#marvelinsert

   “Mission report,” Silence, “Mission report now,” Pierce walks forward and leans down slowly before smacking my soldier right across the face as hard as he can. My body moves before I can process my actions. I plant myself in front of him, hands sparking and muscles twitching. Pierce steps back slightly, fear flashing across his face before he can compose himself.     “Do that again,” I growl, “I dare you,” I feel a tapping at my hip and I step sideways.    “The man on the bridge. Who was he?” There’s something strange about my soldier’s voice. Pierce seems cautious as he speaks. Choosing his words carefully. His eyes keep flicking up to my face.    “You met him earlier this week on another assignment,”     “I knew him,” Pierce pulls a stool over.    “Your work has been a gift to mankind,”   I make eye contact with Petrovic who subtly motions with his hands at mine. I look down and they’ve burst into flames. I extinguish them and feel the warmth leave my back as well. Hair must’ve caught too. The other guards and officials in the room are studying me warily. Pierce is continuing with his weird speech, “And HYDRA can’t give the world the freedom it deserves,”    “But I knew him…” I snap my fingers to caution him. If he questions too much, they’ll wipe him again. And I hate watching it.   Pierce looks at me and then sighs and stands up. I walk over to my soldier and gently stroke his hair, tangling my fingers in it. He reaches up to shake me off before stopping and letting his hand drop to his lap.     “Prep him,”    “He’s been out of cryo-freeze too long,” I’m about ready to murder that tech when Pierce says the worst thing possible.    “Then wipe him and start over,” I feel Soldat start to shake. I push his hair back and kneel in front of him. It’s a painful process and it hurts me almost as much as it hurts him.    “Calm. Down. I’ll be right here,” I’m getting anxious now too but I push it down and put on a smile for him, “I’m right here. I’m not leaving your side,” His eyes reflect the fear I feel churning in my stomach as he stares at me. Petrovic taps me to back up. Soldat grips my hands and I almost just stay there but I know I’ll be forced away one way or another so I lean back down to press my lips to his head while I work my hand out of his grip.   I back up and the techs push him back into the chair and give him the mouth guard to prevent him from screaming too loud or breaking his jaw. The machine locks him in and lowers the face pieces. I know I’m shaking. Petrovic touches my shoulder in a gesture of comfort and I almost turn away but Soldat catches my eye and I know I have to watch.   I steel myself and I feel my hair, feet and hands catch. The flames snake their way up my legs, up my arms and up my neck. I notice people stepping away in my peripheral. I hear the electricity buzz its way into his head and he starts screaming. The flames turn blue then white with heat and I see Pierce walking away. I can’t bring myself to look away from my soldier screaming in pain.   I open my eyes with a start and the room is dead silent. I’ve hit the floor and am on my knees, burning the shit out of the stone ground. The procedure is clearly over but no one moves. They all have their eyes, and a few guns, trained on me. The Russians are used to it, as is Petrovic, and only watch with pity in their eyes but the Americans are tense and wary with their guns pointed straight at my head.   It takes a moment to regain my movement and as I move to stand, I notice the flames are flickering high but only orange and yellow. The heat has gone down considerably. I slowly bring down the height of the flames until there are only a few tendrils of red dancing around my hands and then only smoke clings to me.   I make my way slowly to my soldier. He’s awake, barely. I touch his arm cautiously. He eyes me warily before recognition kicks in and he relaxes. I’m lucky that due to the programming, the cryo and the simple fact that I’m the one constant in his life he remembers me despite the wiping.   He’s released from the machine and sits up. Petrovic recites the words and he switches immediately.    “Soldat?”    “Ready to comply,” I back up and tune out of Petrovic giving him the standard briefing of the situation and HYDRA.     “Y/n,” I turn back around, “You’re on site at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Not backup, not first aid. You’re with Rumlow until this one kills Rogers and Romanoff,” I hang my head and let out a high pitched moan. I really really don’t like Rumlow. He’s a type A alpha male with some sort of superiority complex and just overall unbearable.    “Can’t I just shadow him?” I jerk my head towards my soldier.    “Sorry, I advised that but Pierce prefers him to work alone,” Petrovic shrugs.   I know he wants to do more. The older Serbain man does have a heart. And that’s rare around here. He does his best to keep Soldat and I happy. I’ve known him since he was young and I’m sure he doesn’t like aging as the decades pass while Soldat and I stay young and unchanging.    “I hate Rumlow,” I mutter under my breath.   