"The devil whispers,
'you cannot withstand the storm'.
The warrior replies,
'I am the storm'."

BUCKY

Bucky wasted no time and pointed his gun at the woman's head. "Open the cuffs," he seethed, his voice thick with pure, unadulterated rage. He was actually hoping she'd test his bluff.

The doctor did as she was told, unlocking the cuffs on Nadine's feet first, then her wrists. Bucky was about to tell her to step back when Nadine's eyes shot open. Before anyone could react, she grabbed a knife off of the tray and lunged at the doctor, grabbing her hair. She didn't hesitate to plunge the knife in her. The doctor yelled something incoherent before she stopped, blood spilling all over Nadine as the woman collapsed on top of her. She shoved the body off of her, and as it collapsed onto the floor, he noticed a knife deep in the woman's eye.

"Nadine," Bucky whispered in disbelief. He felt like the haze he'd been under for the past few days had been completely shattered. Not only Nadine was alive, but she was awake and swinging.

She gave no indication that she heard him and instead cried out and clutched her right thigh. Bucky now took note of her swollen knee and foot. It must have been affected by the sudden movement. He couldn't concentrate, though, because he also noticed her bandaged fingers, her bruised collarbone, her swollen eye and scabbing lip... Oh God.

A part of him was heartbroken that it had taken them three weeks to find her. The other part knew, however, that he couldn't express that heartbreak right now. He merely concentrated on the fact that Nadine was alive.

She was alive. She was awake. He repeated that over and over until he could get his bearings again.

"Hey, Dina, it's okay," he reassured, taking off his gloves before hesitantly placing a hand on her shoulder. "We're going to get you out of here."

She recoiled instantly. Her breathing was heavy as she raised trembling hands in a defensive manner. "D-Don't."

The terrified plea made him pull back. He didn't want to her to think that he was going to hurt her, but he needed her to listen.

"Nadine, look at me." Bucky lowered his mask and raised his hands in a sign that he wasn't going to touch her. "Listen to my voice. It's me. It's James."

She slowly, but surely, turned her eyes towards him. Her gaze settled on his hand, his metal hand. Her breaths were still shallow, but at the very least Nadine seemed like she was trying to anchor herself back to reality. She lowered her hands.

Bucky placed his hand between them, hesitantly reaching out towards her cheek. Her gaze was unfocused as she finally looked up at him, disbelief written all over her face. "You're real."

"Yes, I'm real, Dina," he replied, tears forming in his eyes as his fingers delicately brushed her cheek. Her own eyes glistened as she leaned into his touch. "I'm here."

"You're here," she repeated, lower lip trembling as tears rolled down her cheeks.

She let him guide her back onto the lab chair in order to limit her movement. When he slowly let go, her own hand wrapped around his metal wrist like a vice. She was preventing him from leaving her side. "Don't go."

He looked at Natasha. For the first time, The Widow was at a loss of words as she stared at Nadine. Bucky waved a hand over Natasha's face to snap her out of it. "Her knee's in bad shape."

"We need to immobilize it until it's checked out," Natasha said, as she started looking through the lab for anything that could help her. This was her way of coping with the guilt, he knew.

A rumble roared through the building. "We also need to move quickly."

As Natasha found what she needed and made a b-line towards Nadine's leg, the woman looked at the Widow for the first time since they were reunited. "Y-You're here," she stated, as if her eyes were deceiving her.

Natasha froze for a second, her gaze lifting from Nadine's leg. She seemed almost offended by her surprise. "Of course I'm here, Nadine," she replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I promised you I always would."

Those words were the most honest thing Bucky had ever heard come out of Natasha's mouth. She looked weary, like the gravity of the situation had hit her like a ton of bricks. Unfortunately, neither her nor Bucky could afford to crumble in guilt. They just needed to soldier on, and hope that they could all make it out alive.

"Dina," Bucky muttered, and her attention was on him again. "Did she hurt you?"

Nadine's eyes flickered towards the body on the floor, as if she finally registered what she'd done. "She was going to. I heard it. I had to.. I..."

She cried out as Natasha wrapped a gauze to her knee. Natasha cast an apologetic look, but she needed to ensure her leg was immobilized if Nadine wanted to keep it. Bucky hesitantly placed his lips onto her hair, eyes closing shut with every pained sound and tightened grip around his metal hand.

When Natasha was finished, Bucky pulled back to look at her. Nadine was sweating. She was more alert now, but her hand stayed locked onto Bucky. She looked at them both, anger in her eyes like a flame that finally ignited. "A gun."

He didn't need a full sentence to know it wasn't a request. She didn't want a gun, she was demanding to be given one.

"Nadine-" Bucky started to protest, but she looked at him with an urgency that he didn't recognize.

"-I need a gun," she pleaded, her tone desperate. Despite knowing her penchant for weaponry, he'd never seen her so insistent.

"You're not getting a gun, Nadine." Natasha held a finger up to silence her incoming protests. "Now is not the time to fight me on this. We need to go."

