Chapter four – Think fast
. Warning for this chapter language and trauma.
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After a long and quiet ride back to the apartment block Sam helped a reluctant Bucky up the stairs to his floor, once they reached the top of the stairs Bucky held onto the wall and turned to his friend.
Sam had his arm held out ready to catch Bucky in case he fell. "I got it Sam thanks" Bucky told him offering his a fake smile. Truth was it hurt, even if he knew it wouldn't kill him it still hurt like a bitch. "Thanks for taking the brunt of the blast back there, I had no idea it was a bomb or I wouldn't of shot him" Bucky told him honestly feeling bad for his rash decision that put them both in danger.
Sam smiled and patted his friends shoulder gently. "I know man don't beat yourself up I need you alert okay. If these dicks are starting to surface again we need to be ready for anything" Sam told him with a serious look on his face.
Bucky nodded in agreement. "When they surface we will be ready" He told him in a confident voice, so confident he surprised himself.
Sam smiled and nodded. "Get some sleep, and keep pressure on that. You sure you don't need me to walk you back to your apartment?" Sam asked raising a brow, he knew Bucky would be to proud to ask for help.
Bucky smiled and shook his head, amused seeing Sam so concerned for him. "Night Sam, thanks" He told him Sam smiled and began to walk down the stairs back to his floor.
"Night tough guy" He heard a sarcastic voice call out. Once Sam wasn't in earshot he began to hobble back to his apartment groaning in pain every step of the way, he led the wall for support until he reached his door.
He jammed his hand into his pocket and pulled out the key, trying to keep one hand on the wound he flipped the key in his metal hand and it stilled falling on the floor. Bucky lent his head against the wall and groaned loudly "Fuck" He muttered loudly.
He turned until his back was against the wall and began to slowly slide down it gritting his teeth as the pain in his chest escalated. "Bucky" A high pitch voice shouted. It has been hours since he'd actually been shot, his leather jacket could only stop the bleeding so much, his head was starting to spin.
He had his back against the wall with a hand over his wound, blood stained his fingers as it slipped in-between them. He felt light his eyes fluttering open and shut, he knew he'd lost a lot of blood but he wasn't worried, he'd had worse injury's and always pulled through, he just needed to put pressure on it and get a good night sleep.
He didn't look up but he recognised the voice right away. "I'm fine" he managed to whisper through the pain "Dropped my key that's all" his speech was slightly slurred he tried pulling himself up using the wall before he knew it Lucky had her hand on his chest putting pressure on the wound.
"The blood" She whispered with wide eyes as she stared at her now red hand. Bucky saw her distress and forced a small smile at her.
"I'm fine" His voice still a whisper. She ignored him and wrapped his vibranium arm around her neck pulling him closer on her body to support him, She grunted quietly as she pulled him off the floor. He tried not to put to much weight on her knew if he lent on her with his full weight he would crush her. She grabbed the key from his hand and shoved it in the lock kicking his door open and pulling him in. "Lucky" his tone was objective he didn't want her here and he didn't want her to worry, he didn't deserve that from her after everything.
She ignored him again as she pulled him over to his sofa gently lowering him down onto it. He noticed she was pretty strong for woman of her size, either that or she was pumped up on adrenalin. He stared at her for a few seconds, her white vest now covered in his blood as where her hands. He looked up at her face as she hovered above him her big blue eyes filled with worry as she stared down at him. "Please let me help or call you an ambulance, Bucky that's a lot of blood" She begged quietly. He momentarily felt something else in his chest, something pleasant, she cared.
He groaned in pain as he lent back into the sofa. "I will heal quickly it kind of the only perk of being a super soldier" He mumbled with a small smile on his face, her expression of worry didn't change. "I don't need an ambulance and I don't do hospitals" He added loosing his smile a little.
She swallowed and nodded understanding. She still had her hand on his chest, she looked down at the blood seeping through her fingers and knew she had to do something to stop it. "Let me help you then" She ordered. It was pointless using up extra energy to fight the frantic woman off him. He just closed his eyes and allowed her to look at the wound. She grabbed his shirt by the neck line and tore it in half exposing his bare chest. Bucky's eyes shot open in surprise of the move, she didn't look fazed in the slightest. Smart, he thought to himself, easier than trying to pull it over his head.
She eyed the wound and shook her head a little "You've been shot" She whispered. She tore another part of his ruined shirt and pressed it on the gun shot wound.
He clenched his eyes closed and hissed in pain as she ran the fabric over the gun shot "I got the bullet out already on the drive back here" He said through his gritted teeth.
