The Other Stark

Chapter 20

Meanwhile, outside the palace, Iron Man found a way to take down that annoying jet that didn't stop shooting at him, and Cap continued taking down man after man with the help of the other Avengers, the fight ending at every minute that passed.

"It looks like they don't have backups anymore," Falcon commented, flying near Hawkeye's head, redirecting a bullet with his wings.

Clint kept shooting explosive arrows after explosive arrows on the small barricades the agents had made to target them easier. Each time one of them exploded, half a dozen of agents attacked the heroes, Black Widow, Cap and Wanda taking them down with ease.

"Tony, any update?" Steve asked his attention to the sudden movement on the streets.

A dozen of black armored SUV's stopped, surrounding the square, men with the CIA letters on their chest, guns loaded, came out of them. From one of the cars, comes Sharon, wearing a bulletproof vest, a big weapon in hand.

"Late, are we?" Romanoff sarcastically asked, irritation on her tone. Steve stared at her with a look of disapproval, his attention turning to the former S.H.I.E.L.D agent.

"Well, the Queen is pissed," she commented as if only to get Natasha more annoyed than she already was, ignoring the chaos of bodies that were all spread around the block.

"We have other things to worry now," Rogers shouted, catching his shield back.

With the extra help, all the men that stood outside the palace were arrested, big CIA trunks taking all of them for interrogation.

"Stark, what's the status inside the building?" Falcon asked, landing beside Rogers and Maximoff, calling Redwing back.

"What happened to your blonde girlfriend?" Tony questioned, flying above the building, answering Sam's question.

"About twenty men inside, all of them armed, waiting on the exits."

"Taking all the agents for interrogation," Rogers responded seriously, not in the mood to deal with Starks bullshit.

Tony was about to answer with a snarky comment when all the masks they were wearing activated, making everybody exchange a look in surprise and worry.

"Shit! We need to block the tunnels. The viruses are been released. Steve, we need to find them, now!" Stark said, desperate to find his sister, knowing anything good would be coming out of this.

"Nat, you know what to do. Do it as quick as possible. Use the agents that are left for help," Rogers ordered, passing the command to her.

Both men walked to the entrance of the Buckingham Palace, Cap with his shield ready, Stark with his weapons in place as they opened the big doors, the agents inside the place shooting at them instantly.
...

Under the building, back to the old tunnels, Tory sat on the floor, back supported on the wall, trying to catch her breath. As she managed to stand up, she listened to a knife coming in her direction, dodging it quickly, but not quick enough.

"Shit, Barnes! What's your fucking problem!?" the woman cursed, looking at the triggered man spinning other two knives in his hands. He looked at her with predatory eyes, before throwing them again, as she tried to avoid both of the daggers, her hand on the deep bloody cut on her right arm.

"You wanna fucking play? So let's play!"

Tory took from her gear two sai weapons, diverting the two new knives the Winter Soldier had just launched her way with quick moves.

"Miss Stark, the weapon is starting to release the toxins," the AI warned, as Tory got near the man who was trying to kill her, starting a hand to hand combat.

"Warn the others please and keep on trying to deactivate that thing," the Stark woman breathed, between a punch.

The fight was even for a moment. It looked like they were in a dance. When one of them tried something, the other always defended, and vice versa. But when Tory listened a noise coming from the back of the tunnel, she knew it was Rumlow trying to run away, and she couldn't let that happen.

But her mistake was made when she was distracted for only one second, Bucky's hand going directly to her side, thrusting the knife there.

Tory's hand instantly went to the wound, her eyes locked with Buck's in pain and shock. He spent so much time looking at the bleeding knife he had in his hands, he didn't notice the woman's other hand going up to his arm and placing the sai there, opening a new wound on his right bicep.

With little time she had, Tory ran to one of the columns and leaned on it, listening carefully for a footstep that never came, instead there was the sound of a gun been loaded, and a trigger been pulled.

All the bullets ricocheted on the pillar behind her, as she, too, took one of her guns from the holster. Tory knew she needed to take him down somehow, make him unconscious. That was the only way the Winter Soldier would stop.

When the bullets stopped, she swiftly ran to the other column, shooting Bucky four times, all the bullets hitting the target, which he was not expecting.

She did it again, this time with three bullets hitting her skin, all her body bleeding and burning from all the wounds and cuts. She knew she had little time before passing out from blood loss, so instead of trying to shoot him again, she called her nanobots that were still working on the weapon that the AI still tried to disable and made a shield for herself, attacking the man in front of her with it.

When she was close enough, she launched herself on the Winter Soldiers neck, knocking him to the floor. Ordering her nanobots to lock his metal arm on the floor, she locked her thighs on his neck, pulling his flesh arm in a strange angle with all the strength she still had.

"C'mon! I don't want to break your arm!" she shouted, feeling light-headed. Tory felt Bucky giving up the fight as he passed out from lack of oxygen.

Freeing herself from the man, she heard footsteps approaching, but the woman was already giving in to the dark and the pain. The last thing she heard was someone calling her name and a gunshot.