Living Nightmare ~ (Bucky Barnes) COMPLETED

beginning of the end

It had taken months, but the team had finally tracked Sarkov down. They were in Lagos spread out across the square. Maddie and Wanda sat together at a table outside a café, both wearing hats. Nat was sitting further behind them with a different view of the small square, disguised in the good old fashioned way with dark glasses and a baseball cap. Steve and Sam were suited up, hidden away from prying eyes. Wanda fiddled with the sugar packet and took a sip of her coffee.

"alright, what do you see?" Steve's voice came through on comms.

Wanda looked over her shoulder before responding, "Standard beat cops. Small station, quiet street"

"it's a good target" Maddie said.

From his position behind the curtain in a small apartment across the street, Steve could see the cops Wanda had spotted.

"there's an ATM on the south corner, which means?"

"cameras" Wanda answered, moving her hand to hide her mouth.

"both cross streets are one-way" Steve continued

"compromised escape routes" Maddie finished, glancing at Wanda.

"means our guy doesn't care about being seen and isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out"

"sounds like Sarkov" Maddie sighed to herself, reaching for her own coffee.

"you see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"

"yeah, the red one? It's cute"

"it's also bulletproof which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us." Natasha piped up shifting in her seat and raising her cup to hide the fact she was talking to no one.

"you guys know I can move things with my mind, right?"

Maddie chuckled and Wanda smiled at her.

"looking over your shoulder should be second nature by now" Nat reminded them.

"anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" Sam asked from his spot on the roof.

"Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?" Nat responded causing Sam to sigh while Wanda and Maddie snickered.

"eyes on target, folks" Steve chastised.

Out the corner of his eye he saw a truck moving through the street, locals yelling and throwing things at it.

"Sam, see that garbage truck? Tag it"

Redwing detached from Sam's suit and he used the controls on his arm to follow the truck Steve had pointed out. Maddie tensed in her seat, feeling a fight brewing.

"that truck's loaded for max weight and the driver's armed" Sam informed the group.

"It's a battering ram" Natasha realised.

"go now" Steve commanded.

The group mobilised, Sam opened his wings and flew from his post on the roof, Steve ran from the building while Maddie, Nat and Wanda moved more carefully trying not to raise suspicion as they left the square.

The truck drove towards a government building, the driver hitting the accelerator and throwing himself out the door, rolling to take the brunt of the impact. The guards barely had time to react before the truck went hurtling into the gate. Two more trucks appeared, screeching round the corner and driving through the rubble. Armed agents swarmed the building, opening fire as soon as they exited the truck. Gas cannisters were launched through the windows causing panic amongst the workers inside who all ran around trying to get out the way.

"body armour, AR 15s" Steve called through comms, "I make seven hostiles"

"I make five" Sam said proudly, landing on the roof.

Wanda and Maddie floated over his head both manipulating their own energy. This was one of Maddie's favourite tricks, she loved the rush it gave her as she hovered high above the others. Wanda landed with a grunt, using her powers to immobilise another agent, throwing him towards Sam who swooped down and knocked him out with the wings.

"four"

Maddie landed slightly more gracefully and began fighting alongside Nat. Wanda pushed Steve through the window of the building with a flick of her wrists and a red shimmer, putting him exactly where he needed to be to confront Sarkov. She then got to work on manipulating the gas to get it out of the building and diffused it into the atmosphere. It was quite impressive, the tornado of green smoke surrounded by a slight red haze.

"Sarkov has a biological weapon" Steve told the group.

"I'm on it" Natasha replied, speeding off on a motorcycle.

A few moments later Sarkov disappeared into the back of an armoured vehicle and sped off, one the agents he was with manning the machine gun mounted to the roof and providing cover. Maddie rolled out the way as it sped right towards her and fell on the ground next to Nat who was coughing to clear the smoke from her lungs.

"Sam, he's in an AFV heading north" she called.

The truck once again headed towards the market area, driving straight into the crowd as people rushed out of the way, crying and yelling out in fear. Maddie could feel their emotions and she harnessed that energy, following the source of it. Sam flew in, landing in the market closely followed by Maddie.

"I've got four, they're splitting up"

Nat showed up on her bike jumping over cars to keep an eye on the men.

"I've got the two on the left" she grunted.

Steve appeared on the scene, pulling unecessary tricks as he flipped and twisted over cars and dived through the crowd. People moved out his way as they recognised the suit, panicked chattering pointing towards a vest on the ground. He bent over to inspect it then pulled back and sighed.

"they ditched their gear" he said annoyed

A bomb attached to his shield and Steve threw it, detonating in the air as the crowd ducked and took cover. The same agent that had been covering Sarkov kicked Steve in the back while he was distracted, knocking him to the ground. As the fight continued, Maddie moved quickly trying to find the other two men while Nat focused on hers. She could feel their determination and Maddie zeroed in on it, using her powers to follow their emotions like a flare. Sam flew over her head, taking down one of them as he landed while Maddie took care of the second. They both rummaged through the bags finding nothing.

"he doesn't have it"
"I'm empty"

Nat tackled one of the other assailants to the ground, picking up a basket from the ground to hit the gun out of the other agents hands. They fought briefly until both Nat and one of them drew a gun and the final guy pulled out the bio weapon.

"drop it" he commanded, "or I'll drop this"

"I'm on my way Nat" Maddie spoke into her earpiece as she rushed to Nat's position.

Maddie snuck behind one of them as Redwing shot the other in the shoulder causing him to drop the weapon. She stabbed her guy in the leg, wrestling him to the ground as Nat caught the bio weapon.

"Payload secure" she announced, "Thanks Sam."

"Don't thank me" he replied lightly.

"I'm not thanking that thing" Maddie and Nat said in unison, prompting a laugh from Sam.

"He's cute. Go ahead, pet him" he continued teasing.