| Long Time No See: Conclusion | |||||
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| What: The Winter Soldier resolves to free Captain America and run. It seemed like a good plan, until HYDRA and SHIELD showed up! Maybe there's reason to stay after all. | |||||
((This log comes after Long Time No See: Safe House ))
Over the next day or two, the Winter Soldier starts amassing paperwork.
He's seen that Cap had food and water but always asks for the utensils back afterwards -- he's not leaving him anything to work with when he's not there. When he is there, he continues to research the past.
It culminates with him returning to the bunker with a passport. This time when he enters he looks nervous, possibly a little spooked. He glances over to Steve first thing, making sure he's as he was, then looks over everything he had set out as well. The weapons the research, the papers.. he adds the fresh passport to the pile.
"Going somewhere?" Steve asks, quietly. Is Bucky planning on leaving the country...apparently. And maybe he can learn his motivation.
"That's right." the Soldier answers shortly, not bothering to deny it. For that matter, he starts packing things up into a backpack, except for the handgun he puts in his coat pocket. "Good news for you. You can run back to your SHIELD here soon enough." he mutters, working to cram the liberated laptop in.
"They'll still find you." He doesn't specify which they, and his tone gives absolutely no clue.
The Soldier freezes.. and whirls on Steve with an angry expression, the backpack thunking down on the counter. "What the hell do you know?" he snaps.
"I don't know anything except how hard it is for somebody to disappear." After all, Bucky made very sure there was nothing on Steve to allow *him* to be tracked.
"Doesn't matter.. if they chase me I'll find them first." Winter Soldier crouches down, selecting a second gun, for all the good they'll do him if he's planning to take a commercial flight.
"You're good. Are you that good?" Is he that good that if the entire world is against him, he'll be able to survive. One might ask...why does Steve care? Answer is, he can't help it.
Voice low and tight, the Soldier repeats, "Doesn't matter. I'm not going back. Not going to be shut away in another box, you got it? Not for SHIELD and not--" he falters to a halt, making a briefly annoyed noise before adding whatever dry goods he had on hand to the rather stuffed bag. He goes on, "..So you can just stop trying to tell me otherwise, or try to follow me either."
"I don't want to shut you in a box," Steve says, honestly. "But it isn't SHIELD I'm worried about."
"You don't want to, but it's 'for the best', that it? Because when we crossed paths at the museum, that's sure as hell where I ended up." Bucky answers, sounding grim and more than a little bitter. "If that's what you figure it takes to keep..HYDRA off, then I'm not buying." he shrugs the bag onto one shoulder.
"Think of our side for a moment. I knew you wouldn't be in the place you were in voluntarily. I didn't know how unstable you were. And you're one of the most dangerous men on the planet." So's Steve himself. He doesn't point out that Bucky turned the tables...
Winter Soldier glances to Steve, and despite himself, he softens some, hearing the pluralization even if it wasn't voiced. "We're always going to be, 'Cap.' They'll always say that, and I'm not going quietly about it again." he reaches into a pocket then, producing some aged keys. "..Won't make you, either. I'll leave these for you. Gotta knock you out again, but I need the head start from your pals."
"The question is who you want to be dangerous to." Want. A slight smile. "Before you leave...what do you want?" Because he's sure he's in trouble, but probably not in so much trouble he can't work towards making it happen. Somehow.
For a moment the Winter Soldier seems on the fence about weather to actually answer or not, standing there with his bag on one shoulder and the keys in hand, glancing at the sketchbook in Steve's corner without really thinking about it. Finally he says, "I..Look, I just wanna be left alone to figure some things out. But I--" he breaks off, head sharply turning to the side-- Steve likely hears it too, the faint scuff of shoes audible through the vent near the ceiling that lets in air. Bucky reaches for his gun.
"Too late." He can't *quite* grab for the keys...Bucky's not quite close enough, but he's already in a tense position. Hopefully it's Natasha. Hopefully.
No such luck. The door is sealed, but it's also very old-- some sort of searing flare melts the locking mechanism, and what is unmistakably a modernized HYDRA team kicks it down, guns at the ready. There's one specifically with a visible face who orders Bucky to stand down in Russian, and weather it's the order or the guns being bristled, Bucky's gun lowers to his side, a look of blank shock on his face. "But I shook 'em.." he whispers, probably only audible to Steve, nearly within reach as he is. That might explain the spooked look when he arrived, though.
Crap. Hydra. Steve *does* lunge for the keys, but he falls just short. He doesn't have any way to call for backup. Bucky, he could handle. He could even say he's in the middle of an interrogation here. A full Hydra strike team? Not unless he can get free.
