Testify (Part Two)

Bucky sat on the witness stand, took the oath to tell the truth then tried not to stare at Brock Rumlow. The prosecuting attorney came up to him and smiled then nodded encouragingly.

"Please state your name and your relationship to the accused."

"James Buchanan Barnes, I go by Bucky," he replied. "Brock Rumlow was staff sergeant in the unit I was a sergeant in. We were in Afghanistan at the time."

"So, he was your superior."

"Yes, there were four other sergeants and we all reported to him," said Bucky.

"Would you please describe the events that took place on June 17, 2011, at your base in Afghanistan."

"Sergeant Rumlow stopped by my bunk and asked if I could take over a squad for Sergeant Wilson, who was sick," said Bucky. "There were reports that Taliban fighters had integrated themselves into a village. Rumlow was leading Alpha squad, Rollins Bravo squad, and I was to lead Charlie squad."

"What were you to do?"

"We would scatter ourselves through the village, knocking on doors, and if Taliban were inside to get them to shoot," said Bucky. "If they did we would evacuate the civilians from nearby then take on the house and kill the enemy combatants."

"That didn't happen on this day."

"No, Charlie squad hadn't encountered any Taliban but I heard the sound of gunfire from where Alpha squad was so I got on comms and asked Rumlow what was going on," said Bucky. "He said they had taken fire, three of his squad were injured and he needed assistance. When we got there he pointed out a house and ordered my squad to take it. I pointed out we had to evacuate civilians first but he ordered me again to take it without evacuating so I organized my squad into position and led the way into the house."

Bucky stopped and began to breathe heavily as he remembered. "Take your time Bucky," said the prosecutor. "I know this is difficult for you to recall."

"Yes, sir," said Bucky, then he took a deep cleansing breath. "Whenever I would enter a building I would aim at shoulder height or higher, going for head shots on the enemy. I did that but there were no adults in there. On the floor were two boys, both with a single gun shot wound to their temple. I remember thinking it was odd as there was no blood spatter on them or on the walls or floor, which should have been the case if I shot them. Right away I kneeled down to check their pulses but they were already dead and cold. Like they had been shot elsewhere and dumped inside the house."

"Objection," said the defence attorney. "Speculation."

"Sustained," said the judge. "Stick to the facts at hand, Mr. Barnes."

Bucky nodded. "Their bodies were definitely cold," said Bucky. "Private Warren felt them also, after Rumlow ordered him and Private Haines to take me into custody. Rumlow said I hit the wrong house but I know I didn't. Warren said he heard Rumlow say the same about which house to hit. He also said the bodies were cold. They both said they would talk to the LT, Lieutenant Rogers who was at division that day. Instead they told Sergeant Wilson."

"There was an attack on the base that night, wasn't there?" asked the prosecuting attorney. "Warren and Haines were killed in the attack?"

"Yes sir," replied Bucky. "Lieutenant Rogers and Sergeant Wilson came to see me in the stockade the following morning. I told the Lieutenant what happened. Sam, Sergeant Wilson, told him about Warren and Haines confirming my account then admitted they were both dead."

"You were charged with causing the deaths of those boys?"

"Yes sir," said Bucky. "Charged, found guilty, sentenced to a year in Fort Leavenworth and given a dishonourable discharge. I fought it, appealed it every year until just last year because I couldn't afford the legal fees but no one believed me, except the Lieutenant and Sergeant Wilson. Even my lawyer wanted me to plead guilty but I refused because I didn't kill those boys."

"No, you didn't," said the prosecutor. "What did you find out the day before Thanksgiving last year?"

"I found out there was no Taliban or any other enemy activity on the night of the attack," said Bucky. "I ran into a former CIA agent who was around the base at lot in those days. He told me. I told someone else who still had contacts in defence circles and they reopened my case."

"What else did they find out?" asked the prosecutor.

"That autopsy reports on the time of death for the two boys were misplaced and not provided to my lawyer," said Bucky. "The report also stated the bullet holes were inconsistent with a frontal attack and in fact were from a pistol being held at the side of their heads. The boys were the sons of our interpreter and didn't even live in that village so they shouldn't have been in that house. That autopsy report alone should have exonerated me."

"But it didn't and you didn't get the legal representation you were entitled to," said the prosecutor. "For that my profession owes you an apology."

"Objection," said the defence attorney.

"Sustained," said the judge.

"When this new information came to light what happened to your conviction?"

"It was overturned, completely wiped off the books and my dishonourable discharge changed to an honourable discharge," said Bucky. "I was offered a financial settlement by the Army and given a formal apology for the wrongful conviction."

