I may have taken some inspiration from the '80's buddy cop movie 'Lethal Weapon' for a certain scene in this chapter. All errors are my own and unintentional. As always, i'd love to hear your thoughts.

The Missing Soldier.

A phone is ringing. Corrie frowns, still lost within the content of her computer screen. Finally it occurs to her that it's actually her phone that's ringing and she reaches across and grabs it. She sees Nick Fury's name on the screen and her frown deepens as she answers it.

"Nick? What's wrong?"

"We have a possible situation."

"A possible situation?"

"Is Barnes with you?"

Corrie sits back in her seat. "I'm not sure. I know he was meeting his great niece for dinner last night. I'm in the office, I don't know if he's back or not. I can check. Hold on, let me track his phone."

She logs into the security system and calls up the GPS information for Bucky's cell.

"His cell is sending a signal from Buchanan Books which makes sense because that's where he said he'd be."

"Well if his phone is here, he's not. Get over here. Bring Wilson."

The moment Fury ends the call, she pushes back from her desk and heads to the living quarters.

The building is in darkness which reminds Corrie of the lateness of the hour or the earliness if you haven't been to sleep in the first place. She instructs AMI to turn the lights of the living room area on low as she heads further in. Bucky's bedroom door is shut.

He's not here, she's almost certain of it. He wouldn't leave his phone behind but she needs to check to be absolutely sure. Perhaps he has forgotten it and plans to pick it up it later today but as soon as the thought crosses her mind, she discards it; she knows that he wouldn't forget it or leave it behind, he's careful, he's always careful where his phone is concerned.

"AMI, status update on James Barnes?" she requests anyway. She ignores the nerves fluttering in her stomach.

"Update in progress," AMI acknowledges and Corrie waits for her response which isn't long in coming.

"Sergeant Barnes isn't on the premises," she confirms. Corrie takes a slow deep breath as she processes this piece of information.

"What time was he last on site?" she enquires instead. Another, briefer silence.

"Sergeant Barnes was last on site at eighteen thirty hours yesterday evening. He hasn't returned since."

Corrie exhales quietly. "Thank you, AMI," she answers.

"Corrie?" She turns and sees Sam peering out of his bedroom door half asleep. "Problem?"

"Bucky didn't return from his niece's place last night," she tells him and sees how he frowns.

"Maybe he decided to stay over." Corrie shakes her head at this, even though she wishes that's what's happened.

"He would've called to let me know if that were the case. Fury wants us at Buchanan Books as soon as possible."

"What's going on?"

"I'm not sure. Fury said there's a possible situation and if it concerns Bucky then…"

If it also involves Katie then it definitely won't be good.

The early morning sky is a watery grey colour. Corrie exits the SUV and with Sam beside her, crunches through freshly fallen snow to where Fury is standing on the sidewalk in front of the book store. He's alone, staring up at the building. He turns when he hears them approach.

"Barnes?"

"Isn't at the complex. Which you already know. There's been no sign of him since he left to come here yesterday evening yet his phone is still sending a signal from here." She looks up at the building too, sees the lights on, shadows and movement flitting across the windows.

"A member of staff at the book store showed up for her shift as usual to find the place still closed, locked down, lights off and no signs of life. Apparently this is very unlike Miss Barnes. If she's sick or not available to open up, she gets in touch with her employee to arrange cover. She didn't do this. Her employee also noticed that the front door leading to Miss Barnes's apartment was unlocked and she went inside, figuring perhaps her boss had an accident or overslept or something of that nature. She found her unconscious on the floor. Called 911. When Miss Barnes's name came over the airwaves, I got a phone call from my contact within the police department as an FYI."

Corrie's eyes go wide. "Is she okay?"

"Head injury. She's lain there overnight so she was also very cold. Could be touch and go. The fact we can't locate Barnes is concerning."

"He's obviously been here if his phone is in there somewhere." Corrie responds.

"Then we need to get inside before law enforcement locate it," Fury tells her

She looks up at the building again before looking back at Fury, "Can we go in?"

"Yeah," Fury agrees.

"Have Miss Barnes's family been informed?" she asks as they head inside.

"Her father is with her at the hospital. He doesn't know of anyone who'd want to hurt his daughter, he's understandably distraught."

"I can imagine."

The place is swarming with cops and various forensic people. Corrie watches them all as they work, careful to stay out of their way. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and dials Bucky's number and her head turns sharply when she hears a familiar insistent buzzing noise. He's not one for ring tones. It seems to be coming from beneath a heavy looking tall cabinet to her left that holds a dinner service of some description. She heads over to it and crouches down. There's a small gap between the raised base of the cabinet and the floor. She lies flat on her stomach and she reaches underneath. Her eyes go wide when her fingers brush against something hard and rectangular and she stretches further and grabs onto it. Slowly she extracts a cell phone and for a moment just stares at it. Then she gets to her feet, holding it tightly.

