Chapter 10
While Captain America was getting rescued by the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye and Black Widow were searching for the HYDRA base. Hawkeye, in his typical fashion, was talking to Black Widow the entire time.
"I'm not even kidding, Natasha," he was saying as they slipped through the trees, following the faint trail the Winter Soldier had left behind. "Chocolate ice cream is so much better than vanilla. How could you even suggest otherwise?"
Black Widow held back a sigh and a smile at the same time. In truth, she had suggested no such thing, but Clint had put the words in her mouth simply to comment on them. Black Widow knew that once Hawkeye got started, there was no stopping him. She tuned him out and focused on her tracking.
However, she couldn't help the worry that was still in the back of her mind, five months after she thought she had dealt with it. It was an insidious kind of worry; one that even Black Widow was having difficulty ignoring. It was far different than ignoring her partner, as Black Widow could do that easily.
That information dump . . . she had acted so confident, put a mask on for the world to see, but inside she had felt like a cornered animal. Even now, she still got wary looks from the people she passed, though they did their best to hide them. Even after all she'd done in service of SHIELD, people still doubted her loyalty after hearing about her past. No matter what Black Widow did now, what she had already done was still affecting her.
"Hey, Natasha, are you even listening to me?" Hawkeye was suddenly in front of her, a slight frown on his rugged face. "You won't tell me whether white cats or black cats are nicer!"
Black Widow couldn't help but wonder how this man had become the greatest archer in the world.
"Clint," she sighed, pushing past him, "is that really important right now? We need to find Captain America."
"Yeah yeah, I know. But come on. He's Captain America! He'll last until we get there-"
"That's not the right attitude to have," Black Widow snapped. "We need to get there as soon as possible. There is no time to have pointless debates."
Hawkeye looked disheartened for a moment, and then he smiled slightly.
"Fine. If you say so, Natasha."
As they continued going, Black Widow thought about Hawkeye. Of all the people, she had known that he would be the least affected by the information dump on the Internet. He already knew that Black Widow came from a troubled past – he'd even had to fight her more than once – and had still gone with her and trusted Black Widow with his life countless times. Even now, in the face of Captain America's abduction, he still had that slightly annoying easy-going attitude that seemed to have no context whatsoever.
"Natasha," Hawkeye suddenly said, stopping and kneeling, "we've got a problem."
"The tracks stop," Black Widow responded, kneeling next to him. "He must have gotten far enough away to find covering his tracks important."
"He'd good at it, too," Hawkeye grunted, standing up. "I'd say he gives you a run for your money."
"Don't bet on it," Black Widow replied, standing up smoothly. "He couldn't have hidden everything, and unless he got picked up by some vehicle farther away, he couldn't have gotten very far."
"These tracks are fairly new," Hawkeye commented. "I'd say that if he was walking and carrying Cap, he must be within a five square kilometer radius."
"Agreed. Let's inform Fury."
…
"Falcon," Fury commanded, "Black Widow and Hawkeye think that Captain America is within a five kilometer radius of our location."
"You want me to help with the search?" Falcon asked, slowly rotating his arm. He was still in pain from his last encounter with the Winter Soldier, but he had recovered more quickly than he would've expected.
Or he was just stubborn.
"Of course I do," Fury snapped. "Now get your gear and start searching. There will be other ships assisting you. See anything, report it to me immediately."
"Yes, sir," Falcon replied, saluting somewhat sarcastically and then jogging off to find his gear.
He was going to find Steve.
…
The Winter Soldier raised an eyebrow as Captain America sat there and blinked, seeming to have difficulty focusing on what was happening. He looked around, wondering what was going on. His eyes landed on a couple empty syringes and he sighed. Of course they would need to sedate him.
"Hey," the Winter Soldier growled, "I get you're sedated, but wake. Up. I can't carry you out of here while getting attacked."
Captain America stared at the man in front of him, who was showing more expression than Captain America had ever seen before. There was actually a little bit of concern in his eyes.
