THE LEFTOVERS

55. The Mission

"That was close," Steve hummered as he walked beside his friend.

James felt the rush of the mission run through his body as he looked up at Steve with a wide smile, as he lifted his arms. What could he say? It was always close. James looked around the space. It looked like an old computer lab, nothing particularly exciting, at least not for him. Natasha definitely differed, as she and Sam ran over to the computers. Steve followed, giving James a little nod to keep watch.

Looking down, James saw the two men he had just beaten down as he took a deep sigh. They were only passed out. He lifted them up as he began walking towards the door. He found some robes and bound them together. This way they couldn't get far. James leaned towards the door. If his calculations were right they had about ten minutes before they needed to disappear. He heard their short exchanges of information. He understood that Natasha was downloading everything and that they needed more time, time they didn't have.

"Hey, we gotta go," James waved his arms to them.

They all ignored him. He rolled his eyes as he began walking over to them. They needed to stop taking these unnecessary risks all of the time. What if for once, they could all just get home without any drama - like they all had trained for? What a dream that would be.

"They will be here in two minutes," James warned them.

"Well we need 8 minutes," Natasha said, staring at the screen's countdown.

"No, what you are saying is 8 minutes to download, then 5 minutes to evacuate, and that does not include the time we would need to spend fighting the guards," James huffed out in annoyance.

Natahsa was about to throw a fist, when Steve laid a hand on James' shoulder, trying to calm down the situation. James looked up at Steve. He gently gave him a nod to go by the door. James knew perfectly well what it meant. It meant they would need to fight, something they wouldn't need to if Miss Romonaff wasn't so obsessed with her data. James stepped back and took a deep breath. Sam offered him a weak smile as they got positioned, Steve was gonna shield Natasha.

James could hear their footsteps, as him and Sam signaled to each other. 1...2...3... Like clockwork 20 agents came storming in, full fire. They were even wearing their dirty HYDRA symbols. It didn't take long before James found himself in the middle of the crowds, trying to tear them to bits. It was easy fighting them, as it was something he had done across many decades.

"We NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE MORE COMES," James shouted, now annoyed, but even Steve understood as he fought his own battles.

Relieved to see Steve even back off and fight his way forward, they began to clear the door. Steve walked out first, Sam followed and James held the metal door opening waiting for Natahsa. Natasha was waiting for her last few seconds, when James suddenly saw one of their guards reach for their gun. James immediately stormed towards the guy, taking down the gun, as another stood up. The metal door was now locked between the two groups. James swore, as the other guy went directly in hand to hand. The guard suddenly slapped his flat palm against James' neck, as he felt a weird tingly feeling. What got worse, was the other guards waking up again. James saw one of them getting ready with an unfamiliar tool. He got down the guards in front of him, as he saw the one from the distance  with the tool aimed for Natasha.

He ran over to Natasha,  pushed her out of the way as he lifted up his metal arm, causing the bullet to bounce back. It hit the shooter right back, and he immediately fell back. Natasha looked back up at James in shock. James didn't say anything, he simply grabbed the hard drive. He was done wasting time. Natahsa on all four got over to the gentle man and got the tool out of his hands as she stood up studying him.

"Bucky-" She tried,

But James was concentrating on opening the door.

"Not now," His voice was stern.

"Bucky you have to see this," Natasha's voice was aggressive now, with a hint of vulnerability. James rolled his eyes as he walked over. What he saw was not something he was prepared to see.

"He is melting up, like a virus," James whispered as he studied the guy.

James kneeled down to look at the guard. It was like an instant spreading. He had never seen it before. The guard's heart had already stopped beating, even though the bullet had not hit a fatale place. He should still be breathing. James wanted to lift up his arm, where he had been shot, but as he took out his hand Natasha pushed it away.

"It's bio-weapon, we don't know how it works" She said strictly.

The door opened, as Steve and Sam stood there worried waiting for you.

"We gotta go now," Sam hushed out.

Of course, now they agree with him, he sighed.