Sorry for the wait everyone but I am a bit overwhelmed with school at the moment (for a change). I'm still alive, kicking and writing occasionally, so don't despair!
Karina, sea sickness is a pain. I have an excellent foot on boats and have not suffered the affliction, although I have never been on the open sea. Enjoy this chapter and do let me know how you've liked it!
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Lianka had drawn her gun as smoothly and efficiently as Bucky had his, both their safeties clicking off almost in unison… the sound, usually so tame and unnoticeable, flared like an actual gunshot in the cavernous, metal room before them. They set their packs in a corner next to the door as to not be encumbered by them should anything go sideways.
Steve was closing the walk, his eyes darting sharply across every shadow, every corner, as his heart beat fury in his ears, his every nerve on edge from the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He had to fight the continuous feeling of déja-vu he was experiencing: this bunker was uncannily alike to the one he'd visited with Bucky as they hunted Zemo and the remaining Winter Soldiers, barely a year past.
The trio advanced slowly, cautiously, through the first room, which was barren and cold, snow and ice having drifted through the recently opened front door. Their footsteps, as quiet as possible, still echoed eerily around them, too loud for their liking. The further they moved within, the darker the world became, the feeble light from the yawning door unable to light their path.
Lianka ran her gloved hand over the wall as she went, cautiously searching… until her warm fingers found a switch of some sorts. She glanced at the two soldiers, who were still staring about dangerously and she pushed up on the large lever, wincing as it snapped on loudly enough to send an echo howling through the entire compound.
To her great surprise, a series of dull light popped to life all along the walls, illuminating the space with a sickly, yellowish light. Bucky and Steve seemed as surprised as she was, glancing back at her as she shrugged.
"Must have a backup generator… look: stairs." She pointed beyond them and both men turned swiftly, their sharp forms ready for combat at a moment's notice.
At the end of this first room was a spiraling staircase that led down into the bunker's belly. The metal structure was covered in hoarfrost and rust, but as they stepped onto it one by one, following the pale lights, it did not creak a single time.
They reached the bottom with nothing but their own footsteps to break the silence. Before them spawned a concrete corridor, which stretched both left and right, making sharp turns after a few dozen meters that did not allow them to see what could possibly lie beyond the first stretch. There were doors on either side, big metal things that looked as though they had been built to keep in the worst sort of monsters…
Lianka took command and marched stealthily to the very first door in front of them… it was the only one that they could see that was already ajar…
Bucky flanked her. She exchanged a glance with him and Steve, silently assuring that they had her back, that they were ready…
She slammed her foot into the door with all her strength and it went flying on its crumbling hinges, shrieking, slamming against the wall within the room as they burst through right behind it, weapons drawn, eyes darting…
Steve stared in abject horror at the all-too-familiar setting, while Bucky reeled in unspoken disgust, instantly recognizing the machines, the wires, the pods…
They had just stampeded into a cryogenic facility, but even amidst the terrible contraptions that lines the wall, destined to house augmented soldiers in frozen slumber, the thing that drew the eye the most was the hideously flamboyant skull painted upon the far wall, its mouth filled with tentacles that seemed to slither upon the concrete beneath the shaky, yellow lights.
"Hydra…" Bucky breathed tensely, barely realising he'd spoken. "No… no…"
"Damnit… damnit…" Steve snarled, recovering as quickly as he could, grasping his best friend by the arm to steady him and bring him back to reality… Bucky was still reeling, almost tittering on the edge of panic, his breath hitching…
"Buck." Steve snapped, his voice like the crack of a whip. "Snap out of it. Listen to me, Bucky… listen to me. They don't own you anymore… you don't belong to them. You're not the Winter Soldier and they can't control you. Shuri removed that from you."
Lianka glanced at them, her face unreadable.
It took a split moment, but Bucky regained his composure, slowly but surely. Both Steve and Lianka visibly relaxed at the change, glad they wouldn't have to deal with whatever demons this place had brought back to the soldier… he raised his weapon tentatively and nodded at them, his gesture lacking the usually cocky confidence.
They moved forward, nonetheless.
The room was vast and the ceiling, high. There appeared to be an array of catwalks up there, probably set up to ease the maintenance on the pipes and wires that ran over the ceiling and that clearly connected to all eight of the cryogenic pods within the room.
