Work Text:
You always knew the safe house would be found at some point. There is a reason why you have five of them. But to think that the person who found the safe house, decided to enter it and snoop around is none other than —
"Fancy meeting you here, Rogers." You wave from your position on the couch, putting the glass of wine down. Steve takes a step back, his hand moving towards the shield strapped to his back. The little notebook you had allowed him to take a peek at is returned to its original position as he readies himself for a potential fight.
"Y/N." He gives you a stiff nod. "Where is Bucky?"
"And why would that be your concern? You haven't exactly checked in for the past…how long has it been since he pulled you out of the Potomac?" You smile at him.
"That doesn't matter. I need to find him, I need to know where he is. Where is he, Y/N?" Steve's voice is strained, and you know exactly why. If your life as an assassin has taught you anything, it's to always be up to date with current events.
"He's not where the world thinks he is, if that's what you're worried about." You frown, before leaning over to pick the glass up so that you can wash it. Steve lets you, but he carefully monitors your every move. You feel his gaze on you, so you take care not to glance at certain spots and continue with what you were doing.
"The world is taking action according to what they believe. I need to know where he is, Y/N." Steve's temper is rising. He's always hated it when people dodge his questions, and you love it when people lose control of their emotions. It makes them easier prey, easier targets.
"And what makes you think the world can catch him? You know as well as I do that when he doesn't want to be found, he won't."
"Then why did you tip me the location of this safe house?" Steve takes a step towards you, but before he can do anything, the door clicks open.
"Hey love, we need to—"
"Leave?" You smile at him. "One step ahead of you already."
Steve exhales, gaze locked with Bucky's. Bucky slowly moves over to stand next to you, breaking eye contact only to glance at you for a moment. You incline your head slightly and he moves towards the floorboard where your bags are hidden beneath. Steve pauses, answering his earpiece but yours and Bucky's enhanced hearing catch everything.
"Such a grandiose reception." You roll your shoulders, grinning. Finally, a fight after such a long time of laying low. You're itching to move again, watch time slow down around you, feel the thrum underneath your skin as your powers activate. Bucky looks a whole lot less enthusiastic about needing to fight again, but you're more than happy to make up for the both of you.
"Neither of you need to fight—" Steve begins but you cut him off, raising your hand. The scent of gunpowder and smoke fills your nose, causing your muscles to spring into action.
"Breach, breach, breach!" A voice shouts. Steve quickly deflects the first grenade, sending it into the fridge. The next one rolls on the floor and Bucky quickly shoves it at Steve who contains the explosion with his shield. You head straight for the door as Bucky uses the mattress to block yet another grenade, kicking the table to jam the door and buy more time for an escape.
It's seamless teamwork. You maneuvering around Bucky's moves as you did all those years ago and Bucky maneuvering around yours and Steve's. Two soldiers crash into the apartment and you groan, muttering about the dwindling number of safe houses you have left before sending a right hook into the chin of the nearest soldier. Bucky punches the other, causing him to stumble onto Steve's shield and Steve pulls the shield from under him. The soldier you're fighting curls his finger around the trigger but you activate your powers first, feeling the familiar rushing in your veins.
You crash into him after releasing your powers, sending the bullets into the ceiling and you swear at the soldier in Romanian, flipping him off before knocking him unconscious.
"So unnecessary," Bucky snorts in Russian before kicking the soldier who entered via the balcony door.
"Absolutely necessary," you retort in the same language, grabbing your bag from its hiding spot.
"Both of you, stop! You're going to kill someone!" Steve shouts, grabbing Bucky by the metal arm since he's the closest but Bucky easily flips him onto his back.
"We're not going to kill anybody."
"Not yet, anyways," you chime in and Bucky shoots you a disapproving look. You shrug, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the balcony and Bucky punches through the wooden floorboards to grab his bag.
"I'm getting concrete floors next time." You huff.
"Bionic metal arm," Bucky grunts, throwing his bag off the balcony onto the roof of the building next door, just as planned.
"Durable concrete —" You're cut off as Bucky pulls you behind him, using his metal arm to block the incoming bullets.
"Get going," he growls, "or you'll have to worry about more than just your floor."
"Sheesh, I'm going." You move, powers activating and slam your foot into back of the incoming soldier's knee after ducking his shots which Bucky blocks with his metal arm. It's easy, carving your way through the horde of soldiers when inside the house, but the funneling the staircase does as well as your lack of weapons is starting to get to you.
Bucky meanwhile has no problem, and neither does Steve. Bucky has a metal arm and Steve has a vibranium shield, so you're calling it unfair. All you have are…well you do have powers so maybe it's not totally unfair.
"You go first." You gesture at the door that stands between you and an entire squad of special forces. Bucky rolls his eyes, elbows you in the ribs before punching through the door with his metal arm, knocking out the soldier at the door.
"Concrete door," you sigh, much to Bucky's amusement and he begins clearing a path in the stairwell. You admire him for a bit, watching the way he efficiently takes down soldier after soldier, using any object in his vicinity to up his odds until Steve bumps your shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll be on it soon." You lazily wave before kicking a walkie talkie from a soldier's hand. "Shh, no cheating."
