Atlas | Avatar!OC x Bucky Barnes

33 - Move in

Saturday, July 4th, 1:13 pm

Atlas and Bucky sat up in their tree in silence as they heard the rest of their team communicate in battle, but the pair stayed completely silent. All they did was grab each other's hands and listened to the fight. As far as Atlas knew, none of the Avengers were hurt yet, but she knew that this was a fight that would come with casualties.

"Alright, Atty, I'm picking up Steve and we're heading to you right now," Tony said through the comm.

"Do you have the location of the benders?" Atlas asked, unable to look away from Bucky. Something about his face calmed her down slightly.

"Northeast corner, sublevel three," Steve answered.

"We're coming up on you guys, get down from the tree and meet us on the ground," Tony suggested.

Atlas Bucky looked at each other one last time before they both jumped down from the tree. Atlas caught the both of them with her airbending and the both of them landed upright. They had to let of go of each other's hands.

Just seconds later, Tony came blasting through the forest while Steve hung from the Iron Man's arms. Tony didn't even say hi to Atlas and Bucky. He was all business at this point. "C'mon, entrance is this way," Tony said, pointing in some seemingly random direction in the forest.

The base was less than half a kilometre away from where Atlas and Bucky were hiding out. Atlas had seen the HYDRA base on her way to the tree, but after sitting in the forest for so long she had lost her sense of direction because every way she looked was exactly the same. Atlas convinced Tony to let her freeze the hinges on the large steel door that made up the back entrance so that they could have a quieter break-in, possibly giving them more time before they would be ambushed with HYDRA soldiers. The four of them quietly entered the base, all with their guard up and ready to defend themselves. They were surprised not to be met by anything. Everyone lowered their defensive positions, but still stayed alert.

"Massive heat signatures at the front of the building," Tony warned. "But they're all heading outside anyways."

That was exactly what everyone needed to hear. Their distraction was working and everything was going as planned. "So this is where we split up?" Atlas asked with a shaky voice, giving away her nerves.

The Iron Man head on Tony's suit folded back, revealing a small bruise across his cheek and his messy hair. "Yeah, kid. You three get to the benders, I'm about to go discover the structural integrity of this building," Tony said moving closer to Atlas. Before she could react, Tony had pulled Atlas into a quick hug. The avatar didn't even have time to put her arms around the bulky metal suit before Tony pulled away. "Be careful. Please," Tony said sincerely. The Iron Man mask came over Tony's head again, and he flew away from Atlas and the others.

"Okay then," Atlas said, shaking Tony's affection off. "Where to?"

"The only stairwell is on the Southeast corner, but the benders should be right below us. And they're probably using the elevators to move everyone to the fight," Steve informed.

"Stairs it is," Bucky said, already walking away from Steve and Atlas.

"Hold on, we have to be careful," Atlas said, paranoid that something would happen at any moment.

"The stairs are right over there," Bucky said, pointing down the long hall. In the distance was a small sign that lit up in the shape of a staircase. "It's now or never."

Atlas and Steve gave each other a glance before following Bucky's lead. They never thought Bucky would be so eager to step foot into a HYDRA base ever again, let alone lead them on their way to finishing their mission. It bothered Atlas that the two super soldiers that joined her seemed so relaxed. Steve had even put his shield on its holster behind his back, and Bucky wasn't even holding any weapons as he lead to other two down the hall. Atlas took a moment to feel the elements around her. Air was always there, no matter where she was; which is why air was still her favourite element to bend, it was the most reliable for her. She was ready to use her firebending at any moment too, but she didn't want to go too far with it. The avatar knew that the moisture in the air would only increase as they moved down the floors, and the whole building was made of stone. Atlas had all four elements at her disposal, and she had never felt more prepared for a fight than right now, but her hands were still shaking as she quietly followed Bucky and Steve - who had sped up his pace to match Bucky's rushed walk. Atlas moved quicker as well when she noticed everyone in front of her, she also tucked her glider into the small holster at her left side as she sped up.