Chapter Text
“I don’t need an escort to the airport,” Fury complained from the backseat. “I would have drawn less attention if I would have gone alone.”
“Captain’s orders,” Natasha replied. She secretly liked having the upper hand on Fury now that he wasn’t Shield director. “Don’t worry, once you’re on the plane, you’re on your own.”
“You have a bounty on your head,” Bucky said from the driver’s seat. “You didn’t want to stay at the compound, so this is the least we can do. We don’t want you getting into an accident like in DC.”
“I wonder who was involved in that?” Fury asked sarcastically. They were referring to when Bucky was still known as the Winter Soldier and had tried to kill the former director. Barnes obviously no longer wanted to kill him, but he still felt guilty.
“This isn’t my first rodeo,” Fury added. “I’ve had people try to kill me for years.”
Nat rolled her eyes. “That’s why you shouldn’t be complaining. Let us handle it for once.”
Fury simply grunted in response. He still wasn’t used to trusting others, especially when it came to his safety. But if he had to rely on someone, it would be the Avengers.
“You were supposed to get out here,” Nat said as she noticed Bucky missed their exit on the freeway.
“There’s construction,” he pointed out. “We’ll get out on the next one.”
None of them found it odd until they came upon another obstacle. Various men in orange vests were blocking the road and redirecting traffic. One of them approached Bucky’s window as they got closer.
“What’s the problem?” Bucky asked him. This was the main road to the airport, so something bad must have happened for it to be closed. Everyone was feeling uneasy. Nat and Fury subtly reached for their guns, and Bucky flexed his left hand.
“There was an accident up ahead,” the man replied. “Some type of chemical spilled, and it’s best if we keep everyone away while we clean it up.”
“I don’t see any other emergency vehicles nearby,” Bucky pointed out. Normally there would be a few first responders nearby in case someone got hurt. The lack of paramedics and police contradicted the man’s story.
“I guess there isn’t,” the man responded casually.
He pulled out a gun and aimed at Bucky’s face, but the supersoldier grabbed the barrel with his metal arm, blocking the bullet from reaching its destination. Bucky then leaned back as Natasha shot the man.
“It’s an ambush,” Bucky announced as the other “construction workers” pulled out their weapons and fired at their vehicle.
“No shit!” Fury hissed.
The car was bulletproof, protecting them from the onslaught of bullets, but it wouldn’t hold up forever. They needed to find a way out of there and contact backup so they could be extracted.
“A team is on their way,” the vehicle’s AI told them.
“They better get here quick,” Nat said.
Fury took out the heavy-duty guns hidden in the back and handed one to Bucky and Natasha. He then pushed down one of the seats and crawled towards the back of the car. “We’re sitting ducks here. Let’s go!”
Natasha and Bucky followed after him and took cover behind a different vehicle. Most of the civilians in the area had run out of their cars and ran away once the shooting started.
“If we try to run, we’ll be out in the open,” Bucky said as shot back at their assailants.
“Our best bet is to wait for backup,” Nat agreed.
“Who are these guys?”
“Mercenaries for hire. Hitmen. Someone I pissed off. The list of people willing to kill me is endless,” Fury told him.
They were unexpectedly pushed to the ground as the car they were in earlier was blown to pieces. Their ears started ringing, but they were able to see a figure walk through the smoke. They were wearing light tactical gear as they slowly approached the trio, a grenade launcher at their side. Their face was covered in a black mask.
“I don’t know who they are, but they’re definitely not planning on taking us alive,” Fury said. He helped Natasha to her feet and led her further into the maze of cars on the freeway.
Bucky fired at the masked individual in hopes of slowing them down. He’s rarely ever missed a shot, yet it was like the bullets were bouncing off the mercenary. They just kept walking forward.
Annoyed, the mercenary shot their weapon, forcing Bucky to jump out of the way unless he wanted to be reduced to a stain on the ground.
“I don’t like them,” Bucky murmured as he staggered to his feet. He looked over and saw that the mercenary had turned their attention towards Natasha and Fury.
“Nat!” Bucky shouted. “Watch out!”
The redhead turned and saw the masked mercenary turn towards her. She handed Nick her gun and took out their handgun. “I’ll handle this.”
Before Fury could go do anything Nat jumped on the hood of a nearby car and raised her gun. She fired a shot at the mercenary, aiming for their head.
The bullet hit its mark, but all it did was make them stagger, and it knocked the mask off their face. Now looking directly at their (E/C) eyes, Natasha fired again and hit her mark once more.
The mercenary's head snapped back, but instead of falling onto the ground, they slowly glared at Natasha. The bullet had harmlessly ricocheted off their skin.
Caught off guard, Natasha would have been blown to bits if Bucky hadn’t slammed into the mercenary, tackling them to the ground. Their weapon went flying to the ground as the supersoldier pinned them and then started hitting them with his metal arm. Bucky tried knocking them out but it was like hitting a steel wall. He wasn’t leaving a scratch on their skin.
Further annoyed by his attempts the mercenary caught his metal appendage and turned the tables. With the upper hand, they landed several swift hits to Bucky’s face as he struggled to defend himself. Bucky would describe the experience as repeatedly being hit by a sledgehammer.
“Only I am allowed to hit Barnes like that.” Before the mercenary could fully acknowledge the new voice, they are pushed off by a red and gold blur and sent flying into the side of a car.
Bucky was helped up by a familiar face. “Steve?”
“We came as fast as we could,” Steve said as he ushered Bucky into cover.
“Watch your back,” Fury, who had been keeping the other mercenaries at bay, shouted. “The main one is enhanced. Romanoff put two bullets in their head and they walked it off.”
“Let’s see if they can come back from this.” Tony aimed his repulsors but the mercenary dodged.
They seemed to get ready to charge at Stark but then paused. They put a hand on their ear, most likely listening into a comms device. They then glared at the Avengers as they turned and started to leave. Their associates doing the same thing.
Tony flew after them but they managed to disappear. The Avengers were left on an empty freeway, wondering what had just happened.
“Who was that?” Natasha asked.
“Don’t know,” Fury told her. “But I doubt that’s the last we’ll see of them.”