𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓷𝓲𝓪𝓬 ❖ 𝓫. 𝓫𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓼

C H A P T E R (24) - H A I L / H Y D R A

Bucky reached out and took the dog tag from the branch, words failing to leave his mouth. Nothing could describe what he felt. Surely she wouldn't have left their makeshift camp without a reason, and surely she wouldn't have disposed of the dog tag. Right?

Steve was feeling the same on the inside, and as his optimism slowly faded away, his eyes were glued onto something in the distance. It didn't look like it was supposed to be there, but he also didn't know what it was. He stepped away from his shaken up best friend and cautiously strolled over to what he could see, his eyes finally focusing on what he saw on the ground; his sister.

"Cassie!" He yelled, dropping to his knees at her side.

She lay face down in the autumn leaves, so he placed an arm around her and turned her over, almost immediately regretting doing so. He couldn't prevent the gasp he let out at his sister's state: dirt on the only parts of exposed skin (arms and neck), two cuts that marked her cheek and even more scratches down both her bare arms. But what worried him most of all was her closed eyes.

He shook her, trying to wake her up, with her head in his arms, noticing the crunching of leaves behind him as he knew what was coming. Bucky was going to see the state Cassie was in, and he figured he wouldn't take it well.

Steve tried to shield her body to make sure Bucky couldn't see her, but he was sure that he would find out. There was no way he couldn't.

"Steve, what if-"

He trailed off as he noticed a limp Cassie in Steve's arms, too many thoughts circling his head for him to protrude a single word. Steve looked down at his sister with tear-filled eyes, placing two fingers on her neck to try and feel a heartbeat. He gulped as he waited to hear the sound, a sound taken for granted.

And then he did.

Her heart was beating and she was still breathing, but her breaths were shallow and her eyes were still closed. Steve held onto her tightly, moving her head into his lap.

Bucky watched on helplessly, guilt flowing through him as he realised he could've prevented this. He could've prevented her getting hurt. But before being able to blame himself, there was someone else to blame. There was no way this was an accident, there were to many injuries for it to be an accidental fall.

Someone had done this to her. And he wanted to know who.

**

"Terrence!" Bucky shouted as he made his way over to where Ryan sat with a few of the other men around a small fire that had been made for warmth.

Ryan looked up at the sound of his name just in time to see Bucky grabbing him by the collar and pulling him up from his seat to meet him at eye level.

"What did you do to her?" Bucky asked, not letting go of him.

"Who?"

"Cassie. What did you do to her?" He repeated.

His only conclusion had been Ryan, so that's where had had went. There was no one else that Bucky knew of that wanted to hurt Cassie, and Ryan had done so once before. Only once that he knew of.

"Listen man, I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Don't shit me, Terrence." Bucky spat, not noticing Steve walking over to them, "What the hell did you do to her?"

Steve grabbed onto Bucky's shoulder and tore him off of Ryan, watching as the latter smoothed out a crease on his shirt as he stepped back.

Steve had put Cassie in the care of a man he trusted that had some medical knowledge and had come to find Bucky so he could be there for her, and instead found him arguing with Ryan.

"Bucky, come on." Steve urged, trying to get him to leave Ryan, but all he did was glare at him, prompting him to elaborate, "She's awake."

Bucky turned away from where Ryan stood, knowing that if she was awake, she would be able to explain what happened. Surely.

He followed after Steve as he was led to where Cassie lay, eyes barely open. She was forcing them open, even though it hurt to do so. The sun burned her pupils and all she wanted to do was close them and relax, but she was sure if she did she wouldn't want to open them, ever.

"Cassie...what happened to you?"

The voice was faint but it echoed in her head, she couldn't even tell which direction it had come from. But it sounded close, close enough to be at her side. So that's what she imagined when she couldn't see clearly with blurry vision. She drowned out the other voice she had heard speaking to her before as another voice entered the conversation, a voice she actually wanted to listen to. So she did.

"Cassie, it's Bucky. Wake up for me, please."

Bucky.

With all the energy she had, she forced her eyes open and squinted them in the sunlight. Her head ached like hell as she took in the scratches on her arms, her memories from the night before returning to her in small doses. They didn't come all at once, and she could barely even remember how she had gotten into the forest. All she could remember was walking through the trees and the next thing she knew, she was lying on the forest floor going in and out of consciousness.

"Cassie." Bucky spoke, watching as she brought herself into a sitting position and leaned against a fallen tree trunk.

"What happened?" She questioned quietly, rubbing her temples.

"I was hoping you could tell us that."

She furrowed her brows as she tried to remember, anything at all. But every time she tried, all she could remember was the warm blood that dripped from her head. But why?

"A rock."

"Huh?" Bucky asked, confused by her random statement.

"A rock, I hit my head on a rock."

"That doesn't explain why you have cuts all over you, Cass."

"I'm not saying that the rock beat me up, Steve. I fell and hit my head on a rock. I don't remember much after that, but I wasn't alone."

"Who else was there, Cassie?" Bucky asked, placing a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see their face." She mumbled, fiddling with a loose strand of her hair.

That's when another memory came back to her. It wasn't long, and all she could remember were two words. But they were two words that she could never forget, and they would always haunt her.

"I remember, they said something to me."

"What did they say?"

She was silent, debating whether to say it or not. When she finally decided to, her voice was so faint it was barely a whisper, but both of the men stood in front of her heard.

"Hail HYDRA."