You went to a coffee shop to look at the flash drive. You opened the computer and handed it to Nat, so she could decipher the information better than you could. She pulled up New Jersey on the map and you knew it was the military base. "We need to get out of here, they could be watching us." You told them. You let Steve drive, much to your discomfort, you hated not being behind the wheel. You turned the radio on, letting Def Leppard come through the speakers. You were tapping your fingers on your leg and you smirked when you saw Nat bobbing her head in the backseat.
"How can you like this music?" Steve asked.
"Um. How can you not? Def Leppard is one of the best bands from the eighties. There's so much I need to catch you up on." You said, making him laugh. Your hand went into your shirt and pulled Bucky's tags out, rubbing them in your hand.
"Hey." Steve said, grabbing your hand. "We're gonna bring him home."
You sighed. "What if he doesn't want to come home? What if he doesn't want to remember?" Things were different now. You knew how his mind worked; you'd seen it. What if he didn't want to come back to you because of all the things he'd done? Or if he would be afraid of hurting you?
"Tell me about him?" Nat asked from the backseat. You smiled.
"When I first got chucked into this world, I had no idea where I was, just that I was thrown into another warzone. I threw up an ice shield to protect a group of soldiers that were kept prisoner. Someone had spoken behind me and I turned, and it was Bucky and Steve. I thought I was crazy for a minute." You laughed, remembering wanting to throw up.
"I felt calmed by Bucky instantly. Something about him made me feel safe. I tried not to get attached, but once I realized I wasn't going back home, I decided to live my life. I decided that I would give in. I also realized that in giving in to Bucky, I would eventually lose him." Your eyes swelled with tears and Steve squeezed your hand.
"I know everything they did to him. All the torture. He only survived the fall because of the serum. I have no idea how he survived all the psychological torture. Of course, I fell in love with him, how could I not? I told him what was going to happen to him. I told him it needed to happen, because we were going to need him in the future, and I didn't have any other idea how to get him here." You looked out the window, your free hand still closed around Bucky's tags.
"The day he left I begged him not to go. I was being selfish. I wanted to stay in 1944 and spend the rest of my life with him. He told me he had to go. He told me he loved me, and I promised him I would find him and bring him back to us."
You felt two arms come around your neck and Nat kissed your cheek. "Then that's what we'll do. We'll bring him home. Help him in any way that we can."
"Thank you." You whispered.
It wasn't much longer before you pulled up to the gate that housed the military base. You got out of the car and took it in for a second. This is the base that Steve trained in pre-serum. This was crazy.
"This is it." Steve said.
"The file came from these coordinates." Nat answered.
"So did I."
Steve opened the gate and you followed behind him and Nat. You headed away from them for a minute, trying to find the right building.
"Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off." Nat said.
"No, they didn't." You told her, pointing to the only building that was out of place. Steve followed you over to the building and used his shield to break the lock. He hit the lights once you entered and a smile filled your face.
"This is Shield." Nat said.
"This is where Shield began." You told them. You walked over to the office and looked at the wall, running your fingers over Howard's and Peggy's pictures.
"Who's the girl?" Nat asked. Steve walked away and you turned to Nat.
"That's Peggy Carter." Nat's eyes widened and you followed Steve over to the secret bookshelf, watching him push it open.
Nat punched in the right code and the door to the elevator opened, taking you down into the sercret secret part of the bunker. The lights came on and the computers whirred alive. Zola's face appeared on the screen. You listened to him spout on, and you moved over to the little box that housed the usb drives. You stuck yours in there, turning to the computer next to it, downloading all Hydras files, having Jarvis block out whatever software they had to block her. You needed all the information on Bucky they had.
"And when history did not cooperate, history was changed." Pictures of The Winter Soldier came up and your heart dropped. So many pictures of Bucky, Howard and Maria Stark's death.
"That's impossible, Shield would have stopped you." Nat said.
"Accidents will happen."
You took your usb drive out, having gotten all the information you could. You stepped back and turned back to the computers. "We have to get out of here." You said.
"Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic. Thirty seconds tops."
"Who fired it?"
"Shield."
Steve tore off a grate in the floor and you jumped in and put up an ice wall over top of you. It helped, but not much, Steve was shielding you both. You coughed as Steve lifted rocks off you. You jumped out first, while Steve grabbed Nat. "They're coming Steve we have to go." You told him, and you took off running. Your car was destroyed. Tony was gonna kill you.
You leaned against the side of the house as Steve knocked on Sam's door. "Hey man." He said, looking down at the three of you. "I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low." Steve told him.
" Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Nat said. Same thought for a minute and opened his door further. "Not everyone."
