Alex had been awake the whole night trying to come up with a plan, or what she assumed was all night there was no real way of telling. And she still had practically nothing.
How the hell was she gonna break them out of here on her own?! Bucky always knew what to do... Wait - Bucky.
'Why are you cutting a hole in my boot?'
'So I can put this in there in case you ever need it.'
He gave her his knife.
Alex took off her boot and, lifting out the insole, found that Bucky's knife was still there inside. Okay, so she had a weapon.
Now she just needed some kind of distraction, but all she had was one bullet from her gun that she'd put in her pocket back when they first got the guns. But without the gun itself that was pretty much useless.
Alex turned the bullet over in her hand, feeling the cool metal against her palm reminded her of him. She needed to get him out before they could hurt him again. But how? She tried to think of anything that would get those guards inside.
...a fire. That's it, a fire.
They'd have to come in to put it out or the whole place would burn - and she'd get them when they did.
Alex looked around her. She could light the bedding they had put on the cot in here, but what with?
Balling her fist as she thought, Alex felt the bullet - "Gunpowder," she said aloud to the empty room.
Bucky had given up struggling against his chain, instead trying to think of all the great time he'd had with Alex. He figured that if the thoughts of her were strong enough he'd remember her even if they wiped him again. He knew it was stupid, but Alex was all he had and he needed to remember her. Bucky's heart ached at the thought that he might never see her again. She made him feel more human. He felt things with Alex that he'd never felt before, and now they were just gonna turn him back into that heartless machine.
Outside his cell, Bucky heard footsteps. They're here already?
As he heard the banging of someone opening the door, he scrunched up his eyes, desperately clawing at the memories he had of Alex - the colour of her eyes, the way she smiled at him, the smell of her hair, (bang...bang...) how her hand felt in his, the way her arms felt around him, when her head rested on his chest as she slept, the way her lips felt on his, how soft her skin was, (bang...bang...) when she cleaned up his wounds when they first met, how he never had nightmares when she was there, how alive she made him feel, how-
"Bucky?"
His thoughts were interrupted by a man's voice. A familiar voice. He opened his eyes tentatively.
"Steve?"
Alex had finally managed to open the bullet to get the powder out, and after piling the bedding in the centre of the room, she poured the powder on the edge at the bottom making sure it stayed in a pile. Then it was time to put her plan into action.
Pulling the small cot closer to where she had put the powder she struck the knife against the metal leg a number of times until it sparked, lighting the powder which in turn lit the bedding. As the flames spread, Alex stood back taking a deep preparatory breath before she shouted for help. "Fire! Somebody help, there's a fire in here!"
She heard a scuffle outside and by now the room was beginning to fill with smoke, there was the sound of a key turning in the lock and Alex gripped the knife tightly in her hand. The door swung open and she heard gasps as two people hurried in. One of them set to work to try and put out the fire, stamping on it (though it did little to extinguish the flames) and Alex grabbed the other, putting her hand over their mouth as she plunged the knife in their back and set them down on the cold floor gently, making sure they were still before she pulled the knife out.
By now, the other guard - a woman, she could see now - had turned to see her colleague's body on the floor. She scrambled for her gun, but Alex was too fast, sticking the knife into the woman's thigh before bashing her head against the wall and knocking her unconscious.
Half way there.
As the flames began to spread, Alex quickly pulled off the woman's hat and jacket (which by some miracle actually fit) putting them on and picking up the discarded gun before making her way into the corridor, closing the cell door behind her. The trousers she was wearing were black, like the guards', so she figured that now she had the jacket and hat, she probably looked the part.
Nevertheless, she moved quickly through the empty hallways - where is everyone?
She could hear hurried footsteps and gunfire, but as far as she could see none of it was happening around her. However the footsteps seemed to be getting closer and as she rounded the corner she was faced with a pretty large group of people; a man with a shield, a guy who seemed to be wearing some kind of metallic backpack and a bunch of guys in combat gear.
But as they drew to a halt, she saw someone else make their way through the group, "Bucky?" she half-whispered as a smile spread across her face upon seeing the metal limb push men out the way. He didn't say anything but instead just pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her hair as she squeezed him tightly.
