Summary: A Civil War AU for Bucky's interrogation scene. Steve reaches the cell in time to stop Zemo before the trigger words are complete, leaving Bucky's mind caught in mid-transformation. Now continuing into a multi-chapter affair. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit from my literary endeavors.
The Wrong Side of the Glass
Chapter 3
Thankfully, Tony Stark himself never stopped by the holding cell for a visit, but Iron Man's activity behind the scenes was enough to make Sharon Carter call a secret meeting with Rogers and Wilson to discuss all the latest developments. Security around Flacon and Captain America had lessened after the revelation that Barnes was indeed innocent of the murders in Vienna, and since then, the good Captain had done nothing but help keep the volatile Winter Soldier compliant. Their gathering marked the first time Steve had left Bucky's side for more than a few minutes since the incident with Zemo; yet as much as he hated to do it, circumstances had grown dire enough to merit the separation.
"Things almost would have been easier the way they were before," Sharon concluded grimly. She had gone to great lengths to ensure that there were no bugs or cameras in this particular room. "Tony Stark has just as much influence worldwide as the King of Wakanda, perhaps even more in the U.S., and he's done everything in his power to get the Winter Soldier extradited to America – which is going to happen. It was just announced that they'll be moving him tomorrow."
"Are they transferring him to a psych center or anything like that?" Sam asked in concern.
Sharon shook her head. "No, it'll be the best high-security prison our nation has to offer – probably one upgraded with all sorts of exclusive tech from Stark Industries. Once Barnes is there, I'm sure Stark will start leveraging his influence again to have him executed. Unfortunately, I don't think it will be too difficult."
"But that wasn't really him," Steve protested angrily, knowing full well that he was preaching to the choir. "I understand why Tony's upset, but Hydra is responsible for all those murders, not Bucky!"
"That argument could be made, Cap," Sam interjected softly, "but apart from you, no one else is likely to make it for him. So far, he hasn't even made it for himself. It still doesn't change the fact that he killed a lot of people over a long period of time."
Sharon added, "And with Stark pulling strings and calling in favors at every opportunity…let's just say it'll be extremely difficult to prevent a death penalty from being issued."
Rogers sighed deeply and rubbed his tired eyes. "That's what Tony wants – an execution. But I can't let it happen. I won't lose Bucky again, and especially not like this."
"Then you'd better act now, before he's relocated to the States," Sharon urged him. "If you're planning to do something else crazy and technically illegal, it will be even more difficult over there."
"I'll go after him in-transit, then," Steve resolved with surprising speed, "before they get him loaded on the plane here. I don't have anything else to lose now – except my friend, if I do nothing. You two don't have to help me, though; you've done more than enough already."
At that, Sam exchanged glances with Sharon and almost laughed. "Steve, Buddy, you are gonna need all the help you can get on this one. We've been with you every step of the way so far, and we're not about to ditch you when you need us most. Besides, I think we're all in this too deep to back out now."
Steve felt his throat close up with emotion, yet he managed to nod and say with a relatively straight face, "Thank you – both of you."
Wilson saw straight through him anyway. "Don't get all choked up on me there, Cap. But again, do us a favor, and let's think this all the way through. Are you sure this is what you want to do? Because there may not be any coming back from it – ever."
Rogers nodded, as unshakably confident as ever. "I'm sure. I've been thinking about it a lot recently; and at this point, I have to believe Bucky will have a better chance of surviving if he disappears again, rather than if he takes his chances in the legal system. He managed just fine on his own for two years, and this time I'll be right there with him."
"You and me both," Falcon reminded him sternly. "All right, then. You just tell us what the plan is, and we'll make it happen."
Like most of Captain America's plans, this one was fairly simple and would rely heavily upon his superior strength and combat skills. While Sam had seen that approach work far too many times in the past to question it now, one thing still troubled him.
"Steve, assuming this all works, and we do get away from here in one piece…where are we supposed to go?"
Rogers' steely expression never wavered. "Don't worry. I can think of a good place."
The following morning, Sam's report launched the beginning of their Great Escape.
