Caught in Storms

The Storm

-Bucky-
As soon as we get the all clear, we head up into the entrance of the palace, getting ready to launch the strike on the base. Clint finds a place to perch with Kate in the main area of the palace, while the rest of us head further in to find the elevator to the lower levels of the base. The back door team is already heading further in, taking Hydra agents out as they go, making sure no one tries to disappear out another entrance, and Emma finds the lift to the rest of the base. She breaks the lever for the door open and as soon as the elevator opens, we have agents coming in. We take them out quickly and head down.
As we are readying up for the next level, the back team lets us know they are watching front and back entrances and are secure.
* "Okay guys. Thermals is pulling in many, and I mean many, hostiles inbound. Be prepared for fire once that door opens,"* Sam says over comms.
"Thanks, Feathers," I say and get my rifle ready, looking down at Emma. She has one of her axes and one of her sidearms ready, looking antsy as the elevator finally stops. There is a harsh shudder of metal and she breathes out slowly. She gets her game face on as the door opens and there is a sudden loud noise. A bright light flares around us and blinds us for a moment.
"FLASH-BANG, EVERYONE SPREAD OUT," I yell and grab Emma's vest, pulling her with me as we leave the elevator and try to get some distance as our eyesight recovers. Everyone splits quickly and start fighting too, doing their best to recover and fight as the flash recedes, revealing all the Hydra agents we could imagine. There are even a few with modified weapons that we will have to remember to destroy. Some of them are in armor similar to what Hydra Supreme was wearing, having to have been something that they were trying to make a regular item.
We fight off who we can as we are going, Emma and I both plowing through enemies as quickly as we can. The fighting goes on with Emma just like it always has, but this feels more energetic, we are tossing enemies to one another left and right, almost like we choreographed the whole fight.
Emma is secretly having fun and I can tell as she yanks a guy off of her and over her head, tossing him in my direction as I toss my knife into his chest when he lands.
"Bucky heads up," Emma hollers and tosses me her axe before I pivot on my heel and slice it through a charging enemy behind me as quickly as I can. I toss it back to her and she grabs my knife and hands it back to me. She pecks me on the lips as she heads off in the direction that we were headed.
The base is massive and we almost get lost as we are winding through the maze of corridors and clearing rooms. Hill's agents are arresting whoever is not killed as we are fighting, making sure they are locked up and escorted out of the base as quickly as possible.
Emma, Scott, Hope, and I are able to get to the center of the base, finding where the command deck is and the hallways we need to take to get there. The place is being quickly overrun by us and Hill's operatives as we take over the palace base.
Emma and I are making our way towards the command centers, trying to find Baranov as we are fighting.
Emma has put away her sidearm and is fighting with her axes only, making quick work as I take down agents with my rifle. She is in her element right along side me and looks like she is in a state of adrenaline as she moves fluidly. I can't help but watch as I fight, loving watching her work. When we have a moment to breathe, Emma rests her hands on her knees and laughs.
"I was more out of shape that I thought," she says.
"Not at all, these guys pack a wallop," I say and kiss her cheek before we keep going. Scott and Hope catch up to us while Bruce, Sam, Thor, and Yelena are all fighting others. They are sort of chattering with Clint and Kate over the comms, just trying to keep one another going as we fight hard and make our ways through the base.
* "This place is way too damn big, how the hell is anything done efficiently,"* Bruce asks.
* "Probably not at all, now fight green man,"* Thor says and we can hear him slam Stormbreaker through a wall into enemies.
Finally we are coming up through a large area that is leading us straight into the command deck where Baranov and his goons are supposed to be, Emma and I both on edge as we get closer.
"I have a really bad feeling," Emma says as we head up to the command deck of the base and up through the hallways quickly. Scott and Hope are moving with us as quickly as they can, checking other doors and rooms as we go.
"Me too," I say and get ready, kicking the main command deck door open quickly. Emma enters in first with her rifle up, checking corners and under consoles. A door opens at the opposite end and Ivan Baranov stalks out, almost shaking the ground as he walks. The man is massive, looking like a body builder with heavy bricks making the muscles in his body. He looks like if Emma were to get any closer he would step on her and I get anxious as she keeps going towards him. Emma stands there still with her gun up as he walks in.
"I was wondering when I would get to meet you, Ms. Wallace," he says deeply.
"It's Mrs. Barnes, thank you," she says angrily.
"Oh of course, of course. I've heard a lot about you Emma, from Rafferty and Hydra Supreme. They had such high hopes for you. Maybe I can finish what they started and get you back into Hydra's good graces."
"I really don't care, get on the ground now," she says stepping closer. "You and your disgusting Hydra agents have caused enough havoc for me and my family. You've taken too much from me and so many others for too long. I'm done with it," she glowers at him as she steps forward, putting her gun up towards him angrily.
