Blades & Ballet | Bucky x Reader

Seven

Moving silently, the three of us sneak into the storage warehouse, slipping behind a row of shelving units to avoid being seen. I peer through the cluttered shelves, spotting a handful of men loading heavy crates into the two trucks waiting outside the tall bay doors.

"All right, let's go," I say, taking a step to move around the shelves.

Sam grabs my arm. "No, wait."

"I've got a vibranium arm," I remind him, lifting said limb in his face to emphasize my point. "I can take them."

"And I can fly," Sam counters. "Who gives a shit? Wait. I want to see where they're going."

"Will you two stop bickering like an old married couple?" Y/n hisses. "You're gonna get us caught."

I ignore her, continuing my argument with Sam. "There's two people."

"You only see two?" Sam retorts.

"That's what I saw."

"Let me see what Redwing sees," Sam suggests, lifting his arm to look at the screen. Redwing scans the area, revealing more people than I originally counted. "Oh, look at that. How many people you see now? One, two... Oh, here it comes again. Four, five."

I sigh. "Yeah, five. Yeah. So, they're strong. Whatever. All right, let's go."

"No, no, wait," Sam urges, reaching for my arm again and accidentally knocking some items off the shelf. They clatter to the floor. "Shit."

We freeze as the men by the door turn toward the sound. They don't spot us, but spooked by the noise, they pack up the remainder of the crates and start up the trucks.

Sam glances down at the screen again. "There's an eighth person. I think they have a hostage."

I bolt after the trucks, my Super Soldier speed propelling me forward, and leap onto the back of the first one, grabbing the metal bars for support. Unlatching the doors, I slip inside the trailer, getting a closer look at the shipping crates we saw earlier.

"They're stealing medicine," I report to Sam. "Vaccines."

At that moment, a teenage girl with a mass of curly red hair peers shyly around the stack of crates ahead of me.

"Hi," I greet softly.

"Bucky, talk to me," Sam calls through my earpiece. "What's going on?"

"Found the hostage," I answer before turning back to the girl. "You okay?"

A slow smile spreads across the girl's freckled face, and I begin to smile back just as she lifts her boot to kick me in the stomach. I fly backward, crashing into the windshield of the truck behind us.

"Shit!" I shout, quickly reaching up to find something to hold onto. Ahead of me, the girl steps to the end of the trailer, pulling a mask over her face. I recognize it immediately. All black with a red handprint across it. She's one of the Flag Smashers.

Before I can react, two more Smashers grab my arms, hauling me onto the roof. The girl jumps from the trailer, landing beside us as the first truck falls back to drive beside the second. With the two Smashers holding my arms, I do my best to fight as the three of them gang up on me, but they're strong. Too strong.

Suddenly, Redwing appears behind the girl, firing small bullets at the Smashers as it comes to my rescue. The girl runs toward it, swiping the drone out of the air and smashing it over her knee.

"I always wanted to do that," I state before one of the Smashers punches me in the jaw.

At that moment, Sam swoops in from out of the sky, dropping Y/n onto the truck as he lands. The girl sprints toward them, and Y/n slides under her before throwing two small blades at the Smashers holding me. The blades hit their arms, and the Smashers' grips loosen as Y/n propels herself forward, kicking one of them off the truck as I punch the second one away.

"Good of you to join the fight!" I shout to them.

The girl knees Sam in the stomach before tossing him over to the other truck, where two more Smashers are waiting. Y/n charges in, slashing at the girl's limbs with her daggers as she deflects and counters.

Over on the other truck, one of the Smashers pins Sam down as the other one stands above them. However, before he can attack, he's hit in the chest by a red and silver object. I look up just in time to see John Walker catch the shield as it rebounds back to him.

Walker jumps out of the helicopter, landing next to Y/n and taking her place against the girl. Y/n eyes him dubiously, but says nothing, jumping across to the other truck to help Sam. A second later, a black man, also wearing red and blue tactical gear, swings down from the helicopter, kicking the girl off the truck as he lands. Walker smiles at him, and the two of them fist bump.

"Sam!" Walker calls to him. "John Walker, Captain America."

"Lemar Hoskins," the other man introduces.

"Looks like you guys can use some help," Walker states.

"We're fine, thanks," Y/n responds, launching herself at the girl, who grabbed the back of the truck as she fell and climbed back onto the roof.

Walker ignores her comment, throwing the shield at one of the Smashers. I catch it as it rebounds off him, and Walker rips it from my hands.

On the other truck, Sam attempts to get back into the sky, but two of the Smashers pull him back down. I jump over to help him, punching one of the Smashers in the face before engaging the other. He grabs me, and as we stumble too close to the side, we're forced to jump the gap between the trucks.

My jump is short, and I grab the trailer with my metal hand. Failing to stop my fall, I slowly slide down the side, reaching for the metal bar at the bottom and swinging myself under the truck, right beside the wheels. This is the last place I want to be.

Seeing my situation, the Smasher slides down after me, stomping on my metal fingers as he tries to loosen my grip on the bar. Sam maneuvers around the vehicles as he tries to help me, but the drivers don't make it easy for him. He swoops low to the ground, finally getting a view of me from under the trailers.

"That little girl kicked your ass," he laughs.

I shout at him as the Smasher stomps again, my metal fingers slipping from the bar. I throw my hand out beneath me as my weight shifts, creating sparks as the metal drags along the asphalt.

I hear a gunshot up above, and Y/n tumbles over the side of the truck, fingers digging into the metal seam of the roof. Blood drips from her thigh, and I realize she's been shot. She spots the Flag Smasher trying to kick me off and swings herself over, stomping on his shoulders and forcing him off the truck.

Failing to find a fresh grip on the truck, she falls, and I swing out, wrapping my metal arm around her waist as I pull her body into mine. I cling to the bar for dear life, but as my hand begins to slip, Sam dives toward us, tucking in his wings and soaring under the trucks. He collides with us, knocking us into the nearby field. Y/n is released from our grip as Sam and I bounce and roll through the plants and dirt, finally coming to a stop.

"Could've used that shield," I state with annoyance.

Sam groans. "Get off of me."

I roll to the side, staring up at the sky. "Those were all Super Soldiers, Sam."

"I know," Sam breathes. "You're welcome, by the way."