Rundown (Spiderman x Reader) (II)

53. Dry County

In dry county
The promise has run dry...
It was like my soul's on fire

I can play pretend and say that I was shocked to say an army's car scooped us up, but with Captain America's popularity, I'm not so sure. We were all crammed in a roofless, camouflaged-colored pickup truck.

We found Sam and Bucky walking together. I quickly analyzed the situation. Given this is not my first rodeo, I can picture the statements echoing on both of their minds: disappointment, slight guilt for letting them go, and possibly hatred for their partner.

"So that didn't go as planned, huh?" Walker said as he opened the back door. They ignored him and continued strolling as if they didn't look lost. The car drove to catch them. "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..."

They kept their eyes on the horizon. "Aliens, androids, or wizards?"

"Pretty sure." I didn't know there was such a thing, but it makes sense.

"There's no such thing as wizards," Bucky added.

"Then it's aliens or androids..." they began listing.

"Or super soldiers."

Lemar moved on his seat. "Shit. Super Soldiers, for real?" Sam nodded.

"That explains the badass kicks," I murmured. Seriously, their moves were like ninja kangaroos.

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

I could sense Bucky resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "That's not happening."

"I think we stand a much better chance if we all just..." Work together? Good luck with getting them on your side.

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

"Ooh, you got burned!" I hissed in excitement. The adults kind of gave me a mean stare. "Sorry. I'll... I'll shut up."

Walker gawked at my immaturity. "Look, I've done the work, okay?"

"You ever jump on top of a grenade?"

"Yeah. Actually, I have. Four times." Why did he respond so happily? It's not a competition of numbers, but courage. "It's a thing I do with my helmet. It's a reinforced helmet. It's a long story, but, any... Look, it's 20 miles to the airport. You guys need a ride." He opened the door again. "Guys. Gary, stop. Get in."

They glanced at each other before they finally gave in. It took them a while to get inside and settle on their seats.

Walker, almost expected, was the first to speak once we started moving. "Okay, so we've got eight super soldiers on a bulk supply run... Why?"

Sam fixed his thoughts before answering. "They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during the blip. Maybe they're just trying to help."

"They had a funny way of showing it," Bucky quipped. Maybe it's an aggressive type of help? I don't know, I'm rusty from superhero stuff.

"That serum doesn't exactly have a great track record— no offense." And that's the exact moment when I joined the death glaring bros. Here I thought I would give him a chance. Delete that idea.

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

"Uh, no, we didn't track them, we tracked you, uh, through Redwing," Lemar explained hesitantly.

"You hacked my tech?" He scoffed while turning his death eye-lasers to where I was.

"Don't look at me! I'm here against my will," I said while pointing at the shock collar. "Haven't touched an electonic in ages." And it wasn't a lie. They were afraid I'd 'techno-tunnel my way out', whatever that means.

Walker chuckled. "Sorry. It's not exactly hacking. It's government property. Kind of the government.... Does he always just stare like that?" he said referring to the Winter Soldier.

Sam managed to smirk. "You get used to it."

"Okay, look," he cleared his throat. "You know, things have gotten kind of, uh..."

"Chaotic," Lemar filled in.

"Yeah. Well, the GRC, they're doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post blip." Then his partner listed all the things they were aiding with; basically, keeping the citizens in check and reorganizing; basically, goodie two shoes work.

"The Global Repatriation Council does all that. I get that. So why exactly are you three here?" If I'm honest I have no clue about my role here. Getting hurt? A freaking bodyguard to the Faketain? A pawn in the inevitable war?

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

"Yeah, violent revolutionaries aren't usually good for anyone's cause." I bit my tongue because I couldn't handle the risk of getting shocked right now. If my free will was available, I'd say: No shit! You're telling me the working lower and middle class get mad when they're not treated equally? Who would've imagined?!

"Usually said by the people with the resources," Sam retaliated. Thank you, Mr. Wilson! Thank you!

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

"No," was all Bucky had to snap back.

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

Bucky squinted. "Who are you?"

"Lemar Hoskins."

"Look, I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear, I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins." Oh, this is gonna be fun.

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

"'Battlestar'?" He took a pause, probably a thousand insults flowing. "Stop the car!" Wait, nonono, don't leave me! Throw insults, but don't leave me!!

The driver did as instructed, stopping on where the road split into two. Bucky left, but Falcon stayed enough for John to make a speech.

"Look, I... I get it, okay? I get the attitude, I do. You didn't think that the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Bucky. 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."

"Really?"

"Yeah. That's it. It'd be a whole lot easier if I had Cap's wingmen on my side."

He wasted saliva, because that made the situation worse. Sam scoffed. "It's always that last line."

"W-wait!" I grabbed his shoulder before he got out. I gave my best smile. "Come back for me?" Sam chuckled, then started walking where Bucky went to. Great, I'm stuck with them again.

"Let's go. And put the muzzle and power blocker on Lang again," Walker commanded. Oh my god, this bitch.

That seemed to catch Falcon's attention. He turned his head around in my direction... and I could see him frowning.

_-_- 🐝 -_-_
Author's note:

I wanted to take today's author's note to thank everyone for +18k reads on Shutdown!! I'm working up the courage to edit the first couple of chapters (because I cringe at myself), but for the time being, I'm sending a huge hug to you guys! Words can't describe how grateful I am :)

~ Winter ❅

PS: Yelena is my new comfort character. That is all for today.