Sergeant Barnes: The Last Mission (COMPLETE)

Chapter 46: Bucky

Once we got away from the resource base, I thought we were going to have to punch it to get to the airport before, well, I didn't know if we could stop the trap in Berlin, but maybe we could help them afterwards.

"We were trying to catch up with them when you found us." I glanced out the rear window. "Hey, Shots, how long has it been since the others left for Berlin?"

She looked at her watch, despite being jostled around in the truck bed. "Nearly an hour ago. Ten since they left, ten since you broke through the com block, ten since the meeting, ten since we got out, and twenty since we found Steve. They have probably been in Berlin for at least half an hour, if not longer. Whatever trap HYDRA set, we can't stop it. Not from here."

Steve looked away, out the passenger window. "I hope they figured it out. If they didn't..."

"They did, Steve," I said quietly. He never let me feel responsible for what HYDRA did to me. I wasn't about to let him do the same. I looked back at the road. "We probably won't make it to Berlin for another 45 minutes, pushing it. Is that enough?"

Raven thought for a second, then latched onto the railing of the truck as we turned a corner. I felt so bad for her, especially since I was going about 60, but she didn't seem dulled by the fact.

"They might have to leave. Either Director Fury will pull them, or someone will come for them and they won't have a choice. That's if they can reach SHIELD. If they can't, who knows what they'll do."

I should have figured. Fury probably needs Natasha back in the U.S. anyways.

"Take the next left."

"What?"

"The next left, there," Steve pointed up ahead. "It's a back route for HYDRA, but they don't guard this one. It's not on maps, but it will take us to Berlin in half the time."

"Hang on, back there," I called out, and made the turn.

As soon as Raven was steady on her feet again, she asked Steve, "You said half the time?"

"About, why?"

"Do you think we can catch them?" I asked. "Assuming the best?"

"Well," she paused, as we went over a particularly large pothole. This was not a good road. "We can definitely get in com range. That will get them to wait long enough for us to get there, assuming their earpieces aren't damaged."

"That's good enough," I decided, and returned my focus to the road.

No one said anything for a while. Raven was focused on not falling off (this had to be illegal), and Steve, he was probably thinking about HYDRA. I knew there was nothing I could say, but I didn't want him worrying about what he had done. I just hoped he remembered who he was when he wasn't HYDRA, because that was who he deserved to remember being.

I could tell this wasn't a government road. There were no signs, no guides along the shoulders, and no markings on the pavement. HYDRA probably paved this since the Infinity War. That way, no one had to map it. The rest of the world was only beginning to feel normal after the Invasion of the Grape.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Steve look back at the agent in the back. Eventually, she must have noticed, because I heard her call out "What?" behind me.

"How did you get here?" Steve asked.

"I jumped in the truck bed as you drove through the gate."

I laughed. Apparently, Natasha had taught her the art of sarcasm.

"No, how are you here? As in Germany, Berlin, this whole mess?"

"Director Fury thought it would be a good idea. I was just supposed to cover the exit, before everything went south."

"So you weren't supposed to get strangled?"

"Uh, no, not really."

"How's your cut doing?" I called out.

She reached up and felt her cheek. "I think the blood as slowed down. I'll get it treated once we get back to SHIELD."

"Why did Nick send you out here?"

"She's been training with Natasha."

Steve stared at me, then at Raven. "That explains a lot." He smiled, then asked. "Did you ever meet..."

"He trained me, when I was younger."

Steve smiled, then frowned. He leaned in closer to me and whispered, "Did he go down?"

I lowered my gaze and nodded. "Just after you did. Strange was the last person to see him."

"What happened to his family?"

I shook my head. "I never heard."

Steve leaned back in his seat, right as we went over a bump in the road. "Well, if anything ever happens to Nat, I call dibs on you."

"Steve! What the hell?"

"I'm just saying!"

I couldn't see Raven, but I hoped she was smiling. I don't think she laughed often.

"Well, seeing as I just saved your neck..."

"You almost got stabbed."

"YOU almost got stabbed. If it hadn't been for me-"

"So what you're saying is we both get dibs on you."

I smacked Steve for that.

"Ow!"

"Can a cyborg get hurt?"

"Be quiet, Shots," Steve retorted.

"Or we'll ground you for a month, young lady."

I heard her snicker. Just barely, but it was a win.

We ended up bickering like this for the next ten minutes, as we stole along the HYDRA road. Raven found ration packs strapped down in the back of the truck bed, and we managed to grab a bite as we drove along. Raven and I hadn't eaten since the jet ride here, so I wasn't complaining. We also figured out that cyborgs can eat, apparently. I decided that I didn't want to know how.

Eventually, Steve turned around again and rapped on the window. "Ten miles to Berlin."

Raven nodded and activated her earpiece. "Agent Romanoff, Mr. Stark, or Mr. Parker, this is Agent Raven. Anyone there?"

At first, all we heard was static, but it slowly died away. It sounded like the interference was fading out.

"Agent Romanoff, Mr. Stark, or Mr. Parker, this is Agent Raven. Anyone there?"

A few more frightening seconds, then "This is Stark, telling you that you scared the three of us half to death when you said that."

I finally breathed easy. They made it.

"We're ten minutes out of Berlin. Can you hold out that long until we get there?"

"As long as you get here," Nat broke in. "Are you two still in one piece?"

I smiled. They were going to piss themselves when they saw Steve. "For now," I retorted.

"We were going to leave in five minutes," Parker interjected. "Mr. Fury told us to leave if you didn't come in an hour."

"We'll be there soon," I told them. "Just don't move the jet until we get there."

"We won't Bucky," Natasha told me. "Just hurry."

The line went dead. Raven knocked on the window.

"Has anyone thought about what we're supposed to do about him?" She pointed at Steve.

"Scare Stark?" I offered.

Steve laughed. "Nat's gonna kill me," he murmured. "You guys got my back?"

Raven shook her head. "I'm not stupid. I'm not about to get in the way of an angry Natasha."