Bucky wasn't sure how much time had passed when the storm finally let up. It felt like several hours, though it was probably closer to two or three.
The sky was just starting to lighten, sunrise over the horizon, when Tony groaned and coughed himself back to consciousness.
"Wha -" he choked between coughs. "Wha 'appened? An' why… all wet?"
Bucky wrapped his arm more securely around Tony's middle and heaved, pulling him up higher on their little bit of flotsam. "We fell overboard," he said, trying not to sag with relief. "Do you think you can hold onto this a little tighter for me?"
Tony blinked sluggishly at him, eyes glazed, before nodding slowly and complying. "Over… overboard?" he asked, shaking his head and then wincing.
Bucky nodded and tilted his head forward, where he could just barely spot land in the distance.
"We're not too far out at sea, though. I think the storm actually helped us. The tide had been taking us closer to land," Bucky said, hoping the knowledge would keep Tony from panicking.
Tony grunted in acknowledgement, and when Bucky looked back down at him, his eyes were a little clearer.
"The others?"
"Fine, as far as I know," Bucky sighed, his stomach twinging in guilt. He'd been putting most of his energy into worrying about himself and Tony, and hadn't paid the others much thought. Still - "The ship was mostly in one piece, and I don't think anyone else fell off…"
Tony groaned, then shifted himself higher on the mast. "The hydra…?"
"Dead," Bucky said, cold satisfaction making him smile despite their current situation.
Never again would he wake up wondering where those glowing eyes were, now, or if they would be coming back for him.
As if sensing his mood, Tony sighed and slumped slightly against Bucky, resting his forehead against Bucky's shoulder. "Okay, you win," he gasped, lifting his head. "A hydra is way worse than a dragon."
Bucky nearly choked on his next breath, surprising himself with sharp bark of laughter. Tony grinned tiredly in response, leaning in when Bucky hugged him closer, and closing his eyes when Bucky pressed their foreheads together, still laughing.
The shoreline looked very far away, but it still took them over an hour to float/awkwardly paddle towards it.
Bucky nearly groaned with relief when his feet finally touched the ground, and had to support Tony when he nearly sagged back into the water.
Once they were further up the beach and a safe distance from the water, they both collapsed, breathing hard and reveling in the feeling of dry land and sand against their backs.
"I'm never getting on another fucking boat ever again," Tony groaned, spreading his arms and grabbing a fistful of sand.
"Agreed," Bucky gasped weakly, closing his eyes. He couldn't ever remember being this exhausted, and a part of him wanted to just roll over to Tony and go to sleep for a few hours, even if common sense was telling him to get back up and at least get a lay of the land.
If any other monsters came at them from the sea or the sky, they were probably going to die, because Bucky didn't have much fight left in him.
"Where the hell even are we, anyway?" Tony asked, sounding as exhausted as Bucky felt.
"No idea," Bucky mumbled without opening his eyes. He lifted his left arm and gave it a shake, hoping to rid it of some of the seawater he could actually hear sloshing around. Usually the thing was air-tight - or at least waterproof - but the dents from the dragon's teeth combined with hours at sea didn't appear to have done it much good.
"Bucky," Tony said suddenly, an odd note to his voice.
Figuring Tony was probably about to scold him for improper care of his arm, Bucky dropped it and sighed. "Hmmm?"
"Bucky," Tony repeated, definitely alarmed, now.
Bucky grunted and, with herculean effort, opened his eyes. "What?" he mumbled, and started sitting up -
Only to freeze when he spotted the dozen or so people surrounding them, their weapons all pointed at Bucky and Tony.
Bucky swallowed and glanced over at Tony, who was staring down a spear pointed perilously close to his face.
"Oh, shit," Bucky sighed.
"Well, I suppose a jungle is a nice change," Tony said conversationally as they were marched along a path Bucky could barely see, but their new guards had no trouble navigating. "A little more scenic, anyway. We've been surrounded by sand, rocks, water…"
"I suppose that's something," Bucky agreed, even if the presence of a tropical jungle alarmed him more than anything else. He didn't know of any jungles on the continent, which meant the storm must have blown them pretty far off course, and that they were even further from home than he had thought.
The warriors that had subdued them on the beach - all women, Bucky had later noticed - hadn't really seemed to care when Tony had tried to tell them he and Bucky were lost. They hadn't tried to restrain the two of them in any way - Bucky suspected because they'd looked too sad and weak to actually put up much of a fight - and, after a quick conversation in a language Bucky hadn't recognized, had calmly told the two of them to stand and follow them - the 'or else' unsaid, but implied.
"You know, this has been the most bizarre few weeks of my life," Tony sighed, stepping under a giant green leaf one of the warriors had politely lifted out of the way for him.
