Dark heart

Chapter 12

A few hours later we reached the little village and Nat and Clint landed the Quinjet just outside the village. " Here we go," Tony said and opened the ramp. I gave Bucky one last nervous look before we stood up as well and walked outside with the others. " Alex, Bucky, you're our guide. Which way?," Sam wanted to know and I pointed to a mountain some distance away. " The base is embedded in the mountain on this side and on the other side it sticks out a bit. That way she's perfectly protected from prying eyes," Bucky explained and so as not to attract attention we continued on foot. " Are you okay?," Wanda wanted to know, sauntering along beside me. " This isn't going to be fun," I said and he smiled sympathetically at me and gently put a hand on my shoulder. Bucky and I exchanged a long look and I saw the panic in his eyes. He was scared, just like me.

I walked a little faster to catch up to him. He clutched the handle of his gun so that his knuckles already stood out white. " Buck," I whispered to get his full attention. " It's okay. Nothing will happen to you," I tried to reassure him. I could tell by the look on his face how terrified he was of having to go back there. All the murders he'd committed had done him in even then, and coming back here brought it all out again. " I'm with you. We'll all get out of this," I kept talking at him and he nodded tensely. I grabbed his arm and thus made him stop. We looked into each other's eyes in silence for a brief moment before I gave him a hug. I felt his body relax in the embrace. " God what would I do without you," he muttered, clawing at my hair with one hand. " I am here," I encouraged him.

After a short stall, we separated from each other again and ran on. " Alright let's get the party started", said Tony, taking out the first agents when we arrived at the front of the building. We began to take out one by one and after a short time each of us was involved in a fight. I guess the surprise moment and the roof didn't work out anymore. I knocked out an agent and saw Loki being surrounded a few yards away from me. So fast as never before, one by one, I penetrated into the mind until everyone bent on the floor in pain. Loki looked at me in amazement and I gasped exhausted for air. " They all feel like they're burning alive", I explained, smiling faintly. Getting into one's head was exhausting and with so many in such a short time I felt like I had run a marathon. Loki seemed to notice how wired I was and looked at me with concern. "Come on", I said only and he nodded but just after a short time we lost sight of each other relatively quickly.

I was fighting side by side with Bucky when suddenly, out of nowhere, a tank-like vehicle came hurtling towards us. We scurried out of the way and I landed ungently on the hard floor. I must have been unconscious because when I opened my eyes again Wanda was kneeling over me with a worried look on her face. " She's awake," she informed the others, carefully helping me up. " You didn't answer anymore, must have been a hard landing," she explained smiling and I patted the dirt off my suit. " Where's Bucky?," I asked when I noticed he was no longer beside me. He wouldn't just walk away when I was unconscious, would he? " I don't know, he wasn't here when I got here," Wanda replied in wonder, an uneasy feeling spreading through me. " Does anyone have a visual on Bucky?," I wanted to know now also from the others but all denied. Cursing softly, I searched everything with my eyes. Something was wrong, that was obvious.

"Shit!," Tony exclaimed, coming flying around the corner. „Steve woulnd't like that," Nat said and I laught. " Explain that to your friend who just tried to shoot me," Tony complained and the blood froze in my veins. " He what?!," Nat wanted to know and I was already sprinting in the direction Tony had come from. " He wouldn't do that unless he was the Winter Soldier," Sam said confused and I spurred myself to run faster. " All it takes is a certain sequence of words. We have to find him!," I called out to the others and Sam joined me. " He's going to attack us, you know that, right?," Sam gasped as Bucky came into view. His face was expressionless and there was a hardness in it as he looked at us that made me shudder. " I can turn off his perception, then you can knock him out," I called to him and he nodded.

I stayed at a safe distance and focused on Bucky, who was busy attacking Sam. Since he was distracted, it was easy to get inside his head. I completely shut off his perception so he couldn't hear or see anything. " Now!," I shouted to Sam, watching a branch thunder against Bucky's head, who then fell limply to the ground. " Now what?" Sam wanted to know, hoisting the lifeless body of our friend over his shoulder. " We'll take him home, then we can get him back," I answered him and he nodded curtly before we parted again. Sam took Bucky to the jet and I moved on to taking out Hydra agents. It took some time to finish and lock everyone in a large room where Fury's people would pick them up later. Exhausted, we made our way to the Quinjet and headed home.