Chapter 17
Steve was concerned. It had been two weeks since Lizzy left and Bucky was not okay. There was very little news from her. She couldn't communicate with the team and, besides her biweekly check ins with Fury, the team knew nothing about her whereabouts or wellbeing. Bucky barely left his room. The only evidence that he was still alive were the sandbags he kept destroying every night in the gym and the take out he ordered to avoid seeing anyone in the common room. He wasn't even having sex with anyone, which Sam thought was the most alarming part.
This couldn't go on much longer. Steve went down to Bucky's room to confront him.
"Go away."
"Bucky, you can't just hole yourself away until she comes back."
"Who says this has anything to do with her?"
Steve gave him an incredulous look. "Come on Bucky, you can't possibly think we're that dense. You haven't been okay since the night you spent together but now that she's gone you're a mess."
"I'm fine."
"You're in love with her Bucky, you need to admit it to yourself and then tell her. This isn't healthy and you know it. You've completely regressed to your state when you first arrived here. You're just as stubborn as she is."
Bucky said nothing. Steve was right and he knew it, but he'd be damned if he put himself out there and got his heart broken, he didn't think he could handle it.
"Just leave me alone Steve," before he left he added, "has she checked in yet?"
"No, Fury's not worried about it, she probably won't make contact for a few more hours."
"Tell me when she does," Bucky turned back into his room and shut the door.
She did not check in. The first night everyone stayed calm, things came up during a mission, maybe she was just busy. By the end of the next day everyone was worried, but not Bucky. Bucky was frantic, he was pacing around the compound like a caged animal and he was close to murdering Fury for not sending out an extraction team. Fury didn't want to jeopardize the mission for something that could be nothing. Bucky wasn't hearing any of it, if she didn't check in by that night he was going to do something crazy. He wasn't sure what exactly-he didn't know the details of the mission and he had no idea where she was even supposed to be-his current plan was to tie Fury up and torture him for enough information to get to her, which probably would be a violation of his pardon.
Fury caved the next morning, she had been MIA too long, something was wrong. He asked Tony to gather a team to find her, everyone volunteered. Steve tried to get Bucky to stay-he was too emotional, he could let his feelings for her get in the way. Bucky punched him on the spot and Steve got an impressive black eye for his efforts. After that, no one tried to prevent Bucky from getting on the Quinjet.