I’m flown out with Soldat by my side. He’s still nervous. I can tell. There’s so many reasons why I hate the reprogramming process. Just one of those reasons is working through him trusting me again. It doesn’t take long but right now he’s still going through his memories of me and placing me as a friend and caregiver rather than a threat or another official. I’d rather be talking to him and holding his hand right now. But I know from experience he’s completely out of it right now, just a few hours after being wiped, his eyes have been fixed on me since he was released. It’s definitely not fun. He’s probably coming to the conclusion that I’m on his side but I force myself to ignore it.   I tap my foot anxiously and pull out the small handmade chain around my neck from under the uniform. I slide my fingers over the intricate metal and Chungae’s face flashes into my mind. She’s the one who made it. I wonder briefly if she’s still alive before putting the thought out of my head. Even if she was, I’ll never see her again.   We land with a bump and I’m taken to the main control center of SHIELD while Soldat heads off to find Rogers. I hang around for a bit, uninterested in all the technology that surrounds me while the soldiers walk around, both observing and guarding. I fiddle with my chain again and wander around the room.   I pick up a pad of paper and find a pen. I settle on the floor in the corner of the room and scribble for a bit. I’m not an artist by any means. I have a notebook back in Siberia full of my drawings. Mostly just bits I can remember from my dreams.   When I snap out of my thoughts I look at the page. It’s full of eyes, my soldier’s face, HYDRA’s symbol, a moon with a hauntingly familiar face but I can’t remember where I’ve seen it, my chain wrapped around a hand, Chungae’s face.     “That’s beautiful,” I look up and see a girl with short blue hair leaning over me and studying the page.    “Thanks…”     “Really, you should post them,” I’m confused until I realise she’s talking about social media. Another advancement I’ve never had the opportunity to experience. I shrug and fold it up, tucking it into a pocket in my pants.     “I don’t like sharing them,”    “Understandable,” She smiles at me and then walks back over to her desk with two coffees in hand. Weird.    “Attention all SHIELD agents,” I stand up quickly. A voice over the PA rings across the room, “This is Steve Rogers,” Muttering fills the room, “You’ve heard a lot about me over the past few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it’s time you know the truth,” He pauses, “SHIELD is not what we thought it was. It’s been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader.” I notice Rumlow getting tense.   I slip out of the room and start walking down the hallways, looking for my soldier, “The STRIKE and Insight crew as well. I don’t know how many more, but I know they’re in the building. They could be standing right next to you,” Around this point I tune out and start thinking about where he might be.   Before I can make a decision, I hear feet pounding down the hallway. S.T.R.I.K.E. I slip into an office quickly until they’ve passed and their footsteps have disappeared.   Something tells me I need to find my soldier soon. The instinct is strong but I can’t think of an actual reason to believe it. I put it down to years of missions and knowing Soldat. Something’s very wrong but I don’t know what it is.   I hear the sirens go off and the building shakes. They’re sending the helicarriers up. I lock myself in a dark office and decide to wait it out.   I don’t know how long it is before explosions shake the whole building. I sit for a moment before I take flight. I sprint down hallways to reach the stairs and run all the way down to the ground floor and outside. I watch as the helicarriers crash. My soldier. I notice figures falling into the lake.   I walk around to find myself in the treeline near the bank. I wait. I see someone dragging another person out of the lake. I recognise the silver arm of my soldier. He reaches the bank and drops what I assume to be Rogers. He stands still for a moment before turning and heading in my direction. I step out into the open and we make eye contact.    “Let’s go,” He says, holding his hand out.  I take his hand and, as I always have done, follow my soldier wherever he goes. 

  I end up alone and reading a piece of information about ‘James Buchanan Barnes’. I look up and jump slightly in shock. The man in the video staring back at me is my soldier. Younger, happier and laughing with Captain Rogers. But definitely him. I feel a hand on my back and whip around in alarm before realising it’s him. My reaction has had no impact on him, he’s transfixed on the video.     “I think I remember,” I touch his arm gently and when he looks at me, his eyes are sparkling with moisture.   However I’m distracted by a woman staring directly at me and looking confused. I realise that despite the hat, he’s still recognisable. I take his hand and march out of the building.     “We need to get out of here. Some woman noticed you.”   We end up at the airport with a flight to Bucharest.     “We’re lucky they’re careless with so much cash. And I had the opportunity to take it,” He mumbles as we count over what’s left at the gate. 

