III: The Soldier and the Fairy Queen: Red Eve

XXIX: Unexpected

Steve looked down over the people scurrying like ants from a collapsed anthill. From this height at night, he could only see what seemed to be forty to fifty people in dark clothes. They seemed to be gravitating to a wooded area a hundred yards from what had been a huge, commercial barn. Reagardless, his eyes strained to find a glimpse of white hair.

"Jackpot!" Sam yelled from the pilots seat. "We found it."

"That's not a sure bet, Sam," Nat stood beside him in front of the open door, yelling over the whipping wind.

Steve took a deep breath and turned away from the door, "We have to land." His heart was beating out of his chest, filling him with hope.

"Where?" Sam asked.

Wanda, leaning against the wall and peering out the window, suggested, "Right in that field! Beside the barn!"

Sam looked back at Steve and he nodded, not trusting himself to say something confident-sounding. The Jet touched down a moment later and the team hurried out into the chilly Canada night. Just in time to watch helicopters and cars rush out of the woods. Steve's stomach dropped and he groaned softly.

"S***!" Sam hollered.

"That is a very accurate description of this situation," Zemo said.

Steve started sprinting towards where the remainder of the people running for cover. He could hear the rest of them falling in behind him, and Sam went to the sky. Steve trained his eyes on the figures ahead of them. He had no idea what he was going to do when he reached them, but he would probably regret it later.

Gunfire popped behind him and Steve stopped dead in his tracks. Sam was letting loose a string of profanities and trying to dodge the bullets. Steve traced the direction of the shooting and saw him.

Bucky.

"Steve!" Wanda yelled.

Steve turned just in time for Sunny's elbow to make contact with his stomach. The force of her tackle threw him to the ground. Steve sucked air, scrambling to push Sunny off. She flew off of him and into the air, one of her ankles surrounded with red energy. Steve saw Sunny's eyes lock on Wanda. Sunny threw something in Wanda's direction. He saw a flash of metallic as Wanda swung her body back into the wreckage.

Sunny's shadowy form slammed against a steel support sticking out of the rubble and fell to the ground. Wanda cried out and Steve looked over to see her yank a knife out of her side. Wanda crumpled to the ground. "Nat! Get Wanda out of here!"

"Sure thing, Rogers." When Nat rushed over to the fallen girl, Steve turned his focus to Bucky.

Sam was back on the ground now, one of his wings sagging and black, yelling, "Come on, man! Really?" Zemo was nowhere to be seen.

Bucky was, slowly but surely, overpowering Sam. Steve ran over and wrenched the knife out of his hand. "Come on, Buck. We don't have to go through this again."

The world erupted in daisy yellow and crimson. Steve stared down at the singed ground, two inches from his face. After all that noise, he couldn't hear anything but his own breathing now. Ragged, quick breaths. He pushed himself onto his knees.

He clenched his teeth at the pain trying to hammer its way out of his skull. Smoke and dust filled his nose and he coughed. A rod as tall as a door had impaled the earth two feet from him. He swallowed down the bile and the grit in the back of his throat and looked beyond the rod to the decimated rubble. He blinked the blurriness away and focused on a stocky figure. The fire behind the figure darkened it's features, but it was definitely limping.

Steve attempted to stand, but his legs didn't obey him. His hands clutched at the charred grass around him. It turned to ash in his fingers. Defeat crushed him, mocking, laughing, saying, "If only you were better, none of this would have ever happened." The limping figure came closer, and Steve realized it was two people, one carrying the other across his shoulders. The figure stopped six feet in front of him, but Steve still couldn't move.

It was Sunny, carrying Zemo. She keeled over, dropping Zemo. She rolled him onto his back and got up again, not even glancing at Steve. Steve saw a shiny bloodstain covering her entire back. He watched her limp a few feet further and bend over. She came back next to Zemo, dragging a wingless Sam.

Steve saw motion and looked beyond her to another sillouette in the burning rubble. Bucky. She seemed to notice as well, because she looked back and started hobbling over to him. She stood next to him a second, and he fell. She caught him, but Steve saw that she was struggling to keep her footing. She started to drag him towards them, but stumbled and fell. She got back up and went a few more feet before falling again. The fourth time she got up, she succeeded in bringing Bucky all the way over.

Sunny swayed as she limped over to the nearest pile of pebbles and building parts. She grabbed a shiny piece of metal and dumped it on Sam.

The edges of Steve's vision were getting blurrier. It was like he was looking down a tunnel.

He saw the gleam of a gun.

For a moment, he had the horrifying thought that Sunny was going to shoot them all. But at the end of the tunnel, Steve saw her aim it at her own arm. The tunnel closed off and Steve was shut in nothingness.