Lost and Found
Ch 4.
He was in a long dark hall way, the musty odor of mildew mixed with a static smell of ozone, as if the very air he breathed was electrified. The Captain felt a panic sharp and piercing as the blackness was suddenly illuminated by a blue surge of light from the end of the dark hall. A crackling buzz was background to a howling cry of agony, ripped from a voice he knew better than his own. The light was coming from a room down at the end of the long dark corridor and yet the screaming was all around him, echoing off the walls as Steve ran forward toward the flickering light. The Captain was running but in slow motion, as if he was frozen in time and he wasn’t getting any closer. The desperate cries became pleas for help. Bucky was sobbing and yelling his name, calling out to Steve with the most pitiful whimpers and cries between sharp screams of utter torture.
Then it was just his name, over and over again. STEVE, STEVE, STEVE,….
“Steve!...... Common Man!...... Wake up!” Sam jumped back after splashing a cup of cold water on Steve’s unconscious form that had been gripped in a nightmare. Sam stood several feet back out of arm’s reach having learned early on just like the others that hovering over any of them while waking from a nightmare was likely to end with bruises and blood if not broken bones. Steve and Bucky were not the only one’s at the tower who had frequent nightmares, but they did most often come up swinging.
Steve sat bolt upright gasping in his bed looking around him in panic.
“Bucky!...... Where?” Steve jumped up and headed for the door that lead to his best Friend’s room in their shared sweet.
“Steve,….. He’s not…..” Sam’s words stifled with a sad sigh as the Captain threw open Bucky’s door and turned the light on, freezing as he glared at the neatly made bed. Steve’s shoulders shook as he took in a gasped breath and rubbed his face before turning to look at Sam, overwhelmed as the shock and fatigue that had clouded his thoughts and numbed him was replaced by the gut wrenching reality.
“Oh God,….. Sam,….. Oh God,…… They have him,….. They have Bucky!” Steve’s voice shook and he let out a choked sob, the tears that he had fought back finally flowing freely as he staggered back and sat heavily on his friend’s bed, hands over his face. Sam was at his side instantly, an arm around his shoulder, his presence calm and reassuring.
“I know Steve,…… I know,…… but listen,…… breath,……. You got to calm down ok?..... He needs you,….. We need you to lead this mission.” Sam spoke with an even and steady voice, knowing that Steve would react immediately to his words. Steve’s breath caught and he sat up right, wet eyes blinking as he looked at Sam, alert and desperate.
“We found his location?” Steve asked with a sharp exhale and Sam nodded, aware that Steve would likely go running out the door in his sweats if Sam didn’t calm him down first. Steve was usually the most level headed out of the Avenger’s even more so then Natasha at times. But when it came to Bucky, he was barley able to keep his emotions from completely clouding his judgment and he needed Sam or Natasha to help keep him in check.
“Where is he?,….. We gotta go!” Steve was up and headed for his room as Sam followed him. He was relieved that at least Steve was going into his own room to get his uniform on and not just running franticly toward the hanger. Sam stood just outside the door way as he spoke with deliberate calmness, attempting to help Steve regulate himself and get back into the mind set of Captain.
“They are on a boat,…. Or a submarine actually, it is completely cloaked to sonar and just off the coast of Shri Lanka.” Sam explained. “Stark said he won’t know until we are nearby how many operatives will be aboard. We also aren’t sure where they’re headed.” Steve emerged with dry red eyes and a lethal glint in his eyes as he nodded at Sam and grabbed his shield heading for the door. Sam followed in step and chose to be silent as they headed at an urgent pace toward the hanger, aware that Steve still needed a moment to regain his composure and get into his role as Captain. Steve was good at shaking things off and acting quickly but he rarely gave himself time to feel and experience the reality around him. It was a survival skill of course and most soldiers Sam knew had adapted the ability to focus and get the job done during even the most emotionally devastating times but the after effects of such dissociation were not easily soothed away.