"Did that make your life better?"

"I would have rather had the ten years of my life that I lived under that cloud returned to me," said Bucky. "The money from the settlement is good, I'm not going to lie. But for ten years, the world, even my own father believed I was a killer. I'll never get those years back. Never."

"Did you ever find out who killed the boys?"

"Yes, Brock Rumlow," said Bucky. "I was told by Brock's boss and by the boy's father, who was our interpreter, that Rumlow did it to force the father to work for them in setting up their drug distribution business. It didn't surprise me."

"Explain why."

"Sergeant Rumlow was everything that I hated about the military," said Bucky. "I didn't like him. He was a bully, a man who used his physical presence to intimidate not just soldiers but the local Afghan population. If he killed an enemy combatant and confirmed their death he would still pop a couple of rounds into their head and laugh about it. He enjoyed the killing and he enjoyed throwing his weight around. It sickened me."

"When he showed up in Pittsburgh and took custody of Mrs. Madison she phoned you from the police station," said the prosecutor. "Can you describe your exchange with her and him?"

"She was scared, really scared," said Bucky. "After our argument she decided to let the police protect her and she left to turn herself in to the Pittsburgh police. When he showed up at the Pittsburgh precinct she thought he would kill her. She was crying hysterically. I could hear the sound of him leading her outside, hitting her and her crying out. Then he got on the phone and said that he had her. If I wanted her I had to come to him. He said he wouldn't hurt her much but once I was there he would kill her quickly. I told him about knowing it was him who killed the boys and that he set up the attack on the base to kill Warren and Haines. He was shaken at first then went back to his bullying ways. Said if I didn't show up or if I brought help he would gang rape Natalie then kill her slow."

"Did you come alone?"

"No, I phoned Detective Rogers," said Bucky. "By this time we had determined that Detective Wilson was Rumlow's inside man at the police department. I knew Steve had kept in touch with guys in our unit and there were three that I knew could help me get Natalie back. After getting their numbers from Steve I called them and we agreed to meet up the next morning and get into the warehouse in Baltimore, get Natalie, and then get out."

"You didn't want a confrontation with Rumlow?"

"No, I wanted to uncover everyone in their conspiracy because that's what it was," said Bucky. "What happened in Afghanistan was still happening in the US and I wanted to stop them but I needed to know who the players were. We got in, I cut her out of the chair she was tied to. She was in pretty bad shape so I carried her out and took her to a doctor."

"Not to the emergency department?"

"No, I already knew they had put a bounty on us," said Bucky. "5000 for me, 10,000 for her so I didn't want her to be in a place they could track her. My ex-wife's husband is a doctor so I called him and he agreed to see her. He tried to convince me to take her to the ER as well but I just wanted to get her someplace safe."

"Where was your safe place?"

"My parent's cabin," said Bucky. "It's out in the middle of nowhere in Maryland. We were there for almost a week until my parents showed up, after the local pharmacist called my dad to say he had seen me."

"Did anything happen while you there?"

"Yes, bounty hunters, illegal ones, had been watching my parents," said Bucky. "They followed them out to the cabin and were going to shoot but my dad saw the laser targeting on my chest and knocked me down. We were being watched by a former CIA agent who took care of the bounty hunters but told us we should leave as the cabin was now compromised."

"Took care of them? You mean kill them?"

Bucky shook his head. "No, stripped them, bound them, and left them in the middle of a hiking trail in a state park. It was in the news."

There was some laughter in the courtroom and the judge used his gavel to restore decorum. The prosecutor looked at Bucky.

"Please tell us what you and Mrs. Madison did in Philadelphia," he asked.

"Natalie is a researcher so we had already looked up information on the interpreter, learning he had been relocated to Philadelphia and worked for a warehouse property management company," said Bucky. "We staked out the office and waited until he came out. I confronted him and took him into the car. We took him back to our hotel."

"You kidnapped him."

"Legally, yes," said Bucky. "I wanted to convince him to tell the truth of what happened to his boys and to tell federal prosecutors about the conspiracy. At first he stuck to the line that I had killed his boys but when we disclosed that Natalie's sister had died at the hands of Rumlow he came clean and told us everything. He said that Rumlow killed his oldest and youngest sons to force him to be their go-between with a local drug lord. They would provide a clean pipeline to the US for his heroin and in return he would get a gold bar every month."

"There was gold on the base?"