There's only a half a dozen of them here, but who's to say there's not more topside.. There's one who takes point and seems to be a leader who's gun soon turns on Cap as he says in surprise, "Captain America, captured? Why was this not reported immediately? This is wonderful!" The one who was speaking Russian now answers, "SHIELD had him. It's no surprise he's acting erratic or botching protocol, especially with that quack meddling lately. This only proves what I've been saying, we need a full wipe ASAP."
The Soldier stiffens, but still doesn't move, and the leader slowly approaches Cap. "Thank goodness we got close enough for that useless tracker to do any good.. I know section 16 said the shielding interfered, but if it was properly functional we could have wrapped this up days ago. Still..! Being the ones to deliver Captain America's corpse to the Red Skull...that will make up for it very nicely." he says, all too smug. "I must say, I never expected this..but here you are, helpless before us like any other man."
Okay...two choices. Make a serious attempt to break the chains or...bring everything in, withdraw his energy...preparing for it, but also watching. What WILL the Winter Soldier do? Full wipe. Steve has no intention of letting that happen. The chains, though, aren't as secure as Bucky thinks. Of course they aren't...
After all, Bucky counts on his metal arm, and whatever was done to him during the war, Cap's the only one to have the complete form of the Super Soldier Serum. And this place, chains included, is very old. One of the brackets especially looks downright rusted.. as Cap goes still and quiet, the leader takes a step closer...just a little more.. "Nothing to say? No pithy quips or patriotic slogans, Captain?" he laughs, and a few of the others do as well. One of them chips in, stepping closer still, so much so that Cap is sure he could reach the lackey if one of his hands was free, "Look at him, he's not so tough!" The lackey laughs, and shoots what must be some HYDRA stun gun at Steve, toying with him. Weather it hits or not, the leader waves his hand. "Enough, we need to get back, and -I- intend to be the one who kills him." he raises his far more lethal gun just out of reach and says with grim satisfaction, "Goodbye, Captain."
Through all this, the Soldier's face had shut down, stony and blank, looking at nothing.. But as the leader takes his aim, smug and bloodthirsty...that's when Bucky moves. His metal arm whips out in a flash, and the gun is twisted from the HYDRA operative's hand by the barrel, crushed and useless. The leader startles, hardly realizing what just happened as he stumbles back and orders, "What the--Shut him down, shut him down immediately!"
...and that's when Cap *explodes*. Right as Bucky provides the distraction, he moves in a jerk he's planned. One of the chains doesn't come free.
He only needs one.
The end of the chain whips through the air, striking towards the Hydra personnel who only *thought* they were out of the super soldier's reach, the full amount of his strength behind it. "I save pithy comments for opponents I *respect*." Ow.
Cap hits three of them with the chain, knocking guns aside and increasing their panic and disorganization.
The operative with no helmet who seems to be the designated handler was keeping back, so manages to avoid the first crack of Cap's chain. He starts to rattle off something sharp but meaningless about birds in flight in Russian-- but never finishes. A gunshot cracks, and a red hole appears abruptly right between his eyes..
The handler falls to the floor, quite dead. Bucky stands with the gun from his pocket smoking, looking staggered from the near shut down and wild-eyed with rage. "Don't you #@$*% touch him!" he snarls at the group, dodging a blast from a stun gun to charge at the leader with the rest of his backup handily distracted by Cap.
Cap might, under other circumstances, criticize Bucky for killing. Under these? He's spinning to bring all of his strength to bear on the *other* chain, breaking free the rest of the way. He might not have his shield...or his shoes...but Bucky *might* wonder just how long Steve was staying when he could *clearly* have got out any time he wanted. Maybe.
Or maybe he already knows, at least on some level.
The HYDRA goons start full on panicking, forgetting their bravado before. A couple run for the door, calling for backup. So there are more of them--not good.The remaining few rally under the frantic orders of their leader, and they're all trying to shout whatever phrase it is that's supposed to shut Bucky down, but despite their horrible accent and their shouting over one another, Bucky's staggering, clearly fighting to stay vertical as they finally manage to get some stun guns pointed his way.
The chains swing again, but Cap's clearing a path to...his comlink. He made a note earlier of where it was on the table, and all he actually has to do is get his hand on it, before he turns back to the Hydra goons, charging in towards them. The chains make perfectly good weapons.
Winter Soldier somehow manages to force up his gun hand, and shoots another of the men trying to stun him as well. Cap knocks down a couple more along the way to the com. The weaponless leader sees which way the wind is blowing, and orders anyone left to stop them before fleeing, no doubt to rearm and regather.
