Steve woke up with a groan. His mind had difficulty processing what had happened just hours prior, but it slowly came back to him.
Bucky and Steve ducked into an alley to avoid being seen. There were a few Hydra operatives wandering the streets, guns safely in their holsters. But they could easily take them out and use them at any moment.
"That was close," Steve muttered, peering around the corner.
Bucky didn't respond, instead, he heard the click of a gun behind him and spun around to already see his friend unconscious on the ground. He seemed relatively unharmed, much to Steve's relief.
Though, a Hydra agent had a gun aimed straight at his head, and before he could do anything, someone struck him in the back of his head and the only thing he saw was darkness.
As the memories came back to him, Steve opened his eyes the rest of the way and looked around. He seemed to be in an abandoned warehouse. His body ached, and he found himself chained to the wall. Glancing down at his ankles and wrists, he found that the chains dug in painfully, which would likely leave quite a mark.
Bucky was opposite of him, across the room. He also found himself in a similar predicament as Steve, chained up tightly. The only difference was that his metal arm was restrained behind him and much more heavily than his normal, rendering it immobile for the moment.
"Bucky?" Steve asked, looking up as both friends made eye-contact. "Are you okay?"
Bucky nodded. "What about you?"
"Sore, but fine.." Steve replied, struggling only slightly against the restraints. Even with the super-soldier serum, they wouldn't be able to free themselves easily. If they tried, they'd likely end up injuring themselves, therefore worsening the situation they had gotten into.
The door that led into their room opened and a man dressed in what looked like a lab-coat entered. He was quite tall, about Steve's size. With him were multiple tools, some of which included a variety of knives and syringes.
"Steve Rogers and James Barnes.." the man said with a smile. "How lovely to finally be meeting both of you."
"What the hell do you want?" Bucky growled, eyes narrowing suspiciously at him.
"What a rude introduction. I will answer that question in due time," He stepped over toward Steve, seeming to study him for a few moments. "In case you don't know, which I doubt you do, my name is Doctor Smith."
Steve gave a silent laugh. "Haven't heard of you before, sorry."
Smith's eyes narrowed. "I believe you'll need to learn some manners while you're here. And don't be expecting to be freed anytime soon," He stepped over toward Bucky and pulled out one of the many syringes he was in possession of. It was filled with a clear substance that neither Bucky or Steve knew of.
"What is that?" Steve asked, fighting the rising panic in his voice.
Smith turned and glanced his way. "You shall see. I cannot simply reveal everything to you in one moment. That would cause some issues, which we cannot have."
Bucky struggled against his restraints, shrinking backward against the wall. Smith, however, still managed to push the liquid into the man's arms, before refilling it with a different substance and walking toward Steve.
Almost instantly, Bucky felt a sense of both dizziness and weakness take over. He slumped over, nearly succumbing to unconsciousness for a moment, but fought it off. Another side-effect was the difficulty to speak, as it came out in only a small murmur.
"Now you, my friend, will need something quite different. Perhaps a bit stronger," Smith said with a small smile. Steve, surprisingly, didn't resist, and just sat where he was as the contents of the syringe was emptied into his arm.
"Try me.." He snarled, staring up at Smith, who only chuckled. "You do not yet know your place, but you soon shall. I shall return," He walked out of the room, the door clicking softly behind him.
Steve didn't yet have any effects, and looked toward Bucky's slumped form.
"Bucky? Bucky, are you okay?"
His friend looked up at him. Strands of hair hung in his face as he spoke something inaudibly.
"Damn it.." Steve swore under his breath. "I'm so sorry.."
A few minutes passed, which felt like hours to Steve. It took until the 10 minute mark until he began to feel the full, and unexpectedly painful, effects of the shot.
His eyes shot open. His body tensed against the restraints, a pained groan escaping from him. It quickly escalated into a yell.
He threw his head back, chest rising and falling in heaving breaths. One of his hands was beginning to curl into a fist, but was unable due to the restraints limiting the lack of motion.
Bucky's head jolted up at his friend's distressed yells. It took a few moments to get his voice up as the effects slowly started to fade. "Steve...Steve!"
Steve was unresponsive, body tensing up painfully as his arms strained against the chains holding them down. The yells got louder; his left hand broke free of the chain and too-easily ripped off the other one. He quickly started to frantically start at the ones chaining his feet when the door came open and more men dressed in white lab-coats came inside.
Steve's head bolted up and his fist instantly connected with two of them, sending them flying. His one free leg kicked out and tripped another, and he noticed Doctor Smith in the group.
"Stop!" Bucky yelled. "He's in pain, can't you see that? What the hell are you doing?!"
He was ignored and could only watch painfully as his friend screamed out in escalating agony, while at the same time, injuring more men and likely himself as he ripped the last chain from his legs and stood up.
"Restrain him!" Smith shouted, grabbing a syringe just as Steve lunged at them.
Multiple men struck the wall and were rendered unconscious until it was only Steve, whose agonizing yells had finally subsided, and Smith, who stood calmly still. Steve, however, wore an expression of pure unrecognization. Smith only smiled at this detail.
"Who are you?" Steve's voice was tainted with a tiny spark of fear.
Bucky's breath caught in his throat. They had just met him, how did Steve not remember the Doctor's name? Oh god- Oh god no..
"My name is Doctor Smith. And it is quite alright, I will not hurt you."
Bucky watched, in increasing terror, as Steve's face seemed to turn to uncertainty and a tiny bit of hope, as if this man truly wouldn't harm him. "Steve! Steve, don't!"
Both men turned and looked at him. Steve's expression once again exposed his confusion of the situation and the unfamiliar surrounding and people around him. "W-What..? Who-"
Bucky felt like he was punched in the face. His eyes flew open and his expression could only turn to complete fear upon the realization that Steve didn't remember him.
"He is your enemy. He attempted to kill you, but I managed to subdue and tie him here and bring you as well after I found you unconscious," Smith lied. "He is skilled in manipulation."
Steve's expression changed as he slowly turned to stare toward Bucky.
"N-No, Steve- That's not- That isn't true...he's lying-" Bucky stuttered, feeling tears well up in his own eyes.
"As I said, quite skilled in manipulating. You cannot trust him. I was hoping you would like to do the honors of getting your revenge on him."
Steve's expression turned stone-hard as he turned the rest of the way so that he completely faced the chained up man on the floor.
He strode over, and noticed the escalating fear form on the man's features.
Bucky swallowed. "N-No..Steve! Steve, please! It's Bucky. I'm your friend!"
"Liar. I don't even know you," Steve growled. Bucky soon felt a foot collide with his side, causing more pain than he was actually expecting. He winced as he was yanked forward, the chains causing extreme strain on his limbs as he let out an agonized scream.
A fist collided with his face, then another. He coughed, taking in heaving breaths as his friend pummeled him over and over.
"Steve.." He groaned once the pain left his body an aching and weak mess. A quick snippet of a memory gave him an idea, which he prayed would work. "'m with you til the end of the.." He didn't finish, as unconsciousness threatened to pull him away. It caused him to get caught in a sudden, severe, dizziness spell.
But Steve froze, fist raised for another blow, and this scene became terribly familiar.
"Bucky..?" Steve asked softly, as if unable to believe the bruised and beaten man below him was his friend.
Bucky smiled, though, despite everything. "Steve.."
"I-Oh god...I'm sorry-" He knelt down and just managed to rip the restraints off of his friend's flesh arm, fingers brushing against his arm, before there was a short stinging sensation in his back, and unconsciousness suddenly yanked him away and he fell backward.
"Steve!"
PART 2 COMING SOON
