, once again as it chased the man and Bucky, shooting at them, once again.
Bucky found an opening in the ground and jumped, finding himself at the entrance of a road tunnel. Cars beeped at him, swerving to avoid him. But Bucky didn't have much time to care as the man had also landed behind him, by that point, but luckily, as Bucky was unaware of, so had Steve.
The three of them ran through the tunnel faster than the cars around them, each trying to catch up with the other.
Conveniently, sirens began to go off as police cars also began to chase all three of them.
"Stand down!" The driver's voice was projected through the speaker. "Stand down," he repeated as he slowly approached Steve.
Steve jumped onto the windshield of the car, cracking it and obscuring the driver's view, forcing him to stop. Steve hurried round to the driver's side of the car and opened the door, pulling the driver out and quickly kicking the windshield once, making it come out of the car, completely, thus, clearing his view. He got in the car and drove off in the direction he had been running in.
Bucky climbed over cars to get in front, managing to narrowly maintain his distance from the man. That was until the man jumped onto the back of the car that Steve was driving.
When Steve noticed him, he quickly swerved the car to the right, then immediately to the left, trying to get him off, but failing.
"Sam, I can't shake this guy," Steve said.
"Right behind you," Sam said.
Steve looked in the wing mirrors for any sign of Sam, but all he saw was a large fleet of police cars trailing them, with their sirens on, and they were fast approaching him.
He swerved the car again, into one of the police cars next to him. He saw Bucky running forwards and his path being cut off by at least six cop cars. He abruptly stopped and then ran onto the other side of the road, and Steve was quick to follow, bursting through the barricades meant to separate both lanes. This left all of the cop cars in a huge traffic jam, unable to move.
As Bucky ran, he saw an oncoming motorcycle approaching him, fast. He held his arm out to grab a hold of the handlebars, knocking the rider off and twisting the bike around in the air until it was facing the same direction he was. He mounted the bike which was still moving due to how fast it had been going, only moments before, which helped Bucky to speed up quickly.
Cars moved out of the way and Bucky moved back onto the right side of the road.
Sam had finally entered the tunnel and Steve was getting closer and closer. But then, the man leapt up from the back, crawled across the top of the car and jumped onto Bucky's motorcycle.
Bucky held him away with one hand, lifting him up and getting ready to throw him in another direction, but the man moved to one side, making the motorcycle tilt all the way down. So much so that Bucky had to use his metal hand to keep from being dragged across the floor. But he used his other hand to punch the strange man away.
Bucky pushed himself back upright, shaking it off and speeding up.
As Sam was flying, he noticed the man waiting for him all too late. The man reached up and grabbed a hold of Sam's leg. Sam tried to kick him off but was unsuccessful. The man just crawled up Sam's body and was now on his back.
Bucky was finally getting towards the exit of the tunnel. He shot a small device onto the roof near the end, which exploded like a bomb the second he left the tunnel.
Sam stopped flying abruptly to avoid slamming into the debris, but the mysterious man used that opportunity to launch himself forward and out of the tunnel before the debris settled. He landed, taking down the bike Bucky was riding on by slashing the back tire.
They both landed harshly on the floor, rolling over from the impact.
Steve noticed a gap in the debris and sped up the car, he skidded it to the side at the last second and opened the door, jumping out and running through the last of the falling debris as the car he was in just moments ago, flipped over multiple times, following him.
Steve saw the man towering over Bucky who was now on the floor and dove for his stomach, moving him away from his friend.
Bucky stood up and so did the man, who was now staring straight at Steve as the number of sirens around them increased.
They were surrounded in all directions by police cars and when they all looked around, they realised that they couldn't possibly escape from this. Steve put his hand up in front of Bucky, whether it was to protect him or to stop him from leaving or even worse, fighting his way out, it was unclear.
Steve saw an Ironman suit land next to them but quickly realised it was Rhodey from the large gun aiming at them that rested at the shoulder of the suit. He held both of his hands out, repulses lighting up in warning.
His voice had a warning tone, "Stand down, now."
Steve looked around and saw many officers with their guns aimed at them, shielding themselves with their cars. He quickly holstered his shield onto his back as a sign that he wasn't going to fight back.
"Congratulations, Cap. You're a criminal," Rhodey said, gravely.
The agents began closing in grabbing Bucky, holding his hands behind his back and getting him to kneel on the floor. Sam came out through the tunnel, a confused expression on his face, but as he saw the agents approaching him, he held his hands up in surrender. After looking around and at each other, so did Steve and the mystery man.
Steve's arms were put behind his back, but the mystery man still has his arms in the air. He retracted his claws back into his suit and reached up to lift his helmet off, to reveal Prince T'Challa of Wakanda.
The surrounding people looked at the man in shock.
"Your Highness," Rhodey addressed him.
T'Challa glanced at Bucky, apprehended on the floor. Vengeance still lingers on his face.
(A/N: Tensions are rising, and the Accords are going into place. Also, Black Panther enters the scene. I'm actually getting so excited about how this book is progressing. I know it took a while to get here, but it's gonna progress quickly now, I promise)