He's Gone
Ch. 3
Vison had materialized beside Sam without the winged man even realizing it and just in time to take down the two remaining bomber jets with an explosive beam from the mind stone. Falcon was painting and nodded his thanks in mid air before pointing at the settling avalanche.
“There was a convoy of civilians and SHEILD Personal,……. Not sure who made it!” He gasped before turning and flying toward the cavern, Vision right at his side. They didn’t land but simply counted the 12 of 19 trucks and HUM-V’s that had made it into the dusty tunnel before heading out to what had been the road and was now a white canvas of icy snow.
Together the two Avengers got to work as SHEILD Operatives used their own plasma cannons from deep within the snow, some of the trucks buried almost twenty feet. Vision phased into the snow and blasted his way back carrying multiple injured civilians and Agents out of their would be graves, handing them off to Sam and the other unharmed Agents who had set up a make shift triage in their cavern. They worked at a relentless pace as from deep in the snow they could hear the cries for help. After nearly an hour of continuous rescues they had all 382 civilians and 64 SHIELD agents accounted for within the relative safety of the cramped cavern. There were numerous injuries from those that had been caught in the avalanche, many in critical condition. Of all the people rescued there were 17 fatalities, 5 of them were children.
Vision placed a hand on Falcon’s shoulder as he looked on at a grieving mother clutching her dead child in her arms, a SHEILD Nurse at her side with a stoic expression
“Come Sam, there are still others in need of our help,….. And for one, I fear we may be too late.” His voice was calm but held a note of contemplative sorrow. Sam turned to him with a numb resilience as he nodded and they again took to the air headed for the coordinates that their teammates had been investigating. Vision arrived first, able to travel at a speed unknown to even Tony. The Android landed amongst the ruble as he scanned the smoking ruins, his eyes catching on the drying smears of blood. He sighed with a hushed breath, knowing already what they would find upon exploring the lower levels. He focused his gemstone and moved the chunks of rock and burning wreckage aside to clear a path . A moment later Sam arrived gasping, face frozen from the speed of racing through the Icey wind.
“Where….” Sam sputtered out of breath.
“In the lower levels of this treacherous fortress.” Vision explained as he glided down with Sam running to keep up with him.
“Hostiles?” Falcon asked as he loaded his gun while jogging and climbing through the lower levels of the base. The moment the words left his mouth they heard the nearby echo of repeated gun shots.
“Yes but he is being subdued by Hawkeye this very moment through both he and the Black Widow are injured.” Vision stated as he raced around the corner then stopped in his tacks and threw his hand up to stop Sam.
“What??” Falcon asked but was answered instantly as Vision used the mind stone to disarm an explosive that would have been detonated if either had stepped even one foot forward. With urgency The Android then blew open the door and entered the room with Sam on his heels. There was only a second of hesitation as they saw Clint, bleeding and shackled, using the cuffs to finish strangling a loan Hydra agent. The archer had the man’s arm pinned with one leg and as he finished cutting off his would be executioner’s airway, the man’s gun fell from his limp grasp. Clint released him with a grunt then slumped over Natasha who was laying unconscious and face down on the floor.
“CLINT! NATASHA!” Sam exclaimed as he ran toward them with Vision who was already destroying the restraints on Hawkeye as Sam carefully turned Natasha over in his arms, cursing under his breath as he checked her weak pulse then her dilated eyes before pressing a hand to her bleeding head wound.
“Clint,…… Where,…..where’s Barnes?....... Where is Bucky?” Sam asked with a hollow tone as he scooped Natasha into his arms and Vision helped the Archer stand, supporting the majority of his weight, a bullet hole in Clint’s left thigh.
“They took him,…… They……they strapped him into that fucking chair and……and then put him back on ice,….. he’s gone!.......He’s gone!” Clint’s voice was rough and strained with grief, raw emotion and pain from his own battered body. Vision pointed at the wooden chair surrounded by old technology and metal restraints still vibrating in the corner, the machine not even turned off completely. Sam felt his heart stop as all at once his senses honed in and the numbness was replaced by brutal shock. He could smell the foul stench of electrified human tissue and taste the stagnate air filled with coppery blood, smoke, sweat and pain.
“Oh man,……Oh God!” Sam felt his adrenalin rush and he gasped a breath, fighting the urge to gag on the taste of it as he held Natasha’s limp body tighter in his shaking arms.
“Where were you!...... Where the fuck were you!” Clint’s voice broke as he fell limp against Vision, loss of blood finally pulling him under. Vision lifted the Archer fully into his arms and walked up next to Sam who was still staring at the chair that glowed with residue of electric current.
