Knock Outs
There was a giant hole in the wall and everyone except Tony was now kneeling on the ground, coughing up their lungs for a moment. The secretary that nobody had noticed and had been sitting shell-shocked in the corner scuttled out through the hole with tears streaming down her eyes. You squinted through the debris to see Iron Man standing tall and dusting dry wall off of his suit calmly.
Rumlow, Ryan and the other goon were now getting up and brandishing their guns.
“Please don’t kill him,” you whispered to Natasha, who nodded curtly and aimed directly at Rumlow. He was smirking again and you heard Clint spit in disgust, cracking his fingers and pulling out his bow. Ryan was now speaking urgently into something small in his hand and moments later, the glass door was shattered and the HYRDA equivalent of a SWAT team barged through, all in arms. Two of them grabbed Ryan and escorted him out of the building. You screamed and chased after them, kicking and punching your way through the mass of men in black combat gear.
“I got your back, hot stuff,” you heard Tony say as he shot down anyone who tried to shoot at you. He flew up and caught you under the arms and picked you, speeding out of the Tower. You spotted Ryan and the two other HYDRA agents barrelling into a black van.
“Tony, let me down, I can track them from here. They need you inside!” you shouted over the din of traffic and fighting. Just as you said this, there was a piercing roar and distant screams and shouting.
“I think the big guy’s got it covered,” Tony said, just as someone was flung through a wall by a giant green hand.
“Fine! But if they don’t know that we’re following them yet, they will when everyone starts obsessing over Iron Man flying so low in through the city carrying someone,” you exclaimed, squirming as the metal pinched you through the leather of your suit.
“J.A.R.V.I.S., set a tracker on the car,” Tony said to his suit. There must have been a reply that you couldn’t hear because a moment later, Tony had scooped you under one arm and held out the other one towards the van. A small piece of metal sprung from his wrist and flew onto the van, latching onto the fender. A panel flipped up on Tony’s wrist and showed a small digital blueprint with a red dot and a green dot blinking next to each other.
“When did that happen?” you asked, marvelling at just how far he takes his technology.
“Last week, it’s originally so if Bruce Hulks out and escapes, we can find him easily.”
Tony started to ascend into the air, staying clear of any clouds and keeping an eye on the tracker. You felt the cold air whip your hair back from your face and tighten your skin. The wind was so forceful that you found it hard to breathe and had to take giant breaths and hold them for as long as you could. Eventually, you started nearing the outskirts of the city.
“How will we know whether they switched cars?” you cried over the howling wind.
“Well the van hasn’t stopped moving and I doubt they’d risk throwing him out of the back of a moving vehicle. Anyways, they’re leading us right to their base,” he informed you, checking the tracker. “It’s slowing down, we must be nearly there.”
You hadn’t let yourself think about all that had just happened and focused on your numb arms and legs. Tony started to descend, weaving in through the sparse trees and staying hidden from view as much as possible. He landed semi-gracefully on the ground behind what looked like an abandoned hospital. The van had pulled up outside the entrance and the two men and Ryan climbed out of the back. Your heart tripped and you tried to run forward but a metal hand caught you and covered your mouth.
“Are you trying to get us killed, sweet cheeks,” Tony muttered in your ear. You were getting exasperated with his demeaning pet names and would have punched him if he wasn’t in his suit. “You stay behind me at all times, we’ll sneak in the back, and if we’re caught, I’ll create a diversion, and you get the hell out of there, okay?” You nodded meekly and he let go of you, setting you gently on the ground. You flattened your hair down with your hands and took a minute to take in the situation. Tony took off the face panel of his helmet and looked at you with soft, brown eyes.
“It’s okay kiddo, we’ll get them back,” he said, touching your shoulder. You sighed and nodded again and Tony put the panel back on. He fist-bumped you and snuck towards a fire exit that was at the back of the hospital. You crouched slightly and ran after him. He broke the lock on the door easily with his hand-thrusters and slipped into the building quietly. You followed him and left the door just barely ajar so that nobody would notice but you could still easily get out. You entered a dark and deserted hallway, passing a few doors with broken windows and shattered hinges. When you reached the end of the hall, you rounded a corner and peered out around Tony’s suit. You had walked into a lobby type room but there was nobody behind the desk. Everything about this place was eerie and dark.
“Best bet is the basement, there’s bound to be a lot more levels,” you whispered. Tony headed towards a door that said ‘Lower Floors’ and laughed from inside his suit. You rolled your eyes and went cautiously through the door after him. You were met by a staircase and you and Tony descended it carefully. You pulled out a gun from your holster and kept it steady in your right hand. Tony put out a hand, stopping you from walking any further. He cupped it and put it up to where his ear would be if he wasn’t wearing the helmet. You strained your ears to hear faint voices that sounded like they were arguing.
“We should just wipe him now!” a man’s voice growled impatiently.
“We have to wait for Pierce, you know that,” a woman’s stern voice replied. You and Tony crept towards a door that had light pouring out of the bottom.
“He could be days! He’s a threat, if we don’t wipe him, we’ll have to kill him,” the man argued, raising his voice louder. “He’s stirring, get the sedatives!”
You saw Tony glance back at you as he held something in his hand. He leaned down and slipped it under the door. He pulled you away and motioned for you to cover your mouth. Seconds later there was a small beep and what you thought was the distinctive *hiss* of air seeping out of a pressurised can. Your theory was confirmed when wisps of white fog curled out from under the door. You heard someone coughing roughly and several thuds until everything went quiet. The fog or gas (or whatever it was) was now evaporating and disappearing into the vents.
You looked at Tony pointedly with a raised eyebrow and he shrugged.
“You never know when you’ll need some knock out gas,” he remarked before kicking down the door. The gas had cleared and you entered into an old-fashioned lab. All the electronic equipment looked dated and dusty, as if they had only recently moved here. In the corner there were three large cryo-freezers, all empty. You looked around to see a man and a woman in white lab coats collapsed on the ground next to each other. And on the other side of the room, was Bucky. He was strapped tightly to what looked like a dentist’s chair and was moaning unintelligibly. You ran over and tapped him lightly on his face, shaking his shoulders.
“Bucky? Buck can you hear me?” you called, opening his eyelids with your thumb. He groaned and opened his mouth. You quickly undid the straps on his wrists and ankles. You whipped your head up when you heard your name. Bucky let his head flop to the side and struggled to move.
“Yo Frosty, wake up,” Tony called, taking off his face panel again. Bucky’s eyelids fluttered and he frowned. In one swift motion, he caught you by your arms and pinned you against a wall. You felt your heart race as he stared at you with cold, blue eyes and a blank expression.
“Who are you,” he growled slowly, his grip tightening on your arms. You winced in pain and looked into his eyes.
“Buck… James, it’s me. (Y/N), your… girlfriend. You were taken hostage by HYDRA, but we’re getting you out. Your name is James Buchanan Barnes, your best friend is Steve Rogers, and we need to save him too,” you rushed, desperation seeping into your voice. Then almost in an instant, there was a shift, and his eyes weren’t cold and calculating, but horrified and confused.
“(Y/N)…” he whispered. He stood there, frozen and you coughed uncomfortably, his grip still tight on your arms.
“Bucky,” you said, looking at his hands. He dropped his hands and stepped away awkwardly.
“Alright kids, we gotta find my baby, Capsicle,” Tony piped up. You rolled your eyes and held out a spare gun to Bucky.
“Do you need this?” you asked, half hoping he would say no. He shook his head and you sighed in relief, knowing he wasn’t ready, just in case he slipped into his Winter Soldier mode.
“Let’s go.”