"I'll take that."

Corrie blinks at the brusquely spoken words and fixes her attention on the person who's standing in front of her.

"I beg your pardon?"

He holds out a hand expectantly. "It's evidence in an ongoing investigation. Hand it over," he demands with a twitch of the fingers of that hand. Corrie just regards him.

"Not that it's really any of your business but this cell phone is mine."

"It's evidence at a crime scene," he repeats and Corrie sighs quietly.

"I understand that but it belongs to my organisation and believe me when I say we have precedence over yours."

"Somehow I don't think so." His expression is scornful and it's all Corrie can do not to roll her eyes at him.

"I think the gentleman at the door will say otherwise. Director Nick Fury. With SHIELD. Heard of him?" She waits as he looks at him over Corrie's shoulder. Recognition crosses his face. He lowers his hand and then he nods.

"I have," he confirms. Not so brusque now.

"Glad to hear it," Fury answers calmly. "So you'll understand when I say that the contents of that cell phone are highly classified and way above your pay grade. I'd advise you to walk away and forget you ever saw it. Please." Fury requests in a manner that doesn't really sound like advice. After a moment, the forensics guy backs away.

"You're interfering in an ongoing investigation," he mutters.

"My organisation and my colleague. My responsibility." Corrie murmurs, frowning at the screen already forgetting about him. She then looks at Fury "It'll need his biometric information," she remembers, sighing in frustration. In other words, his fingerprint.

"Give it to me," Sam requests, approaching her with a wiggle of the fingers of his left hand and she does so. She watches as he types something into it and it springs into life. "There you go," he tells her and hands it back. She looks at him in surprise.

"How did you…"

"I saw him key in his passcode a couple of times."

"But it's also supposed to be biometrically protected!"

Sam shrugs. "I know but he prefers a code. Kick his ass when you find him," he replies. She sighs as she returns her attention to the phone.

"Oh I plan to," she mutters.

They stand around as she quickly checks through his phone but finds nothing that could tell them where he went. She looks at Fury, worry clear on her face.

"He doesn't go anywhere without his phone and the fact that it was under that cabinet suggests some kind of force was used to get him out of here." She keeps her voice low.

"You think he's been taken?" Sam enquires.

"You don't? We've had this conversation before. Kelly first made contact with Bucky further along this street. We're pretty sure it was him who was taking pot shots at him and Katie in the cemetery at the weekend. It makes sense that he'd do his homework, want to know who Katie is in context to Bucky. He's obviously found out, showed up here and got the jump on him. He's probably the one who hurt Katie."

"And Bucky wouldn't be expecting it as he was here having dinner with his niece, who no one outside of the three of us knows about. Oh God…" Sam's eyes widened as something occurs to him.

"Oh God what?" Corrie enquires, not liking how Sam's eyes slowly widen.

"Yesterday Bucky told me that Katie had a date, a guy named Jack, he said that was why he didn't go over the day before. You think…"

"Jack is Jonathan? It's possible, highly probable. God, he used Katie to get to Bucky? That's just evil." She slowly shakes her head in disbelief.

"He was worried that something like this might happen if his past caught up to his present. It's why he's so reluctant to let any more of his family in," Sam supplies.

Corrie swallows, suddenly feeling a little nauseous.

"He's tough," Fury reminds them both.

"He'll be fighting mad with it." Sam agrees.

"We have to find him," Corrie adds.

"Then you need to get back to base, use those skills of yours to get a bead on him," Fury reminds her.

"And what are you going to do in the meantime?"

"The same. We'll find him, don't worry," he answers. "Get back to base Corrie, that's an order."

He opens his eyes on a quiet gasp of pain. As he does, he startles and he feels a brief bolt of panic spurt through him. His eyes go wide as the adrenaline kicks in. The last thing he remembers is being in Katie's apartment, seeing Kelly and then nothing else until now.

Have HYDRA recaptured him?

Is Kelly a HYDRA agent?

Where the hell is he?

Where is Katie?

His head is pounding. His arms are pulled above his head, his right arm feeling like it's about to pop right out of its socket. Heart pulsing, he looks up, ignoring the pain that lances through his head at the movement. His wrists are tied together and secured by a chain suspended from a hook embedded in the ceiling. He frowns and then looks down. The tips of his toes scuff against concrete. The room he's being kept in is lit by a single weak bulb, that stretch shadows across the floor and the walls. He isn't able to make out any windows. It's also freezing cold. His jacket and hoodie are gone but at least they've left his boots on.

