Warning: Attempted assault in this chapter. Nothing graphic.

Chapter 25: Surge Pt. 2

October 25, 1943

Bucky was on his feet as soon as the door opened, gripping the bars and trying to see if there was someone on the cart, or if it was just food. Two bodies laid limply on the surface, one pale, slender arm hanging over the end and bouncing as the wheels rolled over the uneven surface. The soldiers didn't take care to make the ride smooth, and when they unlocked the cage they didn't respect the unconscious people, tossing them in like sacks of potatoes. He cried out as Lu's head bounced against the floor before her body twisted with momentum, leaving her in an uncomfortable looking position. Mullens didn't fare any better, his landing even rougher than Lu's and his ending posture even more contorted. He was going to be sore when he woke up.

Bucky reached through the bars until they were pinching his shoulders, his hand flailing as he tried to grab Lu's pant leg. He couldn't protect her from the men in the uniforms, but he could at least put her in a normal position for when she regained consciousness. He finally grasped the cloth of her pants and, once he was sure of his hold, he leaned back to pull her over.

"Jesus you're dense, Doc." he muttered, grunting with the effort as he pulled the dead weight of her. He reached through the bars again, this time grabbing her pocket. He used his legs at the base of the bars to pull this time, which only served to send him flopping onto his back when the material tore.

"Oh, fuck a duck." he groaned as the wind was knocked out of him. The malnourishment and dehydration were certainly catching up to him, but he wasn't about to let that stop him. He pushed himself back up; her legs were properly positioned now, but her torso was still turned.

"Sorry about this." he continued the one sided conversation, sliding his fingers just past her waistband so he had something more stable than a pocket to hold onto. This time he was actually successful in getting her closer to the bars, close enough that he could reach the top of her.

"Ope, sorry about that." he muttered as his hand accidentally grazed her chest. The back of his neck burned with chagrin, even if Lu was unconscious and no one around noticed the slip up. He finally got her settled on her back in somewhat of a good position, hoping that would help when she woke up. "Actually, glad you were knocked out for that. Even if it wasn't on purpose you'd probably slap the back of my head like Ma did when I was acting up." he said, letting out a huff as he settled against the bars. He shouldn't be as tired as he was from the little exertion, but they'd been in captivity for a fat minute now and it wasn't doing his strength any favors. He sat there for a long time, ignoring the numbness in his ass and the pressure in his back. If anything, it helped him stay awake while he waited, though the arrival of all the other prisoners taking their turn on the carts did that too.

He didn't know if it was minutes or hours later when Lu and Mullens both stirred, their breaths hitching as consciousness and then pain came to them. Bucky moved as quickly as he could, reaching between the bars to take her hand and letting out a breath of relief as she squeezed his fingers back. From the back of the cage Mullens let out a low moan that grew louder, his chest heaving and shaking as he tried to tolerate the agony. Lu wasn't much better, her face turning red as she struggled. Her eyes flew open, searching wildly before settling on Bucky. She squeezed his hand tighter; it hurt, but he wasn't going to ask her to stop.

"Hey, hey you're okay." he said, as soothing as he could. His other hand shook as he reached through, trying to smooth her hair in a comforting gesture. It's what his mom always did when his sister didn't feel well.

"It hurts." she gasped, leaning into his touch. Tears actually leaked out of her eyes, and he had a feeling that it wasn't due to how much she was hurting. It was the pain, and the imprisonment, and the torture, and the fact that there currently wasn't a viable option for escape. "Fuck, Barnes, it really hurts."

"I know. I know. I'm sorry." he said, his throat thick and his chest aching. It killed him, seeing her like this and knowing that not only could he not help her, he couldn't protect her from it happening again. She gripped his hand so tightly he actually thought his bones might bruise, but he didn't move. She shook her head, grimacing with the movement.

"No, no it's different this time." she said, pausing to let out a grunt of pain. Behind her, Mullens had curled himself into a ball, alternating between gagging and sobbing as his body tried to figure out how to handle the pain. The hazmats with the cart returned, bringing the last of the bodies and tossing them back into their cages. Bucky noticed that not all the cages had occupants by the end of it. "They gave us something different."

