Captain America belongs to Marvel, as does the Winter Soldier and anyone else from the comics I would care to mention. The butt-ton of OCs are mine.
Chapter Five
Unlike the last time he dreamed, this wasn't a memory, it was a nightmare. So much fighting, he didn't know with whom, so much blood, he didn't know from whom. His enemies were faceless, all alike, and smothering, alive or dead, and he couldn't breathe. He was being crushed, no matter how he clawed and screamed. No control, no hope, just chaos and gore. He shouted for his best friend, but he couldn't hear his own voice.
"I think he's getting worse," Nick muttered from his perch on the chair. Bucky lay on the couch, curled up into a tight ball, twitching horribly and whimpering. Sweat stained his blood-speckled clothes, and his skin was grey-tinged and cold.
"He wasn't badly hurt," Aischa replied quietly, passing a cool cloth over Bucky's forehead, which seemed to calm him somewhat. "This must be something else."
"He's sick?"
"Perhaps." After a moment, when his sleep seemed more peaceful, Aischa stood, handing the rag over to Nick. "Since I called the police, I need to go to the station and give a statement. They were very clear that they wanted me there now, so I can't delay."
"But what if he wakes up?" Nick asked, ashamed at the slight tremor in his voice. This man had went out of his way to help him, why was he scared? The fucking cyborg arm might have something to do with that, buddy.
"Just try to take care of him," she replied, though she looked doubtful about leaving him on his own.
"Yeah. I'll be fine," Nick tried to convince himself. "Before you go, have you seen Joey? He just kind of… walked off."
Aischa sighed, wringing her hands. "I think he's kind of freaked out. This has been… one hell of a day. Maybe I should stay…"
"No," Nick protested, glancing at Bucky. "I'll be fine. It's not like he's gonna hurt me or anything."
Aischa didn't want to think of what she'd do if he did. "Fine. Just, please call me if there's any problems, alright? Or if he wakes up?"
"Sure." Abruptly, Nick stood and hugged her. "Thanks for saving my life."
She hugged him back, tears in her eyes, which she hid. "Of course, Nicky. Anytime." Then, she strode out the door, down a short hall, to the main area of Aischa's Café.
Joey wandered in soon after, staring at Bucky with apprehension. "Is he, is he okay?"
"He seems better," Nick muttered, passing the cloth over him again. "He was worse when we got him here."
Joey pulled up another chair from the wall and sat beside him. "I think we need to talk about James."
"What do you think we're doin'?"
"No, I mean… I think we both get who he is, Nick-"
"Shut up, Joey. I don't believe that." But they had both seen the news footage from the previous week, heard the description of Captain America's enemy, the Winter Soldier, who's left arm was metal with a red star.
"Nick, it has to be him."
Nick huffed, set down the cloth and turned to him. "Something ain't right, Joey. Why would a guy like that help us? Why didn't he kill Jace and Al and I when we first messed with him, when he was homeless and clearly sick? Yeah, maybe he's got a metal arm, but… Goddammit, Joey, I don't know! Maybe they had somethin' on him, like blackmail, and made him fight Captain America, or, or…"
"Okay, okay," Joey muttered. "I'm sorry, you're right. There's gotta be some explanation."
"Yeah, there does," Nick replied, and it sounded bratty even to him. "Sorry."
"'S fine."
Another moment of quiet, only broken when Bucky shifted in his sleep, two of the metal plates in his arm scraping quietly against each other. His breathing was starting to even out.
His enemies were gone. He sat on a rooftop, gazing down across the way at a fire escape, afternoon light warming his face. After the carnage, it was a shock, but in a moment, he relaxed, taking in the warmth and comfort in case that too disappeared.
A window opened, and a man climbed out on the fire escape, and even from this distance Bucky could see his black eye and short stature. He smiled at him and waved, and Bucky felt himself wave back. He stared in amazement that his arm wasn't metal, but flesh and blood and bone.
The man disappeared back inside, and after a while, Bucky heard a metal door open behind him, and he turned to see the man from across the way. Blonde hair, too-big suit, ready smile, bright eyes.
