Chapter 13 – Bucky (2014)
I sat outside the bank, curled up and leaning against the wall as I mourned the loss of Bucky's mind once again. I couldn't do this again, this would be the last time. I got up and called Gordon, asking him where I would find Steve Rogers, but he didn't know how. He suggested that I went to Sam Wilson's house and I did. I knocked on the door incessantly before a man opened the door.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"My name is Maddie, is Steve here?" I asked. He looked over his shoulder and Steve nodded. Sam opened the door fully and I came inside.
"Where have you been? You disappeared for two years" he said.
"I know. I went to a place to learn to control my powers" I told him. "But I saw the news, and I figured you might want help to bring Bucky home" I said.
"You told me that it was a trick, but it wasn't was it?" Steve asked. I hesitated before shaking my head.
"I wanted to save you from the pain, but I was hoping to bring Bucky back before you met the Winter Soldier" I told him.
"He doesn't remember his own name."
"No, he doesn't. Which means he doesn't know us either, so don't take offense when he beats the hell out of you" I told him.
"Yeah, been there and done that already" he shrugged.
"He's able to be brought back by certain memories. I was able to bring him back by reminding him of he and I, but they would wipe him every time I brought him back. But you have so many memories with him, you can bring him back too" I told Steve. They were like brothers and that was a more powerful memory than the plans he had made with me. He and Steve would have died for each other.
"We have to stop HYDRA first, then we can focus on Bucky" Steve said. I nodded and they explained the plan before we headed out.
I ran alongside Steve and Sam until we reached the edge.
"How do we tell the good guys from the bad guys?" Sam asked.
"If they're shooting at you, they're bad" Steve replied and I had to hide a laugh before Sam let his wings out and took my hands, taking off while Steve jumped down. It felt weirdly great to be flying, granted that I wasn't technically flying, Sam was. But we were soon shot at by the guns in the helicarriers.
"I found the bad guys we were talking about" Sam said.
"Are you two okay?" Steve asked.
"We're not dead yet" Sam replied.
"We're not going to die, drop me on the landing strip" I told Sam.
"Where?" he asked.
"Near-" I was cut off when we were shot at again.
"This one" I said quickly and Sam nodded.
"Will you die if I drop you from here?" Sam asked and I looked up at him in shock.
"If you drop me, I will kill you" I told him. "Just get me a metre or two off the ground and then you can drop me without killing me." He did as I asked and I followed the Winter Soldier as he killed men to get a plane.
'You can only see the men on the landing strip, there is no woman here' I forced toward the Winter Soldier. I followed the Winter Soldier inside a plane and stayed with him as he flew onto a helicarriers and then fought Sam and Steve on the top of one. When he kicked Sam off, I ran to the edge and saw that Sam had landed safely on a nearby rooftop using his parachute. I then followed the Winter Soldier inside the helicarrier and watched as he waited for someone to arrive.
It wasn't long before Steve came up behind me and I looked between them, taking note of how the Winter Soldier didn't seem to recognise Steve, but he hadn't recognised me before either.
"People are gonna die Buck. I can't let that happen" Steve told his childhood friend. The Winter Soldier didn't budge. "Please don't make me do this." I looked to Steve.
"He can't see me, I need you to bring him back" I told him quietly. Steve threw his shield at the Winter Soldier and a fight ensued. When the chip they needed fell to the bottom, I climbed down and started to run towards it but the Soldier and Steve were too close for me to grab it. Steve reached for the chip but the Winter Soldier grabbed it and then Steve grabbed him and positioned his human arm to be dislocated.
"Drop it" Steve said. The Winter Soldier tried to punch Steve off him but missed. "Drop it" Steve said and then dislocated the Soldier's arm, I watched on in horror as the Soldier kept holding on to the chip. I was tempted to remove the cloak so I could bring him back, but we had to stop HYDRA first. Steve rolled onto his back trying to choke the Soldier out but the Soldier fought against him, trying to pry Steve's hands apart, Steve moved the metal arm under his leg though and just kept his arms around the Soldier's throat until he passed out.
"Steve, did you have to choke him out?" I asked as I followed him back up to the motherboard. A shot rang out and I fell to the ground, Steve following behind as he held his leg. "Go" I hissed to him and he got up and made his way towards the motherboard again. Another shot and Steve stopped. I sat up and held my stomach, the bullet had gone through my stomach and into Steve's leg earlier. I could feel my cloak falling from the Soldier's mind and then I heard Maria Hill over the earpiece.
"Cap, Maddie, get out of there now" she said.
'Steve, I'm shot. Get out of here and save Bucky' I told him.
"Do it now" Steve said and I got to my hands and knees.
The explosions began and that was when I heard Bucky screaming. I looked down and saw him trying to squirm out from under metal beams that had fallen.
"Steve" I called out. Steve ran down and pulled the beams up just long enough for Bucky to wiggle out.
"You know me" Steve told the Soldier.
"No I don't" the Soldier argued and punched Steve.
"Bucky, you've known me your whole life" Steve said and the Soldier punched him again. "Your name is James Buchanan Barnes" Steve tried again.
"Shut up" the Winter Soldier screamed as he punched Steve again. Steve got to his feet and pulled off his mask.
"I'm not gonna fight you" Steve told the Soldier as he dropped his shield out of the helicarrier. "You're my friend." The Winter Soldier tackled Steve to the ground.
"You're my mission" he said and started punching him again. I winced as I let myself hit the ground with a thud, but the Soldier and Steve didn't notice me. "You're. My. Mission" the Soldier said between punches and then hesitated.
"Then finish it" Steve said as the Winter Soldier held his fist high. "Because I'm with you to the end of the line" Steve reminded his friend. I could feel the realisation hitting Bucky as another beam fell and Steve plummeted to the water below.
"Steve" I called out, catching Bucky's attention as he held on to the beam about him. My eyes were wide as I watched him look down and then let go of the beam and fall into the water. I looked outside the plane and realised how close I was to the water, I had to jump or I'd drown inside the helicarrier. I took a few breaths and then jumped, praying that the fall wouldn't kill me.
The water was cold, as I expected, but when a hand grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the shore, I didn't fight it. I coughed and sat up, holding my hand over the gunshot wound and looking over at him.
"You saved me" I said.
"I'm your Superman" he said blankly. My face dropped and I couldn't find words.
"You remember?" I asked. He nodded.
"Bits and pieces, I need to know who I was" he told me. I nodded.
"Let me help you." He was hesitant.
"You need to get to a hospital, there's help on the way already" he said and then left through the trees. I was too weak to follow and I laid back down, letting the unconsciousness take me.
Reviews:
Brazilwolf: I feel bad for Bucky too! At least we're now finished the Winter Soldier movie…almost. Next chapter will have a few resolutions between characters, which was fun to write (yes the next chapter is already written but because I work late, I will not post it until tomorrow so I know that there's something if I don't get to write anything tonight). Have an awesome day/afternoon/night!