Chapter 12
"Breaking my way through the storm
This beating heart has never been so worn
Hangin’ roses round my neck
Cause in this life we'll never know what to expect
Dear Love I miss you
Wherever you go I’ll always be with you
Dear Love don’t you worry
I’ll always be here for you when you find your way
I’m holding you in my mind
Don’t you worry about space and time
Close your eyes, but not your heart
We’ll never be what you fear in the dark"
They finally got time alone together but at what cost?
Neither knows what to do. The uncertainty in the air: Will this be the first time back together and therefore a comfort, a joy? Or would it be the last? Fear and uneasiness looms over them.
Bucky looks to Steve and gives a small smile, an attempt to tell him it was going to be okay even though he had no way of knowing.
But Steve smiles back anyway maybe to do the same. Steve let's the hand that Bucky wasn't holding on to move up to Bucky's face. He pushes the strand of hair that found it's way out from behind Bucky's ear and puts it back into it's place. His fingers move down past his ear and to his collarbone and stays there for a minute but then Steve looks down sadly.
"Lets lay down," Bucky suggests. Steve is tired, clearly. They both are.
Steve nods and moves over to the bed Bucky following as Steve's grip on his hand doesn't drop and if anything gets stronger.
Bucky doesn't know what he needs more, to hold Steve or to be held by him. It's been so long without Steve, even though he was there it was like a stranger was wearing his face, which makes him want to hold him and not let go. However the imminent doom with being faced with the people that tried to turn him into a monster kind of makes him want to be held by him, protected by him, even if he couldn't actually save him from what was to come.
Steve seems to make the decision by finally letting go of Bucky's hand and moving further on the bed. He motions Bucky to the empty space in front of him and holds out his hand for Bucky to grab again.
He does, and slides in the bed in front of Steve. Steve wraps his arm around Bucky's body, moves his hair, to the side, and kisses his neck softly. "It's gonna be okay, Buck."
And Bucky smiles softly, that's all he needed to hear. He nudges his head deeper into the pillow and closes his eyes.
Exhausted both emotionally and physically it didn't take long to fall asleep and they both drift off peacefully.
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Waking up was not the same.
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The loud bang of something being rammed violently into the front door of the apartment causes Bucky to jump out of bed and away from the soft warm touch of Steve's arms. Steve sits up quickly with him, still dazed from sleep.
"Was that-" and before Steve could finish his sentence another loud bang echoes through the apartment.
"Hydra?" Steve asks.
"Gotta be," Bucky answers.
"Already?" Steve rubs his eyes.
Bucky looks at him sadly, of course the small amount of time they had together was cut short.
"What do we do?" Steve asks gathering his clothes.
"Exactly what we'd do if we weren't expecting them." They're so discombobulated from being forced awake they forget what the plan was.
"We fight?" Steve asks almost innocently.
Bucky breathes in and nods.
"Is it a good or bad thing I didn't bring my shield?"
Bucky gives a small smile and shakes his head, then his eyes go wide. "The window, " he says.
Steve looks at him puzzled. There was no window in the bedroom but there was..in the living room.
"We'd try to escape," Steve finishes Bucky's thought.
"Always wanted to be an actor," Bucky jokes, using his last light comment before he dashes to the bedroom door and yells back for Steve, loud enough so the men on the other side can hear him.
Steve runs out after him. "What is that?" Steve asks in a worried, hushed tone. Bucky smiles sadly knowing what their outcome had to be. They had to take Bucky, had to get them to use the words so they'd think they had control over him.
"They're coming through the door," Bucky says loudly again as another bang is heard on the wood. "The window!" He says and runs over to it, Steve on his tail. He opens the window and urges Steve to go through. At first he's surprised there were no Hydra soldiers on the other side. Maybe he got this all wrong. Steve was out the window and Bucky was about to climb through as well when he hears a gun cock on the other side just as the last loud bang is heard from the front door and the wood that once separated them smashes against the inside wall.
"Get back, Soldier."
Bucky holds his arms up and backs away from the window
"You too, " he hears the one who was cocking the gun by the window order Steve to do.
Steve steps back in, his hands above his head as well, the Hydra agent right behind him.
"Soo Captain America, " One of the men who bust through the door says in mock adoration as Steve makes his way into the room. "Asset," he says looking at Bucky with a hint of frustration, like he was a machine that kept breaking.
Bucky just stares him down.
"So are you going to come peacefully or are you going to do this the hard way?" The same man says, the rest silent.
"I think you know the answer to that," Bucky says with a small wink to Steve that can only be seen by the moonlight and faint street lights shining on Bucky's face.
Within a second Steve has grabbed the agent's arm from behind him, disarmed his weapon, unloaded the bullets, and threw the empty gun across the room. Bucky does a similar move which causes the other two men that barged in with the only one who did the speaking so far to come at them. Steve and Bucky do the same with their weapons but not having the time to empty the rounds. Now weaponless the Hydra agents resort to using their fists. Bucky knocks one out and Steve another and just when Bucky is about to go for another the man who spoke earlier starts clapping. Bucky determines he must be the leader, at least for this mission.