"Hey, Steve," he heard himself say, though his voice was a little higher, a little younger. Steve? That's ridiculous, Bucky thought, thinking back to the Captain America he knew from the bridge.
"Hey, Buck," the boy replied, sitting down next to him, swinging his legs over the side. "How're you?"
"Better than you. 'Nother fight?" Bucky's voice asked with a sigh.
"Eh, you know."
"I'm serious, Steve, you can't keep on doing this. You're gonna get hurt."
Steve chuckled mirthlessly, rubbing his shoulder. "Kinda late for that. Guy was yellin' outside Registration, I didn't even pick a fight this time, he just swung."
"Registration? Damn, Steve, how many times is this?"
"Only three, Bucky, it's not that many. When are you gonna come with me?"
"I'm not, I told ya."
Steve looked immensely disappointed, but said nothing more about it. They had clearly had this conversation before, and didn't want to go another round. Instead, he sighed and stood up. "I gotta go, I've got work in an hour."
"Don't do anything stupid," Bucky called after him, turning to look up at the sky, which was a deep blue, starting to fade to black. He felt the ache of sadness rising in his chest. This is what we were like? Oh, Steve…
"How can I? I'm leavin' all the stupid with you," Rogers replied, happiness in his voice, before he was gone.
Only a few minutes later, just when it was getting dark, did Bucky go inside and down to his apartment. There were spots of clutter, but it was mostly centered in the kitchen. The rest of the apartment that Bucky could see was clean and plain.
He bent down, retrieving the mail a neighbor must have slipped under the door. "Huh," Bucky muttered aloud to himself, closing the door behind him. "Don't usually get mail."
He sat down at the table, tossing a few envelopes in a small pile to be thrown out later. Then, he froze on the last envelope, recognizing the US Army seal. "No," he whispered, and Bucky felt his fear, his shock, the deep sadness echoing in his mind. He was to be drafted. Steve wouldn't make it without him.
"You were gonna save us," Nick remembered, recalling how Joey had stepped in Voron's line of fire, separating him and James from the Arcane leader.
Joey just shrugged, his face turning a little red. "Couldn't let you guys die."
"…You know, I kinda want to thank you, and I kinda wanna hit you."
"What? The hell would you do that for?"
Nick smiled a little, looking down at his hands. "You're my best friend, dumbass. I'd dragged you into that, and you could've died tryin' to protect me. Us. Don't do it again."
"Screw you, man," he replied softly, understanding where he was coming from. Joey leaned against his shoulder, suddenly feeling exhausted. "Long day, huh?"
"Yeah," Nick agreed, resting his head on Joey's. "And school's not even let out yet."
Bucky mumbled something, rolling over, and both boys stood suddenly. "James?" Nick asked, hand on his shoulder. "Can you hear me?"
"Ugh. Sorta." The man muttered, eyes opening only slightly before shutting again. "Ow."
"What's wrong?" Joey asked anxiously.
"Headache. Keep it down," he replied almost inaudibly, blinking slowly and looking around the room. "Wha… where am I?"
"Aischa's. You were hurt, so we brought you back here."
"Hmm. Why?"
Nick and Joey exchanged a glance. "Couldn't exactly bring you to a hospital, James."
"I…" He looked at a loss for words, staring around in confusion. "Why'm I cold?"
"Because you're not wearing a coat. Had to take it off to make sure you weren't-"
"What?!" Bucky exclaimed, sitting up. He ignored the world spinning, and the spikes of pain in his head. His metal arm gleamed softly in the dim lights of the back room. "Nonononono…"
"James, take it easy," Nick said in response to what he knew to be the beginning of a panic attack. "It's fine, it's okay."
Bucky dragged his gaze away from his arm and it fell to Nick first, then to Joey. His eyes didn't look so intimidating now, they seemed broken. "You weren't supposed to… no one's supposed to know. This can't happen, it can't." Poor guy looks on the verge of tears, Joey noticed with some pity, all thoughts of assassins and superheroes out of his mind.
The ex-Winter Soldier winced suddenly, eyes screwing shut. "You know, then."
"Yeah," Nick responded. "I know you stopped the Arcane from messing with us. I know you risked your life, probably almost died doin' so. Doesn't matter what else."