Bucky huffed a little. "Mine, too," he agreed. "And I spent time brainwashed by a giant lizard with multiple heads."
Tony laughed, which turned into a cough. He winced and pressed a hand to his chest, then pitched sideways.
"Tony!" Bucky cried, springing forward at the same time of their guards did. Bucky got there first and caught him before he could fall, but the guard took Tony's other side in an instant, and together they helped lower him to the ground.
"'m fine," Tony mumbled, trying to sit up and batting weakly at Bucky's chest when he wouldn't let him. "Sorry, got a little dizzy…"
One of the other warriors crouched down beside them, brow furrowed in concern. "Here, drink this," she said, pulling out a container of water and holding it up to Tony's face.
Tony wrinkled his nose and turned his head away, until Bucky took it from her and offered it to him instead.
"Is he ill?" the guard asked, frowning, while Bucky reminded Tony to drink small sips.
"He hit his head," Bucky replied, letting go of the container when Tony grumbled and started tilting it himself. "And we were adrift at sea for hours - he hasn't had anything to eat or drink since."
"We haven't had anything to eat or drink," Tony grumbled in irritation, pulling off and lifting the water to Bucky.
The guard frowned again, then turned her head and barked something Bucky didn't understand. One of the other guards stepped forward, then crouched down and offered a small pouch to Bucky.
"Eat," the guard said, when Bucky opened the pouch and found a bunch of what looked like some kind of nut. "The palace isn't far, and the king won't appreciate it if you die before he can even question you."
"King?" Tony grunted, at the same time Bucky asked, "You're taking us to see your king?"
The guard raised an eyebrow. "We don't get uninvited guests here very often. He'll want to see you for himself."
Bucky frowned, mind whirring, while Tony groaned and sat up a little straighter.
"And just where… is here, anyway?" Tony asked, squinting.
The woman cocked her head, scrutinizing them, before giving them an inexplicable smile. "Welcome to Wakanda, gentlemen."
While the name 'Wakanda' sounded only vaguely familiar to Bucky, it meant something to Tony, who perked up quite a bit despite his exhaustion.
"Wakanda is where all the vibranium comes from," he told Bucky in a low voice, once they and the Wakandans started their trek again. "This… might actually be a good thing. It's not much, but the kingdom does do a little bit of trading with them. If we get an audience with the king, we might be able to convince him to get a message back home."
"If you say so," Bucky said, biting his lip. The whole situation still made him nervous, however. "What do you know about the king?"
Tony looked over his shoulder at one of the Wakandans, then turned back to Bucky and shrugged. "Absolutely nothing," he admitted. "Something makes me think there was a change in the crown recently, but other than that…" He shrugged again.
Bucky chewed the inside of his cheek, and reminded himself that he'd been distrustful of the Asgardians at first, too.
"Okay," Bucky said slowly, reaching out and taking Tony's elbow under the guise of helping him along. "I guess we'll play it by ear. Besides," He grimaced. "We don't really have much of a choice, do we?"
"No," said an amused-sounding Wakandan to their left. "You really don't."
That he could remember, Bucky had been to Marvel Castle exactly three times.
The first time had been when he was just a teenager, and had offered to go with some of the local trading merchants in order to make a few extra coins. He hadn't gone farther than the castle walls, at the time, but still remembered staring at the fortress in awe as they left, and excitedly describing it to Steve when he returned home.
The second time had been just before his garrison had set out to war, and then he'd only gotten as far as the castle courtyard for what was supposed to have been a rousing speech. Though he'd been considerably less starry-eyed thanks to a combination of nerves and homesickness, he'd still marveled at the castle's magnificence, and looked back twice when they marched on.
The third time, he finally got to see the inside - but only because the castle's dungeons had been deemed the only ones fit to hold one of HYDRA's Winter Soldiers.
In each case - even the last - Bucky had left able to appreciate the grandness and the magnitude of the place.
The Wakandan Palace, however, made Marvel Castle look like a cheaply-made tool shed in comparison.
"Holy shit," Tony whispered, echoing Bucky's sentiments as well.
One of their Wakandan guides laughed.
They were directed to climb a steep incline of stone steps that did little to wind Bucky, but left Tony sweaty and panting, despite their guides letting him take them at his own pace. Worried about another wave of vertigo, Bucky hovered anxiously at his side, even though half of his attention kept returning their surroundings.
For some reason, Bucky was getting a strange sense of deja vu. The area - everything from the stairs and the view, to the river that ran around the palace and the waterfall that jutted from under the grand balcony and windows he could see even from here - looked weirdly familiar, in a way that made Bucky's earlier nervousness spike.
The feeling got even worse once they were actually inside. Bucky frowned, his unease growing, while Tony craned his neck looking around, eyes bright with curiosity despite his obvious exhaustion.
