The Price We Pay for Family- 35

 

Cont...

Yelena Belova was a force of nature. Sam had only made her acquaintances 6 hours ago, but Bast if she didn't make an impression. 

They'd found her at Natasha's grave in Ohio, and she'd almost shot John on sight for 'being such a belligerent idiot' and sullying her sister's reputation with charity groups. After they'd ironed that out, she'd had some choice Russian curses to spit about the 'Countessa El moron.' Apparently, Yelena had been working for her in a freelance way and had been manipulated into almost killing Clint Barton under the assumption he'd killed Natasha. Sam could see where the dislike came from. 

Between Yelena's and John's freelance records, Shuri had been able to narrow down the locations the phone the two had communicated with had pinged from. It left them with a short list of places that Nakia cross-referenced with chatter in the area to get it down to one, an old drug factory deep in the Venezuelan jungle that had been raided and abandoned two years ago. Isolated, ignored, and empty. Or supposed to be. Satellite images reported heat signatures there in larger numbers than expected. So they geared up and went for it. 

That's when Sam learned that Yelena was also an actual ten-year-old at heart. She sang full blast off key to 90's songs on the radio. Her favorite question was, "Why?" And she turned insulting people into an art form. By the time they landed, Sam was 90% sure Torres was going to strangle her. 

Sam deployed Redwing as they came in with the camaflouge on and took a reading of the people in the compound. "Looks like they're packing up," Sam said, silencing Yelena and Torres' argument.

 "What's the plan?" John asked, tightening his black suit.

 "Flash and bang. Scan shows no hostages. We go in hard and fast. We should be able to secure any info they have left." Sam decided, looking over the blueprints.

 "That's the server room. You got that, Shuri?" Sam tapped a midpoint in the building. 

"Yeah. I don't think they've started the download of the servers yet. I'll get whatever on them off." Shuri nodded confidently. 

"Alright, Shuri, Nakia, and Okoye go in from the South. Torres and Yelena take the East, and John and I will take North and West each. Any questions?" Sam listed.

 "What do you want us to do?" Ayo asked.

 "Back me and John up and make sure no one steals the jet. We might need it if this thing goes sideways." Sam directed.

 "You going to fly me in birdman?" Yelena grinned as she geared up.

 "I'll drop kick you out. You'll get down there faster." Torres retorted.

 "That would be a cool way to die." Yelena chuckled, zipping her vest up. 

"There is something wrong with you, my friend," Ayo said fondly.

 "That's what I said!" John exclaimed. 

Sam shook his head and opened the drop hatch in the floor. The room filled with the sound of rushing wind as they descended.

 Shuri and her group hopped out, first vanishing into the underbrush as soon as their feet hit the ground. Torres and Yelena jumped farther up as Torres soared silently through the sky. Sam grabbed Ayo and jumped after them, relishing the rush of night air and the thrill of cutting through the dark. They landed a little ways from the base silently.

 "Team 3 down," Sam whispered into his comm.

 "Team 4 down," John whispered back. 

"Team 1 going in," Nakia reported. 

"Team 2, light 'em up," Sam ordered. The explosion that followed warmed Sam's heart as he and Ayo bolted for the West entrance. 

A quick scan revealed a team of six coming their way. Sam deployed a concussion grenade and pulled Ayo under his wings before it went off. The bang would bring more soldiers soon. 

"Redwind, give me a headcount," Sam ordered. They scrambled off each other in time to finish off two stragglers from the first group. 

"Team 1, we have the hub," Nakia whispered as they turned another dark corner.

 "How long to Crack it?" Sam asked, clearing rooms as he went. Most were abandoned derelict spaces unused since the drug era. 

Nakia paused, relaying the question before answering, "Two minutes." 

"Copy that." 

"I think we found the docking area. I've got at least three humvees all loaded up." Yelena said, "Sabatoging now." 

"I think if found the records room. They were clearing it." John offered, "They're not anymore."

 "Affirmative. Cut the chatter." Sam huffed as Redwing zoomed back. There were only five more people left that the teams hadn't taken care of. One of them had to be the Countessa. 

Two more turns and Ayo and Sam were coming out on the second floor of what looked like a large laboratory. Two frantic scientists were trying to destroy their work as two guards, and the Countessa tried to fortify their position. 

"I found the target. Position check." Sam whispered, lying on his stomach, watching.

 "Secured. On our way to you." Nakia responded. 

"Negative. Position in flux. Still need to secure." Yelena said breathlessly. 

"Almost secured. I'll make my way to you." John acknowledged. 

"Team 1, let me know when you get here, we're gonna start with a flashbang." Sam shifted so he could pull out two concussion grenades and silently loaded them into Redwing. 

"You do realize that's overkill for five people, right?" Ayo whispered. 

