The day finally came, and after a lot of begging (and a little bit of compulsion magic), I finally convinced Steve to let me join him on the mission. It was the first and only one I had asked to join, so obviously it had raises suspicion.
"Why do you want to go on this one?" he asked.
"I want to be a part of the action," I responded. I already had the lie ready, knowing he was going to ask. "I've been sitting out for far too long, Steve. I'm in the army for a reason."
It was a freezing, snowy day. The men and I were lined up, waiting for the train to rush past. One of the men was peering through some binoculars, while two others were listening to an old fashioned (or I guess in this time period just...fashioned) radio that was tuned to hear any and all Hydra messages.
I was stood back pretty far. I didn't want to look over the side. I knew I had to go hurdling down this at any moment and land on a train, but I didn't want to think about that just yet. I had to try to gain the nerves to do this. I couldn't chicken out now.
Bucky approached Steve and looked down at where the train would be coming. "Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?"
"Yeah, and I threw up?" Steve recalled.
"This isn't payback, is it?" Bucky asked.
"Now why would I do that?"
I chuckled behind the two. "That sounds like an interesting story."
Steve turned around to look at me. He smiled. "I'll tell it to you when this is all over."
I tried not to let Steve see my smile falter. I didn't know if I was going to be here when this was all over. I was seriously considering staying, but I knew I couldn't do that. I had family back home, and friends. I had people who loved me, who would miss me. I couldn't just abandon them.
But then again, I also had people who loved me here.
One of the two men who were listening to the radio spoke up, "We were right. Dr. Zola's on the train. Hydra dispatcher gave him permission to open up the throttle. Wherever he's going, they must need him bad."
At this, the men began to set up their lines. The man watching through the binoculars declared, "Let's get going because they're moving like the devil."
"We only got about a 10 second window," Steve explained. "You miss that window, we're bugs on a windshield."
Wow. That's very comforting.
Another of the team exclaimed, "Better get moving, bug!"
The signal was given and Steve jumped first. I watched as he propelled down towards the train at an incredibly fast speed. I couldn't help but gulp as one of the men passed me my device and I hooked it up to the zipline. Bucky, who was set to go before me, looked at me over his shoulder and chuckled.
"Scared Riana?"
I scoffed and responded, "Of course not!"
But I was. I was absolutely terrified. See, I'm afraid of heights. I hadn't realized how high off the ground we would have to be for this mission. On top of that, we had to propel at an insanely high speed to the train and, if we did it wrong, well...Steve said it best: bugs on a windsheild. Not a comforting thought. I just had to remind myself that this was for Steve, and for Bucky.
Bucky grinned at me and jumped next. I waited a moment. My hands were trembling and my knees felt weak. I tried not to look down, but it was hard. I took a deep breath, swallowed my fear, and jumped.
The wind whipped around me as I shot down the hill like a bullet. At first I was terrified. My palms were so sweaty I was sure I was going to slide from the handlebars and fall to my death. I had my eyes squeezed shut, not wanting to see as I shot down, but I knew I had to open them to see when the train was coming up.
I opened my eyes and took in the world around me. Everything was going by so fast. The cold wind was nipping at my skin, but it was almost exhilarating! I felt a rush of adrenaline run through me and I couldn't help but exclaim out in excitement.
I was closing in on the train. I was supposed to slow down and almost stop around where Steve and Bucky were already standing, but my line showed no signs of slowing or stopping. I was going to fast, far faster than we had calculated. Suddenly, my panic rose again. What if I missed? What if I went too far and was left hanging?
As I got down to the train, I felt a pair of hands grab me around my waist and arms wrap around me as I stumbled into them, trying to regain my footing and to get my legs to stop feeling like jelly. I looked up to see that my savior was Steve. Just as quick as he caught me, he let me go. I almost wished he would hold me again.
"Careful there, doll," he told me. "You almost became the bug."
"I would've, if it wasn't for you," I told him.
"No time for flirting you two," Bucky cut in. "Let's go!"
We walked across the roof of the train to a ladder. Steve climbed down first. Bucky, who was currently standing watch with one of the other men who slid down after I did, motioned for me to follow. Steve pulled open the door and climbed in, then helped me. I reached my hand out for Bucky, who was climbing down the ladder after me, and pulled him in.
The train car was empty and eerily quiet. The only thing occupying the car was a couple of metal stands with what looked like cases for weapons on them. Steve moved towards the door to the next car, which was wide open, and peered through it. It was also empty. He turned back to the two of us and shrugged before starting to walk through. Once Steve was to the other car, the doors suddenly slammed shut, separating us.
