AN: I uploaded two chapters today, so if you skipped to the newest chapter (this one) make sure you go back and read chapter 4 as well. Happy reading~


A few hours later, at what Bucky estimated was early morning, they set their plan in motion.

Since the first day with Tony, Bucky had made it a habit to keep track of the bandits guarding the door. They usually guarded in sets of two, with six shift changes throughout the day, with the exception of the very early morning shift. Bucky didn't know what the reason was - if it was the same guards every day and one had a quirk, or if there was another duty the morning shift had to perform - but every morning, at what Bucky estimated to be around dawn, one of the guards left, for anywhere from five to fifteen minutes.

Which meant, for at least five minutes every day, there was only one guard at Bucky and Tony's door.

Bucky pressed his ear to the door and listened carefully. Five minutes passed, then ten, but Bucky could still hear two voices speaking on the other side. Then, just as Bucky was starting to worry that the move had disrupted the guards' schedule, he heard one say something to the other, and heavy footsteps as someone jogged away.

Smirking, Bucky pushed away from the door and gave Tony a thumbs-up.

"Okay," Tony breathed, and squared his shoulders. "Showtime."

Bucky gave him an encouraging smile, then dashed over to his cot.

"Hey!" Tony yelled, and banged on the door. "Hey! Hello? I need some help in here!" He banged on the door a few more times, his shouting becoming more panicked, until the guard snarled something back and the swung the door open, sword pointed threateningly at Tony.

"What?" he snarled, pushing the door closed behind him and motioning for Tony to back up a few steps.

Tony shifted nervously and pointed towards Bucky. "I think - I think he's sick," he said, hugging himself. "He's not - I can't wake him up."

The guard frowned at Tony - likely only picking up about a third of what he'd said - then glanced over at Bucky, still and unmoving under the blanket he'd hastily thrown over himself.

The guard looked back at the door, then sighed and approached Bucky's cot. " Hey, you. Wake up. "

When Bucky didn't move, the guard cursed and stomped closer. " Hey, are you dead? I said get up! " he snapped, and poked at Bucky's shoulder.

It was the last move he made.

Quick as a flash, Bucky yanked the man forward by his wrist and caught his throat in his left hand, making sure to put plenty of pressure on it so he couldn't cry out.

Finally, purred the voice of the Soldier in Bucky's head, making Bucky's stomach curdle.

Bucky closed his eyes, and when he next opened them, the guard was dead.

"W-well, that was easy," Tony said, voice higher than normal. Bucky chanced a glance at him over his shoulder, and found Tony staring down at the dead man with wide eyes.

"Had to be done," Bucky replied gruffly. "Can't risk him waking and warning the others. Help me with his clothes."

Tony nodded, still wide-eyed, and scrambled over to help.

A few minutes later, Bucky was dressed head to toe in the typical garb of one of the bandit grunts.

"How do I look?" he asked Tony, pulling the bandana up over his nose.

Tony took a step back and cocked his head. "Pull the head piece farther down over your eyes," he suggested.

Bucky complied, but Tony still looked apprehensive.

"I won't look anyone directly in the eye," Bucky told him, adjusting his newly-acquired sword on his equally new belt. "Are you sure you can get the armor on by yourself?"

Tony nodded, chewing on his lip nervously. "I'll be fine. Are you sure -"

"As I'm going to be," Bucky said, double-checking that his crossbow was well-hidden under his tunic. He realized he was stalling when he checked his sword again, and took a deep breath. "Well. Guess I'll see you on the other side," he said, pulling down his bandana so he could smile faintly at Tony.

Tony blanched. "Wait!" he blurted, and grabbed Bucky's sleeve when he started towards the door. "Wait, I -" He stopped, eyes darting to the door, then reached behind his neck and pulled the necklace Bucky had noticed him wearing off over his head.

"This is my engagement present from Steve," Tony said quickly, and held it out to Bucky.

The necklace was simple-looking, but no less elegant; on a cord rather than a chain, the pendant was a polished red stone in the shape of a near-perfect tear drop. Now that he knew what it was, Bucky could see Steve picking it out, and thought it suited Tony well.

"Red jasper," Tony added, at Bucky's questioning look. "Put it on."

Bucky felt his face heat. "What? I can't," he started, and pushed it back at Tony. Tony was insistent, however, and the look on his face gave Bucky pause. "It's just… why?" he asked, throat dry.

"Because Steve apparently spent a lot of time picking it out, and if I lose it, he's going to be epically pissed at me," Tony replied, voice even. "So if you don't want me to face his wrath..." Tony looked down. Bucky noticed his knuckles were white where they gripped the necklace's cord. "If you're wearing it, you have to come back to me in one piece," he said softly. "Got it?"