"Wakanda is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world," he whispered to Bucky as they were lead through several great halls and chambers. "I've always wanted to study some of their methods, but…"
Bucky hummed and nodded distractedly, staring at the junction up ahead, and somehow knowing they were going to turn down the left corridor before they actually did.
Throat dry, Bucky linked his arm through Tony's, then whispered, "I don't think this was such a good idea," out of the corner of this mouth.
Tony looked at him sideways, frowning, but didn't dismiss him out of hand. "Why not?"
Bucky tried to find a way to explain, only to become distracted by the large double-doors their group had stopped in front of instead.
Slide in quickly, quietly, step around the blood -
"Tony," Bucky breathed, feeling sick. "I think I've been here before."
Tony blinked, face scrunching in confusion. "What?" he asked, while the Wakandans opened the doors. "Are you sure? When would you have been in -" And then he stopped, eyes widening as he came to the same conclusion Bucky had.
There was only one reason Bucky could have been here before, and if the Winter Soldier had been in Wakanda, he couldn't have been doing anything good.
Before either one of them could say or do anything else, they were ushered forward and through the doors into a large, spacious chamber.
Bucky gulped and tried to suck in a breath that wouldn't come, because he remembered this room, remembered the blood -
"My people tell me they found you on our beach," said the man at the far edge of the room.
He was standing with his back to them, staring out into the jungle Bucky could see through the floor-to-ceiling windows. His voice echoed loudly in the room, setting Bucky's teeth on edge and opening a floodgate of fresh memories.
Keep footsteps soft, knife steady -
"Who are you? How did -"
A swift slash of the blade, a quick, if not clean, death -
Tony's grip tightened on Bucky's arm, bringing him back to reality and grounding him in the present.
"Quite by accident, we assure you," Tony said, after clearing his throat. "We were, ah, a little ship-impaired at the moment, and your shore -"
The man - the king - chuckled, then turned around. "Sounds like quite a tale," he said as he walked towards them, hands hooked casually behind his back. "And one I think I would -" He cut himself off and stopped dead in his tracks, all trace of amusement draining from his face as he locked eyes on Bucky. Then his eyes narrowed, expression morphing into shock and then fury.
"You," he snarled, and then all hell broke loose.
The Soldier stared down at the dead man in front of him, watching dispassionately as the puddle of blood at his feet grew larger.
The kill itself had not been difficult; in fact, it had been ridiculously easy, but getting through the jungle, into the palace, and past the guards without detection had not been, and had required days of preparation.
All that was left of his mission now, however, was to return to his handlers with news of its completion.
Wiping his knife on his pants to clear it of the blood, the Soldier was just preparing to leave when the door behind him creaked open.
"Baba?"
The Soldier hesitated. Ordinarily, he was told not to leave any witnesses, but this time, his only instructions had been to kill the Wakandan king, and not be discovered beforehand.
Before he could decide either way, a light flickered behind him, followed immediately by a sharp intake of breath. The Soldier turned and locked eyes briefly with the man standing in the doorway, before the man's gaze lowered to the body on the floor.
The man's eyes widened in horror, an anguished cry escaping his throat before the Soldier had a chance to silence him. Taking advantage of the distraction, the Soldier darted forward while the man's eyes were no longer on him, knocking the light from the man's hands as he rushed past and through the open door, his escape route already in his head.
On that night not so long ago, shock and grief had kept the Wakandan prince from attacking the man who had murdered his father.
Today, however, the now-king had no such hesitation - he launched himself at Bucky at the same time two of the guards behind Bucky startled into action, unsure of their king's reasoning but loyally backing him up anyway.
Bucky shoved Tony away from him and ducked down, using the king's rage and the guards' uncertainty to his advantage. He kicked out at one of the guard's legs, tripping her up and knocking her into the king, and seized the other one's spear, breaking it under his hand and throwing her off balance.
The other guards sprung into action with an enraged cry; Bucky pelted the broken end of the spear at one and slammed his elbow into the face of another, twisting around and kicking the latter into the king when he tried to rejoin the fray.
Out of the corner of his eye, Bucky saw the guard with the broken spear tear away from the group with an angry shout and advance towards Tony, who was only just managing to struggle to his feet.
Someone slammed into Bucky's side while he was distracted, temporarily knocking the wind out of him; Bucky turned and punched them in the face, then leaped towards the guard advancing on Tony and tackled her. They both skidded several feet across the slippery floor, plowing into Tony and inadvertently bringing them closer to the open door.
Bucky rolled and smacked the guard's head into the ground. "Run!" he shouted at Tony, shoving him so he would slid the rest of the way through the door.
Tony grunted and rolled to his feet with surprising speed, but stopped short of running, hesitating in the doorway instead.
