"Oh shut up," muttered Brock as he stared down his scope. Lilly leaned next to him, looking down at his target. It had been a while since he'd seen her but she didn't bother him as much now. He knew his conversing with them probably made him pretty damn crazy but as long as he could remember what was real and what was fake, what he needed to concentrate on, was all that he needed. Besides, it made the quiet building more interesting.
Currently, they were going through with extracting a scientist from Hydra in Italy. If they resisted, Brock was supposed to shoot her and get out, it being better if she were dead than helping Hydra. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that as he watched Jack approach the unsuspecting woman.
"You know," Brock said through the coms, "next time we should probably switch. You are a fucking mountain."
"We can discuss your likes and dislikes of my size later. I'm almost on the target."
Brock rolled his eyes, even though he knew that Jack couldn't see it and tracked the man's movements. He couldn't see the knife that Jack pulled but he imagined where it was pressing into the woman's back, the words that he was undoubtedly whispering into her ear as he tried to make it look casual.
He waited for her to run, to scream, and looked for any signals that might be made to an unknown third party. However, it went smoothly and they went to the car. Brock followed them all the way there just in case but was pleased when nothing went wrong.
"Target acquired. We'll meet you at the safe house," Jack said.
"You know we're not in the fucking military right? You can just as easily say 'Everything good here, see you in a bit' or some other crap."
Jack laughed. "Funny, I thought the saying was you couldn't teach an old dog new tricks."
"Are you implying something about…about my age?"
Jack heard the hesitation and quickly responded, "What's wrong?"
"Huh? Nothing, sorry. Just some civilian caught my eye. They looked familiar."
"Seriously? Are you sure you didn't know them? They could be Hydra and—"
"No it was nothing. I'll see you at the safe house," Brock replied, his voice strong and sure.
"Sounds good. See you in a few," Jack responded.
Despite the end of his conversation, Brock only let off the com but kept his hand beside his head, remaining completely still as he looked not out the window or through the scope, but at the room behind him.
He wished he could have said goodbye, wished that he'd had a chance to say he loved him and to get away as soon as possible, but if he'd said any of that Jack would have coming running. And then Jack would be dead, just like Brock was about to me.
No gun was being trained on him, the person didn't hold a bomb that could blow or any weapon really. He just stood there, the sun reflecting off of the metal arm.
"Winter," Brock said with a small nod. He still didn't move, unsure what the Winter Soldier would do. He wondered if he'd be in this position if he'd taken the damn information from Dubois but then quickly through that thought away. No, he couldn't have done that. But if Winter tried to kill him here and now, well, Brock would at least fight with everything he had.
"You were there."
There was more emotion, more thought and feeling in those words but Brock couldn't tell if that was good or bad for him. He noted how he still didn't look one hundred percent alright, the dark circles under his eyes, the shaggy hair. But he looked more aware than Brock had ever seen him.
"Yeah," Brock said softly, "I was. I was there for a long time. Met you when I was sixteen. Remember?"
Winter frowned, cocking his head to the side. Brock hoped to keep him talking, keep him doing anything except killing him. Brock also knew that Winter's mind had been wiped multiple times after that meeting but he hoped something would come back, some memory that might convince Winter that he didn't need to kill him.
"I'm not Hydra. Not anymore," Brock put in. He thought about it, knew that this could be a terrible move, but then decided he was likely already dead and slowly lowered his hands. The Winter Soldier didn't move but he could tell that the other's eyes watched him carefully. He pulled up his shirt and revealed the scars and the device that allowed him to stand. "I'm pretty much dead to Hydra. They figured I was a risk that they weren't willing to take but I got out and got help."
Winter continued looking on, confused and clearly trying to figure out what this meant. "Why would you show me a weakness?"
"Because I'm not a threat. I'm not going to hurt you, kill you, I'm not taking you back to Hydra, and if you'll allow me, I will walk out this door and pretend this never happened."
"But it did happen. You could tell Hydra. Pierce."
"I'm not going to tell Hydra! I'm not with Hydra! And…and Pierce is dead. He's not coming back." Brock watched the relief roll of Winter, even though it was clear he tried to hide it. Suddenly another thought popped into his head and Brock quickly said, "Rogers, Steve, he's your friend. He's in America right now if he's not out looking for you. I could help you get to him."
Winter's face finally distorted into a pained expression. "I can't. I don't know who I am yet."
Biting his lower lip, Brock racked his brain to try and come up with Winter's actual name. "James. James Buchannan Barnes is your actual name. You went by Bucky in World War Two, remember?"
"No, but I know that. I've read what I could on…on the inter web. I went to the…the exhibit on Captain America. I know this but I don't…I don't remember."
