Author's Note: Still don't own any of this except my oc. My last chapter got some great responses and I hope you continue to fav. and review.

Chapter Six

Clara POV

Ow, ow. Ow. Ow! OW! My brain started to wake up but some fogginess still lingered and I didn't dare open my eyes lest the pain I had felt right before I passed out came back. While I lied there I took a mental inventory. It felt like I had run a whole marathon while trying to keep up with Steve. Man, I was sore but on the bright side my ribs had stopped hurting for the moment. After I had made sure that I wasn't too severely injured I let my SHIELD training take over.

Play dead and listen for any movement. I couldn't hear anything and based on the fiasco before I, I really hate to say this, passed out I guessed that the bunker was empty by now.

Next, calm your breathing and prepare for escape where and when the opportunity presents itself. Well there was sure an opportunity now.

Finally, what the hell was step three? Clara, why didn't you pay more attention to the lessons Uncle Phil and Fury had given you. Ok. I knew I could get out of this, I had to. The next step, or was it the fourth, would be to find a weapon or something to…

Something cold and metal clamped down on my neck.

"What the?!" My eyes flew open and I shrieked. My vision was blurry but I made out a dark vaguely man shaped figure right above where I was lying on my back. I balled my fist up and swung it as hard as I could and it connected with what felt like the side of a face.

Pain exploded in my knuckles but I ignored it and made to swing again, but before my fist made contact a metal hand caught me around the wrist. The person's grip didn't hurt but it was enough to stop my blow. Metal hand?

I shook my head to get my long hair out of my face and blinked my eyes several times to get my vision to come into focus. Bucky, if he went by that anymore, was leaning over me with an emotion I'd never seen on his face before, concern. He was still in the combat attire that I'd last seem him in, only now he was covered in soot and ash, and his hair was dripping with water like he'd taken a dive into the Potomac.

"Sorry." I half smiled and uncurled the fist he still had a hold of so I wouldn't hit him again. He nodded and carefully unwrapped his hand from my wrist. "You just scared me." I rose up so I sitting with my legs laying out in front of me. My neck still was still burning where he had touched it and I raised my hand to rub it. He saw my movement and shifted uncomfortably before standing and offering me his flesh hand to help me up. "What were you doing grabbing my neck?" I asked.

"I was checking to see if you had a pulse. You looked like you were dead…" He paused, "the way you were lying there."

A humorless laugh escaped my lips. "Your doctor decided to play Pin-cushion Clara. He injected me with something that made me pass out." I said as I took his offered hand. I didn't tell him about the fiery pain that came with the injection, and by the way his expression darkened I think that that was a wise decision.

He didn't say anything as he swiftly pulled me to my feet. His face slightly scrunched up in pain and he turned his face away from me to try to hide it as a hiss of breath escaped through his teeth.

"What's wrong?" I asked bringing my hand gently up to his arm.

"It nothing." He shrugged my hand off and started towards the open bar door.

His strides were so long that I had to run after him and when I caught up I stepped in front of him and blocked his path. He tried to side step me but I pushed both my arms against his chest and planted my feet. He kept walking forward and my feet skidded backwards on the concrete floor but after a few steps he gave up and stopped. I guess he realized I wasn't going to give this up.

I let my arms fall to my sides and took a step back so I could look him in the eye without having to painfully crane my neck. "Now, tell what is wrong with your arm." So focused was I on his pain, that I hardly gave a second thought to my lack of it.

He glared down at me with what I bet made many others quake with fear. I just narrowed my eyes at him. He sighed and dropped his gaze to the floor. "There was a battle. I think my shoulder's dislocated."

My jaw dropped open. "And you used it to help me up!" If Steve had done something like this I would have smacked him over the head. I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. "It needs to be set." He shook his head. "If it's not it's going to get inflamed." I looked around the room, the only chair available was the one they used to wipe memories, and I seriously doubted he would want to sit there, even if only to let me set his shoulder. "I need you to kneel for me." Bucky raised his head and for a moment I though I saw a smirk on his face, but it was gone so quickly I was sure I imagined it. He knelt and went to stand behind him. With my right hand I held his right arm out straight and I pressed my left over his shoulder. "This is gonna hurt so on the count of three. One…" And I snapped his joint back in place.

"I knew you were going do that." He grunted and stood. "Who taught you that?"

"A friend." Steve had taught me. My thoughts went darker as I wondered what had become of him. "Come on, let's get out of here."