"Yes," replied Bucky. "It was to pay the local farmers to grow other crops only they were going to take gold from the supply to pay this drug lord instead to keep growing his high quality opium poppies. Sergeant Wilson and another sergeant were responsible for guarding the supply. Wilson would look away when they took the gold for the drug lord. The drugs were wrapped in plastic to look like plastic wrapped styrofoam then placed into flat-pack furniture boxes here in the US. They shipped them out all over the place. He agreed to come with us to the federal marshals. We even phoned them while we were still in the hotel room to confirm they already had his family in protection."

"You didn't get there."

"No, we stepped out of the hotel room and Rumlow was there with his men," said Bucky. "Right away he grabbed Natalie then he put her and the interpreter with a couple of his goons into my car. He punched me in the stomach, threw me into his vehicle and as soon as we were on the way tried to strangle me. The driver reminded him that number one, his boss, wanted me alive so he stopped but he wasn't happy about it. We got to the Philadelphia warehouse and the three of us were separated. I was tied to a chair, both hands and legs. Rumlow came in and hit me several times. His boss came in, was quite mad at Rumlow for hitting me and told him to leave."

"Since the boss is facing his own prosecution I can't ask you to tell me what he said about his operations. Did he confirm what you suspected about Rumlow?"

"About killing the boys?" asked Bucky. "Yes, he confirmed it. He told me everything about the whole conspiracy."

"Why would he do that?"

"I asked him," said Bucky. "In the movies, it's either because he's going to kill me or he's going to recruit me. Turned out to be the latter. He said Rumlow's aggression had made him a liability."

Rumlow made a sound of disgust and the judge looked sharply at his lawyer, who patted Rumlow on the arm.

"Can you elaborate?"

"Well, at that point things happened out in the warehouse and his boss left," said Bucky. "One of Rumlow's men, who turned out to be a deep undercover agent decided it was time to get us all out of there. He arrived, cut us free and drove us to the federal marshal's office where we were put into witness protection. It wasn't until we were out of witness protection and I found myself once more tied up in the presence of his boss that I found out why he wanted me."

"Please explain."

"He described me as smart, cautious, and deliberate, that I never let my emotions get in the way of doing the job. That I never overdid it and that I was principled. He wanted those qualities for his organization."

"Did you agree to his offer?"

"I really had no choice if I wanted to get out of there alive," said Bucky. "I said yes then turned the tables on him. He was arrested, his bail revoked and he's now in custody awaiting his trial."

"You said you left witness protection," said the prosecutor. "What happened before you left it?"

"I saw Sam Wilson go into my place of employment in Ucluelet, British Columbia," said Bucky. "We had a code to text our protection unit leader if we saw anyone dangerous to us so I texted it, gave him my location and a uniformed RCMP officer turned up. A moment later two of the people in our protection detail arrived with their IDs prominent. One went inside and came out with Sam in cuffs. He admitted he wasn't there to take me, just to keep me occupied. Myself and the two in the protection detail drove to Tofino where Natalie was and found the other protection detail officer had been shot. She described Rumlow and a woman, who I didn't know, and said they took Natalie to the float plane docks. When I got there they were in a standoff with several RCMP officers and a Coast Guard officer. I started running to them. Natalie got away from the woman and jumped into the harbour. I jumped on Rumlow and we began fighting. He lost. Because our cover had been blown we were returned to the US. We were offered a new witness program but we declined as all of them were in custody and we felt we could handle anything that came our way."

"Thank you, no further questions," said the prosecutor.

"Mr. Vincent, do you have questions for cross examination?" asked the judge.

"Yes, I do," he replied. "Are you an alcoholic, Mr. Barnes?"

"No, I don't believe I am," said Bucky.

"Yet, while you were on the job, guarding Mrs. Madison, you got drunk. Sounds like something an alcoholic would do."

"I got drunk because I felt guilty," said Bucky. "We stayed at the house of an army buddy. When we realized that people were coming to get us I told my friend, Tim, to get his family to safety, which he did. But he forgot his son's asthma medication and when he returned he was beaten to death. Tim Dugan was 6 foot 4 inches and 240 pounds of pure muscle. It would have taken several guys that size to take him down. The only people with a reason to go after him were guys hired by Rumlow, or Rumlow himself. So, yeah, I did get drunk on the job because I blamed myself for my friend's death. Doesn't make me an alcoholic. It makes me human."

"Explain again why you didn't take Mrs. Madison to the emergency department after you retrieved her from the Baltimore warehouse."

"There was a bounty on us and if we went to the ER there would be a paper trail," said Bucky. "Anyone could track us with a paper trail."

"How did you know there was a bounty?"

"I was attacked in Buffalo," said Bucky. "A man tackled me and told me about it. Said it was for us alive then pulled a knife on me, obviously intending to hurt me if he could."