"Now that was fun," he says almost laughing. "Now I'd appreciate if you didn't give all my men a concussion unless you wanted a bullet in your best friend's head." He says to Bucky.
Bucky looks back at Steve, a red dot circling around his forehead as another man comes walking into the room. Steve stares wide eyed and holds his arms up again.
"Let him go, " Bucky says, the shaking in his voice only able to be detected by Steve and only because of his familiarity with Bucky faking bravery to stand up to a bully. Except this time the bully was significantly bigger and more dangerous.
"Bargaining usually takes place about now, asset," Leader man says, looking at the dirt under his nails.
"I'm not-," Bucky clenches his jaw and looks down at the ground. "Let him go...and I'll go with you."
"No resisting?" the man looks up, curious.
"I'll surrender right now if you let him go," Bucky promises.
Leader nods and tells the man to drop the gun pointed at Steve.
"No he has to throw that in the other direction. You can understand why I'm not exactly going to trust that?" Bucky insists.
"Very well."
Bucky holds his hands up in surrender. Two men surround him, grab his arms, and throw him towards the ground so his knees buckle and hits the hard floor. He grunts more in the surprise of being manhandled than in pain.
"Still here Captain Rogers?" The man turns to Steve.
"I'm not leaving," Steve says staring at Bucky.
"Steve-"
"I'm not-"
"Leave. Please, do as I say." Bucky begs.
When Steve still doesn't move the leader licks his lips and gives a small dark laugh. "You may think you have the upper hand here Captain America. You took out mostly all of my men. Thought you disengaged all our weapons. But yet you didn't successfully stop all of our weapons.
And there it is.
Bucky has to resist the urge to say Finally!
"What are you talking about?" Steve looks at them, puzzled.
A+ acting on Steve's part. Bucky has to remember to buy him one of those fake Oscars when this is all over.
"I am letting you go, Captain, per your friend's request. But if you insist on sticking around...you're not going to like what's coming." The leader says and Bucky wonders if he's like one of those James Bond villains where they tell you their entire plan beforehand.
Bucky swallows, "Steve, please..."
"I'm not leaving you!" Steve says sternly.
"Very well, " leader says as he walks around behind Bucky, taking something from the man that previously had a gun pointed at Steve. Guess he wasn't a bond villain.
The light hits the red notebook and, even though he knows it won't work on him anymore, Bucky's stomach rises to his throat.
"What is th-" Steve starts, as the leader waves it in front of him, then in front of Bucky.
"...No..." Bucky says softly. "You don't have to do this..."
"Well of course we do soldat," the man says as he starts reading off the words. "Желание"
"N-no," Bucky says soft.
"Семнадцать."
"No!" Bucky yells and makes an attempt to lunge towards the man. The two men holding on to him squeeze him tighter and he's surprised by their strength. Though if he was 100% and well...not faking this whole thing he could've still taken them.
"Ржавый," the man continues.
"S-stop," Bucky says and he watches as Steve moves closer to the man holding the words that once took Bucky's soul.
The leader gives a look to the men holding Bucky and Bucky feels a sharp pain in his shoulder. He yells out this time not planned.
"You don't want to do that Mr. Rogers. My men have quite the hold on your friend. I'd take his advice and leave if I were you."
Steve shakes his head as his breathing picks up rapidly.
The man shrugs.
"Рассвет. Печь"
Bucky yells and thrashes against the men who pull him upright again. Gotta make it look legit right? Though maybe he was too good because one look at Steve and it looks as if the poor guy is about to fall over.
"Девять. Добросердечный"
Bucky yells some more and struggles to get his arms up to cover his ears but the men have him. They throw him back down further onto his knees.
"Возвращение на Родину."
Bucky gives one final yell. He yells at Steve. Tells him to get out. Tells him to leave and he watches as Steve steps back further away from him towards the open window.
"Один." The man says and Bucky stops yelling, he lets his body stay tense though until he hears the last one.
"Товарный вагон"
Bucky stops, he lets his head drop. Then he hears "солдат?" Soldat
"готов соблюдать" Ready to comply.
He looks at the leader with dark eyes while silently thanking Nat that she always yelled at him in Russian and he never lost the language.
"Good," the man says and motions the men to drop their arms from around Bucky (or as they now thought him as The Winter Soldier) and take a few steps back. The leader turns to Steve and grins. "You see? Always have a hidden weapon Captain America."
Steve can see Bucky slowly mouth Go. Now. right before the man turns around back to him. Bucky turns his eyes dark again, his brows lowered in a concentrated state pretending not to react to Steve backing away closer to the window until his back is against it.
"Now why don't you two make yourselves useful," the leader says to the two men behind Bucky. "And gather up some of those weapons for our Soldier here."
The men do as they're told and the leader turns back to Bucky. "As for you- complete the last mission that was given to you and maybe you will get more after all."
Mission. Mission. His last mission was.
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"Kill Captain America."