Belonging - A Bucky Love Story (Marvel/Avengers)

16

Brenna morphed her shield of plasma into a cone, moving forward with it like a drill. The men were relentless, though; they stayed packed in the hallway, blocking her way, shooting. She planned to push by them with her plasma. They would all be flung to the ground and she would be on her way. But the second she raced through them, they turned to ash, just like the bullets. Brenna's eyes widened as she skitted to a hault. "WHAT?!" She yelled in shock.

"Hey, hey, lower the volume," Sam growled through the ear piece, "almost blew me outta the sky."

"S-sorry," Brenna stuttered.

Natasha's voice then came through, "is everything alright?"

Brenna's ears rang and she felt her head grow dizzy. Staring at the mess of black char around her, her breath hitched in her throat. She'd just killed someone; six someones. With a power that she thought had proved unable to kill. "Brenna, do you copy?" Steve's voice was desperate.

Pulling herself together, Brenna tried to remain calm and focus on the mission. "I'm here," she muttered, her voice threatening to crack.

"So is our favorite hundred year old assassin," Sam announced as he noticed the familiar glint of a metal arm on Brenna's helicarrier, "we need you over here now, Rogers."

"On my way," Steve confirmed.

Brenna forced herself to look away from the mess she'd made and keep moving. Her eyes stung with the beginings of tears, but she mentally scolded herself, you will not cry over a couple of dead HYDRA agents.

But another voice in her head argued, but you killed them. Brenna shook her head and opened a door that led down to the underside of the helicarrier. "Bravo, lock," Natasha spoke through the earpiece.

New strength flowed through Brenna as she realized they were two thirds of the way done. She began to descend down a cold metal ladder. But once she was underneath, she was met with three more armed guards. Brenna was immediately shot in her left calf, causing her to fall down the remaining few feet of the ladder to the platform below.

She clutched her leg in pain, growling at the sting of the bullet moving slowly out of her skin. Once it clinked to the ground, the pain subsided. Looking over her shoulder, she saw two of the gaurds rushing her way.

Brenna made a shield of yellow plasma around herself. "Don't come any closer," she warned. The two men exchanged a wary look, but kept coming. Brenna closed her eyes and pushed the plasma toward the men with all of her might. When she opened her eyes, they were gone. A sick feeling entered her stomach.

Suddenly, something big slammed into her back, knocking her down on her face. Brenna flipped over quickly, finding herself looking down the barrel of a gun. Her eyes widened. "Your a tough little bastard, I'll give you that," the man holding the gun spat, a wide smirk on his lips. "Let's see if you can walk this off."

Before Brenna could charge up her plasma, the gun went off. Her body shivered violently. But there was no pain. The man just barely missed, due to the one who'd stopped him. Standing before Brenna was none other than the Winter Soldier. He'd knocked the man to the side, a look of terrifying anger in his soft blue eyes. "That's mine," Bucky snarled, throwing the other man from the platform. He landed with an awful crunch on the glass many yards below.

Brenna's eyes were the size of golfballs as she slowly pushed herself to a sitting position. Bucky had just saved her life. He looked down at her with an emotionless expression. After a few silent moments of staring, he came to her side and lifted her up. His metal arm wedged under her knees while his flesh arm wrapped around her shoulders. All the while, the Winter Soldier didn't take his eyes off of hers.

"I kept your secret," he told her in a soft croak of a voice, the faintest of smirks on his lips. He sounded like a completely different person. And it was then that Brenna realized, he was a different person. The man who'd killed another mercilessly just minutes ago was the Winter Soldier. But this was Bucky. Holding her and telling her proudly how he'd kept her secret; this was Bucky Barnes.

But whatever bizzare kind of bonding moment he and Brenna were having was cut short by a loud, stern voice. "Put her down, Bucky." It was Steve.

Staring up into Bucky's eyes that were now glued to the captain, Brenna saw the gentle blue turn to cold steel. A low growl grumbled in his throat. He gently placed her back onto her feet, whipping a knife out of his belt. He pushed Brenna behind him protectively.

Backing away with caution, Brenna could only watch as the suspense rose. "Don't make me do this," Steve pleaded, his voice sounding tired. But Bucky was gone once again, taken over by the Winter Soldier. And the only thing that mattered now was completing his mission. The two lunged for each other.