The trio cautiously made their way from pod to pod, pointing their weapons at each in turn as they examined the insides through the thick window upon their front… each and every single one of them was empty, housing neither living nor dead soldier. Steve did not know if he found this more or less alarming than the sight of the shot men and women he'd witnessed after Zemo had murdered them all, ending them right there in their frozen sleep. Meanwhile, Bucky's mouth was twisted in a permanent grimace of distraught disgust. Only Lianka seemed as placid as always, careful and sharp as she investigated the cryogenic units carefully.
"No sabotage... the pods are still functional." She murmured. "If there were soldiers here, they have all been awoken and freed."
"Bravo, little girl."
They veered in a single motion. Bucky was aiming right between the eyes of the enormous man that now stood in the doorway, while Lianka meant her bullet for his throat and Steve raised his shielded forearms, ready to take on whatever was left.
They recognized him at once.
"You survived your little friend exploding, it seems." Bucky jeered; his bravado renewed. Now that the pieces were coming together, he felt the ground grow steady beneath his feet.
The giant sneered. "Takes more than that to kill a Winter Soldier. You would know." His voice was guttural, laced with a thick, Slavic accent. His fists were slowly clenching and unclenching, the thick knuckles cracking menacingly.
"You're one of the soldiers that were kept here, aren't you?" Steve demanded, not expecting the giant to actually answer him.
"Him, and seven others. One of which you've already killed." The voice that responded was softer, deadlier, and belonged to smaller man that emerged from the shadows behind several machines in a corner of the room, coming closer with soundless, murderous footsteps. "But you needn't concern yourself. Once we have killed the girl and claimed you, you'll probably get to sleep in a place just like this. Once you're reset, of course."
"Over my dead body." Bucky snarled with a hatred he did not know he could express. His gun switched from the giant to the smaller man and he aimed carefully, finger tense around the trigger.
The man sneered in response. "We would rather not. You are valuable, after all, soldat. Zhelaniye. Rzhavyy. Semnad-…"
Bucky howled, but it was not a cry of pain or fear. It was animal, full of unspoken rage and loathing, a dormant fury at all the horror he'd done as a prisoner of his own body, lost in a melee of confusion and terror. His finger curled around the trigger without another thought, pulling it in fully.
Just as he went to fire, a shot resonated from above them, incredibly loud, and hit him squarely on the back of his metal hand, throwing his aim way off. His bullet went wild, snapping over a pipe and causing it to crack open, spewing hissing steam into the room.
Lianka's eyes rose up and to the shadowy catwalks, glaring. "The shooter. I've got her. Take care of these two."
Without another word, she aimed her gun and fired blindly, still unsure where the other soldier was. Her attack obviously forced the marksman to back off, as no further shots followed the first and Bucky was able to aim anew at the smaller man, who was closing in fast. He got one shot in, which missed the target by a hair, before being forced to enter hand-to-hand combat, barely managing to block the rapid fury of blows that came his way.
Meanwhile, Steve launched himself at the huge fighter, who lumbered menacingly towards the battle and engaged him without a thought, using his shields to deflect the monstrous blows he was receiving. The giant was powerful beyond words, but Steve was faster and endlessly enduring, so he folded his face into a frown of concentration and moved with fluidity and precision, blocking every blow he could not dodge.
Lianka reached a rusted ladder against the far wall, near where the enormous HYDRA logo was painted. She clambered up at once, flinching as a high-calibre bullet whistled by her head and ricochet off the metal bars, drawing sparks into her eyes. Still holding her gun in one hand, she aimed blindly anew, firing two shots that forced the marksman away just long enough for her to make her way onto the catwalk.
She barely had the time to widen her eyes and pivot upon herself that she was being fired at again by the same woman that had assaulted them in Russia, her long-range sniper gun held awkwardly in the confined space. Perhaps that was what spared the girl, because the bullet went wild, careening off the cement wall behind her and throwing dust and debris everywhere in its passage. Lianka raised her handgun and fired until her weapon was empty, before liberating the clip and starting to reload.
The shooter had hid behind her large rifle to deflect the incoming fire, but Lianka managed to land one shot upon the woman's shoulder. However, due to the enhanced soldiers' powers, the bullet wound lasted only a moment, before a fiery glow erupted from beneath the woman's skin, melting the wound back into unharmed flesh.
Already she was lunging at Lianka, using the heavy butt of her gun to snap the girl in the stomach, forcing her to double over as she dropped the clip she'd been trying to load. Fighting for her breath, Lianka rose to a smashing blow to her face, her gun slipping from her hand, but managed to block the following kick, viciously grasping the woman by the leg as pushed her back awkwardly, trying to make her stumble. The shooter flipped upon herself, yanking her leg free, but Lianka was expecting her: her punches flew like lightening, landing a few solid blows before the woman could regain her composure and return the favor.
