Chapter 41
"Run," Bucky muttered.
We both turned and began sprinting to the other side of the lobby. Natasha didn't move as we ran, which only made me more nervous. Suddenly, as Bucky's hand hit the door, there was a bright flash, and he flew backwards into a ton of tables. I whipped around to see Vision floating above us, the stone in his forehead shining brightly. He looked down at me coldly as Natasha walked forward slowly. I began to say something to Vision, but before I could he was knocked out of the air by a folding chair.
I turned to see Bucky standing again, clearing having thrown the chair. Natasha charged at us suddenly, attacking me first. I tossed Bucky the ICER and pulled out Fortis, using it to block her elbow from hitting me in the face. Vision flew back and began to attack Bucky, who began using the chairs and tables around him to defend himself.
I punched Natasha in the stomach as she wound up to hit me again. She stumbled back slightly but recovered quickly. Bucky suddenly popped up beside me and grabbed my arm, dragging me towards the exit. We ran out and onto the street, right into a crowd of riot-gear wearing INTERPOL officers.
"I have an idea, come on!"
Bucky ran over to what looked like an opening to an underground parking garage and hoisted himself on top of the concrete median. He grabbed my hand and helped me up too. I looked back at the agents chasing us and felt the panic rising in my chest.
"Cara, look at me, don't look at them," he yelled, grabbing my chin and turning his face towards me. "I need you to trust me and jump."
"What the FUCK Bucky?!"
"I'm jumping too, let's go!"
Bucky stepped off the edge of the median, taking me down with him. The drop wasn't as far as I anticipated, and we both landed crouched in the middle of the garage. He stood before I did and helped me up.
"You okay?" He asked, examining my face.
I nodded and looked around at the vehicles around us, panting slightly. We could hear cars coming towards us, and I knew they were probably cops. There was a loud revving noise suddenly, and a motorcycle came tearing around the corner. I backed away slightly, but Bucky did the opposite.
He ran right at the motorcyclist and knocked him off. He grabbed the bike by the handles and swung it into the air before turning it around and swinging his leg over it before the bike hit the ground. My mouth gaped as he rode towards me, grabbed me by the waist, and dropped me onto the bike behind him.
"That may have been the hottest thing you've ever done," I muttered as I wound my arms around his waist tightly.
I could tell he was smirking as he pressed the bike to go faster. "Thanks, Cara."
"Anytime."
Bucky took a sharp left turn suddenly; so sharp, in fact, that our knees almost hit the ground. We were on a service type underground road now, speeding away from the sirens following us. After a few minutes we were back in a huge open room. I looked around, my eyes widening slightly.
"Bucky," I breathed, "you need to be careful."
"What?"
"Something's going to happen, you need to be careful."
"What are you-"
Suddenly, I was knocked off of the motorcycle. I hit the ground hard and rolled for what felt like ten minutes. As I started to stand up, I was knocked down again. Tony stood over me, his mask retracted.
"Stay down," he said sternly.
"Fuck off," I launched myself upwards and kicked him in the chest.
I scrambled up to run back towards Bucky, but felt something indescribable wrap around me. Suddenly, I was stuck to the wall behind me by some white silky substance.
"Shit!"
Peter Parker dropped from the rafters donning his red and blue suit. I pulled at the webs holding me to the wall, but they didn't budge. Tony clapped Peter on the back, and I struggled to see past them to look at Bucky. He had turned around and was riding back towards us.
Suddenly, a figure dressed in all black appeared next to him, running just as fast as the motorcycle was moving.
"Bucky!" I screamed, still struggling against the bindings. "Look out!"
He looked over just as the figure laughed at him and ripped him off the bike. I shrieked as the two tumbled across the floor, exchanging blows. Bucky struggled to keep up with the person attacking him, and had soon been overpowered. A van screeched around the corner suddenly, and Steve rolled out almost instantly, in full battle garb. He whipped his shield towards me, and it sliced through the webs like a hot knife through butter. The shield ricocheted back to him, and this time he threw it at the person attacking Bucky.
I knew before it happened that they would catch it, then use it to pummel Steve into a pilar. They did, and I ran forward as they went in to hit Bucky again. I bolted past both Tony and Peter, picking up the shield as I passed it. I slammed it into the person's head as I approached them, knocking them off of Bucky. As his attacker stumbled off, I pushed Bucky away towards Steve.
The figure turned back to me, and my eyes widened as I looked at them. They towered over me, their muscular build rivaling Steve and Bucky. The suit they wore made them look like a giant cat, which at first glance, I thought was really weird.
