BATTLE BORN ; Bucky Barnes

four ;

From the outside, the house didn't look like much. Steve stood at the door, Scout lingering behind, with her normally neat brown hair looking like a burnt birds' nest, and her clothes were worse for wear. Nat was leaning against Steve for support. Steve rung the bell again and an exasperated 'coming' came from inside. The door was flung open, revealing a black man, he had a wide grin on his face, and Scout had to admit, he was not bad looking.
"Hey, man." The guy said.
"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low." Steve explained. Scout stepped forward, her tried expression showing through.
"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Scout added, normally the wiseass comment would come from Nat or Clint, but both of them seemed to be out of commission.
"Not everyone." He said, standing back and letting them in. The house was nice, small and neat, the walls of the living room were painted olive green and most of the furniture was black leather or a deep brown wood. Scout could appreciate this guy's sense of style.
"I see you've met dumb and dumber, I'm Scout." She said with a smile, she could tell he was judging her for her scorched clothes.
"I know you, you're Tempest right? Saw you take out an entire Chitauri squadron at New York-"
"I don't like talking about New York." She said quickly and the temperature dropped a few degrees.
"Sorry, did you lose someone?" Sam asked.
"Everyone lost someone. Call me Scout." She said, offering her hand as a peace symbol. Scout was never any good at making new friends.
"Sam Wilson." He said, shaking her hand. "I'll make you food, you guys can have a shower and get changed." He added.
"Dibs first shower!" Scout yelled, scarring Nat and Steve. Sam laughed.
"I could learn to like this one." He said, like Scout was some sort of stray puppy he had adopted. She skipped off, opening every door until she found the bathroom. Sam handed her a towel, and she gladly walked into the bathroom, turning on the hot water to wash away all her troubles. She stripped down, stepping into the steamy water. It felt like heaven to her, the hot water pelting down on her back and head. The dirt and grime from the day flowed down and escaped though the drain. She washed herself, only using a tiny bit of soap, because she didn't want to be a pain in the backside to Sam, he seemed like a great guy. She washed off the bomb and gunpowder residue, and watched as the water turned black from all of the filth. She rubbed a little of the shampoo into her hair, then conditioner. For a guy with a very short haircut, he had a lot of products for it. She stepped out after a few minutes, wrapping the grey towel around herself, her hair dripping wet down her back. She didn't mind that it was wet, she just raised her hands, pulling the water out of her hair and off her skin, and manipulating it into a ball, floating in the air. Another advantage of controlling the elements, she put the water into the sink, and she was almost dry. She summoned a small breeze and a little fire in her hand, making heat to dry the rest of her hair. She smiled, combining elements on a small scale didn't take much out of her, and it was fun, but on a large scale, it made her faint, which is why she only focused on one element at a time when fighting. She walked to the bedroom, where she could hear Steve and Nat talking. She presumed they were having a moment, so she waited outside, listening in like the spy she was.
"What's going on?" Steve asked.
"When I first joined SHIELD, I thought it was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but... I guess I can't tell the difference anymore." Natasha admitted.
"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business." Steve threw Scout's line back at Nat.
"I owe you." She said quietly.
"It's okay." Steve replied.
"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, and you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?" She asked.
"I would now. And I'm always honest." Steve smiled.
"Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing." That was Scout's queue to enter, she opened the door and walked in, grabbing a pair of Natasha's jeans and a black sports bra and tank top. She put them on, turned to the corner. She really didn't care if anyone saw her changing.
"Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting." Steve said, with a small smile. There was a knock on the door and Sam walked in with a grin on his face.
"I made breakfast. If you guys... eat that sort of thing." He said.
"Oh, trust me, this one-" Scout pointed at Steve. "Eats more than a whole football team." She laughed, following Sam into the kitchen.
"So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha asked.
"Pierce." Steve and Scout replied at the same time.
"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world." Scout added to her answer.
"But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star." Steve said, sighing.
"So was Jasper Sitwell." Scout said, leaning across the bench.
"So, the real question is: how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" Natasha asked.
"The answer is: you don't." Sam said, walking in and dropping a file in front of Steve, Scout and Nat.
"What's this?" Natasha asked, flicking through it.
"Call it a resume." Sam shrugged. Natasha picked up a photo of Sam with a few men, they looked to be in some sort of middle-east country, and they were obviously army.
"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you." Nat said. "You didn't say he was a para-rescue." She added, to Steve. He leant over, looking at the picture.
"Is this Riley?" Steve asked.
"Yeah." He muttered.
"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?" Scout asked, flicking through the files.
"No. These." Sam said, handing Steve the file, Steve opened it and read through.
"I thought you said you're a pilot." Steve said, scrunching his eyebrows.
"I never said a pilot." Sam smirked.
"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason." Steve said, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder.
"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in." He laughed. Scout was still flicking through the file.
"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?" She asked.
"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall." He said, with a tight-lipped smile. Steve looked at Natasha and Scout who shrugged their shoulders and grinned.
"Shouldn't be a problem." Steve threw down the file on the table, and everyone stood up.
"Let's get to work then, team." Scout said.