Addicted to a Losing Game

Chapter 24

Sam

This guy has been a pain in his ass since that moment a few years ago when he jumped on top of Sam's car and tried to kill him. If someone had told Sam then that Bucky Barnes would end up being one of his closest friends, he'd never have believed them. Yet here he is, flying around fucking Berlim, trying to save his life once again. And, of course, Bucky is once again attempting to beat the shit out of him. He'd caught up to him quickly, and now he's dodging Bucky's attacks, trying to subdue him without hurting him in the courtyard of a small abandoned building.

"Bucky, I'm not going to fight you!" He may as well be talking to himself, it's as if Bucky doesn't even hear him.

He dodges as Bucky's vibranium arm comes swinging at him. Sam finally notices the earpiece that Bucky is wearing. Now he understands why Verity couldn't get through to him this time. He should have known Zemo would have a few tricks up his sleeve to make things more difficult for them. He ducks another blow before kicking Bucky back, satisfied to see one earpiece fall out and go skidding across the floor.

Bucky pulls a knife out as he gets up off the floor, his eyes on Sam as he gets ready to attack him again.

"Bucky, don't!" I scream out, without really taking the time to think about whether that is the smart thing to do. I'd finally caught up to them, and I'd watched as Sam had knocked Bucky back across the courtyard. It was at that moment I'd noticed the earpiece as it skidded across the floor. And as Bucky stalked back towards Sam, knife in hand, I'd seen a matching one still in his other ear.

His head whips around at the sound of my voice, his focus now no longer on Sam. I see the slight change in his eyes; finally there is a flicker of recognition there. I can't stop myself from walking towards him, trying to keep his gaze on me.

"Verity," Sam says warily, clearly worried about what Bucky could do to me if he is still under Zemo's control.

"Bucky, please." I breathe a sigh of relief when he lowers his arm and lets the knife clatter to the floor. I bridge the gap between us, reaching up to pull the second earpiece out and tossing it on the floor. His eyes are on me, they're back to normal and that vacant look from earlier is no longer there.

Relief rushes through me, and I am about to throw my arms around him when I feel a searing heat and I'm thrown back across the room. A loud boom has my ears ringing and as my head hits the floor, pain shoots through me.

"Verity!" Sam and Bucky shout out at the same time.

Bucky runs to me, his hands on my face pushing the hair off it. His eyes give me a quick once over to check me for any injuries.

"Are you okay?" He asks me, worry clear in his eyes.

"I think so." I cough out as smoke fills the small courtyard. We need to get out of here. I've got no idea where the explosion came from, but whoever did it could attack us again.

He helps me up off the floor, keeping his arm around me.

"Come on," he says, dropping a kiss to my forehead, "we have to get out of here."

And with that he leads me out of the building, following Sam on to the street.

Sharon

It appears Sharon wasn't the only agent the CIA called in today. She looks around the room and notices that almost everyone seems to have been brought in. That means something big has happened. The room goes silent as Everett Ross addresses the room.

"We've received word of an attack in Berlin. It appears Helmut Zemo fled there after his prison escape. He targeted two members of the Avengers and a civilian." People talk amongst themselves when he says that. He continues on regardless. "Clearly the situation is getting out of control, so it is time for us to intervene."

We've found a dark, quiet bar that we can sit and talk in while we decide what our next move is.

"What were you thinking?" Sam's frustration is aimed at Bucky, having just heard him explain how Zemo got him to go with him. "You do not negotiate with Zemo. You fight him and then turn him in."

"I didn't have a choice, okay." Bucky tries his best to explain what he was thinking when he decided to willingly go with Zemo. "I have to make sure you were going to be safe." He looks over at me as he says that.

"Sam is right, Buck." I say to him.

"You see?" Sam shoots Bucky his best I-told-you-so face before looking at me. "Thank you, Verity."

"And I'm not just saying that because of what you could have done, but also because of the consequences you would have faced afterwards." I explain to him. "But I can't blame you completely when I know I would have done the same for you."

"You're lucky we could stop you before you did anything that could incriminate you." Sam tells him. "Or we'd have the CIA on our heels right now and you'd be looking at spending the rest of your life locked up."

I'm looking at Bucky as Sam talks, so I notice the change in him immediately when Sam says that. Sam doesn't seem to have noticed, hasn't realised yet that we may in fact already be too late.

"Buck? Are you okay?" I ask him, scared to hear the answer.

"There's still one loose end." Then he tells Sam everything he remembers about what Zemo had him do.

When Sam has heard it all, he tells Bucky to find a hotel for Bucky and me to spend the night.

"I'll call you when I'm finished sorting this mess out. Find a room, lie low and I'll come to you when I can." With that, he gets up and walks out of the bar.

A short while later we make our way out of the bar too, my hand in Bucky's as we go to find somewhere we can spend the night. My mind going back to the last conversation I had with Steve before he left.

I can hear Steve moving around upstairs as he grabs what he needs before he goes. I'm sat on the sofa, trying to calm myself down. But I'm still angry that he won't let me go with him. Thankfully, by the time he comes back down the stairs, I'm definitely able to talk to him calmly.

"I'm sorry," he says to me. "I know you want to help but I promise you it's better if you stay here."

"I know." I say it more to appease him than anything else.

"Look, we can talk properly when I get back. But it's okay, it is going to be okay. I know you and Bucky never planned for this to happen." I nod my head in agreement. The last thing I'd have ever wanted to do was hurt Steve. "But I also know there's a reason meeting your soulmate is grounds for an immediate annulment. I know you both care about me, and you know all I want is for you to be happy. And it isn't your fault that isn't me."

"Steve..." I begin to say, but he interrupts me.

"It's okay. Neither of us planned for this, but let's not waste anymore time pretending we don't know what is happening here. We can sort everything out when I'm back, but now I really have to go." He comes over and gives me a soft peck on the cheek. "But please, stay here where it is safe."

And with that he walks out of the house.