With a wink, you run down the stairs, taking out whichever soldier Bucky hasn't yet already knocked the wind out of while Steve ensures that no soldier actually dies, much to your amusement.
"Come on, man." Steve sighs at Bucky as he holds onto the soldier who nearly fell all the way to level one. You've never seen Bucky look so frustrated before but it's amusing to you. In response, Bucky grabs you by the waist and uses the railing to grapple the both of you to the next level where another group of soldiers are, sending you flying straight at them.
The soldiers are caught off guard by the amount of swearing and yelling emitting from the object flying at them, giving you ample time to take them out and give Bucky the middle finger, earning yourself a snort of amusement from the assassin.
"I'm throwing you next time."
"You can't."
You slam a fist into the chest of a soldier before casually moving to flip Bucky over your shoulder, right over the railing. He lets out a shout that sounds suspiciously like a Russian swear word and grabs onto the railing to haul himself up. You wave at him from above before jumping and he catches you by the arm on your way down.
"Crazy," he huffs.
"Semi." You glance up at Steve who has yanked his shield out of the wall. Bucky sneaks in a quick peck to your cheek before heading for the exit, with you following close behind. Something doesn't feel right, it's almost like there's a hint of an extra scent, but you're not sure if it's something one of the soldiers sprayed to throw you off.
Bucky does a running start before jumping, landing on the roof of the next building. He gestures at you, arms open and ready to catch you like he always is. You inhale deeply, half-regretting coming up with this escape plan with him. You don't have enhanced strength of speed, you just have enhanced senses which doesn't help you in the slightest in this situation, but you run anyways, and then skid to a halt.
Something black shoots out of nowhere and crashes into Bucky, sending them both tumbling. There goes your safety net, you sure as hell aren't going to break your legs for this. There has to be another way, some safer way of getting to that roof where the mysterious newcomer and Bucky are wrestling. Footsteps sound behind you and you whirl around, ready to fight but relax, seeing as it's just Steve.
"Stuck up here?" He chuckles.
"No serum." You shrug.
"I'll get you some aerial support." He lets Sam know about your situation before leaping to the next building to join the fight. You groan, despising how you're being left behind and hear the sound of the Falcon approaching.
"Well look who's here," Sam drawls, clearly delighting in your plight.
"I'll tear your wings apart, bird brain."
"Then you won't get a ride to where your boyfriend is."
"He's not my boyfriend."
"Sure he isn't. That's why you live together, eat together, breathe together."
"Breathe together?"
"Did I stutter? Come on, let's go rescue your edgy boyfriend."
"He's not my —" Your words are snatched away by the wind as Sam whisks you into the sky, and then throws you at the mysterious newcomer.
You have two pennies now for each time you've been thrown today. And you hate that. But first, the black suited person who's currently trying to claw your boyfriend's eyes out. Wait, hold on, he's not your boyfriend. Is he?
Eyes flashing golden, you slam into the newcomer with a snarl, pinning their arms to the ground. "Watch it, he's mine."
Ok, he's your boyfriend now.
"Down!" Bucky shouts in Russian, pushing you out of the way just as a hail of bullets rains down onto the newcomer. They bounce off the newcomer's suit like rubber bullets and you quietly swear.
"Why does everyone have such insane equipment?!"
"You can see into the future," Bucky grunts softly. "Come on."
He grabs his bag and your hand, pulling you along as he jumps onto a ledge. The screech of metal tearing apart concrete hits your ears and you glance up. The newcomer is still hot in pursuit. Well, that's annoying. Peering over the ledge, you realise the drop is rather long and inhale sharply.
"I'm not surviving that drop." You look at Bucky, worried. "That fella seems to be after you alone, you go ahead. I'll catch up. I don't want to slow you down."
"You won't." He presses a kiss to your forehead. "We'll get through this together."
He easily scoops you up in a bridal carry and jumps, the newcomer following close behind as they continue sliding down the side of the building. Your fingernails dig into his shoulder, breath catching in your throat as the wind whistles, but you know Bucky won't let you fall. He never has, and never will.
When the both of you hit the ground, he puts you down and gently nudges you forward "Run."
You don't need to be told twice. Bucky easily pulls ahead thanks to his super soldier serum but he constantly glances back to make sure you're alright. The newcomer moves with grace, their footsteps light as they sprint after Bucky, not paying any attention to you.
Well that's something they're going to regret.
Activating your powers, you track the golden afterimages that appear before releasing it and lunge at where the second golden afterimage once was, barreling into the newcomer. They grunt, twisting around to throw you off but you cling on, aiming a kick to the back of their knee. The impact doesn't phase the newcomer, much to your annoyance but it does slow them down enough for Bucky to gain some distance and for Steve to catch up.
Bucky glances back, mouth open as he begins to move towards you but more bullets rain down and he ducks, jumping into hole that leads to a busy road. The newcomer takes advantage of your lapse in concentration and throws you off before continuing their chase.