The odds are very good there's more of them up on the street..
Captain America stops. He glances at Bucky, the chains still secured to his wrists. Then he snags his radio, manages to maneuver it into position and heads for the door. "I don't think we can let them get backup." At least not before HIS backup shows up.
As the group flies in in response to Cap's emergency beacon, it turns out that James did risk a bunker in the city-- if only on the very fringes. It's an old broken down concrete building that used to be a specialty cheese shop, back when it was actually a front. Now it's grown over on the edge of town...but what the group might notice first is the armored van full of HYDRA troops outside.
Swinging Tynan about onto her back like a piggyback game, Carol hefted Bruce with one arm, and curled another about Natasha. Hank was in the pocket in her sash. She streaked through the sky... not as fast as she was able to since she didn't want to asphyxiate folks. But along the way.. she acknowledged. "Yes, good to hear from you Rescue. En Route with myself plus four. ETA less than a minute now." And... she's got SHIELD giving her basically.. Areial GPS directions.
Running away from the HYDRA van towards what appears to be a basement staircase are a handful of troops with assorted mad science HYDRA armaments.
Tynan taps Carol on the back. "Put me down over there.", she says, pointing to a apartment building thats a fair distance away. She takes a deep breath. "I need some distance.", she tells.
Natasha Romanov grips onto Carol, holding the Captain's shield in a way to give cover to most of the group, without blinding Carol. "HYDRA on the ground. Banner, wanna go Green on them? I would if I had your talent." she says, yelling over the wind. "Good idea, Caliber. Give us cover. Marvel, what's your plan?" She's all business, despite however much liquor she;s had in the last few days
Bruce Banner looks down to the ground and this is a move he has pulled before. "TaTa!" he tells them moving himself out of Carol's arm allowing himself to free-fall and on the way down he Hulks out landing on one of the men from HYDRA, "Squish!" he says looking at the other ones a moment before growling out loudly towards them.
"I think you might wanna come inside." suggests Carol to Tynan. "I can sense the reactor in James's arm. He's underground. You may not be able to contribute from out here." If pressed though, Carol -will- drop Tynan off of her back. And then.. there goes Bruce, "Yeah, he needs to vent some rage." She shakes her head a bit and answers Natasha, "My plan? My plan was to kick in the door, and kick everyone's ass who isn't a friend or ally." Subtle, eh?
Winter Soldier still seems badly staggered from the near shutdown, but he nods in earnest agreement. "Then we won't let 'em." he states, and half stumbles through the broken door and up the stairs, though his unsteadiness only makes him marginally less deadly...as is proven when he throws a knife, dropping one of the approaching goons. There's more up top, yes, but if they can be taken out before any more can show up---but someone else has very obviously shown up, and he bristles, looking to Cap with an expression no less alarmed.
"Key?" Steve suggests, because...while the chains make good weapons, he *would* be rather happier without them. He's in the entrance to the bunker at this point, nothing's going to get down there past him - at least not readily. Those up top can't see what's going on down there, not yet. Well, except Carol's senses might pick up on the fact that there's Bucky and one other person, inside the entrance, next to each other.
Tynan shakes her head. "Trust me. I'm better further away.", she tells. The woman taps her holodisplay, and it gives her the Batman Detective Mode view sight. Tynan smiles. "From what I can tell, there's only two inside, and everyone is getting ready to bumrush the door.", she tells.
Streaking after Carol on the glow of repulsors, Rescue finally catches up enough with Carol et al to realize.... "Carol? I thought you guys were in a Quinjet?" If she'd known that Carol was literally flying people there, she'd have offered to help. After all, it /is/ likely that she and Natasha practiced that in the past for occasions exactly like this. But, too late now.
Pepper sees Banner fall and Hulk land on a HYDRA goon, and then she's flying alongside Carol, letting JARVIS use the suit's scanners to pick up on what's happening at ground level.
"Miss Potts," the AI says for her ears only. "Rescue's sensors have detected the presence of an arc reactor within very close proximity to the building. It has a greatly reduced efficiency compared to even Sir's original reactor. Very likely a poor imitation."
Pepper can't help but smile a bit to herself at the AI's condescending tone. "Try and pinpoint it for me, JARVIS. I might be kind of busy in a minute." She then switches back to communicate with the others. "That doorway looks a bit like Best Buy at midnight on Black Friday. Should I ask everyone to step back a bit, Carol?"