Is this . . . Bucky?
"Come on, Steve. I don't have all day."
Right after the words came out of Bucky's mouth, an alarm sounded. Flashing lights instantly bathed the room in a red hue, reminding the two men inside that they had to get moving.
Steve Rogers, for his part, was desperately struggling against the rapidly fading effects of the sedatives HYDRA had used on him. His eyes wandered around the room until they alighted on a very familiar piece of vibranium metal, emblazoned with a clear star on it. The iconic shield was buried in one wall, with a smear of blood visible on it. Nearby, Guttural was collapsed on the floor, his eyes glassy and unseeing. Captain America had to admit that the guy looked exactly like his voice sounded.
"I . . ." Captain America gasped. "Need . . . my shield." His strength was beginning to return more quickly as his serum-enhanced body fought off the effects of the sedatives. With a nod of acknowledgment, the Winter Soldier walked over to the shield and easily yanked it out of the wall using his metal arm. Moments later, he held it out to Captain America, who took it gladly.
The Winter Soldier said nothing more, staring at the man in front of him. So many conflicting emotions and feelings surged through him that it was difficult to think straight, with years of memories returning to him all at once, drowning out the mechanized assassin that HYDRA had wanted him to be and replacing that machine with a man who was trying to rescue his friend. The change was not pleasant, and Bucky could guess that he was going to pay for not stopping to sort through his memories later, but at least he was feeling more complete than he had in decades.
Captain America slowly stood up and immediately staggered, about to fall, but Bucky caught him by the shoulders and pushed him back up, acting purely on instinct. The captain stared at him, still caught by surprise by the sudden change in the Winter Soldier's actions and behavior.
I never lost faith in you, Bucky, he thought, knowing in the back of his mind that that was true. There was no way he would ever give up on a friend; especially one that seemed so conflicted.
"Thanks," Captain America muttered, blinking and clearing his head. He was almost completely free of the sedatives, that much he could tell. This time when he stood, he did so quickly, trusting that his body would support him. It did, and the captain grinned, seeing the slightly confused expression on his friend's face.
"Are we leaving now?" Bucky asked, his expression melting back into that mask of indifference. It seemed to be his default look, drilled into him by HYDRA so deeply it wouldn't be uprooted by his past.
"Yeah," Captain America coughed, rotating his shoulders and getting a feel for his shield again. "We should hurry. No doubt Fury is in a panic."
"Fury?"
"The director of SHIELD," Steve replied, giving his new ally a curious look. "Didn't you know that? I was sure they would inform you of things like that."
"I was informed enough to know that he was a man I was supposed to kill," Bucky replied quietly. "That was it. I was never given his name."
Captain America detected the subtle hint of warning in his friend's voice, the notice that the topic was not one that Bucky wanted to discuss.
"I see. Well then," Captain America said, walking over to the door, "let's get out of here."
Bucky smiled slightly and pulled a pistol out from somewhere on his person. Captain America didn't want to know where he'd gotten it. With a nod, both men dashed out into the corridor, Captain America taking point with his shield to take the brunt of enemy fire. Immediately, the soldier was nearly thrown back at the force of bullets hitting the circle of metal, but he stood his ground. Answering gunfire came from Bucky and with deadly accuracy the enemy-turned-ally took down every HYDRA soldier in the hallway. After he was finished, he reloaded his weapon with calm precision.
Captain America slowly stood up, glanced back at his friend, and cleared his throat.
"You know this place better than I do," he said. Bucky nodded, his expression intent.
"I know. Follow me; the nearest exit is this way."
Both men took off at a sprint, hoping to outrun the HYDRA troops that were no doubt attempting to cut them off.
Bucky is back, people! I was waiting this entire story to get his head to clear, and I'm happy I finally got that far.
And I suddenly got an explosion of new reviews which is absolutely incredible. Thank you guys for taking the time to give me feedback (it actually got this chapter out faster than I was expecting)! If you are able, please continue to review and be awesome readers!
-RoR