Captured // A Winter Soldier Story

chapter seven // escape

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"Run, run, run away. Buy yourself another day."
-  Kingdom Come by The Civil Wars

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reyna's point of view

I was suddenly wide awake.

I stared at him as he scanned the hallways for threats. Finding no one, he turned left, walking carefully down a corridor I'd never been through. His face was difficult to read, and it was hard to see from the angle I was at.

"What - why?" I stammered quietly, not trying to draw attention but unable to keep my mouth shut. I was beyond baffled.

"Stop talking, they're gonna hear you," he muttered, still not meeting my eyes as he turned down another hall. I squirmed in his grasp, forcing him to put me down and look at me.

"You don't have time for this," he growled, anger and desperation behind his blue eyes. I frowned and clenched my jaw.

"We're not going anywhere until you tell me why you're helping me escape."

If looks could kill, his gaze alone would've blasted me on the spot. But he took a deep breath and the fire died down a little

"I don't like watching you suffer, and I know you don't have the information they want. I'm getting you out before they kill you," he muttered, his voice quiet and gentler than I'd ever heard it. My gaze softened and I put my hand on his arm. His eyes immediately flicked to my hand at the contact.

"I'm not leaving you here to suffer, either," I replied, my voice unwavering.

Something in his eyes changed when I said that. The anger left, and a new emotion emerged, one I did not recognize. His body language went from being in charge to being unsure, and he closed his eyes briefly before answering me.

"I can't go with you. I can't leave. I've done too much."

I was about to tell him that he couldn't stay here, not when Steve needed him and he deserved so much better, when I suddenly heard people coming down the hall. Bucky reacted faster than I did. He immediately grabbed my arm and pulled me into a nearby closet, huddling me against his chest in the tiny room and standing between me and the door. I was pressed up against his collarbone. I could hear his heartbeat from where I was - quiet and slow, but strong.

The Hydra agents walked by the door, not even pausing as they passed. Bucky waited five seconds and then opened the door, looked around, and motioned for me to follow him.

I fell in line behind him as we crept along the side of the halls. A thousand words were burning inside of me, threatening to spill, but I kept quiet and followed his lead. My back stung with every step I took and my throat was sore from trying to breathe yesterday. It seemed that my very bones were aching from all the torture I'd been forced to endure. But the possibility of escape, and my own adrenaline, kept me going.

We rounded a corner and heard voices again. Bucky yanked me into another utility room, and we squeezed in and stood there silently until the Hydra scientists passed. I wasn't sure where we were, but it was quieter down this hall.  - I couldn't hear screaming or crying down here, like I could hear in the hall where my cell was. There seemed to be a complete absence of sound besides the voices of a few Hydra employees, and it was putting me on edge.

We left the room and continued creeping down the hall. Bucky turned after a few more steps, into another small corridor. I wasn't sure where we were, but I trusted him.

We quietly slipped past more guards. Bucky's right hand never left his holster, his left arm never straying from in front of my chest. My head was exploding with questions, from wanting to ask why he cares about what happens to me to wanting to ask why he was refusing to come with me.