Chapter 19
By: MysticFantasy
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Natasha looked outside a window of the private jet Tony was using to get them to their destination. She didn't like the look of the dark gray clouds and heavy falling snow.
This was sure to be a bad flashback for her boyfriend. Especially since they were heading to the location where one of the worst moments of his life happened.
Knowing this would be a hard moment for him, the spy quickly went to find Steve. She found him sitting in a corner seat. His window shade was closed and she felt that it was for the best for now.
They all knew that he shouldn't get himself worked up before they arrived to the now abandoned train tracks.
The spy sat next to him and gently held his hand.
"We're almost there." she said.
"I know." Steve said and lightly sighed. "The weather is almost exactly the same as that day."
"How can you tell?"
"I just can." he answered. "I can hear the wind, I know it's snowing...It's like I've gone back to that day. To see Bucky hanging from the rail and me missing his hand...then watching him..."
"Shhh." Natasha soothed as she hugged him. "I know it's hard but try not to think about it. We're almost there. Try to stay calm."
Steve nodded and lightly squeezed her hand.
Try as he might, his mind just would not allow him to think on something else. It kept flashing back to that day.
He kept seeing Bucky's scared face as he hanged hundreds of feet from the icy river as they traveled at least fifty to sixty miles an hour.
The moment just kept repeated itself. Always missing his friend's hand, hearing him scream and watching him fall.
It was a nightmare that continued to haunt him to this day. Even knowing that his childhood friend was alive.
"How do you want to go in?" she asked after a few silent minutes.
"I want to go in alone first." he answered. "See if I can get him to talk. At least get him to tell me why he's doing all of this."
Natasha nodded.
She could very well understand why he wants to go in first and alone. He could at least try to get the truth and reasons for why all of this is happening.
"Hey guys, we're gonna land in about half an hour." Tony announced as he walked out of the cockpit. "How are we gonna do things?"
"I'm going to go in and see if I can talk to Bucky first." Steve stated. "If anything happens, I'll call all of you in to help stop him. At least we could try to contain him."
"Steve, if you call us in, just know that we're going to try to do our best not to hurt him. But if it comes down to it, we may have to get a little rough." Tony stated.
Steve nodded, his eyes full of understanding. He figured that the others would give him a chance to do this his way but they would only give him so much time before they decided to step in.
He just hoped they would give him enough time to try to talk to his childhood friend.
"How long will you let me have?" he asked.
"How long do you think you need?"
"Give me twenty minutes. Once those twenty minutes are up, you guys can step in and we can try to contain Bucky. Maybe then we could get better answers as to why this has happened. Maybe we can help him."
"Steve, you should prepare yourself in case we can't." Bruce said. "We may have to do whatever it takes to stop him."
Once more, Steve nodded.
"Just, please, let's see if he can be helped before we make any quick chioces."
"We promise that we'll do everything we can to help him." Bruce vowed.
"Thanks and I appreciate you guys letting me try to talk to Bucky and for agreeing to help him."
"Anything for our favorite Capsicle." Tony said as he gently pat Steve's shoulder. "And look at it this way, when we get his head cleared up, I'll have another old man to make fun of. Does he still have his v-card like you?"
"Personal question but no. He doesn't." Steve answered.
"I thought men followed that rule back then like women?" Bruce asked.
"Most did but soldiers were a little different. And Bucky was kinda like Tony and Clint put together. Always out with the women and just as sneaky and ready for pranks."
"Sounds like me and bird boy are getting a new best guy friend." Tony said and once again patted Steve's shoulder. "We'll get him back to normal."
Steve nodded. He knew the others would do everything they could to help make sure that Bucky could be changed back to the way he was before whatever happened to him but he was going to give more than them to make sure that his friend could be saved.
He really hoped that in a few short months that he would have his old best friend back. The same friend that saved him from getting beat up by bullies, the same friend he fought in the war with, the same friend he saw as his brother.
Memories of their childhood together popped up in his mind as the jet continued to bring them closer to their destination.
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The wind and snow were almost exactly like they had been that horrible day. The dark clouds that were hanging above and the snow and ice covering the ground below.
Steve stood alone on the cliff where he and his men had stood seventy years ago, waiting for word over the radio to see if Zola was going to be on the train or not.
The soldier stood exactly where he had when Bucky had asked him if the zipline was his way of payback for Coney Island.
A small creak alerted the soldier of something close by. He turned to his left and felt the air leave his body when he saw a too familiar black cable line attached to the rocky wall and leading down to the train tracks below.
Walking over, he noticed that the cable looked to be the same as the one that he and his team had first used but the attachment was new.
He wants a repeat. Steve realized and, a second later, heard a distant train whistle.
Sure enough, around the corner, came a train that held a resemblance too close to the same one they had fought against Zola on.
Not wasting another second, Steve strapped his shield onto his back and grabbed the handle bars on the line.
"We've only got a ten second window. You miss that window, we're bugs on the windshield."
"Mind the gap."
"Better get moving bugs."
Steve grunted as he pushed himself from the cliff and felt the air rushing around him as he flew the air.
He lined up with the train and dropped onto the top like he had all those decades ago. Moving to the next car, Steve found the ladder.
He carefully climbed down and entered the open car that instantly slammed shut the second he entered.
Lightly panting, the soldier looked around. It was a blast from the past. Things were a little too familiar for his liking. It was like his wish to return to his time had come true but got mixed up and he ended up in the worst part of his past.
His enhanced hearing picked up the sound of footsteps and he instantly knew who it was.
"I thought you were dead." he said.
"You thought wrong."