The Ambush
It was supposed to have been a mission like any other. A simple retrieval- get the team in, retrieve the hostages, get the team out. Simple.
Bucky had been assigned to this mission, while Steve and Natasha had been assigned another. That was his first inclining that something cosmic was wrong. He'd never been assigned a mission, since being back, without Steve.
Nonetheless, Bucky prepared himself for the mission. The arm Shuri and T'Challa had gifted him worked amazingly well, so much better than the other he had been so kindly gifted from Hydra. The Wakandan Tech was amazing, far better than he had ever seen. He'd polished his arm and readied himself in his mission gear.
Joining the team in the hanger, Steve came to see them off. Buck knew Steve's mission was leaving later that day. "Stay out of trouble punk," Bucky had joked with Steve and hugged his best friend tightly. Steve stood back and watched Bucky and Wanda and the rest of their crew load onto the chopper.
The only one in the chopper that he'd ever been on a mission with was Wanda, but the men and women on their crew he had seen around their facility. He was never good with names so he never tried, but from the mission briefing he was even surprised a team was needed. He didn't argue though. The chopper ride was faster than he had planned and he looked down at his watch. Wanda reached over and rested her hand on his metal forearm. "Everything will be fine, your worrying for nothing," she reassured him. Bucky offered her a small smile and nodded. "Thanks Wanda, just, you know, mission jitters," he tried to cover up. But the truth was he felt it. In the pit of his stomach. Something was off about the day, something wasn't feeling right.
The chopper touched down three miles from the retrieval site. They were to trek though the woods, retrieve the target in the city, and get back to the chopper. Simple. Or so they thought.
Bucky took point. Wanda close on his right side as the team followed behind them. Getting through the woods was the easy part, but they'd been warned when they got to the city to expect hostiles. Bucky stopped the team at the edge of the woods, there were no hostiles seen. No men patrolling. "Watch your six, stay with your team," he spoke into his coms as they broke off into their three man teams. All but Bucky and Wanda. They stayed together and venture straight into the city, taking the most direct route to the mansion in the middle of the city that was their target. Their teams would rendezvous with them at the mansion.
Bucky and Wanda moved effortlessly though the city, and Bucky's nerves started to pick up. Something was wrong. It was too easy. They should have encountered hostiles by now. They should have encountered something, anything. But they kept moving, the hostages life depended on them sneaking into the mansion. 15 minutes later, Bucky and Wanda were poised in their position, waiting for their team to join. Bucky glanced at Wanda and the team and gave the go ahead to move forward. They'd all breach the mansion at different points, quicker infiltration and a quicker exit.
The minute he gave the go ahead a loud explosion rang through the air. Bucky's head whipped to the left, just in time to see Team 4 flying through the air- or what was left of them. "Shit!" He shouted and a explosion sounded on the right side of him. Team 5. He snapped his head to the right to see the same as Team 4, bodies flying. "Retreat! Retreat!" He yelled into he coms as gunfire sounded out from the mansion.
Wanda was doing her best to shield the men and women on their team with her powers as they retreated. Bucky's blood ran cold when he head Hydra's marching song blare over the speakers. His eyes darted straight to Wanda, he instantly saw the fear and worry. She knew the song just as he did. Before Bucky could make any decision he looked up at the mansion, seeing Hydra soldiers marching towards them. "Go! Get out of here. I'll buy you time," he yelled at Wanda. She protested and Bucky ran to her side. "Get our team out of here. Get them to safety," he spoke seeing the tears well in her eyes, "I'll buy you time. I'll meet you back at the chopper." He spoke and Wanda shook her head protesting what she knew he was going to do. "That's an order Wanda," he finished and stepped back from her, "wait 10 minutes, and if I'm not there you go!" Bucky yelled at her. Wanda hesitantly pulled back. "Go! Now!" Bucky spoke as the Hydra soldiers drew closer. He knew they couldn't fend them all off, but he could get Wanda away from Hydra. He could get their team away from Hydra and the hell that Hydra always brought. Bucky leaned against the cement wall, and steeled himself for what he was about to do. Glancing over once more at Wanda, he watched her start to pull back with their men. He nodded his head and turned away from her.
