the tables have turned | steve/bucky

chapter nineteen

"Again, it's good to see you, Sam."

"Right back at ya!" he swallowed me into an unexpected a bear hug. We embraced for a little too long before I slipped out of his iron clasp. I couldn't help but break into a smile when Sam looked at me they way he was. His eyebrows were raised and his mouth was hanging open like he was waiting for something to make him laugh.

"Boy did I miss your patriotic ass. I see the Cap suit is back. Yeah! I like that..." he took a breath, growing a little more serious in the face. "How's Barnes? Last I heard, he wasn't doing too well..."

"He's holding up. Stark has been getting him all types of medical treatment and stuff, but only time will tell if he'll react positively to it."

Sam made a noise of acknowledgement. The last time he physically encountered Bucky, Bucky had kicked him off a hellicarrier. If I were in Sam's spot, I'd be rejoicing after hearing the man that had almost killed me was dying. But Sam just wasn't that guy. He was probably as concerned for Bucky as I was. And that was very likely, given the fact that he caught a last minute flight from D.C. to New York only to suit up right away and be here now to take down Bucky's doctors with me and Natasha.

"Alright boys, we're about five minutes from the base," said Natasha from the pilots seat. "You guys ready to go burn this bitch to the ground?"

"Nat..." I warned.

"Fine then," she mumbled. "We won't burn it. You're such a fuckin' boy scout."

"Burn this bitch to the ground? Who the hell let this nut job fly the quinjet?" Sam asked me, giving Natasha a devilish smile.

"You know that I can kill you in the blink of an eye, right, Wilson?"

"Yeah but you won't, Romanoff."

"I'd hate to break up the banter, kids, but we've got something to get done. Remember, we go in, round up all the agents, and bring 'em all back to Fury. NO KILLING."

"No killing? Romanoff's right..." Sam said with a naughty smile. "You are a boy scout, Rogers."

—

Nat landed the quinjet in the woods just behind the base. Since it was nighttime, it wasn't likely that anyone saw us. But we were still careful and quiet when we reached the perimeter of the establishment. As we squatted behind the brush, Nat unhinged a small electronic device from her belt of gadgets.

"What's that?" Sam scream-whispered.

Natasha fidgeted with the device in her hands a little before answering. "It's something that is going to be very useful if I could get it to work... Oh! Yes! I got it."

She pointed the device at the building and pushed down on its screen. Suddenly, the lights to the base went out all at once. I could feel her smirking beside me.

Before she took off, Natasha handed Sam and I earpieces.

"Let's go kick some ass." She said into hers. And with that, Nat was sprinting toward the building. Sam took off beside me. Since he had his wings, he was on roof duty. That left me with the basement.

"There's a latch leading right to where you need to be about one yard west of where you're at, Cap," Natasha said into her earpiece.

"I'm on it," I answered.

—

My foot came down on the top of the latch with enough force to take someones head clean off. The lid crunched and caved in. Ah yes, an entrance point.Taking a deep breath, I unhinged my shield from my back and leaped into the ebony abyss. I landed directly on the now two pieces of shattered lid, flattening them under my weight. The sound of the metal bending echoed all around me. Judging by how close the walls sounded but how far the sounds went, I figured that I was in a hallway.