Relentless

Bucky Barnes crouched low on the rooftop, hidden by the dark of night and the blizzard-like conditions. The icy wind whipped at his hair, but his eyes stayed focused on the back door of the warehouse, unblinking and not daring to move.
Shield intelligence picked up Hydra activity in the area and they were conveniently tipped off that this was the place they'd be.
Bucky knew it would be dangerous, why would they lead him there unless they wanted to capture him, or worse? He hadn't cared about his own safety, instead jumping at the chance to get Zara out of their clutches. She'd already been missing for long enough. It had been 2 weeks since his encounter with her, and he was growing anxious to find her.
There was a lot they could do to someone in 2 weeks, and she didn't look so good that night in the alley. She had been so thin, so worn out, and he couldn't even think about the look she had given him.


He had gone back to Shield that night, wounded and like always the medical staff there had done an exemplary job at stitching him back up. Steve had rushed to the infirmary on hearing that Bucky had been shot, and even in the bleeding, horrible state he was, there was hope in his eyes and his expression had softened.
Steve had set out to inform Tony, Coulson, Natasha and anyone else that mattered to Zara, and together they had put their heads together to come up with a plan. It was agreed unanimously amongst them all that they would keep the news on Zara between hush-hush until they knew more. The intelligence sector got straight onto her case, tracking her movements as much as possible.


Bucky's gaze intensified as his eyes locked onto the door on the warehouse move, opening slowly and quietly. He got into position and pointed his sniper rifle down, watching as two men emerged, carrying a duffel bag. He peered through the scope, waiting for her. A third man came out the door, closing it behind him quietly.
Bucky followed them with the barrel of his gun as they quickly made their way down the alley way, his jaw set and lips pressed together. They approached a parked car and the third man hurried to unlock it.
Bucky blew out a frustrated breath. She wasn't with them, yet another no-show.
"Where the fuck are you, Zara?" He muttered under his breath.
He stood to leave, aiming the rifle and shooting all three of them dead. Three perfect heart-shots. He threw the rifle down angrily, swearing loudly. This was the fifth Hydra stakeout where he'd sat out in the snow for hours, waiting and she hadn't been there. He hated knowing she was alive and in the hands of those assholes. God only knows what they were doing to her, was she injured, was she in cryo? Were there even any cryo facilites left after they'd blown all the bases to smithereens?
Bucky clenched his jaw, bent to pick the rifle up and jumped down from the roof. He strode over to the bodies on the ground, quickly checking them for anything of use they may be carrying, collected the bag and made his way back to the building.


He walked through the front door, in his usual 'angry strut' as Natasha nicknamed it, lips pressed together in annoyance. This was his way of letting anyone around him know that if they said a word to him, it might be the last thing they'd say for a while.
Bucky swiped his card, walking straight into Tony's lab without being invited in, and dropped the bag on his desk, right on top of whatever it was he was working on.
"Are you fucking serious, Barnes?" Tony said, exasperated, soldering iron still hot in his hand. "You almost crushed my work"
"Thought you might wanna take a look at some Hydra tech." Bucky said back, a flat, bored tone to his voice.
Tony's expression brightened like a kid who'd just been handed a lollipop. He unzipped the bag and started going through it.
"I'll leave you to it." Bucky said, turning to leave.
"No luck tonight, Barnes?" Tony piped up.
"No."


Bucky walked into his apartment, and shrugged out of his leather jacket, setting it over a dining chair. He opted to stay in his tight black T-Shirt as he poured a glass of Jack Daniels, drinking it straight in one gulp.
He blew out a breath and turned to pick the framed picture of him and Zara, gazing into it fondly, before placing it gently back on the shelf. He had cleaned the room back up again, even had the knife, and what was left of the lamp stand removed from the wall. It had been re-plastered and repainted.
Dinner had been brought up to the room for him by a member of Tony's staff. Bucky still wasn't up for the festive dinner table chit-chat, and opted to eat alone in his room. Nobody bothered to argue with him - they figured if that's what made him happy, then so be it.
He finished his plate and covered it again, leaving the tray outside the door where it would be collected later on.
He ran the shower and pulled his shirt off, looking at himself in the mirror. He had shaved since the night he ran into Zara, she clearly didn't remember him, but he didn't exactly look himself that night. He'd had his hair trimmed back to the length it was when he was last with her which was just below his jawline, so he looked as much like his normal self as possible.
He ran a hand over his firm stomach, stroking what was left of the wound. It had left a small superficial scar, but the muscle tissue hadn't been damaged too badly.
He stepped into the shower, letting the hot water soften his muscles and letting his hair soak. He wondered what Zara was doing at that precise moment. He had felt guilty sleeping in a warm comfortable bed in a beautiful apartment. Every hot meal or steamy shower pained him a little, but he had to be in the best shape he could be in, he was no use to her tired, sore or weak.