"Okay, in we go." remarks Carol. She says to Pepper, "Hey Rescue. Follow me on in. Lemme play battering ram and human shield if you like." That said, she rolls out of her soaring flight and aims downward. Along the way, she releases Natasha in a gentle arc that she knows her friend can roll out of.. Especially with that impact absorbing shield on hand, before turning and pouring on the speed. Whatever is in the way, at the doorway or whatnot.. is getting a photonic blast just before she slams into it like a certain Uru Mallet... well not quite -that- hard.. but she's going in the hard way.
"Rescue, glad to see you along. Mind the blasting now, the Captain's down there and he left home unprepared." Natasha lifts the Star Spangled Shield in a way of greeting the powersuited woman. "Right. You two be careful." She cracks a tight-lipped grin.
And once she's dropped off? After using the shield as a cushion, she stands up, and gets to work. She's putting that shield to good use as a bludgeon. Is she as good as the good Captain with it? Of course not. But she is really enjoying smashing faces in. And in the other hand, Widow disks.
Winter Soldier passes Cap the key to the chains with a short nod. Better late than never, right? Something that could be said about a lot of things in their case. He leans a shoulder on the wall, but watches the staircase keenly, taking up position to stop anything that tries to come down at them, gun raised.
HYDRA seems to be learning better than to send anyone else in to be shot or knifed though-- the next thing that comes down the stairs is a thrown ball-- a HYDRA gas grenade, by the look of it. Looks like holding up in the intentionally defensible bunker may not be an option for long.
The armored car disperses troops as the heroes start to show up, and blasts of energy and plain bullets are fired at those in the air, some pattering off Natasha's shield as she lands. The car itself though backs off, and from the hood what looks like nothing so much as a giant ray beam appears. If -that- hits one of the flying folk, it turns out to have a much stronger resonant impact that could rattle machinery or at least cause nausea. That's aside from the concussive force.
The Hulk is outside while the rest are inside which is nothing new to him. Grabbing one and then another he bashes them together tossing both aside. As another runs at him t bash with his gun its caught and he raises the goon up bashing on one side and then the other leaving him indented into the ground. Another bigger one he lifts up over his head throwing him into a group of others near the van As another van arrives he runs over punching into the grill of it before lifting the vehicle up and tossing making it explode into an oncoming one.
And...Cap gets the manacles off of his wrists. He then picks the chains back up...until he can get his shield back, they'll do as weapons. The grenade, though...he prepares to rush for the door, past it. It's what they want, but he doesn't exactly have a mask.
Tynan takes a deep breath, and summons her ACR, putting it down on the ground next to her. She sets up the Lynx, and smiles evilly. She then starts sniping HYDRA goons. Grrrr! Bad HYDRA!
"Got it, Carol." Rescue's faceplate turns toward Natasha briefly to nod, then she's angling to follow Carol toward the ground. Most of the firepower aimed up at them she pretty much ignores, but then her HUD lights up red with that vehicle and its ridiculous weapon. Someone is //clearly// compensating for something. She slows a bit, just enough to get a lock on that thing and fire a repulsor blast at it. If someone thinks she's just missed, she'll just be smug at them. She was aiming for the moorings that hold the thing onto its car. Hopefully when it fires, it'll blast itself clean off of its mountings.
Photonic blasts cave in the door and then Carol rams right through it, "I'm in!" she yells into her communicator before she spies the grenade bouncing down the stairs. "Shit." she mutters. Yep, her plan is about improvising. She surges on more speed... flashes past as she curls that grenade in to her stomach and hits the floor.. sliding along it to strike the far wall and leave a Carol sized dent in it... "Ow." she mutters.. just before the grenade detonates... stun gas mostly contained by the geometry of being pinned between her and the wall. Sure, some gas escapes... but it shouldn't be much of a threat to Cap or Bucky. It does briefly stun Carol... as her body adapts, and her healing factor kills the chemicals in her blood. But for the moment.. she's down.
Hulk takes out the arriving HYDRA back up almost as soon as it arrives, and only some of the goons inside manage to leap free before the two vehicles crunch together and explode in a mess of HYDRA tech and inadequate safety procedures. This doesn't go unnoticed by the original vehicle, which turns it's ray gun on the Hulk, blasting him back and shaking him nauseatingly, inside and out. Can even the Hulk be made ill by such an assult..? Though as the beam slams into the green avenger, there's a whine of straining metal-- Rescue's blast didn't quite take out that mooring, but it did enough damage that the beam is clearly firing on borrowed time, and when it breaks loose very shortly, it's likely going to be something to see...
