Author's Note: Hello! So, obviously I didn't participate in Whumptober this year... October was just way too busy for me this year that adding Whumptober would have been way too stressful. Buuuut I've done Whumptober for the last three years in a row and it just didn't feel right completely skipping it this year! So even though the challenge has officially ended, I thought I'd still unofficially do the challenge! So instead of Whumptober, shall we call it... Whumpember? *cheesy drum shot* I may bounce back and forth between whumping Bucky and Clint, I haven't decided yet and will just play it by ear for each prompt. I will put trigger warning at the beginning of each chapter for anyone who needs them.

Trigger Warnings: Restraints, Strangulation

Day One
A Little Out of the Ordinary
Adverse Effects | Unconventional Restraints | "This wasn't supposed to happen"

It was not easy to restrain a Super Soldier.

Actually, that wasn't true. It was next to impossible to restrain a Super Soldier. In fact, with enough time – and of course the privilege of free will – Bucky was able to get out of probably just about 98% of the restraints that were used on him.

Unfortunately, this apparently fell within that goddamn 2%.

He woke up standing flush up against a wall with pressure on his wrists and neck. As he shifted around, trying to get his bearings suddenly the chain around his neck started to tighten. He panicked for a moment, but in his panic the chain only got tighter until he was gasping in barely enough air for consciousness.

"Calm yourself, Winter Soldier," a low, ominous voice drawled from somewhere in the darkness in front of him. "Or you will die by your own hand."

Despite his better judgment, in his panicked state Bucky took the advice and stilled himself. Shockingly, as he did the pressure around his throat lessened and he was able to heave in a full breath into half starved lungs.

Bucky blinked and tried to get a look at his surroundings, but couldn't see much passed a few feet in front of him. So instead he turned his attention to his restraints. There were chains around each of his wrists that tightly held them up against the wall. And then, of course, there was the chain around his neck, that held him just a little two high for comfort, having to stand almost on his tiptoes to keep from strangling himself.

At a glance it didn't seem like this should be a problem. He could snap metal chains like most men could pull apart licorice. But, when he went to pull his left arm away from the wall, suddenly the chain around his neck began to tighten again. He pulled the chain harder, his wrist inching away from the wall, but the chain around his neck only got tighter to the point where Bucky couldn't get in any breath at all. As darkness began to push in on the edges of his vision, Bucky allowed his wrist to snap back to the wall… and the pressure around his throat ceased again.

A cruel laughter floated to him from somewhere in the darkness as Bucky finally stopped and took better stock of his restraints. He looked down at his left wrist, eyeing the seemingly simple chain that wrapped around it. But then he saw that the chain wasn't just attached to the wall… each end of the chain actually disappeared into the wall behind him. He looked at his other wrist to confirm the same was true for that one. And then he tested the theory, carefully pulling one hand and then the other, noting how each shift corresponded with movement around his neck.

That's when it finally dawned on him. These weren't individual chains holding each wrist and his neck to the wall. This was one long chain that wrapped around one wrist, wove into the wall behind him and came back out to wrap around his throat before it wove its way back into the wall and then came back out to wind around his other wrist. So he couldn't put any pressure on the chains around his wrists without literally strangling himself.

Clever bastards.

Bucky spent an inordinate amount of time testing different angles and pressures in an attempt to free himself, but every move he made only served to drain his energy. But what else could he do? There was no guarantee anyone was coming for him. And he'd be damned if he just stood here to die a slow and passive death.

Hours had passed – maybe even a day? Or two? There was never any shift in the darkness around him so he really couldn't be sure – before he finally decided on a last ditch effort. All his muscles burned and he knew he couldn't keep this up forever. It was time to put all the cards out on the table and let the chips fall where they may.

Bucky steeled himself, taking several deep breaths in preparation. He decided to focus on his left wrist, since his vibranium arm had the best chance of breaking the chain before he lost consciousness. He carefully wound his vibranium fingers into a fist, took in one last deep breath… and with one fluid motion he pulled as hard as he could.

All too soon his chest began to burn. Then his lungs began to jerk and seize against his will. Still, he did not let up. Not even when his neck pulse in agonizing pain as the chain cut into his skin. Not even when the darkness crept in on the edges of his vision. Not even when his lungs screamed at him for air. Not even when his vision completely whited out…

And then, there was nothing.

XxXx

"Buck? Bucky? Bucky, can you hear me?"

As Bucky slowly blinked his eyes open, the world blurred and tilted disorientingly around him. There were hands on his left shoulder and under his left side and he instinctively jerked away from the intrusion.

"Easy, Buck, take it easy. It's me."

"Sam?" Bucky rasped, wincing as the word crawled out of his throat like sandpaper. There was still pressure around his throat, but there was also a measure of blessed air that flowed in and out of his lungs as he sucked in each breath.

"Hang on, I gotta get you outta this before you strangle yourself… again, apparently."

Bucky blinked and finally was able to comprehend his current predicament. He had in fact been able to snap the chain as it came out of the wall on his left side, but it must have been mere milliseconds before he had lost consciousness. His left arm was loose, but the chain had snagged somewhere in the wall as he had sagged off to one side. It was some kind of miracle that the chain had snagged where it did and there was just barely enough slack that he hadn't finished strangling himself while he had been unconscious.

Sam worked quickly, propping his shoulder under Bucky's left armpit to support him as he worked to unwind the chain and pull it free from that side. Then he yanked the chain away from Bucky's neck and Bucky heaved and coughed on the first full breath he had been able to take in who knows how long. In another moment, Sam had freed Bucky's other hand, and Bucky sank to the floor, still coughing and painfully gasping air into his starved lungs.

"I can't even begin to tell you how stupid you are," Sam scolded as he continued to support Bucky. "You coulda killed yourself before I got here."

"Wasn'... wasn' sure you… you were comin'" Bucky gasped, each word scraping up his throat like broken glass.

"Well, then you're even more epically stupid than I originally thought," Sam chided. "Now, no more talking. It hurts my throat just listening to you. C'mon, let's get the hell outta here."