Author's note: I wish I knew where this was headed, other than into another firefight. I mean I know the final destination and a couple of the stops but how we get there is shrouded in fog. The characters are driving this train.

As always, I love you all.

Oh and yes, the Howling Commandos did have EMPs and walkie-talkies disguised as quarters (they even had a homing beacon in them). Thank you very much, Agents of Shield, for giving me that toy to play with.


As soon as the elevator started its descent and before Steve could even open his mouth to speak, the Soldier moved. He stepped back as far as he could, looking upward at the roof with an expression of concentration that shouldn't be broken by idle chatter. He hummed in thought, running his tongue over his bottom lip as he scanned the tiles above - little things like that were what Steve couldn't help but notice. They were things Bucky used to do, before all this.

There was little time for nostalgia as soon the Soldier shoved his assault rifle at Steve without even looking. "Hold this," came the instruction. It wasn't an order, there was no commanding air to it, but it wasn't a request either.

He bounced once on the balls of his feet before jumping up onto the metal railing that ran around the elevator at waist-height. With an elegance that Steve didn't think a man in such heavy gear could manage, the Soldier balanced on the bar and braced his right hand on the roof. Running his left over a slightly mismatched tile until he found the emergency hatch, he rattled the lever to no avail.

Steve simply watched with curiosity as the Soldier hissed under his breath and thumped the latch area once, testing it for give before slamming that metal fist of his into the place that moved the least. With a sharp crack, the latch broke from the force and the hatch bounced in place. The Soldier pushed it open with little resistance and, using his left arm as leverage, swung himself up onto the roof.

"Uh, Buck?" Steve stepped directly under the open hatch, squinting up into the darkness. "Care to tell me the plan?"

There was a grumble from overhead and the Soldier's face appeared. "There is a company of armed guards waiting for this elevator to stop in the basement. If we stay in there, we will be shot to shit." His right hand appeared, palm open. "Gun."

Steve frowned, handing over the rifle and watching it vanish up into the darkness. There was the sound of the weapon being placed down before the noise of scuffling boots and a grunt, the Soldier appearing in the hatch again, this time bracing against the edge and extending his left arm towards Steve. "Come on."

With one jump Steve grabbed the Soldier's wrist and the metal fingers closed around Steve's own with an unshakable grasp but the Soldier huffed loudly at the added weight and growled at the strain. The unmistakeable sound of mechanical whirring kicked into overtime as Steve was pulled upwards. "Yanno, it's a good job you're not a great big musclebound brute or else this would be really difficult." The Soldier groaned, his teeth clenched from the strain of lifting Steve until he could get his own grip on the edge of the hatch.

Once his own hold was established and he was halfway up out of the hatch, the Soldier let him go so that he could clamber the rest of the way himself.

More mechanical clicks and whirrs pulled Steve's attention in time to see the Soldier flexing his arm, seeming to get it back 'in gear', before closing the hatch and picking up his assault rifle. The elevator was already starting to slow and the Soldier was busying himself with pulling out a silver sphere from a pocket, giving his rifle the once over before crouching at the hatch to wait.

"Are you planning on telling me what to expect down there, or am I just going to have to go in blind?" Steve mirrored the Soldier, unclipping the shield from his back before crouching and bracing his free hand on the metal roof of the elevator.

"SHIELD has a Fridge, Hydra has a Freezer. It's a top-level research and development lab." His voice was low and hard to hear over the noise of the gears and mechanisms of the machine they were surfing. "It's also where they keep their most valuable assets."

"Assets?"

"State of the art weapons, biomechanics, the kind of computer tech that SHIELD would never green-light in a million years." The Soldier shrugged, sounding utterly non-committal as he listed off the contents of the base they were rapidly approaching. The sound of the breaks on the cable meant that Steve almost missed what he said next. "But I know that their most valued asset isn't currently available to them."

Steve watched as the Soldier cracked the hatch open slightly as the elevator finally stopped and the doors pinged out their arrival. "Oh? What's their most valued asset?"

No answer came, only a finger resting on his lips. The sound of boots and confused chatter below caused them both to fall silent. The Soldier lifted the hatch a crack, the light from inside hitting a single pale blue eye as he watched a section of the puzzled company enter. The voices were indistinct and while the words sounded like English, there was a mix of accents just like the soldiers from the corridor. It was impossible for Steve to hear what they were saying.

The Soldier rolled the sphere in his hands over in his palm, fingers ghosting over the casing until they found a depression. The click was faint as he pushed a button inward before flicking it in through the opening.

Perfectly aimed, the sphere bounced twice through the legs of the soldiers, the sound of panic escalating as they tried to escape from it. It was no use, of course, and for such a small grenade, the explosion was massive.

Amid the screams and the smoke, the Soldier threw back the hatch and dropped down in one smooth movement. His assault rifle roared into life as soon as his boots touched the floor and the unfortunate men that had failed to get into cover were mown down with frightening speed.

The smoke still thick and acrid, the smell of death and singed flesh, the echoing rattle of the Soldier's assault rifle. It all seemed so familiar to Steve as he dropped from the hatch. If he imagined really hard they could be back in the war, charging into a Hydra base on German soil – but the differences were marked. He wasn't leading the charge, for one and the Soldier – the man who was Bucky – was a force of nature.