"I'm in position outside the building, Cap."
"Good," Steve whispered back from his own place of concealment. "Hold there until I give the signal."
"Acknowledged."
Thanks to Sharon's efforts the previous evening, Falcon had now regained his wings, and Captain America was once more appareled in all his star-spangled glory – including the shield. Young Miss Carter had also provided them with as much inside intelligence as she could in the hours leading up to this moment, but now her role in the whole rescue operation was finished.
And although Steve hated to think about how much trouble she would be in when all this was said and done, Sharon's trials weren't his only source of guilt at the moment. He hadn't gone back to Bucky since leaving his cell the night before, and to say that he felt terrible about it was a grotesque understatement.
Bucky most likely believed (as Steve also suspected) that the two of them would see precious little of each other once the Winter Soldier's extradition was accomplished. Did he feel disappointed or even abandoned right now, in Rogers' glaring absence? What if he thought that Steve, as Captain America, had more important things to do than keep a convicted murderer company for hours at a time? God willing, Steve's actions would very soon make up for any hurt feelings or misunderstandings!
The tactical team had their prisoner in motion now, transporting his cell through the upper levels of the building so they could access the jet waiting for them on the rooftop. After their procession had reached the highest floor, but well before they made it onto the roof, Steve gave the verbal signal to launch Sam into motion.
With the vast majority of security focused on Barnes' progress, Falcon flew up to the landing pad where a quinjet sat ready to relocate the Winter Soldier to America. It was one of the newest models, of course, equipped with all the latest weapons and technology; but most importantly of all, it boasted a highly-advanced stealth mode, such as Dr. Banner had used to disappear from the world a year ago.
Four foot soldiers stood guard around the jet, plus one pilot. Wilson surprised them by dropping down from the air above, and after incapacitating all five of them all, he took off in the jet. He and Rogers had both learned how to pilot as part of their Avenger training, although Falcon still preferred to operate his own personal set of wings whenever possible.
His attack on the landing pad had caused a building-wide disturbance that would hopefully draw some of the security away from Barnes, as Steve was supposed to be carrying out his part of the plan simultaneously.
Meanwhile, immediately after giving Sam the go-ahead, Captain America crawled out from the air duct where he had been hiding. (Hawkeye would be so proud of him!) He raced down the hall to where he knew he would soon catch up to the rearguard of Bucky's escort; but upon rounding the very first corner in his path, Rogers came to a dead stop at the sight directly in front of him.
Natasha.
Naturally, she knew him well enough to guess that he would try something drastic like this now. The Black Widow was dressed for combat, though she made no move to waylay or detain him – yet.
"Nat?"
Steve distinctly felt his heart speed up in alarm, bordering on panic. He really didn't want to hurt Natasha here, but she was too formidable a fighter for him to simply brush her aside. Even more worryingly, he had no time for this! Bucky had no time for this.
Both Avengers held their breath for a long moment, staring across the space between them where the tension had become almost palpable.
"Natasha, please…" He left the request open-ended, not knowing what else to say. Please don't fight me. Please don't make me hurt you. Please don't make me lose this chance to save him.
No doubt Romanoff heard all three entreaties in those two simple words. Her face an expressionless mask, she finally addressed the Captain in a low voice:
"In about twenty seconds, the security cameras in this facility will all go dark. You'll have at least a minute and a half, maybe two, before they come back online."
Steve felt his jaw drop, momentarily speechless. When he did speak, he could only stammer, "Thank you, Nat. I…I owe you one now."
A partial smile quirked one side of her mouth upward. "Who's keeping score? Now get out of here, you're wasting time. I'm about to do the same. Good luck, Steve."
Black Widow stood there motionless as Captain America darted past her to carry on his righteous little crusade. While the two of them may not have agreed on the Accords, Steve Rogers was still her friend, and today she had surely made him proud. As the man himself was so fond of preaching, she had simply "done the right thing," regardless of what the outside world believed.