When he opened his eyes he looked at hers, she was staring down at the wound as she cleaned it, he noticed a tear fall from her eye. He frowned at the thought of her actually being worried about him after how he had treated her. "I am fine, by tomorrow it will of healed up mostly" He told her as he gently grabbed her hand and pulled it away from his chest.
Her wet eyes darted to meet his soft ones, her expression was stern. "Humour me" She ordered and with that he let go of her hand freeing her to do what she wanted to him. The shirt wasn't enough she knew she needed more medical supplies. "Wait here don't move" She ordered as she sprung up from his sofa and ran towards his door.
"Okay" He mumbled. Once she had left the apartment he looked at the wound and groaned, he sat up and pulled the remainder of his shirt of and let it drop to the floor. He pulled himself up from the couch and walked slowly into his kitchen grabbing the counter top for support. The blood trickled down his chest but he ignored it, instead he flicked the switch on his coffee machine and pressed a button to make it brew leaving a bloody mark on the machine.
"What did I just say?" A voice shouted, he turned around and looked at her with a blank expression. She stood in the doorway holding a small white box and was glaring back at him.
"Coffee?" He asked in a small voice.
She marched over to him and grabbed his arm dragging him back to the sofa, she didn't feel bad when he yelped in pain, he deserved it for trying to make coffee whilst bleeding out. "Sit down, what the hell is wrong with you?" she asked pushing him back down.
He rolled his eyes at her persistence. "It's not a big deal I get shot all the time" He told her honestly, fair enough he hadn't been shot in an area this bad in a while but that wasn't the point.
She stared at him in disbelief. "Oh well in that case lets just drink coffee and pretend there isn't a hole in your body shall we?" She asked in a voice laced with sarcasm as she threw the box down on the sofa next to him. Bucky laughed and immediately yelped in pain putting his hand over his chest. "Did I say something funny?" She asked in an annoyed tone as she riffled through the box grabbing out dressings and antiseptic wipes to clean the area.
He laughed again a little but quickly stopped himself because the action caused pain in his chest. "No I just, nothing sorry" He managed to get out in-between the laughter and yelping in pain.
She poured some alcohol onto a clean cloth and frowned at him. "No tell me what is it?" She asked still looking annoyed.
He smiled and bit his lip to stop himself laughing again. "You're just so tiny and angry" He said before laughing again, he didn't usually act like this he was putting it down to blood loss. She glared at him which only made he want to laugh more. "I don't mean to be rude I'm sorry" He told her finally managing to stop laughing.
She shook her head and placed the cap back onto the bottle of alcohol. "I may be tiny but I am strong don't underestimate me" She warned, she pressed the cloth against his bare skin and he filched, judging by his closed eyed and expression on his face it hurt, she smiled. "Not made of steel after all are we?" She asked her tone sounding a little too happy.
He opened one eye and looked down at her noticing her smile. "You don't have to look so pleased" He moaned. She cleaned the wound carefully, almost like she was trained to do such a thing. The blood didn't seem to bother her at all. She cleaned the wound and decided to put a dressing over it, She knew he would only complain if she attempted to stitch it. After she was done she grabbed all the blood soaked towels and papers and placed them into a plastic bag and threw them into the white box.
She got up from the sofa and walked over to the kitchen to wash the blood of her hands. Bucky ran his hand over the neat dressing that covered his chest, his fingers where much rougher than her soft delicate ones, he was almost disappointed she had finished. "What happened?" She asked absent-mindedly as she ran her hands under the water. Bucky looked up at her "Sorry I don't mean to pry" She mumbled shutting off the water and grabbing a nearby towel to wipe her hands on.
He didn't understand why she would care why he was in that state, he didn't even know why she had helped him in the first place. "It's okay. Just a mission. Me and my buddy Sam we kind of go after bad people, lock them away and serve some justice... or at least we try" he told her offering a small smile.
Lucky cocked her head to the side "It went wrong?" She asked hoping the answer was yes and this wasn't the usual after work look for him.
He pressed his lips into a firm line and shook his head. "Tonight they where expecting us. They had a bomb waiting" He told her. "I messed up and Sam almost got hurt" he added.
Her eyes grew large. "A fucking bomb" She shouted ignoring the second part of his explanation. She walked back over to him and sat beside him again, She gestured for him to sit up and he complied. She took another wipe and pressed it gently against a small cut above his eyebrow he didn't realise was even there. Her warm fingers gently brushed against his skin, he found himself closing his eyes and enjoying her touch.
"How the hell are you so casual right now you have been shot and almost got blown up" She scolded him. She actually sounded concerned it made him smile.
He didn't open his eyes. "It's my job, I don't mind" He said still smiling.
He could of swore he heard her eyes roll. "You're insane" she muttered under her breath knowing he'd obviously hear it.
