BATTLE BORN ; Bucky Barnes

sixteen ;

Scout had been filled with rage the second she had figured out what was going on, which was a second too late. A fist swung at her head and she ducked, quickly sidestepping out of the way and engaging Bucky in a fist-fight. He dodged most of her blows, and didn't seem phased by the ones that hit him. She landed a push kick to the stomach that sent him reeling backwards, winded. Scout quickly moved out of the way, and Steve took over for a second. Bucky grabbed Steve by the jaw and threw him at the open pod, Sam moved to take over the fight, and was kicked into the wall, so it was back to Scout. She kicked high, aiming for his head. Cognitive recalibration, that's what Natasha had called it. He grabbed her leg, twisting her until she fell to the ground. He climbed on top of her and began punching at her face and neck, luckily Scout had be trained for ground combat and knew exactly how to reverse the roles. She pushed her hips upwards to throw him off balance, forcing him to place his hands on the ground either side of her head. Scout wove her right arm in and out of his, locked her feet around his legs and pushed her hips up again and rolled on top of him. She grabbed him by the threat, she didn't want to cause any permanent damage, just stop him from hurting anyone else while he was in his Winter Soldier mode. He struggled for breath, writhing as he tried to kick or punch at Scout, who had his legs locked and his arms underneath his own body weight. There was a loud bang somewhere else in the facility, which distracted Scout momentarily, but it was enough for the Winter Soldier to kick the small girl off him and run. Steve, who had been given time to gather himself, lurched into the fight and landed a punch which Bucky barely felt. The Winter Soldier kicked and punched Steve out of the chamber, following him as Steve blocked every blow. A punch from Bucky went through the elevator door. Steve blocked the next one but the power of Bucky's fist sent Steve tumbling into the darkened elevator shaft, silently. Scout yelled some type of battle cry, chasing after the Winter Soldier, but he kicked her into the wall, winding her.
"Der Ostflügel ist kompromittiert. Ich wiederhole: Der Ostflügel ist kompromittiert." The east wing is compromised. I repeat: the east wing ist compromised. Played over on the loud speaker. Scout followed the Winter Soldier at a safe distance, stalking him as if he were her prey. He walked through the ground floor, taking out two guards. Scout could only watch and wait for backup, she couldn't go in alone, unless...
It was a terrible idea, but it just might work. Scout let all the rage and passion she had been trying to keep down consume her, and the flames on her hands slowly licked up her arms, then her torso, down her legs and into her hair. She was completely on fire, and the flames were white-hot. They were too hot to even go near, let alone touch. It would give her the upper hand against the Winter Soldier when she engaged him next. Scout, now on fire, walked past a pillar which Tony was hiding behind, he had to do a double take to check if that really was Scout. It was, she was filled with rage, pure, unwavering rage. It wasn't Tempest in control, as she would have to be void of emotions for that, but Scout had thousands of thoughts and emotions running though her brain, fuel for the fire. Tony tapped a wrist-control which became his Ironman-glove. He rushed forward, past Scout and zapped the Winter Soldier with a stun-burst before the Winter Soldier could shoot another guard. Tony moved in on him, firing again. The Winter Soldier ducked the blast then punched at Tony, firing the gun. Tony, luckily, had the Ironman-glove over the barrel, blocking the bullet. He pulled the gun barrel loose then the Winter Soldier smacked him backwards. Scout and Sharon ran in, rushing him. Natasha joined them. They figured he couldn't fight all three at once. They were wrong. At first, they all landed kicks and punches, with Scout's being the most affective considering she was on fire. Then the Winter Soldier figured out that as each of them were reloading their kicks, he could target one of them. He flipped Sharon head over heels into a table, which smashed on impact, she stood up after a second or two, and the only damage looked like it as a splinter or two. That gave Natasha all the time she needed to leap on the Winter Soldier's shoulders, her legs around his neck. He slammed her onto another table and grabbed her throat.
"You could at least recognise me." Natasha complained. Scout hugged the Winter Soldier from behind, her fiery arms burning his clothes. She was kicked off by a man she didn't recognise but she would soon find out the same of, T'Challa, he came from nowhere and kicked Bucky off Natasha. He fought with Bucky, landing lightning fast kicks and a few punches. It was stunning, Scout lunged in and tried to help as the Winter Soldier managed to get a counter punch in and T'Challa fell. He quickly recovered and Scout chased the Winter Soldier up a flight of stairs. T'Challa leapt the levels and vaulted a railing, landing in front of the startled Winter Soldier. T'Challa spin kicked and grabbed Bucky's metal arm which he tried to twist. Scout raced in, realising his mistake before he even did. T'Challa looked worried, the Winter Soldier threw T'Challa off, sending him tumbling down the stairs. Scout's flames had began to die down as her anger was subduing. Scout grabbed the Winter Soldiers wrist, and realised that the fire in his eyes had also died down. Maybe he wasn't the Winter Soldier anymore. Maybe he was back to being Bucky. He let her hold his arm, and they sprinted off up the stairs. As they reached the top, the flames died down and Scout realised that her clothes had burnt up. Bucky discarded his jumper, handing it to Scout so she could cover her decency. He ran to the helicopter. Scout stopped, looking at him desperately.
"Please." She said quietly. He stopped, looking back at her. "At least let me know, please let me known where you go? You know how to contact me." She said. He nodded, getting in the pilot seat. Steve rushed outside and sprinted past Scour and toward the rising chopper. He leapt and grabbed the landing gear. Muscles bulging, Steve pulled hard and the chopper struggled to gain hight. Steve's feet kicked for traction then he managed to get them flat on the helipad. Scout stood, her hair whipping around her face as she hoped that they'd be okay. The chopper dragged Steve onto the weak looking mesh framing the helipad. Steve grabbed the railing with one hand and clung to the landing gear with the other. He grit his teeth and his neck strained with the incredible effort. Scout had to hold down the top Bucky had given her as she watched so it didn't blow up.
"Steve! No!" She yelled. James glowered from inside the chopper then threw the joystick left and the chopper's nose slammed into the edge of the helipad. The rotorblades were smashed to pieces and Scout ducked as the tail swung around. The chopper lay twisted on the mesh at the edge of the pad. Steve rose beside the canopy. Bucky's arm smashed through the glass and growling he grabbed Steve's throat.
"James no! He's a friend!" Scout screamed. The chopper started to tilt over the edge. The tail broke off and fell into the river below. Bucky kept a hold of Steve as the whole vehicle dropped and slammed into the river. Scout didn't have to think twice, she dove off the edge, summoning air around her nose and mouth to help her breathe underwater. She used the currents in the water to pull Bucky from the wreckage and grabbed Steve by the hand. She realised in that moment that she'd give her life for theirs any day.

