The 3rd Experiment

Chapter 31

I force my eyes closed and hold my breath as if that might make my landing better. I start to focus on the air all around me and that's when I feel someone grab me.

I hear a mechanical click, almost like the trigger of a gun, and then it feels like we're starting to swing.

I open my eyes to see Natasha and her grappling hook. Our feet hit the floor and we run, not wanting to waste that momentum.

As we inch closer to the other side of the bridge, I notice the shadow of a gunman and I reach my arm out to stop Natasha. She steps right on the line of the shadow and points her guns up to the masked man, and I follow suit.

We manage to hit him and he retreats below the wall, giving us the perfect opportunity to get out from under the bridge. I run behind an overturned bus and I watch as the man shoots a machine gun at anyone he can see. Every time he turns away from my direction, I point my gun to him in hopes that I might injure or disarm him.

I'm able to run pretty far, helping some people get out of the line of fire. And I turn back to see him jump off the bridge, crushing a car under his weight. Then I see Natasha, who he's after.

I run back that way, hoping to distract him and give Nat a chance to run. Only a few steps in that direction and I feel a bullet graze my right shoulder. I'm shot.

I run behind a car, peeking over the hood to see if I could see our shooter but I can't get a glimpse. That is until he jumps on the hood of a car next to mine, gun pointed at my head. I get up and start to run and that's when I see Steve, running up to the soldier, ready to disarm him.

The two of them go back and forth, shooting and throwing the shield. Natasha runs up to my side and helps me to a spot away from the gunfire, but I can't just sit here and watch Steve struggle.

So I run back toward the men and throw my dagger. The one I took from the closet. It hits the gunman in the chest but he quickly grabs it and pulls it out. He then twirls it in his hand before making several attempts to stab Steve with it.

I run closer to them, prompting Steve to throw the shield my way. I catch it and run up to the soldier, ramming it into the panels of his metal arm. Steve grabs onto his wrist and then takes the shield back, hitting the man in the face.

Then I watch as Steve grabs him by his mask and flips him over his shoulder. The mask falls to the ground and the man turns around.

He makes eye contact with me and I freeze. It feels like the world around me has stopped.

"Bucky?" I hear Steve ask.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" The metal-armed soldier asks.

I feel someone brush past me, running in his direction but I can't move. I'm stuck.

Sam runs forward and he's able to kick the soldier, pushing him over. Then, a grenade is launched from behind us which hits the car next to the man, lighting it on fire.

The road erupts in flames and smoke and the soldier disappears. I hear faint sirens echoing through the street but nothing can pull my attention away from what I just saw.

I feel hands on my shoulders and I'm pushed down onto my knees. Finally being pulled back to reality, I feel them pull my wrists together and I look around to see them doing the same to Steve, Nat, and Sam.

They stand me up and I watch as they walk me to the back of a police car.

"Wait, wait, do you know who this is?" Sam calls out, struggling to comply.

"Sir, that's Captain America and Black Widow." Another officer whispers to him.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Captain." The officer holding his arms back lets go and steps away from him. The officer behind Nat does the same.

"Where are you going with them?" Steve asks, watching as they put Sam and I in the back of a car.

"We need them in custody. We have to write a report."

"Then we're going to need a ride to the station."

***

They bring me to a small cell in the back, with a small bed and a toilet, and they put Sam in with me. I sit down on the floor and look out at the rest of the room. There's a desk and a bulletin board, and the walls are covered in doors.

"So what's your thing?" Sam asks me, breaking the deafening silence.

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone's got a gimmick these days,"

"Oh, that. I guess I would be considered a super soldier."

"As in, you're a girl Captain America?"

"I could've been."

Just then, Steve and Nat walk in, followed by the same officer who tried to cuff them. Natasha sits down at the desk with the man and he starts by asking about the events on the bridge.

"Raya, I'm so sorry. This wasn't supposed to go like this." Steve says, walking right up to the bars of the cell.

"Steve, how is he still alive?" I ask him.

"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..."

"Hey, that's not your fault." I say reaching out to put my hand on his.

He grabs hold and squeezes my hand in acknowledgment.

"Now get us out of here." I say, squeezing his hand back and dropping it.

He then heads over to the desk against the wall where Nat has been talking to the officer.

I rest my back against the wall and slide down it until I'm sitting on the floor.