“This was not your doing Samuel,…… This was Hydra. We will find and retrieve Sargent Barnes, but first we must get our Friends to safety. They are both in need of medical attention. It serves no purpose to remain here lost in regret.” Vision spoke with gentle compassion but insistence and Sam simply nodded mutely and followed his lead as they left the monstrosity behind them.
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It was almost 9 hours later when the jet carrying Ironman, Thor, Captain America and Scarlet Witch landed in the hanger of the Avenger’s tower. The landing ramp ushered in an exhausted and on edge team of Avengers who had managed to prevent most of the Hydra forces from securing Vibranium. It had been resized later that one secret squad had managed to smuggle out approximately 62 lbs of the precious metal by disguising themselves as villagers fleeing once the landmines had been neutralized. The King of Wakanda promised to follow his internal leads to apprehend the agents, aware that some had actually been part of his trusted royal guard. It was becoming a common occurrence that countries were discovering Hydra had infiltrated their government at the highest ranks. The Captain had explained why they needed to return to New York immediately and apologized for not remaining in Wakanda after the village and mining camp had been liberated.
Steve was the first one off the plane and he raced through the threshold of the tower limping on a leg with a still healing fracture, heading straight for the med lab where Jarvis had informed the arriving team they would find the rest of their allies. As The Captain exploded into the lab he was breathing hard, eyes scanning the room as he discarded his shield haphazardly.
“Steve, Your leg?” Bruce asked with concern from where he stood by Natasha who was looking sore but conscious, stitches in her head and bruising on the left side of her face, arms and likely torso that was covered by bandages beneath her sports bra.
“Status Report!” Steve demanded as he took a few more pained steps forward and looked from Bruce and Natasha over toward the other medical bed where Hawkeye was hunched over, covered in bandages, a hand on his neck and Sam’s hand on his shoulder. Vision stood nearby, looking on at Steve with compassion.
“Cap,…..take a breath,……let the Doc take a look at your….” Sam was cut off as he took a few steps toward Steve and The Captain interrupted him with a shake of his head, voice even but underlined with dread, eyes intense.
“No,…… what happened?....... Where is Sargent Barnes?” Steve was trying his best to keep his composure even as he scanned the room and the dishearten look of his friends. He felt his chest tighten and he took in a shaky breath.
“Steve,……. Just sit down a moment.” Sam tried again but was answered once more by an adamant shake of the Captains head as he tightened his fists and looked at each person for answers. Bruce looked away, rubbing his eyes as Natasha fixed him with a tearful frown and sigh before lowering her face, the most visibly upset he had seen her since she thought Fury was dead. Steve felt a tremor rake through his body as he turned back toward Sam, Clint and Vision just as the other Avengers made it inside of the tensely quiet medical room, all becoming aware of what was sure to be a devastating revelation. Sam looked at Steve with calm, compassionate eyes while Clint just shook his head, still rubbing his swollen neck and Vision watched with a forlorn expression.
“Where is Bucky!?” Steve demanded again, growling between clenched teeth. The threating tone brought a new wave of concern and Thor stepped closer to Steve as Ironman stepped away. Scarlet Witch made her way slowly toward Vision with questioning eyes that glowed red as the Android willingly allowed her to learn what he knew. She let out a gasp, covering her mouth as she turned looking at Steve with trepidation. The Captain looked at Wanda with a fretful glare, as if trying to decipher what she had just learned and what his fellow teammates didn’t want to tell him. He took another step toward Sam, his body now tense and ridged, eyes pleading with his friend who carefully rest a hand on the Captain’s shoulder.
“It was a trap Steve,…….Hydra lured us there with that energy surge,…… Then used the lives of the civilians’ and SHIELD Agents to keep me scrambling while they took out Hawkeye and Black Widow.” Sam began to explain as Steve blinked rapidly and looked over to Natasha and then Clint with desperate confusion and urgency. The Archer met his questioning eyes with a heavy sigh as he took over the explanation.
“The surge came from an underground bunker, it was rigged with explosives below us and then……….Hydra dropped bombs from above….. Nat was knocked out, I was banged up bad. We were separated from the Sargent……. Hydra grabbed us,……. Team of Russians…… lead by Rumlow.” Clint spat with anger as he looked up at Steve with exhaustion and despair, his voice strained in his swollen throat that had been damaged from the shock baton. The Captain made a sharp snort, noise flaring and eyes wide as he stood tensely straight but shook in silent rage. “They took us captive,.. then called out to Barnes,….. threatening to take us out if he didn’t come forward.” Clint let out a long miserable sigh as he shook his head, looking away from Steve’s desperate expression as the Captain took a few steps toward the Archer, Falcon still hovering near him and Thor ready to interfere if needed.
“Bucky was injured too, deep cut in his side and head wound but he still managed to take out a handful before they used this,…… this fucking magnet to trap his arm,….. pin him to the ground…… He fought back but………” Clint shook his head again and swallowed back his choked emotions as he could not escape the echoed cries of Bucky’s screams in his head.
