Chapter 53

“So that’s the long and short of it,” Bucky said, staring down into his cup of coffee. “Seventy goddamn years as their pet assassin.”

God, Steve couldn’t even imagine. Coming out of the ice after seventy years had been bad enough, but being trapped inside his own mind?

By comparison, Steve had gotten off easy.

He placed a reassuring hand on Bucky’s shoulder.

Coulson shifted slightly across the table. “I know this isn’t easy, Sergeant Barnes, but if you remember anything we can use against HYDRA, anything at all, now would be a good time to tell us. Time is of the essence.”

“Maybe we should take a breather first,” Steve interjected. “You should get some real sleep before we start—”

Bucky let out a dark laugh.

“Sleep?” He scowled as he slammed his coffee cup onto the table. “I’ve gotten decades of that already.”

Steve winced.

Bucky stared at him for a moment before some of the anger drained from his expression. He sighed and rubbed a hand across his face.

“Sorry. I know that’s not what you meant.” His expression hardened again. “But I’m not going to sit here while they’re still out there. Steve, they’re plotting something. Every minute we waste gives them more time.”

Steve frowned.

Part of him was screaming that Bucky needed rest. Real rest. He had been free for less than a day after decades of torture and brainwashing.

But another part of him understood exactly where Bucky was coming from.

Steve squeezed his shoulder and smiled faintly. “Just like old times, then.”

Bucky stared at him for a second before a small smile tugged at his lips.

“Yeah. Just like old times.”

He turned back toward Coulson.

“All right, I wasn’t briefed on every detail of every mission, but I remember plenty of bases they used me at. Picked up a lot of passcodes and faces, too. I know about several hits you could probably unearth, and—”

Steve had to hold back a snort. He could practically see the sparkles in Sharon and Coulson’s eyes as they hurriedly wrote down everything Bucky was saying.

Coulson gave a firm nod. “Much appreciated, Sergeant Barnes. This information could be essential in taking HYDRA down.”

“Oh, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.” Bucky leaned forward slightly. “I don’t have all the details, but…” A grin slowly spread across his face as he clenched his metal fist. “I heard a little about some secret project they’ve got in development at a Siberian Facility. I was supposed to head there after Wakanda.”

Coulson’s expression sharpened.

“They’re cooking up something big there. From what I heard, it’s the whole lynchpin between HYDRA and those Skrulls. Take that out, and the whole thing will go to shit. So let’s go.”

“An assault?” Coulson asked. “I don’t mean to disparage either of your abilities, but isn’t that a bit…”

“Arrogant? Hasty?” Bucky finished with a snort. “I’d agree a hundred percent normally, but we’ve got…” He jerked his head toward the other side of the room. “Weirdo Number One over there.”

Everyone turned.

Somehow, they had completely forgotten about the strange young man sitting nearby.

“Hi!” He waved cheerfully. “Nice to meet you again, Cap. Name’s Jack.”

Steve blinked at him as he recognized the voice.

“You’re the clown guy?”

“For the record, there was a perfectly good reason for that.”

“Sure…” Steve said slowly. He glanced back toward Coulson. “So how exactly are we supposed to hit a heavily guarded HYDRA facility without blowing SHIELD’s cover?”

“Well…” Jack’s grin widened. “First, we’ve got to go see the wizard.”

Steve stared at him. 

Was that supposed to be a Wizard of Oz reference? 

“He’s joking, right?”

Steve looked toward Bucky.

His friend didn’t answer. Bucky simply lifted his coffee and took a long, slow sip.

“...Right?”

Bucky lowered the cup with a tired sigh.

“The world is fucking weird, Steve…”

—

There was some heated discussion before we left. Sharon and Coulson had both tried to talk the two supersoldiers down, but Steve and Bucky seemed to be raring to go.

So, after a reluctant send-off from the two agents, we headed for the New York Sanctum.

As much as I would’ve loved to stick around and watch Captain America go wide-eyed at every spell, I wanted to deal with this now.

Bucky had already given me the rundown on the facility, and I really didn’t like what I’d heard.

The Siberian Facility on this Earth had been home to the Winter Soldier Program as well. Unlike its MCU counterpart, though, this one had never really been forgotten. As far as Bucky knew, it was still an active HYDRA research base, and lately there had been a lot of new movement there.

Considering they’d planned to bring Shuri there, that was already worrying enough.

But it was the last two names Bucky mentioned that really set off the alarm bells.

Nathaniel Essex and Bolivar Trask had both been invited to work there.

That was a shitshow waiting to happen.

I couldn’t be sure which variants of them I was dealing with, but having two potentially insane X-Men villains working alongside HYDRA was never going to end well.

So burning the place down with fire and brimstone sounded like a pretty damn good plan.

Either way, the place had to go. So cashing in my favour was part of the course.

Another portal opened, and a begrudging Logan came walking through.

“Thanks for coming.” I nodded toward him.

Logan waved me off. “I owed you one, kid.”

He paused when he noticed Steve, then gave a low whistle.

“Hell… I heard you were alive, but it’s still crazy seeing you up and running, Cap. Damn good to see you.”

Logan offered his hand.

Steve blinked before accepting the handshake. “Have we met?”

“Not personally.” Logan chuckled. “But I remember seeing one of those fancy little shows they had you doing back then, when they were using you as a prop.”

“You served?” Steve asked, clearly baffled. “How old are—”

As much as I would’ve loved to hear the rest of that conversation, I wanted to get moving.

I turned toward Wong. “Portal ready?”

Wong nodded. “Apologies. I couldn’t get you any closer, but the Masters thought—”

“It’s fine. Not tipping HYDRA off that magic is involved is probably for the best.”

Wong smiled faintly before sweeping his hand through the air.