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The bunker was like a labyrinth, full of twists and turns which I hoped would lead us to the surface. Bucky seemed to know where he was going so I followed him until something caught my eye in one the many room were passing. Agent Fisher's SHIELD uniform was lying on a table.

"Hold up." I shouted, not waiting to see if he stopped before I sprinted back to the room.

It was a nightmare operating room. There wasn't any knife or surgical instruments, but this did nothing to ease the fear I had as I stepped in to the room. There was a large flat screen TV hooked to several computers. And in front of the TV was an upright bed adorned with straps and restraints meant to keep a person's gaze fixed on the TV. Strewn across a table next to the bed was several files. Agent Fisher's name was one among many on the files. I picked her's up and quickly scanned it, behind me I heard Bucky hit some keys on one of the computers and the TV came on, its light illuminating the room and giving it an eerie glow. I probably should have been paying more attention but I was fixated on Fisher's file. A few lines stood out to me. "Subject more difficult than expected." "Broke restraints." "Success, subject has been happy to comply." And then the name of the scientist was signed at the bottom. "Dr. Whitehall."

"Damn it. Fisher's gone. This sounds like some kind of brainwashing facility. We need to get out of here." No response. "Did you hear me?" I turned around and was meet with Bucky staring blankly at the screen of the TV which had what looked like binary code running across it. "Shit." I gasped and ran to Bucky's side. I grabbed his arms and shook him, then I tried to boldly force him to move, nothing worked. He just stood there fixated on the screen. My hands whipped out and grabbed a metal chair that had been pushed under the table and swung it around, smashing it into the TV screen, shattering it.

Bucky shook his head and staggered away clutching his head in his hands. "What happened?"

I was gasping hard. "Are you ok?" He nodded. "I am in so over my head here." That was mostly to myself. "We need back up." And I proceeded to one of the computers.

"What are you doing?" Bucky asked as he came to stand beside where I leaning over so I could type furiously into one of the computers.

"I'm sending out a distress signal. I'm hoping that there's someone in SHIELD left who might be able to help us. With HYDRA out there I doubt we'd make it very far on our own." There were a set of SHIELD standard issue communication devices, modeled after Stark tech, lying next to the computer I was working on and I patched the code I was imputing into the computer through the comms so if someone picked up the distress signal I could hopefully talk to them.

When I was done I pocketed one of the comms in my jeans and handed the other to Bucky. "Thank you." He spoke with his deep voice and slipped it into one of the pockets in his vest.

"You're welcome." I smiled and went to turn back to the computer to see if the signal was getting out when Bucky stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. I tiled my head towards him expectantly.

"I mean thank you, for everything." He raised his right arm and I noticed that the cut on his forehead had begun to heal up quite nicely.

Then my eyes traveled from his cut to the intense blue gaze that he was studying me with. It was different than the pleading, or the calculating gaze that I'd seen on him before. "I… um." Words seemed escape me. "I still don't know what to call you." I spit out the first think that came to mind.

His face became clouded and pained. His gaze traveled from my face to over my shoulder where he seemed to be replaying something in his mind. "Someone called me Bucky, once. I think…" His metal hand clenched causing the sound of gears whirring to fill the otherwise silent room. "I think it used to be my name."

"Well it's nice to meet you Bucky, I'm Clara." As I said this I took his hand and tried to shake it, but he only stared down at our connected hands like he didn't know what this social gesture was. Then when he didn't let go things began to get awkward and my cheeks began to burn.

"Um…" BEEP BEEP BEEP. I was saved from having to say anything by the computer alerting us that someone was trying to make contact. BEEP BEEP BEEP. I slipped my hand from Bucky's and reached for my comm. "Yes, yes I hear you, don't get your panties in a bunch." I mumbled as I flipped open the comm. "This is Agent Coulson."

"CLARA!" A shocked and very familiar British voice screeched from the other end and I had to pull my head away from the comm.

"You blew out my ear Fitz." Nothing could contain my sudden laughter and tears that came with hearing one of my best friends alive.

"This is no time for laughing." Fitz scolded me but on the other end I heard him choking up to.

"Clara, is that really you." The other half of my best friends spoke up.

"Jemma! You don't know how happy I am to hear the both of you but right now I'm kind of in a sticky situation. I'm on the ground with…" I stole a glance at Bucky, unsure of what to call him. I doubted very much that telling them I was with the Winter Soldier was going to make things any better. "I'm on the ground with another survivor and who knows how many HYDRA agents somewhere in D.C. Is evac possible?"

