**I do not own any of the characters, except for Beth. Shes mine.**

Chapter 7

Soon, they arrive at the place where Bucky was being held. Steve jumps out and sees Natasha waiting for him at the door. Neither of them say a word and Natasha leads Steve to the door that leads to the room Bucky's in. Steve stops in front of the door.

"What?"

"I can't do it…"

"Why not?"

"I just… cant." Natasha sighs.

"Just take a breath and go in. Not that big of a deal."

"Natasha, you don't get it. I haven't seen him for weeks and the last time I saw him, he was trying to kill me."

"You think I don't know what that's like?" Steve sighs.

"I forgot about that."

"Want me to go in first and whack him on the head? Worked for Clint." Natasha says jokingly. Steve chuckles.

"No, that's fine. I think I'm ready now."

"'Kay. I'll be watching though. Just in case."

"Sounds good." Steve breathes in deep through his nose and opens the door. He looks in to find Bucky sitting motionless at the table, staring straight ahead. Steve walks in and slowly shuts the door. He just stands there for a while, looks around, and sees a chair in the corner of the room. He drags it over to the opposite side of the table and sits down. Bucky continues to stare straight ahead, a blank expression on his face. Steve observes him closely. Big, dark bags under his eyes, stubble, and long, greasy hair. A wave of sympathy washes over Steve as he looks at his past best friend. He eventually braves up and decides to try to talk to him. "Hey, Buck." He says quietly. He's not even sure if he heard him or not, so he looks up to find Bucky's eyes locked on his. He pauses for a moment, slightly uncomfortable. "Remember me?" He continues to stare and Steve doesn't think he's willing to talk. He sighs and stands up to head for the door when Bucky mumbles something under his breath. Steve stops and looks back. "What?"

"You're my mission…" Bucky mumbles louder. Steve's heart stops as he sees Bucky rise up from his chair. He looks at him with hatred in his eyes and walks towards him. Steve backs up and tries to find the handle with his hand when suddenly Bucky jumps at him. He smashes Steve's head into the door and Steve reacts by pushing Bucky off of him. Bucky stumbles back and comes at him again. Steve swings his fist and Bucky grabs it with his metal hand and squeezes. He continues squeezing his fist harder and harder until suddenly Bucky collapses. Steve removes his fist from Bucky's grasp and clutches it in pain. He looks up to see Natasha standing over him.

"So, I'm assuming that didn't go very well?" She kneels down in front of Steve. "How's your hand?" He winces.

"Feels like it just got ran over by a truck." She nods.

"C'mon. Let's go." She helps him up and they leave, Bucky still lying unconscious on the floor.


Steve arrives back at his apartment and sees Bethany sitting at the kitchen table. He shuts the door and she whips around.

"Where have you been?" He pauses. He didn't want to tell her about Bucky just yet, so he tries to think of an excuse.

"I… went for a jog." She raises an eyebrow.

"A jog. In your casual clothes?"

"Yeah. Why not?" She continues to stare at him.

"You're not even sweaty." Her eyes move down to his hand. "What happened to your hand?!" He looks down and sees it covered with bruises, already black and blue.

"I, uh, got into a fight."

"A fight? With who, a brick wall?" He shrugs and goes to the freezer to grab an ice pack. He turns back around to see her standing behind him.

"Geez, Bethany."

"What are you hiding?" He rolls his eyes.

"Nothing. I told you, I went for a jog and got into a fight."

"I know you're lying, Steve. It's pretty obvious." He turns away and walks towards the living area.

"What I did is none of your business, Bethany." Silence follows and he looks back at her. Hurt shows in her eyes and she walks towards him.

"Something's going on, Steve. I'm going to find out what it is, I don't care what you say." With that, she stomps off to her room, leaving Steve there stuck on what to do.


He wakes up to a sharp throbbing in his head. Eyes still closed, he tries to fall back asleep, but the pain is too much. Slowly, he opens his eyes, immediately regretting his decision. 'Too bright…' He thinks as he tries to get used to the light. Eventually, his eyes adjust and he looks around. It looks like a normal bedroom, window, desk, and a chair in the corner. He looks down and notices he's lying on a bed. 'Where the hell am I?' He attempts to get up and eventually rolls right out of the bed and onto the hard, concrete floor. He groans and sits himself up. Suddenly, the door opens and a tall, dark skinned man with an eye patch walks in.

"And the mysterious Winter Soldier awakens. How was the beauty sleep?" He looks up at him.

"Where am I?" He notices how raspy his voice sounds.

"That's classified. I came in here to ask you a question." He kneels down and pulls out a picture. "Recognize him?" He looks at the picture and his eyes widen.

"S-Steve?"

Hii... Sorry it took so long. Again. Oh and sorry its not a very long chapter too. Couldnt really think of any filler information. I also wanted to leave you with this lovely cliffhanger. :) Muahahaaaa! I know, im evil. Gonna be really busy this weekend too so ill try to post the next chapter as soon as I can. Hope you like the chapter anyways!

Reviews are like chips, you cant have just one. :)