First Light | Steve Rogers (Book Two)

Chapter Nine: One

There was a quiet groan of pain and Steve, Sam and I rushed into the room where Bucky was being held. The man grimaced and stared up at us in confusion, "S-Steve?"

I stood closer to him as he became tense and anxious. "Which Bucky am I talking to?" he asked quietly.

"Your mom's name was Sarah," a smile tugged at his lips, "You used to wear newspapers on your shoes"

"Can't read that in a museum"

Sam exchanged a wary glance with me, "Just like that, we're supposed to be cool"

Bucky frowned as he looked up at us, "What did I do?"

"Enough"

"Oh, God. I knew this would happen," his voice was laced with despair, "Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there, all he had to do was say the goddamn words"

There was a pause and I reached up to touch my necklace, remembering some mention of codewords on the Daybreak files. Steve crossed his arms as a pained expression flitted across his face, "Who was he?"

"I don't know"

"People are dead. The bombing, the setup... the doctor did all that just to get ten minutes with you. I need you to do better than 'I don't know'"

I watched closely as he scrunched up his face in concentration, "He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where"

Steve glanced at me and I nodded slowly, "Why would he need to know that?"

"Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier"

"That wasn't on the files," I murmured, "Who were they?"

"Their most elite death squad, more kills than anyone in HYDRA history. And that was before the serum"

Sam's eyes narrowed, "Did they all turn out like you?"

The man sighed and quietly shook his head, "Worse"

"The doctor, could he control them?"

"Enough"

Steve nodded slowly and glanced at us, "He said he wanted to see an empire fall"

Bucky shrugged, "With these guys, he could do it. They speak thirty languages, can hide in plain sight... infiltrate, assassinate, destabilise. They can take a whole country down in one night, you'd never see them coming"

Sam let out a frustrated groan as he made his way over to Steve and I, "This would have been a lot easier a week ago"

"If we call Tony-"

"No," I huffed, "He won't believe us. Even if he did, the Accords probably wouldn't let him help"

"We're on our own"

There was a moment of silence and Sam sighed heavily, "Maybe not. I know a guy"

——————

Sam, Bucky and I were sat in the back of beetle, watching as Steve retrieved out equipment. I caught Sharon's eyes, giving her a quick smile.

"Can you move your seat up?" Bucky asked Sam after a moment.

"No"

I rolled my eyes and twisted around, letting him use some of my legroom.

——————

We pulled up in the parking lot of the nearest airport, making our way over to the van parked nearby. I rushed past Barton, letting Wanda pull me into a tight hug. "Cap" he said as she shook Steve's hand.

"You know I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice"

"Hey, man, you're doing me a favour. Besides, I owe a debt"

Steve turned to Wanda with a small smile, "Thanks for having my back"

She shrugged as we pulled away from each other, "It was time to get off my ass"

"How about our recruit?"

"He's raring to go," Barton chuckled as he pulled the door open to the back of the van, "Had to put a little coffee in him, but he should be good"

There was a bang as the door fully opened and the man in the back seat jolted awake. I frowned as he staggered out of the vehicle, "What time zone is this?"

His eyes widened in amazement as he was pushed over to us. "Captain America" he gasped, his hands trembling a little as Steve shook his hand.

"Mr Lang"

"It's an honour. I'm shaking your hand too long. Wow, this is awesome! Captain America," he grinned at Wanda and I as he pointed to Steve, "I know you guys, too. You're great! Look, I wanna say... I know you know a lot of super people, so... thinks for thanking of me. Hey, man!"

Sam nodded to the man, "What's up, Tic Tac?"

There was a pause and I smiled as I realised that the guy had attempted to break into the compound a year before. "Uh, good to see you," he stammered, "Look, what happened last time when I..."

"It was a great audition, but it'll never happen again"

"They tell you what we're up against?" I asked, anxious to get on with the task at hand.

Lang's eyes darted between Bucky and I before he nodded, "Something about some psycho-assassins?"

Steve sighed heavily, "We're outside the law on this one. So if you come with us, you're a wanted man"

"Yeah, well, what else is new?"

"We should get moving" Bucky called from the car.

I nodded and glanced over at Barton, "We got that chopper lined up?"

Before anything else could be said, a siren began to blare and someone began to urgently speak in German through the PA system. Bucky groaned, "They're evacuating the airport"

"Stark"

"Stark?"

Steve and I nervously glanced at each other and he finally nodded, "Suit up"