Open Wounds - A Bucky Barnes Soulmate AU

Chapter Twenty-Two

You stood to one side of the command room with your hands behind your back and your gaze straight ahead. Not even twitching unless you were ordered to. Strucker's perfect little pet. He kept you close at all times unless you were locked in your cell to sleep. His prize. And wasn't it lovely?

Not for the first time you considered crushing his throat with your bare hands. Of course, assuming he didn't explode your head, someone else would certainly kill you before you could escape. Sometimes, you wondered if it would be worth it. Then you'd remember your mate and what fate would await him for your disobedience.

A jolt of pain radiated through your brain and down your neck. You winced and clenched your teeth to keep from screaming out. You snapped your gaze to Strucker. He smirked and slid your remote back into his pocket. "You were drifting. Pay attention, Nicto."

"My apologies, Herr Strucker. Did you have orders for me?" If you listened to his conversation and he wasn't giving you orders, he shocked you. If you didn't and he was, he shocked you. Asshole. Someday, you were going to shove that remote up his ass.

"Your former associates have discovered your location and are attacking our base. Get rid of them. Kill them. Bring me Soldat by any means necessary."

No fucking way. "Of course, Herr Strucker."

You stepped over to look at the monitors showing all the activity around the base. There was a lot more than the Avengers here. Was that Melinda? What the hell was she doing here? And Matt. And Wade. And the spider kid. For fuck's sake. They could have at least the teenager at home.

Spotting Bucky breaching the south entrance, you left to head in that direction. Strucker would be right behind you, watching your every move. You'd nearly reached the area you'd planned to intercept Bucky when a blur of black and red crashed into you rocking you on your feet.

"Princess, I'm so happy to see you," Wade shouted while wrapping you in his arms.

You allowed yourself just a second to breathe in the scent of your best friend. A moment to take comfort in his touch.

"We've got company," he said in your ear.

You sucked in a breath and shoved him away from you. A kick to his chest sent him stumbling down the hallway. Before he could fully regain his footing, you drew your firearm and placed a round right between his eyes. That image was going to haunt you for awhile.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and holstered your weapon. Stepping over the temporary corpse of your best friend, you continued down the hall. Finally, you turned into the storage area where you expected to find your soulmate.

As it turned out, you found not only him but Natasha as well. The were deep in conversation and hadn't noticed your near silent approach. Idiots. You leapt over the railing at the top of the stairs. The metal beneath your feet reverberated with the impact of your landing. Both assassins immediately focused on you with wide eyes and weapons aimed.

Bucky's gaze turned soft when he realized it was you and the muzzle of his gun lowered to aim at the floor. He said your name softly, like a prayer.

"Soldat," you said in response, keeping any warmth from your voice.

He flinched. Natasha's aim remained true as always. You kept your eyes locked on your mate as you removed your gun and dropped it on the floor.

"You owe me a fight, Soldat." You hoped he went along with it or you were going to have to fight Nat and she wouldn't be nearly as nice.

Buck narrowed his eyes as he looked you over from head to toe. Finally, he swallowed and gave you a nod. "I got this, Natasha."

She hesitated a moment before stepping back and lowering the gun slightly. You glanced at her quickly then back toward the door before snapping your attention back to Bucky. It was enough for her to get the message and she shifted the weapon to aim at the doorway behind you.