I just can't seem to help myself, can I? I told myself that I would write for many fandoms this Whumptober, but the MCU is still dominating. This makes 5 prompts covered by this fandom this year – so far! I guess I just can't help but associate Bucky and Darcy with whump.

This is part of a fanfic idea I've had bouncing around in my head for a while, but I DON'T think I'm up for making it into a full-fleged fic, especially as I'm kind of fuzzy on how to start it and how to finish it. So, I'll just summarise the beginning part.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Marvel Cinematic Universe or any of the characters therein.

WORD COUNT: 774

It wasn't how they expected the day to go. Bucky and Steve had dropped by the astrophysics lab to deliver lunch, as Jane insisted that she was on the verge of a breakthrough, and there was no time for Darcy to make a lunch run herself. Then, something funny had happened to one of the machines, and before Jane could fix it, a portal had opened up and sucked all four of them in.

They'd been dumped into a huge pile of snow in the middle of a forest somewhere, and at first, they didn't think they'd travelled that far. At least, they were pretty sure they were still on Earth. They weren't wrong about that, but there was another factor that complicated things far more severely. At least, if they were on another planet, Darcy or Jane could scream at the heavens until Heimdall came and picked them up.

No, their situation was much worse than that. It became very apparent when they found themselves surrounded by a group of men with guns. A very familiar group of men with guns, especially to Bucky and Steve.

"What the hell?" the man who looked exactly like Bucky – only with shorter hair and less scruff – murmured as he got a good look at them.

"Holy shit," Darcy breathed, looking back and forth between the two of them, "Jane, did you accidentally build a time machine?"

Jane had protested, but eventually conceded that, yes, she had accidentally sent the four of them back in time, which was why they were now surrounded by Captain America and his Howling Commandoes in early 1944. It took them a while to convince the soldiers that their story really was true, but after Steve and Bucky answered a few questions that nobody else could (mostly Steve, as Bucky's memories were still iffy at certain points), they managed it.

Unfortunately, they didn't have much time to debate how the hell they were going to get back – or explain how Steve and Bucky still looked so young decades into the future – before a squadron of HYDRA soldiers attacked.

The Commandoes were good. Steve and Bucky as a team were damn good. But the combination of the element of surprise plus one goon taking Jane hostage resulted in the heroes being taken captive, surprisingly without any serious casualties on their side.

It quickly became apparent, however, that there was more to it than that. The HYDRA soldiers had come prepared to restrain not one, but three super-soldiers. That set off warning bells for each of the accidental time-travellers.

Both versions of Steve went along willingly with all the others having guns pressed against their heads. And while Bucky didn't fight their captors, it was clear that he was fighting with himself to allow himself to be restrained.

First was a set of heavy-duty shackles, two cuffs for the wrists and one for the neck, all attached by stiff metal bars instead of chains. Then came the two sets of leg restraints, which went around his ankles and around the knee area to keep him from kicking out. Last was some sort of electronic 'collar' that went around his upper left arm and shut down the entire robotic limb, making it useless. Throughout the entire process, multiple guns were aimed at his head, ready to put him down should he fight back.

The Commandoes were stunned and more than a little frightened by the fact that their enemies seemed to treat Barnes – who, to them, was just a normal soldier from Brooklyn – like the most dangerous person in the group, even next to not one, but two Captain Americas. Yet, at the same time, it made logical sense to them, because in the short fight that had preceded this, he had racked up a kill count equal to that of all the non-powered soldiers in the group combined, and demonstrated more than a few moments of enhanced strength and speed, along with some skills that their Barnes swore he didn't currently have.

His fellow time-travellers, on the other hand, were more concerned about his reaction to being once more at the (nonexistent) mercy of HYDRA. He'd gone completely pale when the first set of shackles had been brought out, and now he was shaking all over, his entire body so tense he looked ready to break at any moment. And he was breathing harshly, like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs.

"It'll be okay," Steve – his Steve – assured him, "We'll figure this out."

But how, he didn't know, as they were dragged through the snow and towards whatever HYDRA planned for them.

Just to make this clear: I am not planning on turning this into a bigger fic. I am not planning to explain how the hell the future!HYDRA agents got into the past. I may plan on writing an escape scene for a later prompt, but that may or may not happen (I'll still leave this marked as incomplete unless I change my mind). This is just the only solid part of the concept that formed in my head, and frankly, I already have a very long to-do list and recently got a new job that will take up more of my time. If you want to adopt this fic idea, go ahead – just let me know when you do so, because I'd like to read it myself. But any pleas to write a sequel or an expansion of this will be utterly ignored. End of discussion.

On a happy note, I am pleased to report that the follow-up fic to Chapter 14 (Torture) of last year's Whumptober, 'Dahlia Parkinson Is Dead', is almost complete! It will probably be a little over 10 chapters. Once this Whumptober is over, I'll be focusing back on 'Two For The Price Of One', but then I might move on to that, simply because it's closer to being done.