Below, Bucky was holding his own against the smaller of the two fighters, using both his metal arm and the knife he'd unsheathed to attempt to kill his opponent. His face was set in an angry grimace and he was trying hard not to despair: he'd already landed two solid stabs that should have at least slowed the soldier down, but he'd quickly come to realise that he too was imbued with the powers that Liev had possessed… the feisty fighter had glowed red both times as his strange gifts healed him at once, allowing him to resume the battle with renewed energy. Nearby, Steve was taking a pretty bad beating: the huge fighter was nearly impossible to wear down as every blow he received seemed to be brushed off and every wound he took healed like his partners' did. Captain America had received several unforgiving blows to the face and ribs and had been thrown with unprecedented violence into one of the cryogenic pods, which shattered on impact and where glass and metal had torn at his skin, drawing blood.
He'd resumed the fight with a slight limp, careful to use his shields to deflect every blow: composed of vibranium, they were no match for even the giant fighter. But even as he slowed down, his opponent seemed to speed up and gain power, his massive blows getting slowly harder to dodge. He did not know how long he could hold this without help…
"Buck!" Steve called, as he realised what had to be done. "Switch!"
He pivoted with grace, throwing the giant off balance with the sudden change. Bucky reacted faster than he could think, twisting away form the smaller man, who momentarily remained frozen by the development, and rushed the giant as Steve passed him without a glance, headed for his target.
The giant regained his footing and sent out a monstrous punch, which Bucky met with his own, metal fist. The sound of breaking bones that followed would have made anyone sick, but it only brought a look of grim, angry satisfaction to Bucky and a howl of agony to the huge soldier. Steve could not say that he was better matched against the smaller soldier due to the various wounds slowing him down, but at least he was holding his own, dodging and blocking the hail of blows headed his way.
Above them, Lianka fought with ferocity. She'd managed to grab onto the woman's heavy rifle with both hands, yanking it forward violently before suddenly pushing back, loosing it from her grip and ripping it from her hands. She swung the ungainly metal around rapidly and caught the fighter under the chin with a head-snapping blow that sent her stumbling back. But the rifle was encumbering, so she tossed it aside, letting it fall from the catwalk and to the ground below with a loud clatter.
She leapt up to grab onto an overhead pipe and swung her entire body weight forward with an animal howl, propelling her feet with every ounce of strength right into the recovering woman's chest. Lianka's blow landed true and hard, catching the soldier in the solar plexus with enough force to send her sprawling back, completely unbalanced. They had slowly moved back during their fight and had reached a bend in the catwalk; as such, as the woman went flying back, she hit the rusted railing behind her and toppled right over as she completely lost her footing.
The woman did not scream: the only sound she made was a surprised grunt as she went over the railing, followed by a hollow groan as she smashed into the ground face-first twenty meters lower with bone-shattering force.
Lianka knew she was dealing with a heavily enhanced soldier: she did not wait or hesitate. With the grace granted to her by her own dosage of serum, she jumped over the railing and landed below heavily, throwing herself forward into a roll to soften the impact, rising rapidly to reach the woman, who was slowly struggling to get her arms out from under herself, her face still pressed into the concrete.
Lianka grabbed her by her short ponytail with a vicious, unyielding hand and pulled up, before smashing her face back down with every once of strength she could muster, pushing her entire body weight into it. There was a cracking sound, there was blood and even as the woman began glowing red to heal herself, Lianka repeated her horrible motion, snarling like a beast as she went, going on and on until the red light within the soldier died down to darkness…
"DES! NO!"
The sound came at her like a roar. Lianka's eyes snapped up to the rest of the fight, pupils wide and agitated as she breathed hard, adrenaline rushing through her veins so loudly it was almost all she could hear…
The giant fighter had screamed at her as he'd spotted what she had done to their female counterpart. He was holding Bucky by the throat in a vice grip at arm's length, his other arm completely limp and twisted at his side, seemingly in shock. He seemed to have taken several unforgiving blows to the head, as blood was pouring down his face from various cuts. Nearby, Steve was holding the other fighter in a headlock, but it was hard to tell if he was going to be able to hold on any longer…
Lianka did not hesitate. She rose and rushed to the large rifle she'd previously dropped from the catwalk, which lay just nearby. Hands slippery with blood, she seized it as she skidded down next to it, trained hands checking the chamber for ammunition, heart skipping a beat as she saw the oversized slug wedged in there, ready to be fired… she had one shot.
