Remorseless

Bucky squinted, shielding his eyes with the back of his hand against the harsh fluorescent lighting as he woke up. The first thoughts entering his head were a fluster of things like 'Where the hell am I?' And 'How the hell did they knock me out long enough to bring me here?' Closely followed by 'Where the hell is Zara?' And 'They better not have hurt her'...
He groaned inwardly as he sat up, his eyes settling on the familiar smug face of Grant Ward, who'd clearly been waiting for Bucky to wake up.
"Where is she?" He snarled, his voice hoarse and gravelly, Ward barely able to contain his amusement.
"Somewhere secure"

Bucky grit his teeth and let out a deep breath as he studied his surroundings. The room was dark and cold, concrete floors and walls, and a noticeable lack of windows or fresh air. He screwed his face up at the damp smell, his eyes now locked on the jail-like upright bars around his cell. Something like that would be a piece of cake for him to break out of with his superhuman strength and metal arm, but if he knew one thing, it was that things were never that easy. Especially where Hydra and Ward were concerned.

"Yes, you have a force field around you..."

Bucky glared at him, not dignifying his remark with an answer.

Well no shit...



The next few days came and went uneventfully. No amount of yelling, screaming, threatening, and thumping fists against bars got his questions answered. Every time he asked if Zara was okay and where she was, he was either sneered at or told the same thing - "she's secure".
Bucky had overheard a few of the guards talking about the 'pretty, dark haired girl' in another cell and it was enough for him to work out she was behind the thick metal sliding door on the far side of the room. He'd figured out there was some sound-proofing going on as his attempts to call out to her had fallen on deaf ears... Or unconscious ones... The fact that he could hear the guards but not her was enough to make him worry even more, he hated knowing she was on the other side of the room, probably hurt, and he couldn't get to her. It was bad enough that she was supposed to have been under his protection, in his safe house when all this happened. What kind of guy let someone shoot and kidnap his girlfriend, right out from under his nose!?

He began pacing back and forth again while worst case scenarios entered his mind, followed by desperate attempts to come up with escape plans, none of them feasible the more he thought about it. He slammed his fists against the bars again out of sheer frustration, someone yelling back at him to settle down.

Bucky grit his teeth and let out a long breath, trying to calm himself.

"What's the matter, Barnes?" Came the smug, cockney voice of an armed guard as he sauntered up to the cell, coming face to face with his prisoner. "All riled up are we?" he added with an arched brow and a grin that Bucky would have loved to knock straight off his face.
"Where is she?" Came the same inane question Bucky had been asking since he woke up on the floor several days ago, the guard letting out a chuckle, amused at his worry.
"Like we keep telling you - she's secure" He said, lapping up the power trip. "Feisty little thing, isn't she? I bet you like that though, don't you?"

Bucky glared.

"Don't worry though, we settled her down good and proper. Bet you haven't heard a peep from behind that door, have you? Think about it, Barnes. Let that thought sink right in" He said, giving a wink which made Bucky feel sick.
"We had our bit of fun first, though. Waste not, want not, and all that... A few of us got our pound of flesh, don't you worry about that, eh!" He said with a laugh, Bucky losing his temper, slamming against the bars again over and over until the guard was called away, Ward stepping into view in the dim light.
"BARNES!" Ward called out over the ruckus, Bucky stopping for a moment, chest heaving, jaw clenched and hands pulled tightly into fists.
"What the FUCK is going on, Ward!?" He demanded, almost unable to control himself at the thought of those men touching her, or worse... "WHERE IS SHE!?"
"Don't mind my guys" Came Ward's answer with a relaxed, nonchalant shrug.

Bucky screwed his face up as if he could hardly believe what was going on. He shook his head as his breathing picked up pace again, the urge to explode becoming harder and harder to suppress.
"Zara's fine. Well, she WILL be fine... Can't have her dropping dead on us just yet - not when I have so many plans for you guys" Ward said with a wink, "I'm always thinking of the future, Barnes, so don't you go worrying about a thing. I've got you covered."
"Let her go... I told you I'll stay. You've got control of me, you already know that. I'M the one you want-"
"Don't assume anything about what or who I want, Barnes" Ward snapped, cutting him off, "She's the one who caused all of this. She's an enemy of Hydra-"
"They've had their revenge already, they destroyed her-"
"You don't take out hundreds of people, bases and put them at war with Shield and live to tell the tale-"
"Hydra's ALWAYS been at war with Shield, Zara made no difference there!"
"Shield have never carried out an all-out attack and taken out all their fucking bases! She was responsible for that-"
"-And she paid with her life!"
"Bullshit, she's still alive now - for the moment. We only got 6 months out of her until you fuckers took her back, only for her to take my arm... Which worked out okay for me in hindsight once they got me all teched up," He said, holding out his metal arm, "But Hydra don't forget an enemy, and if they get her, she's fucked, you both are."
"They!? You mean YOU!" Bucky snapped,
"I'M not Hydra"
"...WHAT!?" Bucky almost spat at him, shaking his head in disbelief at what he was hearing,
"Oh come on, Barnes. Surely you've figured it out by now?"
"What, you've gone rogue? No surprises there-"
"I want Hydra finished. Gone."
"So I'm supposed to believe you're one of the good guys now?"
"Oh I never said that" Ward shrugged with a sideways smile, "But that's all you need to know. Zara's secure, like I said... She's safe and alive as long as she's here."
"No, that's bullshit, Ward... If you're not Hydra, then why the hell are we here? I don't believe for a second you've got Zara locked up for her own protection after what I've seen and heard-"
"No, you're here because I need your help. Zara's here because I need leverage to control you... And I have a personal vendetta against you both." Ward said matter-of-factly, crossing his arms, "I always get what I want, Barnes. It's time you learned that."
"Just answer my question... Is she okay?"