You all took a well needed shower, washing all the grime off felt amazing. You met everyone in the kitchen, Sam offering you something to drink. You had wish it was bourbon, but water would have to do for now.
"So, the question is who at Shield could launch a domestic missile strike." Nat asked.
There was silence for a moment before Steve spoke. "Pierce."
"He really is an ass." You added.
"He's behind everything." You looked down, "He's also who's controlling Bucky." Steve's face hardened at that. "He's not working alone." You told them.
"Jasper Sitwell." Realization hit Nat's face.
"So, the real question is, how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a Shield officer in broad daylight?" Steve asked. Sam went to grab a file folder and laid it in front of Steve.
"The answer is you don't." You smiled; this was the Falcon folder.
"I can't ask you to do this Sam, you got out for a good reason."
"Captain America needs my help, there's no better reason to get back in." Sam said. You held up your hand for a high five, which Sam gladly returned, earning you rolled eyes from both Steve and Nat. Now they just had to go steal some Falcon Wings.
You were waiting in the backseat of the car, waiting for Sam, Nat and Steve to bring Sitwell over. You were mentally preparing yourself for what was about to happen. Bucky would attack. You would have to fight him. You ran his tags through your fingers, closing your eyes.
"You'll find me? You'll bring me back from whatever or whoever has me?" Bucky asked you.
"I promise I will find you Bucky."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
The door opened and Nat got in, yanking Sitwell in beside her. Sam got in the driver's seat and Steve got in the passenger, and you were off. "Insights launching in 16 hours, we're cutting it a little close here." Nat said from beside you.
"I know." Steve said. "We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly."
"What? Are you crazy?"
3…2…1…THUD. There he was.
The window next to Sitwell's head smashed open and a metal arm yanked him out of the car. You climbed in Steve's lap, pulling Nat as far forward as you could when bullets started coming in the backseat. Sam slammed on the breaks and Bucky flew off the car, catching himself with his metal arm. Your breathing quickened and Steve's grip on your arm tightened.
You braced yourself for the smash from behind as the jeep hit you, causing you to drop your gun. You were barreling toward Bucky, until he jumped up, landing on the hood of the car. You grabbed the gun, handing the extra one to Nat. You turned your head when the metal arm came crashing through the windshield, taking the steering wheel with it. You could hear Sam yelling shit, as you and Nat shot through the hood. Steve grabbed you, you grabbed Nat, and Nat grabbed Sam, as Steve knocked the door from its hinges and pulled everyone out of the car.
Really it was too many people on the damn door, and you skidded across the pavement and ducked behind a car, across from Sam. A freaking grenade got launched at Steve and he blocked it with his shield, but it sent him over the bridge. You threw up an ice shield to try and stop some of the bullets being spewed across the bridge. It didn't hold for long though, but you were able to jump off the bridge, Nat right behind you when a car blew up in front of her.
You stayed under the bridge while Nat shot up at him, watching as she took cover behind a truck, then took off running. Once he hit the ground you threw ice down at his feet and ran, knowing it wouldn't hold him for long. You shot one of the guys that came down after him, right in the head.
Steve took the rest out with his shield, and you ran over to him. You saw Nat jump onto his back, he shot Nat and was about to go for her again, but Steve was faster than you were, taking him down. You took your shot, hitting Bucky in the metal arm. He turned to look at you, giving Steve a chance to knock him upside the head with his shield. You ran up behind him and kicked him in the back of the leg, taking him down to one knee.
He knocked you back and you and Steve began taking turns blocking the blows he was giving. You knew that you weren't strong enough to fight him, but maybe if you could disable the arm, it would be enough. Bucky got Steve by the throat and that was your chance. You placed both hands on the metal arm and Bucky's eyes snapped to you. You let the ice flow through you and his arm froze up, dropping Steve. "What are you?" He asked in a low tone. You couldn't speak. Hearing his voice for the first time in so long made you tremble. You stumbled back and Steve came back in with his shield, giving Bucky blow after blow. You were shaking. Steve flipped him, his mask coming off, and when he turned to look at you, you were pretty sure you died.
Those beautiful eyes you once looked into were still there, but there was nothing behind them. No emotion. Nothing. "Bucky." Steve choked out. You knew that wasn't Bucky. That was Winter. Your Bucky was stored somewhere far away in the soldier's mind, and you didn't know how to get him back.
"Who the hell is Bucky." He said. He turned to shoot again, but Sam came out of the sky and knocked him over. He tried to take a shot again, but Nat send a grenade his way and he was gone. You heard sirens and you knew that you were done. That was Rumlow. You fell to your knees as there was a gun put to your head. You couldn't speak. Or hear anything. Your eyes were glossed over and all you could think about was how Bucky had looked right through you.