"Sh, save your strength. Rest up. You're gonna be okay." he said. He'd seen her saw off legs and dig shrapnel and bullets out of muscles. He'd heard how she had to make decisions on whether or not it was worth it to try treatment, or to give a soldier something to make him comfortable until he passed. He'd seen her go days with barely any rest, her body exhausted as she kept working to heal. But now he knew that this was her lowest point. Her life was perched at the tip of a knife - she could fight to stay alive, or she could succumb to the darkness. He wouldn't let her choose the second.

"It's fucked up. It's so fucked up." she said, still trying to catch her breath. Her language was surprising, but not unwarranted. She started coughing and retched, but her empty stomach had nothing to give up.

"I know." he said. He'd been wrong when he said he knew it hurt, but this time he knew he was right. He couldn't get her words out of his head, they gave us something new. The first injection had been bad enough, but clearly the second one was worse. In the back of his mind he realized that he would probably be in the second wave for it, that more than likely the hazmats would come for him the next time they turned the lights on. He continued stroking her hair, ignoring how his hand was still shaking as he did so. Dehydration, he told himself. Not fear.

He held her hand until the pain wore her out, Mullens falling unconscious just a few minutes after her despite the screams of the other men as they awoke. Lu's skin was pale but what he could touch felt feverish, and even if he knew that he should also sleep so he'd be rested when she woke again, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. He tried to hum the song that the lady who lived above him in Brooklyn used to sing when her baby was upset; he didn't know the words in Hebrew or English, but he knew the tune, and hoped that would be enough. The screams were louder now, accompanied by the sounds of crying and vomiting, but luckily Lu slept on. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, the lights turned off.

At first, the plunge into darkness turned everyone feral. There were sounds of people hitting the bars, screaming to be let out and promising varying degrees of evisceration to the Nazis holding them. This made the ones that had just returned from the chairs even more agitated, their senses overloaded with the false bravado spouting from the ones who hadn't had their turn yet. Bucky could see past the show of courage for what it really was - unimaginable fear that if they managed to survive the injections, they would have to deal with the suffering. He felt that fear himself, especially seeing the ramifications of the injection so up close, but he didn't let himself succumb to it. They hadn't come for him yet, and until then, he had to watch out for his girl.

He didn't know how long the riot lasted before fatigue overwhelmed them like a wave, sending them all crashing to the floors of their cages one by one. It was never silent in the dungeon, but this was as quiet as it was going to get. Bucky continued to hold Lu's warm, limp hand in his, figuring that would be the best alert when she woke up. He didn't mean to doze - after all, his position against the bars was anything but comfortable - and he didn't even realize that he was teetering on the edge of sleep until a spasm brought him back to consciousness.

"Hey, hey you're okay." he said immediately, and he couldn't help but realize the tone he used was the same he usually did when he fell asleep in church. I'm awake, Mrs. Rogers, I promise. Lu was clutching his hand, but this time it wasn't as strong. Her breathing was quick, but not the hyperventilation associated with earlier.

"'Okay' is a strong word." she groaned out. She was still hurting, but it was manageable now. It was too dark to see her face, but he felt like he could tell what expression she was making based on her voice.

"Are you alive?" he asked, going for the most basic thing he could think of. She was quiet for a moment, then took a shuddering breath.

"Yea. Yea, I'm alive." she said, her fingers grasping his a little tighter. "Truth or truth, Barnes."

He was taken aback by the statement, and was glad that the darkness could hide his surprise. "Truth." he said, not able to come up with anything witty to add onto it.

"Are we gonna die here?" she asked. Her voice was higher, and it broke halfway through the question. It didn't sound like something she would normally ask, which clued him in to exactly how much pain she was experiencing.

"No. No, this is not what's gonna do us in." he said. "Truth or truth, Doc?"

She didn't answer right away, but finally gave in. "Truth." she said, her voice wavering even with just the one word.

