"What do you think is gonna happen next?" Clint asked, skimming a rock across the smooth, glossy surface of a small lake he'd found near the house.
Natasha, who was sat on a smooth, low-lying tree branch above him, shrugged and took another sip of water. "I just hope that they don't make stupid decisions."
Wanda was sat next to her, another bottle of water flipping and twirling, shrouded in the red mist she used to move things. Pietro was skipping rocks with Clint at the shoreline as they waited for T'Challa, who quite frankly scared them, to finish speaking and planning with Steve and Tony, the nominated leaders. Steve had proven himself strongest and bravest, and had earned the respect of all, and Tony was intelligent and logical, providing the other half of a noble leader.
"So, where do you think Bucky is?" Clint asked the girls as they swung their legs absentmindedly.
Natasha raised one red eyebrow, tilting her head like a puppy as she thought. "He's probably alive, and probably well. You know Bucky. He's probably gotten lost and gone on to the Bunker, if he's smart."
"There's a Bunker?" Wanda asked.
"North of here, a few hours' walk. It's pretty big, and military-owned, but there's few weapons there so it's not too strictly enforced. Sam and Bucky's dads work there, and Steve lives with Bucky, so naturally those three grew up on the barracks." Natasha started. "The Bunker is full of food and supplies, but it's not got any weapons. It's about as armed as my aunt and uncle's store aside from a few pocket knives."
Pietro nodded. "But there are weapons up there, yes?"
Natasha responded with a nod, eyeing him curiously. "The few they have are kept under thick lock and key, so don't get any ideas. That's if the Bunker is inside this 'FAYZ 2' at all. From what I read, the last one was only ten miles in diameter."
"Well, for that we'd have to know the centre." Clint started. "And I don't suppose there's some gaia-whatever lurking around under the ground of Tamsworth. Everyone who comes here says the same thing; it's pretty crap save the school. A station, a few staple stores, not even a particularly big chain store and a tired old bunker hidden off in the woods. Who would want to take over it?"
Pietro shrugged, and the girls raised their eyebrows, bored.
"Hey, I have an idea," Natasha said. "Let's go and get Lila and Cooper. Does anyone have a good stick?"
Pietro whistled loudly, something he learned in order to summon the dogs. They came padding out of the woods a few minutes later, tongues lolling.
"They miss Buck," Clint said, ruffling Cooper's dark ears. "I wonder where he is."
The answer was not pleasant.
Bucky was having to run an incredibly gruelling course all through the night. He had no idea how long it was, only that the robot had attached a tracker to the back of his neck and that when Bucky disagreed, he would be electrocuted to the point of screaming. He'd made the mistake of disobeying twice before resigning himself to a slow pace, desperately trying not to stop.
The robot, Ultron, would follow him with quick, long-legged steps. He said that this giant thing was an experiment, and he was testing Bucky.
Bucky hated pop quizzes, let alone this. His feet, bare, ached, and his shirt and trousers were muddied and torn at the hems. He had been forced through one obstacle and onto the next for nearly 24 hours straight; it was taking a toll.
Bucky's hands were raw and carried a few shallow cuts from when Ultron had begun to teach him how to fight with knives, his shoulder was bruised and his arm sore from fighting and hand to hand combat, and now his legs ached so bad that Bucky half hoped that Ultron would cut those off and replace them too. At least the metal arm wasn't too heavy.
It was far stronger than any average arm, as he'd learned when he missed Storm's arm. The kid was good at fighting, as his reputation said, so he'd been sparring with Bucky and jumped out of the way of a punch. The metal fist, still remarkably shiny, had gone straight through the brick wall behind him, painlessly. Bucky had been amazed, and looked at the spectating Ultron in surprise, who was nodding. He was great at designing, Bucky would give him that.
Kidnapping, torturing and potentially killing? Ultron had proved great at that, too.
"Why do I have to do this?" Bucky asked for the hundredth time as he vaulted the low wooden gate at the end of the field for what felt like the thousandth time.
Ultron followed, muttering. "You know why. Finish this lap and you're done; you've worked well for your first day."
Bucky rolled his eyes, running around the smaller field with renewed energy at the news. "You're going to make me do this again?"
"Until you can outrun me, and outfight Storm." Reed appeared, grinning, at the worn out Bucky. Ultron turned away and headed off to wherever he was living.
"Reed, restrain him until later." Again, another fist met with Bucky's forehead. He hated this; why couldn't he just walk around? It wasn't like he had the option to run away without being fried.
Bucky was half-awake as he got dragged back to the prison cell. Through hazy eyelids, he could see the buildings that surrounded and shrouded the path to the prison. He'd have to find a way out, but first, he'd have to remove the shock collar that Ultron had installed.
It was a plan, if a daunting one.
A/N: Sorry for the late updating! I've just got back and we were on the road for a long time without wifi so I haven't been able to upload anything. The next chapters will come quickly, I promise!