There had been another two stakeouts in the following weeks, neither of which Zara had been at. One had been movement between buildings, with Hydra agents that were picked off with the rifle as usual. The other was an assassination attempt that Shield had foiled. Steve had gone along to help, and when they had shown up without Zara, Bucky had lost his temper. He ran in, killing them all brutally, catching the senior most member of their team and holding him up by his throat with his metal arm. The Hydra agent had tried to swallow a cyanide pill hidden in his gum, and Bucky had ripped it out before he'd had the chance, interrogating the man violently.
It was clear nothing was being given away, so Bucky tightened his grip on the man, crushing his throat, killing him slowly and painfully. He had relished it, too. This had worried Steve.
Meanwhile another tip-off had come through as another anonymous phone call. Shield had gone on high alert and Tony had gotten right onto tracing the call which had gone back out to a phone in a cafe. The building had been searched, and nothing had come up.
The tip off had been right on the money, but again Zara was missing from the team, adding fuel to the fire for Bucky.


An early morning session in the gym had helped him blow off some steam. Bucky lifted the weight and sat it on it's hooks before sitting up on the bench, his chest moving with heavy yet controlled breaths. He stretched his neck from left to right, letting it crack and wiped his face with a towel. When he lowered it and opened his eyes he noticed a pretty blonde girl coming over to him.
"Bucky Barnes, is that you?" She asked shyly, twirling her hair and biting her lip. These kinds of encounters had been happening quite a bit over the last two weeks since he'd 'come out of hiding' so to speak. The Zara fanfare hadn't bothered him so much now that he knew she was alive. It had been kept quiet around the agents and rookies, and Bucky preferred it that way. There was no way he could stand constantly being asked if she'd been found yet.
"What do you think?" He answered with his usual condescending tone, a brow raised and a no-nonsense look on his face.
"Oh, um... Sorry" She said, watching him as he stood and wiped his towel over the bench. He turned to face her, she was still tripping over her words and he didn't have the time or patience for this.
"I mean I knew it was you. Not many people out there have a metal arm" She giggled nervously.
"Sylvia North has one, why don't you go bother her" He said dismissively.
"I'd rather bother you, actually... Well not bother, I just wanted to come and get to know you a little..." She giggled.
"Not a good idea" He said, a warning tone in his voice. He walked away from her, hoping she'd leave him alone. He picked a bar weight up from the ground where he began doing some 2 handed bicep curls.
The blonde bit her lip again as she watched him.
"I know, I've heard stories about you, Bucky Barnes. But I'm not afraid..." She said, trailing off. Bucky clenched his teeth and took a deep breath, he shot her an unmistakeably threatening look. He was reaching the end of his tether.
"No, nothing bad! Sorry, I'm so bad at talking to hot guys... They say you can be a little aggressive, sure... But I kinda like an aggressive guy. A guy who can take charge, a guy who can look after a girl-"
Bucky snapped. He let go of the weight with his flesh arm, and suddenly hurled the entire bar across the room with his metal arm, straight into the wall, shattering the mirror. The blonde girl squealed in fright and jumped back. The arm plates recalibrating as it emitted a loud, robotic sound. Bucky strode over to her aggressively, covering the ground quickly, reaching out with his metal arm and shoving an elliptical machine out of his way. It hit the ground with a loud crash as it toppled over. The girl backed up fast, almost tripping over her feet as she went. She apologized profusely, and when her back hit the wall she burst into tears.
Bucky slammed his hand against the wall, inches from her face and she jumped and screamed again.
"Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry, just don't hurt me, please, PLEASE" She pleaded, tears pouring down her face.
"Then leave" He snarled at her, taking his arm off the wall. She ran from the room, not looking back.
2 of Tony's staff members had come running in, armed and stopped at the doorway, surveying the damage.
They spotted Bucky over near the wall and they both placed their hands on their holsters as they approached him.
"I wouldn't..." Bucky warned, looking at them darkly.
"Stand down, Barnes" One of them answered.
"I was just leaving" Bucky said, picking up his bag and walking out the door between them, shoving past them as he did.
"What an asshole..." One of them muttered.


Bucky was spoken to formally about upsetting the blonde girl. Her name was Rachael and she was one of the new rookies. She had been warned about him, but decided to try her luck with him anyway. Bucky had argued that it was her own fault, and he'd tried to ignore her, but she had pushed him.
Apparently she had been 'traumatized' by the encounter. Bucky had rolled his eyes and laughed. He reminded them that he hadn't laid a hand on her, and refused to apologize.
He also pointed out it was no secret that he could be a loose cannon, everyone that knew him knew he had enough on his mind with Zara being at Hydra. Everyone else knew he was grieving, and if they wanted to push the idea, then it was their funeral.
Meeting adjourned.

