Part II: Real Man, Always Thinking With My Fists

My Turn to Be the Victim

He had been in a lot of fights, both before he worked for HYDRA and during. But none of them were anything like this. His opponents included two men in mechanical suits and they were hardly out of the ordinary here. There was a – an android? Or something? One of the guys on his team could shrink. And the kid in red and blue spandex who could climb walls and had incredible strength for such a small person. Not to mention the woman on their team who was just magic apparently – even all the science fiction he read when he was younger couldn't prepare him for this reality.

The Avengers included a god and he knew that, but knowing it and actually dealing with even their less powerful members were completely different things. He supposed it was fortunate that he was mainly fighting the man in black – the King of Wakanda, he'd learned. As though that explained anything. At any rate, he could handle fighting under those circumstances, even if he wasn't really winning at any point.

It had not been the plan to fight, of course. They had come to the airport to meet the recruits Steve could find and intended to go to stop the doctor from waking the other soldiers. Or, more likely, stop the Soldiers themselves. There was little time for pleasantries, so he didn't know too much about their allies who were not Avengers. Especially as an alarm sounded soon after they arrived at the airport and people were being evacuated.

So Steve devised a plan to give everyone the best chance possible. He'd been teamed up with Sam, which was alright. He wasn't sure how the others felt about him, or what they knew. Sam seemed to know everything and it was nice to work with someone for once. And Sam was a no-nonsense military guy, who treated their fantastical allies and teammates with some skepticism. Which was honestly a breath of fresh air after everything else.

When he'd been thrown by the youth of the red and blue guy, Sam had flown in and attacked. It was somewhat embarrassing that the kid had the upper hand for most of that fight, but they worked well together. He hadn't expected Sam's willingness to help him, especially after his aloofness in the car. But it was apparent he was just being snarky, and that was something Bucky Barnes could do back – even if it felt a little strange.

They'd regrouped with the rest of the team and ran toward the quinjet – but their opponents had time to regroup, too. The android drew a line in the sand and they'd squared off. Unsurprisingly, King T'challa was across from him, and attacked as soon as they were close enough. Though he generally didn't like to, he'd used his left arm to defend himself. He'd tried to tell the man the truth about what happened to his father, but he wasn't interested. And it was just fortunate that Wanda chose to intervene, or he might have gotten killed.

When it looked bad, he and Steve had to make a run for it. Both teams were getting a little desperate by that point and it was a relief to get away. Until they got to the quinjet and the Black Widow was standing in front of it. He knew that she and Steve had been through a lot together. And that having to fight her would be hard for Steve. So he'd have to do it. Even if he hated the idea of hurting her again.

She'd shot behind them, and both were surprised to find King T'Challa behind them – not many people could sneak up on him. They'd run passed her to get on the jet. And finally taken off. But Stark wasn't going to let them go that easily, and he and War Machine gave chase. Until something knocked War Machine out of the sky. They didn't turn back.

It was a long way to Siberia. He thought over and over about what he should say to Steve, to make him understand. To explain why he'd stayed hidden and never come to find his old friend. To apologize.

"What's going to happen to your friends?" he asked eventually. Because he wanted Steve to understand that those people were really the ones he could trust.