III: The Soldier and the Fairy Queen: Red Eve

XI: Mary

"What exactly are we walking into here?" Bucky asked, staring out at rolling green hills.

Natasha shrugged, "That's kind of why we're here. To find out." The woman tied her red hair back, and opened the door of the Quinjet. She pressed the panel for her rack of guns and picked one up, checking that it was loaded. She held it out to him, "Want one?"

Bucky held up his hand, "Only one hand."

"Whatever. So, who's going in there?" She propped the gun on her shoulder.

Bucky looked at Steve for direction.

"Me, you, and Bucky. Wanda and Sam can stay out here and guard the Jet, unless you guys want to go?" The blonde looked at the two for affirmation.

"Nope, I'm gonna take a nap." Sam chuckled when the rest of them stared, "Look, I haven't had enough sleep in almost five days." He dropped into the copilots seat and leaned back, propping his feet up.

Wanda smirked and picked at her black nail polish, "Guess I'll stay and guard Sam."

"I'm honored," Sam answered dutifully.

Bucky smiled. They all had such a nice dynamic. Steve, Natasha, Wanda, and Sam. He wondered how Sunny fit into it.

*****

"Hey, I found something!" Natasha yelled.

The heat was beating down on Bucky's black clothes. Everything was green. Blindingly green. And warm. He inhaled the smell of summer, and hurried over to Natasha's voice. The dirt squelched under his boots. Steve joined him behind a huge rock face.

"Nat?" Steve called out.

"Over here!" She answered and Bucky followed Steve down a muddy slope. Natasha was standing at the mouth of a huge, gaping hole in the rock. She disappeared into the dark interior, and Steve followed. Bucky looked back at the cheery sun glittering off of the teal lake in the distance. This would be a nice place to retire to eventually. He marched into the inky blackness.

"Wasn't the one at Camp Leigh the only one?" He heard Steve ask Natasha ahead of him.

"Obviously not. We're standing in front of another one," Natasha replied snappily.

He kept walking forward as his eyes adjusted to the shadows, a huge, boxy-looking thing sat in front of him. Steve and Natasha were in front of the tan monstrosity. "What is it?" He inquired, surveying it.

"The other half of Dr. Zola's brain, apparently," Steve said.

Bucky's face must've shown his apprehension, because Steve explained how him and Natasha found Zola's brain on databanks when they were trying to shut down Project Insight. Bucky noticed Natasha walking around, looking under and around the machines. Bucky studied it. Three prominent monitors stood on a little table, with a camera mounted on the middle one. Databanks lined up in a square in the recesses of the cave, forming a courtyard.

"Should we really turn it on? I mean, if it resulted in you guys getting blown up last time...?" Bucky asked.

Steve's jaw clenched, and something Bucky didn't recognize glimmered in his eyes, "This is the only chance we have at finding Sunny. If that means reawakening Zola, I'm okay with it. Are you?"

What exactly was going on between him and Sunny? Bucky threw the question to the back of his mind and thought about Sunny's gentle fingers, stitching up his wounds after Siberia. "Yes."

"If you two are done with your guy chat, I think I found the 'on' button," Natasha said, peeking over a databank. A tiny plink sounded, and the middle monitor whirred. Green flashed, and a pixelated face came onto the screen. Zola.