Bucky swallowed, then bent down so Tony could slide it over his head. Once it was on, Bucky slipped it under his clothes, were it settled against the bare skin over his heart.

"I'll take good care of it," Bucky promised quietly, taking Tony's hand and pressing it against his chest so he could feel the stone under his clothes.

Tony's face flashed in relief. "Good," he said, voice shaky. "Because the only thing I dread more than telling Steve I lost that pendant is telling him I lost his best friend, too." He cleared his throat awkwardly, then gave Bucky a shove. "Go. Break a leg."

Bucky nodded, feeling oddly bereft without Tony's hand on him anymore, then slipped the bandana back over his face. "I'll leave the door unlocked," he reminded Tony.

Tony waved his hand. "Yeah, gotcha, stick to the plan. But seriously, break a leg. Break several. It'll make it easier for us to escape if they can't chase us -"

The door closing muffled Tony's voice, but it didn't cut it off entirely to Bucky's enhanced hearing. So Bucky still heard it when Tony added, "Be careful," in a small voice.


Bucky had barely gotten the cell door closed when the second guard returned, a canteen of something in one hand and a suspicious glint in his eye.

"What is wrong?" he asked as he approached, head tilted towards the door.

"Stark's cellmate is dead," Bucky replied gruffly, keeping his head down. "It looks as though a fever took him in the night."

The guard recoiled immediately. "Is it contagious?"

Bucky shrugged. "Do I look like a doctor? How would I know? At least it saves us the trouble of getting rid of him." He pointed down the hall with his chin. "Raza should probably be told, yes? I'll - "

" I'll go," the other guard said hastily, shuffling backwards and giving the door the hairy eyeball. " They should be coming for Stark soon, anyway, " he added, before dropping his canteen and dashing back up the hall.

Bemused, Bucky watched him go, privately thanking any deities listening that the man was a germaphobe. After another minute or two, once he was sure the guard wasn't coming back, Bucky sprinted off as well.

Recalling the mental map he'd been making during their trips to the forge, Bucky headed towards the other side of the hideout, making sure to keep his head down and his stride purposeful. It worked - he ran into a handful of bandits on the way, but no one gave him a second glance, and he made it to the forge in just a few minutes without incident.

He heard some shouting up the corridor and ducked into what appeared to be some sort of storage room beside the forge. The voices passed - cursing and complaining about lazy companions - and in the meantime, Bucky used the opportunity to give the room a quick once-over. Several of the crates had familiar-looking crests on them - one even had Shield's eagle - and appeared to be some of the missing supplies looted from the train.

Well. Seemed like as good a spot as any.

Time to move onto phase two of the plan - distraction.

Keeping his eyes and ears open for any more bandits, Bucky fished into his pockets for one of Tony's buckium - ugh, Tony had to think of a better name - bombs.

"Okay, Tony. Let's hope this works," he muttered as he wound it up. Once that was done, he dropped it into one of the open crates and hastily bid his retreat.

Bucky bumped into another bandit on his way out, who made several colorful assumptions about Bucky's mother and then demanded to know where he was going in such a hurry.

Bucky ignored him, counting off forty seconds in his head as he ducked around the corner, and -

BOOM!

Bucky blinked, counting back in his head again and frowning to himself. Okay, closer to forty seconds than the sixty Tony had told him; he could still work with that.

More shouting - sounding distinctly more panicked, to Bucky's satisfaction - and a group of six barreled by. One slowed and tilted his head at Bucky, who waved him off.

" Hit my head - I think the explosion was in the forge ," Bucky told him, leaning against the wall and keeping his head down.

The man grunted in affirmation and dashed off after his fellows. As soon as his back was turned Bucky straightened and continued on down the hall, taking note of how many bandits passed him as he went.

He stopped when he came to an open cavern with a few low tables and hastily abandoned cups and bowls of food - some kind of common or dining area, most likely.

There were a few canteens lying around on some of the tables. Bucky felt around until he found a full one and slipped it over his shoulder, then dug in his pocket for another bomb.

" What is that?" someone asked, just as Bucky had wound the little bomb to the last click.

Bucky looked up and found a bandana-less bandit staring back at him, face scrunched up in confusion.

" Good-luck charm ," Bucky replied cheerfully. " Here, catch. "

The bandit blinked in surprise, but caught the little orb easily. Bucky didn't wait to see what he did with it - he turned and bolted from the room, just as half a dozen more bandits came barreling in from the other side, shouting " Intruder! There's an intruder in the -"

Boom.

