I'M ALIVE, Y'ALL!

THe past couple months have been CRAZY! I took a pause from Bleeding in Slow Motion. :D

But I'm back and the finale is still creeping up :)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer:

I do not own the Avengers movies, the Marvel franchise, or any of the characters. That all belongs to Marvel Studios. Everything to Marvel Studios. Any added dialogue, plots, or characters are mine, but nothing else. I don't own it.

Chapter Fifty-Four - Only Further Away

"All right, Barnes, hold still."

I groan as his metal fingers press a chunk of gauze into my side. "That's a bit difficult when you're– ,"

Poke.

I crush my tongue between my jaws at the pain. Sweat gleams on my brow and the following question comes in shallow bursts of air. "Do you even know how to clean a wound?"

"Bruce has shown me. Shut up and let me work."

"I've got an idea." I shift my position.

"Hey– sit still!"

"Try the laser thing at the door. Maybe that will get us out."

"I tried that. I tried everything on my suit. We just need to wait until the device melts the vibranium."

I grit my teeth. My body floods with heat despite the cold as a memory pops up.

"I don't think we can escape this, Steve."

"We will. We have to. I'll find some way to– ."

"Steve!" I take a breath. "Winter's almost here, Steve. And Rumlow's ready to greet the cold."

I had escaped. Steve and Natasha hadn't.

-Torture Under Sedation-

Extraction Target: Romanoff.

I shiver. "Hey, Tony."

"Eh?" Stark prods at my gunshot wound with a roll of gauze between his teeth.

"What do you think HYDRA's plan is?"

Tony finishes with my bandages and withdraws. "I dunno. They're being pretty weird."

"Lars knew we were here from the moment we stepped off that Quinjet and then told Rumlow. You'd think he would jump at the chance to take me and turn me."

"But he hasn't."

"Right. And Lars watched us escape. He knew we came to save Steve and Natasha. No one's paying us any mind. We're criminals in HYDRA, but it's like…they want us here."

"I'm gettin' your drift, too." Tony taps his chin. "I'm gonna make contact with HQ. Maybe they have some answers."

A couple beeps fill the silence and a hologram of Wanda blinks into existence. "It's nice to see you alive, Stark. Have you found them yet?"

"Still stuck in the storage room."

The witch frowns. "Any luck with that?"

"Nope."

Vision materializes beside Wanda. "Director Fury would like to know if we should approach for aid."

Tony shakes his head. "No, not yet. I'll contact him when we find them."

"Director Fury is working at the new Triskelion, so he may not be able to answer your calls at the present moment."

While the question-and-answer interview goes on, I move into a more comfortable position against the wall and suppress my pain with long, controlled breaths.

"Mr. Stark, I believe there's something you and Mr. Barnes should be aware of."

I glance up at Vision's voice. "What?"

"That winged fellow, Vulture, whom you and Mr. Parker defeated a mere few weeks ago, has escaped from the Salem jail."

Tony pales.

"We assume he'll make his way to your location, so I hope you will proceed in your mission with caution. I wish you well."

Tony terminates the call and trudges to the opposite wall. "Barnes, we gotta get out of here."

I raise my eyebrows. "Uh, yeah. I agree. But how?"

"I don't know!"

"Wow, real helpful, Tony. You were the one who was telling me to relax earlier."

Tony grinds his teeth. "I get it!"

I run my fingers over the frost, every breath exiting as puffs of ice in the room's chill. "Do we really have no other option? We have to just…wait for the door to collapse?"

Tony flicks a metal finger at the door. "Yeah." The single word carries the weight of one thousand uncertainties. "What's our timeline? The risks?"

"Tony, they're gonna…torture Natasha. Probably Steve too. We don't have much time."

Stark's face flushes with the heat of a volcano. The clench in his jaw tightens until every feature is visibly trembling. "You got any bright ideas, soldier?"

I struggle to rise. "Tony– ."

"Shut up." His eyes snap toward me. "This is your fault. You got us into this." The light of his suit flashes closer.

I grapple with the wall behind me and scramble to my feet as he approaches like a predator. "Hey, don't– !"

"I didn't ask, Barnes. I didn't ask to be saved! I didn't ask to lose my parents in one night! And I didn't ask have my life torn apart because of you!"

I blink rapidly at him, swallowing hard. "Tony, calm down."

"Really?" His gauntleted hand smashes into the wall inches from my head. "It's because of you that Rogers and Romanoff are chained in this base. It's because of you that they're getting tortured in here. It's because of you that so many parents buried their children, Barnes!"

Unexpected tears spring to my eyes.

Tony's helmet closes over his head and his ragged breathing becomes robotic.

My nerves burn with the heat coming from my metal arm as I wriggle away from him.

He continues to watch me, his suit whirring with movement, as I cross to the opposite wall. "I'll never be your friend. Don't try to plant seeds where the sun doesn't rise, Soldat."

The tears are cold on my cheeks. The pain from his words is familiar, but it doesn't change how much it hurts. I'm panting from the strain in my abdomen as well as his Russian word. I shake my head. "What's it gonna take, Tony? What in all of this world is it going to take to have you see me as more than the Winter Soldier? As more than just…Steve's friend?"

"The only reason I'm keeping you alive is because you're Steve's friend."

I wince and turn away. "That's amazing. Truly…amazing, Tony." I crumple against the wall as the pain my from my gunshot wound overwhelms me. "You've made as many mistakes in forty years as I have in one hundred years. Yet I'm known for mine and yours are conveniently forgotten? It's amazing, really." I sink to the ground, grimacing. "I had a life. Before HYDRA took me. I know, it's shocking. It's shocking that a bad guy like me wasn't always a bad guy."

Tony fidgets and cranks his helmet back. "Barnes– ."

"I had a crush. A cool art class. A friend group. A future. Someplace I wanted to be in life. I had dreams too. I wanted a wife someday. A big house, kids, grandkids…"

Tony takes a step toward me. "Hey, I'm– ."

I whip a hand up to stop him. "So don't you dare tell me that I wasn't anything before HYDRA. I may not remember much, but I remember living."

Tony doesn't speak to me for the remainder of the day.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Not too long, I know, but a good start back into this book after a hiatus.

Read and review!