In the Still of the Night
Chapter Six: Dig Down Deep
If there was anything that HYDRA never taught him as the Winter Soldier but they should have, it was how to use technology. Sure, he could take apart a weapon and put it back together in a matter of seconds; but trying to figure out how to bring up the internet? There were some things you can't learn as a highly-trained assassin, and computers was one of them.
The Soldier was sitting in the abandoned apartment he had scoped out a few weeks ago, and after his approval it was now serving as his hideaway. There was a pile of blankets in the corner that made up his bed – which he was content with, because mattresses were too much like sleeping on a marshmallow for him – and the rest of the creaky wooden floor was littered with a variety of used-up food containers and empty cans and bottles. He sat at a small desk on a wobbly chair, hunched over a laptop, his eyes squinting in the dim light of the room. He had stolen the laptop that day from an unsuspecting teenager in a café (which explained why there were little flower decals all over it) but after tinkering with it a bit he found it worked just fine.
After a few minutes of frustration over trying to find the internet, he eventually figured out how to bring up a web page by double-clicking the little colorful icon on the main screen. Okay, he thought, so far so good. Now then...How do I search for information?
He looked down at the row of letters and figured it was just like a typewriter. I can work this. He began pressing the little keys and saw that each letter appeared in the long white bar across the top of the web page. He continued typing until he had created the phrase he desired to search: "BUCKY BARNES."
Alright, now what? the Soldier thought irritably. What button do I press to search...?
He looked over the keyboard, impatiently sweeping his long brown hair out of his eyes. I don't know...Would "ENTER" work maybe?
He pressed the rectangular key and the web page brought up listings of the name "BUCKY BARNES", and occasionally the name "JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES" appeared on the page too. He clicked on the first link – from a website called "Wikipedia" – which brought up a lengthy article about this person...along with a picture that looked very much like himself...
The Soldier, ignoring the uncanny picture, started to read. He read about this Sergeant James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes person: all about how he was a sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II, had been captured behind enemy lines and was rescued by the famous Captain America – Wait. Captain America...The Soldier looked at the picture of the Captain that was on the far right side of the web page. He was...he had been his mission. He had seen him not too long ago, how can that be the same person from World War II? He's the same person who called me Bucky...
He kept reading. He read about how Sergeant Barnes had been a part of the "Howling Commandos," a group of soldiers who worked directly with Captain America to bring down the Nazi research division, HYDRA. Then he read about the train: the last place that Sergeant Barnes had been seen alive was on a HYDRA train, where, according to military records, he unfortunately fell to his death. His body had never been found.
The Soldier reached the end of Barnes' biography and leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly. His target – Captain America – had called him "Bucky", saying they had been friends...It seemed that Captain America thought that he was this Bucky Barnes person, his best friend. But that's not possible, the Soldier thought. I'm not from World War II, I'd have to be like a hundred years old if I was...But, then again, how was Captain America still alive and looking exactly like he did in the '40s?
He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. I need to look into this more, he told himself. So he clicked on the link to the Wikipedia article titled "Captain America" and read all about his life as well: the Super-Soldier serum...his involvement in the war...the plane crash where he disappeared...And then he got to the part about New York. Apparently Captain America had been resurrected somehow because he was seen in the Battle of New York, where he and a number of others had fought against an alien invasion. But his life was still surrounded in some mystery and there were unanswered questions – how he was resurrected, why he hasn't aged in seventy years, what his real name was...
So...Captain America lived and fought in World War II and is still living and fighting today...It isn't clear how, but the story is still true. So it is possible that a person could live in one time period and be resurrected in another, Captain America is living proof of that. Maybe, the Soldier thought, just maybe...the same thing happened to me...
But he shook off the thought. There's no way that happened to me, he tried convincing himself. I would have...remembered something like that. What happened to Captain America was probably just a freak thing, there's no way that happened to me...
Why, then, did this story give the Soldier a feeling of familiarity?
Looking back at the laptop screen, a name listed in the article caught his eye. A name that was vaguely familiar. He clicked on the name, which led him to an article entitled "Margaret 'Peggy' Carter." He started to read.
When he finished the article, something in his mind was burning – some feeling he vaguely remembered as...curiosity. This woman was familiar to him, he couldn't deny that. She had fought in the war...but she was still alive. Yes, that's how he knows her; he met her recently, not back in the '40s. That would be impossible.
He searched her name in the white search bar like he had before and after digging through more information about her, he eventually found an address. He glanced around his hideaway and found a crumpled piece of paper and a pen. He scribbled the address, a London address, on the paper, and was filled with a different, new, emotion. He vaguely remembered it as...determination.
"On your left."
"You know, Steve, that's getting really old really fast!"
