BUCKY || b. barnes ✔️

twenty two

chapter twenty two
Super Solider

"How are you feeling?" Natasha asked as she sat on the couch next to Ray. The young woman's hands were handcuffed to the chair as various governmental officials decided if she was guilty for treason or not. Technically she had been 'rescued' by Tony. A point the rich man was currently making to make sure she would be able to walk from here.

Ray looked at Natasha with an attitude. "Why aren't you in handcuffs?"

The Russian Spy gave her a look. "Shut up and play nice. If things go south for you, I'm the only one that's going to be able to get you out of here and take you to your boyfriend." 

Ray sighed in defeat. She needed to learn how to watch her tongue. "Fine."

In the air, hundreds of miles away, Bucky was staring out the window. Steve was piloting the plane easily while Bucky sat in the back. The guilt he felt for leaving behind Ray deepened with each mile the flew away from her.

"Any report from Natasha?" He asked Steve.

"Still no treason charges against her. She never signed the accords and she isn't an Avenger. She may be able to slide out of this." Captain America reassured his best friend.

"Do you think it was the right thing? To leave her?"

"It was what we had to do." Steve told him.

"That's not what I asked."

Steve sighed and set the plane onto autopilot. Then he turned the chair around and looked at his friend. "We have a job to do, Bucky. That means we have to put everything else on the side. Taking down Zemo and making sure those Winter Soldiers aren't awakened is ours."

Bucky shook his head. "I should have fought harder. When she fell out of the window I thought she was dead. How did she survive that? Was there anything else that happened to her, before the accident?"

"I don't know. That Spider-Boy must have broken her fall. Just try and relax, she won't be hurt. I care for the girl too, but she's not in harms way. If she came with us she would be. This is the best outcome for her."

"And if she gets sent to some prison? I would never see her again."

Steve smiled. "I have friends in high places. And Tony is fighting for her to walk. God knows he always gets his way."

Bucky sighed again. "I'm not worth this. Those people were your friends."

"You're my friend too, Buck."

Back at the offices, Natasha walked into the empty room. There was a rush in her step. She was holding a few things in her hand as she approached Ray.

"What are you doing?" Ray asked as Natasha knelt down and worked at unlocking the handcuffs. "Hey, stop! I'm trying to get out of the mess you brought me into not get into more."

"Look, Ray, I know that I'm not your favorite person in the world right now but they're not letting you get out. You've been sentenced with the rest of them. And so have I. We need to get out of here."

"What?" Ray asked. She was sure that she wouldn't be charged with anything.

"Welcome to the life of an Avenger. Your father would be so proud."

"I'm not an Avenger. I'm not one of you." Ray said as the metal cuffs dropped to the floor. They both stood up.

"You are now, Ray. Let's go. I've got a car out back and we need to leave."

Natasha gave Ray a sweatshirt and a hat. She had a pair as well. Once the two woman were disguised as best they could, they left the room and headed towards the emergency stair case.

"Why are you helping me?" Ray asked as they practically ran down the stairs.

"Because I couldn't help your father." Natasha said with guilt on her heart. Then she stopped and turned around to face the young Banner. "You're father meant to the world to me. I wish I knew you existed. I would have made him get you. You would've been with us this whole time."

"I don't need to be rescued." Ray told her, though she was wrong.

"Clearly." Natasha cocked an eyebrow. "We're family now, Ray. You stay with me, you'll be okay."

"Something tells me that I won't be." Ray said quietly.

They moved again.

When they got out to back, where a rustic looking Volkswagen was waiting, they heard sirens go off. Natasha mumbled underneath her breath before yelling at Ray to get into the car.

She did as the spy told her and climbed into the passengers seat. Natasha had the car rolling I'm seconds and they pulled out into the busy street. Cop cars passed them on the other side of the road, headed towards the building they were once  in.

Natasha felt for her friends back in there, but she couldn't help them right now.

So she drove down the road, perfectly blending into the surroundings.

Ray was tapping her finger anxiously on the door handle. Was running away the best option? She could easily tell the cops that Natasha kidnapped her. But then she wouldn't be brought to Bucky. She needed to know that he was safe and okay. She wished more than anything that she was able to talk to him.

An hour later they ended up in an old motels parking lot. They parked by the back in the shade; the sun was setting. It had been a long day.

"I saw you fall three stories. You got up like it was nothing." Natasha said. "What happened when you were with the Russian guy?"

Ray blinked. "He tried to make me one of them. A Winter Solider. But it wasn't like how Bucky said it was. It was just a shot, a serum, in my arm."

"I think it worked. Look at the door."

The Banner girl looked at the door, noticing how the handle of the car door was bent to how she was holding it. She removed her hand and stared at it.

"I don't..." She truly didn't know what to say. "What if I.... I don't want to become like them."

Natasha felt for the woman. She was less than ten years younger than her. "You won't. We won't let you. Like I said, you're one of us."