"Let me contact Agent C… our supervisor." Jemma said and I heard her light footsteps running of. Within a few seconds she was back. "You're location is on our flight plan, expect evac in under three hours."

Three hours? I hoped we could make it that long. "Flight plan, I take then you're in the air. Meet us on the roof of the Air and Space Museum."

"Why there?" Fitz asked.

"Pubic place, crowded, and full of things I can rig to go haywire should we need a distraction to slip away." I reasoned. "Standard SHIELD tactics." In truth it was the first place that popped into my head, Steve and I had gone there a few days after his exhibit opened.

"Right." Fitz and Jemma responded at the same time. "SHIELD Bus out." And the connection ended.

"Do you trust them?" There was skepticism in Bucky's voice.

"With my life." I responded. Something caught my eyes, there was a tan jacket and navy blue ball cap lying discarded in a pile of similarly discarded lab coats. Walking over I reached down and then tossed them at Bucky who caught them easily. His gaze was full of questions. "You can't go out dressed like that." I gestured at his black combat suit. "Put those on, they'll help us blend in." My own maroon button down shirt was tattered in places but it would stand out a lot less than what Bucky was wearing.

Then without even waiting for me to turn my back he began to undo his vest. "All righty then." I slapped my right hand over my eyes and whirled around. "Just let me know when you're done."

"I'm surprised a pretty dame like yourself is worried for my modesty." Bucky said, with what sounded like… Humor?

Dame? Steve sometimes caught himself saying that. "Wait what'd you call me?" This gave me some hope that maybe the Bucky Steve knew wasn't complete gone. In my eagerness I turned and… immediately turned back around at seeing him shirtless.

"Sorry sorry!" I bit my lip, debating whether or not I should ask if he remembered anything about his past. "Do you…?"

"Do I what? I'm done." He said.

I turned around, he had the jacket zipped all the way up, the ball cap pulled down low to partially hide his face and his left hand shoved in the jacket's pocket to keep his metal hand out of sight.

I paused before answering. Now wasn't the time. "Nothing. Let's go."

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"Why are we going in through the backside?" Bucky asked.

We were crouched in the bushes near the back entrance to the Air and Space museum. "Because they have metal detectors at the front entrance." I looked pointedly in the direction of his left arm. "We break in the door here and hopefully make it to the roof before HYDRA or security finds us."

"How can we know that they'll be here?" he didn't need to specify who he was talking about.

"They'll be here." The security camera I'd been watching began to turn the other way, giving us ten seconds to make it to the loading door unseen. "Now!" I whispered and we made a run to the door. He made it there before me, and he proceeded to grab me and pull me the rest of the way out of sight as the camera turned back our way.

I was breathless for a few moments. We stood with our backs against the building and his arm was across collarbone to keep me from falling forwards. "Thanks." I patted his arms and he released me. "Can you." I gestured at the door knob.

Bucky placed his metal hand on the door knob and with a swift motion yanked it out of the door.

"That's pretty handy." I smiled up at him and we went into the dark building.

We were in one of the boiler rooms and on the other side of the room was a door with light and noise coming from the other side. We came out in a crowded, though not as crowded as usual given what happened today, section near the gift shop on the first floor.

Bucky scanned the crowd looking for potential threats.

"I've been here before." I said. "The way to the roof is up those stairs over there and then there is a service stairway that leads…" I followed the path with my eyes but stopped when I felt the lack of a presence beside me. "Bucky!" I nearly shouted but strangled my call down to a whisper. Did HYDRA get to him this fast? Then I saw what must have drawn him in, a sign down at the other end of the building that advertised an exhibit on the second floor.

The sign read. A Hero to a Nation, A Symbol to the World. Captain America.

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I found him exactly where I thought I'd find him. The narrator's voice echoed from an unseen place above us as I came to stand beside him in front of the crystal memorial that bore his face. And just below it read.

-Bucky Barnes-

1917-1944

"Sergeant Bucky Barnes was the only Howling Commando that gave his life in service to his country. He and Captain Rogers were inseparable on the playground and on battle field." And then the recording began again.

Bucky moved forward and looked down at the display where a short black and white film of him and Steve was playing. It was Steve post-serum and Bucky, they were laughing at someone off camera. The Bucky standing beside me barely resembled the one in the film.

Bucky didn't speak for a long time, I wondered if he even realized I was standing next to him. When he finally began to speak, his voice sounded haunted. "I remember that day, when he… when I fell. I'd been stupid, trying to be a hero."