“What…….What did….?” Steve shuddered, his voice hollow and face frozen in shocked grief, blinking as he tried to focus his racing mind. Clint looked at Steve and let out a breath, eyes communicating his regret and guilt at not being able to protect their fellow teammate from the one thing that terrified him most of all, losing himself again to Hydra.
“They had a God Damn Chair,…….an outdated, piece-ah- shit, soviet tech chair from 50 years ago!” Hawkeye gritted as he recalled the horrific smell of burning flesh and hair as sparks flew from the rusted metal helmet frying Bucky’s brain. “The Technician or whatever was trying to figure out how to calibrate it, but Barnes threw a knife in his throat then caught a beating from the Russians.” Clint looked back up at Steve and instantly regretted including the detail about Bucky getting beaten. He could see how the knowledge of his friend’s suffering was tearing The Captain apart. Barton swallowed and looked back down.
“They shot him with tranquilizers and he was out,…… completely unconscious when they,…….. when he went into the chair.” Hawkeye schooled his features and looked back up at Steve. “It was quick,……Just a few moments and it was over……. Then they put him on ice and moved out………I’m sorry Cap.” He sighed as he held the Captain’s devastated gaze, willing himself not to falter or show any sign that he was lying, that the truth of Bucky’s ordeal in the chair was so much worse.
Steve took a step back, then another, shaking his head as his face contorted, opening his mouth then shutting it again. He was overcome with the realization that Bucky was gone, taken by their enemy once more. The shock was like a bullet, sharp and stunning, and now the pain was spreading through his whole body, intense and debilitating. He took in a raspy shallow breath as he covered his mouth with his hand and his shoulders shuddered. He swayed on his feet and as the pain set in suddenly his leg was throbbing and his chest was on fire. He felt Sam guide him toward a chair where he collapsed with a guttural cry of rage and despair, bent over with both hands gripping his hair. In that moment he looked like Bucky when he was lost in a nightmare and the resemblance was heart breaking as the Avengers looked on at their Captain in sorrow.
Sam stood next to Steve with a hand on his shoulder and Bruce knelt down next to him with a scanner, examining the fractured bone in his upper thigh. After a moment of tense silence with only Steve’s wet raspy breaths shuddering through a clenched jaw, The Captain let out a deep sigh and sat up straight, eyes wet and red as he looked at the others with a desperate strength that he did not feel.
“We need to find him!” His tone was authoritative even as his voice shook. He looked down at Bruce with a steading breath. “It will heal.” He stated as a matter of fact then looked back up at his team mates. He tried to stand but Sam and Bruce both pushed him back into the chair and he looked at them with resentment but said nothing, struggling to keep his composure. Steve swallowed as he blinked back his threat of tears, fighting against the swell of emotion that was making it hard to breath.
“We know Cap,…. And we will…….We need a plan first, and we need you healed up all the way or you will be no good to us or to Bucky.” Sam reasoned patiently but Steve shook his head and spoke through gritted teeth, eyes fierce with anger and desperation.
“No,…. We need to act now!...... We need to get him back before,…….” Steve’s voice caught and he swallowed looking away and squeezing his eyes shut with a shake of his head, shoulder’s trembling, and fists clenched in his lap.
“He has a tracking device in his arm.” Ironman spoke for the first time since entering the lab. His suite was off and he was already hovering over one of his many computers, using his hands to activate a series of codes.
“They found it,….. took it out.” Hawkeye sighed as he avoided Steve’s panicked expression. He gritted his teeth as he thought about the smug look on Rumlow’s disfigured face as he held the tracker in his hand after he used pliers to remove it from Bucky’s arm, the Sargent laying completely limp, eyes vacant in the smoldering chair as blisters formed on his forehead and temples from the electrical burns.
‘No,….. What they found was the decoy tracker,….. the one I placed in his forearm in the same spot Hydra had their own piece of shit tech…….. The real tracker,….. the one that is cloaked to all scanners that do not have the security matrix to pick up it’s frequency, is located in the seem of his left shoulder just under the flesh,….. so even if they remove the arm,…… we can find him.” Tony smirked at his own genius as he entered a finally key stroke. “That one became activated the moment the decoy was removed…… Jarvis is running the matrix through the Stark satellites now,…..it shouldn’t take long.” Tony tried a half comforting smile as Steve looked at him with wide eyes, face so open and honest that Stark had to look away as he swallowed back the fear of what would happen if they found Bucky dead.
“Did Barnes know about the tracker?” Natasha asked as she winced and laid back, pain and exhaustion obvious on her face.
“It was his idea actually,…… he wanted it implanted into his body in case of,….. well,….. I guess in case this happened.” Stark shrugged.
