Safe with you

Surprises

The men burst into the room, capturing both Bucky and my attention. They stepped through the threshold and my glare must have been scathing because one of them had the decency to at least look a little ashamed for having ruing whatever moment Bucky and I were having.

They do say a glare sends a thousand words (who 'they' are, I'm not sure – it could very well be me making up phrases) and I'm pretty sure mine was screaming, "Guys, seriously? Bad timing!"

The burns on the three men that entered first made them easily recognisable as Mr Stewart's henchmen from earlier. I'd naively thought that they might leave us alone but, very clearly, I was wrong. I raised my hands in defence, feeling the pull of the water in the pipes while the croons and Bucky engaged in a staring competition.

Honestly, I have to do all the work around here.

I twitched my fingers, pulling a lasso of water from the kitchen tap. It burst into the room, trailing between Bucky and my shoulders before it smacked the front henchman in the face, causing him to slump to the floor in a heap. For a moment, everyone paused, assessing the situation before, unfortunately, the other henchmen took this as a personal insult and leapt into action.

"Bucky! Get your gun!" I instructed, knowing that he was unarmed at the moment.

"Can you – " he began, but I cut him off, pushing his shoulder so he would move.

"Go!" I yelled, confident that I could handle myself for the few moments it took Bucky to return to the room. I shifted so that I was blocking the hallway access for the men – they'd have to go through me before they'd get a chance at hitting Bucky while he was weapon-less.

The first man tried his luck, running at me. I had a brief vision that I was staring down a charging rhinoceros. He made to grab my collar, so I grabbed his outstretched arm, pulling him off balance. As he stumbled past me, I made sure I stuck an elbow into his side and I kicked out to make sure I hit his groin. For someone so intimidating, he definitely fell down without much of a fight. Honestly, bad guys need to train their henchmen better.

The next man was only paces behind the first and was even more domineering, absolutely towering over me. He was breathing heavily out of his nose, giving me the impression of the dragon from Shrek. However, unlike the fire-proof Shrek dragon, this man was decorated with lovely blistering patches extending from his face to the tips of his fingers. As he marched towards me, with the two other lovely chaps hot on his heels, I started stalling, knowing that Bucky wasn't too far away as I backed into the hallway. Holding off the first man was easy but I was outmatched three-to-one.

"So, your face looks good. Had some work done on it I see?" I quipped, utilising my inherent ability to be antagonising. He simply grunted in reply, the distance between him and I shortening rapidly.

"Duck!" Bucky commanded, and I acted on instinct. I dropped to the floor in a couch as a shot rang out, rapidly followed by two others. The man closest to me dropped in a heap. Right on to me, pushing me onto my back while his weight pinned me down.

I didn't move. He didn't move. Everything was quiet.

"Bucky... there's a dead man on me..." I groaned, eyes squeezed shut as though it would remove the horror of the situation. I could hear footsteps as Bucky stepped around us in the hallway before he dragged the body off of me. I kept my eyes shut as I lay there, processing what just happened.

"And now there's not," Bucky responded as he continued to move around the apartment.

"Ha ha ha, you're absolutely hilarious," I deadpanned, slowly opening my eyes and sitting up. I assessed the room. There were three men with bullet holes through their heads while the two incapacitated, not dead, henchmen tried to back away from the situation. Despite it all, my heart went out to them both. It would be so hard to keep working if your teammates died while you were on a mission. How would I react if something happened to Bucky while we were out here?