She took it.
The rifle was heavy, but her muscles did not feel it. She rested the butt against her shoulder and felt a stab of pain, but she ignored it. She raised the barrel, just as the large fighter regained his composure and moved Bucky so that he would be in her line of sight, with the hopes of protecting himself… Lianka's entire world slowed down as her vision narrowed to a single pinprick, a tiny spot at the end of the barrel…
Her breath left her lungs. Her finger curled around the trigger so gently it did not even budge her aim.
The slug went flying.
Bucky had closed his eyes and momentarily prayed. It was not like him to trust anyone other than Steve… he wanted to say he trusted Lianka, after what they'd been through, but at that moment he realised she was simply too much of a stranger for him to do that… where he knew that Steve would give him life to protect him, he did not know if the girl would sacrifice him to reach her end goal, to exact her revenge, even if he stood in her way. He did not know her, at all… it was glaringly obvious. Perhaps he needed to find himself held off the ground by the throat by a giant monster, his back to the girl as she fired a sniper rifle with a look of calculated fury to realise it.
He felt the rush of air as the bullet grazed him. There was no pain… she'd aimed well. But he could have sworn it literally caught a few of his stray hairs as it went.
In front of him, the giant's face exploded. One moment it was there, a look of confused terror upon it and the next… the next there was just blood and flesh and bits of bone everywhere…
No way he was recovering from that.
The hand holding him went limp and Bucky was free, his feet hitting the ground hard. Years of unforgiving training allowed him to move faster than he could think, to push his questions and doubts aside and to pivot upon himself, metal hand curled into a fist, rushing the few feet that separated him from Steve and the smaller man…
Steve still had him in a headlock, but was moments away from letting go, as the man struggled to get one hand behind him and break free… Bucky aimed his punch with great care, knowing he had about as much maneuverability as Lianka just had with him and snapped him vibranium fist right into the man's temple with the force of a speeding train.
The skull beneath the blow caved and the man convulsed, dying almost instantly as blood started leaking from his ears, his brain pulverised…
Steve let him go and fell back, panting, a mixed look of disgust and defeat upon his battered face.
Nearby, Lianka sank to her knees with a hollow sigh and started to shiver slightly, staring at the garish scene before her with tired, slowly blinking eyes. Bucky glanced at her, and she nodded at him unevenly, assessing that she was in an acceptable condition. He turned his attention to his old friend and realised that Steve was not…
He'd taken a brutal beating from the giant: one hand clutched to his flank; he was having trouble breathing. His face was marred with cuts that were still bleeding, courtesy of the cryogenic pod he'd smashed into. He looked generally unwell; his head bowed to the pain as he tried to find a comfortable position on the ground.
Lianka was next to him faster than Bucky could even react, her hands hovering over him as she tried to figure out where she could touch him without causing more damage.
"Blyad'…" She hissed, her face wrinkled with concern. The fact that she too was bleeding from a few cuts and had her own hands covered in blood seemed lost on her. She glanced at Bucky. "The first aid kit… where is it?"
"I'll get it."
They had shed their packs upon entering the facility… Bucky gritted his teeth against the pain in his limbs and rushed out of the room after picking up his gun and reloading it, just to be safe. He clambered up the metal steps two at a time and quickly checked the cavernous hall for enemies before traversing it stealthily and grasping at his pack, which contained what they needed. When he made his way back into the cryogenic room, he saw at once that Lianka had shed her coat to bundle it beneath Steve's head as she forced him to stay put on the ground and he tried in vain to convince her he was fine. The sight of her, wearing nothing but a shirt in this freezing room just so Steve could get some measure of comfort… it suddenly made him feel awful for not having trusted her when she took that shot… she'd done nothing but show them kindness and friendliness since they'd met. How could he be so shallow to think she'd put herself first, that she'd betray them?
Lianka glanced up at him and he failed to hide that look of confused shame from her… had she noticed? He reached her, giving her the med kit as she turned her attention to Steve and melted his face into an emotionless mask.
She opened the kit and pulled on a set of latex gloves to shield the wounds from infection. Afterwards, even through Steve's protests and hushed insisting that he was okay (as he failed to hide countless grimaces of pain), she cleaned every wound, stitching those that needed it and bandaged everything up securely before giving him the last dose of antibiotics to ensure he'd heal well. They were out of nanites, so the soldier would have to endure his broken ribs, but considering they were going to call Wakanda for extraction soon enough, he would get all the help he needed.
