It was true. Hydra was trying to come out of the ground. Bucky immediately focused on burning the heads for good this time. Scouting missions had confirmed activity in Europe and Bucky was organizing his teams accordingly. The team he would be personally leading was going to be gone for months. Bucky felt guilty about leaving his family for that long, but if it meant his son would grow up in a free world, Bucky was glad to do this.
"You had better come back to me alive." Rosie ordered as she stood with her husband next to the door.
"I came back form war once. I can do it again." Bucky smiled cheekily to mask the turmoil storming inside him.
"I'm serious." Rosie planted her hands on either side of his face. "I can't raise our kids without you."
"Wait, what." He paused at her slip. "Are you?"
A tear trialed down Rosie's face. "I am. And I need you to come home." Never in her life did Rosemarie think she would be a crying pregnant lady, but here she was.
Bucky wiped her tears away. "I promise you, I'll be back."
"You better be." Rosie agreed before dragging him down for a kiss.
X-X-X
Bucky had arrived in Europe optimistic about shutting Hydra down quickly and being home in time for dinner. However, they'd been there for two months now and were no closer to finishing their mission than when they'd started.
As soon as they managed to shut one base down, another popped up. So far, every Hydra agent they'd managed to capture was an underling and either didn't know anything or took a cyanide capsule. It felt like all they'd managed to get was a whole lot of nothing and Bucky was ready to scream.
"Agent Barnes!" A lower ranking agent called as he entered Bucky's office. They had been using an old S.S.R. building as their home base in Europe. As much as Bucky appreciated being able to use the base, he was getting sick of being there.
"What is it, Gibbs?" He called, looking up from his work.
"The latest scouting mission is back. They say they found the enemy's headquarters, sir."
"Finally! Call everyone in for a briefing in an hour. And get both strike teams ready to move out." Bucky was out of his chair and through the office door in a flash. Gibbs sprinted to keep up with him.
"Bucky!" Bucky turned at the sound of his name to see Dum Dum. "We found it!" He cheered.
"And I'm going to destroy it." Bucky promised.
X-X-X
It was a trap. A big, bloody trap. Half of the strike force was dead and the other half was scrambled and fighting for their lives. Bucky should have known, it had been too easy. His teams were ambushed the second they were within sight of the base.
Bucky had only barley managed to call HQ and order an air strike. This base, if it even was a base, would be destroyed and hopefully, some Hydra scum would go with it.
"Gibbs!" Bucky shouted over the frenzy, "call everyone back! This place is gonna blow!"
Bucky didn't wait around for a reply. Instead, he sprinted into the fray to pull his men back himself. Thankfully, they hadn't yet managed to breach the fort and his men were already outside. He just had to keep them far enough away.
By the time Bucky had reached the thickest part of the action, the men who still had their radios were in full retreat. Armed with his rifle, Bucky did his best to defend his men's backs while checking for anyone left behind.
His gut rolled at the sight of his dead agents. They were so young and inexperienced. He shouldn't have let them in the field. One of the bodies moved, drawing his attention.
"Help… Agent…" he called out.
Bucky lowered his gun and bent to haul the younger man over his shoulder. "It's alright. I've got you."
Bullets were flying. Explosions went off, signaling that the air strike finally came. It was time to leave. With one final glance behind him, Bucky took off, following his men. The injured agent a dead weight against his shoulder only minimally slowed his pace.
Bucky thought they were in the clear, he really did. He must have been drastically off because an explosion went off three feet from his ten o'clock, knocking him off his feet. Bucky lost his grip on the other agent as shrapnel from the bomb tore at his prosthetic arm and torso. Then everything went black.
I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!