Lara had tuned out the rest of the ride, staring out the window as Bucky and Steve talked. She was consumed by guilt, hoping that none of her teammates/friends were hurt too badly.
She was zoned out completely, her hand clutched in Bucky's human hand as they flew. She was squeezing his hand, slightly wondering why his hand wasn't turning purple due to the lack of oxygen. Lara hoped Bucky didn't mind, which he obviously didn't or else he probably would have let go of her hand already.
She sighed, when she felt the jet touch down. Lara finally let go of Bucky's hand, undoing her seatbelt before she she was getting up, and walking out the opening door, Steve and Bucky behind her. They were talking about something, Lara not having the stomach right now to listen to their friendship. Though, when she turned back, she smiled when she saw the love the two had for each other. Whether it be brotherly or more, Lara was glad the two had each other.
Though, this made her feel something in her gut. Her family, her actual blood that she was close with was all gone now, the only true family standing behind her. And Tony. But, she half expects that she ruined things with Tony after the whole fighting against each other.
They walked forward, the three of them, but Bucky stopped Lara by grabbing onto her shoulder. She turned to him, confused, when suddenly his normal hand cupped her face, bringing their lips together. Lara jumped when the coldness of her metal hand touched her other cheek, and Bucky started pulling it away but she stopped him but placing her hand delicately on it.
Lara broke away from the kiss, leaning her head into his metal hand, a smile on her lips. Bucky smiled widely at her, bringing their lips back together. They kissed for a few minutes, before Bucky broke away again, leaning his forehead on Lara's. "I love you, Lara Roth."
"I love you too, James Buchanan Barnes," Lara giggled, as she felt his hand intertwine with her's, bringing her left hand up to his lips. He kissed the knuckles, before he noticed the ring on her index finger. Bucky smiled widely, Lara practically feeling the happiness radiating off of him.
"You kept it," Bucky whispered, looking at the ring on her finger. Lara giggled, smiling widely as she nodded her head. Bucky then lowered to his knee suddenly, making Lara giggle more. "Lara Caroline Roth, if we both get out of this alive, will you do the privilege you promised me seventy three years ago and marry me?"
"Of course, James Buchanan Barnes," Lara laughed, pulling Bucky of of his knees and hugging him tightly. They heard clapping, turning to Steve who was smiling widely at the two in front of him.
"I'd hate to break this up, you two, but we gotta go," Steve said. Lara nodded, disconnecting herself from Bucky, making her way after Steve. They made their way to the door, Lara just noticing the assault rifle that was in Bucky's hands. He had obviously grabbed it in the quin-jet, and handed it to Steve while 'proposing' to her.
They stood outside the door for a second, staring at the openness of them. "Can't have been here more than a few hours," Steve deduced, Lara gulping.
Bucky voiced what they were all thinking, "Long enough to wake them up."
They all walked forward, their feet hitting metal flooring as soon as they walked into the secret building. Finding an elevator, all three of them climbed into it, readying themselves for the fight that was going to come. It stopped abruptly, clanging loudly as the door opened, Steve checking of the coast was clear before he lifted up the cage that was in the old elevator.
Bucky went first, aiming his rifle down the hallway as he made sure the coast was extra clear, looking down each space that was in between columns. They slowly made their way down the hallway, checking every nook and cranny as they went, Lara being extra careful as she had been handed a handgun in the elevator by Steve.
The three of them stopped when the elevator clanged behind them, Steve bringing his shield up to block any gunfire as Lara and Bucky aimed their guns at the opening. The elevator squeaked loudly, obviously stuck, and Lara felt the nerves building up in her stomach.
"Ready?" Steve asked the two people who were on a stair above him.
"Yeah," Bucky and Lara said in unison, waiting for whoever was coming out of the elevator.
Shock froze her body as Lara watched the elevator doors open up, recognizing the Iron Man suit walk out. The mask come off of Tony's face, showing them that it really was him, making Lara but down her gum. She may fight Tony in hand to hand, but she would never shoot him. Lara cared about him too much.
"You seem a little on the defensive," Tony commented as he walked forward, Steve moving up to meet him in halfway. Steve's shield was still up, obviously ready to fight Tony of need be.
"It's been a long day," Steve retorted, making Lara roll her eyes. Of course they had to be snappy at each other. This was Tony and Steve's relationship. Though, the girl couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at it.
"At ease, Soldier, I'm not currently after you," Tony said loudly, obviously talking to Bucky, who still had the assault rifle trained on him. Lara wasn't going to make him put it down, if it made him feel safe she wouldn't, but if he fired a bullet she'd teleport in front of Tony and take it for him.
"Then why are you here?" Steve asked, stopping in his place. Tony advanced a couple steps, thinking, before he looked back at Steve.
