A Message From A Friend
Waiting in Steve’s hospital room was like torture for Bucky. Hearing the machines hooked up to his friend beep and buzz was unnerving to say the least. Nat was currently on root to the hospital, so Bucky was stuck waiting on his own. He wasn’t worried about Steve. Steve was a super soldier, his injuries would heal in a couple of days and he’ll be back to his usual self.
Typically Sam would burst through the room with an assortment of snacks and movies for them to watch while Steve recuperates. But after the events that took place today, Bucky couldn’t even think about Sam without curling his fists in frustration. Sam was smarter than this, he pulled a reckless stunt that could have gotten him or Steve killed and Bucky couldn’t let him get off scot free. He just couldn’t. As he sat contemplating his next move a knock was heard on the hospital door. Absent mindedly Bucky said, “just come in Nat.”
But instead of being greeted with her typical sassy remarks, Nat simply moved over to Steve and sat down on the side of his bed. “Don’t you look great?” Steve groaned at her and slowly sat up, “you shouldn’t do that.” Bucky stud up and immediately pushed Steve back down, “you might have super healing, but you still need some time to recover.” Nat scoffed and stated dryly, “aren’t you being a mother hen.”
“And what’s the matter with you?” Natasha seemed to pause for a minute before crossing her legs and looking sternly at the floor, “heard some guys out front talking about your mission, said that not only was the old Captain America getting weaker, but that the new one was even worse then the last. They specifically called him a loose cannon, and not to be trusted with important affairs.” Bucky nearly rolled his eyes, “well they got something right.”
Steve made a small noise of surprise while Nat immediately shot Bucky a look, “what do you mean Barns?” Bucky stud with an obvious hint of rage in both his movements and his voice.
“You saw the same mission report as I did! Sam was told to stay back with Steve and WAIT, but did he? No, he decided to attack anyways and now Steve is injured and we may have another winter soldier on our hands! So please tell me Nat, what did they say about Sam that wasn’t true?”
By now Nat had stud up and faced Bucky with an unreadable look; Steve had sat up in his hospital bed silently. They looked at Bucky like he was crazy, “come on tell me!?” Natasha shot Steve a worried glance before sighing and looking back at Bucky, “they said he didn’t deserve the mantle.”
Bucky looked down at the ground…..the only sound that could be heard in the room was the beeping of Steve’s medical equipment.
Natasha walked toward Bucky and stud in front of him, “James look at me.” Never once had Bucky ever heard Nat refer to him as James. So of course he looked up and *CRACK*
It wasn’t a gunshot, nor a stab wound, it was just a simple slap. ‘So why did it hurt more than any other wound?’ Bucky stud there is a shocked silence just…..waiting…..for something……anything! But Nat never spoke. Instead she turned away from Bucky, gave Steve a hug, and then she was gone.
It was jus him and Steve now. Feeling uncomfortable Bucky attempted to leave the room, but his shoulder was firmly grabbed. And there Steve was, injured and furious, “Bucky what the hell is wrong with you!! I-where is Sam?”
“Why do you care?” Bucky looked at Steve with worried and confused eyes, “he got you hurt. Like seriously injured. So why, why do you care so much?” Steve let go of Bucky but stayed close to him, “Bucky he made a mistake. When he picked up that signal coming from the locked room he seemed off. When I told him to fall back he looked at me with these pleading eyes, like he couldn’t just leave.” Steve brought his hand back to Bucky’s shoulder, but this time with less force. “You love Sam don’t you Bucky?”
Bucky stilled at Steve’s question, ‘love Sam,’ love Sam? Had he heard him correctly, he couldn’t have. He didn’t love Sam……did he?
Steve’s loud sigh brought Bucky out of his thoughts, “I can see that you care a lot for Sam, maybe it isn’t love but you definitely care about him, maybe even more than you care about me. But Bucky I need to know what you said to Sam. I-“ a doctor entered the room and stud awkwardly between the two super soldiers. “My apologies gentlemen but I need to check up on Mr. Rogers.” Steve hesitantly let go of Bucky’s shoulder and returned to his hospital bed. While Bucky continued his advance toward the doors, “oh and Mr. Barns, there is a Mr. Baron here to speak with you. He’s down at the front desk.”
Bucky stopped again and quickly turned around to look at the doctor, “can you repeat their name again?” This had to be some kind of joke, right? “He said he name was Baron.”
Bucky sprinted down the hall and hopped serval flights of stair to get down to the busy main floor. Their standing at the front desk was a familiar figure, dawning a gaudy fur coat. “Ahh James, it seems like I need your help with something.”
Bucky grabbed Zemo and dragged him out of the hospital and into a nearby alleyway. He pushed his arm into Zemo’s neck and slammed him against one of the alleyway walls, “you have five seconds to tell me why you’re here and what you’re up to.” Zemo seemed unbothered by the presence of the super soldier as he neatly pushed a small piece of paper into Bucky’s other hand. “It seems to me that we may have another super soldier on our hands,” Bucky looked at the piece of paper written in German. Quickly scanning through it Bucky immediately noticed how it appeared to be soaked in blood. “The handwriting too sloppy, just a tell me what it says and quit the bullshit.” By now Bucky had released Zemo and allowed them both some space.
“A comrade of mine, former HYDRA agent, sent me a message that he had received. He stated that the reason he sent it to me was because it was sent to him through his old Hydra communicator. Each and every hydra agent, depending on the group, message each other from the same frequency. It differs depending on which branch but they all use small devices to communicate with one another. My comrade and his group were deemed to be a traitors so the frequency changed so that Hydra couldn’t be traced. But the message he was sent was from a Hydra agent using the old frequency.” Zemo sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of his neck, “I was a bit….busy when my friend called me so I had to write what he was saying in the middle of my….work, hence the bit of blood.”
Bucky gave Zemo a look that could only be described as an angry cat. “Get on with it.”
“Hmmm you’re always so difficult to work with, not unless Sam is here to hold your leash. Come to think of it, I wish for Sam to work with us as well so be a dear and grab him for me.” Bucky looked down at the floor, “trouble in paradise, James?”
Bucky slammed his fist into the wall, “not the time, not the place Zemo. Sam isn’t…….he can’t join us alright. Just tell me what the note said!” Zemo studied Bucky for a moment, examining him. Being unable to express his emotions for years, sometimes, made Bucky very expressive. Mainly when he was angry, but also when he was sad. To which emotion he felt for at that very moment, he couldn’t tell, but he knew that if he heard Sam’s name again. He might beat someone up, or cry.
“It is a shame we cannot bring back our little posse, but I’ll take what I can get. The note read, ‘when the moon rises in the sky, the winter soldier will come alive, to feast on those who show us harm. Hydra will live on in both life and death. As the nights continue, and his feast is provided, the treacherous soldier, the prideful symbol, the pompous baron, and the day walkers will fall and give life to our organization once again. Hale Hydra.’ That is the full message.”
Bucky leaned against the wall and groaned, “you’re kidding right? This guy sent a message on an unused frequency and still made it a riddle?” He hated riddles. Sure, when he was younger he loved riddles. But nowadays riddles meant nothing good, meant that someone was hiding something. “So Zemo what’s your plan? You gave me the riddle. Do you want me to solve it? Cause your shit out of luck.”
Zemo pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, “I hate to say it James but something like this seems a bit to big for just the two of us to handle. Though it pains me to say it, we may need help from some of your….more qualified friends.”
“You have got to be kidding me.”