10

"Buck, you can't keep doing this." Steve went and sat down next to his friend. Since finding out about Joy's abduction, Bucky had confined himself in an abandoned, slightly destroyed bar. He had served himself cup after cup of whatever beer was left, but he wasn't even intoxicated, all he felt was a buzz at the back of his skull.

"Do what?" Bucky said, his voice hoarse. His eyes stung from crying, his throat ached, his chest felt heavy.

"This." Steve took the beer from Bucky, who didn't even put up a fight to get it back. "I talked to Phillips. We're going to find Rosie."

Bucky looked at his friend. The usual liveliness and charisma in his eyes was dulled, an almost defeated frown on his face. "We don't even know who took her."

"What we know is that it was HYDRA who raided the last base." Steve leaned back in his seat. "Since there's still plenty of HYDRA bases we need to take down, we'll do a thorough sweep just to make sure."

Bucky anxiously toyed with the wedding band on his finger. He and Joy had only been married for a little over a year, they didn't even get to enjoy a married life before the war hit. Some might've thought a year would be enough time to get used to being married, but Joy's and Bucky's marriage felt different. They had so many plans they wanted to do together but couldn't. But with HYDRA having kidnapped her, they might never experience it if she wasn't brought back.

"Buck?" Steve said gently.

He nodded. "I'll do it," he said.

A small smile came across Steve's face. "Let's go."

—Mad World—

She laid on her back, looking up at the warehouse ceiling with disinterest. She and the Winter Soldier had been on the run for a total of two and a half weeks. That meant they had spent two and a half weeks running from any HYDRA operatives intent on hunting them; running from Captain America, who had been released from the hospital. But aside from that, they were just running. They wanted to get away from everything.

Her honey brown hair was splayed around her as she laid on the ground. Her hands were on her stomach.

She sighed.

The Soldier had been carefully—strategically—keeping watch around the warehouse. He managed to find multiple escape routes in case a situation arose. He and the Angel had been in the warehouse for a total of three days. For some reason, she didn't want to leave. Not yet. They had managed to get out of DC a while back and were currently somewhere in New Hampshire.

Stalking back into the warehouse, he froze for a moment when he saw the Angel laying on the warehouse floor. Her golden honey brown hair was around her in a way that made his chest tighten. For the first time since they encountered, it kind of felt like he was actually looking at her.

He noticed how, in the two and a half weeks they'd been running, she was becoming less and less hardened and more exhausted. Her hazel eyes still held a fieriness that could make the toughest men whimper, but they were getting more and more exhausted. The frown she always had became deeper and more worn out. But somehow she still managed to maintain that ethereal beauty.

It just couldn't make compute with him.

There was something about her that he wanted to protect, that he wanted to keep safe. Besides HYDRA, why did he feel like he should protect her? He didn't know her—at least, it seemed like it at first. She was somehow involved in his old life. He was beginning to see it. But he just couldn't figure it out.

She could feel him watching her. He wasn't moving, wasn't talking, just watching. She didn't bother to look at him or to talk to him. There was something stirring in her that was keeping her occupied on other things. Her mind was stumbling through things that might've started to piece together. The Angel was beginning to realize she felt lonely. She felt sad and lonely and scared. The feelings hit her like a bag full of bricks.

"We can't stay here." His voice pierced through the silence like an arrow. Her stomach twisted and her heart felt heavier. Frustration bubbled at the thought of how ridiculous she was acting.

Sam was starting to get a bit worried for Steve. While he understood Steve's commitment to finding his friends, it felt like it was borderline obsessing. Sam knew all too well the feeling of losing a friend, especially when that friend served in the Military with him. But it felt like Steve was pushing himself to the limit just to find a little information.

For all he knew, Bucky was long gone. Even if Bucky's wife somehow managed to survive all these years, the chances of her being found anywhere were slim. Very slim.

The thing that bothered Sam the most was that Steve knew he was pushing himself too hard, but he wasn't going to make an effort to stop. Sam could only warn him so many times not to go overboard before it started feeling old. Sam would help out the best he could, though.

Letting out a sigh, Sam watched for a brief moment while Steve struggled to figure out how to use his laptop. Despite having been out of the ice for as long as he was, Steve still struggled with a lot of modern things. Walking over, Sam decided to help his friend out.

Author's Note:

If this chapter was weak in any way, I'm sorry. I've been having a pretty stressful day and I've been trying to figure out a way to make this chapter at least decent for you guys! Let me know what you think. If you've got ideas for future updates, please, let me know. PM me or leave a review. Should there be a chapter dedicated kind of through the POV of Sam? Should there be one for Steve? Should there be a chapter that's solely a flashback? What do you guys think? Should I take out the flashbacks? Sorry if it feels like I'm desperate for ideas, but I've been running on fumes lately and I'm trying to be creative right now!

Nothing in the 'Marvel' universe belongs to me. All I'll ever own are my characters and my fillers.

I've got finals coming up this week, so I will be momentarily preoccupied with that. I should be studying now, just to get it out of the way, but I'm a huge procrastinator and that's not good. Just a head's up for you guys.

Leave a kind and helpful review, please!

Thank you.

Susan Strong