Till The End Of The Line

Bucky's feet were dragging, he was out of energy, as was Steve. They'd both made it out of the cellar. They heard Tony's jets warming up just before he flew into the sky, going back to Roadie. New snow was falling. Bucky smiled, thinking of Frankie's ridiculous outfit she'd put on to go out and shovel. She never asked him for help, always wanted to prove that she could do it herself. She was just as stubborn as Dum Dum.

"your highness" Steve mumbled, following the Black Panther onto his jet.

It fell silent for a bit. Steve and Bucky cleaned themselves up a bit as T'Challa made a phone call. Bucky sat in silence as they made their way back to Wakanda.

"do you want to call her and tell her?" Steve asked, watching his best friend sit in the seat and fidget with the one hand he had left.

"I can't. I can't tell her I'm leaving her again” he looked at his best friend, hoping he'd understand. "I don’t want to put that pressure on you, but I need to be okay before I see her again. I've hurt her enough"

Steve sat patiently but his mind was getting the best of him. Without hesitation he leaned onto his legs, staring at Bucky. "what happened between you two?"

"are you going to go all protective big brother on her now?" Bucky laughed. "she isn’t a china doll you know"

"how many times did she tell you that one" Steve laughed. He leaned back but continued to stare down the one person he would go through war again for.

"I showed up at her apartment after you'd left. It'd been a couple months since the fight. You said a line that snapped me from the solider. I'm still fuzzy on some stuff but Frankie has been helping me. Without question she took me in and helped me because she knew how much it would mean to you. We hit a few bumps in the road. I hurt her a few times, not me really the solider. But she never feared me. HYDRA came and we got out and went to her cabin. We stayed there and got close. I went insane when they got her. I heard that German accent on the other side of that phone and I nearly lost it in front of all those people. I thought they'd come after me, I never thought they'd go after her. I thought I was saving her by going in separate cars. I forced her to release the solider so I could find her. I thought it was my only way. I was wrong. I found where they were holding her by myself, but it was too late. Everyone was gone. I thought she was dead. I just want her to be safe"

"well, Bucky is definitely coming out. I don’t think the solider is capable of all that" they both laughed.

"Frankie, do you even know how to fly?" Maria asked, watching as she flipped and switched things on and off.

"I watched Steve and Vision do it, I think I got it" she smiled up at her.

Maria was breaking protocol. Allowing an untrained agent to take a quinjet to go to a high max prison to break out some of her friends. Fury was acting as if he had no idea what was going on, though he was the one to show her where the cloaking device was.

Her take off was rocky but Frankie was in the air within a few minutes making her way out to the middle of the sea. She'd given herself a little makeover. She was no longer a scientist for one of the world's largest agencies, but she was now an agent. Now that she was enhanced, she no longer needed her glasses. Chopping off some of her hair, making it shoulder length and pitch black. She’d found a pair of leather pants she once wore for a party, grabbing an old uniform shirt Steve had stashed in his closet from his early Army days, before being injected with the serum. She wasn't normal anymore. All she could think about was Bucky.

Please find a way to let me know you are okay


“are you sure about this? Steve asked, walking up to his longest friend, sitting at the edge of the bed. His arm had been fixed, only a shoulder of the metal still there.

“I can’t trust my own mind” he answered, looking weary. He chuckled “so until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head, I think going back under is the best thing”

Steve stared at him. He wanted his friend back, but now all that raced through his mind was how he was going to tell Frankie that Bucky decided all this by himself and couldn’t call her to tell her. Bucky saw the look on his face, knowing what he was thinking.

“for everybody” Bucky told him, nodding a bit. His mind wondered towards Frankie, wondering what she’d say or do after Steve told her.

Steve stared at the glass container started closing around the one person he fought years to get back. Bucky staring at the ceiling, beginning to close his eyes when he heard Frankie’s voice in his head. Within an instant, he was frozen again. He began to regret, not taking the phone from Steve to call her and hear her voice just before going under. The strange echo of her begging him to let her know he was okay wasn’t enough for him. He didn’t know when he was going to see her again. If he could see her again.

Landing on a nearby tiny piece of land, Frankie scanned around for the Raft. Catching her eye, it was still afloat. Grabbing the tiniest little raft, she headed towards the water.

Climbing the side, she found a little shaft and pulled herself in. Thanks to her skills, she was able to hack into the system and find exactly where Sam was and how to miss all the agents standing around. Finally, being able to make it towards the cell room, she saw a few agents laying on the floor.

“what the” she trailed off, walking into the room and seeing Steve helping Wanda out of a cell.

“Dum Dum?” Sam asked. Steve turned, staring at the one person he was nervous to see.

Helping Steve release everyone from their cells, he continually looked back at the cameras.

“I have them on a loop for the next hour. They won’t know they are gone” she told him, helping Clint.

“who’s that one?” Scott asked Sam as he leaned onto the bars that still surrounded him. watching as Frankie grabbed the metal bars and pulled as hard as she could. Sam sat in awe as he watched her pull the lock apart.

“that’s my girl” he smiled, hugging her when he was free.

“let’s get out of here, I have the quinjet close” she smiled. Turning towards Steve, her face light up “where is he?”

“we need to get out of here” Clint looked around and heard some commotion.

Following Frankie, the way she’d came, she’d gotten everyone out of the prison and into the water. Pulling the string to release the little raft, helping everyone get on and pulling them back towards the jet.

Watching everyone dry off and compile onto the jet, she noticed Steve trying his best to avoid him.
“looking good” Sam winked, watching Frankie dry her newly cut hair. Steve took mantel in the pilot’s chair, beginning take off.

“I’m Scott” he smiled, holding his hand out towards Frankie.

“she can snap you in half dude, don’t even try” Clint laughed, kissing Frankie’s cheek and taking the seat next to Steve.

“what happened?” Frankie asked, sitting next to Sam.

Sam went into detail, explaining every single move that happened since they’d left her in England. After dropping off Clint, they brought Scott back to his house and allowed Wanda to go back to Vision.

“we’re criminals now Frankie, you can’t stay with us” Steve said, walking towards the back of the jet. She knew something was wrong, he very rarely called her Frankie.

“where is he Steve?” Frankie planted herself in front of him. “you promised me all three of you would be coming home”

“he’s somewhere safe, that’s all you need to know right now” he forced himself around her. Sam gave him a wild look. He could be cold and short with many people but not his Dum Dum.

“what’s going on dude?” Sam asked, following him off the jet.

“how do I tell her that he didn’t want to see her before he went under again?” Steve whispered to him. “how am I supposed to accept my best friend being in love with a serial killer”