"Buck, we have a problem."
Sam's voice came from the end of the couch Bucky had been spending the past few nights. He had been getting more rest than he could remember, but he was still unable to sleep for long stretches at a time. The nightmares were reluctant to relent.
Bucky opened his mouth to make a sarcastic remark, but the way Sam held himself forced him to bite his tongue and bolt sit upright. The bruises on Sam's face had only just begun to turn vibrant shades of violet, a reminder of their fight in New York only half a week ago. Bucky's had healed within a few hours, only because of the serum within his veins.
"What is it?" Bucky asked, jaw tensed. Sam passed his phone to Bucky, and he glimpsed the screen at the same moment Sam directed his focus to the person on facetimed on the other end of the call.
"Joaquin, can you repeat what you just told me?" Sam asked, his voice strained. Bucky inclined his head slightly at Joaquin, who responded with a serious nod of his own.
Shit. It must be bad. Joaquin was usually the more upbeat of the three of them.
"Hey Bucky. I've received intel about a developing situation that I believe is not far off becoming an international shitstorm. Two months ago, an Australian woman went missing in Madripoor, fell completely off the grid. The Australian government has been doing a lot of work trying to facilitate with local authorities to find her, but to no avail." Bucky frowned.
"Okay, what does a missing Aussie have to do with us?" He asked.
"Just keep listening, Buck." Sam said as Joaquin continued.
"Three days ago, she was found at the port of Darwin in northern Australia, after having stowed away in a shipping container for almost three weeks. Her being found hasn't been broadcast to the public yet, but the details she has given local authorities are that she was kidnapped, experimented on, and only escaped when the shipping container she was in blew up."
Bucky's blood went cold. The words ricocheted in his mind as he tried to piece together exactly what Joaquin was saying. He glanced up to Sam, asking him with only his desperate eyes if this was what it sounded like. A flash of regret passed across Sam's face, before he inhaled deeply and nodded, the muscles across his jaw tightening.
"No." Bucky grit out, rising to his feet, his gaze still piercing Sam. "No, please don't tell me we missed her." Sam inhaled, ready to respond, when Joaquin answered for him.
"I'm sorry Bucky, my sources are telling me that this is legit. It lines up with the dates ya'll were at the Madripoor shipping yard." Bucky's fingers clenched around the phone, and Sam stepped forwards, seeing the way the metal hand of his left arm twitched by his side.
"Look, Buck, we can work through these feelings soon, but right now, we need to focus. She was experimented on-" Sam began.
"-Which means she might be the only other person with super soldier serum running through her veins-" Bucky interjected.
"Yes, which means that she is in danger on multiple fronts. Zemo and the Power Broker won't just let her go if they know she is still alive." Sam finished. Bucky nodded, compartmentalising his guilt and anger, just as he had done so many times before.
"When are we leaving?"
"As soon as you're ready. Joaquin has already lined up a carrier to get us to Darwin. U.S military have a barracks there, so us arriving won't be too conspicuous." Sam stated.
"Yeah, just Captain America and a former assassin arriving on foreign soil. Nothing suspicious at all." Bucky said, rolling his eyes.
"Alright, smartass. Less conspicuous. Get organised, Sarah and the boys will take us to the airport as soon as we are good to go."
"See you both soon!" Joaquin called out, the chipper tone of his voice returning, before Bucky disconnected the call and handed the mobile back to Sam.
Bucky opened his mouth to verbalise some of the discomfort grasping hold of the inside of his chest, to offload it, but Sam beat him to it.
"We will talk about it on the carrier. I know, I'm feeling it too. I just don't want Sarah and the boys too involved."
Two hours later, Bucky and Sam were stood on the tarmac of the hot Louisiana airport, waiting for the carrier to finish its descent from the blue sky above. Once the carrier landed and pulled up for refuelling, Joaquin jumped out and greeted the two warmly; a hug for Sam, and after an unsuccessful attempt at pulling Bucky in for one too, he settled for handshake.