After a moment they stepped apart and all weapons were pointed at Alex. But though she was confused at first, it suddenly hit her that she was still wearing the Hydra uniform. "Whoa, hey." She put up her hands as a sign of good will. "I'm with him," she pointed to Bucky, "I just borrowed the uniform when I broke out."
"Broke out?" The man with the shield spoke, "How?"
Alex could smell burning and turning around, she could see that the smoke had begun to filter through the hallways, "I lit a fire," she chuckled, coughing a little. "Then I took down the guards with the knife you gave me." Alex smiled at Bucky, who wore a look of pride on his face.
"Okay. Well, now that's sorted I think we should probably get out of here." The guy with the backpack said, looking at-
"Wait. You're Captain America." Alex said, finally realising who the guy with the shield actually was.
"Yes ma'am." He gave her a tight smile, nodding his head.
"Can we do this meet and greet outside before we're smoked out?" His friend continued his plea.
Everyone began to move, following the captain, but Bucky remained at the back with Alex, reaching a hand out to her which she gladly took.
They had walked down what seemed like about ten identical corridors and Alex could feel herself having some difficulty breathing and as the group paused so that the captain could talk to his wrist by the looks of it, she coughed, trying to be discreet but nevertheless attracting Bucky's attention.
"What's wrong?" He looked at her, concerned. She tried to answer, but couldn't catch her breath, shaking her head and coughing again. "Alex?"
Stumbling back, Alex felt lightheaded and before she knew it Bucky had lifted her in his arms and they were on the move again. She tried to tell him to put her down but her voice kept coming out too strained for him to hear.
Next thing Alex saw was the clouds above them, rain falling from the sky and all she could hear was what sounded like a helicopter or maybe more than one. Her breathing was slowly returning to normal now that they were in the open air and Bucky seemed to have noticed, placing her steadily on her feet inside one of what she now saw were cargo planes before climbing in himself.
He dragged her to the back of the plane, out of earshot of the others getting in. "Are you okay? What happened?"
Alex took some more deep breaths, "I just took in a little too much smoke. I'm okay now."
"We'll get someone to check you over when we get back ."
They both looked up to see the captain stood there. "No, thanks captain, but I'm all good."
"It's Steve," he smiled, "And I insist you let them check you - just to be sure."
Alex looked to Bucky but his eyes were on the floor, "Fine." she relented. Steve looked at his old friend and Alex could tell he wanted to talk with him - alone. "I'll leave you to talk." She said, getting up and moving down the craft where she could see that Steve's friend was sat.
"What's with the backpack?" she asked, pointing to the metallic object next to him as she sat down.
He laughed, "It's not a backpack. It's, well, they're wings." There was clearly a longer explanation, but thankfully he just cut to the chase.
"Wow, so you can fly?"
"Yep, that's my superpower."
"That's an awesome superpower!" Her expression resembled that of an excited child, which he just laughed at.
"I'm Sam." He said, extending a hand, which she accepted.
"Alex."
"So, how do know the Transformer over there?" Sam gestured to Bucky, who was awkwardly talking to Steve.
"Hit him with my car." Alex said it like it was the most normal way to meet.
Sam nodded, "Romantic." he said, deadpan.
"I like to think so." They both remained poker faced for a moment before they burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Steve asked as he and Bucky approached them.
Sam's laughter died down, "Nothing, Alex was just telling me the story of how she met you man here."
Bucky looked to her awkwardly, so Alex just smiled, which seemed to relax him enough that he took the seat next to her. "I just told him I hit you with my car." She said in a hushed tone, to put his mind at rest.
He smiled, leaning close to her ear so he could whisper, "Steve said after you've been looked over, we can stay with them until we know what to do next."
"Okay." Alex said before leaning her head to rest on his shoulder as they made their way to wherever Steve was taking them.
She hadn't realised that she'd fallen asleep until she felt someone gently shaking her. As Alex blinked open her eyes and found Bucky crouched in front of her. "We're here," he said softly, brushing some hair from her face. Looking around her, she saw that she was lying down across the seat.
"You kept coughing - it sounded like you were having a little trouble breathing, so we thought if you lay down it might open up your airways." Steve stood next to where she lay, preparing to leave the aircraft. "Bucky barely took his eyes off you the whole way here."