He hears a door opening somewhere and he turns his head in the direction of the sound. Light from the outside follows the visitor in. He remains still as he sees Jonathan Kelly walk towards him. He's carrying something in his left hand and Bucky sees the self-satisfied expression on his face.

"Good morning Soldat, I thought you were going to sleep all day," he greets. Bucky just stares at him.

"Cat got your tongue?" he asks as he pauses in front of him.

"I didn't want to waste my breath but I guess you got me," Bucky drawls.

"I did. I got you. I said I would."

"No, what you said was that your boss would be interested in meeting me and that's not you. How's the shoulder by the way. Stopped hurting yet?"

The smug expression fades from Kelly's face.

"You don't want to piss me off," he warns.

"Or what?" Bucky sneers, "What will you do?"

He feels something being jabbed against his ribs. Pain explodes and he feels his muscles contract. He gives a grunt of pain and he closes his eyes as everything fades to white.

Corrie heads into her office, shrugging off her coat. She heads to her computer and fires it up. As she sits down, there's a tap on her door. She sees Jason standing there, a tablet in one hand.

"Do you have a minute Miss Harris?" he enquires, hovering in the doorway but not coming inside.

"Not really Jason, can it wait? I've got a lot on my plate right now." She stares at her screen, a frown marring her brow, her mind already busy with what she has to do.

"To do with Sergeant Barnes's disappearance, I know."

This gets Corrie's attention and her head snaps up and she stares at him. "It's all over the complex, everyone's working on it. Director Fury's orders." This time he comes into the office, closing the door behind him and he approaches her desk.

"It's how I can help. I know where he is."

Corrie's eyes widen in shock. "How the hell could you know that?"

"By tracking him."

"Excuse me? I saw you take that chip out of Bucky's arm myself."

"I know but after that, and after Annie's sister was rescued, he came to see me with an idea."

Jason turns at the tap on his door and blinks in surprise when he sees Sergeant Barnes standing there, waiting for permission to enter. Throughout the morning all everyone has been able to talk about is his and Sam's rescue of Annie's sister, Amanda. Annie is currently in the Med Bay watching over her with an additional guard present though Jason isn't sure who the security is for, exactly.

"You got a minute Jason?" the soldier asks and still a little dumbfounded by his unexpected presence, Jason nods and watches as he comes into his lab.

"What can I help you with?" he asks instead.

"Just something that crossed my mind this morning and I was wondering whether you could give me some advice, some thoughts on it."

Jason takes a slow breath. "Sure. I know you were on a late night mission. Do you want me to take another look at your arm, check for any damage or wear and tear?" he offers. He sees how he looks down at his prosthetic arm and then nods.

"Sure. It's about the arm I want to talk to you about anyway."

"Take a sea, Sergeant."

"Bucky."

"Pardon me?"

"Call me Bucky, kid."

He waits until Jason has completed his preliminary checks. The kid looks satisfied.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" he asks, sitting down across from him.

"I know you took a tracker out of my arm the other day but it gave me an idea."

"About what?"

"Would you be able to put another one in, something SHIELD or Stark sanctioned?"

Jason stares at him in surprise. "Really?"

Bucky nods. "The business with Annie and her sister got me thinking. Could you put something together, similar to the GPS tracker in my phone, something that would maybe be missed in a scan?"

"Is this a just in case you're compromised or are kidnapped scenario because I've seen you in action Sergeant…umm Bucky and if you excuse my honesty, you're pretty formidable."

"But it could happen one day and I'd like to be covered just in case. The difference in this case would be that I'll know about it and have consented to it. Would you be able to…I don't know, create something?"

Jason regards him, already his brain is buzzing with possibilities. "How soon would you want it?"

"As soon as possible. You think you can do it?"

"I might. Could you call back here by the end of today?"

"Sure. I'll be around all day, let me know when you're ready."

"And when did you install this new chip?" Corrie enquires once Jason has finished explaining himself.

"Later that same day. I modified one that we already had on site. It was smaller than the one I'd originally removed and harder to find if you don't know what you're looking for. To the uninitiated it just looks like part of the arm's circuitry."

"And it's live…you've found him?"

"I've tracked him to an address upstate. I'm assuming he's still there because there's been no movement since late last evening and I sincerely doubt they've found the chip I installed."

His confidence in his ability is one of the reasons why she recruited him.

Corrie watches him tap on his tablet for a few seconds before handing it to her. It's a map. She stares at it for another moment and then touches the screen to expand the image. There's a detached property that looks to be in the middle of nowhere. It would make sense, if Bucky's there, to keep him somewhere away from any unwanted attention.

