Red, White & Blue | Bucky x Reader

Chapter Three

I taste the saltiness in the air as we plunge toward the ocean, the wind whistles in my ears. I pull the chord on my pack, deploying my parachute and slowing my descent. Nearby, Natasha and the STRIKE team do the same, and we glide through the night.

On the ship below, Steve runs along the deck, knocking out pirate after pirate to avoid detection. As he nears the stern, he's confronted by three men. Steve incapacitates two of them, but the third gets behind him, pointing his rifle at Steve's head.

"Bouge pas!" the pirate orders, inching toward my friend. "Bouge pas."

Now within range of the ship, Rumlow aims his own rifle at the pirate, shooting him in the head as we touch down on the deck beside Steve.

"Thanks," Steve says, turning to face us.

"Yeah," Rumlow smirks. "You seemed pretty helpless without me."

Our parachutes trail behind us as we move along the deck, unbuckling the straps of the packs. The 'Lemurian Star' is a large ship, with two decks, a helicopter landing pad, and a handful of radio towers. Thanks to Steve, lower deck is quiet, but there will be more pirates somewhere inside.

"What about the nurse who lives across the hall from you?" Natasha pipes up, still trying to set Steve up. "She seems kind of nice."

"Secure the engine room," Steve orders, "then find me a date."

"I'm multitasking," Natasha replies, splitting off from the group.

Steve hurries off in search of Batroc, leaving me behind with Rumlow and the STRIKE team.

"Alright, listen up," Rumlow orders. "Rollins, Y/l/n, you're with me. We'll infiltrate the ship and make our way to the galley. Hendricks, Murphy, you'll take the port side windows, Whitlock, Hart, you'll take the starboard, mark the pirates inside and wait for Cap's signal. Let's move."

With a nod, the agents scatter, and I follow Rumlow and Rollins through the nearby door, keeping my hands loose at my sides as we sneak through the hallways toward the galley, ready to call up my powers at any sign of trouble.

As we're about to round the next corner, we hear someone shout, "Hé, trouve Batroc, si j'ai pas de nouvelles dans deux minutes, je commence à les tuer!"

We silently creep around the corner to find a pirate shouting back to his companion through the door, "D'accord. Je vais le chercher!"

The pirate turns, but before he can notice us standing there, Rumlow pokes him in the head with his electrical prong, sending a small surge of electricity through his body. The pirate's legs give out, but Rumlow grabs his vest before he can drop, slowly lowering his unconscious body to the floor.

Rollins moves to the locked door, pulling an explosive charge from his bag and sticking it against the metal.

"Targets acquired," Hendricks informs us through the communicators.

Rumlow relays the information to Steve. "STRIKE in position."

"Natasha, what's your status?" Steve asks, but no response comes. Steve tries again, "Status, Natasha?"

"Hang on!" Natasha's voice rings through the earpieces, returning a few moments later. "Engine room secure."

Awaiting Steve's order, Rumlow aims his rifle at the door as I bring my hands in front of me, ready to attack or defend as I see fit. Rollins moves to stand behind us, holding the detonator.

"On my mark," Steve instructs. "Three. Two. One."

Through the door, I hear glass shatter as the STRIKE team shoots through the galley windows. Rollins presses down on the detonator and the charge explodes, blowing open the door to reveal one last pirate. Startled by the explosion, he spins to face us, and Rumlow shoots him. The pirate's body crumples to the floor, landing in front of the hostages.

"I told you," Sitwell says to the dead pirate, "SHIELD doesn't negotiate."

After quickly scanning the room for any remaining hostiles, Rollins pulls a knife from his boot, using it to free the hostages from their bands as I do a quick check for any injuries. Confirming that everyone is accounted for, Rumlow take the lead, escorting the crew from the galley, me and Rollins flanking the group.

"Hostages en route to extraction," Rumlow says into the communicators, updating the rest of the team as we move through the hallways, making our way back up to the deck. "Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap. Hostiles are still in play."

"Natasha, Batroc's on the move," Steve states. "Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages."

Natasha doesn't reply, and I begin to wonder where she is.

We move quietly along, finally reaching the deck, and we quickly make our way towards the bow, where the remaining STRIKE team agents are waiting by the life-pods.

Suddenly, two pirates appear from behind a large shipping container, their weapons raised. I'm the first to react, surrounding one of the pirates in a cocoon of blue energy before tossing him overboard.

I hear the shot as the second pirate fires his weapon, but I project a large forcefield, shielding our group from the bullet. I push my hands forward, hurling the wall of energy toward the pirate, and the impact sends him flying backward. He hits his head as he lands on the floor, knocking him out cold.

Rumlow laughs, impressed by how quickly I dispatched the hostiles. "Guess we didn't need backup after all. What else can you do?"

I smirk, but don't answer the question, my powers remaining a mystery to me despite me training with them everyday. Instead, I usher the hostages forward, getting them to the life-pods as the other agents keep watch.

As the final life-pod hits the water, Steve and Natasha catch up to us, looking a little worse for wear. Their clothes and faces are smudged with dust, and a few small shards of glass cling to their hair.

"You two look like shit," I say. "What happened?"

"Batroc escaped," Steve replies, not quite answering my question, before grimacing at Natasha. She half shrugs back in apology.

I clap Steve on the back before pointing to the lifeboats floating nearby, waiting to be picked up by one of our aircrafts. "Well, at least the hostages are safe."