Warning: Implications and mentions of past trauma
Chapter 2
That night, the Avengers, Loki, Sharon, Coulson, and several Shield Agents are hovering behind cover several hundred feet away from the Hydra Base. The top of the base appears similar to the warehouse base Shield is using, but according to the map Sharon uncovered after hacking their systems, he knows it extends well underground into a series of maze like hallways. Both he and Sharon extensively studied the map, memorizing every detail while Coulson filled them in on security.
There are usually no more than twelve guards on each of the large floors with several cameras scattered around. The Agent, unfortunately, was only able to gather the position of the external cameras seeing as it was too risky for him to venture into a fully manned base alone. He joked the only person who would be able to do that was Steve, and the blond decided not to mention that he wouldn't be alone for his best friend would follow him without question.
Steve knows they're going to have to be extra careful because anything could (and probably will) go wrong, which is why Steve only has a small team going in with him. Bucky, Sharon, and Agent Amira Baines are going into the base alongside him. He debated on whether or not he should ask Loki, but he knows Thor would undoubtedly want to go inside with his brother, and Steve can't risk too many people going inside. Instead, both brothers are going to remain outside with Coulson, Bruce, and Shield.
"Are we all clear on the plan?" Coulson asks.
The plan is simple on paper. Steve, Bucky, Sharon, and Amira sneak into the base, splitting up on each level to take out the guards and plant explosives before meeting at the stairs and moving to the next level, repeating in this fashion until the entire place is covered in bombs. On the outside, Coulson and Bruce would be hacking into the systems and taking out the cameras and any other form of weaponry they could find in addition to naming the best locations for the explosives. If all goes well, at the end of the mission, Loki will teleport the foursome out of the base, and Coulson will detonate the entire thing.
In the event everything goes wrong, Thor, Loki, and Hulk will storm the base while Coulson waits for backup (who are already on standby) to arrive before joining the assault. Steve really hopes it doesn't come to that, but it never hurts to have a backup plan.
"Crystal," Sharon responds as she rechecks her ammo.
"I understand," Amira says. He doesn't know much about Amira other than the brief introduction they had before they arrived at the base. All he knows is that her parents immigrated to America from Pakistan, and that she's been employed with Shield for the last eight years. She's wearing an all-black stealth suit similar to Natasha's uniform. Amira's dark hair is pulled into a braid, with a beanie pulled on overtop. Her dark eyes are focused and she looks like a cat ready to pounce on her prey. She's wearing a black backpack, which contains the explosives that the small group are going to be planning.
Steve looks over at Bucky, who's crouched next to him and wearing a similar backpack to Amira. His friend nods his confirmation and understanding on the plan. Steve takes a breath, steeling himself for the mission they're about to complete. This is the first stealth operation he's led since the forties (and even then, the Commandos mostly just blew down the front door) so he's feeling nervous.
He feels a hand on his shoulder, and turns to Bucky who offers him a small smile. Steve takes another breath. They can pull this off; he knows they can. He turns to his right, seeing Sharon and Amira both looking at him, waiting for the order.
Steve nods. "Let's move."
Getting into the base was easy enough. There were barely any guards on duty (which is odd for a base this large) and Coulson and Bruce blocked out the cameras for the foursome to get inside without any trouble. The interior of the base is eerily silent, the only sounds being the footsteps of the guards in the distance and his teammates breathing. Steve and Sharon exchange a glance before nodding and heading in separate directions. Sharon goes to the right taking Amira with her, while Steve heads left with Bucky following behind him.
"Alright Cap," Bruce says over the comms. "The cameras on this floor are playing on a loop, so no one will know you're here. One of the first locations for the bombs should be in a room on your immediate left."
Reaching a corner, Steve peers around it seeing a long well lit hallway with a guard sleeping in a chair a few feet away next to a door on the left and two more guards in the distance quietly talking with one another. "There are three soldiers; one in front of the room and two in the distance. We won't be able to move without one of them seeing."
"Think you can boost me into that vent?" Bucky asks.
