Radioactive | Bucky Barnes

IRON MAN: CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Tony stood in the large metal robot, an unlikely creation that looked fragile enough to crumble with a single touch. Of course, Rhiley had tested that theory herself and the damn thing hadn't budged. She glanced up at the camera, then back at Yinsen, who was hunched over his work, clearly absorbed in his task.

"How much longer until they notice?" Rhiley asked, the frustration creeping into her voice. She didn't get a response right away, and it wasn't until a loud bang on the door echoed through the room that her question was answered.

"Yinsen!" Khalid's voice cut through the silence, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps. "Yinsen!"

As usual, Yinsen ignored the enemy's call, too focused on the task at hand.

Khalid unlocked the door, but it didn't open. A moment passed before he shoved it through, and the door exploded inward, debris filling the room. Smoke billowed through the space, but neither Rhiley nor Yinsen were caught off guard. They were already moving.

"It's frozen!" Tony shouted from inside the mech, voice strained with urgency. "The systems aren't talking to each other! Reset it!"

"No," Yinsen said, calm under pressure as ever. "They're moving. Very slow."

Rhiley's gaze flickered from the two men to the chest piece on Tony, her eyes lingering on the static whine of the tools as Yinsen sealed him in. A sinking feeling churned in her stomach.

Yinsen's attention turned to the laptop, his eyes tracking the bars as they inched their way upward, painfully slow. He turned to Rhiley, eyes sharp with focus. "Get to cover. Check the checkpoints. Make sure each one's clear before you follow me."

This wasn't part of their plan. Rhiley could feel it in her bones.

"Yinsen!" Tony's voice cracked with frustration, but Yinsen was already moving. Rhiley didn't think twice. She followed him.

Pain erupted through her body as she heard Tony yell her name, the sound of it thick with desperation.

"What are you doing?" Rhiley hissed, watching Yinsen snatch a weapon from a fallen Khalid. He was already moving toward the door.

"What I should have done a long time ago." Yinsen's eyes were fierce with purpose—something Rhiley hadn't seen in a while.

She watched as Yinsen charged toward a group of guards who had turned at the sound of the gunfire. He fired madly, the raw anger that had built up in him over the past weeks now unleashed.

Rhiley followed as best as she could, but her body wasn't as responsive as it once had been. The blow came out of nowhere—one of the guards slammed her into a wall, knocking the wind out of her. Weapons could evolve and become more deadly, but in the end, they were still just weapons.

She recovered quickly, disarming the man and knocking him unconscious with his own weapon. She dropped it and moved to look for Yinsen.

She still hated guns.

But the pain in her side came suddenly—a bullet tore through her stomach, the searing pain familiar, too familiar. She staggered, her hand gripping the wall as the world spun. Flashbacks surged through her mind, images of that night when death had been so close, the agony of her body remembering what it had been through.

"Rhiley!"

She heard her brother's voice in the back of her mind, a harsh reminder of everything she had left behind. Out of nowhere, a surge of strength filled her, and she grabbed the rifle aimed at her head. With one swift motion, she snapped it in half, the man's eyes wide with fear.