I hope you enjoy this chapter! I can't wait to see our boys in Infinity Wars!
Bucky felt his mind awaken before his body did. For a moment, he feared that he was in the cryo chamber again; all he felt cold and his body was weak again—that sinking feeling of being ready to be thawed only when he was needed was consuming him.
His eyes snapped opened and he launched himself forward only to stop when he realized that, sitting next to him with that almost permanent look of concern on his face was—
"Steve." It was barely above a whisper but Steve Rogers heard it and was immediately moving from his uncomfortable position in the hospital chair and lurching towards his friend. Steve's eyes landed on Bucky's pale form and quicker than Bucky had ever seen him move, Steve was closer and Bucky was suddenly enveloped into a warm embrace. Firm and unyielding and Bucky held on just as tight.
Bucky moved his right arm to wrap around Steve's waist securely and buried his forehead against the crook of his friend's shoulder. "Hey Stevie." Bucky whispered, ignorant of the soreness of his throat.
"Hey yourself." Steve smiled breathlessly; seeing Bucky's whitish but smiling face made him want to cancel out of what Ross wants, makes him want to grab Bucky now and protect him like he should have all those years ago. Bucky did not deserve this.
"How long was I out?" Bucky asked as he tenderly pulled away from his friend, licking his dry lips. Steve saw the act and quickly grabbed an undrunk glass of water he kept by Bucky's bedside.
"Just two days." Steve answered, bringing the glass up to Bucky; tilting it foreward as Bucky greedily drank it down. Lying back after getting water, he looked at the stump that once was his left arm with a sudden look of wanting to puke. It may have been artificial but it still felt like his flesh had been dismantled off.
"Tony says that your new arm should be ready by tonight or tomorrow morning." Steve set the cup back down as Bucky nodded, still looking at his left side. It hurt like hell, but Bucky was, in a strange way, almost glad it was gone. The last of Hydra's work on him was gone. Even though it still had him wanting to hurl after thinking about when it happened. When once again, a Hydra' agents sawed off his left arm while he was awake.
Steve stared at the left side of what was once Bucky's shoulder with a sense of wanting to either get sick himself or rip off Rumlow's head. Maybe both. Though the thought of Rumlow had Steve curl his hands intro fists, nails diffing into his skin. Bucky instantly saw the change in Steve's body language; a small frown grew on his face as he keeps his right arm on the side of Steve's shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Bucky whispered, his fingers carefully placed on his friend's shoulder still.
Steve sighed as he turned away, wishing for the rare time that they didn't have such an intimate knowledge of each other, wishes that this borderline telepathic connection wasn't able to have Bucky know exactly when Steve was suffering from something. True, he did come to appreciate the fact that there's no need for guess work between the two of them, even though it meant that most of their feelings aren't private when it came to the other.
"It's about Rumlow." Bucky's low voice said knowingly. He swallowed nervously, guessing what was causing Steve's silence.
Steve nodded grimly, his eyes finally meeting his friend's. "He won't talk to anyone but you about where the rest of Hydra is." Steve swallowed apprehensively.
No no no no…Bucky plopped himself back down on the bed, his right hand still holding onto Steve and neither man showed a sign of moving away. "I don't think I can do it." He whispered to Steve. Not again. His memories from his time as the Winter Soldier were…not all there, but from the bits he did know, he felt pure fear being alone with him again…
"You don't have to." Steve's strong voice had Bucky raise his blue eyes to meet Steve's with a smile. Steve was looking at him with such devotion that it almost seemed possible for them both to get out of having to deal with anymore of Hydra, the governments, Ross—with Steve next to him, it seemed like they could honestly get away from this lifestyle.
"Somehow I doubt that is an option." Bucky said knowingly, a slight, find smile on his lips. God, could they not catch a break? He just wanted all of this to be over…
"I can help you leave." Steve insisted, his own fingers intertwining with Bucky's comfortingly, grounding him, letting him know he was here. "Tony, Sam, Nat—they all will help you leave. We'll figure something out."
Bucky was silent for a moment, his mind mulling over the reckless option. He wanted to say yes so badly, to leave and just be with Steve and be allowed to Bucky Barnes—to feel safe for the first time in such a long time. Bucky sighed deeply. "But if we go…then Hydra can grow again. Can hurt more people."
Steve's heart fell to his stomach. He longed to pull Bucky close and insist that this wasn't their problem anymore-the government screwed this up, they can fix it…but he knew that Bucky was right. Neither of them were the type of people to ignore a problem at this extreme.
"What would I have to do?" Bucky asked, a numbness spreading throughout his body that had nothing to do with the pain from his torture.
Steve swallowed uncertainly before answering. "Rumlow will be in Hulk's prison while you ask him questions about where the last of Hydra are hiding. If it wasn't for all of the government's and Hydra's files being leaked all those months ago, I honestly think they would just torture the information out of him. But most likely Ross and the others are trying to make the world think they are heroes again." Bucky snorted at that, hurting his ribs but the small laugh from Steve made it worth it.
After a small pause, Steve continued. "They want you to see a therapist after every session with Rumlow too." Steve added apologetically, knowing how his friend would think of that.
"I don't want to see a doctor." Bucky mumbled like a child. Letting someone pick at his head again? No way.
"I know, but they-Ross that is-want to look like they're being considerate. Ross wants to make sure that they are covering their tracks in case another leak happens again." Steve's tone proved how he felt about the government's tracks.