"I'll agree with that" He admitted chuckling lightly. She pulled her warm hand away from his head and sat back her eyes darting around his face looking for more cuts, she found one a small cut on his jaw line, not bad at all but she still wanted to clean it.
Bucky opened his eyes as she gently placed her hands on either side of his head and tiled it slightly, Bucky felt a jolt in his body when she touched him liked that, he just hoped his face hid it well. Once his head was in the right angle and grabbed another wipe and gently pressed on the cut. She noticed he was gritting his teeth, she felt it. She couldn't help but let her eyes wonder from his jaw to his lips and then to his eyes, luckily for her he was staring at the floor. "So does paracetamol work on a super soldier?" She asked forcing the thought of his lips out of her mind.
"Doubt it" He said causally.
She pulled a face and he laughed. "Well you will just have to suffer then" She joked.
"Buck, your doors open man. I texted Fury he is going to look into it he said-" Sam stopped talking when he saw a shirtless Bucky sat with his neighbour Lucky on her knees beside him with a wipe pressed to his jaw. The both looked at him shocked, he just stood there a smiled. "Lucky how nice to see you" He said in an overly happy tone. He was grinning ear to ear, ignoring the scowl coming from Bucky.
Lucky smiled and pulled away from Bucky much to his dismay and discarded of the used wipe in the bag with the rest of them. "I just was helping Bucky out" She told him as she jumped up from the sofa. Lucky pushed the bloody rags into the box and sealed it picking it up from it's spot on the sofa beside her. "So I'll take this and get out of your hair, thanks for humouring me" She said quickly to Bucky forcing a smile, truth be told Sam caught her off-guard and she felt flustered. It didn't help when he smiled back showing his perfectly white teeth. Bucky didn't even care Sam was staring at the laughing silently.
"Anytime Doc" he said to her quietly, she blushed slightly at the nickname and turned away.
She smiled as she passed Sam. "Bye Sam" She was trying to act casual which was hard when he was grinning like that.
He took a step back and opened the door for her. "Bye Lucky" He said wearing a Cheshire cat sized grin. Once she left he closed the door and looked over to Bucky who was already glaring all signs of his happiness had left his face.
"Don't" He warned pointing at Sam as he spoke.
Sam laughed and sauntered over to Bucky looking smug. "So I leave you alone for ten minutes to go and make important work calls and you end up half naked playing doctor with your cute neighbour?" He asked raising an eyebrow at his friend. Bucky hated himself for smiling at the comment. "James Buchanan Barnes are you smiling?" Sam teased.
"I hate you" Bucky groaned.
Sam laughed and sat down in the chair across from Bucky, Bucky brought his leg up to lie down on the Sofa knowing he probably wouldn't make it to bed tonight. "You know what I'd probably hate me to if I where you" Sam said with a smile still on his face. Bucky shook his head as he fidgeted to get into a comfortable position. "You okay need me to plump your pillow?" Sam asked sarcastic.
Bucky rolled his eyes. "Tell me what Fury said" He ordered.
Sam nodded. "Well he didn't sound surprised at all so I don't know if there is a story there but he said he would look into it. He said stay vigilant, if they know we are around they could target us" He told him with a sigh at the end.
Bucky closed his eyes and gave up on trying to get comfy "Great" he muttered.
"Before you get all doom and gloom on me remember I have your back, Hydra aren't going to get anywhere near you again Bucky" Sam told him.
"I know I just get so -"
"Paranoid, I hadn't noticed" Sam cut him off. Bucky gritted his teeth and tried rolling onto his side much to Sam's amusement, it wasn't often Bucky came of worse than Sam in a fight. "You look like your in pain man, need me to go get Lucky to give you a back rub?" He teased.
Bucky looked at him with a glint of amusement in his eye. "I could kill you so easily" He whispered holding his vibranium hand up and waving at him.
Sam cackled "Then who would you have to complain to?" He asked amused at the threat, Bucky shook his head at his annoying best friend.
Lucky rushed back into her apartment she threw the white box on her counter and pulled out the bag of bloody towels she said she would discard. She smiled to herself as she tossed them on her kitchen counter and opened the cupboard underneath her sink to pull out a metal briefcase. She lifted it onto the counter and unlocked it using her fingerprint on a digital pad. Once she opened the case she eyed all the vile and testing equipment in front of her, she knew she had a long night ahead of her.
With a smile still on her face she pulled her cell from her pocket and dialled a number, she held the phone to her ear still smiling. "Sir?" She asked once she heard someone on the other end of the line. "I have it. I have his blood I am testing it as we speak I should have results in the morning about the serum that runs through those veins of his" Lucky sounded ecstatic she smiled the biggest smile as she held the phone to her ear.
