Standing in front of the rust peeling door Steve hesitated.
Bucky had merely been a few meters further down the main corridor, straight ahead from the stairs.
"How are you keeping him in here?" Steve could tell such a door, or even walls would not keep the Winter Soldier confined so easily.
"It's easier to show you." Sam passed Steve and pulled on the heavy door, the mechanism unlatched, not even locked.
Bucky was exactly where he had been in the video, sat on the floor back and metal arm against the wall, facing the only door.
Accompanied by Sam he entered cautiously.
The Winter Soldier didn't react, wasn't even looking at them. His head angled down like in the video, hair over his eyes.
"Bucky?" Steve prompted; shield secured to his arm but not raised. After a few seconds of waiting Steve pushed again for a response.
"Bucky. It's me, Steve."
"Stop it." Came the harsh mumbled reply.
On closer inspection Steve could now see a silver panel attached to the wall behind Bucky's fist.
"Bucky I…"
"Stop calling me that!" The Winter Soldier lashed out, lunging forward.
Steve staggered back a few steps.
Yanked viciously back by his own metal arm, Bucky's fist never left the silver plate. He was chained to the wall by his own arm.
"Magnet." Sam simply explained, answering Steve's previous question.
The man breathed heavy on the floor; eye's wild like an injured animal.
"Your name, is James Buchannan Barns." Steve calmly told him. Keeping his distance, he crouched down.
"Shut up!" Bucky yelled back. again, his human fist swung hitting nothing but air. Restrained by his mechanical arm and unable to take a full breath, Bucky met Steve's eyeline.
"I know your confused…"
"I said shut up!" Bucky's hateful words were fuelled with emotion, something possibly other than pure rage lingering underneath.
"You could have escaped; you could have easily finished me, but you pulled me from that river." Steve switched tactic. "Why?" He proposed the question.
Bucky sucked in almost panicked breaths, sweat forming beads on his forehead under the mess of hair.
The Winter Soldier looked away, breaking eye contact.
"I don't know." He whispered; words barely audible.
Finally, progress.
"That wasn't the first time you've hesitated when fighting me, tell me why?" Steve continued the interrogation.
"I don't know!" Bucky attempted again to land a punch, striking out furiously. This time, he didn't stop.
"Take it easy." Steve tried to deescalate the situation. His hand out in front of him as if attempting to calm a wild dog.
Frantic the Winter Soldier pulled on his arm. Levering himself against the wall with his combat boots, trying to brute force his arm free. Even though groaning from the pain Bucky did not relent.
"Sam." Steve saw it first; the tips of the knuckles leave the metal plate for just a second. "Get out."
He could only watch as the metal fist inch further from the magnet.
Bucky's muscles suddenly tensed up; pained moans trapped behind a locked jaw as he scrambled to put his back to the wall, free tremoring hand reaching for his neck.
Steve watched his friend suddenly go limp. Head hitting the floor.
Never having heard Sam leave, Steve's head shot over his shoulder. He found Sam still standing behind him, the small device in his hand not going unnoticed.
Steve unstrapped his shield, letting it clatter to the ground. Taking a knee beside Bucky, Steve pulled back his black collar in his search for a pulse. What he found was a silver band around the man's neck.
"Why am I really here Sam?" Steve was starting to catch on. "Fury wouldn't just set all this up for a reunion." He didn't turn around to face him. Steve moved past the metal band, putting two fingers to a carotid artery.
There was a pulse, slow as expected, but there.
"Steve. He can't be locked up, and if HYDRA get their hands on him again…" Sam struggled with what he needed to say. "If you can't get through to him." Sam's breath stuttered. "Then, he's a threat you need to neutralize."
Steve was on his feet, hands clasped around Sam's t-shirt.
"You've got to be shitting me!"
"Steve listen." Sam didn't fight back, he didn't resist. "If it comes to it… wouldn't you want to be the one to do it?" Steve's breath had quickened. "To stop him hurting anyone else. To give him peace."
It took a moment, but Steve let Sam go.
"It's not going to come to that."
Steve looked back down at his friend, red starting to creep through the brown hair where his head met the floor. Kneeling back down by Bucky, he used his fingers to part the strands of hair to get a better look. The wound superficial for a super soldier.
"You need to think realistically. And prepare yourself for what you might have to do."
Steve heard the Soldier ster. He had been pacing, thoughts not letting him rest. In the room, it was just the two of them.
Bucky's eyes scrunched prior to opening, sluggish hand reaching for his wounded head. Dry blood had smeared down the side of his face. He had been out for a while.
