six.

the catalyst

THERE WAS A man standing in front of her. He was broad shouldered and donned a mostly navy blue combat suit, though the shield resting on his arm was a dead giveaway to his identity. Steve Rogers was completely invested in the leather journal he'd gently lifted off the top of the fridge, thumbing through the pages, stopping at the newspaper clipping of his picture, staring at it for a moment longer than the other pages.

As if some sixth sense of his went off, he stilled and slowly turned around to face her. Only, as his lips parted, it wasn't her name that fell from his lips but rather—

Maev shot up, sweat dripping down her face as emotion after emotion slammed through the bond between her and James. She struggled to sort through them as she lurched to her feet, the world spinning around her as the sleeping draught slowly left her body. She clutched at the fabric above her heart, the gray material cool beneath her fingers as she took deep, heaving breaths. She blinked rapidly, her mind slow to grasp onto the emotional hurricane slamming into her.

Anger, fear, frustration.

"James," she breathed out in worry, running across the room to grab her black bag, swinging it onto her back, and then frantically looking for her shoes. Slamming her feet into the combat and boots and lacing them up with shaky fingers, a sudden calmness overcame her as she understood what he was trying to do.

He never felt emotions that strong, so for him to be hurdling them at her meant that he was doing it on purpose. He was warning her of something, but of what?

The floor rocked beneath her feet and Maev grabbed the edge of her counter, a loud crash echoing in her ears. She cursed, a long string of words that were sure to curdle milk, and she yanked her blinds open, peering out to the street below.

Dozens of black ops men swarmed the building, police cars and SUVs alike crowding the building entrance. Gunshots rang out, much closer than she'd like them to be, and Maev nearly fainted as she witnessed James launch himself out of a window below and roll onto a rooftop across the street.

Maev scrambled to collect herself knowing she didn't have a lot of time. She needed to act, now. Pricking her finger on her sharp tooth, Maev spread blood on a thin coin usually hidden on a cord beneath her shirt. Closing her eyes, she pressed back against her wall, and whispered a single word, "Cestovat." The foreign word tasted like copper and wind and darkness as she felt the shadows swallow her whole.

Maev was neither here nor there, she was everywhere and yet nowhere as she folded and twisted and unfurled a million times over and over again, suspended in a nothingness that pressed against every fiber of her being.

But then the ground rushed up to meet her and Maev appeared as silently as a ghost in the dark warehouse a few blocks east of her apartment. 

She shrugged her backpack off as she opened a small closet in the corner, digging out a black fitted jacket and equally dark helmet. Zipping the jacket up and tucking the end of her braid into it, she then slid the snug motorcycle helmet on, flipping the tinted visor up so she could still see. She then opened her backpack, transferring the contents into a bigger backpack with a multitude of straps that she quickly buckled across her chest. Pulling on a pair of gloves that fit her like a second skin, Maev then turned to the motorcycle waiting patiently in the corner. 

It was one of the few things Maev never got rid of, no matter how many times she moved. It was a sleek machine that had been gifted to her from a king who was thankful for her help, and it ran better than any of the other motorcycles she'd tried. It was dark black rimmed with a mysterious silver metal that glimmered in a peculiar way when the light hit it just right.

And right now, it was the best chance she had to reach James and escape with him.

The warehouse garage door opened as she got onto the motorcycle, the machine humming to life from her touch. It required no key, only her presence to run. She flicked the kickstand up and leaned forward, taking a deep breath to steady herself, before racing out of the warehouse.

The engine was a low roar as she weaved throughout the road, following the bond stretched thin between her and James. 

Sirens echoed in her ears as the bond grew stronger and she skidded to a stop, eyes wide at the sight below her. Maev didn't move as she watched James being taken into an armored truck, she didn't move as Steve Rogers, a man with mechanical bird wings, and the infamous Black Panther of Wakanda were taken into a separate truck.

For the first time in her life, Maev truly felt fear as she watched those trucks drive away from her lonely perch on the road twisting high above.

Everet Ross was having a rather good day. The Sakovia Accords were being processed, Steve Rogers was seconds away from being convinced to sign said accords, and the Winter Solider was finally in custody. He even reckoned he was rather close to getting the promotion he'd been after for a few months now, and he was almost positive nothing could ruin this day.

