Broken Remains || Bucky Barnes

The Star-Spangled Man (3)

Nikita's POV

"Sorry about Redwing." Bucky said.

"No, you're not." He shot back. "What's going on in that big cyborg brain of yours?"

"It's computing." Bucky said.

"You know what? I can actually see it. I can see the gears turning. Oh, they're malfunctioning, shutting down. Yep, they're on fire."

"We gotta figure out where the serum's coming from." I said.

"Yeah. And how in the hell after 80 years are there eight Super Soldiers runnin' loose?"

We heard a car honking. It rolled up right next to us. An army jeep.

"So that didn't go as planned, huh?" John Walker opened the door for us to get in but we just kept walking not even acknowledging him.

"Okay." He closed the door and told the guy to keep going. "Let's keep going. Look, at least we know what we're up against now, huh? And we're pretty sure it's one of the Big three, so..."

"Aliens, androids, or wizards?" Sam finished.

"Pretty sure."

"There's no such things as wizards." Bucky said.

"Then it's aliens, or androids..." I just rolled my eyes at this guy.

"Or Super Soldiers"

"Shit. Super Soldiers, for real?" A guy asked.

"Yeah." Sam looked at us.

"Wow. All right, well, then we gotta work together."

"That's not happening." I said.

"I think we stand a much better chance if we just..." Bucky cut him off.

"Just 'cause you carry that shield, it doesn't mean you're Captain America."

"Look, I've done the work, okay?"

"You ever jump on top of a grenade?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah, Actually, I have. Four times. It's a thing I do with my helmet. It's a reinforced helmet." Of course it is. "It's a long story, but any...Look, it's 20 miles to the airport. You guys need a ride. Guys. Gary, stop. Get in."

***

"Okay, so we've got eight Super soldiers on a bulk supply run. Why?" Walker looked at us on the other side of the jeep.

"They say their mission is to get things back to they way it was during The Blip. Maybe they're just trying to help." Sam said.

"They had a funny way of showing it." I said. "Besides the whole world was depressed during The Blip."

"That serum doesn't exactly have a great track record. No offense." He said to me and Bucky. We just glared daggers at him. I mean if looks could kill, he'd be dead.

"Offense taken." I said.

"We need to figure out where they're going. How'd you track 'em here? The Flag-Smashers?" Sam asked.

"Uh, no, we didn't track them, we tracked you, uh, through Redwing." Said the guy.

"You hacked my tech?"

"Sorry. it's not exactly hacking. It's government property. Kind of the government." I rolled my eyes. This guy was so full of himself.

The jeep went silent.

"Does he always just stare like that?"

"You get used to it." Sam said.

"Or you just get more annoyed by it." I said and Bucky gave me a look.

"Okay, look, you know things have kind of been, uh..."

"Chaotic." Said the guy.

"Yeah. The GRC, they're doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post Blip."

"Reactivating citizenship, social security, healthcare. Basically just managing resources for the refugees who were displaced by the return." Said the guy.

"The Global Repatriation Council does all that. I get that. So why exactly are you two here?" Sam asked.

"Well, they provide the resources and we keep things stable."

"Yeah, violent revolutionaries aren't usually good for anyone's cause." Walker finished what his friend was saying.

"Usually said by the people with the resources."

"Well, we got a lot of resources. If you guys, if you joined up with us, we could..."

"No." Bucky cut him off.

"I got mad respect for all three of ya'll. But you were getting your asses kicked till we showed up."

"Who are you?" I asked the guy.

"Lemar Hoskins." He said.

"Look, I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear, I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins." Sam said.

"I'm Battlestar. John's partner."

"Battlestar"? I asked. "Stop the car!" I yelled to the person in the front seat. I got out of the jeep before it even came to a stop. I was not putting up with anymore of their crap.

"Look, I...I get it, okay? I get the attitude, I do."

"Really?" I said.

"Yeah."

"Good."

"You didn't think the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Niki."

"Don't call me that again." I shook my head.

"And I'm...I'm not trying to be Steve. I'm not trying to replace Steve. I'm just trying to be the best Captain America I can be. That's it. It'd be a whole lot easier if I had Cap's wingmen on my side. And wing woman." He gestured to me.

I turned my head around to look at him. Now I was pissed.

"Okay you know wha-"

Bucky grabbed my arm before I could get back in the car and punch the shit out of this man.

"It's always that last line." Sam got out of the car too.

I yanked my arm out of Bucky's grip and stormed down the road.

***

We all just sat there in the plane in silence.

"You all right?" It was hard to tell if he was talking to me or Bucky, or both.

"Let's take the shield. Let's take the shield and do it ourselves.

"We can't just run up on the man, beat him up, and take it."

"Slap the guy, take the shield and run. Sounds right to me." I said sitting up right.

"You can't just take a counties most valuable symbol." Sam stated

I tried not to make a sarcastic remark about that. 100 years of working for Hydra and he wanted thought that was news to me.

"Do you remember what happened the last time we stole the shield." Sam asked me seriously

"Maybe." Bucky said.

"I'll help you in case you forgot. Sharon was branded enemy of the state, and Steve, Nikita, and I were on the run for two years. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna live the rest of my life la vida loca. We just got our ass handed to us by Super Soldiers, and we got nothing."

"Not entirely true." Bucky got up. He sat down next to Sam. "There is someone that you should meet."