As they approached the hanger they saw Thor standing at the entrance with a reassuring nod. Steve saluted him and boarded, finding Vision and Scarlet Witch ready for takeoff with Ironman at the helm.
“Captain,….. hope you got some beauty sleep in…. Unfortunately however, I think this mission is gonna take a lot more then you batting those baby blues and Goldie locks here playing whack a mole” Stark gestured to the Thunder God and Thor looked puzzled while Sam huffed a laugh and took a seat. “So….We have about 11 hours.” The plane took off with Jarvis on Auto piolet as Stark stood up and walked toward the Assembled team. “We need a plan!”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The plan as it turned out was not their most well thought out but time was of the essence and there were too many unpredictable variables. Stark used his Ironman suite to go under water and attach inscriptive spy ware that could be wirelessly hi-jacked. They managed to direct the submarine to a near by island that was small and desolate. The Avengers waited on shore as the Submarine was forced to rise and then slam it’s self into the shallow waters effectively trapping in on land. Vision worked to force the hatch open and Ironman was able to identify from outside the metal vessel where the Cryo-tank was located based on the tracker. While Thor, Falcon and Vision focused on the agents pouring out through the top hatch that were the first line of defense, The Captain, Ironman and Scarlet Witch went in through a hole blasted by Starks repulsers.
As they made their way through the inner levels of the submarine Wanda captured the minds of the Hydra agents turning them against one another while Tony and Steve strong armed their way through the Hydra drones that screamed hail Hydra in whatever native tongue they came from. Stark blew open the door that lead to the room containing the Cryo-tank with Steve right behind him, Shield raised. As the smoke cleared, there sat Rumlow, grinning smugly with a lit cigarette in his mouth. He was sitting on top of the horizontal Cryo-tank, one hand held a live grenade, the other a gun resting on his leg pointing toward them.
The three Avengers froze as they watched the Hydra agent with cautious anxiety, aware that with one pull he could blow them all sky high and likely damage the Cyro-tank. They knew that it was likely that each could survive using their powers and wits but Bucky was vulnerable and trapped in his ice coffin, unable to defend himself and if the tank was compromised none of them knew how that might affect his recovery.
“Hey,…. It’s the Avengers!...... Here to save the fucking day!” Rumlow snickered as he took a drag using the hand that was holding the live grenade.
“Rumlow,……It’s over,… there is no situation in which Hydra will win this,…. But it doesn’t mean we can’t all walk out of here alive.” Steve spoke with calm authority even as his eyes darted down toward the Cryo Tank.
Rumlow barked a laugh as he looked down at the window that showed the pale blue face of the Winter Soldier. He took a drag and clucked his tongue then looked straight at Stark.
“There must have been a second Tracker right?” Rumlow smirked and nodded as he gestured at Stark with the gun. “Nobody ever said you were a dummy pal!..... Guess that makes me the idiot for underestimating you hotshots!” Rumlow sighed as he took another long pull then slid off the tank onto his feet with a bright grin on his marred features.
“Bet you recognize this little beauty too huh?..... Ain’t no grenade like a Stark industries baby bomb,….. packs a good punch for the size!” Rumlow held the grenade in his hand causally as if it was not an incredibly destructive weapon that could reduce them all to genetic mush.
“I told the big chiefs that going after the Asset was a bad move,…. Knew Rogers would corral the rest of you heroes into coming for him…… But I guess that’s why there is always a backup plan with Hydra right?” Rumlow chuckled and without a seconds warning he threw the live grenade directly at the three Avenger’s who reacted fast. Steve was blow back but his Shield took the brunt, just like Tony’s suite. Wanda had managed to cover herself in a protective force field but the explosion left them all reeling.