"Let me help you then. Me and my friend. We'll get you all the files that Hydra had on you. Every single one. We'll give you the money to go wherever you need to, even as far as another country. You don't have to do anything for us either. Just don't kill us."
Brock waited for a response, the gears clicking in Bucky's head. He recalled a time when it was impossible to see any emotion on the Winter Soldier's face. Now it was all out in the open.
"I need help," Bucky finally responded. "But I don't know if I need your help."
"Well neither do I to be perfectly honest. You just have to tru-take a chance. Just take a chance," Brock quickly said. He remembered how Pierce had always said trust me when putting Winter into the machine when he'd appeared unwilling or anxious. Even though Brock didn't know if it would bring anything to the fore front of Bucky's mind, he'd really rather not remind him of Pierce right now.
"I will try. But if you betray me I will kill you."
"Fair enough. My partner is at a safe house."
"Safe house?"
"No bugs, no cameras, no wires. The government doesn't know about it, Hydra, Shield, no one does. It's safe. Hence safe house."
Bucky gave a small nod of understanding. "Who is there? Beside your partner."
"A target that we just acquired. But you won't have to meet her. We'll have her out of your way in no time."
"I'll go."
"Good good. I just need to finish dissembling this. Alright? I'm not trying to hurt you. I just need to pack all this crap up."
Winter just gave a small nod and watched Brock's every movement. Brock finished taking apart the rifle and put it away. Grabbing the bags, he threw it over his shoulder and hesitated, simply looking at Bucky.
"I was going to take a cab," Brock said. "You don't mind that do you?"
"No I've taken one before."
Brock wondered what time he was talking about or if he was simply agreeing so that they didn't have to further the conversation. Brock passed the Winter Soldier, half expecting him to make a move, but the other only turned and followed him.
Leaving the building, he hailed a taxi and got in, quickly giving an address that was actually a hotel on the outskirts of the town they were in. If he'd been alone, he'd have been fine but with Bucky and the equipment, the space was cramped and set Brock's nerves on edge, the area between them much to close.
Brock paid the fair and after the taxi left, headed away from the hotel and eventually turned on a dirt road. As he got closer he heard Jack in his ear say, "They've got the woman. You almost here?"
Hesitating, Brock said to Winter, "My partner's talking to me now. Understand?"
Bucky nodded and watched as Brock replied, "Yeah, I'm on my way. Listen, I'm bringing someone with me. Make sure all defenses are down, no weapons of any kind."
"Why? What's happened?" Jack's voice was steady but Brock could feel the edge in it and could almost imagine Jack ready to jump into action.
However he quickly said, "Winter is here. I don't know how he found me but he did. Now no weapons. I mean it!"
"Don't want to spook him?"
"Exactly. I'll be there soon."
Bucky looked over, uncertainty and wariness clear on his features. "You repeated no weapons. Should I be worried?"
"No, he'll listen to me. He just needed conformation that I wasn't lying and actually in trouble." Brock glanced over at Winter's tense shoulders. "I'm not in trouble am I?"
"No…"
"It was a joke," Brock responded with a small wince.
"Oh."
The rest of the walk was quiet and they finally reached what looked like a small farm. Jack stood outside, arms crossed with no weapons in sight. His face was carefully set to look emotionless but it quickly broke into relief as he saw that Brock was fine and no gun or anything else was trained on him.
Though Brock kept walking, he paused when he realized that Winter still wasn't following him. He was frozen, staring at Jack with a hard look of concentration.
"Everything okay?" Brock asked slowly.
"He's with Hydra."
Hearing the anger coming on, Brock quickly said, "Was! Key the word is was! He was part of my team. He was the one that helped me get out. It's okay! Alright? There is no one else here, just us, and we're not part of Hydra."
Bucky looked from Brock and then back to Jack. "I think you were alright. The….team was alright. The scientists and Pierce were not."
"Well they're not here and most if not all are either dead or in jail. Want to come in?"
Winter gave a hesitant nod. He followed both Jack and Brock in but kept at the doorway. He analyzed the entire room, seemed happy with it, and then finally closed the door though he didn't move.
"Do you mind telling me how you found us?" asked Brock.
"He seemed familiar," Winter said, nodding towards Jack. "I saw the job he was doing so I looked for open widows where someone might be watching in the area. It was luck that the first one I checked out was yours."
"I'm guessing you were coming to get information, right?" asked Brock.
"Yes. I wasn't sure who I would find but I was hoping for any knowledge." Winter turned to Jack. "Your partner said that he could get me information on myself. Is that true?"
"Yeah, it'll take some time but we can yeah. I'm Jack Rollins by the way. Once I was part of the last Strike team that was in charge of you."
