Chapter 211: Grown Up
"Exactly."
Steve didn't try to persuade Clint further.
He knew Barton well enough to understand that once Clint made a decision like this, arguing would only waste time.
The secure phone on the table rang.
Tony.
Steve answered.
The conversation was short and strained.
"Don't go, Steve."
Tony's voice came through the receiver.
"If you go after Barnes now, everyone will assume you're protecting him."
"I'm trying to stop them from killing an innocent man."
"You aren't the judge."
"Neither are they."
Silence.
Tony's voice became quieter.
"If you cross the line, I'll have to stop you."
Steve's grip tightened around his shield.
"I know."
The call ended.
Sam looked at him.
"Going now?"
Steve secured the shield across his back.
"Now matters even more."
...
Bucharest.
Old Town.
Two o'clock in the afternoon.
The autumn sky hung low over the Romanian capital.
James Buchanan Barnes stepped out of a small grocery store carrying a paper bag containing fruit and bread.
He wore civilian clothes.
No uniform.
No tactical gear.
Nothing that would draw attention.
He turned into a narrow alley, crossed a small square, and continued toward an aging apartment building.
At every intersection, his eyes searched reflections in windows and parked cars.
He had spent decades moving through hostile territory.
Survival had become instinct.
He could no longer remember who had first taught him to check his reflection before turning a corner.
He only knew that it had kept him alive.
He reached the top floor.
The last apartment on the left.
Barnes unlocked the door.
The moment he stepped inside, he knew.
Someone had been there.
He stopped.
His eyes moved across the room.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
But something was wrong.
Then the television switched on.
CNN filled the screen.
Vienna.
The bombing.
The deaths.
King T'Chaka's photograph.
Then the suspect.
Barnes's own face.
He stared at the image.
"It wasn't me."
The words left his mouth quietly.
Sirens sounded outside.
Too soon.
Far too soon.
Barnes immediately set the bag down and checked the apartment.
Escape routes.
Windows.
Roof access.
Fire escape.
Adjacent balconies.
He never reached the window.
A knock came from the door.
"Bucky."
Barnes froze.
He recognized the voice instantly.
"You shouldn't have come."
Steve Rogers stood outside.
No uniform.
No shield.
A dark jacket.
A hat pulled low.
Just another man in Bucharest.
Except Barnes knew better.
Steve's voice was quiet.
"They're going to kill you."
"I didn't kill the king."
"I know."
Barnes opened the door only a few centimeters.
Steve looked at him.
"I knew."
Barnes's eyes narrowed.
"How?"
"Because I know you."
Before either man could say more...
Metal struck the stairwell below.
A door crashed open.
Heavy boots.
Multiple.
Romanian police tactical officers moved up the stairs in formation, their equipment marked with Romanian insignia.
They were heavily armed.
"Down!"
"Hands where we can see them!"
At the same moment, a smoke grenade smashed through the apartment window.
White smoke flooded the room.
Barnes reacted immediately.
He overturned a table and shoved it toward the broken window.
Steve raised his shield.
The apartment door exploded inward.
Three officers entered.
Weapons trained forward.
"Don't shoot!"
Steve stepped between them and Barnes.
"He's not resisting!"
The tactical commander shouted from the corridor.
"Drop your weapons!"
Barnes looked at Steve.
"They won't listen."
"Then don't give them a reason to shoot."
Steve knocked the nearest rifle aside with the edge of his shield.
Barnes moved at the same instant.
He vaulted through the window.
His vibranium-metal arm caught the exterior drainpipe.
The pipe bent under his weight.
Barnes swung outward and landed on the balcony below.
Steve followed.
The pursuit moved onto the building's exterior.
Then another figure landed.
T'Challa.
He dropped from the roof with the controlled precision of a trained hunter.
The claws of his Black Panther suit extended.
Unlike ordinary weapons, Wakandan vibranium claws were specifically designed to damage and penetrate resistant materials. (marvel.com)
T'Challa struck.
