Third in the Timeline series |
After being told she was the infamous Agent 4, that every S.H.I.E.L.D agent thought was a rumour, Clara decides to get back in the field. Her old boss, and presumed dead, Phil Coulson guides her as she reunites with ol...
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Tony's blast had sent the cryogenic chambers toppling down. Debris was sent flying. But Bucky stayed still, he knelt down as the room fell apart around him, holding the girl he had fallen for all those years ago in his arms.
She looked so peaceful, she could have been sleeping. The ceiling creaked as a beam fell and came crashing down next to then, separating him from Steve who had run to his side while Tony was distracted.
"Go!" Steve yelled at him as more chambers fell apart. The cables powering them were severed, sending sparks flying in all directions.
All of this was familiar. He suddenly felt as hopeless as he did when Captain America first saved him from HYDRA. Never did he expect his tiny friend from Brooklyn would ever same his ass. It was even more ridiculous that he'd have to do it again.
As he looked down at his girl lying soundlessly in his arms, he saw the naive girl, new to Brooklyn, new to the 40s, that innocent girl who now lay unconscious because of him. He'd ruined everything. They could never go back to that time. No one could.
"Bucky! Go!" Steve shouted over the raucous of falling detritus.
"I'm not leaving her again!" He shouted back, "Not again."
Steve sighed and rubbed his temple in frustration.
"I'll take care of her, just go."
"I can't, Steve." He admitted. "I can't just leave."
Before either of them had another chance to argue, Tony had picked himself up and was still so blinded by hatred and revenge. He flew at Bucky, driven only by revenge irregardless of who else he hurt.
Bucky turned away from him, shielding Clara's already injured body with his. It was the least he could to for her now.
Steve leapt over the two of them, landing on his knees, shielding them both before launching his shield at Tony, momentarily deflecting him.
"Go, take her and go. I'll hold him off." Steve instructed and this time Bucky didn't argue.
He scooped Clara up in his arms and ran toward the exit. He looked down at her still face, pleading with her to wake up but it achieved nothing.
True to his word, Steve held Tony off, leaving the exit free. Although he'd rather not, Bucky remembered this place well. There was a launch pad nearby. He'd have to climb up, no easy task when he had Clara with him, but it was the only option they had.
He slammed the button which opened the launch pad's roof with his elbow as he passed through. The blinding light shining through from the roof fell on Clara's face.
Her eyelids twitched and fluttered open, squinting in the harsh sunlight. Bucky set her down now, her legs buckled but she steadied herself weakly by leaning against Bucky's arms.
"What happened?" She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes to force herself to wake up. She blinked harshly against the white light that clouded her vision only to be greeted by a stinging pain at the back of her head. She tentatively placed a hand on her head, where the pain was coming from, and felt the sticky sensation of blood.
"You took a nasty hit." Bucky explained as best he could as Clara looked around her trying to get her bearings. She stared all around the launch pad, clocking the open roof and the series of platforms extending from the ground all the way up to the top. She was a clever girl, she would have worked out what the plan was.
"Are you going to make it?" He asked worriedly but she turned to him and grinned.
"I'm not as frail as I look." She retorted, taking a few careful steps away from him, swaying a bit but quickly regaining her balance.
Bucky hesitated. He had moved to the first level of platforms but Clara was still clutching at her head and staggering about. He caught her eye and she smiled unconvincingly.
"Go, I'll catch up." She insisted, nodding in emphasis, smiling all the while. He nodded back, not reassured in the slightest but he trusted her. He had to.
Clara rummaged around in the thin pockets of her S.H.I.E.L.D gear until she found what she was looking for. It was a small black box, no bigger than the size of her palm, plastered on the front was the S.H.I.E.L.D emblem of a soaring eagle.
She took another deep breath to steady her swaying head and held the box aloft in her hand. Her fingers felt around for the button and pressed it firmly, sending a thin but strong line shooting out the end of which attached itself strongly around the mesh of a platform a few stories up. Clara fastened the box about her waist, clipping it onto the belt buckle and closing her palm around it for good measure before pressing the button.
The box tried to reel the line in but it was fastened around the platform to strongly. Instead, just as Clara had hoped, it propelled her upwards onto the platform. S.H.I.E.L.D got all the fun toys.
From below them came a mighty clatter. Clara took a glance down, her vision still blurry, but nonetheless could make out Tony's red Iron Man suit holding his arm up to send a blast their way. Thankfully Steve emerged before the blast was let off and smacked him in the face with his shield.
Clara was in no state to engage with Tony. Besides, she and Bucky were almost at the top level now and Stark was still on the lowest.
They'd reached the highest level platform now, the roof lay open above them. The only task between them and safety was a small, rusted ladder.
"Ladies first." Bucky said, peering down to see Tony ready to blast them again. God knows where Steve had ended up.
"I'll be quick." Clara said, finding his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze that reassured no one before she started climbing up.
There were only a few rungs and she was easily up it and outside, even in her disorientated state. She crouched down on the snow to watch as Bucky started climbing up.
From the corner of her eye she could see Tony, arm raised, light emitting from the palm of his armoured hand.
There was nothing she could do but watch as the blast was fired and smashed into the hinge holding the roof open. Clara jumped back to avoid being hit herself as the roof came crashing down.
"No!" She called out but it was too late for anyone else to have heard but her. The roof came crashing down, separating her from Bucky who hadn't quite made it out.
The roof closed with a calamitous slam. Clara scrambled over to it, trying to prise it open even though she knew her efforts were futile.
"No!" She repeated in frustration and anguish, slamming her fists against the roof in a hopeless attempt to somehow fix everything. But it wasn't to be.