A portal snapped open in front of us, revealing a vast, snow-covered landscape on the other side.

I let out a deep breath as I pulled out my lightsaber. It sucked that Anna wasn’t here, but she was busy following up on the Hand.

Still, two supersoldiers and Wolverine seemed like more than enough backup.

“You ready?” I asked, turning toward my new, slightly wayward team.

“I’ve been killing assholes longer than you’ve been alive, bub.” Logan scoffed as he pulled on the ski mask I’d bought him.

Steve and Bucky were dressed similarly, both wearing black long-sleeved shirts and masks. It was an annoying bit of preparation, but keeping HYDRA from realizing SHIELD was onto them was pretty damn important.

“You gonna be all right without the shield, Cap?” I asked.

Steve smiled faintly. “I’ve still got these.”

He raised both fists.

I couldn’t help but snort.

“Well, then. Let’s go beat up some fucking Nazis!”

That seemed to resonate with all three of them. Grins slowly spread across their faces.

Time to fight.

—

There had been some contention as we debated how to approach the base. But ultimately, the empty terrain and limited entrances meant we all agreed on one approach.

Violence.

I took off across the snow.

Gunfire erupted almost immediately.

Bullets tore through the air as HYDRA soldiers poured out from behind barricades and reinforced positions around the entrance. There were a hell of a lot more of them than Bucky had warned us about, and these weren’t just random mooks carrying old assault rifles.

Half of them were armed to the teeth with those fancy energy weapons HYDRA seemed so fond of.

A blue bolt screamed toward my chest.

I blinked.

The world lurched, and I reappeared twenty feet ahead just as the blast struck the spot where I’d been standing. Snow exploded into the air behind me.

Another blink.

Then another.

I raced across the flat white plain, teleporting every few steps as bullets and energy blasts chased after me. Every blink brought me closer to the entrance while making it damn near impossible for the HYDRA goons to keep their sights on me.

An energy bolt flew straight towards my eye.

I vanished again at just the last moment.

The next, I appeared directly in front of the nearest barricade.

The HYDRA soldier behind it barely had time to widen his eyes before I slammed a boot into his chest. He went flying backward into two of his buddies, sending all three crashing into the snow.

I kept moving.

Another soldier swung his rifle toward me.

Blink.

I appeared behind him and drove my lightsaber through the back of his helmet.

He dropped instantly.

More gunfire erupted from the entrance ahead, bullets and energy blasts tearing across the snow in my direction.

I grinned beneath my mask and vanished again.

They had a small army between us and that door.

Unfortunately for them, I was getting really good at teleporting.

In the middle of all the chaos, I caught sight of Logan tearing through his side of the battlefield with almost insulting ease.

Gunfire hammered across the snow as he charged straight through it, barely bothering to dodge. Bullets punched into his body, only for the wounds to close almost as quickly as they appeared. One HYDRA soldier tried to swing an energy rifle toward him.

Logan was already there.

His claws flashed, sending the weapon spinning one way while the soldier collapsed with three bloody gashes across his throat. 

Yeah, he definitely had that side covered.

More importantly, the distraction at the front was working exactly as planned.

Between blinks, I glanced toward the main entrance and caught sight of Steve and Bucky slipping through the doors while most of HYDRA’s attention remained firmly fixed on us.

Good.

I trusted the two should be able to handle whatever was waiting for them inside.

Which meant it was time for us to clean house out here.

I vanished and reappeared beside Logan just as he finished cutting down another HYDRA goon. He gave his claws a sharp flick, sending droplets of blood scattering across the white ground.

“Feeling tired?” I asked.

“Hah.” Logan rolled his shoulders. “Just getting started.”

I snorted.

By now, most of the remaining soldiers seemed to have lost their enthusiasm for the fight.

A few still had their weapons raised, but none of them were actually firing. They stood scattered around the barricades and entrance, staring at the two of us with expressions ranging from terrified to completely fucking defeated.

Honestly, I couldn’t blame them.

They had just watched one guy teleport through an entire firing line while another casually regenerated from everything they threw at him.

Not exactly great for morale.

I raised my lightsaber slightly.

“So…” I glanced around at the remaining HYDRA soldiers. “Anybody want to make the smart decision and surrender?”

A few of them actually looked tempted.

Then a heavy chopping sound echoed across the frozen landscape.

Logan tilted his head upward.

I followed his gaze.

Several dark shapes were rapidly growing larger against the gray sky. 

“Oh, come on.”

A squadron of Quinjet-looking aircraft came screaming over the distant ridge, beelining straight toward the base. Their undersides were packed with weapons, and I could already see compartments opening along their wings.

The surviving HYDRA soldiers immediately perked up.

I stared at the incoming aircraft for a moment.

“Well, shit.”

Logan’s claws slid back out with a metallic snikt.

“Had to tempt fate, didn’t you, kid?”

“…Totally not my fault.”

I sighed and tightened my grip on the lightsaber.

A barrage of missiles suddenly launched from one of the jets, streaking straight toward us. My hand shot toward Logan’s shoulder.

Teleporting while dragging him around would be a pain in the ass, so maybe we should just get inside and—

I blinked.

The missiles had stopped.

They hung motionless in midair, suspended only a few dozen feet above us.

“Long time no see, Logan,” an older voice called out.

I slowly looked up.

An elderly man wearing a red helmet floated above us on a metal disc, a woman standing beside him.

He casually lifted one hand.

The missiles whipped backward.

A second later, the approaching jets groaned violently as their metal frames began twisting in on themselves. Wings bent, hulls crumpled, and entire aircraft folded like aluminum cans before dropping toward the snow.

The old man glanced down at us with faint amusement.

“Of all the places to find you, Logan.”

I stared up at him.

Magneto.

***

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