Steve sent his shield flying, the Soldier stepping sideways out of its trajectory as if on instinct. It rang off the helmets of flanking troops and Steve took advantage of the way they staggered backwards, disabling them quickly and with little fuss when his shield returned to him. If there was room to breathe, room to think, he would be realising how out of depth he really was in this base. Three companies of fully armed gunmen in tight spaces he was unfamiliar with. Even if he had Sam in to help him, they would have either been captured or killed.

But there wasn't time and just as the three men he'd taken down hit the floor there was a loud curse from the Soldier's direction and suddenly Steve found him being dragged backwards by his shield and flung around a corner at speed split seconds before a stream of bullets sprayed past.

The Soldier stood with his back braced against the wall, breathing hard and eyes glazed over. He was shaking. Wherever the Soldier was, he certainly wasn't in the present any more.

"Buck? Where are you, pal?" There was a whirr from around the corner and another burst of gunfire sprayed the opposite wall. Now was no time for the Soldier to space out and with no sign of a response a more drastic measure had to be taken. "Damn it Buck," he muttered, "Sorry."

A sharp backhanded slap to the face caused the Soldier to focus on Steve instantly and with what seemed to be murderous intent. He blinked once, frowning. "Steve?" But there was no time to answer as another spray peppered them with chips of brick and dust. The Soldier rolled his eyes and cursed under his breath. "Of course they just had to find the mini-gun."

The Soldier waited for a break in the firing to poke his head out as much as he dared, pulling himself back in as the gunman fired again. "I can't get a clear shot."

"Do you need one?" Steve was looking down the corridor they were holed up in. "Where does this lead?"

"It doesn't. It's all dead-ends this way." The Soldier hurriedly examined what was left of his rifle clip before switching it out, tossing the spent clip down the corridor. "We need to get past that guy but I can't get a good enough angle."

"Well then," Steve set his jaw and adjusted his shield. "I'll draw his fire, you take him out."

The look of panic on the Soldier's face was alarming. "No. I can't let you do that."

"We don't have a choice. You're going to have to stop trying to protect me, Buck."

"I'm not. I…" Anger, frustration, confusion all warred on the Soldier's face and he refused to meet Steve's gaze. "Stop calling me that."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen." The grin on Steve's face was wild as he ducked behind his shield and stepped out into the firing line, the whirr of the mini-gun followed by the hail of bullets bouncing off onto the floor was enough to make the Soldier focus.

Two shots was all it took from the assault rifle. Two shots and the man toppled backwards, still firing until his hand went slack off the trigger. Silence took over, the mini-gun ticking cool and the alarms blaring down the corridor the only thing left besides heavy breathing. Steve looked at the Soldier, the Soldier looked at Steve. Then the butt of the Soldier's rifle hit Steve square on the nose.

Before Steve could react, the Soldier had his throat in a wrought iron grip. "Never. Do that. Again." It came out as a hiss, a growl, before he pushed Steve backwards and stalked off, shaking his head. "If anyone kills you, it'll be me."

Rubbing his nose and watching the Soldier make his way back to the elevator landing, Steve was forced to remind himself that it still wasn't quite his Bucky he was working with here. It was a hard thing to keep constant in his head, especially when so many of the little quirks that had obviously laid dormant for nearly seventy years just screamed Bucky Barnes loud and clear. But the brutally efficient killing machine that was leading this charge was still the Winter Soldier and Steve needed to remember that. As hard as it may be have been to stomach.

The Soldier was scanning the computer on what looked to be the main desk, frowning as he stared at the screen. Steve, still massaging his nose (and bruised ego besides), watched him with interest. "Ok, you're going to have to forgive me for being ignorant here, but…computers?"

The Soldier paused what he was doing, blinked at the screen once before fixing Steve with the flattest most unimpressed stare that Steve had seen since the war. A look that only Bucky could pull off. That's why trying to separate one from the other was so hard. The Winter Soldier and Bucky Barnes were one in the same but there was still gaps. Like a puzzle missing pieces.

"To do my job efficiently, I was brought up to speed before every mission." His voice was passive, his gaze drifting back to the screen. "That includes computers."

Steve didn't reply, merely nodded and waited. He didn't know what the Soldier was looking for but he was certain that the man with the mini-gun wasn't the last of the armed forces in the network of tunnels.

"Four men guarding the armoury. That's less than I expected." The Soldier stepped out from behind the desk, his face impassive. "I suppose they thought the mini-gun would be enough."

"It almost was."

"Hardly. It just would have meant I had one less grenade to deal with the rest of his friends." The Soldier strode past Steve, heading down the main corridor at a somewhat leisurely pace. "There may only be four of them but they're not short on munitions. Expect heavy resistance."

Again there was no reply from Steve as he followed, adjusting the shield on his arm in the somewhat uncomfortable silence.

"And really? You're asking me about computers?" He never broke stride and never looked back, but the tone of voice told Steve that the Soldier was wearing that same smirk Bucky wore. "Cap, we had EMPs disguised as novelty hand-buzzers and quarter walkie-talkies in the forties. All this fancy tech isn't anything special."