"Are you giving up?" he asked. It hurt his heart to ask it, but he needed to know. He was already ready to fight tooth and nail for her, but if he needed to up his game from that then he would find something from deep inside him.

"No." she said, a little firmer this time. "No, I'm not giving up on you."

"Good. Cause once we get out of here, it's you and me against the world, baby." he said. He meant to say it lightly, playfully, but the term of endearment came out a little too sincere. She laughed, finally sitting up as the laughter dissolved into coughing. He pulled her against the bars, pretending that he was the one holding her up and not the metal.

"Think you can deal with me after all this?" she murmured. Normally she was hesitant about affection, but she felt miserable, and it was nice to feel him beside her. He pressed his face between two bars, giving him just enough room to kiss the side of her head.

"I think that's what I should be asking you." he replied. "That's okay, I have a different question I can ask."

"Oh yea? What's that?" she asked, clutching his arm where it rested over her abdomen. He knew his buddies would make fun of him, knew that he himself gave shit out to his friends when they talked about long term with a girl. But now he understood it.

"Can't ask you till we're out of here." he said, skirting the question anyway. It was the same reason he didn't want to verbalize exactly how he felt about her: he didn't want the sentiment tarnished by their environment. No matter how quiet they spoke or how close they tried to get, there were still a ton of men around them and bars between them. "But I'll be with you, for as long as you'll have me."

"You'll always have me, Barnes." she said. He pressed his lips to the side of her head again, hoping he could convey how much he cared about her with that simple gesture.

"It's-"

"Oh for FUCK'S sake!" Mullens bellowed, making both of them jump. Bucky's forehead smacked painfully against the metal bars, making him see stars for a second. There was a rustle in the darkness as he pushed himself up, and it sounded like an animal tearing its way through brush as he moved towards them. Lu put her back against the bars, trying to put her legs between her and the man. "Get it through your fuckin' heads! We're done! They're gonna play with us and then fuckin' kill us!"

"Mullens shut the fuck up-" Bucky started to bark back at him, but Mullens wasn't having it. In one shocking move, he grabbed Lu - by her ankles or arms Bucky wasn't sure - and jerked her roughly away from him. His arms met air through the bars as she disappeared into the darkness. "Doc!"

"And guess what, asshole. She's not yours, she's stuck in here with me." Mullens said. He was no longer yelling; his voice was low and gravelly and somehow much more terrifying. Bucky could hear people waking up around them, yelling and trying to figure out what was going on, but he didn't have time for them.

"Get off of me!" Lu screeched. He could hear the sounds of the scuffle, feel the pressure of the bars as they bit into his chest and shoulders, but still all he felt was the empty air. "Get off!"

"I've held off long enough!" Mullens said. Panic wound its way so far up in Bucky that if it weren't dark his vision would be red. He didn't know what he was yelling anymore, he just knew he had to grab one of them. The thud of a hit landing was deafening, and Bucky noticed that he couldn't hear Lu's voice anymore, only the susurrus of cloth moving. He was already expecting something bad, but when there was another thud and Mullens made some sort of noise that might have been a punch in the gut or something else, the bad thoughts turned to the worst. He nearly broke in relief when he heard him gasp out, "You bitch."

"Fuck you, Mullens!" Lu said, and another thud led to someone slamming against the bars next to Bucky. He immediately grabbed the back of the uniform, holding whoever it was to the bars by the collar. He didn't feel long hair, he felt the short crop of a military buzz cut. Mullens.

"You son of a bitch." he growled, holding him to the bars despite his struggle to get away. All the weakness he'd experienced earlier was gone, and he was surprised he hadn't pried the bars apart. He snaked his arm through, wrapping it around his neck and preventing him from escaping. Mullens tried to fight back, scratching at his arm and trying to hit him, but the bars were actually helping him this time. He maintained the choke hold until his movements started to slow, and kept it up until he stopped moving entirely. He almost wanted to keep going and seal the deal, but this was another serviceman, even if he was a terrible one. So he let him go, Mullens' unconscious body sliding to the side.

