Bucky
Bucky was sitting in the pilot seat of the Quinjet and he was fiddling with the controls. He actually wasn't doing anything, he was just trying to look busy so no one would talk to him. Bucky had been quite since everyone else got on board. They still needed Clint and Morse, and Bucky hadn't heard anything from Steve; which worried him. He didn't know if it the constant anxiety of waiting or if he was just paranoid. Bucky was sure that they would be able to take down Niko. The problem was finding out where he was, Bucky was hoping that Steve would contact him with the location.
Bucky never wanted Steve to get involved in the situation, he hated it when Steve always had to be forced into something. Bucky would have much rather dealt with Niko himself. At least that way no one else would get hurt. He knew that was a pipe dream, Natasha would have probably been taken. Then Steve would have gotten involved even if they weren't together. Bucky could remember a memory of him and Natasha kissing. Bucky shook his head at the memory, it wasn't even love, it was more of a weird itch that needed scratched. It was a long time ago and he knew she didn't remember it very well, or she did and just never really thought about it enough to care. They never even had sex, it was a relationship, but it was over in a blink of an eye. The next thing he knew he was with Zola again and he was put on ice. Then he was standing in front of a burning car with Howard Stark burning alive. He was in a different time again, then he was put back on ice. He hated the memories that came to him in his sleep. They were so real and vivid, he could actually feel his own emotions at that current time. The thought of what happened in Red Room pained him. He would never get forgiveness for what he did back then. Well he did create the world's deadliest assassin and she became good in the end, he had to take what he could get. Bucky wanted to remember what happened all those years ago, but the thought of learning what he did, was almost just as painful as seeing his memories flash before his eyes at any given time. Fury had said that Natasha suffered this to, but she got over it, or learned how to keep it at bay, he had no idea. Bucky just hoped that they would become less frequent over time, but they seemed to become even more frequent as time went on. Then again, his mind was trying to piece itself back together, and missing out on seventy years or culture and then being brainwashed again and again probably didn't help one bit, if anything if made it worse. Bucky just had to ride them out he guessed, even though they seemed to get more intense every time they occurred. He even seemed to have conversations with people that weren't even there, though that only happened when he was alone, and he had to be thankful for that. HE thought about how weird it would be to be talking to Fury or Hill and then fade out and start talking to someone from a memory like they were right next to you. Some people would call that psychotic and Bucky would have agreed with them if he was his normal 1940's self, which was never going to happen. Now it was just normal for him, yet he always had a pending memory of fear that he never saw images of, he only felt the emotions. Maybe he should tell someone all this, or it was nothing and he would be fine. Bucky wasn't a gambling man, but if he was, he wouldn't talk about it. He thought about telling Hill, but he didn't even know where he stood with her, either a pending relationship, or a monogenesis stalemate. Honestly he didn't know which one frightened him more. He would love to have a relationship, if he was his old 1940's self he would have laughed at himself, but now it would be nice to settle down and have something meaningful, but that wasn't going to happen to him. He didn't deserve it, even if he did have a family, he would find it hard to explain what he did for a living. Oh yeah, he hunted down and killed people who had political influence so a Nazi death cult could rule the world, that would be a good bedtime story. Bucky shook his head in disagreement over that issue. He was better to be alone, he was good at being alone, yet he always had Steve. That punk would get into trouble with every turn and he would have to save him, now Steve could take care of himself, yet Bucky didn't know if Steve had any hard times waking up in 2011. He would have guessed Steve would have moped around for a bit then he would have gotten back on his feet and would have continued on, he was good at it.
Bucky stared at the display of the map and they were another five hours away from New York where Clint and Morse were. Bucky sighed and leaned back and he felt his back crack slightly as he stretched and he slightly groaned as he did. He felt his muscles stretch then slowly let the burning sensation dissipate and then he felt normal again, just looser. Bucky looked back an noticed that everyone was sitting far away from him, he didn't know why, maybe they liked the back of the Quinjet, or they wanted some distance from him. Bucky shrugged and knew he could live with loneliness, he'd done it before. Bucky closed his eyes and he let the auto pilot do most of the work and he just focused on breathing and relaxing, or at least trying to relax. He found it hard to relax these days. Bucky rested his head against the head rest and he heard foot steps behind him. Bucky knew they were lighter, and he guessed it was Hill. He glanced over at the co-pilot seat and he saw Hill sit down. She brushed her hair out of her face and she had a streak of blood on her ribs and Bucky opened his eyes and he looked at it.
"Your hurt" Bucky said
Hill looked at him and she seemed surprised that he was talking.
"Nothing serious, just a little graze. I thought you were sleeping"
"Me, sleeping? No I was relaxing or at least trying to" Bucky said
"You don't sleep well do you?" Hill said
"No, I don't. If I do it's not very pleasant"
"Why?" Hill asked, she already partly knew the answer
"Memories, they always flood back in during my sleep, I'm used to not sleeping. Apparently I have been in and out of sleep for seventy years and I think I have had my fill" Bucky said and he cracked his neck and he looked over at her.
"Do you ever wonder what happened in Red Room?" Hill asked
"Every day, but I think a part of me doesn't want to know" Bucky said
"I wouldn't blame it"
"Me neither" Bucky said
They sat in silence and Bucky glanced over at her and he kept looking at her wound on her ribs.
"Sorry, but could I?" Bucky said leaning forward and pointing at her wound
"If it would get you to stop worrying" Hill said
"It would certainly help to know that my partner is still in one piece" Bucky said
"Be my guest" Hill said and she put her arm across the small gap and rested it on Bucky's seat.
Bucky leaned forward and he looked at her wound. He got closer and his face was inches away from her ribs. Hill swallowed and she felt her heart slightly begin to jump as his face got closer to her ribs, having him in close proximity of her breasts made her feel a little light headed. Bucky looked up at her and she was slightly blushing.
