THIEF | BUCKY BARNES

FIFTY FOUR

WAR
❝You've trained for this.❞

Odessa listened to the chants of the warriors. Each shout got louder and louder, causing Odessa to feel more and more anxious.

Bucky took a glance at the girl as he watched the outriders run towards the defence shield as fast as they could. He didn't know if they'd both make it back alive from this.

"What the hell?" Bucky whispered as he noticed that the number of outriders kept doubling by the minute.

"Looks like we pissed her off." Natasha muttered, taking a quick glance to Steve.

"You think?" Odessa questioned slightly alarmed. She gripped her gun tightly and shared an anxious look with Bucky.

The brunette jumped back slightly as she watched the outriders throw themselves against the defence shield. Bucky placed his hand at the small of the girls back, to steady her. He gave her a sympathetic look, unlike all of the others here, she hadn't ever been in a fight. She hadn't seen the horrors of war. And he hated that she was exposed to that now.

"They're killing themselves." Okoye whispered in shock.

"They're getting through." Odessa whispered softly, glancing between the two super soldiers. She watched as the Border Tribe knelt and raised their shields to form a barrier.

The kings guard lower they sonic spears and over the shoulders of the others, begin to fire at the outriders.

"You ready?" Bucky questioned as he raised his machine gun. Odessa nodded, coping the man's actions and raising her gun. "Aim and then fire. Keep taking deep breaths. You've trained for this." He whispered to her. Odessa hummed in response. "I love you, Cherry."

"I love you too, Sarge." She whispered back and pulled the trigger, killing a few outriders as she did so.

Odessa glanced up to Sam, who flew over them and shot at the outriders from above, followed by Rhodes. She watched as Rhodes dropped a few mines at the defence shield, killing the outriders that were managing to break through.

"Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us" Bruce paused hesitantly as he spoke over the comms. "there's nothing between them and Vision."

"Then we better keep 'em in front of us." Steve responded, his eyes not leaving the spot where Proxima was stood.

"How do we do that?" Okoye questioned anxiously.

"We open the barrier." T'Challa pressed down on his comms before saying, "On my signal, open North-West Section Seventeen."

Odessa's shaky hands reached across for Bucky's. He linked their hands together and pulled her as close to him as he could. He turned and face her, he pressed his forehead against hers and sighed.

"You doing okay?" He whispered softly.

"Honestly?" Odessa chuckled, making Bucky hum in response. "Not really, but we gotta do what got to be done right?"

"Right." Bucky nodded, not really understanding what the girl was on about.

"On my signal." T'Challa spoke up, making Odessa and Bucky turn their attention back to the Outriders.

Odessa watched as Steve clicked his shield, causing it to expand slightly. Bucky's grip on his gun tightened and the shields were disengaged.

T'Challa slowly made his way to the front before shouting,

"WAKANDA FOREVER!" He crossed his arms against his chest, and closed his helmet before charging towards the barrier. "Now."

Odessa let out a shaky breath as everyone ran towards the defence shield. Bucky ran along side the girl, he wanted to keep an eye on her no matter what. Part of him knew that was selfish, but the other part of him didn't care. He needed her to live.

The outriders began to pour in through the small gap in the defence shield. And everyone instantly began to fight them. Odessa raised her gun to aimlessly fire at a few. She noticed one heading straight towards Steve, so she carefully aimed at it before pulling the trigger. Steve shot her a thankful smile in response.

Odessa let out a loud grunt as she slammed against the floor. An outrider pinned her down and kept attempting to bite her. She used all her strength to hold it as far away from her face as possible.

She slowly brought her leg up and kicked the outrider in the stomach. She felt around for her gun before grabbing it and shooting the outrider, which was on top of her. The outrider fell limp against her. The brunette groaned and pushed it off her in disgust.

Bucky's eyes scanned the field for the familiar brunette hair, he felt his heart race quicken as he saw her under a outrider but quickly relaxed once he saw her stand up and jump back into action.

Odessa instantly began shooting the outriders that ran towards her. Natasha's eyes landed on the girl as an outrider ran up behind her. She threw one of her daggers at the outrider, slowing it down.

"Dessie." Natasha shouted, making Odessa spin around with enough time to see the outrider and kill it.

Odessa flashed her girl a smile and looked for Bucky. He seemed to be okay, shooting every outrider in sight. To him, this was normal. War. Fighting. Death. This was all normal. To Odessa, this was the complete opposite of normal.

Her eyes widened as she watched Bucky be pinned down by an outrider. She aimed her gun carefully, her hands were shaking. Odessa let go of a shaky breath breath before hovering her finger over the trigger. She was terrified of hurting Bucky, but she would rather him be hurt than dead, so she pulled the trigger.

Bucky looked over to Odessa and instantly ran over to her. He noticed how panicked she was.

"I'm okay." He reassured her, throwing a dagger at an outrider than ran towards them. "You didn't hurt me." He whispered.

"There's too many of them." Bruce shouted over the comms, causing Bucky and Odessa to scan the field to find him.

The girl jumped back once she saw the beam of light land in the middle of the field. Bucky grabbed her lightly and pulled her back, not knowing what it was.

An axe flew around the field, killing the outriders that held Steve, T'Challa and Bruce down. The beam of light disappeared and revealed Thor, Rocket and Groot. Thor placed out his hand in front of him as the axe made it way back to him.

Everyone looked towards Thor with a grin on their faces. They knew with the extra help that they'd make it through this battle with the outriders.

"You guys are so screwed now!" Bruce cheered happily, letting out a booming laughing.

"BRING ME THANOS." Thor ordered angrily as he charged towards the outriders, followed by Groot and Rocket.

He launched himself into the air before slamming the axe back down on the ground as the lightening formed around him. Instantly killing all of the outriders surrounding them.

"Sure knows how to make an entrance." Odessa whispered up to Bucky, making him lightly chuckle and squeeze her waist lightly.

He knew that Thor was the reason that her parents died. He wondered how she would be around him. He pressed his lips against her forehead softly.

"He sure does."