Then I remembered that one of my best friends flies around in a bird costume.
The figure flicked his hand out suddenly, and small metal spikes shot out like claws from the tips of his fingers. I backed away slowly as I realized I was totally defenseless, my heart pounding in my chest.
"Hey! Kitty-Boy! Go fuck yourself!"
I turned around to see Sam flying at me, shooting at the person in the cat suit. As he passed me, he grabbed me, and took off out from the underground tunnel with me in tow. He flew out into the open air and straight up.
"Where'd Bucky go?!" I yelled, holding onto him for dear life.
"He's in the car with Steve, he's fine. I'm getting you out of here!"
I looked down and saw the cars and people on the street getting smaller and smaller. I turned my head to the right slightly, and my stomach dropped.
"Sam!" I called. "Rhodes is right behind us!"
"Shit, hold on tight."
Sam took a sharp turn around a building, quickly followed by another, clearly trying to lose Rhodes. Suddenly, part of a building next to us exploded, and then another.
"Shit, what was that?!"
I looked past Rhodes and to the ground, where a beam of yellow light was attempting to be aimed at us.
"It's Vision," I told him. "Are your comms working?"
"In and out."
"Tell Wanda to try and distract him."
"Cara, you can't ask her to do that!"
"If she doesn't we're going to get blown out of the sky, Sam!" I snapped.
"Okay, I'll see if I can get through."
Sam flew through the sky haphazardly for several more minutes, dodging Vision's blasts a few times every minute or so. I noticed that Vision's shots were getting more and more off target, and he wasn't even close to hitting us anymore. Rhodes, on the other hand, was getting closer and closer. Sam whipped around another building so fast that I almost slipped out of his arms, but we recovered quickly.
"Barton ordered the quin jet out," Sam called down to me. "We're almost there."
As he spoke, I saw the jet appear a few blocks in front of us. When we approached, the cargo ramp went down, revealing Scott and Wanda standing there. I looked back as Rhodes began shooting at the jet to no avail.
Suddenly, as we entered the jet, there was another blast of yellow energy from the ground, this one hitting Rhodes in the foot. He instantly began to fall.
"Rhodes!" I screamed, running toward the edge of the ramp, not even realizing what I was doing.
"Cara, stop!" Bucky ran in from the cockpit and yelled at me, grabbing me by the waist.
"Oh my god, oh my god, no, Rhodes, no," I rambled numbly, staring out at the sky.
Bucky brought me back from the ramp and forced me to sit down. He sat next to me as I stared forward in disbelief. The ramp was closed and the jet sped away from the city, all of us silent inside.
"Are you okay?" Bucky asked quietly.
"I don't know," I mumbled, staring at my hands. "Are you?"
"I think so," he breathed. "Aside from feeling like a giant cat just put me in a blender, I think I'm okay."
"What the fuck was that? Who the fuck was that?"
"Prince T'Challa of Wakanda," Steve interjected quietly. "I heard Tony yell at him when he was going to go after Cara."
"Hold on, the explosion at the UN killed the King of Wakanda, didn't it?" I realized, furrowing my eyebrows together. "Cat-Man's dad?"
Steve nodded.
"So he wants to kill me for revenge," Bucky said, seemingly unfazed.
"Well he's not going to," I said fiercely.
Bucky put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. "No," he muttered firmly. "No he's not."
I put my head on his shoulder and held onto his arm, pulling it closer to me. Steve turned and walked back to the cockpit, where Clint and Scott sat at the controls. Wanda sat alone in the back of the jet, staring blankly into the air. A bruise was forming on her jaw, and tears brimmed in her eyes. I thought about saying something to her, but before I could her eyes locked with mine. She shook her head slowly, warning me to not bother her.
I looked back at the ground. Bucky pressed his lips against the side of my head briefly as I sighed loudly and shut my eyes.
"Hey, get some sleep," he said quietly. "You look exhausted."
"No, no, I don't need to. I'm fine."
"Cara," he said seriously, "come on."
"Buck-"
"Go to sleep. Please."
"You go to sleep."
He furrowed his eyebrows, smirking slightly. "Are you really going to argue with me about sleep?"
I sighed loudly. "Sorry. I get argumentative when I'm tried."
Bucky reached over and put the armrest between us up before gesturing for me to put my head down. I curled up in a ball and put my head in his lap, using my jacket as a makeshift blanket. He ran his hand up and down my arm gently as I made myself comfortable. I put my hand on his wrist for a moment and squeezed it slightly.
"Thank you," I whispered, glancing up at him.
He smiled slightly and put his hand on my hair. "Go to sleep, Cara."