Natasha understood Tony's motives, she truly did; he was a hurting man whose deep pain had caused his distinction between justice and vengeance to become blurred. But she could no longer approve of his pursuing Barnes' demise with such blind fervor. It wasn't emotionally healthy for Stark, for one thing. Furthermore, she knew better than most people what Hydra could do to the human mind and body – how Barnes never had any choice in his deeds as the Winter Soldier, and how he would have already suffered for them in every way imaginable.
But at the same time, she also realized that neither Steve nor Tony would bend on this matter; and if those two immovable forces kept pushing against each other, it was only a matter of time before one of them broke apart altogether. The consequences of such a fallout would be detrimental not only to Iron Man and Captain America, but to every single one of the Avengers and their associates. In the end, she could only hope that her intervention had helped prevent the chasm between her two teammates from growing even wider.
And now that the deed was done, it was time for her to conveniently disappear. Not that she was worried, of course. Natasha Romanoff was a big girl, more than capable of taking care of herself.
As was Sharon Carter.
Tony Stark and the new King of Wakanda observed the Winter Soldier's transport remotely from the control room. They would each be returning to their respective countries shortly, T'Challa with Zemo in his custody. Tony, for his part, didn't trust himself to be anywhere near Barnes right now. He'd probably put a bullet through the assassin's troubled skull, which would doubtless result in a mountain of paperwork and tedious legal proceedings. For once, he preferred to follow protocol this time. As long as Barnes ended up on American soil, Tony could almost guarantee the man's death; or, at the very least, he could guarantee a miserable existence, befitting the monster who had murdered his parents.
Everett Ross stood there in the room with them as well, drumming his fingers against his folded arms with nervous energy. The Soldier's escort had just reached the uppermost levels of the building when, all of a sudden, the screen from every single security camera went black. Ross looked like he was about to have an aneurism and immediately started shouting at anyone and everyone who was close enough to hear him.
The panic fueled Stark's initial reaction to being "blind," until anger very quickly rose above every other sensation. This had to be Rogers' doing! He should've known that idiot would attempt a rescue, no matter how cooperative he had been over the past few days. They couldn't let Barnes escape now!
Where the hell was Natasha when he needed her? It had been a couple of hours since he'd last seen her, but even Black Widow wouldn't be able to handle both Rogers and Barnes, if the Winter Soldier was freed from his cell again. As for his other Avenger options, Colonel Rhodes was still supervising cleanup in Bucharest, Vision was monitoring Wanda in the States, and he himself had not brought a damn Iron Man suit to Berlin. He had one gauntlet at his disposal, but that would last about two seconds in hand-to-hand combat against Captain America.
"T'Challa," he snapped with sudden inspiration, "hurry and get your suit on! Together, you and Romanoff can at least slow them down until more reinforcements arrive." Clearly, the billionaire had no qualms about giving orders to a monarch.
But T'Challa didn't budge; physically, he gave no indication that he had heard Tony at all. "I already have my father's killer," he answered stoically. "The Black Panther's work in this place is finished."
Tony's eyebrows shot upward in disbelief. "Um, hello, earth to Panther? This is still a mass murderer we're talking about here. Does it not bother you at all that we're letting him get away?"
The young Wakandan remained impassive, truly unruffled by Stark's raging emotion. "If not for my interference, Sergeant Barnes might have escaped in Romania, where all he wanted was to live in peace. I will not stand between him and his freedom again."
As his ire mounted ever higher, Iron Man clenched both hands into fists at his sides, looking for all the world like he would love nothing more than to punch the man sitting in front of him.
It must have shown, for T'Challa regarded him coolly and remarked, "If you want my country as your enemy, then by all means, Mr. Stark – hit me."
And kiss your future supply of vibranium goodbye, was the loudly unspoken message there.
Tony breathed deeply through his nose in a meager effort to calm his temper, but it did nothing to pacify his livid soul. Because even though he couldn't see it, he knew the Winter Solider was escaping – and there was nothing he could do about it.