Inside the shell of the building, HYDRA goons are trying to regroup-- but it's tough with a Hulk flinging them like ragdolls, not to mention Tynan sniping off anyone who holds still long enough-- not something that induces calmness. On top of that, there's the Widow, wielding Cap's shield like a red headed tornado. None the less, with all the heavy hitters around, Widow's becoming the focus of a knot of HYDRA troops-- mostly who want the shield for themselves.. possibly as a feather in their cap but more likely to have something to defend them against the heroes rampaging over them.
The goons by the stairs duck in alarm as Carol shoots through their ranks, and she's able to catch the grenade and slam it and her into the wall.
The Winter Soldier ducks as Carol shoots past and slams into the wall like a woman sized cannon ball, turning his gun on her, though he doesn't miss that she saved them from the gas. He grimaces. "They're fighting over who gets us." he mutters to Cap, but turns his aim back towards HYDRA's people.
"Well, given one side wants to kill me..." Cap glances at Carol, then at Bucky. "Shall we?" Before he charges for the stairs. They're likely to toss another one, and he knows enough to know Captain Marvel's going to take a moment to recover. He has no clue who else might be out there. Other than HYDRA goons. But he doubts Carol came alone.
Tynan whistles a little bit, and then opens up the channels to everyone here. The woman breathes in calmly as she keeps sniping, stopping to reload. "Widow, they're coming around to surround you. Watch your twelve. Hulk, I don't know if you can hear me, but Widow is having company. Maybe more then she can handle.", she says. The woman takes a few deep breaths, as she starts sniping again, especially on those coming towards Widow. "Power armored lady, hey. Dark Caliber here. SHIELD team sniper. Got eyes on the Captain?", she asks.
Natasha Romanov is practically dancing now, her steps light as she downs HYDRA goons left and right, her face emotionless. The Black Widow gives a humorless grin as she notes the soldiers closing around her. She doesn't say anything as she stops for a moment, taking a deep breath and glancing around her. "..." She flicks her wrist, shooting out several Widow Bite darts. At the same time, she charges headlong at a group of three, taking them down smoothly. There's a good chance some won;t be getting up again. She doesn't respond to Tynan's radio call.
The Hulk is blasted back by the beam only stunning him for mere seconds if that. leaping up he comes down plowing a fist into the one shooting the beams. Lifting a leg he gives it a swift kicks sending it backwards and now he turns heading towards Natasha's position to help take care of the group sending one flying as it comes close.
Rescue pulls to a stop in mid-air as Carol bashes right through the building wall, and turns to place herself in front of and slightly above the doorway, firing on any of the Hydra goons that get too close. Oh, and doing the same to anything else grenade-like that gets lobbed toward the building. She's clearly trying to give the men room to escape. "Captain, I'm glad you're all right." The digitally distorted voice is probably still identifiable to him.
"Miss Potts, I have pinpointed the location of the arc reactor."
"Oh? Where is it?"
"In the arm of the individual assisting Captain Rogers."
"WHAT?" That moment of surprise costs Rescue, as a lucky shot from one of the HYDRA types hits her center mass and knocks her out of the air. She hits the ground with a definite THUD, though oddly not very metallic sounding. Inside the armored suit, Pepper tries gasp in a breath, the impact of hitting the ground having knocked the air out of her lungs.
Okay... just lie here. Cap has this. Into her comms, Carol mutters softly, halfway incoherently. "I'm here.." she mutters. She halfway levers herself up off the floor. "Cap." she says, not very loud of course. "Hey James. Nice t'see ya. I see your arm still has power." Then she falls back to the floor... struggling to get up again... but hey, she's -conscious- after that stun gas... that alone is impressive. Eventually.. she gets to her knees and throws a light blast up the stairs. "Nat's up there... she's got your shield." she adds to Cap.
The Winter Soldier smirks. "Thought you'd never ask." he quips to Cap, and pushes himself up heavily..whatever's messing with him doesn't slow him down enough to keep him from charging up the stairs right in step with Cap, backhanding one HYDRA goon that tries to get a stun in on them, and shooting another before his target can even aim. He skims the situation swiftly, taking in the ray guns the green rage monster, the flying Rescue-- "Nattie," he exclaims, spotting the shield wielding Russian, and puts his next bullet in the back on one of the goons unfortunate enough to be behind her. "Real party." he grunts, shoulder to shoulder with Cap. "Remind me who -doesn't- wanna kill you, again?" he asks dryly, since the Hulk especially would look like a HYDRA experiment if he wasn't bashing up their truck.
Said truck, incidentally is totaled, the driver no longer amongst the living after the Hulk got there. Unfortunately he was crushed down into the fire button, and the unstable bearing plus the Hulk bashing the vehicle flips it backwards to go shooting into the building, right at the dropped Rescue.