"Alright fellas, refuel is going to take about an hour. Let's go through the intel so far." Joaquin gestured Sam and Bucky to follow him over to a shaded table next to one of the aircraft hangers. Taking off his backpack, Joaquin pulled out a file with a moderate number of papers inside, and Bucky found himself holding his breath, apprehensive about what he was about to see.
Joaquin opened the file, and after looking skywards and deciding there wasn't enough wind to blow everything away, he pulled papers out and spread them in front of Bucky and Sam to get a closer look.
"There is little to go on in terms of what happened to her in the time she was missing, however we have a fair idea considering we know where she came from. This is her. We have managed to access a fair bit of information about her life." Bucky glanced over the paperwork, his eyes landing on one of the larger pictures of her. His fingers moved to it, sliding it slowly, closer to himself.
"How old is she?" Bucky murmured, his focus unwavering from the smiling photo of her, auburn locks falling around shining, forest emerald eyes.
"Twenty-nine." Joaquin replied.
Young enough to have so much ripped away from her, Bucky thought miserably.
"This is her hometown, small place in rural Australia, but big enough to have had hundreds and hundreds of people rally around her in the wake of her disappearance. It has made a big impact, which means her surviving and making it back to Australia is going to make big enough waves for others to find out that she isn't dead."
"There's no way to keep this under wraps?" Sam queried, looking to Joaquin. Joaquin whistled low, shaking his head.
"I really doubt it. She's already been asking about getting home, even in her state. Just look-" Joaquin pulled out the thickest pile of paperwork bound together by a metal bull clip, sliding it across the table towards Bucky and Sam.
"She grew up in that town, graduated high school there. She moved away for university, travelled overseas, volunteered. She then moved back to her hometown and has spent the past few years working in a variety of roles. She's an active member of her community, volunteers, looks after others." Bucky didn't look to Joaquin as he spoke. He continued going through the photos. There were pictures of her with the children and families she worked with, pictures of her holding an animal he couldn't even name, pictures of her with a group of friends.
"This huge pile of paperwork is just the surface of all the people in her hometown, across the country, and across the world who have been fighting for her. There is no way that this is going to fly under the radar as soon as one person finds out." Bucky's fists clenched.
She didn't deserve this. She spent all this time making a difference in her community, to do something good, and this is how the universe repays that? Bucky shook his head and turned away, attempting to steel himself against what he was feeling.
They hadn't checked the lab properly. They hadn't done a full sweep, and why would they have? They couldn't have known, they didn't have the intel, but they should have done it anyway.
"Buck, I know what you're thinking, but it isn't our fault." Sam stated.
"Isn't it?" Bucky growled, turning back to Sam with a fire in his eyes.
"No," Sam stated cooly, undeterred by the way Bucky burned. "If we found her when he raided that lab for the Power Broker's scientist, do you know what would have happened? Don't answer that, I'll tell you. Zemo would have shot her through the head, just like he shot the scientist. He wouldn't have even second-guessed it."
Bucky didn't answer, the rage directed at himself still within, but he couldn't deny Sam's words. He was right. Zemo wouldn't have hesitated.
"Joaquin, what is her condition?" Sam asked, turning his attention back to their colleague.
"Serious, but stable. Very dehydrated, very malnourished. Psychologically, she's interesting." Joaquin said.
"Interesting? How?" Sam queried.
"Well, considering she has just been through something intensely traumatic, the reports state that she is supremely optimistic. She is excited to be home and to see her friends, her family, the kids she works with. Her hopes are up. That's the other reason I am doubtful how long we can keep this quiet. I doubt she will be happy to be isolated from her community much longer."
Joaquin cast his eyes over their shoulders, seeing the pilot waving and giving a thumbs up.
"There's our cue. Let's get on that plane and meet her."
Helllooooo! It's been a while since a bit of self-indulgent fanfiction hahaha. I've been working on my original novel, but I have also been infatuated by one James Buchanan Barnes, so here we are. I wrote this as a lil happy space just for myself, but I decided to share it because we all need more happy spaces. I've re-worked and deidentified the story so it can be enjoyed a little more as a self-insert/BuckyxReader, but without the "y/n" as I personally can't stand it. Anywaaaaay enjoy! xxx