Bucky nodded, his hand still intertwined with Steve's. This was just bull. Everything about this made him feel revolted. "Can you come with me? When I am with him?" He didn't care if he sounded like a whiny kid who couldn't bear to be separated from his parents. He didn't know how he could do this without Steve nearby. To be alone, just himself with Rumlow had bile picking up at the back of his throat.
The look on Steve's face was answer enough. Bucky looked down at his lap, knowing Steve most likely did what he could to get Bucky out of this situation, but it still made his hatred for this Ross grow.
Steve bit his lip angrily. He was letting Buck down again and again-what kind a monster was he that he couldn't even be in the same room with his friend because of what Ross said? Ross wouldn't let him be there for his brother and there was nothing he could do about it unless he could take Bucky away, but even that wasn't going to last long. The possible newspaper articles screamed at him with lies about Bucky Barnes refusing to help his fellow men or whatever.
Steve hadn't answered and his eyes seemed watery. Bucky quickly intervened. "It's okay." His small voice was barely noticeable. "I'll do it." His soft answer had Steve wrapped his arms around Bucky's waist yet again and gently pulled him snug against his own chest.
Bucky could feel his own body tense before completely relaxing; after all that had happened with Rumlow, he still feels like punishment is just waiting for him.
"I'll be in the other room the whole time watching." Steve vowed, pulling him closer against him.
Bucky moves his brow to rest against Steve's. This was safe, Steve was safe and always there for him. Steve was home. Steve was going to be there for him.
"As long as you're there, I'll be fine." Bucky spoke in a small voice. Dealing with Rumlow after everything had Bucky's chest clench painfully; he would have done anything he could to ensure that Rumlow was gone from his life forever. But this would have Hydra be gone, which would make Steve safe. How could he say no to that? As long as he had Steve by his side, he'd be okay.
MARVELMARVELMARVEL
Rumlow's smirking beam aimed just at Bucky was enough to have Steve growl deeply. Natasha's warm hand was settled on his shoulder comfortingly, her thumb gently rubbing soothing circles. She glared at Rumlow as well but turned her attention to Steve.
"If anything goes wrong, we'll go in." She swore.
Steve was still tense under her touch but he nodded thankfully towards her, his eyes never leaving Bucky's face as they both watched him walk cautiously towards Rumlow. Steve hated the fact that they could only watch from these cameras. There Bucky was, about to sit in front of one of his abusers and all Steve could do was just watch. Ross hadn't even the decency to come in person. The cameras were set to live and the man was watching comfortably in the safety of his own office, miles away. Steve knew there would be no sympathy located on his face as he watched Rumlow and Barnes.
Bucky looked briefly at the cameras that stayed locked on sight on the two of them but quickly turned his head back. He was sitting in front of Rumlow from outside of the clear cell. Rumlow was sitting with a metal table in front of him, staring at Bucky with a possessive stare. Bucky leaned forward in his metal seat, his new black vibranium hand gripped on own knee painfully, grounding him into the here and now. The doctors had the decency to put him to sleep before they installed the new arm, something which Hydra never would have done. The red star was surrounded by red and blue circles, looking similar to Steve's shield; something that Bucky had secretly asked Tony if he would take the liberty of doing.
"Took them long enough to bring you back to me." Rumlow looked his Asset up and down, searching for any signs of mistreatment. He seemed fine on the outside; little color on his cheeks but not enough, some healthy meat on the bones, but that didn't mean they were messing up his condition again. God, he was so close to have the Soldier back…
"What do you want from me?" Bucky's strong tone brought some relief to Steve, hoping that his friend was doing better than he was earlier. The enemy's answer brought Steve's attention to Brock.
"How are they treating you?" Rumlow's concerned voice had Natasha cock her head to the side; she knew that Rumlow needed his soldier back to show that Hydra still had some strength, but why did he act like he cared?
"Better than Hydra ever did." Bucky answered softly. Not weak or doubting himself, just quiet, calculating. "Where are the rest of your agents?"
Rumlow frowned slightly, seemingly not hearing the reply. "You look pale." The possessive comment might have seemed full of concern to the normal eye, yet Bucky knew what it really meant. He was…well, Rumlow looked at Bucky like he was a skill that no one else had, a thing; not a machine but not a human being with rights either. A piece of his property that belonged to him and only him. It wasn't concern. It was possession.
"You asked me here, and I'm here." Bucky pushed on as he ignored the comment, swallowing thickly. This is not where he wanted to be. His stomach turned uncomfortably as Rumlow continued to look at him silently before answering. Cocking his head to the side thoughtfully, Rumlow finally answered casually, eyes never leaving Bucky's as he give information on one Hyrda site. The base was in another state, nowhere near the sort of places that the government had been searching.
Bucky sat there blankly as Rumlow stated the facts of who was in charge in that certain area; quietly thanking the fact that the camera were catching Rumlow's every word, while Bucky was having a hard enough time not just reaching over, break the cell apart and snap the man's neck, or better yet just run out that room without ever looking back.
"Is that all?" Bucky questioned when Rumlow paused, his hand still gripping his knee.
"I think that's good enough for now." Rumlow answered with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Lips pressed tightly together, Bucky was grateful that his fear didn't show in his face. He suspected that Rumlow was going to drag this out for as long as he could, but that didn't make it feel less like a knife wound twisting into his stomach. Getting up, Bucky said nothing to the other man as he set the chair back, wordlessly turning his back to Rumlow as he left, feeling the other man's glare on him until the door close with a thud.