“He never felt safe,…..always knew they would come for him.” Steve spoke with a sad tone, shoulders slumped looking defeated. “Guess I was an idoit for thinking I could protect him,…….Never could before.” The Captain grimaced with another heartbroken breath, closing his eyes.
“This is not your fault Captain,…..The heinous deceit and trickery of Hydra could not have been foreseen.” Thor offered as he too sat down heavily in a chair, gripping Mjölnir as he clenched his jaw with a sullen shake of his head.
“Barnes knew you tried to protect him Steve,…. He even fought you about it right before the mission…..And beating yourself up about it won’t do a damn thing to help him now!” Black Widow spoke with her eyes closed, a grimace of pain on her face as Bruce stood up and adjusted the painkiller in her IV.
“How long will it take to track him down Tony?” Steve asked as he swallowed thickly, still looking down at his hands in his lap.
“A few hours maybe,…… there might be some interference from the Cryotank but,…… it won’t take long Cap.” Tony offered in a gentle tone with a heavy sigh, sounding exhausted himself. Both teams had been awake for over twenty-four hours and they were running on empty.
“I think it may be advisable to take rest so that our team will be at their most effective when the location of Sargent Barnes has been determined.” Vision stepped into the middle and met the Captain’s clouded gaze, well aware of the fatigue and emotional heartache that while shared by his human teammates, weighed heaviest on Steve. Even the mighty Thor looked tired around his eyes. “As I do not require sleep, I will stay here and monitor the progress made by the satellites to track Sargent Barnes.” Vision extended a hand toward Steve who sighed and excepted it standing up with a slight wince as he put pressure on his leg. “I shall inform you the moment our friend has been located Captain…. We will bring him home.” Vision nodded and Steve tried to offer a smile back but it looked pained and he lowered his wet eyes as he nodded warily before limping out of the room with Sam walking at his side, hand on his upper back.
Once they were gone and out of ear shot Vision turned toward Hawkeye and spoke with consideration.
“You did not tell the truth earlier, when you were speaking about Sargent Barnes,….How he went into the Maintenance Chair.” His voice held a questioning tone and all eyes went toward Clint. The Archer huffed a bitter bark of a laugh and shook his head before leaning back on his medical bed and wincing from the effort,
“Yea well,….. What was I supposed to say huh?.... Tell Cap the truth,…..Tell him how Bucky went white as a ghost and shaking while Rumlow whispered something I couldn’t hear,……. And then he threw a knife at the Tech and Rumlow decided in his great wisdom that he was just gonna improvise and fry the Sargent anyway,….. use that antique rusted electric chair to turn his brain to mush!” Clint was snarling as he covered his face with his hand, rubbing at his eyes as the others listened in silence. He sighed and moved his hand away and then looked at Bruce with a bitter grimace. “Rumlow was joking about how he was going against protocol,….. Barnes had a concussion,.. and they didn’t inject him with whatever drugs they used before sticking him in the tank to keep him from getting Hypothermia.” Barton shook his head then looked at Natasha as she spoke, eyes keenly trained on her friend’s face.
“There is something else through,… What is it Clint.” She asked, knowing he was still keeping something even worse back. He sighed and his eyes blinked before glossing over wet and he looked up at the celling, the others watching him, dreading the rest of his confession and what it would reveal about how Bucky had suffered.
“They did use tranquilizers but,…… he wasn’t sedated just paralyzed.….. He was awake,…. fully conscious and terrified. He couldn’t move,…..couldn’t fight back….. and when they bolted him into the chair, he looked at me with those eyes,….. Christ, he was begging me to help him,…. And I couldn’t,…… He came to save our lives and then he was trapped,….. back in that fucking chair and I know what he wanted,….. he wanted me to kill him,….. I knew he’d rather die than loose himself again,…… then be owned by Hydra again.” Clint sucked in a breath, hands in his hair as he gritted his teeth.
“And when they turned it on,…… His screams,….. the smell of burning flesh,……. I couldn’t watch,…I….God I was actually praying that he would die,…..that his heart would just explode and the screaming would stop.” Clint let out another wet, shuddered sigh then turned and looked at the silent, grief stricken expressions of his team mates.
“Is that what I should have told Steve?.....Huh?.....Will that truth set him free!?” His voice broke and he shook his head as an angry cry ripped from his mouth through gritted teeth and closed eyes. Natasha climbed off of her bed and stumbled toward her best friend then curled up next to him on the bed whispering reassurances that it wasn’t his fault either. The others sat in stoic silence for a moment longer before Tony sighed and walked toward the door.
“We’ll get him back,….. And he’ll recover….. We’ve done it before.” Stark spoke with a determined tone that held it’s own emotional heaviness before he excited, the others soon to follow.