Unchained Melody

Chapter 4

The plan was that I would meet Bucky at the market, but I hated the idea of not staying to help. So I followed from afar. When they disappeared into a tunnel I tried my hardest to keep up from above. Suddenly, the ground began to shake underneath me causing me to lose my footing.
There was a gap between two bridges, they were walkways above the highway, where I could see what was happening below me. Bucky had blown up the end of the tunnel. Through the cloud of smoke from the explosion, I could see Bucky and another body wearing all black rolling on the ground. The person got up to go after Bucky.
I couldn't help but let out a scream as fear took over my body. I watched as Steve ran up and grabbed the other guy, pulling him to the ground and throwing him away from Bucky.
Within seconds they were surrounded by police.
I saw Steve's head snap up to look at me as if he knew what I was thinking. All I wanted to do was jump down from the bridge. Somehow get in the way. Create a distraction of some kind.
I was trembling, a feeling like I have never felt before, even with everything I had been through, overcoming my body. The feeling of pure, genuine, terror overcame me.
Steve's head shook subtly. If you weren't paying enough attention you probably wouldn't have noticed that he did it.
My eyes stared like daggers straight into him as they welled up with tears. I turned around and began to run. Every bit of my being didn't want me to move but I knew that if I didn't I was going to be locked up too. I knew that if both of us were captured Bucky would murder me with his own two hands. So I ran. I ran until my legs couldn't carry me anymore.

I hid out in an abandoned store for a few hours. I couldn't even think straight. So much had just happened and everything I had was now taken from me... Again. I sat in a corner behind a register, hugging my knees as I slammed my head back against a wall repeatedly.
Buzz Buzz... Buzz Buzz...
'Unknown Number'
I let it ring until it went to voicemail. After a couple of seconds, it began to ring again.
"Who is this? What do you want?" I growled into the phone, "How did you get this number?"
"It's Steve. I got it from Buck's phone..."
"What the fuck do you want?"
"I want to tell you what's going on. I know you're scared, Melody."
"You just had every piece of hope I had to actually make it through life ripped away from me, Steve. I am beyond scared. I am pissed, and if I'm right, you know exactly how that goes."
"I do..." He paused for a minute. "We are in Berlin. They have him in custody. They are interrogating him now."
"He didn't do that bombing stuff. He was with me."
"I know."
"Then. Fuck. You." I hung up. Sitting for a few minutes to collect my emotions before I got up, put my bag on my back, and left the store.
I used my phone to look up airfare to Berlin. I had just enough money to get to Berlin with a little bit left afterward.

