War Torn || Civil War

Chapter Seventeen: Sins of the Father

Music is "Six Feet Under" by Billie Eilish.

Picture is Bucky Barnes.

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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Sins of the Father

{February 3, 2016 -- Present Day}

B E R L I N

Steve bolts ahead of me, forever being the faster of us two. The aircraft starts to lift off the ground as Steve hops onto the elevated landing pad. He jumps and grabs the helicopter by the landing gear, swinging his weight to keep the craft grounded. When his feet hit the ground, he kicks them for traction, then sets them down flat as Bucky drags him across the landing pad.

I bound up to the craft, grabbing the landing gear as Steve lowers it. I know I have no strength to speak of, not like Steve or Bucky do, but I use what I have to help my best friend. We slip onto the mesh netting at the edge of the pad, and Steve locks his hand on both the helicopter and the thick, metal bar that rounds the landing. He pulls with everything he has, every muscle in his body contracting with force. I search for a weakness under the aircraft and then on the sides, anything I can use to bring it down with Bucky safely inside.

I can't move on my ideas before Bucky suddenly turns the nose of the craft towards us. I move quickly, throwing myself off the edge of the landing pad to dodge it. Steve rolls out of the way as the nose collides with the landing, metal against metal breaking and falling around me. Hanging onto the underside of the mesh netting, I close my eyes and pray that nothing big falls onto me.

The rotor blades and tail end of the helicopter break off, nearly slicing Steve in half. From what I can see from this angle, he dodges out of harm's way. Slowly, the craft comes to a halt in a bundled, broken mess a few feet away from me.

As I try to pull myself over the edge of the metal mesh, avoiding the sharp edges of newly sliced metal and large pieces of broken glass. The mesh piece bends, making a sound that tells me it's not longer securely connected to the platform. I quicken my actions, throwing my body weight over the side, wishing for the second time today that I had a working pair of hover-boots on my feet.

Bucky's metal hand crashes through the windshield as Steve bends down to look through the glass. He holds him by the throat, keeping him there as the helicopter slowly slides from the mesh. The tail falls off first, crashing into the water below us. Then the cabin falls, just as I' able to pull myself back up.

I'm not able to scream due to the bruises around my voice box, but I can look down in horror as neither Bucky nor Steve reappear in the next few seconds. Fearing the worst, I take a leap of faith and do the very thing I just criticized Steve for doing.

But this isn't falling. This is jumping. Falling is a helpless action. Jumping is an action of bravery, especially when it's to save those you love.

I take a breath into my lungs right before my feet hit the water. It's colder than I thought, but I don't allow the chill to paralyze me. I open my eyes, looking through blurry vision for the helicopter, Steve, or Bucky.

I spot a large piece of metal a few meters away, glimmering from the sunlight. I swim over to it, seeing Bucky knocked out from the blow inside the cockpit. I grasp the door with both hands, placing my feet on the side of the craft. I pull with all my might, and the door breaks off. I pull Bucky from the seat, using what's left of my strength to push off the floor. I pull him with me, swimming towards the sunlight at the surface.

It's kind of poetic, me saving him this way after the way he saved me two years ago.

When I surface, I take a deep breath. It burns going down, but my lungs are grateful. I try to keep Bucky above the surface, but he's heavy and dead weight.