"Steve told me what happened." His head shot up and his startled eyes met mine.

"Steve? You know him."

"Yes. He told me you saved his life." He started shaking and I placed my hand on his left arm to try to calm him.

I heard the gears in his metal arm getting louder as his shaking increased. A quick glance around told me no one had noticed this, yet.

"I tried to kill him today." He admitted after a minute.

My heart dropped in my chest. "Did you?" I asked hesitantly.

"No. I pulled him out of the river." That explained why he was wet when he came for me in the bunker. Suddenly the shaking that I had been sure was leading to an emotional break ceased and he went stiff. All emotion left his face which now bore a carefully controlled mask of a soldier. "We've been made."

"What?" I gasped. All around us was people but none of them stood out to me.

Bucky took my arm and began to lead us out of the exhibit. "One ahead, two behind. Standard tag team. They have not moved since we came in here."

We exited the exhibit and got onto one of the escalators going up the third floor. Bucky got on first and I followed behind him. Over his shoulder I saw a member of Steve's strike team get on the escalator that was going down, which happened to be right next to ours! Any minute he was going to notice us, unless... One of the many lessons Tasha taught me popped into my head.

Bucky had noticed the HYDRA agent coming towards us and had shifted his position, ready to fight when I grabbed his arm and whirled him to face me.

"Kiss me." I quickly whispered.

His carefully controlled mask completely fell off and he stared down at me with his mouth hanging open. "What?!"

Immediately I recited what Tasha had said during this lesson on evading the enemy. "Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."

"Yes they do." Bucky frowned, then gapped in shock when I leaned up and pulled his my face to mine.

The agent going down the escalator got closer and closer… and passed right by us without so much as glancing our way.

I guess they weren't expecting to come across the Winter Soldier kissing someone. The agent had passed us, we were in the clear for the moment and yet Bucky made no move to move, and strangely neither did I. His arms came out of his jacket pockets and wrapped themselves around my waist and my hand came up to his neck. I told myself, just to steady myself, that was it.

What finally broke us up was a polite clearing of a throat from behind me. We each stepped back to our respective steps on the escalator, avoiding eye contact. Bucky quickly put his hands in his pocket so no one would see his metal hand. Likewise I shoved my hands in my jean pockets and turned around to the voice that had interrupted us and smiled sheepishly.

It was an elderly lady, maybe in her late seventies. Her gaze went back and forth between Bucky and I. "I didn't mean to interrupt but the end of the escalator is coming up and it be a shame to see such a cute couple take a nasty fall."

A blush burned on my cheeks as Bucky and I stepped off onto the third floor. "Thanks." I told her and bowed my red face towards the floor.

"Take care." The elderly woman called after us.

"You to." I said with a smile over my shoulder.

"We've got two following us." Bucky leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"We're almost to the service stairwell." We came to a door marked "authorized personal only." and Bucky broke the door knob off.

Once we were on the other side of the door we sprinted up the steps. Down behind us I heard the door blow open and two more set of footsteps hurl themselves after us.

When we came to the door leading to the roof Bucky didn't hesitate. He slammed his metal arm against it and blew it straight off its hinges and set it flying several feet. I would have been seriously impressed if we weren't running for our lives.

I threw myself out after Bucky onto, an empty roof. "Where are they?!" Bucky yelled.

"They said they'd be here." I shouted scanning the sky.

Buzzing filled the air and a light sprang into existence above us. A plane, so big that I couldn't believe it had gotten so close, uncloaked like one of SHIELD's helicarriers.

The back part of the plane where cargo would be loaded opened and lowered itself so it was just low enough to jump onto from the roof. Just on the inside of the plane stood Fitz-Simmons and two other agents that it didn't recognize.

"Come on!" Jemma shouted, snapping me out my trance.

Bucky ran back to me so he was standing in front of me and grabbed my hand, "Clara…" whatever he was going to say was lost as something over my shoulder caught his eye.

A gunshot rang out.

Red splattered all over Bucky's clothes as he stared down at me with horror.

"Your shirt." My brows furrowed in confusion. Then I fell.

Author's note: A cliffhanger. I'm evil, I know. Hahaha (imagine a maniacal laugh). I got inspiration for this chapter and wrote it all in one sitting. Can you believe it? I probably should have been doing my college course work, but then I thought I needed a break. Granted a five hour break. Stay tuned to find out what happens next. If any of you have any suggestions or questions just leave then in the reviews. Till next time.