Steve moved even faster now, knowing that he had an upcoming window of no camera activity. Originally, he had picked a blind spot in the cameras as the place to attack the guards surrounding Bucky, but this would serve much better. Rogers' purpose lent him greater focus and efficiency than he could recall from any previous mission; the sixteen German guards couldn't possibly match his passion! And since all of them were "only human," Captain America and his shield did what was necessary to render each of them unconscious – a task reminiscent of his battle in the SHIELD elevator two years ago.
Beforehand, Steve had entertained concerns about whether Bucky would be as eager to escape as his friend was to help him escape; he needn't have worried. By the time the last guard hit the ground, Bucky had already wrenched himself free of the chair and was on his feet inside the cell. And he hadn't been in any mortal danger while Steve took care of the guards because, naturally, the glass was bullet-proof. As Steve had suspected, the "new and improved" restraints had likewise given way to the motivated Fist of Hydra.
Good job, Bucky.
A "Hulk-proofed" chamber might have done the trick to contain him, but the nearest one of those was back in America – in the sublevels of the Avengers compound, which Steve could no longer be certain he would ever see again.
But now Bucky was the one on the wrong side of the glass, so Steve gladly hit the controls to let him out of the cell. While his old friend did look grateful to see him there, he was obviously more surprised by the intervention than anything.
"I hope you didn't think I was gone for good," Rogers assured him warmly. "I promised I wouldn't leave you, Buck."
Barnes didn't respond at that moment, which truly was just as well; the two super-soldiers didn't have time to say anything more.
Steve led the retreat as they sprinted toward the designated rendezvous point with Falcon, pausing only once to rip open another air vent and grab two bags that had been stashed inside – one a duffel filled with various essentials and extra clothing, and the other a very familiar black backpack. Steve shouldered the former and handed the latter to Bucky who did the same, with shock and relief etched in equal measure across his features. But again, now was not the time for questions.
"Sam, we're on our way!" Steve shouted into his com and received exactly the answer he'd been hoping to hear.
"Ready when you are!"
They had reached the end of a long hallway, with a floor-to-ceiling window directly ahead of them. Steve shifted his shield in front of his body and jumped, crashing through the glass that scattered away in tiny pieces like thousands of water droplets. Bucky followed his example with neither question nor hesitation. Wilson had the quinjet in perfect position to catch them, with the entry ramp open and waiting, and both fugitives landed there safely.
But before they could secure themselves inside, Sam was forced to abruptly yank the jet sideways and give it full acceleration in order to avoid gunfire now coming from the complex. Barnes and Rogers both lost their footing with the sudden movement, their bodies thrown backward toward the open air gaping behind them. Steve grasped wildly for a handhold, very nearly latching onto a strut, but then another lurch from the jet caused his fingers to slip.
Captain America slid from the ramp and would have taken the hardest fall of his career, possibly a fatal one – if not for the Winter Soldier who caught him by the wrist with his right hand, his left still clinging to the jet in a mechanized grip that wasn't likely to be broken by anything. Both men swayed perilously in the wind for a moment, until Bucky grit his teeth and hauled Rogers one-handed up above his head in a tremendous feat of strength, so that Steve could climb back inside the jet and then turn around to help his friend follow suit.
A handful of helicopters had risen into the air to give chase by then, but with its superior speed, the quinjet was already leaving them far behind. The whole operation had taken just over five minutes from start to finish, and they were free!
Author's End Note: Hooray for Bucky's mysterious backpack! Totally a last-minute addition on my part, but I have no regrets. The escape plan has its flaws, I'm sure, but I can't feel too badly about it. I have to figure that if Steve can single-handedly take down the Raft Prison without his shield, then he and Falcon together can certainly get Bucky away from the CIA.
And I'm really not trying to make Tony the bad guy here. He's just dealing with a lot of unresolved pain and grief, and the best thing for both him and Bucky right now is a whole lot of distance between the two. As for T'Challa and Natasha, I wanted to bring their characters into a position similar to what the movie showed, just in a shorter amount of time here. Hopefully it all worked out. And never fear, this isn't the end of the story. I still have lots of fun things in store for our boys…
