Red, White & Blue | Bucky x Reader

Chapter Nine

Dressed in our uniforms, Steve and I exit the Triskelion's armoury to find Rumlow waiting for us.

"Cap, Pierce wants to speak with you upstairs," Rumlow informs him, escorting us to the elevator. However, he stops me as I try to step in after them. "He just wants to speak with Cap."

I narrow my eyes at him, but turn to Steve. "I'll be in the lobby when you're done."

With a quick glance at Rumlow, I turn and walk back the way we came. The lobby is large, with a glass ceiling and a glass wall on the entrance side, and a metal sculpture of the SHIELD logo sits in the middle of the room.

I find the sofas toward the back and take a seat, grabbing a magazine from the coffee table to read as I wait for Steve to finish speaking with Pierce. I've only met Secretary Alexander Pierce once, after the Battle of New York. He's an older man, with greying blond hair and blue eyes, and I remember him being polite, but opinionated, like his word was the only one that mattered.

As I browse through the magazine, I notice a group of agents standing nearby, occasionally glancing over at me as they whisper to one another. Something feels off about it, and after making eye contact with them for the fifth time, I decide I've had enough. Slowly, I put the magazine on the table and stand, walking toward one of the nearby hallways. Once out of sight from the lobby, I break into a run. I need to get out of here.

I sprint around the next corner only to be cut off by a group of STRIKE agents, and I spin on my toe, hoping to run back the way I came. However, as I turn, I discover that the hallway is blocked by agents as well, their guns aimed at me. I look from side to side as my fingers dance, I'm not getting out of here without a fight.

"Lieutenant Y/l/n, stand down," an agent orders, keeping his weapon pointed at my chest.

I smile in amusement. "Did you honestly expect it to be that easy?"

A shot rings out from behind me, and I raise my fist, projecting a forcefield to protect myself from the bullet. It pings off the shield, and I shove the wall of energy toward the group of agents, knocking them back before swirling the blue wave around my head and launching it down the other hallway toward my remaining attackers.

A few agents dodge my attack, and I sprint toward them, kicking high and throwing a few punches to knock them off balance. One of the agents knocks me down, and as he aims his rifle at me, I thrust my hands forward, launching a bolt of energy at his torso and sending him flying at the wall.

At that moment, there's a loud crash from the lobby, followed by a few startled screams. I scramble to my feet, running down the hall toward the stairway, shoving open the door and hurrying down the stairs, jumping three or four steps at a time until I reach the bottom. This was a trap from the beginning, and I can only hope Steve can make it out on his own.

I barge through the door to the parking garage, sprinting to Steve's motorcycle. As I reach it, I look up to see Steve running toward me from the other direction, a few shards of glass clinging to his hair and uniform. He must've caused the crash I heard.

"We need to get out of here!" Steve shouts as he hops onto the motorcycle.

"Yeah, no shit!" I respond, climbing on behind him.

Steve revs the engine, launching the motorcycle forward, and we speed through the garage, barely squeezing through the closing doors. We race across the bridge, making our escape, but a quinjet suddenly descends up ahead, aiming its weapons at us.

"Stand down," the pilot orders through the PA system. "I repeat, stand down."

Steve ignores him, propelling us forward, which results in a spray of bullets as the pilot opens fire. I thrust my hand forward, forming a shield of energy to protect us as Steve pulls his own shield from his back.

"Get ready to jump!" Steve orders as he throws his shield at the quinjet, lodging it into one of the turbines. "Now!"

Steve squeezes the hand break, launching us into the air as the motorcycle skids to a stop. Using the momentum to my advantage, I run across the top of the jet, using my powers to tear apart the two engines as Steve uses his shield to destroy the remaining turbine. The quinjet spins out of control as it loses altitude, and Steve and I jump as it crashes, landing side by side on the bridge. We glance back one final time before making our escape.