"Is he dead?" Lu asked breathlessly. Thanks to the adrenaline from the attack, most of her pain was hiding for the moment. Her heart still hammered in her chest, and her body still burned in all the places that Mullens tried to grab her. She shouldn't be bothered by it; after all, what was one guy trying to take advantage of her versus all the scientists injecting her with who knows what? But it hadn't been expected, it had come from someone on her side. And somehow that hurt worse.

"No, he's still breathing." Bucky said, his energy draining as the adrenaline left his bloodstream. He'd checked once the other man was at rest on the floor. "Chokeholds are designed to cut off the blood flow to the brain and knock people out, not actually kill them."

There was a beat of silence, and he would've emptied his bank account to see the expression on her face. "Truth or truth?" she asked, her voice timid and shaking. For the first time they started the game, he was afraid of what she was going to ask him.

"Truth." he said, just as quietly. He wished he could hold her, but knew that this was probably the last moment that she wanted to be touched. He couldn't see her in the dark, but he could practically feel how she was sitting in a ball, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"How did you know how to do that?" she asked. She'd heard of people in the Army that had special training and special skills that gave them a certain advantage over other soldiers. Bucky was not one of those people.

"I was…" he paused, then started to laugh. He could feel her glaring at him in the dark, but he couldn't help it. This had to be one of the most ridiculous things to brag about at a time like this.

"Spit it out, Barnes." Lu snapped, obviously still rattled. He swallowed his chuckles, trying to keep his voice steady as he answered.

"I was welter-weight boxing champion back in Brooklyn. In my teenage years." he said. Again, he was at a loss for anything snarky to add, so he was left with just the explanation. Lu let out a dry laugh, not quite humorous, and shook her head.

"Of course you were." she deadpanned. He turned towards the sound of her voice and moved closer to it, but kept his hands on his side of the bars.

"Are you okay? Did he…?" he couldn't finish the sentence the way he needed to, and instead he just said, "did he hurt you?"

"Got the wind knocked out of me. Nothing more than that." she said. She was slightly defensive, but he wasn't going to press and ask why. She'd been through a lot in the last few hours, and for once he was going to keep his mouth shut and let her rest. He leaned against the bars, making sure it was obvious exactly where he was; a few minutes later, he felt as she lightly rested her shoulder against his.

"Go to sleep, Doc. I'll keep an eye out." he promised. She sighed, shifting to get more comfortable.

"You can't see in the dark." she pointed out. He could hear the exhaustion in her voice; now that the adrenaline was gone, she was worn out from everything.

"That's where you're wrong. I can use sonar. Like a bat." he murmured. She let out a brief huff of a laugh.

"So that's why you yell so much." she jabbed, though all the bite was gone from her voice.

"Exactly. Sleep, Doc. I'll raise holy hell if he moves toward you." he said. She shifted again, groaning slightly in pain before settling.

"Thank you, Barnes." she said. She hoped he knew that she wasn't just thanking him for keeping watch - she was thanking him for saving her, for protecting her, for being right next to her through all this.

"You're welcome." he said softly. He listened as her breathing deepened and eventually evened out. It wouldn't be a particularly restful sleep, but it would be better than nothing. It wasn't that hard to stay awake; any time Mullens shifted or groaned in his sleep, Bucky was automatically on edge, waiting for him to try something again. He pushed himself up at one point and Bucky was practically vibrating while he waited to pounce, but Mullens just slinked to the opposite corner of the cage, laying down with a heavy sound and a groan before going back to sleep. Bucky hoped the man learned his lesson. Something in him doubted it.

He'd just managed to doze off when the lights came back to life, nearly blinding them all in the process. He threw his arm over his eyes in an attempt to protect himself from it, doing his best not to whine like he did when his mother used to open the curtains too early on a Saturday morning. Next to him, he heard Lu rousing, her movements short and stiff as she tried to shake the effects of the second injection. He heard her gasp, and before he could remove the cover from his eyes, she spoke.

