Bucky was coughing deeply as burning tears streamed down his face. There was no time to make a plan. No time to strategize the next move. Bucky moved as quickly as he could to take Sarah's arm over his shoulders. Her head hung low as he picked both of them up off the floor. He let out a painful grunt from under Sarah's arm.
"C,mon , Sarah. Use your feet..." Bucky coaxed her through gritted teeth. She sluggishly trudged beside him to the cabin door. Smoke swirled around them. The temperature of the interior was quickly rising. The floors and walls had begun to moan and creak as flames licked up the back wall. Bucky knew within minutes; the entire cabin would be consumed.
"Keep walking. We're almost there…" Bucky continued to motivate Sarah. He adjusted his grip on her arm and continued to tow her towards the door. Once they reached it, Bucky never hesitated to kicking it open in case it was locked. The door flew off the hinges, sending splinters of wood everywhere.
Bucky dragged both himself and Sarah through the doorway, throwing them on the ground outside.
The both of them coughed and choked on the fresh air. Bucky kept his nose to the ground, trying to catch his breath. "Sarah," Bucky gasped between breaths, "We gotta- "Bucky took a blow to the back of the head. His thoughts went black. For how long, he didn't know. His ears were ringing as he tried to force his eyes open. He could feel the heat from the burning cabin on his back.
He heard Sarah screaming in the distance. Bucky looked ahead around knowing good and well that he was restrained with his arms behind his back. Men clad in dark suits had Sarah only 10 yards away. The inferno blazing behind them lit up the wilderness for miles. They had her arms twisted behind her back. Sarah scraped and clawed but was forced to her knees. Bucky lunged forward to stand but was forced back down to the ground with another blow to the head. He felt the heel of a shoe press down on his temple.
"Sergeant Barnes, I believe our little game of cat and mouse has finally come to an end," Kingpin muttered far above him. Bucky fought against his restraints to no avail. Kingpin pushed his foot down harder on Bucky's head, "I don't like them hitting you, Barnes. It makes Mrs. Rogers quite upset."
Kingpin removed his foot to step in front of Bucky. Bucky craned his neck to look up at the man towering over him. Kingpin was adjusting his cufflinks as he spoke, "I must say, I am disappointed in you. I expected better of the finest assassin in history." And with that, Kingpin turned on his heels to step in Sarah's direction. Bucky laid still on the ground, watching Kingpins movements closely. He couldn't tell how many men stood around them. Outnumbered was an understatement.
Kingpin had made his way over to where Sarah sat. Men kept her forced to the ground on her knees until Kingpin waved his hand and they released her. Kingpin tugged at the knees of his pants before squatting in front of her. Bucky listened closely to the exchange of words.
"I believe that you have seen better days, Mrs. Rogers," He said looking down at her. Sarah never raised her head, "Reed." She looked up the Kingpin slowly. Bucky saw that she had come alive despite the medication she had taken earlier. Kingpin leaned in slightly, "Pardon me?"
"Reed," Sarah repeated hoarsely. "It's Miss Reed…" A fire burned inside her eyes. A switch had flipped.
"Oh, I apologize," Kingpin whipped put a handkerchief from the inside of his jacket to wipe sweat from his brow. Bucky watched Sarah closely, expecting tears or for her to begin to curl up in pain. But she sat firm, looking up at the massive man sitting in front of her.
"Do you know where the Captain is…. Miss Reed?" Kingpin asked politely. Sarah slowly shook her head, denying any knowledge.
Kingpin shut his eyes momentarily in frustration. "Miss Reed," He muttered to her, "It is of great importance that we find him." Sarah stayed silent a long time before answering, "I don't…I don't know where he is…" She lowered her gaze once more.
Then the truth hit Bucky like a freight train. These men were never hunting for him. They didn't want control of the Winter Soldier. They wanted Sarah to give away the location of the Avengers. Bucky hung his head, shamed. The whole time he was running from these mobsters, he never considered they didn't want him. The bombing at the apartment was to separate Bucky from her. They would have picked her and James out of the crowd after he explosion if Bucky hadn't reached them in time. They only had the Red Book to separate him from her.
But they assumed that Steve had let Sarah in on his location. They never thought he would leave her in the dark on everything. While in the moment, Steve made a good choice by not telling her, but now she was in a very dangerous spot. Kingpin would never believe that she was clueless.
Kingpin returned to a standing position and adjusted his jacket, "Captain Rogers was smart enough to place his skilled friend with you." He gestured over to Bucky. "Surely you can recall something."
Bucky and Sarah's eyes met. The heat from the cabin fire was rising behind them and parts of the structure had begun to give away. Sarah was looking to Bucky for answers but he had none to get her. Kingpin had made their situation seem as if Steve had set it up for Bucky to guard Sarah. It now seemed that Steve sent Bucky to make sure she didn't spill information when that wasn't the case.
