Captured // A Winter Soldier Story

chapter nineteen // hell

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"They say it's what you make, I say it's up to fate. It's woven in my soul- I need to let you go."
-Demons by Imagine Dragons

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reyna's point of view

I heard the sound of tires screeching. I felt my eyes widen and Bucky's form shove in front of my own. My mouth went dry.

I registered all of this in half a second before a truck collided with our car, the sheer force of the impact slamming me into Bucky's chest. Everything went quiet as the world suddenly turned to slow motion.

I watched the metal of what used to be our car crush, twist and morph itself into a hardly recognizable shape. Natasha almost completely disappeared under Steve and a mound of metal. I yelled her name. Then, just as quickly as it had slowed down, the world came screaming back at normal speed. My head spun as I reeled away from Bucky with dazed eyes, my neck aching after being jolted so roughly.

Once my eyes adjusted, I made out the broad forms of Steve and Bucky crouching awkwardly in front of Natasha and I, all of us just inches from the front bumper of the truck that had hit us head on. The entire front of our car had collapsed completely inwards, meaning the truck that had run into us was now crammed into the space where our driver's seat used to be. Our driver was not as lucky as we were. He'd been completely pulverized. I could smell his blood.

All I heard was ringing as Bucky shoved the broken door beside me off its hinges and took my hand, pulling me out of the car. Steve worked on dislodging Natasha from the wreckage on the other side of the car, trying to free her leg from between the door and the seat.

Once I stood up, my eyes were immediately drawn to the scene before me.

Several other cars had pulled up on either side of the wreckage, and Hydra soldiers outfitted in full body armor were jumping from the vehicles and forming ranks, loading their guns as they relayed orders to each other. I glanced at Steve and he was screaming for Bucky and I to run. My hearing still wasn't working, but I could make out the words get out of here as he waved his arms frantically for us to get to safety.

Bucky didn't hesitate before grabbing my hand again and launching us towards the shoulder of the road. A second later, Steve freed Natasha from the wreckage, and they hurried after us. Bullets began peppering the ground by our feet and we just barely made it behind a nearby building in time.

We tore through the alleys of D.C., ducking between shops, houses and backyards as we tried frantically to lose our pursuers. Every time I thought we had lost them, a bullet would ricochet off of something close to us, and we'd start running even faster than before. My muscles ached and my lungs heaved as I struggled to keep up with three people who were much healthier and much stronger than I was. My leg was hurting from my old gunshot wound, and my head was still spinning from the crash. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep this up.

Suddenly we spotted a construction site, and hurried into the open walls of the building. We immediately crammed ourselves into a back room that was out of sight from the alley we'd been just been in. I watched through a crack in the wall as a few Hydra soldiers ran right past us without even pausing- they must not have seen us come in here.

I knew we weren't in the clear yet so I refused to relax, instead trying to focus on adjusting my breathing to a more even pace. A coat of sweat was covering my skin and I felt feverish and sickly from pushing myself too far.

No one dared to say anything for risk of being found by Hydra, but Bucky grasped my hand tightly and pressed a tired kiss to the top of my head, as if to say hang in there. I tried to find comfort in his touch, but his warmth couldn't soothe me this time. I was absolutely terrified that one of those men out there chasing us right now was my father.

I tried to slow my heart rate down but it was futile; my heart was beating a million times a minute, as fear, anxiety and physical exertion stretched it to its limits. I could barely control my breathing.

Before I got the chance to calm my body down I hear a creak in the wooden floor boards not far from where we sat, which meant that somebody was in here with us. I peeked through the crack in the door and my heart stopped as I caught sight of a lone Hydra soldier poking around the unfinished structure. He was coming right towards us.

I looked back at the team, and though I couldn't say anything, I think they could tell from my expression that the creaking sound was bad news.

The soldier's footsteps came closer. My mind raced as I tried to think of a way we could subdue him quietly.

I looked through the crack in the wall again, suddenly realizing that the wall that harbored the crack was not fully attached to the support beams. If I waited for the soldier to walk by, and could manage to maneuver the wall out of the way...

Suddenly I had a plan. There was roughly a 90% chance of death, but I had a plan.

I took Bucky's hand in my own and squeezed it tight, and then I glanced at Steve, taking his hand as well. They gave me concerned looks, probably a little worried about what I was up to- but if my plan didn't work, then we were dead anyway. And I didn't want to die without saying goodbye.

I looked at them for one more second, memorizing every detail, before releasing their hands and turning back around. The Hydra soldier was even closer now. I held my breath and waited for him to walk by the hole in the wall.

After three more painstakingly long seconds, his shoulders came into view. I immediately shoved the wall aside and jumped out, wrapping one arm around his neck and grabbing his gun with my other hand, tossing it across the room. He made a strangled noise as my forearm pressed against his throat and he struggled against my grasp, clawing at my arms and bucking his legs wildly. I brought my other arm up and wrapped it around his torso, subduing one of his arms. I squeezed against his throat as hard as I could and held on tight, and soon enough, his muscles went weak as his brain blacked out from a lack of oxygen. He passed out in my arms and I was able to relax for half a second before my muscles started screaming with pain.

I laid him as gently on the ground as I could, not wanting to attract any more attention, and gestured for Bucky, Natasha and Steve to come out of hiding. Tossing the gun away from the agent had cause a loud banging noise to resonate through the unfinished house, and we needed to get out of here before anyone figured out where it had come from.

Steve silently took charge, checking beside the house for any more agents before motioning for us to follow him. We headed back down the alley. The rain pounded against my back and thunder shook my bones as we made our way towards a line of trees across the street, glancing around nervously for any signs that we were being followed. All I could see were soggy buildings and flashes of lightning.

We had almost made it to the trees, just yards from their protection, when a dark figure suddenly manifested out of nowhere and began taking slow, casual steps across the street.

He had a dark, menacing presence about him, similar to how Bucky had looked when I first knew him, but this figure before me now was infinitely more sinister.

My heart stopped.

"There's nowhere to run this time, dear. If you run, your friends will die."

I let out a strangled noise, my hand flying up to my mouth as my skin began to crawl. That voice. I knew that voice.

It was the very voice of the man who had murdered my mother and forced me to go on the run for sixteen years of my life, a voice that I had not heard in nearly two years. The voice itself was enough to bring bile to the back of my throat, and I began shaking, hardly able to cope with seeing him again.

"Father," I whispered.