  Arriving in Bucharest we immediately search for an apartment to stay in. One building has a few one room apartments available so I go on a search for somewhere to exchange the money. When I return and we pay, we’re handed a key. The room is small. Very small. A bed in one corner, a little kitchen with a fridge and a stove. That’s pretty much it. We sink into the bed together and fall asleep.   When I wake up, sunlight is streaming through the curtains. I leave Soldat to sleep and go out to buy food and cleaning supplies. I find a small supermarket and return with two heavy grocery bags. As I unlock the door, it is opened quickly and I almost drop the bags. Soldat pulls me inside.    “I didn’t know where you went. I thought someone had found you,”     “I’m sorry! I just thought you’d like to get some sleep. You’ve been stressed lately,” I touch his face softly and he catches my hand there, “You need to shave,” I chuckle. He smiles back at me.    “What’d you get?” I pull out black bread, a few cold cuts, cheese, cucumbers and tea packets from one and I empty detergent, sponges, washcloths, trash bags and a little mop from the other. I found a broom and a bucket in the bathroom this morning.    “You cook, I’ll clean, yeah?” He looks nervous and picks up the food cautiously, “Haven’t you ever cooked before?” He shakes his head, “Ok, just slice some cold cuts and cheese and put it on some bread. Cut up the cucumbers and that’s it. Easy, right?”    “Sure…” He doesn’t look sure but I let him figure it out.   I start with sweeping the whole place. I open the windows and beat the dust out of the curtains. I start in the bathroom, which is mostly just dusty, putting plenty of spiders outside. While I scrub the sink and toilet, I let the bucket fill up in the tub.    “Bol’shoy, can you get this for me?” I call, unable to lift the full bucket out of the tub. Once it’s out, we set the food on the bed and dump water over the still dusty wooden floor.   While it’s soaking in, we eat on the bed. It’s nice being around him and I can finally start focusing on the potential of a future outside of HYDRA. Away from stress, danger and just HYDRA in general, he’s much chattier and smiles a lot more. Both of us are still tense about the possibility of someone finding us but for now we just enjoy each other’s company. He hasn’t done too bad a job on the food either. He chose a ham cold cut and while the food is cold, it tastes good and seems to restore our positivity.     “So, I fell off the bike and smashed my nose because why would I wear a helmet? And the guy in the car sped off and I ended up chasing him on foot, with my nose streaming blood by the way, and he looks out the car window and just does a double take because I’m on foot sprinting past this car and he crashes the stupid car himself so I don’t even have to do anything. I took the documents out of the backseat and left this guy losing his mind in a crashed car in the middle of nowhere. So now this man is just existing after witnessing a guy sprint seventy miles an hour after his car!”     “Wait, wait. Wait. When was this?”    “1973. So, maybe the guy is dead now but imagine living with that experience,” He laughs, “So you lose important government documents and you have a soldier run faster than your car. I would not want to be him,” We’re in fits of laughter for some reason and I honestly think this might be the first time he’s laughed this hard, at least since becoming the Winter Soldier. I can hardly even finish my food since everything he says just sends me into giggles.     “Ok, ok. Let me finish cleaning,” I get up and take our plates to the kitchen sink.    “Want help?” I motion to the dishes and he springs up and gets the hot water going. I fill up the bucket again halfway and start scrubbing the floor with a heavy sponge.   After a little while I start humming.   I glance over and Soldat has begun scrubbing the grime out of the kitchen sink and counters. We continue on like this for three more hours, mopping, scrubbing and dusting. He smiles to himself a lot and ruffles my hair whenever we pass each other.   I leave again to buy bed sheets and a blanket and towels. I also buy a notebook.    “What’s this for?” He asks when I hand it to him.    “I can tell you’re starting to remember things. From before. I thought it might help if you could write them down,” I say as I put on the bed sheets. I’m suddenly spun around and pulled into a tight embrace.     “Spasibo, malen’kaya,” I can hear the strain in his voice and when he pulls away I wipe the tears from under his eyes.     “It’s nothing,” I pat his cheek and finish making the bed, “So. What do we want for dinner?” I grin and twirl in a circle, already in a giddy mood.    “Whatever you can find in the store,” He shrugs and returns my smile. I feel my heart melt a little and suddenly question why. I consider for a moment. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s pretty solemn most of the time and his smiles are difficult to come by. Do I find him attractive? Sure. Who wouldn’t? He’s got a sweet smile and gorgeous blue eyes. I decide to put that aside for the moment. We’re hardly out of HYDRA’s grasp. It’s time to focus on survival, not emotions.     “Ok. I’ll go again.” As per the last two times I left the house, I put on a bucket hat and sunglasses.   I can tell he would prefer to come with me but it’s not an option. He’s too easily recognized by HYDRA. Despite my long history with them, it’s easier to hide in plain sight. No tell-tale signs of my identity. Sunglasses hide my eyes, which therefore hide my ethnicity. Only my black hair is unhidden. I am alert but not scared. I can easily outrun them, even in their cars. So I enjoy my walk to the supermarket.