"She will be if you co-operate with us. So far the few times you haven't been so compliant, she's paid for it... Just remember that next time you lash out at one of my guys."




Zara shivered, knees pulled to her chest as she sat on the cold concrete floor in the corner of the room she was locked in. She licked the inside of her lip where it had split when they'd hit her, the sting a stark reminder to not try anything again. She'd heard some sort of a commotion across the other side of the huge room they were in and had assumed that it was Bucky, the guards confirming it when she heard them making fun of them. One of them telling the other how he'd told Bucky they'd done certain things to her, Zara thanking her lucky stars that it was untrue at this stage. She was under no disillusion that they weren't capable of unspeakable things, her thoughts going to the men in the tunnels when she was at Hydra. She felt sick, the urge to throw up in her mouth becoming harder and harder to suppress the more she thought about it.

She wondered what would happen to them and hoped that they hadn't done anything terrible to Bucky. If the chip worked, then he'd be safe against mind control attacks, and there wasn't much a mere mortal could do to hurt him physically... Zara felt sick again, the harsh reality being that if they wanted to hurt him, they'd hurt her and shove it in his face. She was there for leverage, simple as that.

Zara let out a breath, closing her eyes so she could concentrate... There had to be a way out, and as much as she wished and hoped, Bucky was not going to be the one to bust them out, not with a force field around him...

Come on, THINK!

Her eyes explored the room she was in, looking for any imperfections in the walls and doors, any clues pointing to  a way out... The roof would have made a nice escape point if it weren't so damn high up, obviously they'd thought about that when setting the place up. She was still yet to work out what kind of building they were in, her guess was some kind of bunker or basement, maybe even a refitted underground car park or something? It was anyone's guess if she was honest with herself.
The only rooms she'd seen was the one she was sitting in, which was little more than a concrete box with a heavy steel sliding door - and then there was the room they had set up as a medical examination room. Granted, she'd only seen snippets of it through swollen, sore eyes when she'd first woken up from whatever drug they'd pumped into her system to knock her out. Her thoughts wandered to Bucky again, what kind of room he was in, and how long they'd been trapped there - again, time had escaped her with the lack of windows, clocks, or routine. The fact she'd been knocked out had thrown her as well as she had no idea how long she'd been out of it for.

Zara let out a long breath, her eyes still closed as her mind continued to do its thing, working her situation out... There were only a few things she was absolutely sure of - she was alive and uninjured. Well, reasonably uninjured. Bucky was alive, she guessed that much when two of the guards came in on a couple of occasions, one roughing her up while the other one filmed it. She'd learned her lesson not to fight back, they made sure it hurt twice as much when she resisted them... No doubt it made for a more dramatic piece of footage then, too. It'd hurt Bucky more to see her helpless, so she'd decided to tough it out, shut her mouth, and take the damn hit without showing a shred of emotion.

Don't  cry, don't even flinch... Don't give them the satisfaction of knowing it hurts...

She shook her head at the thought of being a human insurance policy, and wondered if Bucky had been shown the videos yet. Maybe that's what the commotion was? Maybe they were stockpiling them to make up some sort of a sick compilation tape?
Zara shuddered at the thought.

The urge to get up and pace took her over as more thoughts entered her head - there were times where she could hear a commotion from the other side of their floor, guards yelling and taunting, and she was almost certain she'd heard Bucky's voice scream out at least once. She'd called out in case he could hear her, only for someone to come in and shut her up - that's where she'd gotten the split lip from. Since then she hadn't heard a peep from Bucky, despite the yelling and taunting continuing on. Sometimes the guards would brag to the others that they'd managed to set him off, which confirmed the force field theory in her mind - they had to have one around his cell. How else could they contain him without technology otherwise? It was the only thing that explained the occasional soundproofing effect, otherwise surely she'd hear him if he 'went off'. Bucky wasn't quiet when he was really angry.
 
Zara stopped pacing long enough to turn, leaning against the metal door, absentmindedly tapping it with the heel of her boot as the wheels in her head continued to turn. There HAD to be a way out, she'd gotten out of worse situations before-

*BANG*

She gasped with fright as someone hit the door hard, her ears ringing for a moment before she realized she was being told off.
"Keep tapping on that fucking door, and you'll spend a night strapped to a gurney upstairs, GOT IT!?" Came a threat that suddenly sounded more tempting than it probably should have.