Bucky grinned to himself, and began backtracking towards Tony again.

The bandit who'd been guarding Bucky and Tony's cell door barreled into him when Bucky turned a corner, making Bucky stumble and knocking the other to the ground.

" What's happening? What's going on ?" he asked in a panic, dropping his sword as he scrambled back to his feet.

" There's an intruder ," Bucky told him, and slammed his left fist into the man's face.

He crumbled with a broken howl, which Bucky silenced by punching him again.

" Stark is gone! " someone shrieked from somewhere up ahead. " Tell the others , Stark is - "

The sound of another explosion was music to Bucky's ears, and let him identify which direction Tony had gone.

Scooping up the downed bandit's sword, Bucky took off down the corridor, hoping Tony had remembered the crude map Bucky had tried to draw for him in the dirt floor of their cell. He encountered another lone bandit at the next corner, and jammed one of his swords into the man's leg and the other into his heart. Another he ran into got a knife thrown at his throat, and two more were dispatched by Bucky's new crossbow, which was rapidly becoming Bucky's second favorite thing after freedom.

By the time Bucky made it to the mouth of the cave, he'd dispatched over a dozen bandits, gained two more knives and another sword, and was short only six arrows.

The warm, gentle breeze that blew at his clothes when Bucky finally stepped outside was like a smack in the face, but a refreshing one after weeks of breathing in the stale air of the cave. It was enough to give him pause, which nearly proved fatal when an arrow whizzed by Bucky's head, catching his bandana and leaving a thin slice across his left cheek.

" There you are ," growled a voice to Bucky's right, giving Bucky just enough warning to duck a blow from a very familiar, glowing mace.

Bucky swung his sword upwards as he straightened back up, leaving a long, shallow slice down the bandit's chest. The bandit roared and whipped his mace sideways towards Bucky, who spun out of his reach and lifted his sword again, this time to block a downswing from another bandit who had joined the fray.

Another arrow whizzed by, this one scraping against Bucky's side before burying itself in the wall behind him. Bucky heard a snarl and glanced back, vicious satisfaction shooting through him when he saw that the mace-wielding bandit trying to free himself from his cloak, which had been caught and pinned to the wall by the arrow as well.

Then he got a closer look, and realized that the cloak looked familiar. "That's mine," Bucky growled, kicking the legs out from under the bandit he was currently engaged with and disarming him with a swing of his blade.

The bandit snarled back at him again, finally freeing himself from the wall, then charged him, mace held above his head threateningly.

Bucky turned his sword in his hand and got ready to meet him, but before he could so much as raise his blade a tiny explosion of pain tore into his right arm. Bucky grunted, the pain and involuntary spasm of arm making his sword fall to the ground in a clatter, and looked down to find an another arrow sticking out of his bicep.

Fuck. He'd forgotten about the archer.

Distantly, Bucky heard someone cry his name, but he had no time to parse it out or answer. The bandit gave a furious, triumphant shout and swung the mace at Bucky's head, and Bucky, with a feeling of deja vu, lifted his left arm to block it.

The impact was like an explosion in Bucky's ears - but with none of the burning, screaming pain he'd been expecting, like before. Instead he felt a long, drawn-out sense of tension that traveled through his bones and set his teeth on edge, almost as though a gong had gone off inside his skull. The bandit cried out as he was thrown backwards from the force, his back slamming into the boulder behind him with a sickening crack before he fell to the ground, still and unmoving.

Rattled and dizzy, Bucky stumbled to his feet and yanked the arrow out of his arm, heedless of the blood, then shuffled drunkenly over to the downed bandit.

"Mine," Bucky hissed savagely, and yanked his cloak away from the man. He picked up the mace, too, for good measure, and leaned one shoulder against the boulder beside him while he tried to get his equilibrium back.

He felt like he was forgetting something. Something important. Something -

Another bandit appeared in front of him, sword raised, but before he could swing an arrow appeared in his neck, and he dropped to the ground.

"What the hell are you doing? Taking a nap?" someone shrieked shrilly to Bucky's left.

Bucky winced and looked over his shoulder, sighing in relief when he spotted Tony quickly and awkwardly trudging towards him.

"Your arm-thing worked. Sort-of," Bucky panted, turning and willing himself not to throw up from the vertigo. Then he noticed the crossbow in Tony's hands, and the fact that his armor didn't have any sort of headpiece. "Isn't your... head supposed to be covered? What happened to the… face plate?"

