Rhiley wasn't in the lab anymore.
She was below it.
She blinked at the jagged wound torn through the helicarrier's hull— where the ceiling used to be. Smoke and fire painted the edges of her vision orange and black.
"Fu—" she began, but the word caught in her throat as pain lanced through her entire body. Every muscle screamed. Every scar from the past clawed to the surface like they were fresh.
A new one burned in her thigh — a thick and rusted rebar impaled clear through. Blood soaked her pants, hot and sticky.
She let out a sharp gasp, her fingers trembling as she gripped the bar.
"Rhiley."
Phil's voice crackled through her earpiece.
She'd forgotten it was there.
"Where are you?"
He sounded—different. Human. Scared. He never sounded scared.
"I'm fine," she gritted out.
"That's a lie."
"I'll be fine."
She bit down hard as she yanked the metal from her leg, stifling a scream behind clenched teeth. Her hands moved on instinct, cauterizing the wound with her hand.
Phil didn't speak.
Instead, the silence was filled with another sound—labored breathing. Not hers. She turned.
Bruce.
A few feet away, he gripped the grated floor like it was the only thing keeping him tethered. His skin shimmered green. His face—
"We're okay, right?"
Natasha's voice.
Rhiley turned her head to see her pinned under debris, eyes flicking between her trapped leg and Bruce. She started crawling, dragging herself forward with one arm and one leg, the other useless. Pain lit up every nerve, but she didn't care.
"I got you," she murmured, forcing her fingers under the metal pinning Natasha's leg. "We're gonna get out of this."
Natasha didn't look at her. She kept her eyes on Bruce. "Doctor? Bruce, you gotta fight it. This is what Loki wants."
Two maintenance workers ran into the room. Natasha waved them off without hesitation.
"Agent Rhiley," she said, quieter now. "You need to go."
"I'll leave when you're free."
Natasha finally looked at her. There was fear in her eyes. Not for herself.
For them.
"Go."
It was the tone. Sharp. Commanding. The one Rhiley hadn't heard since Peggy. It cut through the panic.
Rhiley hesitated—then gave one last push. The metal shifted just enough. Natasha yanked her leg free.
"Rhiley," she warned.
"I'm going."
Rhiley turned, limping as fast as she could from the chaos, every step sending fire through her leg.
"Phil," she hissed into the earpiece, "Hulk's out. Natasha needs backup. I'm heading for Loki."
No answer.
That was the worst sign yet.
She reached the detention deck just in time to hear Thor's voice, steady and threatening from within the cell:
YOU ARE READING
Radioactive | Bucky Barnes
Fanfiction"I want to go back to the time you first told me your name." Rhiley, the twin sister of Howard Stark, finds herself wrapped up with the one and only James Barnes. The next time she sees him is on her new assignment with the 107th Infantry Regiment...