"Emma wait," I say and step forward with her and grab her arm before she goes forward, getting out a set of vibration cuffs.
"He's a super soldier. Guy looks like he was big before he got the serum."
"I kill all of you and finish what Supreme could not. I will control Hydra and become the new Supreme," Baranov yells angrily.
"You're not killing anyone, asshole. You're lucky if you get through this shitshow alive," Emma says and spits in his face.
With that, Emma and I are knocked back against a walls hard, making the wall crack hard from where we hit it. We both are winded from Baranov having knocked us both back in the stomach hard.
"You talk big for someone so small and helpless," little bitch. I make you watch while I crush your friends," Baranov yells as he directs some of his operatives to get moving.
Emma whimpers as she falls to the ground and starts to get up slowly, crying out from the aches. She grabs her large axe and runs in to fight him with Scott and Hope. They are getting him on the ropes as I join in and get one cuff on his wrist. He yells angrily as he slams Scott into a set of consoles and Hope goes flying out of the command deck window.
Baranov tries to slam Emma's head into a wall, but she used her momentum to swing up and wrap her legs around his neck and is trying hard to beat his head. She is squeezing him tight and he's dropping to his knees, gasping for air as she goes harder. I get the other cuff on him behind his back, but he slams Emma backwards hard into the concrete, knocking the wind out of her hard again.
Several of Baranov's little helpers are attacking her as she is recovering but she is able to fight them off with what energy and adrenaline that she has left as I deal with Baranov. He is fighting me every step of the way, continuing to headbutt and kick his way up as he tries to break the cuffs I put on him. Thank you vibranium I think so myself.
Emma is yelling angrily as she keeps getting punched by one guy and she finally puts a bullet in his head with her sidearm. Scott is doing his best to help everyone out, going big and small as he is fighting.
"This is disappointing, I was hoping that the Mighty Avengers would be more of a challenge for me, from how Supreme and Rafferty were describing you. Maybe they were weak men," Baranov laughs as he continues to throw kicks at all of us.
Hope is down for the count right now and trying to keep out of sight of other agents while still fighting them to get them off of the rest of us.
I see Emma tearing armor off of a few of the operatives with vests, and tossing them out of the command deck, smaller explosions going off from shitty handmade vest bombs. They were stupidly willing to suicide bomb the Avengers to save Hydra, fucking idiots.
Finally the barrage ends and Emma leans against a wall breathing heavily.
As Emma is getting her air back, I land a final punch on Baranov with my metal arm and knock him out. I cuff his legs too for good measure and go check on Emma.
"Are you okay," I ask worried and help her up.
"I feel like I got beat up by a fuckin' oak tree," she gasps. I sit her on a console to breathe as the rest of the crew runs in.
"Is everyone okay," I ask. There are nods and everyone checks on one another. Hope is walking away with a broken arm and rib, but everyone else seems to be doing just fine.
* "Everything is secure out here, guys...I think we got them all,"* Kate says over comms and we all look at one another.
"Hill is going to get ahold of the Russian prime minister. The palace will be getting locked down while the base is filled in with concrete. Let's make sure there's no stragglers, get what intel we absolutely need, and get the hell out," Clint says.
"Wait...do you guys hear that," I ask as I am looking around the room. There is a faint beeping sound and Emma gets up, hearing it too. We are frantically looking around and find nothing until I look at Baranov. Emma gets the same idea and uses her knife to cut open his shirt and tear his armor off.
"Oh my god," Yelena says as Emma reveals a vest bomb on Baranov. The clock is ticking down from minutes and we are all in the middle of this.
"Does anyone know how to diffuse a bomb," Emma asks with a scared but cheeky smile. All of us look at one another and shake their heads.
"We need to get him out of here, the palace can't be destroyed and we are not far enough down that the blast will stay underground," Thor says and grabs up Baranov and starts carrying him out. The rest of us grab what we can that is important and hurry to the main level of the palace.
As we are walking out, I notice Emma still holding her stomach from when Baranov slammed us then slammed her on the ground again.
"Emma, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think I'm good, just got knocked around really hard," she giggles softly but pained. I help her out to the jet and see Thor waiting for us to get there with Baranov. The clock is ticked down to 2 minutes left, and Emma tries her best to see if there is anything that can be done to disarm the bomb.
"It's a chem bomb too...if we set it off, whatever chemical is in there with the explosive is going to probably kill all of us," she says and grabs onto my arm.
"I gotta call Hill," Clint says and walks into the jet to call her. The clock is ticking down further and is getting dangerously close to going off.
"Let's get evidence of the bomb and get him out of here," Clint says running back to us.
