Chapter Text
1
Hostage Rescue
Like the New Avengerz, not officially certified but almost, they had plenty of missions to complete. Sure, the “real Avengers,” as Bucky stubbornly called them, were called in for “real missions,” not petty little tasks like hostage retrieval.
“No, Bobby, we’re not speeding!” John hissed into the phone, holding onto the car’s handle. “We’re driving like a 90-year-old grandma, so you don’t have to worry.” He tried to reassure him when the sound of a horn interrupted the call.
“NO! No, Bobby, everything’s fine, it’s just Alexei- he doesn’t know how to drive!”
“What!? I’m a driving instructor, look! Not even a scratch on the car!”
“Look ahead, damn it!” The tires screeched on the asphalt. “I have to go now, bye, yes, bye Bobby, no… no! We don’t want soup tonight!” John looked at the group. “Yes, okay, we’ll talk when we get back, bye!” He hung up and sighed.
Yelena giggled, glancing at the seat next to hims. “Did Bob want soup?”
“Yes, because it’s cold, but it’s Saturday! And then I’ll come back starving from the mission, and I don’t want some stupid soup!”
“Of course not, John, pizza is a must on Saturday!” Ava teased him while adjusting one of her tracking devices.
“That’s what I’m saying!” The blonde huffed.
Bucky smiled. “We’re almost at the pickup point. Sam sent me the necessary details.”
“Uh, is your boyfriend still keeping an eye on us?” Yelena teased, touching his hair.
“He’s not my boyfriend, and yes, since we’re a gang of misfits.”
“Hey, speak for yourself, buddy!”
“Yeah, speak for yourself, buddy, I’m a hero!” Alexei slammed the van’s brakes, parking at the pickup point.
“We’re here, маленькие герои!” They all got out of the van and took position.
“Thunderbolts!” Sergeant Holt stepped forward, greeting them with a salute.
They all greeted him, slightly embarrassed by the name but a bit relieved that he hadn’t used the ridiculous title Alexei had been promoting.
“Wilson gave us the details, but we don’t know how many hostages are inside the building.” Bucky stepped forward, moving his mechanical arm, noticing the Sergeant’s grimace.
“It doesn’t look like just a hostage retrieval anymore, Burnes.”
“What?” John loaded his weapon.
“It looks like there’s someone in there who’s not human.” He handed them an organizational tablet, which lit up with a picture of a woman—brunette, black hollow eyes, a gaunt face, and cracked lips, caught in motion by the base’s surveillance cameras.
“She’s called Desirè Malvoglia, looks like an inhuman.” Ava looked up. “And what does that mean for us?”
“She seems to work alone, she’s robbed several banks already, but this time she’s aiming higher, and she doesn’t seem ready to stop.” He sighed when they looked at him. “We asked for you to be here, Wilson…”
“Sam didn’t know about the inhuman, right?” Bucky looked at Holt with hard eyes. “If he had known, he would’ve come himself, and we would still be excluded.” He slammed the tablet against Holt’s chest.
“Excuse me, Sergeant, but I don’t work like this. We…” He gestured to the group, “don’t work like this. I won’t lie to Wilson to cover some strange idea of Val’s.” He turned to walk away when a hand grabbed his arm. Yelena was looking at him.
“Give us a second, would you?” Ava shot a look at the Sergeant, who nodded and walked away.
“Bucky…” The dark-haired man shook his arm, freeing himself from her soft grip.
“No, Yelena, you don’t understand, I made a promise…”
“Okay, Bucky, I wasn’t saying anything!” She hurried to say. “We’ve got your back, we’ll go back to the tower, and then we’ll talk to Valentina.” Everyone nodded in agreement, even John, who usually loved going against government orders when there was hero work to be done.
Bucky felt a bit lighter for a moment. He had always thought he would end up alone after losing Steve—abandoned in an apartment with all his legacy spent on alcohol or worse—but fortunately, someone still cared about him and his repressed feelings. He nodded silently, ready to get back in the car, when a voice stopped them.
“If you’re leaving, we should call plan B!” Holt was watching them, phone in hand.
“Do what you want, Sergeant, we’ll get out of your way!” John climbed into the van, while the others got in. “Call us when you decide to stop lying to the next person!” Alexei honked the horn as a farewell, driving away from the base, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Holt sighed.
“You hear that?” The phone lit up with Valentina’s voice. “Of course I heard, I’m not deaf. Plan B’s already on the way, keep that inhuman contained for a few more hours.” With that, she hung up.
The Sergeant rubbed his face, wishing they paid him better for this crap.
-TB-
“He’s not answering.” Yelena hung up yet another call, looking worried. She’d been trying to call Bob ever since they left the base in the desert a few hours ago, and no one had answered.
“Maybe he fell asleep, I noticed some big black bags under his eyes.” Ava reached out and placed a hand on the blonde’s shoulder. “I’m sure he’s fine. As soon as we get back, we can scold him for making us worry.” She smiled and refocused on her computer.
Yelena nodded, unconvinced, and exchanged a glance with John. Since they’d all moved into the tower, she and John had grown closer, bound by a gravitational force pulling them toward Bob; whether it was Yelena’s twin-like bond or John’s camaraderie, both had grown overly protective of the younger man, almost smothering him, each in their own way.
“Yeah, I’m sure he’s fine.” John stretched. “Or maybe he just has his phone on silent, you know he hates the loud alarms. He probably turned it too low by mistake.” Bucky and Alexei nodded, and the silence settled in the van.
“Music!” Alexei turned on the radio, trying to lighten the mood of his four “kids,” starting Katy Perry’s “Firework.” “Ah, American music!”