"Something wrong Agent Hill?" Bucky asked teasingly
"Ha ha very funny, so how does it look?" Hill asked
Bucky examined it closer and he put his real hand on her lower ribs and it was just below the wound and his touch almost made her jump. He moved it finger closer to the wound.
"That sting?"
"No" Hill said
Bucky touched it with his finger; Hill gasped and her face grimaced in pain.
"Ok, that hurt"
"Well, you're lucky, if it was a direct shot, it would have cut you to pieces" Bucky said
Hill looked at him and she frowned "You can tell what kind of bullet hit me?"
"Yeah, I've had a long time of looking at wounds, this bullet would have broken all your ribs on the left side and then it would have splintered off and pieced your lungs and aorta. You would have died a quick, but agonizing death."
"Well isn't that cheerful" Hill said uncomfortable with that image
"I would advise not getting shot in the future Miss Hill" Bucky said jokingly
"Yeah, great advise Doc" Hill chimed in with the crude humor.
"Well, you'll be fine. Just don't get hit next time"
"You are so good with encouragement Barnes, maybe you should have been a motivational speaker"
"I would be famous" Bucky said smiling
Hill laughed and she looked at Bucky's metal arm and she tilted her head. Bucky was smiling and he looked at Hill's eyes and noticed that she was staring at something. Bucky followed her gaze and he looked at his metal arm.
"Hill you ok?" Bucky asked slightly uncomfortable with her staring
"Oh, just I can't imagine what it's like to have a metal arm" Hill said
"Yeah, I would have preferred that the real one would have stayed, but a rock decided against it."
"Can I?" Hill asked and he hand reached forward.
Bucky looked at her hand and he hesitated and he swallowed and he slowly put his left hand out and he let her touch it. Hill ran her fingers over his fingers and she looked at him. She could feel the cold metal and she lightly moved her fingers to his palm and she rested her hand on his.
"Nothing?"
"No nothing, sometimes I forget that I have it" Bucky said still uncomfortable with her hand on his metal hand. He wished that he could feel her hand in his. He looked down as her hand moved to his wrist and then up his forearm.
Bucky wished he could feel her touch with his left arm, he felt his mouth slightly open and he felt a tear come to his eye. He blinked it away and he was surprised that he was crying. He missed knowing what he was touching with that arm so much. He wished he could feel the warmth of the sun, or the coolness of the wind. Even the freezing sensation of ice cold water. He wished, but he never would, and that made him a little sad. He didn't know why, it was just an arm and he could feel the rest with his real hand, but there was just the feeling of only experiencing half of the sensations. He felt a little empty. Hill took her hand away from his metal arm and she touched his real one just like the metal one. Bucky could feel his nerves start to go crazy as her fingers lightly rubbed his palm and he felt it tickle and then the warmth of her hand on his forearm. He inhaled and he looked at Hill and she was looking at him. Bucky smiled at her and he saw a smile appear on her face and Bucky wanted to touch her face and kiss her soft lips and rub his hand through her hair. Bucky exhaled and his nerves made him shiver slightly. He smiled at her and she smiled back.
"So Agent Hill, do you have a thing for disabled soldiers?" Bucky asked
"You're not disabled" Hill said and she gripped his hand and she leaned forward and Bucky felt her breath on his face and they kissed. Bucky felt her lips against his and his ears became warm and he put his metal hand on her thigh.
"You do know I'm back here right?" Fury asked
Bucky and Hill came apart and they both looked back at Fury, who was sitting calmly and he slightly waved at them. Bucky chuckled and he looked at Hill and he looked into her eyes and he began to lose himself in them. A loud beep from the console brought Bucky back to reality. Bucky almost didn't want to answer it, it was killing the moment, or what was left of it. Bucky knew it could be Steve so he answered it. A display screen popped up and Steve's face appeared on it and he looked horrible.
"What's the news Steve?" Bucky asked
"I think I know where Niko sleeps" Steve said and he slightly looked down, then back at them.
"Good, where is it?" Bucky asked
"The Russian Gulag" Steve said
Bucky raised his eyebrows "Well if you plan on infiltrating that place, you're going to need one hell of a plan" Bucky said
"I have one, it's not my best, but it's the fastest option that doesn't let us have a high chance of death"
"But the ones with such high chances of death are the fun ones" Bucky said
"Yeah, we did some crazy stuff back then"
"Steve back then feels like yesterday to me" Bucky said
"I know how you feel, anyway I need to get in there. The best thing I could do is actually get arrested and put in the gulag" Steve said
"Whoa, reaching pretty high there Rogers" Hill said
"Heh, I've reached higher" Steve said
Hill was taken back by his response and she looked at Bucky.
"He has" Bucky confirmed
"So Rogers what is the plan for us? Fury asked
"I will create a distraction in the prison and then you can slip in through the chaos, Fury if you could so kindly be our exit" Steve said
"Good idea, we don't need the old man getting shot again" Bucky said teasingly
"Buck, you're the one who shot him" Steve said
Bucky's smile disappeared and he frowned and he looked back at Fury. "Sorry about that"
"You guys go after Niko, I'm going to find Natasha and I'm going to get her home" Steve said
"Well it sounds like a plan" Bucky said
"Yeah, just be there in two days" Steve said
"What are you going to do in the mean time?" Bucky asked
"What I always do, get into trouble" Steve said
"Yeah I know you're good at that. See you then punk" Bucky said
Steve actually smirked and he disconnected. Bucky sat back and he exhaled.
"Well at least we have time to get Clint" Bucky said
"And figure out the game plan" Fury said
"Yeah, breaking into a high security prison and also breaking someone out and capturing a enemy. How hard can that be?" Bucky said sarcastically