"What happened to the man?"

"He slashed me in the arm and while I was down I kicked him in the knee, dislocating it, then brought my knee up to under his chin," said Bucky. "He fell back, hit his head and didn't move."

"Did you check to see if he was alive?"

"Yes, he wasn't," said Bucky, his face full of regret.

"Did you call an ambulance?"

"No, at that point my flight instinct kicked in and I stumbled back to the hotel to alert Natalie that we had to go," said Bucky.

"You didn't call the police or any help for that man. You just left him there."

"I was in shock," said Bucky. "My arm was bleeding. I thought he may have cut an artery. My survival instinct took over and I just wanted to get away from him. I did tell Detective Rogers about it a couple of days later and he said he would talk to Buffalo P.D. about it."

"Did you kill anyone else?"

Bucky's lips quivered and he nodded. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to answer out loud," said the judge.

"Yes, I did kill another man," said Bucky. "I didn't want to kill anyone but I had no choice."

"No other questions," said the defence attorney.

"Redirect, your honour," said the prosecutor, then he turned to Bucky and spoke gently to him.

"Please, tell us what happened when you killed the other man."

"When I agreed to work for Rumlow's boss in the Philadelphia warehouse he said we were going to see Detective Rogers and convince him to work for him as well. But to force him he asked his guy to get one of Steve's kids. They had taken his wife and kids the day before and told Steve to bring me and Natalie to the warehouse to get his wife back. The guy, Kirk, brought Steve's two year old daughter, Sarah. If Steve turned the job offer down I was supposed to shoot her in the head. Steve turned him down and Kirk emptied his gun of all but one bullet and put it in my hand. I told Sarah to cover her ears and close her eyes tight then I shot Kirk in the head while Steve ran at Rumlow's boss and took him down. I know that I had no choice as it was either's Sarah's life or Kirk's but he chose his path and Sarah was an innocent."

The defence attorney was furious and looking angrily at Rumlow. It was obvious he hadn't been told everything of what happened in that warehouse and in the process of trying to make Bucky look like a killer he had opened the door to making him look heroic instead.

"We have a term for it, Bucky," said the prosecutor, gently, "justifiable homicide. Yes, you killed the man and I can see you are still suffering for it but you had no choice if you were to save the life of an innocent child. Bucky, you said you received a slash in the arm from the attacker in Buffalo. Did it leave a scar?"

"Yes, a significant one," said Bucky.

"Did you go to the hospital for that?"

"No, it was too dangerous," said Bucky. "I barely made it to the hotel room. In fact, I passed out at the door. Natalie dragged me into the bathroom, cleaned it and stitched it. It got a bit infected and I had to take antibiotics for it but it healed well."

"Could you show us?"

Bucky stood up, took his jacket off and rolled up his sleeve on his right arm. Just below the elbow, on his forearm was a significant scar that went from the elbow down almost to his wrist. He showed the judge, then the prosecutor asked him to show each one of the jury. By then a court photographer was in the courtroom and the judge directed him to take a picture to be submitted as evidence later. Bucky returned to the stand, rolled his sleeve down and put his jacket on.

"You had no knife to fight the attacker," said the prosecutor. "You were slashed and yet you managed to get back to the hotel room to warn Mrs. Madison. What were you thinking?"

"Just to keep her safe," said Bucky earnestly. "I didn't want her to get hurt. When she did, after what Rumlow did to her, I blamed myself. For getting slashed, for getting drunk, and for not doing a good enough job to keep her away from him."

"You didn't fail after that, did you?"

"No, I didn't," said Bucky. "I loved her and I was willing to die for her."

"No further questions, your honour," said the prosecutor.

The judge told Bucky to stand down and he left the courtroom. Unlike Natalie he looked at Rumlow the entire time but Rumlow didn't look at him. When he left the courtroom he didn't stop until he got to the waiting room then he turned to Coulson and Barton who was close behind.

"His lawyer fucked up, didn't he?" Bucky asked.

"Big time," said Coulson. "They obviously didn't give him the details of what happened in the warehouse. He tried to make you out to be a killer Bucky but he made you into a hero instead. You did great."

"You did amazing," said Barton. "Good job. He'll be lucky to get one life sentence. I think he's looking at several."

Bucky went into the waiting room and picked Natalie up in his arms kissing her. Then he looked around for Gaba and saw him, still upset over his appearance.

"Ebrahim," said Bucky, pulling him up into a hug. "I hope that we get justice for your daughter and your boys."