With all the support, Natasha is handling her own personal mob with terrifying grace. The remaining HYDRA goons in the building are breaking ranks, despite the screaming of a man who must be the leader of the group off on the side. Looks like the tide of this battle is seriously turning.
"Big green guy and the power armor are with us," Steve informs Bucky. Oh, and the Widow brought his shield...and has been practicing with it, too. Barefoot, no armor, and apparently using a length of slightly rusty chain as a weapon? Not really even slowing Cap down...and the way the two are moving together looks like they've been doing this for, oh, years. Maybe they did. Once. A long time ago. He's got to assume Tynan's here somewhere - probably tactical spotter and sniper for this one. He stops for one moment to lift a hand in a sort of salute to the shield-wielding Russian. Ironic, that.
Tynan is scanning the battlefield, and blinks a few times. Person screaming things at others. She waits a moment. "...Wonder if I get bonus points for this....", she says. The woman takes a deep breath, and then fires her first shot, that....literally goes in the guys mouth, and out the back...And to be safe, she first a second shot at the head. The woman whistles innocently. Tynan goes back to calling out enemy positions as she snipes.
Natasha Romanov continues her deadly dance. She's not in her normal attire for this sort of thing, but that doesn't stop her. She ducks and weaves, giving Hulk room to do his thing, but staying close enough that her opponents really don;t want to go the wrong way. Between a Widow and a Hulk, they feel the squeeze. She see movement out of the corner of her eye - "Capatin!" she hails, and then she tosses the shield like a frisbee towards the man. As for herself? She doesn't need an army, she has a Hulk. If he lets her, she's climbing on his back, and taking potshots with her pistol.
The Hulk doesn't mind at all that Natasha climbs onto his back. One arm being sure she is steady he takes off running using his free shoulder to run over some of the goons like a linebacker into the ground as he literally steps on a few while widow cracks a few with her shots.
Rescue does finally catch her breath after a second or two, and sits up stiffly, only made aware of the cannon-shot coming straight at her when her suit's HUD lights up ALL the warning lights. She looks over with a gasp, and knows already that there is NO way she can get clear in time.
Crap.
And.. surging back onto her feet, Carol starts off walking, and after three or four steps, she's jogging, but..she notices some details. So she scoops up a book.. tucking it in her sash/belt. Then she launches herself... surging out of that door. She cuts out her anti-graviton assisted flight power.. landing with her feet spread and braced. Both hands clasp before her... charging up with a golden photonic surge of power before a ridiculous blast of power is released towards the single most powerful target. Of course... after that is fired, she grabs Rescue's shoulder, hurls her to the ground (not very gently) and stands over her... both hands pulsing out photonic blasts at a high rate of fire. As many shots as she sends out, she gets hit by. At this point in time, she's too frustrated and angry to really -care- about that though. Sure, it hurts.. she's just refusing to go down.... covering her friends.
"Right.." the man most of them know as the Winter Soldier replies dubiously. He doesn't have time to spare on looking at the others currently helping them in any case, fully absorbed in fighting alongside Cap to take down the knot closest to the stairs, furthest from any aid, as Carol was downed by the grenade and Rescue by the wayward blast. Even he doesn't really understand how, but the two of them seem to know what each other are going to do before it's happened, without even looking in some cases-- like Natasha, it's almost like dancing.
And then the blast lances right through the building, striking Carol in a blinding disorienting burst that downs a few HYDRA goons standing nearby, and might disrupt Pepper's suit a little, even at that distance...but far far less than it would have.
Soon there's no HYDRA troops actually attacking any more. Especially as Tynan puts a bullet-- or two-- through the head of their apparent leader, anyone left upright is running in the dim hope of remaining so.
And the shield apparently randomly spins towards him. Cap drops the chain and catches it out of the air. As if it weighed nothing. As the last of the goons go down with it's assistance, Cap lets out a breath. "Well, that's that." Unless, of course, Tynan or the Hulk plan on chasing the ones that fled. He turns to Bucky, offers him the hand not holding the shield. And, in the same tone of voice, "Shall we?"
Tynan figures those that ran, well, no point in wasting the ammo. As long as they're running away from everyone, she's happy.
Natasha Romanov lets out a breath as she surveys the battlefield from atop the Hulk. Good - it seemed that the remaining HYDRA were fleeing. She relaxes, taking a few more breaths. "Hey Big Guy - That was fun." she comments, patting the mammoth wrecker on the shoulder. "You can drop me off now. I need to check on our friends, okay?"
Winter Soldier hesitates, looking down at the hand and back up to Cap. "..Like I said, I'm not going back to some cell."