He looks over at his friend and follows his gaze seeing an air duct close to the ceiling. "I don't know if your big ass can fit, but we can try," he says grinning when Bucky punches him in the shoulder.
Steve moves first, hovering underneath the vent and cupping his hands. Bucky places his left foot in his cupped hands and he boosts his friend into the air, the other man bracing his hand on the wall and quietly wrenching open the vent with his metal one. After a few tense seconds, the vent opens and Bucky crawls inside with Steve's help. The blond watches his friend disappear before going back to the corner and kneeling in the shadows, waiting for Bucky's next move.
He hears movement in the room with the guard sleeping in front of the door and it sounds like Bucky fell out of the air duct and onto the floor, barely managing to catch himself. The guards heard the noise too, for the two that were standing in the distance are waking up his friend and entering the room together. He listens to the sound of fists smashing into something while worrying his bottom lip between his teeth before Bucky's head pokes out of the doorway and he nods to Steve, inviting him into the room.
Steve quickly moves from the corner and into the room, shutting the door behind him. He finds the three guards on the floor unconscious with Bucky standing in the middle of the room with a grin on his face. "Bruce we're in position."
"Alright, there are three locations in this room you're in. One by the bookshelf that should be on your right, one underneath the window, which should be above your heads, and one in the lower right hand corner on the wall to your left."
Steve looks around the room finding the places in question. Bucky slides the backpack off his shoulder and sets it on the ground, unzipping the bag and carefully pulling three of the explosives out of the object and handing one to Steve. The bombs are small, barely the size of Steve's fists, but are designed to be powerful enough to take out a city block. He takes the explosive from his friend and walks over to the bookshelf, placing the device on the wall Bruce indicated while Bucky does the same with his two.
They quickly finish. Bucky goes over to the bag, zipping it up and placing it on his back, while Steve, quietly opens the door and peers around finding no more guards in the immediate area. He slides of the room and quickly moves to the next shadowed area, Bucky following close behind after shutting the door behind him with a small click.
"Shit!"
"Something wrong? We're you spotted?" Coulson's worried voice comes over the comms.
"No, I stepped in gum," Sharon says, while Amira's muffled laughter is heard in the background. "That is disgusting."
"Hey, maybe there's a gift shop here where you can purchases some more footwear." Steve deadpans while Bucky manages to hold back a snort.
"Fuck off, Rogers."
Steve and Bucky meet up with Sharon and Amira a few minutes later after taking out the rest of the guards and planting bombs their end. He offers the blond woman a smile, but she glares at him, causing him to smile wider. They descend the first flight of stairs, and move throughout the base in a similar fashion, splitting up when they first arrive on a floor, taking out the guards, and planting explosives according to Bruce's instructions.
Eventually, the group arrives on the lowest floor. Sharon and Amira immediately move to the right, leaving Steve and Bucky to go left. The Captain leads the way, crouched low and pressed against the wall with Bucky following behind him in a similar fashion. Thankfully, the comms are completely silent. Usually the Avengers are chattering away during missions like this and while Steve doesn't mind listening to his teammates, he prefers silence so he can focus easier on the task at hand. Not only that, but being here with Bucky reminds him of the war and Steve wants to hold on to that nostalgic feeling for as long as he can.
Steve carefully peers around the corner looking for guards. Finding none, he slips around and ducks into the room on his immediate left with Bucky following behind him. Bruce listed this room as one of the last that needed bombs placed. His friend pulls the backpack off and tosses it to Steve after shutting the door behind them and checking to make sure there were no guards around.
The blond catches the bag and wanders to the other side of the room, which appears to be a makeshift laboratory. He can't tell if it's recently built or abandoned, but he knows it was probably going to be used to some type of human experimentation just like what Zola and Skull were doing in the forties.
Steve's grip tightens on the bag and he frowns. He tends not to think about his past, specifically the war, for all it does is evoke feelings of anger and guilt (mostly about Bucky) that not even repeatedly punching a bag will help quell. He takes a deep breath, pulls one of the explosives out of the bag, and sets them up in the room. He smiles as he arms the bomb and secures it in place. He sighs before rising to his feet and shaking his head.
