CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE – Closure/Rebirth
Securing my weapons, a healthy dose of fear gave me the courage to keep moving – to see this mission through until whatever end was uncovered inside the Siberian bunker.
I couldn't however stop the wariness creeping in, foretelling of a danger not yet seen. Whatever ill feeling, the presence of two old friends shone a light on the darkness. Steve and Bucky conversed as if no time parted them, genuine smiles lifting my spirits as it obviously did theirs.
Assault rifle in hand, I came up behind the men, surprised by what I heard.
"… you blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a red-head."
Bucky laughed. "What was her name again?"
"Dolores, you called her Dot."
"She's gotta be a hundred years old right now."
Steve placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder, the two of them smiling fondly at the other. "So are we, pal."
"A red-head named Dot?"
They looked back at me, smiles fading as I loaded a clip and chambered a round.
"She must have been a sight to catch your attention, Bucky." I nudged him aside as I passed.
"No… not really." He spluttered through his embarrassment, looking to Steve who avoided making any eye contact.
"Oh, and don't go lumping me into your old man category either, I'll have you know I'm only ninety-six." I spun on my heels, marching down the ramp ahead of them.
Surveying the snow shrouded area, only the Quinjet and Snowcat were proof of life in the deserted wasteland – the perfect location for a hidden HYDRA base. In the alcove of a large onyx rockface, steel doors stood open, beckoning us forward.
"I really do hate secret bases." I muttered.
"He can't have been here more than a few hours."
Bucky nodded. "Long enough to wake them up."
Assault rifles raised, me and Bucky followed Steve inside, entering a caged elevator to descend into the bowels of the unknown. A sense of trepidation hung over our heads. A comfortable silence preceding an unspecified fight. Three super soldiers against five, who were supposedly superior in every way possible? I didn't like our odds.
We stepped out of the elevator, moving shoulder-to-shoulder, stalking each other's exact footsteps along the corridor. Just like back in the day of the Howling Commandos we traveled as a unit under Steve's command.
A noise from behind broke our trance. Assault rifles raised, the large steel blast doors pried open by the force of Iron Man. He stepped forward, faceplate opening to reveal Tony's face. A sigh of relief relaxed my tense posture.
"You seem a little defense."
"It's been a long day." Steve sighed.
"At ease, soldier. I'm not currently after you."
"Then why are you here, Tony?" I asked.
"Maybe Cap's story isn't so crazy. Maybe Ross has no idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise I have to arrest myself."
"That sounds like a lot of paperwork." The tension in Steve's shoulders relaxed. "It's good to see you, Tony."
"Me too, Cap." Tony glanced over at me and Bucky. "Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop it."
I placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder, and he lowered his assault rifle.
"I got heat signatures." Tony's faceplate closed as we continued along the corridor towards an obscured recess revealing itself as an opening to a large chamber.
"How many?" Steve questioned.
"Uh, one."
"That can't be right." I murmured as the musky chamber erupted with light exposing near thirty-year-old equipment. Large stasis chambers glowed sinisterly in the open space, surrounding what I recognized as the machine HYDRA used for reprogramming soldiers.
I closed my eyes to the memories, shuddering volts halting my steps as I relived the horrific moment of my brain scrambling countless times. Even now after so many years I could feel the leather straps binding me to the chair, preventing an escape from becoming a weapon.
A shaky breath beside me made my eyes open, glancing over at Bucky who appeared to be reliving his own horrors.
"Is this where…" I trailed off as he slowly nodded.
"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep," a foreign voice spoke through a PA system.
I walked over to the nearest chamber, a clear bullet hole through the glass and head of the man seated inside.
"Did you really think I wanted more of you? I'm grateful to them, though they brought you here."
Steve's shield flew towards the chamber hiding the man who'd been pulling our strings from afar. The shield ricocheted without effect.
"Please, Captain," he said. "The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."
I glanced over at Tony as he studied the chambers blueprint, searching for a design flaw to expose. "I'm betting I could beat that."
"Oh, I'm sure you could Mr. Stark, given time. But then you'll never know why you came."
"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve asked walking right up to the chamber.
"I thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you, I followed you. But now that you are standing here, I just noticed there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw."
"You're Sokovian. Is that what this is about?"
The man shook his head, no hint of anger or arrogance in his tone. "Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it up. No, I'm here because I made a promise."
"You lost someone."
"I've lost everyone. And so, will you." He directed our attention to a video terminal set up. "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one that crumbles from within? That's dead forever."
We gathered around the monitor, unsure what we'd bear witness too when a grainy black and white surveillance video began playing.
"I know that road," Tony frowned at the screen and then looked wildly around. "What is this?"
"Help my wife, please help."
A quiver of acknowledgement ran down my spine. "Dear God." I whispered.
Howard Stark's voice streaked in various pitches of pain and shock erupted loudly. I instinctively looked at Bucky standing beside me, his head down as he shamefully listened to the recording. Having known the bitter truth for some time, it wasn't any easier to hear the moment play out, to hear my friends' last dying words.
"Sergeant Barnes?"