;

They'd managed to get some clothes for Scout, but she kept the maroon jumper that Bucky had given her. It was warm once it had dried out. They found an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of civilisation, there was no one around, no one would stumble upon it. It had large boarded up windows and high ceilings. If Scout ever became suddenly rich and off every wanted list in the world, she'd come back here and restore the warehouse into her home. It was in the middle of nowhere, with a view over the wintery forests. It would be beautiful. She could almost imagine her and James spending their days relaxing and living abnormal life.
He had been knocked unconscious by the fall, and once they managed to get him out of danger, they'd clamped his arm in an industrial vice. She watched him as he began to come around. She stroked his hair, trying to detangle it as best she could.
"Hey, Cap!" Sam said, having noticed that James was conscious again. Steve walked over to join Scout and Sam by Bucky who looked deflated.
"Scout... Steve." He said.
"Which Bucky am I talking to?" Steve asked.
"Your mom's name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes. Scout made me pancakes." He said in barley more than a whisper.
"Can't read that in a museum." Steve nodded at Scout. Scout nodded back.
"Just like that, we're suppose to be cool?" Sam said. That was when Bucky noticed the bruises all over Scout's face,  arms and other exposed skin. He'd hurt her, badly.
"What did I do?" He asked.
"Enough." Steve said. Slowly, his memories began appearing. One by one, patchy, but there. He remembered carrying Scout, being locked up, the words... 
"Oh, God, I knew this would happen. Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words." He said.
"Who was he?" Steve asked.
"I don't know." Bucky muttered.
"People are dead. Shooting Scout, the bombing, the setup. The doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you." Steve said.
"I need you to do better than "I don't know."" Scout added.
"He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where." James' gaze looked fogged over as he tried to remember the conversations they had while he was under the mind control. 
"Why would he need to know that?" Steve asked.
"Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier." As Bucky began to explain the vague details, the ones he could remember, Scout stepped forward, unlocking his arm from the machine and using a cloth to wipe away some of the blood from his forehead. He looked up at her, remembering their conversation on the train, how she promised that she'd stay with him no matter how bad his past was. He took a deep breath. "Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in HYDRA history. And that was before the serum." He said lowly.
"They all turn out like you?" Sam asked.
"Worse."
"The doctor, could he control them?" Steve asked, and Scout squeezed James's flesh hand to try and comfort him.
"Enough."
"Said he wanted to see an empire fall." Scout's voice was barley more than a whisper.
"With these guys he could do it. They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize, They can take a whole country down in one night. You'd never see them coming." Bucky said. With one last squeeze, Scout stood up and walked to the side of the room where Sam and Steve were talking in hushed voices.
"This would have been a lot easier a week ago." Sam said.
"If we call Tony..." Scout suggested, hoping against hope that they'd say yes and that everything could be sorted out.
"No, he won't believe us." Steve said.
"Even if he did..." Sam added.
"Who knows if the Accords would let him help." Steve said.
"So, the four of us are on our own." Scout said with a sigh.
"Maybe not. I know a guy."