The name of the area is familiar to her and she takes a slow deep breath as she goes back to her own computer to double check the address to be sure. After a moment, she looks at Jason who is still hovering nervously nearby and she smiles somewhat grimly.

"Remind me to give you a pay rise when this is all over," she tells him as she reaches for her cell phone. She takes another, deeper breath as she keys in a number and then holds it to her ear. Time seems to stand still as she waits for it to connect but finally it does.

"Hey, Diana? It's Corrie Harris. I do know what time it is, sorry but this is an emergency. Remember that favour you said you owed me? I'm about to call it in. If I send you some coordinates could you do me a huge favour?"

Corrie exhales on a shaky breath.

The property is registered to Alex French. She pulls up an image of the property. Sprawling, in the middle of nowhere. Acres of land. It's the perfect place to store a former assassin. She wonders what Patrick could be doing with Bucky. She didn't think he had any connection to HYDRA or their affiliates but it's been years since she last saw him so anything is possible, she suspects. Clicking through the images of the property, she's almost sure it's the same location as those wedding photographs. Do they live there? Is Rory there? She feels the hope rise within her. Patrick will keep her near to him. Her daughter could be so close. She pushes it down. She needs to check it out for herself and for that she'll need a clear head. If Patrick wants the Asset then this would definitely be the perfect place to keep him and that will mean he'll be on the property somewhere, keeping something so precious close to him. She ignores the tremble of fear in the pit of her stomach at the thought of facing him again. No matter what she's claimed, what Bucky has said to her, he still scares her.

She looks up at the team that files into the conference room a short while later.

"You said on the phone that you'd located him, so what are we doing here?" Sam demands somewhat belligerently.

"I didn't find him, Jason did," Corrie corrects him and sees how Sam glances across at the young technician who stands somewhat nervously nearby. Jason raises a hand somewhat awkwardly in acknowledgment.

"Bucky requested another tracker be installed in his prosthetic which Jason installed a couple of days ago. Bucky has been located at a residence in upstate New York and according to current data, he's still there."

"So why aren't we going out there to get him?"

"Because the property is registered to Alex French." She glances at Fury as she says this. "For whatever reason, Patrick Donoghue has Bucky."

"You think taken there by Jonathan Kelly, who was masquerading as Katie's boyfriend, Jack," Sam adds on and Corrie just nods.

"He must've got the drop on Bucky and brought heavy reinforcements to manage that," he continues. Corrie happens to agree with him on that one.

"I'm almost certain now that the supposed mugging was a set up. Kelly wanted to see Bucky up close. The boss he alluded to is Donoghue. I'm puzzled as to why specifically but given what I know about my ex, I'm assuming that he's another rung in a ladder of power and he's trying to impress someone higher up. What better way than to gift him with the Winter Soldier?"

"Bucky won't go willingly."

"We know that but I doubt they do. I'm assuming they still think the trigger sequence is operational because this entire operation has a distinct lack of sophistication about it so I doubt they'd know Bucky's trigger sequence has been successfully dismantled." Sam is right, Bucky will not go willingly. He's much stronger than he used to be, much more confident of himself these days.

"I called in a favour with my friend Diana. Some of you know she works for one of the initialled services in this country shall we say and I'm not about to reveal which one but she owed me a favour and sent this to me half an hour ago." She keys something into her tablet and an image shows up on the big screen.

"This is a satellite image of the property we believe Bucky is being held at." She swipes through them, amazed all over again by how much detail these satellites can go into.

"First of all, there is this image." A photo of an entourage of three large SUV type vehicles in a line heading towards the main property. Another photo shows each of the vehicles disappearing inside, what Corrie assumes is a large garage. "I'm pretty convinced Bucky is in that property somewhere and one of those vehicles has him." She looks around at her audience.

"And then there's this."

Another photo.

"Taken within the past twenty four hours. As expected, the residence is heavily guarded. Perhaps because Bucky is being held there but I also suspect for another reason." She enhances an image of four people standing near a tennis court. Four people. "The person on the left hand side is eleven years old. She's my daughter, Rory." She exhales shakily as she stares at the willowy child standing beside who she knows from previous photographs to be Alexandra Donoghue and all she can feel is relief that her only child didn't get caught up in the Blip. She then looks around the room.

" The other three are Alexandra Donoghue nee French, Jonathan Kelly and Patrick Donoghue." She points to each figure in turn. "We need to plan everything carefully and with utmost precision. I'm going in there to retrieve my child." She looks at the people present in the room, almost daring them to try and argue with her, persuade her otherwise. Wisely, nobody does. "It needs to go like clockwork. No mistakes. No room for error. Bucky and Rory; they are our objectives. I don't care what happens to anyone or anything else."