Nadine glared at her, but said nothing. The room rumbled once again and it was their cue to cut this conversation short. Bucky placed his hands under her armpits and helped her off of the chair. He kept one arm hooked under her armpit while her own arm settled over his shoulder.

Natasha drew her gun. "I'm going to lead, and we're going to try and move as quick as we can. Nadine, I don't know what you've dealt with, but you're almost out. I need you to hold on to that thought, okay?"

"Okay," she replied, but she didn't seem all too confident. Her labored breaths didn't convince Bucky either, but they weren't in a position to debate it. They needed to go.

Bucky tightened his grip. "I got you," he said, though he kept his gaze ahead. "I'm not letting you go."

Never again.

With a count to three, Natasha peered through the smashed window. She immediately pressed the button for the sliding door to open and waved them to follow her. Bucky pulled out his own gun and mimicked her stance as he covered Nadine as best as he could. Despite her hobbling on one leg, they were able to find a steady rhythm to walk out of there. When they reached the corner, Natasha charged at four men. Bucky stopped at the corner, looking in caution if she needed support, but Nadine grabbed a gun from Bucky's thigh holster. "Na-" his voice caught in his throat as she shot down two that were coming from behind them while Natasha killed the others in front. "Jesus, Dina."

"I told you," she breathed, shakily pointing her gun ahead. "I needed a gun."

Bucky shook his head, but he wasn't complaining. If she was alert enough, even better. As they made their way downwards, a man stopped with a rifle pointed in their direction, but his head was cut clean off before he could do anything. The body collapsed to reveal Fong, bloodier, angrier, and more violent than Bucky had ever seen him. He'd be concerned, if not for the blaring alarm that was urging them to run.

"I'll take her," Fong said as he rushed to Bucky's side, sheathing his katana. "You and Natasha can cover us. Kaia's outside."

Bucky hesitated at first, but relented, shifting her weight onto Fong so he could flank them from behind. Nadine gaped at Fong. "You're here?"

"I'll try not to be offended."

The building rumbled in a more violent manner now. Dust was starting to fall from the ceiling as cracks started to appear. Bucky urged them forward. "Move!"

He shot two men that were running towards them, while Natasha was taking care of the ones up front. One got a bit too close and he ducked for cover before slamming their head right against the wall, a satisfied crack ensuring Bucky had, at the very least, broken their nose. Another tried to push past them, but he gripped the hood of his jacket and threw him back. At this point, he didn't care if they were just trying to escape. All he could focus on was the back of Nadine's head.

They reached the exit, and people were running in all sorts of directions. Some were escaping to the woods, while others were stupid enough to try and attack. The ground was shaking violently, so much so that Fong lost his balance as Natasha immediately grabbed Nadine's other side to steady her. Bucky circled around as Steve jumped into view and immediately covered the other side, knife in hand.

"Nadine!" Kaia cried from the hovercraft ramp. She twisted a man's neck and slammed the butt of her gun onto another.

Steve and Bucky nodded to each other as they blocked the ramp, giving the rest of the group enough time to get to safety. "A knife?" Bucky asked as he shot a man in the chest. He didn't think he'd ever see him be purposefully lethal.

"Natasha didn't want me unarmed," he replied as he sliced a person in the arm before disarming them.

Desperate times, Bucky supposed. "Fair. Let's get out of here."

They sped-walked onto the hovercraft, their weapons pointed as the ramp closed. Once inside, the hovercraft lurched forward before taking off. Despite it, everyone remained on high alert, not moving a single muscle in case something were to happen.

"Nadine," Kaia was the first to break the tense silence. Nadine still had her gun pointed defensively. She was trembling. "It is alright, cherie. You're safe."

Nadine didn't respond. She was looking around, trying to gather her surroundings. Bucky waved a hand over her face to gather her attention. "Hey, it's okay. We're here."

He placed his hands up in front of her to show that they were empty. Nadine didn't lower the gun. Bucky stepped forward, shooting Steve a warning glare before he made any sudden movements that could set her off. He continued to walk forward until the gun was hovering in front of his chest. "I'm going to take the gun, okay?"

He slowly reached over and, with his metal hand in case she pulled the trigger, grabbed the muzzle. She looked at him and uncurled her fingers from the magazine grip. The second she let go, he gave the gun to Steve, who turned the safety on before tucking it in his boot. Silence enveloped them once again as they all waited for her next reaction.

However, the moment Nadine seemed to sense that she no longer needed to fight, her body crumbled, eyes rolling to the back of her head as she collapsed into Fong's arms. Bucky knelt beside them, taking off his hat and jacket before grabbing her wrist and feeling her pulse. He let out of a breath once he felt it.

"She's breathing," Fong reassured him, but his expression was grave. "But we need to get there quickly if she is to keep that leg."

________________________________

A/N: Hello hello! She's back ~

Thank you for reading and for waiting. It's been a while.

This has been a struggle, but I'm happy to announce that we're almost to the end. Only three chapters left! I hope you enjoyed this story. It's been a wild ride, and I can't wait to continue churning through it.

See y'all soon ~