Bucky forced himself to take a breath, steadying his nerves, trying to channel his inner Winter. Zemo had told him, Winter would always be withhin him, for once he hoped the man was right. Bucky then stepped out from behind the concrete barrier where he had been standing. Stepping into the middle of the gate. "You wanted me! I'm here!" He yelled at the Hydra soldiers who instantly stopped marching and firing. They knew who he was. They knew how valuable he was to Hydra, even after all these years. "Чего ты ждешь? Ваш идеальный солдат здесь! Прийти за мной!" He yelled at the soldiers in perfect Russian. "Get him! Take him alive!" The captain yelled and just like that the soldiers attention was pulled off his men and fully on him.
Bucky waited for them to get closer then he took off running. He hadn't really thought this through. All he knew was that Steve and Natasha were given bad intelligence, someone high up had set them up. Given the size of the team that was there, Bucky knew it was an inside job. Just like he knew he wouldn't get back to the chopper. Bucky took shelter inside an abandoned building. "Chopper 2, come in," he spoke into his coms as he pulled off his tactical vest. Instantly the chopper answered. "Is my team there? Are the rest of them safe?" "We're missing team 4 and 5. Where are you? We're coming to get you," the pilot spoke. "Denied soldier. You get my team back to HQ," he spoke into the coms. "You tell Steve there's a leak, you tell him this job was a set up," he spoke as he took the time to unhook his metal arm from his shoulder, "you make sure that he knows I did this to keep the rest of my team safe. You hear me?" Bucky spoke into the coms as he hit the button for the tracking device in his arm before he hid the vibranium arm in a broken floorboard, and he quickly pulled a broken down desk over it. Sure he'd need his arm to fight off Hydra, but Hydra couldn't get their hands on the Wakandan tech he wouldn't let them.
"I won't have anyone on this team go through the hell Hydra will put them through, and I sure as hell won't let them put Wanda through hell again. Get that chopper in the air now!" He yelled and rushed over to a nearby window, one he knew that he could see the chopper when it lifted. Sure enough like he demanded he saw the chopper lift up over the trees. "We're coming back for you," the pilot spoke and he could hear Wanda yelling and screaming in the background. "You get Wanda to safety. Keep her safe and tell Steve…" he paused for a moment, "tell him… damn it. Just tell him." Bucky couldn't get the words out as he heard banging and foot steps approaching. "I'm going dark," he said quickly and turned off his coms. He pulled it from his ear and stomped on it. He wouldn't let Hydra get any of the new tech. With gun in hand Bucky stood there, waiting when the door was kicked open he grinned and ran towards the window, he jumped through the glass and rolled out onto the damp grass below. What he hadn't anticipated was that the building was surrounded.
He grinned as he stood up, slipping the safety off his gun. He'd go down fighting, as he always did. 12 would go down with him. He was surrounded as he eyed the soldiers in front of him. Some looked away from him out of sheer fear. He waited for a trigger happy Hydra agent to see a shot, a clear miss. In a minutes time he emptied his clip, 12 agents dropping. He moved quickly to eject his clip and slip in another one. He felt a sharp burning pain in his neck and his vision started going blurry as he emptied his second clip. He fell to his knees, dropping his gun to the grass at his side. He counted another 10 he had successfully dropped as the Hydra Captain approached him. "Welcome home soldier," he spoke as darkness crept into Bucky's vision. "Я вас всех убью," Bucky spoke lowly, his words slurring. He was fighting it, but he reached up and pulled the dart from his neck. Looking down to see it in his gloved hand, Bucky dropped it to the ground just as he face planted into the damp grass. His final thought being that Steve would find him, and at least he kept his team safe from the hands of Hydra before he blacked out.