Sergeant Barnes: The Last Mission (COMPLETE)

Chapter 43: Steve

Theme Song: Lemurian Star by Henry Jackman

I hated how familiar this place looked. Thanks to HYDRA, I remembered perfectly which halls to go down, now that I was in, and I knew how often patrols would come, and where they would be. I knew exactly what I had done in this place, over the course of five years. I knew what every room in this building held, and I knew what it had been, and what it would be used for. Tanks were for storming governments that stood against HYDRA. Bombs were for eliminating resistance hideouts, should any pop up. Every type of weapon imaginable, for their soldiers to suppress the world into submission. The General had been ready to dominate and control the entire earth, and finally complete HYDRA's goal.

I pulled out my shield and expanded it to it's full size. The sight of the HYDRA symbol on the front of it sickened me (if a cyborg can be sick, I guess), but I didn't want to use a gun. Not anymore. I had hurt too many people to hold one again. At least the shield had only been for show. HYDRA never wanted me to use it, in case it triggered my past, and if I didn't look at it, I could pretend that it was the first shield, with the star in the middle instead of the skull.

The only thing keeping me calm was Bucky, on my left. He kept his weapon ready as we turned right. He didn't say anything, but I had fought by his side so many times that we didn't need to. Together, we dodged guards, and snuck around to the right, just like Raven had said. I wonder how she had gotten roped into this. She had nearly died because of me.

My thoughts were interrupted by running footsteps, and shouting. The door on our left opened, and a dozen soldiers came running through, single file. Bucky shot them at the same time that they started shooting at us, yelling in German. I covered Bucky as he took out a couple of them, then I flung my shield at the closest guard and knocked him backwards into his buddies. I caught it as it bounced back, and Bucky and I ran forward, ditching the soldiers in favor of getting to the garage. We couldn't even make it three minutes before attracting attention.

Bucky ran ahead, since I had bulletproof skin now. "How far are we from the garage?"

I consulted my memory. "It should be a straight shot from here. Not too far."

"How far is 'not too far'?"

More guards tried to cut us off. Bucky blocked their shots with his left hand while I jumped over him and punched down the closest soldier. I pulled another in a headlock as Bucky followed my lead. We knocked down the rest of them hand to hand, covering for each other as we fought. I shoved the last one at Bucky, and he punched him in the gut, probably winding him and knocking him unconscious.

I stood up, taking a breath before moving on. "Does it matter?"

"It does for me. I can get shot."

I rolled my eyes and opened the door in front of us. I tried to brush off his comment like it didn't hurt that bad.

"There's the door," I pointed out, changing the subject before I thought about it too much.

Bucky put a hand to his ear. "Raven, we're almost in the garage. How much time do you need?"

I didn't hear her respond, but a few seconds later, he looked up at me and nodded. I opened the door, hoping that there wouldn't be any guards.

Ha.

It took them about half a second to figure out that I wasn't on their side anymore, and they all started shooting. I held up my shield, not for me, but to cover Bucky. I peeked over the top and saw rows of trucks lining the wall of the garage, and I decided to just let Bucky take care of our ride while I took care of the guards.

I leapt into the middle of the guards, and started taking them down. While I kept them busy, Bucky snuck around the side and made his way to the vehicles. A guard saw him as he went, and I flung my shield into his head to give Bucky some time. Unfortunately, some of the other soldiers saw Bucky as I hit him, and they all started shooting at him too.

"You had to show them where I was?" He yelled across the room.

"Just pick one and get in!" I yelled back, throwing myself into the arms of another guard.

"It's hard to pick a truck when I have people shooting at me, Rogers!"

"If you got in, they wouldn't be able to shoot you!"

"I have to grab the keys, first!"

I kicked the guard on my right as Bucky finally got in. A few seconds later, the engine started, and the garage door opened. Bucky drove over the guards in front of him, and I ran to the passenger side of the car, hopping in as he drove out.

The truck he chose was black with red stripes (very subtle), and had a luggage bed instead of rear seating. I guess Raven was just going to have to hold on.

We drove towards the gate, and I saw Raven on top of the wall building, waiting for us. As we drove through the exit, a thunk in the back told me that she was on board. I looked back at her through the rear window.

"Nice work, kid," I shouted through the wind.

She pulled out two arrows. "Don't thank me yet," she replied, then turned and pulled the string on her bow taught. She fired both arrows at the same time, and a few seconds later, the wall exploded and collapsed around the entrance. No one would be following us from here.

I raised my eyebrows. This girl could have given Clint a run for his money. "Not bad, Shots."

Bucky looked at me. "'Shots'? Really, that's what you go with?"

"Well what would you have said?"

"Not 'Shots'."

I punched him in the arm. "Shut up, Buck."