  I dump the bags on the counter.   “Ok. I bought grilled mushrooms from some guy on the way back. But we also have potatoes and polenta. I also got sparkling wine and pumpkin pie.” I start the water on the stove and chop up the potatoes to put in the pot. I decide to chill the mushrooms while that’s cooking and shove them in the fridge.     “Here, let me do that,” He guides me out of the kitchen and starts chopping parsley and mixing it with butter before straining the potatoes and mashing them with the butter and parsley. I lean against the window and watch the people outside. The curtains are now clean and since it’s getting dark, I shut them and turn on the lights. “Alright, let’s eat,” He hands me a plate of mushrooms, polenta and potatoes before sitting on the bed.    “We should really get a table,” I mumble through a mouthful of food.   We sit in silence and shovel food in our mouths. Once we’re done he washes our dishes while I pour wine and take the pies out of the oven. We finish the meal in the kitchen, toasting to our daring escape. 

   “Steve,”    “Which Bucky am I talking to?” He’s clearly uneasy.    “Your mom’s name was Sarah,” He pauses before chuckling, “You used to wear newspapers in your shoes,”    “Can’t read that in a museum,” Steve smirks a bit.    “Just like that, we’re supposed to be cool?”    “I dropped him,” The two men look to me, “Used the fail-safe. It’s not even written down in his files. Say a word, he drops unconscious and switches out of it,” They nod but still seem unsure.    “What did I do?” Bucky manages to get out.    “Enough,”    “Oh god. I knew this would happen,” His voice breaks a little and so does my heart, “Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do is say the goddamn words,”    “Who was he?”    “I don’t know,”    “The bombing, the setup… The doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you. I need you to do better than ‘I don’t know’”    “Hey! Ok. That’s enough. Give him a fucking break!” I stand up.    “N/N, don’t,”    “He’s been through hell and back. He wakes up and you’re already interrogating him. Maybe back off a little!” My voice has been rising in volume and I find myself standing directly in front of Steve, “I’m not scared of you. And unlike my soldier, I don’t have any issues with hurting you to deal with you!”    “Y/N, stop,” I whirl around, “He’s just trying to help us,” I huff, debating whether it was worth punching his face but decide against it and march back to Bucky’s side and crouch beside him, “He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where,”    “Well, fuck,” I mutter quietly. Only one reason anyone would want to go there.    “Why would he need to know that?”    “Because I’m not the only Winter Soldier,”

  Watching Soldat train was certainly not my favorite activity. It was stressful and I disliked the other supersoldiers. One in particular was very aggressive.   Today was no exception. The rest of the nurses and I stood by on benches next to our soldiers. I stood with Konstantinov, Soldat’s current handler. Watching a pair of them compete in hand-to-hand, I bounced slightly on my toes. Soldat gave me a look but I ignored him.   I was getting nervous as Soldat started to spar with the angry one. I held my breath as they fought. The other one managed to get a grip on his arm and then kicked him across the room. He landed next to me after hitting the wall.    “You’ll have to do better,” Konstantinov scoffed, “Good work,” He directed towards the other one.   I bent down and pressed my palm to his cheek before he stood up. While the other one’s nurse took his heart rate, he slammed the poor guy onto the ground after breaking his arm.   One of the guards hit him with a stick but it hardly did anything. Konstantinov cocked his gun, “Soldat, get me out of here,” I followed them out of the room while the other soldiers turned on the guards and the nurses. We ended up in a safe part of the facility while the others were sedated.