The flight was just over two hours long. When I landed I switched my phone off of airplane mode and opened a text message that contained the coordinates to an abandoned warehouse inside the city, close to the government district. It took a short taxi ride before I arrived at the location in the text message.
I took my time quietly scouting out the building, making sure that there were no threats before I made my way inside. I heard familiar voices talking in the warehouse, the emptiness caused them to echo throughout the building.
Bucky was sitting on a box with his metal arm wedged into a machine. It was clearly an attempt to keep him from hurting anyone. Two men were standing in front of him, asking questions. I didn't pay much attention to what was being said. Just the fact that Bucky was clearly in distress.
I ran between the two men, letting my body crash into Bucky. My arms wrapped around him tight enough to strangle a normal person. His free arm wrapped around my body. Not letting me move away from him even if I had tried.
"What did they do to you?" I whispered softly as I pressed my face to the top of his head.
He stayed quiet. His grip around my waist got tighter as he tried to pull me impossibly closer. 
I turned my head to look in the direction of the other men. Tears ran down my cheeks as any composure I had slipped away. "What did they do to him, Steve?"
The room stayed completely quiet. Steve placed his hand over his face and turned, dragging it down while he looked up as if he was trying to think. Trying to figure out what he should say to me.
I gently pushed Bucky's arm down from my waist as I stood up, walking over to the machine holding him down and prying it open to let him out. I then turned to walk towards Steve before I was stopped in my tracks.
Bucky had reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me back before I could lay a hand on someone. "They used the words. Someone from HYDRA came in and wanted information from me, about where we were kept. He used the words to get the information then he had me attack them."
I shook his hand off my arm and proceeded to walk toward Steve. Raising my hands to try and push him. Before I could land a hit, he grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. I started to smack his chest, yelling as loud as I could between each hit. "How- could- you- let- them."
Steve sat quietly while he let me hit him. Pressing his hand to the back of my head, holding me against his chest.
"How could you let them do that? How could you do that to me?" My yelling turned back into sobbing as the hits stopped. My hands and forehead rested on his chest while I just sat and cried.
"I didn't know that's what they wanted to do, Melody. I didn't know until it was too late." Steve leaned down to gently rest his forehead on the top of my head. "I wouldn't have let them if I knew that's what was happening."
Everyone sat quietly as I tried to calm myself down.
"So this is Melody?" The third man who hadn't spoken yet attempted to break the silence. He had made his way over to Steve and me. He was a black man, he looked familiar but I couldn't pinpoint exactly who he was at first. "I do believe we have met in passing. I'm Sam. A.K.A. The Falcon"
"The bird guy?" I turned my head to get a better look at him.
His face changed from a smile to pure disappointment in response to my question. Moving his gaze up to Steve, who I could tell let out a chuckle.
"Mel..." Bucky walked up behind me and grabbed my hand, gently intertwining our fingers. "There's something we need to do. We already discussed this before you got here but we need you to stay here. Where it's safe."
I pulled my head from Steve's chest just enough to look up. I opened my mouth to argue before Steve cut me off. "We will pick you up as soon as we have the jet, but you need to stay here."
"I went through the same training Bucky did. I can fight too. You can't just fucking sideline me because you feel like it." I pulled away from Steve completely. Backing away more than an arms-length so neither could touch me as I raised my hands in the air.
"I can't lose you again." Steve took one step forward as I took another step back.
"And you think I can lose you? Or Bucky?"
"We already decided, Mel." Bucky sighed as he brought his hand to the back of his neck.
"Mhm... Mhm... Alright." I kicked around rocks on the ground before I found a decent-sized one. Picking it up off the ground and turned back around before throwing it directly at Steve.
Bucky's metal arm flew out, catching the rock in its path before crushing it. "I get you're upset but we will be alright."
"I... Fine... Have it your way." I spun back around and walked out one of the doors to the warehouse. Closing the door hard enough for it to leave a dent in the frame.

They took their time planning out their mission. They wanted to go to the local airport and get a jet to take us somewhere. They wouldn't tell me where though. Like little boys trying to lour me into a trap. I would assume it was just under 24 hours of planning and collecting supplies. On the bright side, they got me new clothes, which was nice since I had been in the same clothes for like two days. It wasn't anything too fancy. Just what they could scrounge up close to the tactical gear I was used to.

After they left I sat on top of the warehouse, looking up at the clouds as they floated past. Enjoying the sounds of the distant city. My music playing on my phone speaker before it was drowned out by an approaching jet. My eyes opened as I sat up, watching the jet grow closer by the second. Once it was close enough I saw the hatch begin to open. Then an, oh so familiar, metal arm stuck out towards me. When it was close enough I grabbed Bucky's hand and he pulled me onto the jet. The hatch closed as soon as I was inside.
I took a seat towards the back of the jet, away from the boys. 
"See, I told you we would be fine." Bucky grabbed onto my shoulder as he made his way to the front, taking a seat behind Steve.
"Doesn't mean I'm any happier about the fact that you left me behind, again." I sunk into my seat as I brought my knees up to wrap my arms around them. "Where are we going?"
Steve and Bucky both sat in silence.
I stood up and walked to the front, peeking between the seats to look at Bucky. "Bucky?"
He locked his eyes on mine and shook his head. "I don't want to tell you. You won't like it."
"I am beyond tired of not being included in this damn mission. We are a team. You are going to tell your teammate where we are going, Barnes." I stood up and looked out the windshield of the jet.
"The Siberian HYDRA Facility." Steve finally chimed into the conversation.
"Why the actual fuck are you taking us there?" I turned my head to look at the back of Steve's. I bring my hand up to my mouth, fighting back the urge to throw up. "That's where... Do you know what they did to us there?"
"He is going to release the other soldiers," Steve said calmly. "We need to stop him."
I walked to the back of the jet and sat down. I pulled my phone from my jacket pocket, put my earbuds in, and turned on my music. I closed my eyes as I tried to calm myself down. Using my music to drown out the boys.
I didn't want to go back. I still didn't remember quite anything but I know what they did. Everything they made us do. Every technique of punishment. They did so many horrible things to us there. I wasn't ready to experience them again. I know that the facility is shut down and there isn't anyone there anymore, except for the other soldiers. But it hurt to even think that we were going back there.