As I Was

Twenty Six

Her joints ached from the uncomfortable position she had been sitting in for way too long and her eyes stung with the brightness of the lights shining into her from the walls they had driven through. With the car coming to a stop she hauled herself up into a more upright position and glanced around the unfamiliar setting.

As much as she had wanted to slip into a deep unconscious slumber, sleep had evaded her. Every single time she had closed her eyes she found herself being plagued with terrifying images of what could be happening to Bucky. No amount of training or planning they could have done would have prepared herself for this, the adrenaline of the situation had drained from her body and left her exhausted.

The two men up front hadn't acknowledged her once during the journey. No matter what she asked or how she acted they remained stony, keeping their gaze forward and their attention far away from her.

She had thought about escaping. She was pretty sure there was a memory tucked into the back of her mind about getting out of handcuffs. She could slip out of them and bail from the car, she could track where they were going and follow them to whatever their destination was.

She'd rescue Bucky from their clutches and they could go on the run again. With Steve Rogers on their side they'd be even more protected than they were before...

But as soon as she caught sight of the guns resting in the footwell of the front seat her mind changed.

There would be no helping Bucky if she was dead and she wouldn't put it past these guys to shoot before thinking.

She jumped as the door swung open, shrinking back against the other side as one of the guards reached in and grabbed hold of her by the arm.

"Hey! Hey!"

Her heart jumped in her chest at the sound of a familiar tone, raising her head and shifting her hair from her face, she was grateful to see Steve Rogers jogging over to where the soldiers were roughly pulling her along.

"Be careful with her okay?" he said, shoving one of the guards away and helping Harper to stand properly before bending slightly to check her over "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she breathed, glancing up to him in disbelief. The grip around her arm was still there but a lot looser as the soldier to her left stepped down slightly at Steve's request "Thank you," she said with a nod of her head as she straightened her back properly and took in a deep breath to try and calm herself down.

She wanted to show them she wasn't afraid, that she had no reason to be afraid, because neither her nor Bucky had done anything wrong.

"Where is he?" she asked, her eyes searching every part of the room they were standing in, but her question went unanswered as Steve turned to face the blonde woman and grey haired, suited man awaiting their arrival. Sam and the man who had been unmasked at the scene were climbing out of the car Steve had hurried out of to help Harper to their right, neither of them looked impressed as they glanced around the brightly lit, vast space.

She could feel the panic rising up from where it had been swirling in her stomach to gripping at her chest as the soldiers guiding her way seemed to be taking her on a different route to where Steve was headed.

"What's going to happen to them?" Steve asked, there was a frown on his face as he turned to see Harper was being taken away.

"Same thing that ought to happen to you. Psychological evaluation and extradition," she heard the suited man say just before she was forced around the corner.

The grips on her arms got tighter as soon as they were out of Steve's sight and she struggled against it, pain shooting up from her wrists as the soldiers forced her on.