"Before we go back to the Helicarrier, we should get victory Shawarama. Clint would be so pissed, it would be hilarious," Steve jokes. He furrows his brow when Bucky remains silent.
He turns and sees his friend standing in completely still, face pale and muscles tense. Steve is immediately on alert, glancing quickly around wondering if he missed something. "Bucky? Bucky, are you okay?" Steve asks as he slowly approaches his friend, abandoning the backpack on the other side of the room.
"Steve, I—" he begins before cutting himself off, not tearing his eyes away from something in the distance.
The blond follows his friend's gaze, seeing a large pod looking device in the center off the room attached to various monitors and equipment with wires strung everywhere. Steve looks between his friend and the machinery a few times before everything clicks into place. The Russian's must have hooked Bucky up to machines like these when they were turning him into Winter Soldier. He feels anger surging through him, even more so, when he sees Bucky's rapidly paling face. He needs to get the other man out of this room now.
"Bucky, I'm going to get you out of here, and I'm going to need to take your arm. Is that okay?" Steve asks cautiously.
When he gets a nod from Bucky, he places one hand on his flesh arm and the other on the middle of his back before carefully leading him towards the exit. He remembers seeing a room across the hall and knows that will be better than being in this lab. Once he gets Bucky settled, he can return and finish the mission.
"Someone's coming," Bucky says suddenly.
"Shit."
Wasting no time and hating himself for what he has to do, Steve pulls Bucky further into the lab and into a shadowed corner. Bucky immediately places himself against the wall and Steve settles in front of him, watching as a fully armed Hydra Agent enters into the room and glances around the area. Out of the corner of his eye, Steve notices the black backpack containing explosives sitting out in broad view. He swears under his breath, knowing that if that bag is discovered, the entire operation could be compromised.
Bucky curls closer to him, pressing his face into Steve's shoulder in the hopes to conceal his labored breathing. His friend is still shaking, with his arms tightening around his torso. The Captain's mind whirls. Bucky is in no condition to fight if they're discovered, and Steve knows he won't be able to take out the soldier without being seen. They're fucked.
Steve raises a hand to the comm in his ear, ready to give Coulson the code phrase so Loki can get at least Bucky out, when he sees the rouge soldier being taken down by a small dark figure. The person drags the soldier's body to the other end of the room before walking over the backpack and pulling out the last two explosives, moving efficiently and quickly around the area. When finished the figure walks over and kneels down in front of the pair. In all his life, Steve has never been so happy to see a Government Agent.
Amira looks between Steve and Bucky with a curious expression, with her head titled to the side. "The entire floor is secured and all the bombs are in position," she says. She doesn't ask what's going on with Bucky, which is something Steve is grateful for. Amira stands and offers her hand, which Steve takes and pulls himself and Bucky into a standing position.
Steve doesn't see Sharon enter the room and almost barrels over the Agent in his efforts to get Bucky of the lab. Thankfully, the blond woman effortlessly sidesteps out of the way while Steve pulls his friend into the room across the hallway.
Bucky immediately pulls away from Steve and walks to the other side of the room, bracing his hands on the desk on the far side of the room. Sharon and Amira follow behind Steve, with the former shutting the door behind them.
The girls both fix Steve with concerned and demanding expressions, but he ignores them in favor of looking at his friend, noting his rigid posture and shaking shoulders. Steve walks over to Bucky and places a hesitant hand on his shoulder, feeling his friend's muscles tense before immediately relaxing. He releases the desk and turns his body towards Steve, expression haunted and eyes seeing but not seeing. Never in his life has Steve wanted to exact revenge on someone than he does on Bucky's captors.
"Sorry."
Steve shrugs. "You have nothing to be sorry about."
Bucky meets Steve's eyes. He looks slightly angry and Steve doesn't know if it's from the memories or from the blond not placing any blame on him. Before he can open his mouth to argue, Coulson's voice comes over the comms.
"Are you there? Hello?"
"We're here, Coulson," Steve says, not taking his eyes off Bucky.
"Then, why aren't any of you answering?"