Bucky brought in his sleeping bag to bundle it beneath Steve's head as he too insisted that his friend remain still for the time being, allowing Lianka to regain her coat. She took it gratefully and turned her attention to Bucky, looking critically over the few wounds he'd sustained: the small man had been fast, but he'd been able to block nearly every blow and had used his vibranium arm to deflect the worst of it. He had nothing but a few scrapes to show for it.
"I'm fine, doll. How about you?" His own eyes searched her face. She smiled at him and flinched as the motion pulled at her split lip, which started to bleed anew. Bucky pulled a disinfecting pad from the kit and gently tapped at the wound while she watched him with a penetrating gaze…
"You didn't trust me with that shot, did you?"
Bucky's hand stilled as he swallowed and at least had the decency to look her in the eyes. His gaze was sad and confused… it told her all she needed to know.
"I'm sorry, Lia…"
She shook her head, gently pushing away the hand that was tending her face.
"It's okay." She rose and turned her gaze to the main computer in the room, which had miraculously sustained no damage. Bucky found he was unable to read her or what she felt. "Call Wakanda. It's time they picked us up, I think. I'll try and see if we can get any info out of this old thing…"
He nodded, even though she could not see him. He thought that her shoulders looked unusually tense, but it was hard to tell if he was imagining things.
Unable to put into words what he was feeling at the moment, the soldier left the room quietly and made his way back outside, where he activated the watch he'd been given back in Wakanda. It took but a moment for a signal to be established, whereas he simple asked for an extraction, knowing that the recipients would be able to pinpoint their position with ease and without his assistance. When that was done, he shrugged away the Siberian cold of this frozen wasteland and returned inside to join his friend and Lianka in the room below.
Steve's condition had stabilised, as was apparent by the fact that he had managed to sit up and was speaking softly to Lianka, who had booted up the old machine that serviced the cryogenic pods. She was going through lines of text and code that appeared to have been written in Russian. When she heard Bucky join them, she glanced slightly over her shoulder to acknowledge him, but her face was grim.
"There were eight soldiers here. I was able to copy their data to my USB key and we'll be able to check it more in dept in Wakanda… but they do appear to be the ones we've faced so far. At least… four of them are ones we've fought. Four others we have not yet seen. There's documentation on their augmentation, but I did not go into the details. I'm sorry to say… this is indeed a continuation of the Winter Soldier program. Hydra was not finished, it appears…"
Bucky walked up to her, his face ashen. The horrors of his past were slowly surfacing from his mind, like diseased animals bent on tearing him from within… he felt physically ill at the memory of what had been done to him… worse still: what he had done to others.
Lianka glanced at him, her mouth pressed into a tight line, and he missed how her hard gaze softened for just a split second at the sight of his silent struggle.
She seized his metal hand in her own and gave it a reassuring squeeze, causing him to glance at her with a wounded look, guilt and regret mixing with his feeling of helpless grief.
"It's alright." She said stiffly, perhaps trying to sound comforting.
He glanced at the screens, which were still spewing their Russian details about the terrible things that had been done here.
"They sent these soldiers after Wakandans… after us… why?"
She shrugged helplessly. "It does not say. They told us, back in Moscow, that they had wanted to infiltrate Wakanda. I still believe it was because they desired to acquire their technology. But now we have proof… confirmation that Hydra orchestrated all this. That they are not as dead as they would have us think. There are four more soldiers out there just like those we faced. They are dangerous, violent and deadly. We need to head back and prepare to take them down."
Bucky nodded slowly, his eyes leaving the buzzing screen to find the young woman standing next to him. She was watching him carefully and her expression was impossible to define. His gaze dropped sadly.
"I'm sorry… for not trusting yo-…"
"Don't be." She cut him off. Then, she pulled him closer by the metal hand she was still holding and kissed him gently on the lips, shutting her eyes as she did so. The motion was a tad stiff, perhaps because she was still irked at him, and he grasped her face softly with his human hand as he returned the kiss, feeling a warmth spread through him that brought him miles away from the cold underground in which they stood.
Above them, the loud sound of a jet engine vibrated against the ground, shaking the air around them.
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There you go guys! Review and let me know how you've liked it! Imma start writing the next chapter right away, because a lot of crazy things are going to happen there!