5 Chapter Five

Carissa followed her dad as they jumped down and in front of cars in pursuit of Bucky., chasing Bucky once again. The cat dude behind me, but not for long, luckily.

"Stand down!" Yelled a voice from the car that was now behind Riss. Steve stopped, throwing himself onto the windshield. She didn't think that's what the stranger had meant, Steve. He pulled out the driver and motioned for her to get into the passenger's seat. The pair weren't really ones for subtlety. She climbed into the stranger's car, after her dad. Steve whipped past other cars, passing Mr. Kitty. Carissa liked that. To her, he's Mr. Kitty now. A loud bang was heard from above her, instantly pissing the girl off.

"Mr. Kitty's on the car, dad." Carissa said in a bitter tone.

"Son of a gun." He replied.

"Bitch." The girl corrected. He took a moment to make a face at her, but didn't bother to say anything.

Steve made sharp turns but nothing worked. All it did was throw Carissa around the car as the Kitty held on for dear life. She wondered if there'd be cat scratches on the top of the car, maybe even paw prints. She fought the urge to laugh.

"Sam, I can't shake this guy." He said into the earpiece. Obviously. We'd been trying. Maybe Sam would notice if there were cat scratches. She made a mental note to ask him later in a more appropriate setting. She could already see the disappointed face her dad would've made had she asked that now.

Blue blinking lights ahead of them had indicated police. She started panicking slightly, remembering the last time she'd been cuffed. Rumlow. She would never admit the trauma the man had inflicted on her.

"Dad?" She whimpered from the passenger's seat.

He made a sharp turn, crossing over to the other side to follow Bucky all while avoiding the police cars. Carissa held her breath as a motorcycle sped towards Bucky. The light reflecting off his metal arm had held her attention as he literally pulled the bike out from under the man driving it, pushing him off. What is it with these men and violently taking vehicles? He whipped it around him in the air before he pulled it back down to the street, him landing on top of it. She released the breath burning in her lungs.

Another breath sucked its way in and was held captive as Mr. Kitty caught up to Buck. If the car didn't have scratches, the girl was sure Bucky was about to. The sparks created by the contact of the metal arm and the concrete of the street made her want to look away, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. Bucky finally threw him off, bringing the bike back up. They must really like throwing people. Fine print of the job. Sign here, be an Avenger. P.S. must be willing to throw people like ragdolls, children included.

"Breathe, Carissa." Steve whispered to the girl.

The end of the tunnel began to collapse before their eyes. She shook her head at her father. 

"Unbuckle." Steve told her and she complied, without hesitation. He opened his door and she jumped out after him. If you weren't throwing other people, you were throwing yourself. The car flipped over behind her, but she had barely even noticed. All she could think about was reaching him, making sure he was okay. Steve came into contact with Mr. Kitty first, bringing him to the ground. She tore her eyes away from him to be met with light blue ones. He looked at her for a second before finally getting up. Steve held eye contact with the cat. Carissa looked after Bucky as he made his way to her dad's side. She was relieved they weren't cuffed. She didn't want to be cuffed. Rhodey dropped in as they begin to get surrounded. All amounts of hope she had gone out the window. Or door. Car door, like that one guy.

"Stand down, now." He ordered them. Guns were pointed at them all around the panicked young blonde. Steve slid the shield behind his back and raised his hands. Bucky and Carissa both kept their hands at their sides. The more stubborn of the trio, for sure.

"Congratulations, Cap. Cap Jr. You're criminals." Rhodey said. Oh, great. Criminal record at 15. Nice.

Guns were lowered as guys walked over to Bucky, forcing him down. She thought this was worse than being cuffed herself. Steve's arms were forced behind his back, then her own. Never mind. She hated this part just as much. She heard the tightening of the cuffs behind her as Mr. Kitty removed his mask.

"Your Highness." Rhodey said.

You've got to be fucking kidding. She'd been calling the king Mr. Kitty this entire time. Fitting. It's staying.

A strangled grunt came from Bucky on the ground. The girl flinched at the sound.

"You're hurting him." She whimpered. Confused blue eyes looked up at hers. She pulled a confused face of her own in return.

