It took him 10 minutes to reach the village and another 5 to get to the station unnoticed. He knew this was very risky but this was the only place he would be able to make the call and still be able to blend into the crowd afterwards. Unfortunately it would also be where they would look first.
He took a deep breath then slipped in silently behind a group of guys from the local high school, blending in easily as he scanned the room. In a quick glance he spotted his handler on the other side of the crowd with more than a few guards scattered around the area. He was lucky it was cold enough for everyone to be wearing jackets and gloves so his metal arm was out of sight.
He broke off from the group when he got near the pay phone and ducked in with the cover of a couple to hide from the guards. He got the money in and punched in the number quickly, which was quickly followed by two clicks then a woman's voice.
"90 seconds. Go."
"This is metal man requesting extraction from base 3."
"Base 3 is compromised. You need to get to base 2 in 15 minutes, then wait 2 hours before transferring to base 4 for extraction."
"I need urgent medical attention, my right arm has been hit. I can't wait 2 hours."
"Can you reach base 1 in 30 minutes?"
"Yes."
"A team is there but they won't wait for you. Hurry."
The line ended and he dropped the phone and blended into the crowd as the guards got confirmation and converged on the phone booth. He made it out the station unnoticed and spotted a motorcycle with its rider next to it.
He spotted a cop nearby and walked past, swiping his badge as he walked past. He then walked straight towards the biker, checking to make sure the cop walked round the corner as he flashed the badge at the guy before taking the keys off him.
"It will be at the station later with a full tank of gas and no tax for 5 years and in full working order."
The guy gawped at him but let James ride off on the bike. He felt guilty but didn't have time to wait for a train or a taxi. He roared off down the main road for a few miles before turning off onto a back street. He knew this was a cop hotspot but it was the only road without decent cameras to the village he needed.
He hit almost 120mph before he spotted the cop car as he rounded a bend. Without hesitating he grabbed one of the guns in the holster he was wearing and let off two quick headshots as he drove past, an almost impossible task for some but unfortunately he had been forced to have a lot of practice.
As he neared the end of the road he slowed slightly to begin winding his way through the maze of side streets to the safe house, which was nothing more than a little shack out in the forest to the back of the village.
He rounded a corner and slammed on the breaks as he came face to face with a wall of guns which immediately began to shoot at him. The sudden stop caused to him to flip over the handle bars of the bike which gave him the momentum to make it over the barricade they had built and land smoothly behind the men.
He turned and quickly began taking down the trained assassins like they were rag dolls, reloading his guns twice in the process. He finished kneeling on the chest of his handler with a gun to his temple, bodies scattered around him.
He caught his breath and leaned down to speak through his mask which he had strapped on during the ride, his leather armour already on under his civilian clothes.
"Take a message back to base. You no longer control me, and I am going to make you watch you world burn around you. Even your families will not be spared."
He pulled the gun back slightly and struck the man below hard in the temple, before getting back on the bike and speeding down the road.
When he finally reached the track down into the forest he was shocked to discover it was too over grown to take the bike down, which meant he would have to go on foot.
He had just started down the track when he heard the sound of the quinjet engines starting, and swearing loudly he began to push himself as hard as he could. He had just burst out of the treeline when the quinjet started rising over the roof of the shack.
He quickly pulled himself up the far wall of the shack and sprinted across the roof, leaping out into space to try and catch the edge of the door as it began to close.
For a sickening second he began to feel himself falling as his fingers just missed the edge of the door, then a hand came out of nowhere to catch him. He swung for a second then together he and the mystery person worked together to pull him up over the edge of the door to land heavily on the floor of the quinjet.
He looked up ready to thank whoever had saved him then froze with shock. Above him stood his best friend Steve who hadn't seen properly since he had landed in the ice almost 80 years ago, and next to him his feisty red-head lover Natalia.
He went to sit up, an arm stretched out in front of him as if to touch them, to really see if he wasn't dreaming when he soundly found himself looking down the barrel of one of Natalia's guns.
He pulled his hand back and lifted the other quickly to show he wouldn't hurt them, and then slowly put a hand to his face to remove his mask.
He saw them both reel back, not shocked by his identity but by the look of clarity and understanding in his eyes that they hadn't seen in a long time. He spoke gently, trying not to scare them.
"Please, I didn't come to hurt you, I need your help."
Steve softened at his pleading but Natalia stood firm. He looked straight into her eyes willing her to see he wasn't a threat.
"Please Natalia…"
Her eyes widened at the use of her name and the switch to Russian. Slowly she lowered her gun and watched him carefully as he sat up.
"I was still so young the last time you called me that…"
"And you are still just as beautiful as you were then."
He moved his hand slowly to rest where the scar from where his bullet had gone through her to kill his target was.
"I am so sorry for everything; I didn't know what I was doing. They used the machine to wipe me again, to reprogram me into the perfect soldier. Seeing you guys again started to trigger memories that helped me break the barrier and regain all of my memories."
She looked into his eyes for a long while then turned to Steve and nodded. Bucky suddenly found himself pulled into a fierce hug.
"God I've missed you Bucky."
James smiled and hugged his best friend just as tight, feeling at home for the first time in years.
"I missed you too Steve."