Barnes twisted aside.
The vibranium claws scraped across his metal arm.
Sparks erupted.
T'Challa attacked again.
"Barnes."
"I don't know you."
"You killed my father."
Barnes blocked another strike.
"I didn't."
T'Challa's next slash came for his torso.
Steve intercepted it.
The shield slammed against the claws.
Vibranium struck vibranium.
The force rattled the balcony rail.
"Enough!"
T'Challa knocked the shield aside.
"You are protecting the murderer."
"The same man who stood between me and justice."
Steve planted himself between them.
"I know Bucky."
T'Challa's eyes hardened behind the mask.
"Then you will answer for him."
A mechanical whine sounded overhead.
Sam Wilson descended.
His advanced wing harness deployed as he dropped into the alley.
He landed hard enough to crack the pavement.
"Cap!"
"There are police all over the district."
"At least twenty downstairs."
"And armored vehicles are moving in."
"We have to go."
Steve looked toward Barnes.
"Get him out."
Sam nodded.
The group broke away from the apartment building.
They spilled into the streets.
Bucharest erupted into chaos.
Pedestrians scattered.
Cars braked.
Police vehicles blocked intersections.
Barnes moved fast but remained defensive.
He wasn't trying to kill anyone.
He only wanted to escape.
T'Challa pursued him.
The Black Panther's enhanced physical abilities made him considerably faster and more agile than an ordinary human, while the vibranium suit allowed him to absorb and withstand impacts that would incapacitate most people.
Pietro watched from an elevated position several blocks away.
He could have ended the chase almost instantly.
He leaned forward.
Wanda caught his arm.
"Don't."
Pietro looked at her.
"I can grab him before any of them can react."
"And then?"
"Then we get him out."
"Everyone will assume he's guilty."
Pietro's jaw tightened.
"They're already shooting at him."
"I know."
Wanda looked toward the street.
"I don't want to make it worse."
A police vehicle swerved.
Its front wheel struck the curb.
The car spun.
Two rounds ricocheted from the pavement.
They were heading toward civilians.
Wanda raised one hand.
A thin crimson glow appeared.
The trajectories changed.
The bullets twisted apart into harmless fragments before reaching anyone.
Wanda lowered her hand.
Her expression remained tense.
"See?"
Pietro glanced at her.
"You're still too nice."
"Maybe."
The pursuit entered a service tunnel beneath the district.
Barnes accelerated.
His enhanced physiology allowed him to move at speeds impossible for an ordinary man over short distances, but he was not a speedster.
T'Challa steadily closed the gap.
Barnes turned.
A taxi came directly toward him.
He planted his feet.
The vibranium arm struck the vehicle's hood.
The car spun sideways.
Barnes ducked beneath it and continued.
Steve followed.
T'Challa leaped over the vehicle.
His claws struck the tunnel wall.
He used the impact to change direction without losing momentum.
Sam flew through the tunnel entrance behind them.
"Steve!"
Steve looked back.
"Get him toward the east exit!"
Sam nodded.
Then—
Tony's voice entered the secure channel.
"Rhodey."
"Already moving."
A distant mechanical roar grew louder.
War Machine descended through the tunnel's open ventilation shaft.
His armored feet hit the roadway.
The impact cracked the concrete.
Rhodey raised both weapons.
"Nobody moves."
Nobody listened.
Natasha arrived moments later on a motorcycle.
She swung around the corner, cut between two police vehicles, and brought the motorcycle sideways to a stop.
"Steve!"
He looked back.
"Stop!"
"We can talk!"
Steve didn't slow.
"I'll talk when they stop trying to kill Bucky."
Ahead of them, the tunnel lights flashed past.
Bucky kept running.
T'Challa kept pursuing.
Steve remained between them.
And behind them...
The rest of the world was closing in.
Visit /ShiroTL for more chapters.