Steve smirked as he ran past Sam, slowing down a bit to let Sam catch up with him. They were jogging along their usual route, which took them around the Washington monument. Sam was, as usual, having a hard time keeping up with Steve, who used his Super-Soldier genes to his advantage. Most of the time Steve tried slowing down so he and Sam could actually run side by side, but then most of the time Sam would irritably yell at him to just take a few laps and not worry about slowing his pace. So he would do that. And each time he passed Sam (which was quite often, Steve was proud to admit), he would say the same thing every time.
"Are you sure you're getting tired of that?" Steve retaliated as he turned around to face Sam, jogging backwards. "Because I'm not."
"Ha ha," replied Sam, starting to get out of breath. "You're hilarious, Steve. I would hit you, but these days society frowns on hitting senior citizens."
"Oh, good one. Never heard that one before."
There was something about Sam that made Steve comfortable to joke around and have fun. He felt like he could be himself when Sam was around – not the serious soldier that he had slowly become during the war (and, admittedly, during his time at SHIELD back before it fell), but the person who loved to make fun of his best friend. Steve felt a sudden pang that he knew didn't come from running fifteen miles. Missing Bucky hadn't hurt any less over the years, not even when he found out Bucky was still alive. In fact, knowing now that Bucky was alive and had become the Winter Soldier hurt worse because Steve knew that the old Bucky was most likely gone. But that didn't stop him from being determined to find him.
He and Sam eventually slowed down and rested under an oak tree on a small patch of green grass. They sat in relative silence for a few seconds, both of them huffing after their intense workout, before Sam said something.
"You okay?"
Steve looked over at him. "Why do you ask that?"
Sam shrugged. "I don't know. You just look like you're worried about something."
"You know me, Sam. I'm always worried about something."
"Yeah, well, you shouldn't be."
Steve thought about that for a second. He opened his mouth to say something when he was cut off by a stylish blue car pulling up in the street next to them. The driver rolled down the window and Steve was surprised when he saw who the driver was.
"Hey boys," said Natasha, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Now, this does feel familiar. Just like old times, right?"
Steve stood up. "What are you doing in D.C., Natasha?"
"What, no 'Wow, Natasha, you look beautiful'? 'Natasha, I've missed you so much'? 'Natasha, I can't live without you, now come back to me, precious one'?"
"Well that just goes without saying," Steve replied smoothly. Natasha took off her sunglasses, looking pleased.
"I'm have some business here in America's Capitol, Rogers," she finally answered, looking him square in the eye. "A mission, one might call it."
"What about?" piped up Sam, eyeing the beautiful redhead.
Natasha smirked, knowing full-well that Sam was (and probably will never stop) checking her out. "I don't think it concerns you, bird boy. Well, not you directly." She lowered her voice, glancing around her surroundings. "Off the record, I'm looking into something that might have to do with how SHIELD was brought down."
Steve blinked, surprised. "But, we know how SHIELD was brought down: HYDRA."
"Yes, and that's the interesting part," said Natasha with an intrigued little smile. "There may be some things we didn't know we didn't know."
"Does it have to do with Bucky?"
Steve couldn't help but ask the question. Anything related to SHIELD or HYDRA or anything even relatively close to that made him desperate for information on his best friend.
Natasha paused before answering, clearly choosing her words carefully.
"I'm not sure," she said slowly. "But it might."
"Let me in on it," Steve said instantly. "I can help you, if you know anything on Bucky I can –"
Natasha held up her hands to silence him. "Steve. I can't. This mission was assigned to me and only me, unfortunately. And I can't just bend the rules on this one, my orders come from higher up."
She glanced down at the clock on the car's dashboard. "I need to go. I promise," she added when Steve opened his mouth to speak, "that if I hear something about the Winter Soldier, I'll let you know."
It seems I'm the only one who still refers to him as "Bucky", Steve observed. Natasha put her sunglasses back on and, seeing the sad look on Steve's face, added, "Look, if you want to get in on this mission, take it up with the Director, okay?"
She drove away without waiting to hear an answer to that. But that didn't stop Steve from shouting a determined "I will" back to her. He watched the blue car drive away and disappear behind a corner.
Sam came up behind him and patted him on the back. "Don't worry, Steve," he consoled his friend. "If she finds something on him, she'll tell you. I know she will."
Steve nodded slowly without saying anything, his eyes still cast in the direction of her car. He wished he wasn't so obsessed with finding Bucky, he really did. He was getting tired of having to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find even a scrap of news regarding his old best friend. Why can't Bucky just come find me and we can go back to the way things were? Steve mused.
He sighed. Well, that's not going to happen so I might as well not dwell on it.
He reached his arms over his head, stretching, and exhaled, saying to Sam, "So, ready for Round Two?"
Sam shook his head in disbelief. "I bet you'd never stop running if no one stopped you."
Steve smirked in response. "Well, there's only one way to find that out."
He took off without another word from Sam, and laughed when he heard Sam swearing at him from under the oak tree.