A Game Of Hide and Seek - A Bucky Barnes Short story

Chapter 5

"Find her Stark!" Bucky screeched through the comms as he managed to find Steve and Sam. The whole base was full of tunnels and hallways that made one giant maze, and they were getting nowhere. Bucky could be very possessive of Cassidy and her going silent did nothing to ease that.

"I have a fix on her location through the comm," Stark came flying in with Rhodey on his heels, "Everyone else, how are you doing?"

"The agents seemed to have been dealt with," Wanda called.

"I expected more for a base this size," Clint also replied.

"Everyone meet up," Steve ordered, "Cassidy has gone silent, we need to find her now."

"Friday," Tony addressed his AI, "You have a trail lined with breadcrumbs we can follow?"

Friday pulled up the layout of the base with Cassidy's position.

"Okay," Tony pointed to their right, "Bust through this wall."

The team proceeded to reunite and break through several areas to get to Cassidy, simultaneously securing the base. Bucky was seething with rage and simmering with anxiety. He was panicked of what could have happened to Cassidy, his Sunflower.

Breaking through the last door they came upon a room with wooden crates scattered about.

"It says that this is where she is," Tony walked through.

"Cassie?" Bucky called out, "Doll?"

"Everyone fan out," Steve was also anxious for his best friend's safety.

Everyone walked about, looking behind spaces and peering into boxes. Natasha was the one to find something.

"Oh God," Natasha breathed out as she kneeled in front of the abandoned glove and comm piece, "Guys?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no," Bucky ran over and dropped his gun with tears now in his eyes.

Bucky grabbed the glove out of Natasha's hands and rubbed his fingers over it. Everyone was now silent, fear forming in all.

"Edward Yakken took her," Vision prompted, "but why?"

"He wanted me," Bucky whispered as Natasha stood and Steve came up to place a hand on his shoulder, "He wanted one of us to take, and she stepped forward in the hallway. It should have been me!"

Bucky's voice broke at the end and Steve squeezed his shoulder. Bucky was not one to show emotion like this in front of them, except for Cassidy, and that spoke volumes about the situation.

"Tony," Steve turned to look at the armor-clad genius.

"I'm on it," Tony already knew what Steve wanted him to do.

"We need to get out of here," Natasha shakily addressed the group, "It's too much of a risk to be in this base. We have to regroup back at the compound. It's clear she isn't here."

Everyone proceeded to make their way back up to the surface and into the quinjets as fast as possible. Bucky stumbled in last with tears slowly falling down his face, he slid down the wall in the back as the back closed and gripped Cassidy's glove in his hands tightly.

"We will find her, Buck," Steve crouched in front of him.

"I told her I would always protect her," Bucky mumbled as he fidgeted with the glove, "I told her I wouldn't let them take her ever again. I failed her."

"It is not your fault," Steve gently said to him, "Focus on getting her back, that's all we can do."