"Excellent work soldier, you know what this means?" A refined British accent asked back.
She took a deep breath and smiled. "You can fix me?" She asked in a soft tone "make me strong again?".
There was a chuckle from the other side of the phone "Exactly my little soldier, you and an army. Tell me how are you feeling?" The voice asked not really sounding too concerned.
She bit her lip "I feel weak, the serum I was injected with is nothing like his. He is strong, super humanly fast and heals quickly" She passed over what little information she already had about Bucky and how his serum worked.
"Your tracking him too?" The voice asked.
She nodded and smiled. "Yes I placed a tracker in his cell phone when I had access, I have sent you the information to access the tracker" She told him feeling proud of herself.
"I am impressed, it took you long enough solider no wonder you are feeling weak it took you a long time to get his blood" The voice sounded annoyed but she didn't mind if anything she was disappointed in herself that it took her this long.
"I had to be sure it was him. He is much stronger than me, a physical fight wouldn't of gone in my favour sir" She said in a quiet voice only telling half the truth.
The voice on the phone sighed at her excuse. "If he causes any problems to the operation you know what you need to do?" He asked changing the subject.
She nodded. "Take him alive" She answered bluntly remembering her mission.
"He is no good to us dead. Test the blood and send me the results by morning. His blood could be the answer to all of our problems" The voice added.
"Yes Sir" She said eagerly to please.
"I'll be waiting" The voice said before the line went dead.
She still smiled when the line went dead placing her phone back on the side. She picked up a pair of gloves from the case and got to work testing every aspect of the blood with the high tech equipment provided. She craved the praise of her boss, she didn't know why but it was the only positive in her life, she lived to serve and she was happy with that.
Bucky woke early at his usual time 4.00AM he groaned as he tried to sit up on the sofa, he looked down at his dressing and noticed it was blotted a little with red. He reached up and peeled the dressing back and noticed the wound hadn't fully healed. "Great" he muttered knowing he had to get through the day with the hole still in his chest. He left it to long to treat, it must have been the blood loss that was causing the healing to take longer than usual. He was a super soldier not immortal after all, something Sam had to remind him off from time to time. He led back down on the sofa and attempted to get some more sleep hoping that would help him heal quicker. His brain wasn't ready to dive back into his nightmares quite yet, he led restlessly on the couch internally cursing his current situation.
She had been awake all night testing his blood for traces of the serum and what it contained, once she had enough results she took pictures and sent them to her boss. Her eyes where heavy and a little red from working so relentlessly through the night. She stood back and smiled at her work before she packed everything back into the case and hid it away underneath her kitchen sink.
She wondered into her bedroom and threw herself onto the comfy bed. She snuggled in with a smile on her face thinking of the good work she did and how she would be rewarded by it. Her smile faded slowly as she pictured Bucky, hurt Bucky. She tried to shake the feeling of guilt off, he was her mission and that's all there was too it.
She sighed at her thoughts stopping her from sleeping, she pictured him sat on the floor bleeding from his chest and how for a while she was actually concerned for him, him getting shot worked into her plan though, it was easier to get a sample of his blood that way, she didn't have to break in and try to extract it from him herself.
She tossed and turned and groaned in annoyance at her brain for picturing the tall handsome man. "Stop it" she muttered burying her face into her pillow. She wasn't allowed to get attached or show real emotion, she knew what would happen if she did. She shuddered at the thought of the torture she would have to endure if anyone found out she actually helped Bucky because she wanted to and not just because of her mission to get a blood sample.
Her thoughts where thankfully interrupted by the sound of her phone. She lent over to the bed side table and grabbed it.
She unlocked it and opened the message.
You need to bring him in ASAP. Back up will arrive in one hour
She sat bolt upright in her bed with a horrified look on her face. "Fuck" She whispered, she stared to feel herself sweating, fear crept in. She had to take down the winter soldier, her memory flicked back to the night he burst through her door and strangled her effortlessly.
Bucky was awoken by pounding on his door. He jumped straight up ignoring the pain shooting through his chest. He quickly grabbed a gun from his coffee table and clicked the safety off ready to shoot if he needed to. He walked slowly over to the door, carefully walking so he didn't make a sound. He looked through the peep hole in his door and saw Lucky on the other side crying. He shoved the gun in his waistband of his joggers and unlocked the door, opening it. "Bucky" She cried as he opened. the door, he stood there for a second with a horrible feeling in his gut something had happened to her.
Cliff hanger for you, next chapter should be out maybe tomorrow, I have two versions of it, both totally different so I just need a few hours to decide where I want it to go. If you have any feedback please feel free to review or message me, thanks to the ones who have so far.