ALWAYS || Sequel to BUCKY ✔️

thirty five

chapter thirty five
DC

The jet was quiet in the night. Both inside, and out. It wouldn't be recognized in stealth mode, especially since it was a dark night. Though inside the jet was quiet too. It seemed like everyone remembered that this was the first mission they were on together since Sokovia.

Ray sat in one of the back seats, her body strapped to the wall. The heel of her foot was tapping unpatiently against the metal floor, and Bucky's hand sat on her thigh to calm her anxious twitches.

"It's going to be okay." It was Bucky's turn to try and calm her.

She looked at him then, taking in every one of his features. The way his hair, still cut short, just barely curled around his ears. The piercing blue eyes that she fell in love with so very long ago. The scruff on his face - he hadn't shaved in a week. He was absolutely breath taking to her and she loved him with every part of her soul.

"Yeah, duh." Ray finally said as she tore her gaze away from Bucky. She was nervous; naturally. She had done nearly a hundred HYDRA raids before but nothing to this extent. If something were to happen, and they couldn't get there in time or the plan didn't work, nuclear missiles would launch them into a Third World War.

Bucky knew she was nervous. He could tell by the way she was biting the corner of her bottom lip and how she bounced her leg up and down. He wanted to tell her that he was right, she should have stayed. But he accepted that just like him, her place was here now. They no longer belonged on a ranch in Montana. Their lives were unlucky in that factor.

"How far away is the emergency pathway to the city? Where will we be landing?" Bruce asked from his spot in the front. He was flying the jet.

"The coordinates are already in. Switch to autopilot once we reach Maryland." Steve said.

Ray took notice of the people around her. Her father was sitting up front, alongside Sam. Steve and Natasha sat together, whispering to themselves. Wanda and Vision sat together, though they were silent. And then Thea sat with Ray and Bucky.

The entire plan was too quiet, and Ray hated it. She rather enjoyed the craziness that came from the family and friends around her. Though as much as she wanted to say something to resolve the tension, she knew that they couldn't let their guard down.

"I don't know if I can do this. I barely remember." A whisper came to Ray's right side and she looked at Thea.

"You can. You're strong. You almost killed me, remember?" Ray looked at her. Thea looked more than nervous, her face was red and her bottom lip had several bite marks in them.

Though the new friend managed to crack a smile at the joke that had become an inside joke to them. "You were weak. An easy target."

"I'm not weak anymore, bitch."

Thea rolled her eyes and let out a nervous sigh. Her head was running wild; she couldn't tell what was real and what was a memory. Though very similar to Bucky when he first met Ray, she knew that her memories with Ray were real, and for now, that was enough.

***

The air was cold when the team stepped outside of the plan. In the barely morning air, the fall weather was freezing. Ray shoved her hands deep into her pockets and stood closer to Bucky.

"Alright. Earpieces in. We will communicate through everything. Vision, Sam, if anything follows us into the pathway you let us know immediately." Steve ordered. When Vision and Sam nodded, Steve did too. "Alright, Bruce take her up." He said into the earpiece.

"Roger that." Bruce's voice filled all their earpieces and then the jet flew back into the night sky.

"Okay." Steve said. He did his best to hide how nervous he had grown. His fingers held tightly onto his old shield, one that Stark had gifted back to him. "Let's go. You all know your jobs. No civilian casualties, but no HYDRA fucker left alive."

"Language." Tony replied with a serious face.

Without any other words, the team moved into the emergency exit. It was heavily coded but easy enough to get into. With Rhodes working undercover in DC, he was able to grant access for Steve.

They walked quickly. Guns were held in their hands, with the exception of Steve, Tony's, and Wanda's.

Bucky walked behind Ray. He watched her carefully. He watched every footstep she took, the way she adjusted the gun in her hands, and even the way she silenced her breathing. It was then that he finally realized that Ray knew what she was doing; that living in the run with the most wanted criminals in the world had hardened her and taught her.

The pathway was long and empty. They had expected more civilians to be in it, but the dark metal hallways were a stretch of loneliness. That was the first bad sign they found.

At the first pathway, the team split into two, following the orders of Steve. Bucky, Ray, Thea, and Wanda went to the left, and Steve, Tony, and Natasha went to right. Splitting up was the first of their bad ideas.

The first one that heard noises was Wanda; and then she could barely make out the thoughts. She had just spoken the word HYDRA, when the first wave of bullets waved through them.

Immediately, they pressed themselves into the walls. The swinging door ahead of them offered little protection.

"What's going on over there?" Tony's voice was heard through the earpiece.

"Wanda." Ray ignored Tony.

"I'm on it." Wanda said with the upmost of confidence. Within a second, red waves of power escaped from her hands and they heard the sound of bodies dropping into the floor.

Bucky was the first to move, breaking through the gunshot doors and holding his own gun up. His eyes roamed the room; unconscious HYDRA members lying on the floor.

"No survivors." Tony said into the earpiece then; as if he knew Bucky was hesitating.

Shrill gunshots once again sounded in the room, only they didn't come from Bucky's gun.

Ray stood behind them, a gun smoking in her hand. Blood trickled from the heads of the HYDRA members she had shot, and Bucky looked at her with shock.

Though no words were exchanged, Bucky knew why she had done that. She saw his hesitation, his unwillingness to kill again. She had taken the burden from him. Ray would carry the burden for the rest of her life if it meant it wouldn't be placed on Bucky's shoulders.

"We need to move." Wanda broke the tension between them. "Steve, HYDRA is already here. Five casualties on our end."

"Shit, alright. So far nothing here. We are almost at the south entrance."

"We'll be at the northern in a minute." Bucky spoke deeply into the earpiece.

The conversation ended with their movement.  The team of four continued on their way, complete and utter silence settling between them. The only sound that could be heard as the soft footsteps and ever once in a while, Bucky's metal hand hitting the gun.

They had just made it to the end of the hallway when a string of foreign words filled the hallway, and they were attacked yet again.