   “Who were they?”    “Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in HYDRA history,”     “And that was before the serum,” I add, shaking my head.    “They all turn out like you?” Sam seemed edgy now,    “Worse,”     “The doctor,” Steve asked, “Could he control them?”    “Enough,”    “Said he wanted to see an empire fall,”     “With these guys he could do it,” I stand up, “They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilise. They can take a whole country down in one night, you’d never see them coming. We were taught the same things too, the enhanced,”    “This would have been a lot easier a week ago,” Sam says to Steve.   They release his arm from the vice, still talking.    “If we call Tony-”    “No, he won’t believe us,”    “Even if he did, who knows if the Accords will let him help?” I turn my focus back to Bucky, who’s trying to calm down again. I run my fingers through his hair and remind him to breathe.   We end up in a really old car, squished in. We were flown to Germany for whatever reason. I’ve relaxed my head against Bucky’s shoulder and when we stop I see that blue-haired girl, Selene, step out of a different car to meet Steve.   After a few minutes of chatting and what-not, they kiss and I smile a bit. Steve seems nice, I can understand why she’s into him. Yeah, he’s pretty but he’s not my Soldat.   He tosses his shield and something else in the back before we drive to the airport.

  We park and get out. I’m on high alert, definitely not liking the parking lot. We meet a man and a young woman climbing out of a white van. They greet Steve while Buck and I lean on the car.   I run my hands over his face softly, knowing a fight is coming. He leans his head into it and my heart skips a beat. I touch his cheekbones, the tip of his nose, his lips. I sigh a little before dropping my hands to my side.   I focus on another guy who’s stepped out. He seems… Weird. I shrug it off and the girl waves at me. I wave back but jump a little when Bucky says loudly,    “We should get moving,”     “We’ve got a chopper lined up,” The first guy tells us. Over the intercom, a voice tells passengers to evacuate in German.    “They’re evacuating the airport,” I say thoughtfully. That’s not good.    “Stark,” Sam sighs.    “Suit up,” Steve instructs everyone. Bucky and I don’t exactly have much so he pulls on the leather jacket from our bag that Selene retrieved and I yank on the harness and my fireproof long sleeve and make do with my baggy jeans. I grip his hands while he mentally prepares himself to fight. 

 Steve runs out alone to the helicopter but is quickly intercepted by Iron Man. Cool. This will go down well. I keep count as more arrive. Another ‘Iron Man’ who arrived with Stark. The same one who stopped us in Romania. The man in the cat suit who I now know as King T’Challa. Natasha and another girl with pink hair. Some strange younger boy in a suit. He takes Steve’s shield with some sticky web stuff. I’m not a fan of that.   I move to sit with Wilson and Bucky while they scout for their Quinjet. Sam finds it quickly enough and lets Rogers know.   Immediately Lang and Barton initiate combat and the three of us start sprinting towards the jet. The kid hits the window as we’re running.    “What the hell is that?” I laugh at Bucky’s face, a mixture of confusion and horror.     “Everyone’s got a gimmick now,” Sam rolls his eyes and runs faster. I know he’s struggling to keep up with our pace. I find it difficult already to slow down enough for Bucky, let alone a normal person.   The kid busts through the window and kicks Sam. Hard. I skid to a stop and Bucky turns around to punch him but the spider-kid catches it.    “You have a metal arm? That is awesome, dude!” Ok, that’s disturbing. How did he not go flying? I can see Bucky trying to work that out as well before Sam grabs the kid and continues to fly through the airport.   I’m still standing there when Bucky practically throws me over his shoulder and starts running again.     “Put me down, suka!” I hit his back but he still keeps a grip on me. He does drop me a few seconds later though and flings a huge chunk of… something at the kid. He pulls me behind a pillar. He looks back to check if he hit.    “Hey buddy, I think you lost this!” The hunk of metal comes flying back at us and Bucky throws himself on top of me. I shove him off, ready to set the kid on fire when Sam starts fighting him again.   Bucky grabs my harness and starts dragging me. I see Wilson hit the floor and then get stuck to a railing. Bucky seems to forget he’s got me in tow when he flings himself in front of Sam to protect him from the kid kicking him. We all hit the ground and I’m momentarily unaware of what happens. I see Bucky’s metal arm trapped to the ground with more of that nasty web stuff but I’m too dizzy for it to make much sense.     “You couldn’t have done that earlier?”    “I hate you,” Wilson groans. I sit up but I’m overcome by a wave of nausea. Fuck. I’m definitely concussed. I know I can push through the effects of it but for the moment I just sit there, trying to hang on to whatever remains in my stomach.    “Sunny? Sunshine? Y/N!” I jolt and realise Bucky’s been yelling at me. I wave my hand before jumping up and throwing up somewhere behind a wall.    “I’m good. Let’s get out of here,” I groan. Now that that’s done, I’ll be fine. Bucky’s not having any of it though. He holds his hand out and I begrudgingly allow him to hoist me onto his back, “You’re slow enough without me,” I grumble.    “I lift 400 pounds. You’re nothing,” We start running again and make it outside, meeting Steve and the others. We stop abruptly when some floating figure cuts a line in front of us. Great! Another issue.     “Captain Rogers. I know you believe what you’re doing is right but for the collective good, you must surrender now,” I slide off of Bucky’s back.    “What do we do, Cap?” Wilson mutters.    “We fight,” We all move forward to meet them, jogging, then breaking into a run.   I lock eyes with the pink-haired girl. I meet her and get a good grip on her, trying to wrap my arms around her neck. I’m aware of Bucky on my right, locked in battle with T’Challa. She’s really good at hand-to-hand combat though, and definitely stronger than me. My agility makes me a good match though, and we lose and gain position often. Her fight pattern is uncomfortably familiar and I can’t help but wonder why I recognize it. She jerks away quickly when I grab her hands, which have gripped my harness. I feel their heat and I know I can’t control it for much longer. I use that to backsault out of it and run towards Bucky.   He gets thrown into the side of a box and is clearly winded. T’Challa moves to strike him and I put all my energy into sprinting into him. I slam into his whole body and send him flying. Wanda, the girl who waved at me in the car park, catches him with her weird magic stuff and throws him through a plane tunnel. I salute her before yanking Bucky to his feet.   He’s a little bit out of it so I use all my strength to pull him along, as fast as I can go. Steve meets us and we stop for a moment.    “We gotta go. That guy’s probably in Siberia by now,” He’s panting. Hard.    “We gotta draw out the flyers,” Steve responds.    “I’ll take Vision, you get to the jet,”    “No, you get to the jet. The three of you,” Sam calls in over the comms. Clint agrees.    “Alright, Sam, what’s the play?”     “We need a diversion. Something big,” I consider sending myself to a plane or one of the buildings to blow it up.    “Don’t,” Buck grips my wrist so hard I think for a moment he might break it,   “You’re not playing kamikaze again,” I nod, but still consider it.    “I got something kinda big, but I can’t hold it very long,” Lang says over the comms, “On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half, don’t come back for me,”    “He’s gonna tear himself in half?” Bucky shakes his head. We all wait for a moment.   Lang transforms until he’s huge. Like. Bigger than the planes, “You go ahead. We can catch up,” Buck breathes in my ear. I almost shake my head but the look he gives me scares me a little. And that’s saying something. I nod but quickly press my lips to his.     “Run fast,” I whisper.    “I guess that’s the signal,” Rogers is still staring at Scott.   I take off running, knowing no one will catch me. I don’t look back, no matter how much I want to. I hear burning behind me and realise I’m running on flaming feet. That might be cool and all, if it was because of how fast I was running. But the truth is simply that I’m upset and worried about my Soldat.   I reach the jet and skid to a stop. I try to put out the flames but I’m getting myself more and more worked up the more I try to extinguish them.     “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I stamp my feet. My hands are also burning.   I hear a crashing and see a building coming down over the entrance to the hangar. I rush to reach Steve and Bucky, who are just about to reach me when it stops. Wanda is holding it, barely. Something happens and she has to let it go but Steve and Bucky make it in. I fling myself at my soldier and his arms wrap tightly around me, picking me up and carrying me into the jet. My feet and hands must’ve gone out.   Steve starts it up and we fly out of the hangar. Bucky collapses to the ground, still holding me so hard I can hardly breathe. I don’t care though and knot my fingers into his hair.      “Breathe, doll. You need to breathe,” He whispers into my ear as I fight down sobs. I’m not sure why I’m so upset now. Of all the times to be upset. I must look insane, my eyes are wide, staring straight into his. It’s the sight of those striking blue eyes that make my heart flutter.   His hand reaches for my face and I allow him to brush back my hair and stroke my cheek. I calm down enough to feel us speed up. We must have Stark and the other guy on our tail. Bucky settles himself in a seat and straps himself in. I sit on his lap and try to calm the anxiety in my chest.   We fly for an hour before I start to relax. I find a first aid kit and deal with Bucky’s cuts. I make a fuss over the tiniest things and he allows me. Normally he’d brush me off and try to make me sit down but he must think it’s better to allow himself to be fussed over again. I finally finish and my hands are still shaking.   Why I’m on edge, I’m not sure.

Bucky