Upstairs... So we ARE in some sort of building basement.

"JONES! DID YOU HEAR ME?"

 Any other room would be easier to escape than this perfect concrete box... If I can get out, maybe I can get to Bucky... But then there's the force field... How the fuck am I going to get through that? What if Bucky gets out and can't find me because I'm busy trying to find HIM? What if-

"JONES!!"

Ugh crap... There's only one way out of this room and it's through that screaming idiot, and the team of other screaming idiots that will inevitably come running.
You can't beat them all, or you wouldn't be here in the first place...
Good point... If I can't beat them, and I sure as shit aren't about to join them, then there's only one option left...

Zara swallowed hard and started tapping again at the door, louder than before as she listened to the jingling of keys on the other side of the door. She stepped away from it when it was opened, a very pissed off looking guard on the other side.

Here we go...

"Sorry, was I making noise?" She asked innocently, the guards' face becoming redder and redder as he strode over to her. She effortlessly ducked out of the way as a backhand came flying for her face, laughing at his annoyance as she dodged a second attempt. The third swing came as a punch, Zara deflecting it and returning one square in his nose and another in his cheek, making him stumble backward. He called out for backup as he came back for more, Zara making him look like an amateur as she dodged all of his attacks. The sound of several heavy sets of boots came echoing up towards them, Zara deciding she'd better make a move and make it quick. She grit her teeth stepping into him again, laying into him with a well timed combination of punches, followed by a knee into his ribs, doubling him over. He let out a gasp, winded, Zara taking the opportunity to send a boot into the side of his face, dropping him unconscious to the ground.
She crouched down, admiring her handiwork while she searched him for anything useful she could conceal on herself, quickly pocketing a cigarette lighter before rolling him over to check his other pockets. She'd pulled out a set of keys and a small switchblade which was still in her hand when another two guards burst through the half open door.

Damn it, not quick enough...

She stood up and held the knife up to them, swaying on her feet a little to fool them into thinking she'd been concussed in the scuffle. The guard closest to her grinned, striding over to her as she made it clear she wasn't playing around. She made an intentionally half-assed attempt to thrust the blade at him, letting him disarm her and taking a hard punch to the cheek. She stumbled back, feeling dizzy for real now as she watched them come at her.

And now for the finale...

She clenched her jaw, fighting back for real, landing a few decent hits that even Bucky would have beamed with pride at. She managed to knock one of the guys to his ass, the second guy grabbing her by the throat and throwing her against the wall which she bounced off before hitting the ground. She looked up at him with a brow cocked and an amused expression as he bent down to pick her up by the front of her shirt, a sickening smile crossing his lips as he restrained her, her back against his chest.
Zara swallowed hard when the second guy got to his feet, striding towards her. She braced herself as his fist sunk into her stomach, and another in the ribs, making her gasp as she lost her breath for a few moments. He hit her again, hard in the same rib for good measure, clearly happy with himself when she let out a strained whimper.
"Is that all you've got?" She croaked out when she'd composed herself, spitting in his face when she got her breath back. He growled as he wiped his face off, wasting no time in letting his fist connect with her cheek, Zara struggling against the grip of her captor.
The hits kept coming now, and were enough to dislodge her from the grip of the first guard, their laughter echoing around the room over the sound of her ears ringing.

Zara hit the ground, laying motionless and quiet as they kicked her until they were satisfied. The original plan was to fake unconsciousness to warrant a trip to the infirmary, and to obviously make out she was hurt badly enough to be in there for a couple of days. Right now she was partly glad she wouldn't have to play it up after the beating she'd just taken... The other part of her regretted egging them on so much, and she worried to herself that she'd let it go too far. Now if the opportunity to escape presented itself she wasn't so sure she'd be able to get up and take it.

No. That's bullshit, you're fine. You've been hurt worse than this and come out of it in one piece, don't you dare start doubting yourself now... Bucky's depending on you, are you about to give up on him? No? Didn't think so... Suck it up.

She stayed perfectly still and quiet, letting her body go limp when one of the guards lifted her arm off the ground by the wrist, letting it drop as if to test her.
"She's out..." Confirmed one of the guards.
"Ward's going to kill us for this"
"No he's not, one look at Davis and he'll understand. Looks like she broke his nose, besides, Ward knows what she's capable of..."

There was a pause while the two of them stopped to consider their situation, one of them eventually speaking up.
"I thought she'd be harder to take down after the stories I've heard..."
"You drug and starve someone - they're not going to be at their best"
"You're right"
"No shit..." Came the nonchalant reply as the guard bent down to scoop her up, Zara letting herself go as limp as she could. They had to believe she was unconscious for her plan to work...
"Come on, let's get her upstairs. You'd better call ahead, make sure you tell them she pulled a knife on us... Make it sound bad."



I'm out. Everything hurts, but I'm out of that damn room... Christ, this is the stupidest plan ever and I'll only get one shot at pulling it off...
Please, please, pleeeeeaaaase let this work!