"Barnes," she whispered. He could tell that something was wrong, and immediately looked to her despite the blinding light that hit him. He was still blinking the stars away when she continued. "I think Mullens is dead."

That got his attention. He pushed himself up, looking to where the other man laid in the corner of the cage. Sure enough, his body was oddly still. He'd seen people that still before, and had to leave them behind as they continued their marches. "Did I kill him?" he asked. He found he didn't really feel guilty, because he could justify the death. It still meant another strike.

"No. It wasn't you." she said, shaking her head. She was pale and looked like she might be sick any moment, but her voice was steady and sure. "Last night...that was a surge. I've seen it a million times." she said. He nodded; he knew what a surge was.

"One last ditch effort." he said. He'd seen it a few times, but she didn't need to hear that. She'd been around more bodies than he had.

"He was dying no matter what." she said, trying to comfort him. Even if he'd threatened Mullens multiple times, he didn't actually want to kill him. He didn't want to kill anybody, except the bastards that were keeping them in captivity. He idly wondered what would have happened if he declared himself a conscientious objector when his draft number came up, but quickly dodged the thought. It didn't do well to dwell on what ifs, especially right now.

It was then they noticed that the dungeon was quiet for the lights being on, and they tore their eyes from Mullens' unmoving corpse and turned to look at the rest of the cages. Mullens wasn't the only one to pass in the night; all the people that had been brought back the day before were lying still in their cages with no signs of life. Bucky tried to run a quick tally, tried to remember exactly which cages had been empty before, but Lu beat him to it.

"All of them." she said, her voice strained. "All of them but me."

Bucky wanted to dispute her claim, but as he looked through the cages he realized she was right. All of the soldiers that had left prior were now dead, except for the woman next to him. "That doesn't mean anything. You're gonna be okay. No surges, no nothing." he said, turning back to her. But she didn't look scared, she just looked tired.

"If I live, that just means another injection. I don't know if I can survive a third one." she said quietly, looking down at her hands. He reached through the bars, taking hold of one of them. Her fingers were cold now.

"Not gonna happen." he said resolutely. He'd promised he'd get her out of here, promised her the rest of his life. He was not going to go back on that. "We'll figure something out, okay? We will."

The doors opened, and the hazmats came with their cart. Everyone was silent and on edge, watching as they went cage to cage to collect the bodies. The only time they bothered to pull out the electric baton was at Lu's cage, making sure she didn't try to run out as they pulled Mullens from his resting place. They needn't have bothered; she was not going to attempt anything, not then.

As soon as the bodies were gone and the doors were closed, the screaming started again. The panic was contagious, the men shaking the bars as they tried to get out before the hazmats came back. Bucky knew he should be right there with them, or perhaps trying to calm everyone down, but it seemed unnecessary at this point. So he stayed there, holding Lu's hand as they waited. The unspoken hung between them, making time feel short - they'll come for you next. He wasn't going to be able to fight his way out, so he needed to save his strength and fight his way through the injection. And until then, he didn't want to think about it. He wanted to memorize every detail of Lu's face so that he could remember exactly what - or who, rather - he was fighting for.

He didn't yell when the hazmats returned, didn't fight them when they came into his cage. "Come back to me." Lu said softly as they pulled him away, holding onto his hand as long as she could before he was too far.

"I'll be back. Don't go anywhere without me, okay?" he asked with a grin, hiding the way his heart hurt from the expression on her face. Don't go where I can't follow. She didn't get a chance to answer before they sank the syringe into him, and he just focused on her face as the world turned to black.

Yikes! Mullens is the worst! I've been waiting to kill him off this whole time!

I know things are dark but I promise that Steve is coming verrrrry soon. And then we get some lovely happiness for these two love birds!

Thank y'all so much for the feedback last chapter! Cero was a last minute decision, and it seemed like at least a couple of you enjoyed her. We get to see some more shenanigans next chapter!

Be safe with all this craziness. Make sure to take the necessary steps to protect yourself, no matter what others are doing. Love you all.

Please let me know what you thought!

-XM