Red, White & Blue | Bucky x Reader

Chapter Seven

We watch in stunned silence as the spaceship deploys smaller vessels, each descending toward the palace and the fields beyond.

"Hey, Cap?" Sam calls through the communicators. "We've got a situation here."

As he speaks, a vessel crashes into the defensive shield surrounding the city, exploding on impact.

"God, I love this place," Bucky muses, and I smile in agreement, gazing up at the shield in admiration.

"Yeah, don't start celebrating yet, guys," Rhodes warns, hastening to step into his silver War Machine armor. "We got more incoming outside the dome."

I shift my focus to the multiple ships landing in the distance, destroying acres of jungle as shockwaves ripple through the trees.

A few moments later, dozens of hover carriers burst through the hanger bay doors beside us, carrying our friends and hundreds of Wakandan soldiers. Bucky and I race toward them, jumping onto a carrier as Sam and Rhodes take to the sky, speeding toward the landing sights.

"How we looking, Bruce?" Natasha asks through the communicators.

Up ahead, a giant Ironman suit, the Hulkbuster, jogs along beside us, and Banner's voice replies in my earpiece, utterly delighted. "Wow! It's like being the Hulk without actually--" He suddenly trips over a rock, crashing to the ground in a heap. Okoye gives him a dubious look as we pass him, and I attempt to hold in my laughter as he gets up. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

"I got two heat signatures breaking through the tree line," Rhodes interrupts as we approach the edge of the dome.

Reaching our destination, the carrier pilots swerve to make U-turns and, without hesitation, the practiced soldiers slide over the sides of the vehicles as they tilt. We quickly follow them, soon coming to a halt next to a large group of Jabari warriors, each wearing their animal skin armor and brandishing spears as they join their leader, M'Baku, in a war chant.

"Thank you for standing with us," T'Challa says to M'Baku as we join the ranks, clasping his wrist.

"Of course, brother," M'Baku replies.

Across from us, on the other side of the barrier, two figures stand, a large, scary looking male alien, and a smaller, equally scary looking female alien, each with greyish skin, black hair, and reptilian eyes.

Steve steps forward, followed closely by T'Challa and Natasha, as the three of them approach the barrier. From where I stand at Bucky's side, I see the female alien draw her sword across the barrier, testing its strength. We watch as our friends try to discourage the aliens from their attack, but it doesn't work, and the female alien brandishes her sword in the air. Behind her, loud, mechanical noises screech from the ships as their hulls open. Our friends walk back to join us on the hill.

"Did they surrender?" Bucky sarcastically questions.

"Not exactly," Steve replies.

At that moment, there's movement in the trees, but I can't make out the figures as they dash toward us. T'Challa begins leading us in a Wakandan war chant, hoping to reassure his people, but I feel the anticipation of the battle running through my veins as I start bouncing on my toes, allowing blue wisps of energy to dance around my hands and body.

The female alien drops her sword arm, signalling the attack, and the hidden figures finally burst through the trees, revealing themselves to be vicious, dog-like aliens with six legs and large jaws.

"Looks like we pissed her off," Natasha mutters.

"What the hell are those things?" I breathe, astonished by how many there are.

The alien dogs bombard the forcefield, trying to force themselves through, only to have their limbs and bodies bisected.

Okoye's eyes widen in horror. "They're killing themselves."

A handful of dogs manage to squeeze through the barrier unscathed, racing toward us, and the Border Tribe take a knee, draping their colourful cloaks over their arms to raise a barrier wall in front of us. Behind them, the Kingsguard level their spears over their comrades' shoulders, and on T'Challa's command, they fire beams of energy at the approaching monsters as Bucky fires his rifle at the rest. Overhead, Sam and Rhodes fly into action.

"You seen the teeth on those things?!" Sam shouts.

"Alright, back up, Sam," Rhodes warns as he flies over the heaviest concentration of dogs. "You're gonna get your wings singed."

Sam falls back, giving Rhodes plenty of space to drop a barrage of bombs over the dogs. They explode instantly.

At that moment, I notice a pack of dogs splitting off from the main group, sneaking their way around the right side of the dome.

"Hey, Cap?" I call over my shoulder. "We have a problem over here."

My friends turn, seeing the pack quickly circling the perimeter.

"Cap, if these things get in behind us, there's nothing between them and Vision," Banner warns.

"Then we better keep 'em in front of us," Steve states grimly.

Okoye looks between him and T'Challa. "How do we do that?"

"We open the barrier," T'Challa replies before speaking directly into his communicator. "On my signal, open North-West Section Seventeen."

Through my earpiece, I hear the nervous reply from Dome Control. "Requesting confirmation, my King. You said open the barrier?"

"On my signal," T'Challa orders.

"This will be the end of Wakanda," M'Baku mutters.

"Then it will be the noblest ending in history," Okoye remarks.

On my right, Steve readies the vibranium hand guards he borrowed from Shuri, and on my left, I feel Bucky's hand brush against my own. I turn to him.

"We stick together," he states.

'We stick together," I agree.

T'Challa shouts a command, and the Border Tribesmen disengage their shields as they stand, allowing T'Challa to walk out ahead of them. I take a breath.

"Wakanda forever!" T'Challa shouts, crossing his arms over his chest in the Wakandan salute as his Black Panther mask engages. He charges forward, our army following his lead, as he sprints toward the barrier. As we near it, T'Challa shouts into his communicator. "Now!"

Directly ahead, the barrier section suddenly disappears, and the alien dogs pour through the opening. Steve and T'Challa rapidly pull away from the group, using their enhanced physical abilities to leap into battle.

"How much longer, Shuri?" T'Challa asks through the communicators.

"We've barely begun, brother," she replies.

"You might want to pick up the pace."