Natasha Romanov sighs, but she's smiling. "Okay, go have your fun Bug Guy. Work of some of that stress okay? Come home soon, and try not to break anything important." She gives the Jolly Green Giant a kiss on the cheek, and jumps off, rolling to absorb the impact. "Ouch." She makes her way to Captain and Bucky. "...Hey, you two." she says quietly. Cap might pick up a faint smell of alcohol from her.
Rescue gets shoved back down by Carol and before she can even move to maybe try to restore some of her dignity, that burst that really just barely catches the edges of her suit still manages to disrupt the suit's systems and she's left blind and immobile for several seconds. "JARVIS? ... oh god." She has no idea what's going on around her now, as she's pretty much stuck face down at the moment.
A deep breath. "Can you trust me? You know what HYDRA was doing to you now." They admitted it, thinking that he wouldn't remember. How many times did they re-brainwash him? Reset him to whatever they needed him to me. "You can come with us or you can run." It sounds like he'd respect either decision...but truth is, he doesn't want that to happen again. Not to Bucky. Not to anyone.
That blast of raw power struck Carol and Pepper. It's a good thing Carol leaned forward into the energy stream. That's her usual practice when dealing with incoming energy. She could feel how weird it was but.. her shoulder strikes the energy and the flow of it is disrupted in a number of ways. One.. an object in the way. Two, that object absorbs energy... so the power would normally flood around her and try to reach for Rescue. But with that one step forward... she placed her capacitor-self in the way. Instead of flowing around her like a liquid plasma field, she absorbs most of it into herself. The edges lick at Rescue's armor.. but then the moment she calls out to JARVIS, all of that energy vanishes. It feels.. -weird-, but.. as it soaks into her body... her cells.... "Ow." she mutters... her eyes closed. Then.. she opens them and cosmic flame seems to seep from them. She grabs the book from her hand and holds it out to Rescue, "Give this to Cap." she remarks, "I'll be back soon.."
And then... Whoosh! In a rush of cosmic flame and anti-gravitons.. she launches skyward... this is disruptive energy. She doesn't want to release any of it here... so up high... she says over her SHIELD comm, "I need a vector free of satellites and traffic in orbit.." and when given it.. she points both hands.. and then briefly, it's like a second star is in the sky. She pours the energy out through her hands... one long groan escaping her the whole time as she does so...
The Hulk slows as she leaps from his back and watches as she heads back. Maybe there was a hint of sadness in his eyes before he walks back along behind her with a deep sigh. He now moves out to where Pepper is trying to help her up to her feet in the suit she wears turning her to face him and look close at her face mask.
Winter Soldier shakes his head.. "Can't." he says, quiet. " 'See it from your side', you said..they'd..they'd be right to lock me up. But I'm not..not doing it again. For all I know, they're messing with all your heads too," he glances up, including the approaching Widow in his gaze too. She did tell him that happened once, after all. "I mighta been doing you a favor."
Pepper is struggling to right herself when she hears Carol say something (difficult to make out through the currently dead weight suit) and then presses something into her hand which she reflexively grasps. Rescue's HUD is still rebooting when someone clearly VERY strong lifts her up and sets her on her feet, so when the HUD's display finally blinks back on, she's treated to the Hulk's face RIGHT in her face. Extreme closeup. She doesn't mean to, but Pepper's startles and yelps at seeing a face so close to hers. "... oh, um, hello. Thank you." And THEN she thinks to look at the object Carol gave her. A... sketchbook?
"I know what they were doing to you." Steve glances at Widow. "I suspected before. Now I know." He wants to say that he can't keep Bucky safe unless he comes with him, but it's not his *job* to keep him safe. No matter how much he wants to. Any word he can give might be compromised, by a man who has forgotten that it's possible to make a choice. "I know it's a lot to ask, but we *can* help." He hasn't lowered his hand. He might not look much like Captain America right now - a little battered from the fight, the only uniform the shield, but he still has that carriage...that odd mixture of power and confidence and peculiar naivete. What he doesn't point out...is that Tynan, the sniper, is nowhere to be seen. That if he wanted Bucky knocked out and hauled back? It would only take the slightest of signal. She presumably has more of those non-lethals...
Natasha Romanov is simply waiting for Bucky to make his choice. She wants him to come back - wants him *home*, as she put it. But she can;t tell him what to do. If he needs to find himself, then he has every right to do so. Hell, she had done that herself, just a few days ago. Although that involved several bottles of cheap liquor, aka rotgut. "James... Do what you need to do. Just be careful." she whispers.