They were loaded up in a transportation truck that had separated seating. Steve and the King in the front row of seats, Carissa and Sam in the back, fencing between each row. All she could think about was Bucky. Separate seating for them but completely separate truck for Bucky. Bucky thought about her, too. Why did she care about what happened to him? Why did it matter so much to her? Why did it matter to Steve? Who the hell was she, anyway?

Strapped down to the seat of an enclosed cell, Bucky's eyes met Carissa's. She frowned and he furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't like the sadness taking over her features. She followed behind her dad and watched as he turned around to look at Bucky, too. Bucky knew Steve was looking at him, but he didn't care. His focus was on the young blonde girl that seemed to be everywhere. Who the hell was she? They held painful eye contact. The doors shut, neither of them looking away. They walked down a hallway made mostly of windows. Berlin was beautiful, but it had nothing on Bucky's eyes. The color of the sky to match hers, the color(s) of the ocean. His baby blue with an icy finish to match the blue-grey-green-brown intermixing of her own. The earth and the sky. It was fitting, perfect, meant to be. 

The sounds of Tony's voiced pulled the girl out of her head. That was usually how it was. 

"Colonel Rhodes is supervising cleanup." He said into the phone. "Consequences? You bet there will be consequences. Obviously, you can quote me on that, because I just said it. Anything else? Thank you, sir."

Steve wasn't getting the shield back just as Sam wasn't getting his wings back. Riss, technically, didn't have anything they could take. Or at least she didn't think she did until she realized her thigh was lighter than usual.

"Tony!" She snapped.

"Sorry, cupcake. You can't have guns at 15." He replied, shrugging. She frowned. He turned away from her, knowing that any pouting she did would work in her favor. 9 times out of 10 Tony was putty in the girl's hands and she knew it. 

Steve and Carissa stood there at the monitor, watching Bucky. Her heart sank at the interrogation. She wanted to be there with him. She desperately wanted to get them all the fuck out of there. 

"Hey, you wanna see something cool?" Tony asked. "I pulled something from dad's archives." He told Steve. Steve turned to face him as Riss continued watching Bucky. Tony threw his jacket onto the table in front of her. Steve asks about Pepper.

"We're kinda...Well, not kinda..." Tony starts.

"Pregnant?" Dad asked.

"If you're pregnant, you should name it Morgan." The blonde added. "I wish that were my name." She finished off, glaring at Steve.

"No. Definitely not. We're taking a break." Tony said. "It's nobody's fault."

Without turning away from the monitor, the girl placed a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged her off before coming to stand next to her for a second, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He released her and grabbed his jacket. He continued to talk to Steve.

"We need you, Cap. Both of you." He said.

Before she even knew it, they were yelling about Wanda. From needing each other, to screaming at each other. Married couple.

"She's a kid!" Steve yelled.

So was Carissa. She didn't see anyone trying to protect the remaining years of her childhood.

"Give me a break!" Tony yelled.

He deserved one. Everyone knew that. Tony was the backbone of this whole operation. 

Steve walked out of the room, leaving me and Tony.

"So, what's the deal?" Tony asked.

"It's complicated." She told him.

"You're 15. Define complicated." He said.

"I'm 15. He also has no idea who he is." She replied.

"My name is Bucky." The sound on the monitor carries through.

"I stand corrected." She told Tony.

"Don't rush into anything, kid." Tony said. "Also, interesting name choice." He added, walking out of the room. 

She hung back a few minutes, wondering where her dad had gone off to. Steve, Sam and Sharon talk in a room away from her. She watched the bigger monitors as the lights go out.

"Bucky." She whispered to herself. "Dad!"

She followed him down to where Buck was with Zemo. They find Zemo, then Bucky. But it wasn't Bucky. The Winter Soldier picked her up, throwing her into the nearest wall, rendering her unconscious. Her ribs hurt, making it hard to breathe. She had liked it better when she was choosing not to breathe.

She felt someone pull her up off the floor, opening her eyes to see Sam.

"I'm up." She told him. She followed him out as people run out all around them.

"Damn it." He said. The sunlight was blinding out there.

"Where's my dad?" She asked. Sam shrugged.

"He threw you pretty hard. You okay?"

