Fire and Ice

•20•

Shots follow Kate, but she's faster, jumping onto the light pole and hanging on, sliding down it like a fire pole. She's glad her father made her practice this as a kid after breaking her ankle that one time — and also glad that it actually worked.

The ground meets her feet, and she hides quickly, watching as the Winter Soldier lands on top of a car after simply jumping off the highway. Show off.

A bus is overturned in front of him, and cars are stopped completely, hopefully with no people inside. Other men attached to ropes soon follow the Winter Soldier to the ground. They start firing into the bus.

Steve busts out of one end, landing near his shield. He blocks the barrage of shots with it quickly. A man falls off the highway, then shots start coming from up top, hitting the Winter Soldier's minions. Sam. Kate turns her attention to looking for Nat, who's probably hidden, too. The Winter Soldier is ignoring Steve altogether, searching. Maybe for Nat. Maybe for Kate.

Well, if he wants to find her, she'll make it easy for him.

She walks out from under the highway, watching to make sure the minions are distracted, heading for the Winter Soldier. His back is to her as he heads past the bus. He has two guns — the rocket one in his hand, a smaller one on his back. People run for cover as he walks through. He rolls something under a few cars, likely an explosive. But no one's there. Kate gets closer, hears Nat's voice coming from her device.

"I make an LZ, twenty-three hundred block of Virginia Avenue. Rendezvous two minutes. Taking fire above and below expressway. Civilians threatened."

There's an explosion, and the Winter Soldier watches and aims, waiting.

Nat runs in from behind him, kicks the rocket gun out of his hand and gets on top of his shoulders. He throws her off, and she lands on top of a car, the windshield cracking beneath her. It's all Kate needs.

He starts to pick up the gun, but she runs towards him, getting to him before Nat can even get up. "Hey!" He turns to her.

"Kate!" Nat shouts, but she ignores her.

She uses the car next to the Winter Soldier as a boost, jumping up and kicking him in the face, fists clenched. She goes for a punch when she hits the ground, and he grabs her arm, then punches her in the stomach with his human hand. She grits her teeth as he twists her arm.

"I fought an alien with magic powers who killed someone I love — and I won," she spits. Then, she rolls, using her momentum to either take him to the ground or make him let go of her. He chooses the latter. She lands on one knee, facing him. "You killed someone I love, too. You're gonna regret it." She gets up and kicks him in the chest, moves out of the way of his retaliation. Her hands are heating up, and shots ring out somewhere behind her.

He lands a hit, saying something in Russian.

"I don't speak Russian!" she replies from the ground, wincing and going for his legs. "Scientist, not a spy!"

He stumbles back, saying in English, "Shut up," as he regains his footing.

"Oh, I'm so hurt," she mocks, kicking him once again as she stands up. "No."

He grabs the gun from his back, but she kicks it out of his hand quickly, then goes for another hit. But then he grabs her, slamming her back into a truck, his metal arm across her neck, his eyes boring into hers.

They're dead.

No light, nothing. Dull. He's an empty shell. So what's driving him? The only way she can tell he's angry is his eyebrows.

She's angry, too — angrier than him, she's willing to bet — so she finally lets herself go and lights up. His brows betray surprise, and she chokes out a satisfied laugh, grabbing onto his arm. "Shouldn't've killed my boss — or shot my friend. I could do this all day. Either you melt, or I stop breathing... Let's see what happens first."