"And I'm Brock Rumlow. Former Leader of the Strike team."
"What happened to the rest of them?" asked Bucky.
Brock replied, "Two are dead. The last one remains unknown though I'm sure they're still with Hydra if they're not dead or in jail."
"The Strike team never hurt me. But you never helped me either."
The words once again set Brock on edge but Winter didn't sound like he was accusing them, only stating a fact.
"No, we didn't," Jack said. He let out a sigh and looked at Brock. "Should I call AIM?"
"Yeah. They can get everything off the networks and we can try a few extractions into any known Hydra bases."
"Who's AIM?" Winter asked quickly.
"A strictly scientific organization that we've been working with. Part of the group works with Hydra but not the part we're connected to. They're the quickest and most efficient way to get all information on you," Brock replied.
"I'll contact them now then," Jack said. He moved into a different room, taking several glances back as he went.
Brock went to sit down and then gave a pointed look towards Winter. "You can sit down as well. Or stand if it's more comfortable but just know you can move around. I understand why you won't trust us but try to relax at least a bit. You're putting me on edge."
"I'm putting you on edge?"
Brock was confused by Winter's confusion but simply said, "I was one of the greatest agents Hydra had, yet whatever the smallest time is that I can kill a man in hand to hand combat, you could probably do it in half that time. You're terrified of Hydra because they tore you apart again and again. And I understand that. But even if I was still with Hydra, at this moment I'm just a man and you could tear me apart here and now."
"I think I see where you are coming from," Bucky admitted softly. He went over and sat down, far from Brock, but at least he was sitting. "You said you knew me when you were sixteen. Explain."
"I joined Hydra before I joined Shield. Some people went the other way around but I always knew what was really going on. They showed me you to make me see what I could become the good and the bad. They promised that I would become stronger and better, and they promised that if I betrayed them, that I would wish for death."
"I don't…I can't remember you."
"It was a pointless meeting. I don't know why you would," Brock replied. "I was one of the ones that had me follow your progress and when I became a Strike leader, I also became your handler."
"You made sure that I didn't remember anything."
"Yeah. And then you'd forget everything again, even me. But never really Pierce. I don't know if he programmed it that way or if it was simply because he was the most central thing in your life but you always recognized him. Even if you couldn't remember his name."
Jack came in at that point and said, "They'll send the files. After that we can target—"
"Not we, just me," Winter interrupted. "Give me the locations of every Hydra base you know of."
"And that's it? You're just going to carry out a one man vendetta against Hydra?" asked Brock.
"Yes." Bucky made it sound like the idea wasn't absolutely insane.
Brock snorted as he glanced over at Jack. "Well, if anyone can it's you." He pulled out his wallet, quickly counted out some bills that he always had on him just in case, and handed them over.
Bucky looked at him oddly.
"Please tell me you know what money is."
Giving him a dirty look, Winter snatched it away, counted it himself, and pocketed. "Of course I damn well know what money is. I'm trying to figure out why."
"Well you can get places quicker with money. That basically means you'll get farther away from us faster."
"You want me gone."
"Yes, as fast as possible. You come with to much baggage and believe me, we both have more than enough. We don't need any more trouble than is necessary," Brock replied. "However, that doesn't mean I'm just going to make you wait for however long with nothing to do. There's a shower in the back and I can get you fresh cloths. Food here too."
"But why do that? That doesn't get me gone any quicker."
"No but it's polite. And to be perfectly honest you look horrid and would probably stick out like a sore thumb in most public places." When Bucky didn't move, Brock added, "You don't have to except. I'm just being nice."
Giving a small nod, Winter stood up and looked towards one of the doorways. "That way?"
"Yeah. If you need anything just ask. I'll get the cloths out to you quickly."
With every step that Winter made away from Brock, Jack took a step closer until Winter was gone and Jack was now standing beside Brock. Looking down at him he said, "Brock Rumlow is just being nice."
"I know, it's fucking surprising right?" Brock grabbed Jack and pulled him down to him and onto the chair he was sitting on. "To be perfectly honest I just feel better doing this. After all the shit we did it just seems wrong throwing him back out with nothing but a bunch of files and still barely an image of who he is."
Jack dragged his fingers through Brock's hair and then softly caressed his neck. "You can be really sweet sometimes you know that?"
"I'm not fucking sweet. Now let go so I can go get the kid some damn cloths."
"You're the one who pulled me down remember?"
"Oh yeah."
Jack waited but when no one moved Jack continued the soothing motion. "You alright?" he asked softly.
"If I'm being honest not really. I'm still completely on edge."
"It'll be fine. Twenty-four hours and, hopefully, the Winter Soldier will be out of our lives for good."