My body unintentionally shuddered as Maria screamed Howard's name. I could only assume the Winter Soldier was dealing with my old friend in his infamous manner.
Blinking back tears, I turned to Tony, his gaze transfixed on the screen. "Tony don't watch it! Turn it off!"
Steve watched helplessly, until the final gunshot rang out. Tony turned towards me and Bucky, the accusations wordlessly radiating off him. I would've given anything in the world not to have him suffer through this truth. Steve grabbed his arm, holding Tony back from advancing on us.
"Did you know, Gin? Did you know your boyfriend murdered your best friends?"
The brutal rage forming within his dark brown eyes, shattered pieces of me. I couldn't form the words of reply straightaway, mostly because of the immense guilt in holding the secret for so long. After everything Tony and I had been through, I was about to destroy his world and our relationship entirely with a single word.
"Yes," I whispered.
"You…" he trailed off turning on Steve. "Did you know too?"
"I didn't know it was him–"
"Don't bullshit me, Rogers, did you know it was him?"
Steve hesitated and reluctantly nodded. "Yes."
I should've realized the reaction was coming, yet the beginning of the fight caught me off guard. Bucky shoved me out of the way, raising his rifle as Tony attacked.
The assault rifle slipped from my grasp as I regained my footing. The weapon was useless to me. I'd never be able to draw it on Tony, even if he shot me first.
An explosion sent me scrambling for covering, losing sight of everyone as metal seemingly began falling from above.
"GET OUTTA HERE!" Steve shouted.
Weaving around twisted metal and broken boulders of concrete, I reached for Bucky's arm, dragging him along behind me. We skidded into a tower, Bucky slamming a hand against a large button to begin opening the rooftop and reveal his plan of escape.
"Go!" I pushed him forward, trailing behind as he jumped and climbed his way towards the top of the tower. My body moved automatically, the muscles burning from the strenuous exercise, but the adrenaline blocked the pain enough for me to maneuver.
Bucky reached the top first, glancing back down at me. "Give me your hand!"
A blast rippled overhead as I reached for him, sending Bucky scrambling as the roof dismantled above us, blocking our escape. My lungs pushed harder to function, breathing through the dust and smoke, choking me from the inside out.
I bit back tears as Tony flew up, raising a hand and exposing a repulsor light. "Don't!" The weapon wouldn't kill but would do some damage.
Desperation drove me to push Bucky aside, seconds before the bolt of light blasted into my body. Every muscle screamed in violent spasms. My boots slid against the metal, my view of the tower shifting as I stumbled, tumbling over the edge. Bucky threw himself forward reaching for me, our fingers finding nothing but air as I knocked against the edge of another level before the ground rose up to meet me.
A random exposed piece of rebar skewered me through the side as I landed with a grunt. The final knock to my body broke my fractured ribs, distracting me from the iron rail protruding from my stomach. I wasn't dead. I almost felt relieved until my body shuddered, the throb beginning as a pinprick immediately swelled into a severe burn paralyzing me. My hands fumbled until I regained control of my thoughts, sliding them towards the rail penetrating through the material layers of the bodysuit and protective gear, slicing through my flesh like a knife through butter. My lashes fluttered, a strangled cry releasing from the back of my throat as clutching the rail tightly, I pulled with all my fading strength the metal out.
Another thud rattled beneath me, followed by a blur of blue and red whizzing pass where I laid. A breath caught in my throat when Bucky's face appeared above me, the rail slipping from my fingers to clatter beside me.
"Gin!"
He clumsily dropped to his knees beside me, fighting back his own soreness. For a spilt second the soldier's rugged features appeared panicked, but then in a blink of the eye he roughly shoved my hand aside. He didn't take issue with ripping a pocket off his cargo pants and burrowing the material into the hole. I choked on a sob, the stinging discomfort shooting through me. Somehow, I knew this was an injury I couldn't come back from.
"Don't blame Tony… he's in pain." I reached for Bucky's hand, feeling the dampness of my blood against his flesh. "Don't hurt him, any more than we have," I murmured sadly.
"You'll be fine, I just gotta stop the bleeding."
"I'm broken. You need to help Steve–"
"I'm not leaving you, Gin!"
My gaze struggled to stay in focus, the coppery tang of blood filling my mouth. Bucky called desperately to Steve; his torment obvious as his voice cracked. He slapped my cheek, jolting me into keeping alert for a little while longer.
"C'mon, sweetheart. Open those pretty brown eyes for me."
"Bucky," I whispered using what strength I could muster to raise my free hand to his face, fingers brushing against his dark stubble caked in blood, dirt and sweat.
"Hold still, we'll get you patched up."
"No time… you have to help Steve and get away," I forced myself to smile, not wanting his last image of me to be a blubbering mess. "I'll be okay."
Bucky swallowed hard, keeping our clasped hands against my wound. "We've got a life to live, remember?"
Bucky shifted his face against my hand, his lips brushing against the skin before it dropped from his face leaving a trail of blood. My eyelids fluttered with the small exhale of air parting my lips and then I felt nothing. Bucky's face faded into darkness.
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