"Maybe your story is not so crazy," Tony answered, stopping a few feet in front of Steve. "Maybe. Ross has no idea I'm here and I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I gotta arrest myself."
Tony leaned against the metal wall, shrugging his shoulders, waiting for Steve's answer. They stared at each other for a minute, Lara noticing how the rifle had moved with Tony, Bucky making it pretty obvious it was still trained on him. Tony didn't see the threat though, or else he probably would have commented on it.
"That sounds like a lot of paperwork," Steve said. Tony scoffed, watching as Steve put the shield down. "It's good to see you, Tony."
"You too, Cap," Tony said, before he looked at Bucky. "Hey, Manchurian candidate, your killing me. There's a truce here, you can drop your-"
Steve motioned for Bucky to put down the rifle, Bucky doing as said. Lara smiled at Tony, glad he was able to see reason as the four of them started to delve deeper into the Hydra hideout. They walked through, what Lara assumed, was where they trained the other Winter Soldiers. The tell was all the spiderwebbed glass on either side of the hallway/ room. Lara quickened her step, looking around as to see if there was any threat.
Turning down another hallway, Tony leading them, hand out, repulser beam at the ready. "I got heat signatures."
"How many?" Steve asked, Lara watched Bucky switch sides of the hallway, his gun still pointed up, aimed forward.
"Uh-" Tony said, making Lara almost have a heart attack. "One."
They walked into a giant room, Tony turning on the lights. Lara's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at all the cryo-tubes lighting up. She knew something wasn't right with them, and closer examination proved that each person in the tubes had taken a bullet to the forehead.
"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep," a voice was heard over the intercom, Lara recognizing it as the man she learned to be named Zemo. They walked further into the room, Lara looking away from the people in the tubes. "Do you really think I want more of you?"
"What the hell?" Bucky asked quietly, looking at all the other Winter Soldiers around him. Lara set a gentle hand on his shoulder, not knowing what kind of memories this placed stirred up for him.
Lara blinked, eyes widening when a glimpse of a horrid memory popped into her brain as she looked back into the hallway. Her hand went to her neck, fingers prodding, seeing if it was bruised. It wasn't.
"I'm grateful to them though," Zemo continued over the intercom. "They brought you here."
The lights started turning on one by one, Lara, Bucky, Steve, and Tony seeing him standing across the room. Tony aimed his repulser beam at him as Cap threw his shield, the metal disk bouncing off of the glass. Zemo was in some kind of metal room, a little glass window the only way to see inside of it. Lara guessed that's how they observed the Winter Soldiers, especially when they came out of their cryogenic states.
"Please, Captain, the Soviets built this chamber to withstand a launch blast of U.R one hundred rockets," Zemo said.
"I bet you I could beat that," Tony shouted as they made their way around the rails that sat in the middle of the room.
"Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark, given time. But then you'd never know why you came."
"You killed innocent people in Vienna just so you can bring us here?" Steve asked, walking closer to the small window. He walked till he was standing face to face with Zemo, only the glass separating them. Lara had a bad feeling about this whole place and being here.
"I thought about nothing else for over a year," Zemo said, looking at Steve as everyone had their weapons still trained on him. "I've 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."
"You're Sokovian," Steve stated. "Is that what this is about?"
"Sokovia was a fail state long before you blew it to Hell. No, I'm here because I made a promise."
"You lost someone."
"I lost everyone. And so will you."
A screen flicked on beside Lara, making the girl jump. They all gathered around it, reading the Russian on the screen. Lara stared at it, confused, as she looked at the display.
"An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within, that's dead. Forever."
Lara watched the screen, her hand coming over her mouth as she saw the road. She knew that road. From a long, long time ago. This couldn't be happening. Why was this road on a video recording here?
"I know this road," Tony spoke, looking at the screen like Steve and Lara were. "What is this?!"
They watched the old fashion car hit the tree, before a motorcycle pulled up behind it. Lara glanced up at Bucky, recognized the Winter Soldier he was in the video. Lara winced when she saw Howard crawl out of the driver side, The Soldier walking over to him and grabbing his hair in his hand after examining something in the trunk.
"Sergeant Barnes?" Was heard from the tape, making Lara blink back the tears. Marie, who was in the car, called to her husband, in obvious pain. Lara watched as Bucky hit Howard twice, sending his bone in his nose into his brain, killing him instantly. She winced as he dragged him back into the car, placing him in it before walking over to Marie's side.
Lara walked away from the screen then, not able to watch any further. It all hurt too much, but she knew it wasn't Bucky. And by the look on his face, she could tell he was feeling guilty about it.
__________
n.e.
next chapter is the last chapter! yay, for lara and bucky.
though, i do apologize for what is coming next.