Twisted Ends

‘Well, isn’t this just great.’ Bucky thought, flames licking at his skin as he made a sprint for an exit, any exit. But, of course, as his everlasting luck would have it, the fire was all encompassing and had already overtaken the doors.

‘Fuck.’

Sure, he could have done a few things differently. Maybe crossed some T’s and dotted a few I’s a bit sooner than he had, or, you know, spoken more than two words to Sam and kept him in the loop for once. Instead of doing what he always did, which was shot gunning himself into trouble, again.

Fuck, Sam.

Bucky grunted as he slammed though a wall, wincing as flames blew through the outline of brick. His leather jacket was beginning to melt to his skin. Also fantastic. Yet another thing Sam was going to bitch him out for. It was the Christmas present of the century as he was ceaselessly reminded. He was never going to hear the end of it.

Focus, Barnes. He needed to get out of here. He had only meant to take a casual peruse through the shady GRC warehouse, half expecting some good old interworking corruption. A cake walk for him. It was a little morsel sent by Sharon, which had been odd, but hey. Sue a man. He got bored easily.

What he had NOT expected was the entire warehouse being operated by Hydra agents, moving and shipping mystery containers labeled for the GRC reorganization camps. Intel had said that Hydra had fallen beyond salvation during the Blip, so no. He had not thought he would come face to face with a very familiar shadow from his colorful past. Yet another piece of information that was utter bullshit or had been left out. Sharon either needed a refresher workshop in subterfuge, or he needed better friends. Speaking of.
He needed to find Sam. Tell him what was currently happening right under their noses at the GRC. See how far this exactly went, and hope to God, for just once, he would grant him mercy and let Sam overlook his slight lapse in judgement. Or rather his inability to communicate.

Though, the more he thought about it, maybe he would just stay here and let himself be roasted like a pig on a spit. Jesus, he thought with a grimace. He could see Sam’s face now. Looking at him with that mixture of bewilderment and something just so Sam. He wouldn’t have to say anything, his eyes would tell all. He was going to take one look at the token leather jacket currently melted to his back and his face smudged in blood and soot and it was going to be over. Worse yet, he might even tell Sarah this time what he’d done.

Fuck.

Bullets sprayed the wall next to him, springing him from his derailing train of thought. He’d almost forgotten about the Hydra goons. How silly of him. Sam really was going to get a kick out of this.
Kick flipping off a barrel, he neatly tucked himself and spun through the air, bullets grazing at his shoulders. Landing, he slunk to the ground and kicked out, smirking at the satisfying SNAP of a kneecap. He then grasped at his belt, flinging a knife at the Hydra goon’s throat. Gurgling normally wasn’t a sound he took much pleasure in listening too these days, but he would make an exception just this once. Tucking himself into a roll, he continued to clear the alleyway, making quick work of the remaining henchmen.

At least one had some form of self-preservation. He took one look at the gore sprayed on the pavement and at Bucky stalking towards him and attempted to make a break for it. Too bad he wasn’t going to get very far, but good on him to put forth a bit of effort. Bucky glanced around and saw a fractured brick to his left. That’ll do.

He tossed the brick back and forth in his hands before releasing it, cheering silently as it made contact. The goon smacked face first into the concrete and Bucky relished in the sound of veneers shattering. But hey, maybe Hydra had a killer dental plan.

Blood and some deliciously large pieces of teeth dribbled out of the man’s mouth as he attempted to speak, eyes widening as Bucky lifted him off the ground.
“Sorry, couldn’t hear what you were saying before” Bucky gave a flat grin as the man began to struggle, garbling around fractured molars. “The guns kind of drowned out whatever you might have been trying to say, so...” Bucky leaned in, expression flattening. “How about we try it again, hm? Before you lose what’s left of those pearly whites.”

“Fuck you!” the man gasped.

“No, thank you.” Bucky chirped. He straightened his arm, tilting his head to the side as the man’s legs began to flail. “You know,” Bucky quipped, staring up at the night sky. “I’ve been pretty nice so far, least you could do is just answer my questions.” He turned his gaze back to the struggling man, eyes narrowing to slits. He tightened his hand around the man’s throat. He could feel his pulse quickened underneath his grasp. “What is Hydra doing with supplies from the GRC?”

He then relaxed his hold, dropping the man unceremoniously to the ground into a puddle of unknown liquid. The goon sputtered before glaring up at Bucky.

“You’ve gotten rusty, Soldiat.” The man’s face contorted into a sneer, spitting chunks of teeth at Bucky feet. “The old you would have killed me by now.”

“Guess that counts you as lucky then, doesn’t it?” Bucky grounded out. His skin was starting to crawl. He could taste acid and copper on his tongue, though maybe that was the fever beginning to set in from the burns. Hard to tell, really.

He pulled out his sig, finger languidly tapping on the trigger. “Now,” Bucky pointed the gun. “Tell me, why is Hydra involved with supplies for the GRC? Where are you taking them?” Punch-able face guy just stared blankly back; his eyes void of any emotion at all except something akin to amusement.

“You truly have no idea, do you?” he guffawed. “Us? Taking from the GRC?” The man snorted, eyes dark. “Maybe you should start paying more attention, Soldiat.” The man wiped at his mouth, crimson smeared across his face. “Would be a shame if something were to happen to that Captain of yours.”