Steve grabs you by the collar of your shirt. "Trust me."
"Not much choice," you huff. "What do you want me to do?"
"Stand down, and let me handle this. Please, Y/N."
"I might not have enhanced physicality but I'm not leaving Bucky behind." You take off, running after the other two. "But I won't get in your way."
"That works," Steve sighs before giving chase as well.
In the tunnel, Steve easily overtakes you, steals a police car and yanks you into it. "Drive!"
You don't need to be told twice. Flooring the accelerator, you cut through the traffic with ease, gaze trained on the faint figure of Bucky up ahead. You let your senses expand, tracking the scents of both the newcomer and Bucky, listening for any and every sound cue.
"Behind. Left." Your eyes glow golden then fade back to their normal colour. Steve turns, just as a black figure lands on the car.
"Please don't kill anyone." Steve grips onto the car door.
"Won't." You veer the car sharply to the left, attempting to throw the figure off but they cling on, securing their hold on the car boot. Clicking your tongue in annoyance, your mind races for more ways to throw the figure off when you hear sirens.
"Behind you!" Sam calls into Steve's earpiece and you grin. Perfect. You swerve into the lane where the police cars are driving and slam the breaks, causing your car to collide with the police cars behind. The figure leaps away before the collision can happen, much to your chagrin and you lose track of Bucky.
Shit.
You focus on the faint threads of his scent that are being overpowered by the smell of burning rubber, sighing in relief when you catch the thread. He's still alright, and not too far away. Flooring the accelerator once more, you hear the light thump as the figure jumps back onto the car. Ignoring it this time around, you follow the trail of Bucky's scent, driving through the barricade of barrels.
Steve contacts Sam about something but you're more focused on catching up with Bucky and shaking off the figure clad in black. You don't like the metal claws that protrude from their fingertips and you don't like the fact that they're trying to rip Bucky to shreds. Their athletic ability is giving you way too much trouble, and today's quickly turning into a terrible day.
Then the scent's direction changes and Bucky shoots past you on a motorcycle, causing you to floor the accelerator harder. You can deal with the figure later when you get the chance, right now you just need to get to Bucky. After you've assured yourself that he's indeed alright, you can resume fighting.
A thump shakes you out of your thoughts and you growl. The figure gracefully leaps from your car towards Bucky, dodging Steve's attempt to grab them by the ankle. Your instincts scream for you to lunge forwards and tackle the figure but you're steering the car. Steve's life is also in your hands and Bucky would be mad if you harmed Steve. You just need to trust that Bucky can handle himself and do what you can, which right now would be to simply catch up with the duo.
Still, you activate your powers, relieved when you see Bucky's golden afterimage break away from the figure's. You hear the roar of Sam's wings as the Falcon swoops low behind your car when Steve shouts out a warning. The figure leaps from car to car, grabbing onto Sam and you smell concentrated gunpowder.
Explosive.
A loud bang goes off moments later and you swear, pulling the car over just as rubble falls. Steve leaps out of the car, pulling you along and throws you at the figure standing over Bucky who's on the ground looking up.
"Three!" You howl, tackling the figure to the ground. "Three pennies! I'm not even that light!"
The figure grunts in surprise but kicks you off. You roll towards Bucky who quickly pulls you next to him, eyes narrowed. Steve stands beside him, ready to fight and you crouch, muscles bunched. You might not have your trusty pistols on you right now but you sure as hell are willing to fist fight. Steve raises an arm to block you both, keeping his gaze trained on the figure.
Sirens fill the air once again as the police surround you and the sound of a suit of armour cuts through it all as War Machine lands, repulsors charging up.
"Stand down, now." He aims one repulsor per party as special forces pile out of the car, rifles trained on all four of you. Your gaze darts around, searching for an escape route but it's rather impossible. There's no opening, and the slightest movement will set off the trigger fingers. You might be able to get out alone but you have Bucky and Steve to think about. Oh, and Sam too. You owe it to him for helping out back then.
Steve puts his shield away and War Machine names him a criminal. You make a face, lowering your guard in surrender but immediately snarl, hackles raised when the soldiers roughly shove Bucky to his knees. You're already taking a step towards him when Steve pulls you back by the shoulder, giving a small shake of his head.
"Let. Go." The words rumble in your chest. "I'm going to —"
"I know what you're going to do. Don't, for his sake and yours." Steve says softly, eyes pleading.
"They —"
"They won't hurt him, I promise."
"I'll kill them if they do," you grunt but raise your hands in surrender. The figure clad in black raises their hands to remove their mask, revealing themselves to be King T'Challa of Wakanda.
"Your Highness," War Machine acknowledges. Bucky grunts from his position on the floor and you hiss softly. No wonder he was chasing Bucky down with no regard given to you, he wanted the man he believes killed his father dead.
"Touch him and king or not, I'll kill you." You can't stop yourself from spitting. "I'm the Hunter and I always catch my prey."