Dead Memories

49

Chapter Forty-Nine

Steve and Loki were the last to step through the portal, while everyone else was already taking in their surroundings. They were not under attack, surprisingly, it was actually eerily quiet. Bucky could hear wind and some water, dripping and streaming, something alive in this place. The place being a cave... well, that was an understatement. Bucky didn't know caves like this existed on Earth. There was bright light coming in from far above and even plants were growing on the inside, tropical plants, moss, fungi. The air was cool around them, the chill of a deep cave, but it was humid too, making his skin a little sticky. He knew he was going to sweat like crazy under his gear.

If it weren't for the situation they were in, Bucky might've called it idyllic.

'Are we on Earth at all?' he asked.

'Yes,' Loki said behind him.

'My GPS has no signal,' Natasha announced.

'HELEN can't find us either,' Stark added. 'Something's blocking us.'

'It is quite something to behold,' Vision said, looking around.

'Let us move,' Thor said. 'We need to spread out, find our way, the Darkholders must be hiding nearby.'

Vision, Wilson, Stark and Wanda lifted up into the air right away. While the rest of them drew their weapons and started moving forward to explore the giant cave they found themselves in. Bucky was searching for tunnel entrances, maybe even a door or a trapdoor. He was admittedly paranoid to begin with, but the quiet made him nervous. The Darkholders must be expecting them at this point, they had to be waiting for them.

They spread out a little and Bucky was glad that Steve and Loki didn't set out in two different directions, because it would've been frustrating having to choose which where to go. Following Steve always felt natural, but he still wanted to watch Loki's back, especially since none of the Avengers would, except for Thor. Leah stayed close to them, Barton and Natasha flanked Strange as he ventured forward, while Pietro stayed with Thor.

The longer the silence stretched the more oppressive it was. Bucky was convinced it would erupt into violence any second now. It put him on edge.

With a blur of red Wanda flew past them, going higher up inside the cave, then she hit something. The moment she touched it there was flash of pale yellow, and the glow of her magic cut off. Vision dove down to catch her.

'Wanda!' Pietro shouted, his voice echoing loudly.

'I'm okay!' she yelled back. She was too far away to see her face, but Bucky was going to take her word for it.

'There seems to be a barrier,' Vision said, staring up. Wanda's magic flared back up and Vision let go of her after another second passed. The first thing she did was to hurl a hex at the invisible barrier. And sure enough, the beam was absorbed by a pale yellow barrier, flashing as it consumed it.

'That explains why we're hidden,' Natasha remarked.

'And why we couldn't find this place before,' Leah added.

'We probably alerted them just now,' Loki said.

'Then let's say hello,' Bucky suggested. There were no objections, so they continued their search.