Bucky tightened his grip on the sig, gut curdling. He could feel anger boiling in the pit of his stomach. There was something else there as well that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. “What does Sam have to do with this?” he snarled.

The man laughed. “Oh, you are a funny thing, aren’t you? Thinking you could pretend to be something that you are not. That you are anything more than what we made you, a puppet. A killer.” The man smiled, all bloody gums and jagged teeth. “Tell me, does your precious Captain know everything that you’ve done? What you are?” Toothless smiled lecherously. Bucky’s blood ran cold. “Do you think he would look at you the same if he knew all your vile doings, soldiat? Of the things that happened in the dark? How you-”

Bucky bared his teeth, crouching down and snapping his hand back around the goon’s throat. His skin suddenly felt too tight for his bones, the air seeming thicker than it had been moments ago. “Enough!” Bucky bellowed. “What the fuck do you want with Sam?!”

The man simply leered back, lewdly looking him up and down. Vacant eyes went up to meet his. “Would he want anything to do with you if he knew what you were?” Bucky took a shaky breath in. He could feel ghostly hands wisping along his abdomen, trailing lower and-

Toothless suddenly bit down, beginning to violently convulse. Pink froth spilling from his nose and mouth.

Bucky let the man go, watching as he continued to flail along with ground. “Still doing Cyanide pills I take it?” he huffed out, cold sweat dripping down the nape of his neck. The man said nothing, though Bucky hadn’t expected him to. After a few moments, everything went eerily silent. Bucky could still feel the man’s lewd gaze undressing him. He could still feel the hands-

Bucky sat back on his heels, digging the palm of his hands wearily into his eyes. He took in an unsteady breath, willing his racing heart to slow down. So, Hydra was back. Which wasn’t great. And he hadn’t the slightest idea what they were plotting. It obviously wasn’t anything good. Any evidence he’d found would have been in those containers. He glanced at the giant fireball that was currently lighting up the D.C skyline. So much for that.

'Would be a shame if something were to happen to that Captain of yours.' Bucky gritted his teeth. Most called him a pessimist, but he liked to think of himself as a realist with pessimistic tendencies. He knew Hydra would never die. That he would always be on a list somewhere. He would have to watch his steps wherever he went, keep his eyes on dark corners. But why were they suddenly so interested in Sam? Sam had been Captain America for months now. Why were they suddenly gunning for him?

'Well,' Bucky thought. 'Time to face the music I suppose'. Standing up, he could feel the skin over his back pull and felt the faint urge to gag. Suppose he’d need to get that taken care of, too. Even the skin at the top of his head was beginning to prickle. 'Christ,' he thought. Sam was going to chew him up and spit him out.

Pulling out his phone, he swiped to his contacts and selected the first one that popped up. Sam picked up on the second ring, already sounding exasperated.

“What did you do?”

Bucky huffed. “Well, hello to you too Sam.”

“Hello, Bucky.” Sam acknowledged. “What did you do?”

Bucky glanced around at the alley, wincing as the smell of thick, choking fumes blew into his face.

“I didn’t do anything.” He paused before continuing. “Though,” He glanced at the body near his boots. The eyes still seemed to be following him. “I do believe we have a problem.”

Sam went quiet on the other end of the phone. He took a moment to respond, his tone shifting from mock annoyance to that typical Sam Wilson concern.

“Where are you?”

Bucky glanced around, squinting up at the tall buildings overhead. “Well, it would just so happen that I’m in your neck of the woods. Think you could give a pal a ride?”

He heard shuffling on the other end. “Drop a pin and I’ll be there.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll be needing that” Bucky licked his lips as he heard sirens in the distance. Took them long enough. “Just turn on the news and you’ll know where to find me.”

“Oh my god, Barnes. I can’t go to one meeting without you bleeding out in a parking lot somewhere.”

“Technically it’s an alley, and that was one time.”

“Just stay where you are and don’t die.” Sam groaned. “Couldn’t even let me enjoy my victory beer.” Bucky could hear a bottle dumping into a trashcan.

“I’ll be there in 20.”

“Hey Sam?” Bucky could feel the very palpable exasperation seeping through the phone.

“Yes, Bucky?”

Bucky closed his eyes. Everything suddenly felt too close to the surface. He could smell the burnt flesh and leather. He could feel how his pulse was starting to quicken. The sensation of hands twisting and grabbing at him. He took in a wavering breath.

“Buck?” Sam’s voice sounded far away. “Are you good, man?”

'Pull yourself together, Barnes'.

“Could you bring your Med pack? Think I might have lost a few toes.” Bucky retorted, tongue in cheek.

Sam seemed to chew on his words before sighing heavily into the phone. “Did you actually lose your toes? Or are you fucking with me?”

“Sam, you wound me. Of course I’m fucking with you.”

Another sigh. “Jesus Christ.”

“But I really do need you to bring that Med pack.” Bucky glanced backwards, wincing at the marred portion between his shoulder blades. “And maybe hurry? Before I have leather healed into my back forever. You know, super soldier serum and all.”

“James Barnes, you did NOT destroy my Christmas gift, did you?!” Sam squawked.

“Not on purpose.” Bucky weakly argued, huffing as he sat down on the curb. “Next time I’ll try and not get blown up.”

“I hate you.”