T'Challa Udaku sat across from him, thumbing through a few legal documents, the soon-to-be king having wished to get extradition so his father's murderer would answer for his crimes in Wakanda.

Yes, it was a rather good day for Everet Ross, or at least it was until a door slammed open and captured the attention of everyone in the high-tech room.

"Ma'am, ma'am you can't go in there—" The shaky words of an agent were ignored by the tall woman that stalked through the door. 

Dressed from head to toe in black, eyes covered by sunglasses, Maev Barebone looked around the room until her gaze landed on Everet.  A scowl appeared on her face and as she walked towards him, anger lining her tense shoulders, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by several agents whose hands strayed towards their guns.

Everet stood up, a frown appearing on his face. Of all the people he had to deal with, of all the criminals and lowlifes and politicians and civilians, of everyone in the whole goddamn world, he'd never met someone as quite infuriating as Maev. While she had saved not only his life, but his mens' lives before, she had a habit of showing up at the worst possible times and causing things to get very, very complicated resulting in too much paperwork for his liking. Like now, for instance.

"Where is he?" Her words were a low snarl that rippled through the air, and the hair on Everet's arms rose as the nearly inhuman sound. 

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, and if you recall, I don't appreciate it when you wear your sunglasses around me and my men." He'd made that mistake once, not realizing until it was too late that the only chance he had of escaping her magic was the telltale sign of her eyes turning wholly black.

She took the sunglass off, revealing hazel eyes that were narrowed, "At least you're not as stupid as I remember. Now answer my question, where is he? Where is James?"

"You, you know Bucky?"

Maev turned her head slightly in the direction of Steve Roger's voice, "Yes," before fixating those impossibly dark eyes back on Everet. 

"Whatever business do you have with the Winter Soldier," the low voice of T'Challa drew her attention next, "will have to wait."

"According to who?"

"According to me," came his calm reply, "considering I have extradition over him."

The witch snorted, "Bullshit. You won't be getting extradition any time soon."

"And who are you to decide that?" The prince asked, rising to his feet. "The paperwork is nearly finished, and I doubt you will be able to convince the courts to choose otherwise. Barnes is coming with me, to Wakanda, to face the consequences of his actions."

"Listen Maev," Everet tried to reason with the witch, his skin prickling with unease, "I know you have a habit of saving those lost in the darkness, but the Winter Soldier is an international criminal and must answer for his crimes. So, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Her lips peeled back in anger and never had Everet seen Maev look more inhuman, more dangerous, then she did at that moment. "James is coming with me. You are to release him from custody and hand over all personal belongings that you confiscated from his apartment, and then you are going to hope my sisters don't catch wind of how many laws you've broken today."

And, as their meetings usually went, Everet felt his own temper rise to the surface. "I have broken none of your laws and need I remind you that you agreed to abide by our laws as well and that by coming here unannounced I could have you detained—"

Maev slammed her hands down onto the table, "James Buchanan Barnes is underneath my protection and you have no right—"

"No! You have no right to barge in here—"

With a growl, Maev Barebone stood up and nearly ripped her jacket off, rolling up her long sleeved shirt to show Everet the large, twisting design that encased her right forearm. All the color in his face drained at the sight, whatever words he was about to spit out getting caught in his throat. 

There were many rules and laws that governed interactions between humans and witches, but the one absolute that the witches refused to yield, was ultimate protection over their Ranju. Ranju were sacred, they were to be protected at all costs because they willingly entered a world much darker than their human one, and they were to be protected on both fronts. Governments couldn't hold Ranju, they didn't dare to even go near them. The Sister Three stopped many things, but even they wouldn't stop a witch from exacting justice on a government stupid enough to harm the Ranju.

And now, one of those three was staring at him from across the table. Never before had Everet Ross been so aware of his human heart that beat at a treacherous speed.

"You have ten minutes to release him," her voice was deadly quiet, "before I release him myself."

things are picking up! also, i'll go more into depth of this later on, but certain high ranking government people know about the witches as well as their leaders (so like the president, kings, queens, some diplomates, etc.)

let me know what you think :)