Bucky freezes. "We have to go." He turns to the man working on his arm. "Thanks a bunch Tony." Bucky attempts to hop out of his chair, but Steve holds him down
"We're not going yet. We still need to coordinate with the agents that are being sent to clear the base."
"We're leaving tonight and we'll get her tomorrow." Natasha pipes in.
Tony looks at them all with a clueless expression.
"I need to get ready. Am I good to go?" Bucky asks Tony.
"Yeah, you should be fine."
Bucky leaps out of the chair and into the elevator with Steve and Natasha trailing behind.
After they leave, Tony sighs. "I don't even question it anymore." he observes, shaking his head.
Upstairs, Bucky is pacing in Steve's living room. He's wearing the armored Hydra uniform the team found him in.
"I talked to Maria. She's leading the raid at 17:00 tomorrow, when the guards change." Natasha explains, debriefing Steve and Bucky. "Her team is going to clear most of the base, then we'll come in and get Shadow. We fly out in an hour."
"I'll be ready." Steve says.
"Good, I'll meet you up here in 45. I have to go get ready." And with that, Natasha departs back to her floor.
"Okay Buck, I'll give you a call after we find her." Steve says retreating to his bedroom.
"What?" Bucky questions indignantly. "Do you honestly thing I would let you go without me?"
"I'm sorry, but you're not ready for a combat situation. I just got you back, I don't want this to be the thing that breaks the normalcy we're built up."
"Normalcy? You think I'm back to normal?" Bucky says, his voice rising in volume. "I'm not the Bucky you knew before, and I'm not going to be. I try to be happy and energetic, but it's not real. I can't forget being the Winter Soldier. What I am now, this is as good as its gonna get. I'm going with you."
The two just stare at each other for a while. "Fine, I know I'm not going to stop you." Steve says, admitting defeat.
"I have a plan to get her to come with us. When we go in, let me lead. I'll tell her I'm there to give her a new mission, and I'll escort her to a carrying cell. If things go wrong, we can just inject her with a tranquilizer like you did with me."
"I guess that's as good of a plan as we've got. Now would you please leave so I can change into my uniform?"
Natasha, Steve, and Bucky were currently en route to the Hydra base in Russia. THey were being flown in a small private plane. Everyone is quite, thinking about how their rescue attempt might turn out.
Eventually they land. As they exit the plane, Maria Hill is waiting for them. "We're cleared the top floors. After interrogating a couple of Hydra scientists, we found out the assassin is being held in the basement, in the east wing. We cleared the way up until that room. I wasn't sure what your plan of attack was. If you need men, let me know."
"Thanks, Maria, but I think we'll be okay on our own."
"Okay. Good luck." she says with a little salute as she walks back over to her own team of S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives.
"Let's head in." Steve says, directing Natasha and Bucky.
They enter the utilitarian building. The walls are cold, grey concrete and are almost completely windowless. Everything is very familiar to Bucky. Steve can't imagine being confined here for decades, with this building and the horrible people that worked there being all that a person knew.
They walk through the sprawling maze of hallways and stairs until they reach the door Agent Hill told them to look for.
Bucky turns to Nat and Steve. "I'm going to go in by myself. I might be able to talk her into coming with me peaceful. Wait out here unless you hear a struggle. I'll yell for you if I have a problem."
"I don't know if this is the best plan Buck…"
"I can do it. I know my limits." He readies the tranquilizer in his pocket, just in case, and slips into the door. Bucky puts on the controlled, cold expression he has as the Winter Soldier. He tries to go into that mindset without becoming it.
Shadow is restrained, in the chair where Bucky used to go in preparation for cryosleep. She's strapped down and waiting for orders.
"Soldier. I was told you were on mission." she says to him. Her voice is unnerving. It's like how robots and computers talk: almost human, but with something missing. Bucky wonders if that's what he sounded like.
"I am. I have been told to escort you to a carrying cell. You will be completing this mission with me." He goes over to the chair and undos the straps binding her to the chair.
Now free, the woman stands up. "You're on lead." she says,motioning for him to show her the way.
Bucky goes to the door and peers through the window at Steve and Natasha. He smiles to himself, proud that his plan went well. He didn't even need the traq. Shadow trails behind him as he goes through the doorway.
Her eyes go wide as she sees Steve. "The mission." she whispers under her breath. She launches herself at Steve. She leaps feet first onto his chest, knocking him to the floor. "Soldier! He's your mission! What are you doing?" she screams as Natasha counter attacks. They start sparing as Bucky rushes over. He reaches the two women just as Shadow kicks Natasha's legs from underneath her and sends her falling to the floor.
"Katherine! Stop!" Bucky yells, plunging the syringe full of sedative into her shoulder.
"Katherine?" she says in a quite, confused voice as she slips away into sleep. Bucky catches her and picks her up in a fireman carry.
Steve and Natasha stand up, brushing the dirt of their pants. They both give Bucky an annoyed look
"I guess that went okay. Could've been a lot worse." Nat comments. "Let's get her on the plane.