"Beijing…" Sarah nearly blurted out. She was fishing for a correct answer. "He's in Beijing…"
Without warning, Kingpin struck her down with the back of his fist. Sarah's hands flew to her face as she fell to her side. "I don't appreciate you lying to me, Miss Reed," Kingpin said with anger shaking in his voice.
And with that, Bucky had enough fury inside him to fuel his actions. Bucky ripped through his restraints, not caring how badly it hurt to do so. Men began to pile on top of him to restrain him once again but Bucky threw them off. He was in a blind rage, throwing his fists into anyone who held him back. A man attempted pressing the barrel of his rifle to Bucky's head to subdue him. Bucky griped the barrel quickly with his left hand, crushing it and seizing the gun from the mobster who held it.
Bucky's vision was red. His control was quickly slipping away but he let the Winter Soldier take the wheel. All he could think about was killing whoever came between Sarah and him. He grabbed the next man by the throat, not hesitating to crush his windpipe. The next man was sent flying into the rubble of the burning cabin. The next died of a broken neck. Bucky could feel their blood working its way into the grooves of his metal arm. But he didn't care.
He only stopped when every mobster lied dead on the ground.
Now, Kingpin had dragged Sarah away from the scene. He kept his arm around her neck while he pressed a pistol to her head with his free hand. Still in a rage, Bucky snatched a gun off the body of a nearby mobster. He began to make his way to Kingpin with his finger tight on the trigger. Bucky felt as if he were through a window of a vehicle he wasn't steering.
"Come a step closer and I won't hesitate to blow her head off, "Kingpin said in a raised voice. Bucky already had his pistol raised but stopped in his tracks. Kingpin cracked a small smile. He let out a chuckle, "Look at you…. You fear losing control but here you are freely giving it. "
Sarah was clawing at the arm Kingpin wrapped her in. Bucky only looked at Kingpin down the sights of the pistol. "I never needed that book…" Kingpin continued. He now had Bucky's full attention. "I never needed the code words to control you. I simply just had to push the right buttons and here you are…. Covered in gore…" Kingpin looked over Bucky with disgust written all over his face. The smell of blood had begun to mingle with the smell of smoke from the cabin.
Kingpin dropped Sarah only to step around her. It was then Bucky could see Kingpin had struck her with the hand that several rings were. It had cut the edge of her jawline open. Sarah's hands covered her face but she watched carefully.
Bucky was breathing hard, never lowering his aim.
What Bucky wasn't expecting was for Kingpin to fire a shot off and into him. Bucky felt the bullet pierce his lower abdomen and exit from his back. Bucky staggered where he stood, pressing his free hand over the wound. Blood was gushing from his hip as he sank to his knees but he never lowered his aim.
"You've put me in quite a predicament, Sargent Barnes," Kingpin sneered. Kingpin stepped closer to Bucky to press the tip of the pistol to his forehead. "It would have been an absolute pleasure to use you, but seeing that you're problematic, it won't be-"Kingpin was cut short when a bullet ate through the top of his skull. He was dead before hitting the ground.
Bucky let his weapon slip from his grip. He looked to Sarah who was still clutching the smoking weapon she had used to kill the crime boss. She dropped it, horrified with her actions.
There was a long moment of silence between the two of them. The fire continued to consumed what was left of the cabin. The smell of death filled both their nostrils. Both crushed their hands to their bloody wounds. It was only a build up for what Bucky would hear next. He saw it building in Sarah's expression. He began to claw his way through the blood-soaked grass to get to her, dragging his right leg. The moment before he reached her is when it happened.
Sarah let out a scream filled with agony and sadness. Her wails carried anger and pain miles from where they sat. Blood curdling, grief- filled cries escaped her. He had never heard such a sound in all his years and he would never be able to forget it. He was only able to drag himself close enough to reach out and put his left hand on the side of her neck. She leaned into his touch, not caring that his hands were blood soaked. Bucky wasn't able to hold himself up so he lied gently on the ground beside Sarah.
Sarah lowered herself down in the grass at his side. Her cries had subsided and silence fell again. Bucky took shallow breaths, knowing he would bleed out before help of any sort would reached them. Sarah's chances were better than his at staying alive.
He couldn't find and words to speak to comfort her. All he could do was cradle her face in his hand. Sarah's fingers were curled around his wrist, her eyes squeezed shut.
"D-don't you dare leave me…" She choked out. She was now looking at him, straight through him, with her blue eyes. He failed to muster any words. He only stroked her cheekbone with his thumb. He was glad it was him. He wouldn't have changed his fate for the world. He felt his eyes drifting shut and he feared he'd never open them again.
But over Sarah's shoulder, he could make out blue lights. Bucky couldn't keep his eyes from slipping shut but he could smile knowing help was so close. Once he closed his eyes, he fell into a deep darkness.