Before we could even comprehend the situation, gunshots filled the silence of the car. Bucky grabbed my arm and ducked behind a pile of weapons. He started firing his machine gun at our two new visitors while I shot with my handgun. I couldn't get a bigger one, but I'd take what I could.
"You go right, I go left," Bucky told me.
Before I could respond, he took off for the other pile of weapons that was conveniently placed on the other side of the car.
There was someone approaching me. They were carrying a gun and they were aiming. I ducked down just as a shot ricocheted off the wall above me. I peaked up to see him reloading and took this as my opportunity to fire at him. Another few shots and he was down for the count. I quickly raced towards him to kick his gun away, as I had seen happen in many cop tv shows.
I heard a new set of gunshots that were aiming towards Bucky. I quickly ran to duck down with him.
"How many are there?!" I exclaimed over the sound of the firing.
"I don't know!" Bucky responded. "See if you can get the door open, I'll cover you!"
I nodded and raced to the door. A shot pinged off the train wall right next to me, narrowly missing me again. I got up to the door and looked for something to press or some leaver that I could pull to open it.
I looked through the window in the doors to see Steve fighting with a man dressed in a big metal armored suit, one that almost looked like the Iron Man prototype suit. I knew I shouldn't worry about Steve - he survives this mission, he was going to be fine! - but my heart still raced in fear.
I tried to pry the door open but there was nothing on my side. Across the car, Steve rendered the man unconscious and managed to pull his door open. He ran towards me.
"I can't get it!" I excalaimed.
"Back up!"
I did as he said and watched as he pulled the door open. Beside me, Bucky was out of ammo. Steve noticed and threw his handgun to Bucky.
"Stay behind me!" he told me.
I did as he said and ducked behind him as he raised his shield and charged towards one of the towers. He hit one of the weapons cases, sending it firing at the enemy standing behind it and knocking him out cold. Bucky shot the last man standing, knocking him down, too.
"I had him on the ropes," Bucky told Steve.
"I know you did," Steve responded, only a small hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Behind us, something made a noise. Steve was the first to turn and exclaimed, "Get down!" before shoving Bucky and I behind him and his shield.
The armored man wasn't down for the count like I thought he was. He sent literal flames at Steve, knocking Steve back and blowing a hole open on the side of the train. From the floor of the car, I stared at the hole, my eyes wide. I realized that this was the moment; Bucky's fall.
"Fire again!" came a German voice over some sort of loud speaker. I assumed it was Zola. "Kill them, now!"
Bucky was to his feet before I could stop him and grabbed Steve's shield. I was about to jump up, to pull him behind the stacks but was too late as another blast came and knocked Bucky right out of the gaping hole.
My heart spiked and I screamed, "Bucky!"
Steve quickly got to his feet and hurled his shield at the man. It hit off his suit and sent him flying backwards. I raced to close the door again, this time secretly using my magic to pull it closed. I grabbed my gun from my waist and Steve's shield, holding it up to protect my body. It was the size of my entire torso, and them some, and it was heavy.
Struggling against the weight of it, I told Steve, "Go, I got your back!"
He didn't hesitate to climbed through the hole and onto the side of the moving train. I accidentally looked out and down, seeing how high up we were as we sped probably a million miles an hour. I was suddenly feeling woozy, like I may faint.
I tried to shake off my nerves and turned to focus on the piece of metal Bucky was hanging on to. I willed it to stay up, watching as it struggled against Bucky's weight. Suddenly, Steve's shield felt heavier and I realized that I was now holding the metal piece up using only my powers. I took a deep breath and gripped Steve's shield tightly, holding it up. If I let the shield fall, Bucky would fall. I couldn't let that happen.
Steve extends his hand to Bucky and exclaimed, "Grab my hand!"
Bucky reached. I held my breath, my arms now shaking at the weight of the shield. I kept staring at the metal piece, thinking that I was really out there, really holding it up.
Bucky grabbed Steve's hand and Steve managed to pull him back into the train. I let out a sigh of relief and dropped the shield, causing the metal piece on the side of the train to fall as well. Except I managed to change the events; the piece fell, but Bucky didn't.
"God, I thought I lost you," Steve said as I pushed past him to hug Bucky. I gripped him tightly, grateful that I was able to save him.
Bucky chuckled and squeezed me back. "Hey, I'm okay Riana. Don't worry." If only you knew how things were supposed to turn out, Buck. To Steve, he added, "Looks like I owe you twice now."
"I'll put it on your tab," Steve chuckled as I pulled away from the embrace. "Come on, let's get Zola."
Ayyyyyyyeeeeee I saved Bucky!! This part of the story isn't for nothing, it will come back! I'm almost finished with this imagine series, then I will go back to requests! Dedicated to Riana_Jannat23