"Yeah, hopefully." It took Brock a few more minutes before he finally wasn't internally freaking out and he then went back into town to get Bucky what he needed. It didn't take long and when he got back, he found Bucky with his hair tied back and eating at the kitchen table. Jack watched from the side though he looked up and smiled when Brock came in.
"I got you some cloths, should all fit but if not tell me."
Winter gave another small nod and took the bag, going into some back room. Brock turned to Jack and asked, "How is he?"
"Fine. Eating like a horse though. I swear he's been starving for days."
Brock opened up the fridge and let out a growl. "Did he seriously eat all the fucking figs?"
"If you haven't noticed we're on a farm. Go pick some damn figs yourself," Jack said with a grin. He looked up upon seeing Winter walk in. With the new cloths on him he looked more normal and healthy. "Still hungry?"
As Bucky stayed silent Jack added, "It's alright to say yes."
"Yes," Winter finally said.
Jack turned his back and began making something else as Brock quickly said, "I also got you new gloves. Should help to hide your arm."
Bucky wordlessly took them and put them on. The next couple of hours were rather awkward and tense as after Bucky finally stopped eating, there really wasn't much to do.
Brock finally couldn't take it anymore and headed out. He jumped up and down and tried to figure out something physical to do when he realized that Winter had followed him. He guessed that Jack probably wouldn't be to far behind just in case.
"Afraid I'm going off to meet someone?" asked Brock.
"No, I just don't know what to do," Bucky responded honestly. He appeared to have already guessed that Brock might be meeting someone but had ignored that idea. He truly seemed lost at the moment.
Against his better judgment, Brock asked, "Want to spar?"
"Really?" Despite the shock, Brock also saw clear excitement at actually being invited to do something.
"Sure, come on. You can throw the first punch."
Walking over, Winter hesitated for a second and then threw the punch, Brock quickly blocking and coming in close. They moved around each other, actually overly cautious and quite as dust and gravel moved under their feet.
Jack came out and though he first lurched forward, he quickly figured out that they were only sparring before he could intervene. He watched with avid curiosity as Brock and Bucky went at it for some time before Jack suddenly got a call.
He answered it and then quickly gestured towards Brock as he listened to the man on the other end. However, his movement had caught Brock's eyes and he missed the punch that went straight to his gut knocking him flat on his back.
"Brock!"
"I'm okay!" he shouted back as he held up a hand. "Urgh that was stupid. I should have damn well seen that."
"I'm sorry," Bucky quickly said as he clenched his fists several times before finally offering to help him up. As he did so, he asked, "Have we sparred before?"
"Yeah. Use to do it a lot. And don't feel bad about hitting me. I should have seen it coming. Jack, what is it?"
"AIM called back. They sent all the information over. They already had a lot cause of the offered job."
"Great, come on Winter."
It didn't take long for Brock to start up the laptop they'd brought with them. He even showed Winter a little on how to use a computer and then showed him how to use a USB stick which he downloaded everything onto. He also put the coordinates of all known Hydra bases on the USB and on paper which he gave to Bucky.
"Listen, I know it's not my place to say, but you will die if you don't get help. Maybe not tomorrow maybe not this year but you can't keep to your one man vendetta and expect to win. Rogers is a good man. I honestly think going to him would be a better idea."
"Thank you for the advice but I can't. Not yet."
"Well I can't make you do anything. All I can say is good luck. And I don't mean any offense when I say I hope I never see you again."
"The same goes to you," Bucky responded and what looked like the glimpse of a smile appeared but it might have been a trick of the light because it was gone in a second.
Jack offered to drive him but Winter responded and instead headed out on the dirt road alone. Brock and Jack only watched him go for a moment before they moved back inside. Brock let out a large sigh and finally muttered, "Well that was unexpected."
"You alright? He hit you pretty damn hard."
"It'll bruise but I'll be fine. It was kind of nice, doing that again."
"Yeah, that use to be one of the few normal things Winter did," commented Jack. "You two were great sparring partners."
Brock gave a small nod, his eyes clearly not focused on what was in front of him. However he finally came back to the present. His eyes lit up and he smirked as he said, "Want to spar?"
Jack couldn't help but laugh at Brock's suggestive voice. "We have to get back."
"I made sure to tell them that we wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Now, do you want to spar?" asked Brock as he stressed his words and got up in Jack's face. "Or would you rather head back now?"
It didn't take long for Jack to decide. He grinned and quickly kissed Brock and muttered against his lips, "Spar, definitely."
AN: So it's finally here and let me just say I'm so sorry. However, I've learned my lesson and won't say when the last chapter will be cause I honestly don't know. However, I do promise there will be a next chapter and that it will be the last. Hope you enjoyed.