"It won't bring my boys back," said Gaba. "But thank you for making me face my own part in it. I am sorry it took so long for you to be free of the shame that was Rumlow's. You are a good man, Sergeant Barnes."

"Can we leave?" asked Bucky. "I feel like a beer and pizza."

Coulson checked and found the court was in recess so they prepared to leave the waiting area. As they left the room Rumlow and his lawyer came out of the courtroom; Rumlow was in handcuffs and surrounded by police. Bucky put his arm around Natalie and watched him exit the building.

"I hope that's the last time I see his ugly face," he stated.

"Listen," said Barton. "Why don't I stop off and pick up some pizza and we can celebrate back at the warehouse."

"I'll go with you," said Bucky, grinning. "Natalie's particular about her pizza. We can pick up some beer as well."

Natalie went in the car with Coulson and Hill. They travelled the same route until Barton turned a few blocks from the warehouse to go to the pizza place. They waited at the counter for their pizzas and noted a number of police cars and ambulances going by towards the warehouse. Bucky looked at Barton and they grabbed the pizzas, threw them into the back seat and sped off. A block before the warehouse they saw Coulson's car, on its side. Bucky jumped out and ran to the scene where a policeman tried to stop him.

"My wife was in that car," he said anxiously. "Please, I need to know she's safe."

"The man and woman in the car are fine," he said. "Just banged up a little bit."

He took them to the ambulance where Coulson and Hill were being treated. Maria looked at him, her face grim.

"They rammed us," she said. "Flipped us over onto our side, broke the windshield, cut her seatbelt and dragged her out. It was Rumlow. Somehow he escaped then he waited for us."

Bucky yelled in frustration and turned to the policeman. "You need to send out an APB NOW!" he said forcefully. "The man that took my wife will kill her with no hesitation. Brock Rumlow...look him up. FUCK!"

The policeman looked helplessly at Bucky then went to his car and told the dispatch to put an APB out on Brock Rumlow. Bucky paced back and forth like a caged animal, furious with himself for not being in the car with her. Barton went to the police officer and filled him in further, then asked him to contact Captain Steve Rogers as he was familiar with the case. Then he pulled out his cell phone and began calling people. His only line to whoever answered was "Rumlow has Natalie." When he hung up on the last person he came up to Bucky and spoke to him. It took several attempts to get his attention before Bucky would listen. Then Barton put his hands on Bucky's shoulders.

"We'll get her back, I promise," he said. "Let's see what Majel can tell us."

Bucky nodded and the two men got into Barton's car, driving to the warehouse. As soon as they stepped inside Barton told Majel what happened and asked her to start scanning all traffic and security cameras for footage of the accident and the vehicle they left in. Then he and Bucky went into the armoury and began choosing firearms. While they were there Majel told them there was a phone call. They both came out to the common room and Barton said to go ahead.

"Bucky?" It was Natalie's voice. "Rumlow has me. He wants you to come to us. Alone or he'll kill me."

"Are you alright?" asked Bucky. "Has he touched you or hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine, just a bit banged up from the ramming," she said. Then she started to cry a little. "I love you. Remember that. We'll always have Paris."

There was the sound of the phone being taken from her hand then the raspy voice of Rumlow came on. "Come alone or she dies. Ten pm tonight. Bushwick Inlet at Greenpoint. There's a sign for Bushwick Monitor Museum. We'll be there, waiting."

Rumlow hung up and Barton swore. "That's a pretty isolated spot," he said. "He can have a small army in there waiting for us."

"That's not where we're going," said Bucky. "She said we'll always have Paris. We haven't been there. It's code for a movie. Majel, is Casablanca playing at a movie house?"

"Yes, Casablanca is playing at the Nitehawk Cinema this evening," the AI replied. "Would you like to know the times?"

"No, thank you," said Bucky. "She's near the Nitehawk Cinema. That's where we're going. It's only a ten minute walk to Bushwick Inlet from there. Majel, look for Rumlow's car near Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn. We need Peter and we need the infra red drones."

Barton looked at the clock. They had five hours to get everything together before Bucky had to go alone to Bushwick Inlet. It took only a minute or two but Majel brought up Rumlow's car, parked on the street just to the side of the theatre. Next door was a nightclub that didn't open until midnight. Although the front entrance was actually one street over they could see there was a back door into it next to the theatre. Both men looked at that door and began to make plans for how they would get in there. As others of the group arrived over the next hour more plans were made including preparing drones, flash bangs and whatever they would need to get Natalie back. The best part was when Coulson and Hill arrived from the hospital with their head cuts bandaged saying they wanted in on the mission. Everyone looked at them and began nodding heads. They were going to kick ass.