Alex looked to Bucky who blushed a little, standing up and offering her his hand to help her up, "You seemed to get better after a while." He mumbled with a small smile, as though he was embarrassed that Steve had told her.
"We should go and get you checked out though, just to be sure." Steve waited for Alex to get up before the three of them started out.
The building they'd been taken to didn't seem much like anything, in fact it looked a little like a factory attracted to some sort of dam. Steve led them both down through a tunnel and into the building. The inside looked completely different, so modern and high-tech - Alex felt like she'd stepped into the future and looking at Bucky she could see that he was as equally in awe of their new surroundings.
There seemed to be people everywhere - some of whom they'd seen before and some who were sat at computers, typing away. They followed Steve into a small white room where there was a man sat waiting for them, "Fury said you'd need me." he said, standing as they walked in.
"Yeah, there was a fire and Alex took in a lot of smoke." Steve explained.
"I was having some trouble breathing earlier," Alex interjected. "But it seems to have got a lot better." She added, moving her to sit on the bed.
Half an hour later, the doctor had given Alex the O.K., and Steve had shown her to her room so she could shower. This left him and Bucky alone in the lounge area, sat on couches either side of the room. Things weren't as awkward between them as they had been, because Bucky remembered more about Steve now, but they were quiet, largely due to the fact that neither of them knew what to say.
"Thanks for helping us," Bucky broke the silence first.
Steve smirked, "'Us' is it?" he teased Bucky as he used to. And thankfully for him, his friend seemed to take it in good humour.
"She put herself in danger helping me, Steve. I care about her and I'm not gonna let them hurt her because of me." He took his eyes off his friend, blushing as he realised how protective he sounded.
But Steve just chuckled, shaking his head, "Seventy years later and an arm down and you still manage to get a girlfriend before me."
"What can I say Rogers? Super serum or not, under that tough exterior, you're still the same skinny punk that couldn't get a girl."
"Jerk."
They both burst out laughing, and for a little while it seemed like old times between them.
Alex had to admit it, she was glad of having hot water - they'd without it for a week and it had made her feel so much better. She changed into the pajamas that had been left on her bed and though they were a little big (they were clearly men's) they were very comfortable.
As she got into bed, Alex was suddenly very glad that they'd accepted Steve's offer. She'd missed having a decent bed - yeah, it had only been a week, but considering last places she'd slept were a cargo plane and a stone floor, the mattress was a welcome comfort. But, just as she lay down, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," she grumbled, a little annoyed at the interruption.
The door opened and Bucky popped his head in. "Hey," Alex sat up. "Come in."
He walked in, closing the door behind him, but remaining stood awkwardly by the door.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked when Bucky stayed silent.
He shuffled a little on his feet before looking back at her, "Can I sleep in here?"
"Didn't Steve find you a room?" Her brow furrowed.
"Yeah, he did." Bucky stumbled over his words. Why am I so nervous? "It's just, I sleep better next to you." Bright blue eyes peeked up at her, anxiously awaiting her reply.
Why was he nervous? Alex wondered, It's not like we haven't done this, and more, before now. "Okay." She said simply, putting his mind at ease and pulling the covers back to indicate that he should get in.
Bucky slipped in next to Alex, pulling the covers back as she turned off the bedside lamp. For a while they just lay there in the dark, neither of them moving.
"I was so scared that they were gonna hurt you and I'd never see you again." Alex spoke, finding his hand in the darkness and clutching it tightly.
He squeezed back, "Me, too." He said, voice a little hushed. "They said that they'd wipe my mind and make me kill you." Bucky sounded choked up. "I just kept replaying all the memories I had of you, hoping that if I could remember you clearly enough - then I'd remember you even if I couldn't remember anything else."
"Hey," Alex soothed him, tugging his hand so he'd face her, even though she wouldn't be able to see him in the pitch black. "I'm here now, we're both here. And you're okay - they're not gonna hurt you again."
Shuffling closer together, Bucky put an arm around Alex, pulling her flush against his body, enjoying the feeling of knowing that she was there and they hadn't managed to take her from him. "I love you." He whispered into the dark.
And though Alex would've liked to see his face, she was glad the darkness covered up the goofy, face-splitting grin that she was most definitely wearing right now. "I love you too."
