Never Safe

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Stop... please!" you moaned. Screamed. Begged. It was worthless. They weren't going to listen to you.

Two men were pinning you down as a third held your left arm. He had a blade, and was using it to carve into your skin.

He was writing something, and he was taking his sweet time, knowing how much pain you were in.

He slowly dragged the blade to cross the final A.

"HAIL HYDRA" The words were barely visibly as your blood leaked out the cuts, creating a red mess that dripped almost everywhere.

The man evilly grinned as he pushed the sharp point into your skin, beneath the first 'H'. You opened your mouth but no sound came out as he began to underline the words. You clenched your hands into fists and tried to bare the pain.

He was halfway done when a noise came from his walkie talkie, and he finally stopped.

"Code Red. All units are to respond. I repeat, code red. All units are to respond."

The three men exchanged glances.

"Do we go?" one muttered.

Another nodded. "Leave her."

So they left. Your arm was still bleeding. It hurt so much that it had gone numb. You didn't know what to do. You didn't know if there was anything you could do. You were too weak, too afraid of who might be out there, waiting to hurt you.

You were trapped in your own fearful thoughts. They drowned out reality: the sound of footsteps approaching and entering the room; slowing down once they saw you, slowly getting closer; bending down and reaching out to touch your arm...

"NO!" you screamed, high pitched and loud. You rolled over to face away from them. They placed their hand on your shoulder and pulled you to lie on your back.

"No, no, no, no..." you mumbled to yourself.

"Y/n. Hey, y/n, it's me. It's okay."

Your breaths were quick and heavy. Scared. They slowed down a little when you saw his familiar face.

"Steve" you mouthed.

"It's okay."

You shook your head. "No..." You tried to push yourself to sit up. Steve helped you until you were standing.

"Oh, god, you're bleeding." No shit. Your arm was pretty much completely crimson coloured. You ignored it, though.

Steve was stood between you and the door. You tried to push past him, but ended up grabbing onto him for balance.

"Come on, let me help you-"

"No" you said yet again. You forced yourself to stand on your own. You didn't even take one step before you had to pause. Your head was spinning. Your mouth hung open as you continued to take uneasy breaths. You heard someone coming. You looked to the door.

It's fine. It was your brother.

You took one step. He rushed towards you, catching you as you practically collapsed in his arms. You began to weep uncontrollably.

Bucky held the back of your head, holding you against his chest. He couldn't help letting his own tears fall. Tears of relief that he found you; tears of horror at the state of you. He dropped to his knees, not letting go of you for even one second. He hugged you even tighter. Then the apologies came.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I wasn't supposed to let this happen. I'm so sorry y/n. I'm sorry-"

You didn't say anything. You couldn't stop crying. It was difficult to even breathe through tears.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry-"

"Bucky" Steve knelt down beside the two of you. "We need to go."

"This is all my fault."

"She needs to see a doctor. Buck, we've got to get out of here."

Bucky acknowledged what Steve was saying. He knew he was right. He sat back from you, despite how much you tried to hold on. He held your hand and helped you stand up next to him. "You're gonna be fine. It's gonna be okay" he tried to convince you. Your face didn't change. You couldn't believe it yet.

Bucky took your hand and turned to the door. You stumbled as he pulled you out the room. You hurried through the hallways of the Hydra base, listening to distant sounds of gunfire and battle. Steve ran a little ahead making sure the coast was clear. Unfortunately, there was no one behind you, no one between you and the door. You heard it open and looked back over your shoulder to see a couple agents file through it.

"BUCKY!"

He turned and noticed them too. So did Steve. Bucky stepped around you and physically shielded you from them as Steve threw his shield and began to attack them.

Bucky guided you to the end of the room and through a different door. It lead into an empty room. He let go of your hand.

"Okay, wait here for one-"

"No, Bucky, don't go" you cried. "Please don't leave me."

He instantly took you in his arms again. "It's gonna be okay-"

"I wanna go home."

"I know" he gently stroked your back. "We're gonna go home and everything will be fine. It's okay."

He didn't try to leave to help Steve, like he originally intended. He heard Steve ask for back up over comms, but he still didn't leave you. He was waiting for the sound of fighting outside to stop. It didn't, not before someone opened the door. Bucky stepped away and instantly started fighting the Hydra agents as they appeared in the doorway. One got through, though. Bucky didn't notice that he managed to sneak past him. He got to you.

"NO-"

He covered your mouth with one hand and pointed a gun at you with the other. Bucky had spotted you now. He fought off one final guy then faced you. He stood still for a second, then charged forward. The agent didn't shoot you, but he hit you in the head with his gun and you fell to the floor.

Bucky immediately knocked him down. He pinned him to the ground and repeatedly punched at his face, channeling his infuriation into his hits. When his eyes fell shut, Bucky's eyes journeyed to where you lay motionless, your back to him. He rushed over, leaning over your body so he could see your face.

He didn't hesitate to pick you up and run out the room. He was going to get you out of there.

He passed Steve, who knocked down two remaining agents then ran to catch up with Bucky. They managed to get back to the Quinjet. They boarded; Bucky sat down as Steve called the others to return.

Bucky held you close to him. Now that there was no surrounding threat, his attention was drawn back to the fact that you were bleeding. But he didn't know what to do about it.

Everyone returned to the jet. It took off. Bruce came over to you and Bucky with a first aid kit.

"Bucky, can you lay her down? So I can take a look at her?"

Bucky nervously glanced at Steve, then did as Bruce said. Bucky picked up your hand.

"She's lost a lot of blood. She's gonna need fluids when we get back to the compound."

"She'll be okay, right?" Bucky asked.

"She'll be just fine."