The Sapphire Spirit | Book One~Captain America: Civil War

C H A P T E R 17

I followed Steve back to Bucky's room. With his shield strapped to his arm, we went inside. It's a small apartment; There was a mattress with disheveled covers and various bits of cheap looking furniture. The kitchen and bedroom were in the same room.

Steve found a notebook on top of the fridge. He picked it up and opened it. There were tabs of varying colors sticking out from amongst the pages.

"Heads up, Cap. German Special Forces, approaching from the south." Sam said from the radio.

"Understood." Steve responded. I looked over Steve's shoulder to see someone standing there.

"Steve...?" My voice was a terrified whisper.

Steve turned around slowly. "Do you know me?" He asked the Winter Soldier.

"You're Steve." The HYDRA agent responded slowly. "I read about you in a museum."

"They've set the perimeter." Sam said.

"I know you're nervous. And you have plenty of reason to be." Steve sighed. "But you're lying."

"I wasn't in Vienna. I don't do that anymore." Bucky said confidently.

"They're entering the building." Sam warned us.

"Well, the people who think you did are coming here now." Steve tried to reason. "And they're not planning on taking you alive."

"That's smart." Bucky said emotionlessly. "Good strategy."

"They're on the roof. I'm compromised." Sam said.

Outside the door, I heard the heavy footsteps of armed cops running.

"This doesn't have to end in a fight, Buck." Steve said.

"It always ends in a fight." Bucky said darkly.

"5 seconds." Sam warned.

"You pulled me from the river." Steve tried to stall. "Why?"

"I don't know."

"3 seconds!"

"Yes, you do."

"Breach! Breach! Breach!" Sam yelled into the comm. Something shattered the window and a grenade was thrown through the shattered glass. Bucky kicked it to Steve, who smothered it with his shield.

"Schließ die Tür auf!" Someone yelled from outside. I had been training with Natasha to understand simple commands in other languages. Shoot the door.

A cop slammed what sounded like a battering ram against the door. Bucky shielded himself with the mattress against an attack from the window. He blocked the door with a table as cops swung in on cables. Steve pulled the rug from under a policeman, which sent him flying. Bucky slammed another policeman into the wall.

"Buck, stop!" Steve yelled. "You're gonna kill someone."

I was so confused, all I was doing was trying to not get punched. Or hit. Or thrown across the room. You know, just trying to stay alive. I was also wary of the Winter Soldier, HYDRA's prize assassin. If he somehow heard the command words, he could drag me off to the compound. I shivered.

Bucky slammed Steve down and pulled his arm back for a punch. I sucked in a deep breath, then sighed with relief when he punched a hole in the floor. The floorboards cracked, revealing a backpack. "I'm not gonna kill anyone."

Bucky grabbed the backpack and threw it out the already-broken window.

"Chloe, get over here!" Steve yelled.