Tony walked away, having just got finished talking with Steve about the accords, which he still refused to sign.
He had noticed the irritation in Tony's tone, but focused his attention back on the screen where Bucky was strapped in tightly, like some sort of psychopathic criminal. But he wasn't. The Winter Soldier wasn't Bucky.
"Do you know where you are, James?" the man interrogating his friend, supposedly Broussard, asked. Though, something seemed off to Steve. He noticed that Sharon seemed a bit suspicious as well as Sam and Natasha.
"My name is Bucky.." Bucky spoke, his voice a bit tense. Steve could tell that his friend was becoming increasingly agitated. He only wished he was there with him.
"You've seen a lot, haven't you Bucky?" the man asked. Bucky only stared back in response. "I don't wanna talk about it.."
Steve's heart clenched. He could tell that Bucky just didn't want to do this anymore. And if it was a perfect world, he would have instantly stood up and protested against interrogating him, knowing that it was becoming increasingly bothersome to his friend.
The next piece of audio was cut off so that he was unable to hear what was said. Steve could only stare, worriedly, as Bucky sat perfectly still in the chair.
And a few minutes later, the room went dark. As well as the whole facility.
"Get me an eye on Barnes!" someone shouted. Steve couldn't tell, because he instantly knew something was wrong.
Sharon turned to him, giving him the directions to Bucky's location. He instantly sped off down the hall, eyes wide in worry of what the man was going to do to him. That clearly wasn't Broussard, and he felt like an idiot for having not spoke up about his concerns sooner.
As they neared the room Bucky was located in, he could already hear the yells of rage coming from his friend, along with the metal fist likely coming into contact with the secure door, which wouldn't be secure for much longer.
He was triggering him.
"No!" Steve slammed the door open and saw the man lying on the ground, clearly faking.
"Help me.." the man muttered.
Steve ran over, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him against the wall. "What do you want?" He snarled.
The man grinned. "To see an empire fall."
Steve spun around and saw Sam fly across the room. Bucky stormed up toward Steve next, swinging violent punches and kicking him into another room. He managed to block most of his friend's attacks, some barely skimming the edge of his face.
He grunted as he was slammed up against the elevator, his fist grabbing Bucky's metal as he was pushed against the elevator doors.
Then, there was a gunshot; and Bucky's metal arm twitched, loosening its grip on Steve.
Another gunshot, followed by 2 others. His friend stared down at the blood beginning to flow down his chest. He then looked up wearily at Steve. His expression wasn't full of rage or violence anymore. Instead, it was replaced by pain and fear.
"BUCKY!" Steve caught him as he fell forward, his head nearly smacking into the elevator door behind him.
Ross and Tony stood behind them. Ross lowered the gun back into its holster.
Tony's eyes had widened. "Someone get a medic!" He yelled, quite loudly, into the hall. Ross only stood there, not even a twinge of sympathy on his face.
Steve felt complete and utter hatred for the man. He wanted to kill him himself, but not when Bucky was seriously, if not fatally, wounded and probably dying in his arms.
"Steve-" Bucky gasped, clutching at his friend's shirt with bloodied hands, both flesh and metal. Steve instantly pulled his friend into his lap, feeling a gentle squeeze in return as he gripped Bucky's hand. Then, the rage got to him, and he stared up at Ross.
Tony had never seen Cap this angry. It was actually terrifying.
"You idiot. HOW COULD YOU?!" He yelled. Ross barely flinched, which only fueled his rage. "We could have handled him!"
Even Bucky was surprised at his friend's tone. He ducked his head into Steve's chest, trying to block out his angered cries.
"Clearly, you couldn't," Ross simply stated. "He would have pushed you right down that elevator and probably would have killed a bunch of my men."
Steve growled. "Your men?! Bucky is just as much human as you. Except maybe more so. Because you don't seem to have any god damn feelings for anyone else but yourself!"