That night it snowed hard. Roads had been closed and the blizzard had made the news. There had been blackouts all over the city, not that it was a problem for them with Tony's building generating it's own power. Steve and Bucky were in the common room, shooting some pool while the others relaxed, watched TV and just generally hung out. It was great to have an area where the Avengers team could hang out and relax that was all their own.
Bucky hadn't joined them in months, but was making an effort as promised to Steve.
"I heard you beat one of the rookies up today, Barnes" Tony piped up. Bucky shot him an angry look.
"That's not what happened, and you know it, Stark" Bucky said. "I just gave her a little fright"
"Little fright, eh? That's not what I heard" He said, raising a brow.
"Well, apparently she's milking it for all it's worth" Bucky shrugged.
"Just go easy on the kids, will you please?" Tony said, sipping the last of his drink.
"If they keep outta my way, I'll keep outta theirs..."

"Sir, we have someone at the buildings' main entrance attempting to intrude" Came the voice of Tony's AI system.
"Get it on the screen, Jarvis" He said, turning to face a screen as it dropped down from the roof. Sure enough it showed a man at the front doors of Stark Tower, beating on the reinforced glass with his fists, and could be seen screaming. He looked up making eye contact with the camera in the lobby and started waving furiously.
Steve had already darted from the room, Tony and Bucky deciding to go after him seconds later. They flew down the stairwell and ran to the door, Steve running to open it, Bucky casually pulling a gun from the back of his jeans and holding it up in Steve's defense.
The man practically fell in the door, and began clawing his way across the floor.
"SHUT IT! Shut the door and lock it!!!" The man screamed.
Bucky took several steps towards the man who was completely hysterical, and kicked him over so he was laying on his back, and placed his heavy boot on the man's chest, restraining him and pointing the barrel of the gun at him with one hand. Steve stepped in to make sure crazy guy wasn't armed with anything.
"Easy Robocop" Tony reasoned, as Bucky thumbed the safety off his pistol.
"No, that's it, arrest me. Lock me in a cell, PLEASE!!! They'll kill me!" He screamed hysterically  again. The guy was either completely out of his mind, or genuinely scared out of his wits.
"Who?" Steve demanded.
"Lock me up first! They'll hear, please, it's not safe!"
Bucky, Tony and Steve shot each other a look, and Bucky hoisted the man to his feet, dragging him down stairs to the holding cells. Tony entered a code into the keypad on the wall and the door opened. Bucky threw him in roughly, the man landing on his hands and knees.
"LOCK IT!!!" The man screamed. Tony did so, and the man collapsed on the ground, trying to compose himself. He drew his knees up to his chest as he lay on his side on the concrete floor and steadied his breathing as best he could, taking deep breaths and relaxing.
"Okay, now talk" Tony said, looking over at crazy guy.
"I've been calling you guys" He said, sitting up from his spot on the floor. "I've been trying to help"
"Oh yeah? Heard that one before..." Bucky said, dismissively.
"Well I was right wasn't I? Hydra agents died because of my tips did they not?" He said, stumbling to his feet, pressing his hands on the glass,
"What's your point?" Steve said.
"I come from Hydra"
"Well feel free to set off whatever explosion you like, cuz that cell is bombproof" Tony smiled.
"I escaped, I'm here to help a friend!" Crazy guy said, removing his top and kicking his boots off. His irrationality was making Tony nervous.
"Jarvis, scan him" He said.
"Scanning cell 3 for you now, sir." Came Jarvis' voice. "Negative for explosives or biological weapons. Subject is carrying a possible wrist fracture"
"I'm being honest. I'll take a lie detector, a shot of truth serum, anything you want... My name is Thomas Christian Hall you can look all my identification up online"
Tony picked up his tablet, and ran a search. The face matched up with the name.
"I'm a trained doctor, all my details will be on the medical archives, I did all my training here in New York, under a Professor Jeremy Swanson, I graduated top of my class. I did my residency at New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell. I was born in Washington D.C to my parents, Maria Anne Hall and Jonathan Gregory Hall-"
"Okay, okay, okay... Tony said, cutting him off. I had all that on screen before you opened your mouth.
"How'd you go from there to Hydra, and end up here? Short version would be great." Tony asked.
"I was taken by them following an attack on their base... I haven't been there long. I went out on the field a few times, until I got caught sneaking a phone call." He said.
"So you came here to take refuge?" Steve asked.
"Yes, partly for that reason. The other part is that I befriended a girl there that said she was from here. I was there to treat her, run tests on her... Her health was my job." He said. Bucky's breath hitched.
"She was kind to me, despite all the awful, awful things they did to her. We vowed that if one of us got out, we'd help the other. I need to get her out. I know where she is." He said, tears in his eyes.

"Her name... What's her name!?" Bucky demanded aggressively.
"Jones... Her name is Zara Jones"