"Doesn't matter?" Bucky choked out. "'Course it does."
"So what?" Joey spoke up, not looking away when the man looked over at him. "We've all got things we regret, some more than others. Seems like you aren't that guy the country saw in DC, so yeah, it doesn't matter what you did."
"Some things matter," Bucky said softly, dropping his gaze as he remembered the rooftop, Steve chuckling while being reprimanded brotherly by who he used to be, the worry he felt with that piece of paper marked with stars and stripes, not knowing the future and not caring to think too hard on it. Some things…
Nick and Joey didn't know how to respond to that, and were saved from doing so by a knock at the door. Bucky jumped violently, right hand scratching the red paint on his shoulder furiously in agitation. He relaxed a bit at the half-familiar voice through the door. "Guys? It's Alicia and Casey, can we come in?"
Nick had turned away and didn't see Bucky shaking his head furiously. "Sure, just don't be too loud."
The door opened slowly and Alicia stood there, hands on the shoulders of a younger girl who bore an uncanny resemblance to Nick. Alicia was smiling, but it faded quickly when she saw the state Bucky was in. "Whoa, what happened to you- sonofabitch you're the Terminator."
Casey was staring around the room blankly, apparently not noticing them. "I'll explain later, Alicia. Casey? Hey, how you doin', kid?" Nick said gently, standing up and hugging her.
The girl half-heartedly hugged him back, then pulled away. "Hi, Nick. And Joey. And Alicia. And-" She stopped when her gaze rested on Bucky. Her face instantly brightened, much to everyone's surprise. "Bucky, Bucky, Bucky Barnes!" she yelped in a sing-song voice.
Nick looked at her, confused, then noticed the astonished look on Bucky's face. "Is that your name?"
"I, um, yeah." Bucky stammered, staring at Casey in amazement. How did she know that?
"Casey, how do you know… Bucky?" Joey asked, just as bewildered as everyone else.
The girl tapped her foot in excitement. "'Cause he's Bucky Barnes! He's a…" She looked at the ground and concentrated, like the thought had slipped away for a moment. "…Howling Commando!" she exclaimed, triumph on her ecstatic face.
Nick started to gently remind her that those were just her comic books, that the Howling Commandos weren't around anymore, but he stopped, remembering that Bucky Barnes was James' actual name. "Oh my… god, you're Bucky Barnes?!"
"Bucky Barnes!" Casey squealed again, spinning in a circle while everyone else gaped.
It took him a moment, but James finally nodded, a genuine smile appearing on his face for the first time Nick had seen. "Yeah. That's me."
Casey still spun around, occasionally stopping to grin at Bucky. Nick and Joey stared at him in amazement. The quiet was finally broken by Alicia, still in the doorway, when she whispered "What the fuck?"
-break-
In a hospital not far away, a man known only as Raphael woke up with a start. He gasped for air, then remembered that he was not, in fact, drowning, but 'safe' in a hospital.
He lay back, a sigh escaping his lips. A glance at the shadows in the corner of the room. "I assume you need something?"
A short man dressed in a clean suit- much like the one Voron used to wear- stepped out from the darkness, a bit of a smile on his face. "Good eyes."
"Mediocre ears. You breathe like an asthmatic bulldog. Now what do you want?"
The smile on the man's face vanished. "Are you aware that your organization was under the command of HYDRA?"
"In collaboration with, yes." Raphael didn't like this man, but his presence was interesting.
Said man frowned. "My name is Agent Saunders. I've been asked to give you a proposition from my boss, Director Caballero."
Raphael raised an eyebrow. "Proposition?" Definitely interesting.
"The man you fought was named James Buchanan Barnes, otherwise known as the Winter Soldier."
Oh. So that's why I lost. "Is that so?"
"Yes. He had… faulty programming, and has defected. We propose that you should be the one to find him, given proper recovery and resources."
"Why?" he immediately asked, suspecting subterfuge.
Saunders smirked. "We've had very little trouble tracking Barnes thus far. What we've had difficulty in is keeping him. You're the only one who's come close."