"Yeah." Sam snapped the lid shut on Redwing, "I just don't care." Ayo gave him a look that he ignored.

 "We're here." Nakia whispered, "Ready when you are."

 "Dropping now. Duck and cover." Sam warned, sending Redwing on his way and then pulling Ayo's head closer, so his wings cover them both. The floor shook when Redwing deployed the grenades and when they rolled to their feet, all five hostiles were on the ground gasping. Nakia and Okoye were already clearing them when Sam and Ayo dropped down and made their way over to them. 

"Clear," Nakia reports over comms. 

Sam tunes out John and Yelena's response in favor of coming over to where Okoye is cuffing the Countessa, "Hello Valentina." 

The dark-haired woman groans, squeezing her eyes shut, showing her age, "The fact you know name is problem. Why can't talk straight?" She cursed again, and Sam raised an eyebrow.

 "We became aware you were shipping superhuman blood. We came here to acquire the source." 

The woman's eyes snapped open, and she seemed to focus on Sam for the first time forcing her swimming vision to clear. And then cursed quite loudly when she realized who he was, "You're new Captain. Walker told you- Ha!" She chuckled, "Oh, is good." 

"Where. Is. He." Sam hissed, voice flat. 

She lulled her head to look up at him and blinked hard as she forced the words out clearly, "Dead. Probably." 

Sam forced himself not to flinch as the slim hope he'd had died, "Define probably."

 The Countessa grinned up at him, unhinged from not just the grenade, "I don't know how long a super body can last without oxygen. But a regular human can only last 4 minutes."

 It takes a moment for the woman's words to sink in. When they do, it takes everything in Sam not to kill her right then and there. He curses with words he would have someone's hide if they used around his nephews. "Redwing scan the building for and closed off empty spots. Where is there heat where there shouldn't be?" Sam's surprised at how calm his voice sounds. He's pretty sure he's gonna puke. 

Yelena and Torres, and the rest come in to try and help clean up. Yelena strides over to Valentina and punches her straight in the face before John can drag her off, spitting and screaming Russian curses. Dang, Sam really wants to do that.

 "Make sure to scan outside. They could have buried him outside." Torres advised appearing at Sam's elbow. 

"We'll take care of this; find your friend," Yelena said firmly, voice booking no room for argument. It reminded him of Nat with Steve. That was a terrifying image. 

Sam checked the 3D map of the compound as Redwing zoomed back. Only one empty spot with a heat signature that was swiftly fading. It was in one of the rooms he'd cleared. 

Sam bolted, heart in his throat, clogging his ability to breathe. John on his heels, Torres following closely. Sam burst so hard into the room the door splintered. Cement floor walls and ceiling. Where where where wherewherewherewhwerewhere… Sam's wings shot out from his pack and cut into the ground, violently ripping up the concrete, "He's under the floor!"

 John grabbed the shield from Sam's back and began smashing it into the ground across from Sam, super strength making up for power. Chunks of cement came crumbling up as they dug through the rebar and cement till hitting a solid metal level. 

Vibranium cut through that also easily but much more carefully. John hopped down, waist deep into the cement pit, and hauled off the chunks of cement until they had access to a barely human-sized door. 

Sam cut it open carefully, and John pried it open and off. Light flooded through the dark space from Torres standing over them with a spotlight he'd attached to his suit. There, in a space far too small for anyone but a child, was a sight that made Sam both elated and horrified. 

It was Bucky, legs curled in the wrong direction to fit, eyes staring unseeingly up, face full of terror. He was skin and bones and almost nothing else, hair patchy and clearly sickly. His one arm wrapped around his chest like he was trying to comfort himself. 

Sam's hands shook as he carefully cut the surrounding metal from the door away, allowing himself to reach in and pull out his best friend, his brother. He was terrifyingly light, lighter than Cass was, as Sam gently pulled him out. 

His skin was so pale, and his body so abused that part of Sam wanted to break down and sob over the body. Sam gently pressed his hand to Bucky's neck, gagging when he could feel the bones. His hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't tell if there was a pulse or not. 

Sam forced his hands not to shake and instead checked Bucky's breath. Closing his eyes and hovering his hand over Bucky's mouth and nose and prayed for something, anything- Air brushed against his hand. Sam froze and waited. It did it again. "He's breathing!" 

There's shouting above that Sam can't hear because all he can think is he's not dead. Against all odds, Bucky Barnes wasn't dead. But he might be soon. 

The Pararescue part of Sam kicked into full gear, and suddenly everything was rational and controlled, no longer emotional. "We need to get him to a hospital."

 "He'll never make it in any of the ones near here," John said factually if tinged with regret.

 "We're not taking him there." Sam said firmly, gathering up Bucky (he could feel every bone in his body and then some, and that was just so wrong-) in his arms before flying up to the floor, "We're going to Wakanda." 

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