Love over Blood - Bucky Barnes

Chapter Eighteen

Bucky's POV

It's been two weeks since Opal's been missing and I feel like I'm losing my mind. The only thing keeping me together is Hunter. I have to be strong for him. I wake up every morning and make him breakfast, I've actually gotten quite good at cooking, I take him to school and pick him up. When we get home we eat lunch, play games, watch movies and go for walks. He keeps telling me how much he misses his mommy and honestly I feel like crying every-time but if I don't keep myself together it'll only cause him more worry.

During the time Hunter's in school, I go to the compound and we continue through the same cycle. We run security footage, facial recognition, we split up and search different places but there's no luck. I feel as if we're slacking even though there's not much more we could do. If only we had a hint as to who were behind this. So that's what I'm about to do; get a hint.

I enter S.H.I.E.L.D's maximum security prison and head over to the receptionist "I'm here to see Louis Johnson", "Right this way, sir". I'm led into a cell, Louis sits with his back to me. The guards don't stick around, I have more chance against this guy than they do. "What do you want?" He asks with a voice filled with anger, "Where's Opal?" I say sternly. He spins around puzzled "What do you mean? What's happened to my daughter Barnes?!" He yells. Funny that he's this concerned when he put her through hell. "Someone took her, you didn't have anything to do with that?", "Of course not, the only reason I- oh shit". I take that as he knows. I sit silently waiting for him to gather his thoughts and share them with me. "I know I treated her horribly but you have to understand, I was a drunk, her mother left and I had no idea how to bring in the cash. No one would hire me so while I was teaching Opal self defence in the front yard one morning, I was approached by a man. He give me an offer and I took it. I spent years training her, I had no idea what the red room was or what they would do to her, I swear. I'm sober now, I have been for years-that stunt I pulled, well that's all thanks to John Walker, the douche that got her pregnant" I grind my jaw at the mention but let Louis continue "He threatened her and her sons life, told me I had gone soft. He was watching my every move, told me that if I didn't get my act together and take her home then he'll do it himself. I don't know why he wanted her but I've never trusted that guy. I know taking her son wasn't the best move but I expected her to come in and talk it out, not suit up and obliterate my whole team and then the Avengers showed up. I should have just been honest from the start but I fucked it. I don't know how to be a father and now he's taken her". I stand up and look down on him "You traumatised Hunter, he watched his mother get tied to a chair with 9 guns pointed to her head, you ruined Opal's childhood and scared the shit out of everyone. You don't get to play the sympathy card and I don't believe your bullshit. Tell me where Walker is so I can kill him myself!".

I race back to the compound and tell everyone to suit up. In the Quinjet I explain what happened. Louis said Walker still hangs around in his old 'secret base' which is actually his basement that he used to smoke weed in as a teenager. How sad. I feel absolutely stupid that I couldn't have thought to go to her father sooner. I call Cindy and tell her we have a clue and that she'll have to get Hunter from school if that's okay. She asks me to keep her updated and I agree.

We get there in no time, we find the house and take a look around, seems fairly normal. "Right, Scott you-" I stop Tony from speaking "No! We don't know what's going on down there, I need to go in alone, going in together might intimidate him and fuck knows what he'll do if she's still alive" those last 4 words cause a pain in the pit of my stomach. "We're out here if you need us" Steve says.

I walk into the house, it was unlocked. He clearly hasn't thought this through. I have my gun at the ready and check every room until I make my way to the basement stairs. Every step creaks which makes me cringe, I turn the knob on the handle and open it slowly "Oh come on, don't be shy" a familiar voice speaks. "Where is she?!" I demand, Walker takes a large step to the left and reveals my beautiful girlfriend chained up to a pipe, unconscious and bloody. "Don't worry, she's alive" he giggles, I look around the floor and see needles everywhere, he's on drugs- that explains it. As I hold my gun up he laughs "See that over there? That's a gun pointed at your sweet girls head. All I need to do is click this button and dead". I lower my gun to the floor and show him my hands "Let me take her, please" I feel so helpless, I hear Tony instructing the team through comms, I hope they don't fuck this up. "See I realised when I seen her a few months back that I made a huge mistake letting her go. I don't care about her son- our son. I just wanted her. She used to be fun but you turned her into some priss". This dude is crazy! "It's not fun when you get disowned by your own family and it's not fun when all your friends grow up and leave. I was stuck here alone but now I have her", "I'm not leaving here without her, John", "Well, I guess you'll have too" he clicks the button.

Everything happens in slow motion. I scream and try to run towards Opal but I'm not faster than a bullet, I see it fly out of the gun and head right at her but suddenly it stops. The bullet is engulfed by a red bubble- Wanda I turn around and she's standing at the door way, Tony and Steve burst in and tackle John to the ground. I run over and rip off her chains, she's underweight, her hair is matted with dirt and blood and she's full of bruises. Bruce and Dr Cho are waiting on the Quinjet so I run as fast as possible with her in my arms, they take her into the spare room and do what they can with what they have.

As soon as we get back to the compound, she's rushed to the medical wing. They operate and give her all these different things through an IV which is placed in her wrist. Bruce tells me that she's been drugged with high amounts of morphine to keep her asleep. "I probably shouldn't tell you this but, there's signs of uh, you know forced entry" he gives me a sad look. I know what he means, my heart is literally breaking for her right now. I can't believe I let this happen. I sit in the chair next to her crying when Steve comes in "You need anything?" I shake my head no. He just sits with me for awhile "You should get some rest", "No way Steve, I'm not leaving her side, never again!" And I mean it. I stay with her the whole night.