Raphael glanced at the ceiling, thinking back to the fight. How he had assumed that he was winning, when Barnes had just stopped being affected by his blows, the look in his eyes becoming cold, uncaring, empty. Then, an explosion of rage, there was no way he could've stopped it. And the pain… "I was not effective last time."
"Well, we're willing to give you one chance. Then, you will have help."
"What kind of 'help'?"
Saunders sighed, pulling a cell phone from his pocket. "Do you want the job, or should I tell my boss you declined?"
After a moment, Raphael shrugged, ignoring the agony shooting through his chest. "I suppose I will give it a go."
-break-
"So, let me get this straight; you're Captain America's best friend-"
"Sort of," Joey interjected, earning a glare from Alicia.
"Yeah, 'sort of'. Anyway, you were an assassin for a while-"
"Brainwashed," Nick piped up, earning the same glare.
"But you overcame it, but you're still on the run?"
"That just about sums it up," Bucky confirmed. Now that his headache was gone and he had a better grasp on reality, everyone had dragged chairs over and formed a circle to talk. Casey had insisted on sitting between Nick and Bucky on the couch, apparently not minding the disgusting smell even Bucky was beginning to be aware of.
"Huh. Wow," she muttered, leaning back and running her fingers through her red hair. "Where does the C3P0 prosthetic factor into this?"
Bucky assumed she was referring to his bionic arm. "Um… got hurt, fell off a train. And a cliff."
"Ouch."
"You're tellin' me."
Joey leaned forward a little. "So, you don't remember a whole lot?"
"Nah. Bits and pieces. Usually when I'm asleep, or unconscious, like before."
A knock at the door, and Aischa poked her head in. "James, you're awake! I told you to call me if he woke up," she scolded Nick, who glanced away sheepishly. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," he replied, and didn't get another word in before the teenagers rapidly explained the situation.
Aischa seemed to catch the gist of things in the whirlwind of information, because her eyes widened. "Oh my… James? Or do you prefer Bucky?"
"Either's fine," he replied, shifting self-consciously.
"Okay. James, my father was in the 107th. He remembered you. He'd always tell us stories how, when he and everyone else were captured, you always tried to keep their spirits up, that's what really got him through it, he thought."
"Aww, he's blushing!" Alicia exclaimed, noticing Bucky's face turn a shade redder.
"I, um, thanks, Aischa, but I'm afraid that I don't remember much from back then…"
"And that's alright. I just thought you should know." She smiled at him, a little sadly, before suddenly remembering something. "Okay, so I went to the police station and bullshitted that report so greatly I could've been paid for it. But, James, I thought you ought to know, they found the HYDRA symbol on some of the uniforms of the men arrested."
Bucky's eyes widened, his hand tightening around the armrest. "They were HYDRA?"
"Seems like it," she replied, pulling up another chair- there seemed to be an abundance of those. "They also found guns, money, lists of names. You know, criminal stuff."
"Holy shit," Nick whispered, looking at his hands. "I was HYDRA for a while."
"Whoa, you hung out with a few of HYDRA's Junior League. Someone, get SWAT in here, we've got a hardened criminal," Alicia proclaimed dramatically, pulling Nick out of wherever his mind was and he grinned.
Bucky took the opportunity to turn back to Aischa. "Did they find anything else?"
The woman nodded. "Yes, but they didn't know what it was. Computer gibberish, they thought, but there was a date on the paper as well."
Nothing's random with HYDRA. "Do you remember what the paper said? If you saw it."
She smirked, digging in her coat pocket. "Better, I got a copy."
The date was one day in the future, and it meant nothing, but Bucky thought something was familiar in the way the letters were arranged. "Do you have a pen?" he asked. Immediately, three were thrown at him, before accepting one handed to him by Casey. "Thanks."
"What're you doing?" Joey asked after a moment's silence.
"Caesar shift cypher. But it changes each letter, so I guess it's more like a Vigenère cypher? Whatever you call it, you need a keyword. H-Y-D-R-A is what they used before. I think, it's still kinda fuzzy. Anyway, it's code. Then, transfer the letters to numbers, and you get the coordinates."
"Coordinates to what?"