Bucky clearly heard that, squeezing his friend's hand tighter as he let out another pained gasp. "Steve-"
For once, Steve had ignored him. "You shot him! Not once, not twice, not even 3 times. BUT FOUR. It. Wasn't. His. Fault. That man TRIGGERED HIM. On purpose! Bucky doesn't have any control over that. He went through more hell than you could imagine. And you're treating him like he did it on purpose!" He snarled. "Just so you know, he didn't bomb Vienna. He didn't kill T'Challa's father. Someone framed him, and you are all just going with what was said and shown and believing it."
Everyone in the room was staring at him. Sam and Natasha, and even Tony, had sympathy shown in their expressions. Ross, however, the bastard,still didn't seem to get it.
Bucky gave a gentle tug on Steve's arm, finally gaining his attention.
The super-soldier looked down at his wounded friend, who was staring up at him, clearly concerned after his sudden outrage.
"I'm fine.." Steve mumbled.
Bucky coughed, swallowed hard, and shook his head. "N-No..Steve. You're not-" He turned himself over, coughing blood onto the floor.
"Where's the damn medics?" Tony growled, staring at Ross, who didn't respond.
Steve quickly helped Bucky sit up. Instantly, the older man leaned against him, head resting on his shoulder. The sudden motion had triggered a small groan, along with another bloodied cough.
"Bucky..Bucky- Oh god.." Steve muttered. His large hand covered about 3 of bullet wounds, but the fourth was too far. He kept one hand securely around his friend while the other put pressure on the wounds.
Bucky groaned painfully. He lifted his flesh hand up and gently rested it on Steve's.
Ross finally turned to them. "I want him back in a cell after he's been treated."
Steve's head shot up. "What?! You can NOT put him back in there. Not on my watch. I don't care what the hell you say, he's not being locked up like a caged animal."
Ross stared at him. "You're not the one in charge, Rogers."
"You know, I agree with Capsicle over here," Tony jabbed a thumb in that direction. "Barnes hasn't been doing anything aggressive or life-threatening since he's got shot, all thanks to you. It probably snapped 'em out of whatever trance he was in."
Steve gave a small smile, listening to Bucky's labored breaths next to him.
Ross however, just frowned. "No way a murderer is being released on my watch. He's being locked up and that's final."
Steve snarled and went to get up, but Bucky's quiet, but desperate pleas reached his ears, and he restrained himself. Though, he did resolve to yelling.
"He is not a murderer! HYDRA experimented on him, brainwashed him, tortured him, and turned him into a mindless assassin. And as soon as he started to remember, they wiped him. Over and over again."
Bucky groaned and tugged on Steve's arm again. "Steve-" he gasped. His breath stuttered from his shaking lips. "I don't...'m feeling-I can't-" He drew in a sharp breath, made eye-contact with Steve, tightening his grip on Steve's hand, which was putting pressure on his wounds, and fell unconscious.
"That's it," Tony growled. "Come on, Cap."
Steve stared down at Bucky, attempted to shake him back to conscious for a moment, but then understanding the severity of the situation, lifted his friend into his arms and ran after Tony, who was directing them to the medical wing.
A few hours passed. It was about 10 PM now. Steve was sitting by Bucky's side, head rested on the side of the hospital bed.
The sudden rapid beating of the heart monitor snapped him out of his thoughts and he raised his head. "Steve?" Bucky muttered in confusion, his breathing rate increasing as panic crept up on him.
"Hey- Hey, Buck.." He quickly grabbed his friend's hand. "It's okay, I'm here.."
Bucky finally turned to look at him. Steve noticed the tears beginning to form in his friend's eyes as they stared at each other.
"Steve.." Bucky said again, this time as a sob as he sat up and wrapped his arms around his best friend, burying his head into the crook of his neck. "I remember.." he whispered. "I remember.."
Steve could only smile as he rubbed his friend's back. "I'm glad.."
"God, I missed you so much…" Bucky muttered, his hands clenching painfully at Steve's back.
Steve sighed. "Me too, Buck.."
Me too..