“Ugh, no, Alexei!” Yelena tried to change the song, but Bucky moved her hand, surprising the group.
“What’s wrong? Sam’s nephews like this singer…” He tried to defend himself, looking away and blushing at the others’ teasing and laughter.
They stopped to grab dinner—pizza for everyone and soup for Bob, and also a pizza, insisted by Alexei (“That guy’s too skinny! He needs mass to be a strong hero!”)—and a dessert to cheer up Bucky before the upcoming talk with Sam. They all joked about their relationship, but they rarely heard them argue intensely. When they did, Bucky became moody and touchy. Only a late-night visit to Sam’s house could bring him back to a good mood.
They ascended the tower, and within minutes, they were in the common area, dim and empty, lit only by the city lights.
“Huh, strange, it’s only 10:00 PM.” John set the pizzas and beret on the counter and moved toward the rooms.
“Bob? Bobby? We’re back and we’ve got your stupid soup!” He disappeared into the hallway, vanishing into the dark.
They turned on the lights, kicking off their shoes and coats.
John returned empty-handed, with a confused look.
“What’s going on, cat got your tongue?” Alexei joked as he grabbed a slice of pizza. “Gross, at least wash your hands!” Ava threw a wet wipe at him, and the man reluctantly wiped his hands, muttering something in russian.
“No, uh, Bobby’s not here.” The group stared at him, the room fell silent.
“What?” Yelena immediately moved toward the other room, while the others stood up.
“Okay, don’t panic, maybe he just went for a walk…” Ava’s words sounded stupid even to her own ears.
“In the dark? He’s afraid of the dark, Ava!” John sat heavily on the couch, taking his head in his hands before grabbing his phone and redialing the young man, while Yelena returned with Bob’s phone in hand.
“Let me guess, he’s not answering.” Bucky tried, and Yelena nodded, her eyes worried.
“Maybe he’s just somewhere else in the building, this place is a maze…” John looked up and noticed Bob’s phone in Yelena’s hands. “Shit.” He threw his phone across the room, destroying it.
The group fell into silence, already a thousand plans and theories whirling in their minds when Bucky’s phone rang; it was Sam.
Wavering, he answered the call. “Sam, sorry, not now, Bob—”
“Turn on the TV, Buck.” Sam’s voice was calm, but Bucky knew his friend well enough to hear the panic hidden beneath the calm.
He quickly approached the TV and turned it on. It was on a cartoon channel. Bob had clearly been watching TV before disappearing.
“Uh, yeah, what channel?”
“Any of them, it’s on all the news channels.” He put the phone on speaker and switched channels, almost unable to breathe.
There, illuminated by the lights, was the base where they had been called just hours earlier.
“Sam…” Bucky tried, with a lump in his throat. “Sam, I swear, we had nothing to do with this…”
“I know, Buck, it’s okay.” Sam sighed on the other end, “what’s going on, Wilson?” John stepped forward, speaking into the mic.
“I don’t know, Walker, they called me for a hostage retrieval, but…” Sam sighed again, and Bucky’s heart broke. He sounded so exhausted. “There were no hostages to retrieve…” The words left the entire room stunned. Bucky hung up and immediately connected the computer to Sam’s number for a video call. When Sam answered, he looked as Bucky had imagined—tired, worn out, and maybe a little thinner than the last time they saw each other.
“Wilson, you’re a mess.” John greeted him, trying to sound cheerful, and Sam smiled.
“I could say the same about you, Walker.” Sam smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and Bucky’s heart broke just a little bit more.
“As I was saying, I was called in with the others for a hostage retrieval, but when we arrived, the base was empty, and it looked like no fight had occurred inside.” Yelena raised an eyebrow.
“Strange, they said there was an inhuman inside, and that she was very clever, according to Sergeant Holt.” The blonde sat on the couch, still clutching Bob’s phone.
“That’s what we thought too, but there was no sign of any inhuman. Just some people they let out before we got there, but…” Sam seemed to regret something for a second, just before an image flashed on the screen. “This is what, according to Joaquin, was left of the woman.”
It was a photo of a dark shadow on the concrete floor. That’s all. The whole room fell into a cold panic.
“Sam…”
“I know, Buck…”
It didn’t take much to understand the severity of the situation.
“It’s not possible, he—” John stood up and almost collapsed due to his shaking legs. “He called me before we reached the base. He sounded calm, maybe a bit worried, but that’s just his nature.” No one paid him any attention. Sam looked at them with sympathy. Bucky cared deeply for this crazy team and had told them about shy Bob, his heavy, fragmented past, his problems, and him—the entity now illegally occupying the young man’s mind.
Sam had even stepped forward to meet him, but Bob’s solitary and fearful nature had made him back off more than once.
Yelena jumped to her feet, marching toward the elevator.
“Where are you going, Лена?” Alexei stepped in front of her to stop her.
“Move, you know exactly where I’m going.” Yelena passed him and called the elevator.
“Yeah, and when you’re with her, what will you do? Punch her in her stupid face?” Ava stood next to the blonde. “As much as I like that idea, we need a plan. That bitch is too smart, she’s probably already hidden all the evidence.”
Yelena huffed and passed her just before the doors opened, leaving her frozen in place.
“Bob…” She murmured, looking at the young man, slumped against the side of the elevator, vaguely conscious. The lights painted long shadows across his ashen face. The voice caught everyone’s attention, and they turned toward the elevator.
“Bobby…” John moved quickly, the man’s legs giving out beneath him, and he dropped to the floor like a puppet without strings. The soldier jumped forward, lifting the light-haired man into his arms and laying him down on the ground and out of sight before the doors closed behind them.
“Well, what the hell, Bucky.” He and Sam exchanged a look before ending the call.