"I'm fine." She replied. "Not the first time I've been thrown, remember?" 

"Yeah, but this wasn't Rumlow." He replied. 

She ignored the comment. They found Steve and Bucky, both soaked. Bucky was unconscious.

"Where to now?" She asked.

"Somewhere safe." Dad said. As if that was an actual answer, right? It wasn't. It was vague as fuck, Steve.

The groans from Bucky signals he's awake as they sit in their 'safe' place. It was cold and wet here. She wasn't a fan of this shit. She liked the cold and the rain, what she didn't like was the fact that it was cold, dark, concrete and dirty.

"Dad." She called, rubbing at her arms though the suit.

"Steve." He said.

"Which Bucky am I talking to?" Dad asked.

"Your mom's name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes." He said.

"Can't read that in a museum." Dad said. Riss raised an eyebrow at her dad.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" She mumbled.

"Just like that, we're supposed to be cool?" Sam asked. Sam and Carissa shared mirrored confused expressions, both glad someone else was confused here.

"What did I do?" Bucky asked.

"Threw blondie into a wall." Sam said. Her ribs still ached.

"Enough." Steve told Bucky. Really, Steve?

"Oh, God, I knew this would happen. Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words." Buck said.

"Who was he?" Steve asked.

"I don't know." Bucky said.

"Zemo." The girl whispered. She remembered hearing his name being said. She couldn't place where, why. "The doctor who was talking to Bucky, the one we found when he escaped." 

"He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where." Bucky told Steve.

"Why would he need to know that?" Steve asked.

"Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier." Bucky said. Of course, you weren't. We wouldn't be here if you were.

"You're the hottest." She mumbled. Sam laughed. Her cheeks flushed red, she assumed nobody would hear that. Bucky told the story. Sam and Steve talked about solutions. Bucky and Carissa held eye contact. Steve disappeared off somewhere. 'To find a mode of transportation' Steve had said.

Then she was sitting next to Bucky in the smallest car in the world. The backseat, to be specific.

"Can you move your seat up?" Bucky asked Sam.

"No." Sam replied.

"Sam?" She asked, sugar coating her voice.

"Don't even try it, blondie."

Bucky smiled at her before scooting over into the middle seat for more room. She had stopped breathing again. Bucky watched her expression change. It confused him; he still didn't know exactly who she was. He knew she was Steve's daughter, that was all. Maybe the daughter he shared with the woman he talked to now?

She looked out the windshield at her dad and Sharon talking, anything to distract her from his close he was to her. Then they weren't talking anymore.

"Oh, my god." She whispered as Steve and Sharon's lips connected. Sam covered her eyes. "Too late. I'm scarred." She announced. Sam laughed at the blonde as Steve slid into the driver's seat. He turned back to face her. 

"Sorry, Riss." He smiled apologetically. 

"Drive." She replied. 

With that new image seared into her brain, they drove off. The smallest car in the world pulled up next to a white van in the parking garage of the airport. Steve got out, walking over to shake hands with Clint.

"Hey Clint. Wanda." Carissa waved slightly.

"Mini-Cap." Clint said. Wanda smiled.

"Does anyone ever call you by your name?" Sam asked.

"Nope." The girl replied.

Sam shook his head and went to stand behind Steve. She stayed put next to Bucky.

"What is your name?" Bucky asked her.

"Carissa." She replied, turning to face him.

"Carissa." He said. She liked the way he said it. He liked the way it sounded. "I'm Bucky, but you knew that."

"Hi, Bucky." The girl replied. He liked the way she said it.

Clint opened the van door to reveal some dude she's never seen before. He looked confused. Shit, she would be, too. She was, actually. Who was this guy again?

"This is Sam's guy?" She asked.

"Apparently." Bucky replied to her. "We should get moving." He called to everyone else.

German filled the air around them as the PA sounded. German sounded angry, like everyone says. Aggressive, even. She resisted the urge to flinch back.

"They're evacuating the airport." Bucky announced. Oh, so he speaks German. She wondered what other languages those pretty lips could utter...

"Tony." She told Steve. "Only Tony would go as far as to shut down the airport."

"Suit up." Steve ordered.

And that was exactly what they did.

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