Forward to the Past [Steggy] ✔

Chapter Twenty One

Peggy's POV

Nataliya Suchkova's eyes narrow at Steve, who stands his ground, fury blazing in his eyes.

"You tricked me," he snarls, the hand that isn't holding his shield clenching into a fist.

"So what?" The Russian wrinkles her nose, shrugging. "All of my victims fall in love with me before they die. You were supposed to be killed, you know."

"Oh, right. I'll just die right here to make up for it," Steve responds sarcastically, his face slowly turning red from anger.

"Good!" Nataliya smiles cruelly, her features wicked. "I'm sure your friends all feel the same way! By the way, who is this lovely lady here, hmm?"

"I'm his girlfriend," I snap, and the assassin's smile broadens.

"Captain America has a girlfriend who isn't American? How refreshing. I'm sure I'll enjoy killing you the most. And I will. Kill you. My backup will kill the Traitor and the Bird, but you and Captain Rogers are mine."

"Your backup?" Sam says just as a wave of Hydra agents floods the corridor. They all go for Sam and Bucky, and I freeze, seeing how many there are.

"Tony!" I say into the comm system. "You there?"

"Yeah." Tony comes in right away. "What's up? Did you do it?"

"Not even close," I say, shooting a couple of the agents around Bucky as I speak. "There's more than we thought. Can you get here with Natasha and Wanda?"

"Yeah, I think so. Natasha is with me, Wanda is pretty close to where you are as well. We'll be there in a few."

"Thanks. I'll hold them off as long as I can."

"Wait a moment, Tony," Steve says into his earpiece. "About Pietro... Don't tell Wanda just yet. I want to make sure things don't get crazy while we're doing this. Well, crazier than they already are."

"Who is Pietro?" I mouth to Steve, who catches his shield, which has killed at least a dozen agents in the last minute. He shakes his head.

"I'll tell you later." He throws his shield again, narrowly saving Sam from being shot by an agent with dark hair.

I shrug, then see Nataliya rushing towards me with guns in both hands. Feeling outmatched, I dart away, trying to sneak behind her and catch her by surprise. My tactic fails, but I've lost her for now. She changes course and heads for Steve, who has just thrown his shield again.

"Steve! Behind you!" I shriek, and he whips around, dodging a shot from Nataliya before reaching out to snag his shield from the ground. I'm frozen in place, watching as Steve and the assassin battle each other, both of them just barely managing to avoid each other. They seem so evenly matched that it's hard to watch, but impossible to take my eyes away from.

Then, from my left, Bucky emits a strangled cry, and I whirl around to see him whacking a Hydra agent upside the head with his metal arm. The agent collapses, his neck at an odd angle. Bucky is favoring his right leg, and it, like the agent's neck, is bent at an odd angle, clearly broken. He tries to put weight on it, but it buckles beneath him, and he falls, automatically grabbing a very surprised looking agent in front of him for balance.

Escaping from my hiding spot, I rush to his aid, killing all of the agents around him easily with shots to their heads. Bucky is standing on one leg, his face contorted into a determined look that's still filled with pain.

"Come on," I say, letting Bucky lean on me for stability. I make my way through the throng of fighting agents, then help Bucky get to the big room we'd entered through. There are chairs in the corner, and he collapses into one of them, looking up at me in distress.

"I have to help," he says, but I shake my head, knowing that he can't.

"You'd just injure yourself more. We don't need that, and you know it."

Bucky sighs. "I hate feeling useless."

"You're not useless," I say, frowning. "Bucky, you whacked a Hydra agent upside the head after you'd just broken your leg. That's determination."

"But now there's only going to be three of you," Bucky says, attempting to get up, only to grunt in pain and sit back down.

"Natasha and Wanda are coming with Tony," I say, then look outside to see them coming through the doors. "Actually, they're here now. It'll be fine."

Bucky looks over at Tony, who leads Wanda and Natasha over to the two of us.

"You alright, Barnes?" Tony says, echoing the thoughts that Wanda and Natasha are clearly having.

"Broken leg," I say. "He'll be fine, but we've got to get back there as soon as possible." I jerk my thumb back at the door, turning on my heel and going back into the corridor, where Steve and Sam are still holding steady, bodies of Hydra agents littering the ground. Tony, Natasha, and Wanda follow, jumping right into the fight. I keep my eyes open for the Russian, whom Steve has managed to get away from.

"There you are," a voice snarls from behind me. Well, there she is, I think to myself as I turn to see Nataliya facing me. Without thinking, I ninja kick her in the legs, and she collapses, grunting. The gun in her hand spins out of it, and she attempts to roll over and grab it, but I'm on top of her in a second, pinning her to the ground. She smirks.

"Who are you really?" She asks coldly.

"I told you. I'm Steve's girlfriend. Unlike you," I say, punching her in the nose when I say the last word. It breaks with a sickening crack, and blood flows out of it. Rage flares in her eyes, and she shoves me off of her, scrambling to her feet

"You were the one that saved him," she realizes, her eyes widening. "You little bitch!"

"Hypocrite," I mumble. At that, I receive a fist to the face, and I stumble back, taken off guard by the strength behind the punch.

Nataliya throws herself on top of me, and I block her punches with some difficulty. She's strong. Stronger than she should be. Something fishy is going on with this woman. I think for a moment, then suddenly drop my guard, going limp. I feel only one punch on the side of my chest before Nataliya freezes in surprise, thinking I've been defeated Smirking because my strategy worked, I launch off of the ground so that I'm above Nataliya.

"I've killed Brown," Tony's voice says through my earpiece, which brings an even bigger smile to my face.

"Do what you want to me," Nataliya says coldly. "You'll still die. Arnold Brown will murder you all."

Laughing at the irony of the sentence, I shake my head. "Brown is dead. We found him and killed him."

"Liar," Nataliya says, a glimpse of fear running across her pretty features. Well, previously pretty features.

"Nope," I say, feeling slightly giddy, then punch her in the face over and over again, pinning her to the ground as I do. "You are never going to touch my boyfriend ever again," I grunt. "He- is- mine."

I give her one last punch to the side of her head, hearing a deafening crack from her neck. Her eyes widen, and she struggles to breathe, then falls still, her gaze blank and unseeing. I sit back, exhausted, then haul myself off of her, standing up and staring around the room. Most of the agents are dead, and the rest are running away, leaving the rest of the group to stare after them, looking battered.

Steve sees me at the side of the room standing over Nataliya, and rushes over, smiling. "Good job," he congratulates me, and then the smile slides off of his face as I don't respond. "You alright?"

"Yes," I say breathlessly, still trying to catch my breath. "Just tired." In fact, I'm more tired than I thought I'd be. Fighting Nataliya had really drained me. I stumble into Steve's arms, and he catches me. I smile a little.

"We did it, Peggy," he says, grinning widely now. "We did it."

"Yeah," I respond, leaning my head into Steve's chest and inhaling his familiar smell. "We did."