"We had a bit of a situation, nothing we couldn't handle."
Steve can hear Coulson's frown on the other end of the line. "Did you complete the mission?"
"We did," Sharon says jumping into the conversation. "The bombs are secured."
"Excellent; Loki's going to teleport you out in five seconds."
One second, Steve is looking at Bucky with the random office in the background, and in the next, he's looking at his friend with miles of desert behind them. Steve is aware of the presence of Sharon and the others from somewhere on his six.
"Ready?" Coulson asks.
"Ready," Steve responds without taking his eyes off Bucky in fear the man will bolt.
Steve hears the explosion of the base rather than see it, watching the light and the flicker of the flames illuminating Bucky's features. It takes forty-five minutes for the dust to settle and Steve only takes his eyes away from his friend to nod a thank you to Sharon and Amira for helping out. The women give him tight smiles and nod in return.
"Well, that takes care of that," Bruce says, closing the laptop resting against his thighs. He rises from the lawn chair Coulson had brought out for him, setting the laptop on the seat, and stretching.
"Good work, team, mission accomplished," Coulson says, standing from his crouched position. "Let's head back to base and back up. We have to report to Fury in the morning."
Steve finds himself sitting in a secluded area of the Quinjet three hours after the detonation of the base. It didn't take long for the Avengers and their Shield allies to pack up the warehouse and load the QUinjet before boarding the aircraft, with Coulson and Sharon flying.
Bucky shifts next to Steve, who almost forgot he was sitting next to him. His friend had joined him five minutes into the flight, but they haven't said anything to each other than a grunt in greeting. He's been quiet (and not Bucky's version of quiet either, actually quiet) ever since he was triggered in laboratory.
The Captain looks to his left only to find his friend looking at him with a furrowed brow and concerned expression. Steve tilts his head, inquiring Bucky to speak.
After a few moments, he does. "Did that seem too easy to you?"
Steve's thoughts drift to back to the mission. For an organization that was supposedly planning something big, their base was eerily empty. To answer Bucky's question, he nods. "Way too easy."
Bucky doesn't acknowledge his answer, remaining silent and looking away from Steve.
The blond glances at his friend, concerned, not used to seeing Bucky so quiet. Maybe having his past weighing in the back of his mind constantly, in addition to what happened in the lab, is starting to get to him.
"Are you okay?" Steve asks, the words flying out of his mouth before he can stop them.
Bucky sighs before hesitantly looking at Steve. He opens his mouth to say something before closing it again. His eyes scan Steve's face as if he's trying to find a way to lie to the blond's face without letting him know. Bucky bites his bottom lip. "No, I'm not fine."
Steve's expression immediately goes to one of concern, but he remains silent, hoping his friend will continue.
"Back there when we were in the lab, seeing that equipment, that device." Bucky pauses. "They would strap me into a device similar to that and experiment on me continuously, poking and prodding me with needles and injecting me with God knows what. They used the same machine when they would wipe my mind. There was pain, so much fucking pain. I didn't know how much more I could take- I remember screaming, with a mantra of "kill me already just fucking do it" running through my head and I couldn't stop it. I just wanted the pain to stop; just stop."
Steve doesn't realize how hard he's clutching the metal arm rest out of anger until it breaks under his strength surprising both himself and Bucky, who starts to laugh. Steve alternates his gaze between the armrest in his hand and his friend joining in. Seeing each other laugh causes them to laugh harder and harder, until they're both bent at the waist laughing like their lives depended on it. Their teammates probably think they've finally gone senile, but Steve doesn't care. He hasn't heard Bucky laugh this loud in a long time and it sounds like music to him.
Eventually their laughter dies down, leaving Bucky grinning with tears welling in the corners of his eyes and looking so damn happy. Steve smile brightens and he lightly cuffs Bucky on the side of the head, earning a small laugh from his friend.
"Are you two alright back there?" Bruce calls, sounding both concerned and amused.
Steve looks at Bucky, seeing his friend grin wider and can't help but mirror the gesture despite how much his face is starting to hurt. "Yeah," he calls. "We'll be alright."