Once she's released all of that energy up in the air.. Carol drops back down at high speed. She... lands nearby. Not a slam into the ground. A graceful landing. She doesn't want to supercede anyone's authority, but she lends her own version of silent authority. She steps back a half pace and says softly into her comm, "Cap. Might be a good idea to just let him go. It's a trust thing at this point I think. He obviously knows who he is now. We can keep an eye on'im, but if we don't try to force'im in... he may come back to us on his own?" She's kinda just trying psychology 101, via a brainstorm.
The Hulk jumps a little at Pepper's surprise but is glad she seems alright. Now he turns heading back to the group coming up beside Natasha. No he doesn't really know what they are saying here.
Winter Soldier looks to both of them. "I know too." he answers quietly. "But there's still a lot I gotta look into." and when he moves his hand.. it's to raise it in a wave. "..See ya round, Steve." he says, using the other man's name for what might be the first time since he reappeared. He glances to the sketchbook Rescue is holding, but remembers Steve asked for it back. ..It's not his to ask for, so he nods to Natasha instead, and slips off towards the back door. He knows this area well, after all-- he's been hiding out here for days. He doesn't go back for the passport.
Very softly. "Oh, he'll come back. And if there's any flack from the directors, I'll take it." Cap glances at the two extremely dangerous women with him. He *does* know Bucky will come back. When he realizes that they aren't going to force him. When he realizes it's the only way to make sure they never have to be on opposite sides again.
"For what it's worth Cap.." remarks Carol as she steps forward and reaches a hand for his shoulder, "I think you choose your friends well." Her other hand is gesturing to the withdrawing Winter Soldier. "I've seen under the surface on him. He's a good man, forced into an impossible situation. The fact that he didn't just flat melt down when he found out the truth... says volumes about him."
Natasha Romanov looks looks away for a moment at Captain's words, but nods and smiles. "He's... always been strong. I'll keep an eye on him when I can. He needs time to himself. I know how he;s feeling." She waves to James, and pats Hulk on the arm. "Hey big guy." Whatever she's feeling now, she's hiding it.
"The conditioning's broken," Steve says, finally, after a long moment...and not without confidence. Then he turns back to the bunker. "I need to go find my shoes." As if that was suddenly the biggest concern. "...and my wallet." Barefoot, he pads back into the building. Yeah. He needs to get his stuff.
The Hulk looks at Natasha lightly a hand to run it through her hair gently. "Hulk sorry." he mutters out to her words before now running off somewhere...
Rescue turns when Hulk moves toward Natasha, but then sees that the metal armed man -- HUD is pointing at that arm!! -- is preparing to leave. "Wait, um... If you need any help, maybe we can give you a way to reach us?" She fiddles with the forearm of her armor, then produces one of those sleek, tiny pane of glass looking cell phones and offers it to Barnes. "It's a civilian phone. I promise it's not traceable unless you want it to be." It's her own personal phone, which presumably JARVIS is reconfiguring on the spot to the settings that Pepper has just mentioned.
The Soldier hesitates when Rescue catches up. He takes it in hand, and briefly looks puzzled when he pokes it with his metal fingers and nothing happens. "What's this for?"
Rescue lets her suit's faceplate open, revealing Pepper's face. "It's a phone. So you can call Steve or whomever if you feel like it." She glances at the man's metal arm again, but exercises the tact she's used in her many years of business dealings. "It's touch sensitive, so you might want to try with your right hand or a stylus. Or... JARVIS?"
The phone's speakers emit a slightly tinny version of the AI's voice.
"Yes, Miss Potts."
"This is Captain Rogers' friend. Please help him with the phone if he asks, all right?"
"Of course, Miss Potts. Sir, might I have your name?"
The Winter Soldier's eyebrows raise at the phone talking, and he looks up to Pepper as if that was more remarkable to him than the armored suit or it's occupant. He switches hands on the phone.. and hesitates. He finally says, "Barnes.. it's James Buchanan Barnes."
"Thank you, Mr. Barnes. Should you need assistance, simply press and hold the screen, then voice your request. I shall endeavor to render whatever assistance possible."
Pepper smiles at the metal-armed man and doesn't otherwise try to stop him from departing. "And so you know, I'm used to answering phone calls regardless of the hour... in case you ever just want a friendly ear." She's hoping that by offering the clearly unsettled man trust, he'll start to show some in return and maybe ask them for help. She doesn't know his story, though she's mentally filed his name away to do some research, and so has no judgements to reserve.
James Buchanan Barnes nods to Pepper, looking uncertainly at the phone. Even if he didn't know the workings of the screen, he does find and pop out the battery easily enough. Even so..he's apparently keeping it. He heads off, soon disappearing into the city's fringes.