Distressed // Steve Rogers

6 - A Storm Brewing

The air was thick as they descended. Dark clouds whipped overhead as the wind tore through the ruined grounds. The place she feared the most. The place she found no comfort. A screeching, keening cry of the earth was heard echoing off of the walls that crumbled to little more than nothing and a thin mist of rain fell upon them. They moved as one. Each step measured and calculated, each movement a decision that was made before their arrival. 

There was a storm brewing in Belarus.

"The directive is clear." Tony spoke carefully, slowly, as if the team around him might fracture and break if he wasn't precise in his tone. "We search for our little one. They end this."

Steve glanced to his right. His wife, his person, was staring ahead at the figure in the distance; her eyes unreadable and her jaw tight. 

"Runaway." His comms were off and his voice was low. "I'm right here."

When she turned to him her eyes were misty seas of pain and his own mirrored hers.

"We end this here." She took a deep breath. "All of the pain. All of the fear. It stops now."

When she turned away from him Bucky placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Go, Steve. We all have our orders."

Steve stared at her as she stripped herself of weapons and his heart stuttered.

"I've got her, Steve." Bucky stepped into his line of sight. "I'll keep her safe, I promise. Go."

As Talia turned to Steve one final time, she held her breath. His eyes were glued to her and he stepped around Bucky. She stumbled forwards, his arms a welcome reprieve from what she was about to face - who she was about to face - and she buried her face into his neck. His hand slipped to the small of her back, holding her close as the other wound itself into her hair.

"I love you," she whispered, "so much, Steve."

"I know." He held her tighter. "I love you too. More than you realise. More than I can ever tell you."

She felt her grip on reality failing with each second that slipped away from them and her chest ached at the idea of facing this place without him by her side.

"I hate it too," he mumbled, his lips pressing into her hair. "But we're going to get our baby back and we're leaving here together, as a family." 

"Talia." Vision's voice rang loud and clear across the open space around them and the figure in the distance appeared to nod slowly. "He is waiting for you."

*

Bucky walked a step behind her, his eyes always moving, his mind searching for signs of hidden threats, his heart hoping for signs of Jamie. Talia's never left her mark. She took every step with her eyes on his back. She closed every inch of distance with her throat constricting and her heart hammering. She couldn't do this.

"I'm right here, Little Widow." Bucky spoke softly and she reached for him. His hand wrapped around hers for the briefest moment as he stepped around her and took point. "Just breathe."

She stopped walking. She couldn't move. Talia Rogers was here, face to face with a ghost, and he was smiling as an old friend would.

*

"Where is she?" Bucky stood with his hand on his weapon, blood pounding behind his ears as he stared down the man who had stolen his happiness.

"So eager for answers, James." His voice betrayed no sense of guilt or remorse. He sounded bored. "It is good to see you both."