"No clue." When he finished, he studied the numbers carefully. "Looks like this is in… Oregon? Yeah, this isn't familiar."
Abruptly, he stood, and everyone moved their chairs back some so he had room. "Whatever's there, I need to go see before this date."
"What, you're leaving?" Alicia asked incredulously, Casey's face falling.
Bucky didn't look at them, just stared at the ground. "HYDRA is tracking me, anyway. If they know you helped me, or even talked to me, they'll… I need to go here. They won't stop unless I stop them, and maybe this place holds the key."
"We can help," Nick protested, Joey nodding in agreement.
Bucky gave them a sad smile. "No, you can't. Not this time, guys."
"Well," Aischa spoke, standing as well. "We aren't letting you out of here looking like a bloody garbage heap."
"Hurtful," he replied, only teasing a little because she was right.
"Just a sec," she requested, then turned and swept out of the room. A few minutes later, she returned, a bundle of clothes in her arms. "Hope these fit. They're my husband's and he won't miss them, but you are a bit taller than he is. Bathroom down the hall, with a shower that I insist you use. Then, haircut."
"What's wrong with my hair?" he asked, taking the clothes, remembering that he had cut it not even a week prior.
"What's wrong with it? It looks like you used a knife on it!"
"…I did."
Aischa sighed, throwing her hands in the air. "'Course you did. Go get cleaned up."
A short time later, Bucky was ready to go. Well, not ready, per say. He and the group stood outside the diner, his old backpack slung over his right shoulder. Aischa had found it her duty to stuff as many non-perishable food items into it as she could, after noticing that the new shirt was tight on his shoulders but rather loose on his stomach. "I know these aren't pancakes, but they'll do," she had replied when he protested.
"Thanks, again," Nick muttered. "You gonna come back some time?"
"'Course I am. You guys have my number, right?"
They all nodded, Alicia checking her phone again to be sure.
"Well, guess I'm-"
The doors to the café were thrown outward and Casey ran out, papers in hand. "Take it," she ordered, practically shoving the pages at Bucky. "It's you!"
This wasn't a Captain America comic book, it was the 'Howling Commandos', and the illustrations were amazing. It was clear that Bucky was the one in front, standing shoulder-to-shoulder to a man with a bowler hat and a regrettable mustache. Other than them, there were four other men on the cover, all striking heroic poses. They were all smiling. Their names were listed at the bottom, names Bucky remembered from when HYDRA had first found him, who he wanted to be safe. My friends.
"Thanks, Casey," he told her, his voice cracking a little.
She nodded earnestly. "You can read the rest later when you're done saving the world."
No hostile voice in the back of his mind, no doubt or hatred reprimanding him for believing now that he was doing something good. "Sure thing."
"That's my favorite one," she warned him, poking his arm. "Be careful with it."
"I will. See ya 'round, kid." A quick look at the others. "Bye guys."
"Bye," they all chorused, sounding terribly sad. Casey was the only one smiling.
-break-
Just outside Saynor, Sam got a call on his cell phone. After answering, he listened for a moment before his eyes widened. "What? Thanks, Detective, we're on our way. Yeah, Steve's here, bye." He hung up and glanced over at Steve from the driver's seat. "A gang was just broken up, and apparently they were run by HYDRA. Three dozen arrests or so, leader taken out."
"You think Bucky did it?" Steve inquired, sitting up.
"I had a friend keep a lookout for weird activity, and this is the weirdest they got. Not to mention a pedestrian saw an 'unknown person' scale the side of a building like it was the easiest thing in the world."
"How far away are we?" he asked, his voice serious as he glanced at his watch. It was only midday, not evening yet. We could catch up with him soon…
"'Bout an hour, with no traffic."
"Okay. Okay, great," Steve murmured to himself, trying to relax, but couldn't stop a smile from appearing on his face.
Author's note: With this story, there's going to be many story arcs, and Nick and the gang were in on one of these arcs. They will return, but probably not for a while.
Also, this chapter may not have been very action-oriented, but we're building up to something big, trust me.
Once again, thanks so much for reading! (Over 100 followers?! You guys are the best, for real.)
~Nemesis