Clint and Scott take pictures of the issue going on and forward them to Hill, who gives the okay to carry his ass out of harms way to explode. Thor grabs Baranov and carries him out into the sky and throws him as hard as he can outside of the atmosphere, the explosion happening out in space. We stand there in disbelief at the situation, Hydra finally down for good and everyone intact.
Hill's agents are sweeping the buildings and pulling out any survivors that are going to be put away. We check them for vest bombs too and any that are found are able to be destroyed quickly.
* "Alright everyone, let's get you home. Diplomats and agents are on their way to secure the palace and start the destroying process of the base below. You all did great work,"* Hill says over comms and we start getting loaded into the jet, tired and worn out. I notice a trail of red leading from the palace to us, but I brush it off as one of the Hydra agents being wounded or Baranov himself when we dragged him out.
As we are leaving, government law enforcement for Russia begin to Kate over everything for the assault and taking people into custody as well. Yelena and I, since we are the only two that speak Russian, translate for Clint and go over everything that is needed with the officials and they finish all the documentation needed, as well as take copies of the images that Clint and Scott took of Ivan Baranov and his best bomb. They thank us and go on their duties to finish the reclaiming of the Winter Palace. We notice a crowd of civilians gathering outside the gates of the Palace, a couple of news crews showing up too to gather footage of what just happened.
As we are getting situated in the jet, Emma throws off her stuff and collapses into her seat, holding her stomach still.
"Emma, are you sure you're okay?"
"I don't know, I think he just really slammed into me," she says softly. I lean over and kiss her cheek gently as she smiles. She is asleep almost instantly as the jet takes off.
It is quiet for awhile in the jet, everyone chilling out as we head back.
"We are going to make a stop at the hospital and drop Scott and Hope there for her arm and ribs," Clint says as he walks by me, the autopilot on. "Is Emma okay?"
"Yeah, Baranov really unleaded hell on her for some reason, knocked her in the stomach hard," I say and look at her, she's still passed out, pale tired and clutching my hand and her stomach.
"Are you sure, I think she's cut somewhere," Clint says and shows me a trail of red that leads all the way to her seat. I jump up and start checking her and don't see anything. When I move her thigh and pull my hand away, I realize it's covered in blood. I couldn't see it because she is in all black. Emma is not waking up at all as I am moving her around.
"Someone get me a towel," I yell and Yelena runs over with one. I start wiping her down, the blood not coming from anywhere but her thighs. I unstrap Emma and lay her on the ground and keep checking her.
"Bucky what are you doing," Sam asks and looks down at us.
"Emma is bleeding somewhere," I say. "I'm not seeing any cuts, I have to strip her," I say scared and start unlacing her boots and taking them off. Sam goes to her too and tries to wake her up, but she is out cold.
"Come on baby, please wake up," I say as I pull her pants off and open her coat. The blood is now everywhere and I realize where it is coming from.
"Son of a bitch...what did they do, Emma," I say scared and look at everything.
"Bucky..." Clint says.
"What, Barton," I snap and look up at him, scared and angry that yet again, Emma is hurt somehow. She's like a fucking magnet with bullshit and once again, she's in trouble.
"I think she was pregnant..."
"W-what...? What does this have to do with it??"
Clint kneels on the other side of her and checks her out too. I'm frantic and when he touches her I flinch.
"Bucky, she had a miscarriage during the strike, we need to get her to the hospital too," Clint says slowly and shows me the evidence. I start to panic more and hold onto Emma tight.
My mind races hard as Clint flies the jet as quickly as possible. Did she know? If she did, why didn't she say anything?
"Come on Emma, wake up please," I beg her and she starts to move in my lap. Sam can see how angry I am and tries to ease my nerves.
"Bucky if you come at this with anger she might not be able to handle it, you both just lost a child and there's a good chance she had no idea. If she did, she wouldn't have come in this mission. You know her better than that."
He's right and I feel guilty when I think about it. She starts to wake up slowly and looks around.
"Bucky what's going on, and where are my pants? And what the hell is all over me??"
I take her hands and hold them tight as I try to make this gentle.
"Emma you were bleeding, I don't know for how long..."
"Did I get stabbed or something again? It's everywhere," she says looking around.
"No baby...Clint thinks...we..." I stutter badly and start to feel the tears streaming down my face.
"Honey you had a miscarriage," Sam says quietly, sitting behind her as she looks at me. Her face falls and she looks like she wants to die.
"No that's impossible, I'm not even...I mean I didn't...I didn't..." she says and looks around at herself and me and the rest of the team before she falls apart.
"No...no no no no, Bucky please it's not true," she begs me crying heavily and I just wrap my arms around her tight. She sobs uncontrollably and just keeps begging me to tell her it's wrong, that it didn't happen. I rub her hair and back gently and just rock her as Clint flies us to the hospital. Her cries are heartbreaking and fill the jet, desperate and destroyed.