Bucky swore and lurched to his feet, dodging between two more bodies as he bolted towards Tony.
"Catch him, don't let them leave!" the king bellowed, spurring Bucky to speed up.
He didn't stop at the door, just seized Tony's arm and kept running, half-dragging Tony along beside him.
"The fuck did you do?!" Tony shouted, legs scrambling to keep up with Bucky's.
"I think I might have assassinated their king," Bucky panted back, grip tightening on Tony's arm as they rounded a corner and nearly skidded into the opposite wall.
"You what?!"
More guards were pouring out of nowhere, shouting and giving chase, but Bucky didn't stop to engage any of them. If his memory served him right - God, he hoped his memory was right - their ticket to freedom was just a little bit farther, just another turn…
"Where the hell are we going?" Tony wheezed when they ran down a dark hallway, passing a fierce-looking panther statue. "The exit was the other way!"
"Just trust me," Bucky puffed, praying he wasn't leading Tony to his death.
They turned another corner, and for one brief, heart-stopping second, Bucky feared it was the wrong one - and then he spotted the balcony ahead, exactly where he remembered it, and nearly cried with relief.
He sped up, knowing this was the right one when he heard the rush of the waterfall outside, but then Tony's arm jerked in his hand. "Oh, no," he groaned, when Bucky didn't slow down. "Oh, hell no, Bucky -"
"We can't go back the other way," Bucky told him, tugging insistently at his arm when he started flagging.
"We can't fly, either!" Tony sputtered, though he sped up when the Wakandans' shouting became louder.
"The river's right below us, it'll break our fall," Bucky said, letting Tony hear the desperation in his voice. "We're going to have to jump, but we can't slow down -"
"Fuck -"
"Tony, please, you have to trust me!"
For a split-second, Bucky didn't think he would.
Then Tony swore and started running harder, a steady mantra of "DamnitdamnitdamnitdamnitDAMNIT " falling from his lips -
And, when they reached the balcony railing, he vaulted over it at the same time as Bucky, and jumped.
The river's current was stronger and swifter than Bucky had expected. It carried him away from the palace, but it was a fight to keep it from pulling him under. And if he was having trouble with his enhanced strength...
"Tony!" he yelled, panic and desperation clawing at his throat. He'd heard him splash down right beside him, but he hadn't heard or seen anything since, and if he'd never gotten back to the surface -
"Tony?! Tony!"
"Over here!" came the faint cry from somewhere to Bucky's left.
Bucky turned towards it and nearly sobbed when he saw Tony's dark head bobbing above the water a few feet away.
Bucky fought the current to swim towards him, panicking when Tony's head disappeared below the surface. He reappeared a few seconds later, coughing and sputtering and even further away, his face panicked before he spotted Bucky again.
Bucky doubled his efforts so Tony wouldn't exhaust himself trying to swim to him, and breathed a sigh of relief when they both hit a current that brought them closer.
"This was a stupid-ass plan!" Tony sputtered when Bucky finally reached him.
"Just try to stay calm," Bucky said, even though he himself felt anything but.
The look Tony gave him promised violence later, but Bucky was more concerned with the nearly gray pallor of his skin.
Tony could not physically handle this for much longer, and with the current as it was, Bucky wasn't sure he'd be able to keep both their heads above water by himself.
Bucky looked around in desperation, trying to gauge the width of the river as well as the distance from the nearest bank.
Tony coughed and tapped him on the shoulder. "Look," he said, and pointed up ahead, where the current was taking them.
The trees were closer to the river there, close enough that several had exposed roots at the bank, and branches that hung low over the water. Low enough, in fact, that if Bucky reached up -
"Grab onto my hand," Bucky told Tony, locking his gaze on the branch he wanted.
Tony complied, hand scrabbling a second before it finally found Bucky's, his grip worryingly weaker than Bucky had expected. Bucky tightened his own to compensate, and threw Tony what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
He missed the first branch he reached for, his wet hand slipping off the bark, but the second he caught and held fast, pulling himself and then Tony up onto it, until they were both straddling it.
Tony coughed and choked, then leaned over and retched while Bucky held him by wrapping his arms around his middle.
"High places and water," Tony gasped once he was finished, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Bucky ran a hand up and down Tony's back. "What?"
Tony coughed and leaned back against Bucky's shoulder, tilting his head back so Bucky could see his face. "High places and large bodies of water," he repeated, words slurring with exhaustion. "Two things I am never, ever going anywhere near with you ever again."
And then he took any sting out of the words by grinning and closing his eyes.
Bucky chuckled. "Fair enough," he sighed, and hugged Tony closer. Then he brushed his lips against Tony's temple, too exhausted to filter his emotions, and certain Tony was too tired to notice anyway.