"Lost it," Tony replied tersely, eyes darting around and hands clenching tighter around the crossbow. "Too hard to see to shoot. Now, less talking, more running for our lives. Come on, the horses are just over there."

Bucky nodded, swallowing down nausea and pushing himself up and away from the boulder. Then it clicked what Tony had said about aiming.

"Did you shoot me?" he asked incredulously, clumsily fastening his cloak.

Tony looked offended. "No, I did not shoot you. I hit the guy who did with a rock, and stole this -" He held up the crossbow. "- from him. How many bombs do you have left?"

Bucky blinked and closed his eyes, his rattled head making his thoughts slow and clumsy. "Uh, two," he said slowly, fumbling towards his pockets.

Tony made a frustrated noise and reached into Bucky's pocket himself, yanking out one of the bombs and winding it up. He then chucked it into the mouth of the cave and turned to Bucky, mouth a thin line.

"Please don't throw up on me," he told him, before ducking under Bucky's shoulder and helping him support his weight.

Bucky grunted thankfully and half-ran, half-shuffled along at Tony's side.

Another satisfying boom echoed behind them, followed by muffled screaming and yelling.

"Can you ride a horse?" Tony panted once they'd reached their destination, letting go of Bucky so he could untie an ansty, well-built chesnut.

Bucky staggered sideways and ran into the horse's flank, another wave of dizziness making him ill.

"Not by myself," he admitted, shaking his head and straightening back up.

Tony let out a stream of curses, glancing back towards the approaching voices. "We'll have to ride together, then," he said quickly, locking his fingers together in order to give Bucky a boost up. "A cart or a wagon will be too slow. Fuck, I hope my armor isn't too heavy…"

Bucky somehow managed to swing his leg over and grab the reins Tony handed him without falling, and helped yank Tony on behind him.

Tony wrapped his arms around Bucky's waist to steady him. "Are you sure don't want me to -"

"No, I'm fine!" Bucky answered, even though he wasn't sure he was. Either way, the choice was taken out of their hands when more bandits started pouring around the corner, shouting furiously and weapons at ready.

"Go go go!" Tony yelled at the same time Bucky spurred their horse on.

They were blocked in by bandits and half-loaded wagons on the east side, facing the desert, so Bucky went west, towards the mountains.

"Are they following us?" Bucky shouted, keeping his eyes on the terrain as they starting climbing up one of the mountain paths.

A barrage of arrows zoomed by them. "Yes!" Tony yelled back, ducking his head and then cursing some more when he dropped his crossbow.

More arrows whizzed by as they turned a corner, at least two glancing off the back and side of Tony's armor.

"I'm fine!" Tony cried before Bucky could ask, the grip on his waist getting tighter.

"How many are there?" Bucky asked, mind whirring as he caught sight of a fork up ahead.

"Uh, at least ten!" Tony replied, his grip slackening as he twisted around. "It's hard to tell, the path's not big enough for all of their horses!"

"Good," Bucky muttered, and aimed for the narrower road.

Their horse flew up the path, which was at a steeper incline than the previous one. Bucky threw a glance over his shoulder and regretted it when it caused another wave of dizziness, but was pleased to see the bandits had been forced to take the path one horseman at a time.

"We're too heavy - we're slowing down!" Tony cried as their horse started struggling. "They're gaining!"

"We've still got one bomb left," Bucky shouted back, desperately spurring their horse faster.

Tony didn't have to be told twice - one arm left its death grip on Bucky's waist to fumble at his pockets. Bucky prayed he hadn't dropped the thing during their chase, and let out a sigh of relief when Tony let out a little "Yes!" and pulled his hand back.

"I'm gonna have to throw it at the last second," Tony yelled into Bucky's ear, trying to hold on and wind up the bomb at the same time. "Otherwise they'll all be long past by the time it blows."

Bucky didn't reply verbally, too busy concentrating on the increasingly dangerous and windy path.

Then he remembered a very crucial bit of information Tony was missing.

"It's forty seconds, not sixty!" he shouted, glancing over his shoulder to see Tony holding the bomb aloft.

"What?"

" Throw it !" Bucky screamed.

Tony complied; less than two beats later, the bomb exploded.

Bucky heard a scream behind them but didn't dare chance a glance back, another wave of vertigo making it hard to stay upright.

"It's working," Tony cried. "The path behind us is blo- look out !"

Bucky yanked the reins back, spotting the tumbling rocks ahead of them at the same time Tony did. Their horse reared back and slipped, tumbling sideways and throwing both Tony and Bucky from its back.

The last thing Bucky heard, before something hard and heavy smacked into the back of his head, was Tony screaming his name.