The Soldier took noticed of Steve's presence. Looking right up at him, blue eyes now piercing compared to before, untameable hair having unveiled them. Bucky didn't react to him directly, manoeuvring around his restrained arm awkwardly, he chose to slowly push himself up off his side.
Steve couldn't find the words he wanted straight away. A silence unpleasantly lingering in the room as Bucky settled, back to the wall. A small red light on the ceiling mounted camera blinking at them continuously.
"Even when I had nothing, I had you Buck." Steve eventually said.
The Winter Soldier stared him down.
"You've always had my back… I let you down."
"I don't know you." Bucky growled back.
"You're lying."
Steve was trying his best to remain non-confrontational, to prevent things from escalating out of hand again. "We've known each other our whole lives."
Bucky's eye closed, face grimacing from some form of discomfort, he struggled to raise a shaky hand to his head.
"Deep down you know who I am."
"Your nothing more than my mission!" Scared, confused eyes snapped open. Rolling his free hand into a fist Bucky laid into the wall behind him. Cracks started to form. knuckles bleeding.
"Sam don't!" Steve called out too late.
The electric charge went off, every fibre of Bucky tensed in agony, his nerves being overloaded. Stretching his neck back he held in a scream, refusing to go down.
The door swung open, Sam re-entering.
With blood slick fingers Bucky managed to get under the metal band around his neck. A desperate cry of relief rang out as the device broke away, flying across the room striking the wall shattering on impact.
Steve gathered up his shield.
"You need to go now!" Steve looked back at Sam. He had a pistol in hand.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Bucky again heaved at his arm. The magnet unable to withstand the force, it had to eventually let go. His arm clanked against the ground; the effort having been excruciating.
"Don't make me do this Buck."
The Winter Soldier charged without pause. Shield up there was impact. Metal against metal, the force knocking them both back. Bucky collided back into the wall, deep cracks forming, water starting to leak through.
"I can handle this go." Steve again tried to get Sam to leave as he picked himself back up.
"I know you can, but you don't have to do this alone."
Bucky gave them little time for a discussion, water seeping through the wall behind him he continued his assault.
Shield raised again, fist hitting once more, both able to stand their ground this time. Bucky kicked out, boot striking Steve's knee taking it out from under him.
His chest hit the floor hard, only having seconds to roll out of the way of the mechanical arm, fist denting the thick concrete floor.
Gunfire reverberated around the room.
Bucky raised his metal arm like a shield. Bullets pinging off the metal before clinking against the filthy ground. He swung for Sam as a distraction, his other hand grabbing the gun.
Sam, finger still on the trigger fired. Bucky twisted his hand forcing the shot to miss to the side, bullet finding a wall. Using one hand Bucky flipped Sam onto his back, gun snatched from his grip.
A steady hand aimed the barrel at his head.
Another ear blistering shot chimed out, Steve's shield striking Bucky's arm a second before, diverting the aim from the guns true target for the second time. Landing a solid kick to his friends' side, Steve forced the Soldier away from Sam. Bucky only stumbled back briefly, aiming the gun at Steve with scary precision.
He took refuge behind his shield. The gun didn't fire.
Daring to look up over his shield he found the Soldier, eyes wide, arm outstretched, finger twitching on the trigger wanting to fire. He was breathing heavy. Sweat covering his face, sticking strands of messy hair to his forehead. Shaking his head, Bucky's face became stern, the trigger finally pulled back.
Shield back up, the bullet flattened on impact.
Using his shield Steve swatted the gun away, leaving an opening for Bucky to land a hit to his face. The gun skittered across the floor. Steve's arm went up trying to block another hit, Bucky countering his defence by kneeing him in the stomach, shoving him back.
Sam recovered back on his feet, came at Bucky's side. Nimble he ducked the Soldier's swing, able to land a fist to his chin. The small victory short lived, metal fingers wrapping around Sam's neck, lifting him off the ground.
"Buck stop!"
The Winter Soldier's head slowly turned to face Steve, Sam still in his unmerciful grasp. Steve had gathered up the gun, it pointed at his old friend. Sam struggled against the grasp around his neck, trying to pull at the metal latch, windpipe being restricted.
Steve looked into the soldier's eyes.
He couldn't find his friend.
Steve launched his shield at the back wall, the leaking cracks burst open, water abruptly breaching into the room.
Authors Notes
I love writing fights scenes, but boi are they hard to write... for me anyway XD I hope the chapters have been good so far, always wanna hear what people have to say.