Steve felt his still healing fracture shift into a full break as his leg was struck hard against a steel rale that snapped in half as he was sent flying. When he landed he let out a coughing gasp, ears ringing and debris clouding his stinging vision. Despite the pain and disorientation, Steve was back up on his feet and hobbling over the ruined remains of the submarine floor bed. Water was coming in from everywhere and he looked around franticly, still disoriented from the exposition. He felt stabbing panic as he used his strained muscles to move aside pieces of the ship and wreckage, desperate to find the cryo-tank.
“Cap…… over here!” Steve jerked his head to the right as he saw Tony in his damaged suite, struggling to lift a large slab that was being hammered by flooding water. Wanda was next to him looking worse for ware as she threw her hands up to help Ironman lift the metal against the increasing water pressure. Steve threw himself over the jagged sharp metal and broken debris, his leg screaming with every move as he took in a deep breath then dove down into the water.
His eyes stung with the oil coated water but he could still see the Cryo tank only 6 feet down and trapped under more wreckage. He could see the crake in the glass window that showed Bucky’s prone, frozen face. The polluted salt water was beginning to seep through the cracked glass and Steve tried his best to keep a level head as his heart hammered and he fought against his sheer panic. With a quick glance he looked around and assessed the situation, noticing immediately what was holding the Cryo Tank down and how he could wrench it free. The Captain acted without hesitation, using the debris to pry the Tank free. He grunted and grimaced under water, air bubbles bursting as he used all of his strength to pry the tank loose. He wanted to grab Bucky out of the flooding coffin but knew that it was the only thing keeping him alive.
With reluctance he swam up to the ever decreasing surface, gasping as his head breach the top. The water was rising so quickly that both Scarlet Witch and a definitely short circuiting Ironman had water up to their chest. Steve took in a lung full of air and just before he disappeared again below the surface he was relieved to see Thor appear next to Stark to help hold up the metal as Vision appeared above them focusing his mind stone to lift the sub out of the water. Steve swam back down and wrapped his arms around the tank, struggling to pull it to the water’s surface.
With a grateful heave, Steve could feel the rapidly filling ice coffin lifted away from him and into the air. He gasped again as he felt Thor grab his arm and pull him up. The Captain coughed out the oily salt water, leaning on the Asgardian who had one arm on Steve and the other around Wanda who looked like she might pass out. Steve held on to Thor who flew them straight up and out of their watery grave. Steve looked over at Vision who was flying with the water filled metal tank, levitating it next to him as Stark struggle to use his short circuiting repulsers to fly next to him. They made it onto land where Sam was keeping the Hydra agents from getting close to their plane. Steve limped as fast as he could toward the water logged Cryo-tank as Stark landed next to it and used his suite to hack into it’s auto lock. Vision caught Wanda as she collapsed against him, handed over from Thor who rose into the air once more to fend off the few remaining Hydra pons as well as a missile attack that had been launched from some nea by Island base, likely the intended destination of the Submarine.
“Tony!” Steve choked out as Stark waved him back, working with speed to unlatch the tank. It opened with a flood of ice and salt water pouring out and Vision used his telepathy to force the water out of the plane and down the exit ramp. Ironman was using his scanner and speaking rapidly with a screen projection of Bruce who was receiving the data and preparing the lab for their arrival. Steve was shaking as he took in Bucky’s completely frozen, and exposed form surrounded by a haze of frost.
“Vision,…… Can you be a dear and wrap things up with Thor out there? We need to move along fairly immediately!” Despite the playful words, Stark’s voice was strained with tension as he didn’t even bother getting out of his broken suite, eyes jumping back and forth between screens as he worked with quick movements to stick wireless electronic monitors all over the steadily defrosting man laying lifeless before him.
“Go,…. We will shall put to rest who is a faster traveler and meet you back in New York!” Vision lay Wanda in a chair and fastened her seat belt then rest a hand on Steve’s shoulder with a nod of reassurance before exciting. Steve felt his broken leg give out as he collapsed into a chair, eyes locked on Bucky as the plane took to the air, all other distractions background to the silent and deathly still body of the man he would give his last breath to,….if only he could.