1 | SURVIVE • BUCKY BARNES [COMPLETED]

XXIII.

The journey back was never easy, and it would always prove to be so.

The HYDRA plant felt as if it went on for miles, and all three were racing to find an exit.

The building itself was crumbling all around them. Schmidt knew they were the cause of the breach and release of the captured soldiers, and he was doing everything in his power to ensure that they didn't make it out alive. Or so it felt.

Bombs detonated beneath their feet and clouds of fire were erupted below them. The polluted air, acrid and chemical in smell, burned their noses and seared their throats. Smoke inhalation made them cough but Steve and Gideon were just determined to get Bucky out alive.

Steve led the way up a set of stairs; they needed to go higher as the ground beneath was catching fire. Gideon closely trailed behind them, her eyes only peeling away from the flames to look at Bucky in front of her.

She couldn't even begin to process the immense relief she felt now that she held him and knew that this was real. But no matter the short moment of happiness, they all had to worry about making it outside.

Going up to the higher level of the building soon came to present itself with another problem, one Gideon sure as hell did not expect to see coming.

A German accent called above the roar of the explosions and flames, and Gideon knew it instantly. "Captain America," his voice called out.

Standing on a new balcony with a walkway jutting straight out from where we stood, two men stood across from them, and Gideon could recognize the taller man without having seen him before. His presence was identical to one of Johann Schmidt her father told her about so many years ago. And he had been the one who sent the orders to kill her father.

"How exciting," Schmidt continued, "I'm a great fan of your films." He further walked out onto the balcony connecting them, and Steve took his cue to approach him as well. "So Dr. Erskine managed it after all, not exactly an improvement, but still impressive."

His words infuriated Gideon, but she couldn't show it. He didn't recognize her, and she had to keep it at that; she wouldn't allow him to know until until the very last moment of his life. But that didn't stop her rage. Her hands were curled around the metal beams, her knuckles white as she left lasting impressions of her grasp in the metal. Steve punched him in the face, uttering, "You have no idea." It only relieved some of her inner fury, but Bucky noticed the rest.

"Gideon," he uttered at the sight of the bent bars. He had never seen her newly acquired traits yet, and it came as a shock as did when he first saw Steve with his new build.

"He's the man who killed my father," she whispered to him. Their eyes connected and just for a second, he placed his hand over hers, relaxing his grip and making her feel more at ease.

She smiled lightly at his gesture before looking back at Schmidt. She still needed to study his every move, to calculate his weaknesses for the moment she would seek her revenge.

As he rebounded from Captain America's blow, they all watched a sliver of red appear beneath his eye, and Gideon grew more curious.

Schmidt threw back a punch at him, welding a fist shaped mark within his shield. "Haven't I," he responded, "No matter what lies Erskine has told you, I was his greatest success." His voice had grown to a higher volume as he torn away at the synthetic skin covering his true face.

They all watched him throw the mask into the fiery pit beneath them, but Gideon couldn't pull her eyes away from his face. His cheeks and eyes were sunken into the perfect shape of skull with a bright red hue. It nearly matched the shade of flames.

Gideon stood shell-shocked; her father had yet to tell her Schmidt's true nature, now she was only thankful that she knew what they were up against.

The man then began to step back as Arnim Zola pressed a button near the elevator they arrive in, and the bridge they stood on separated it. "You are deluded Captain," he said in the process, "You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!"

"Then why are you running," Steve responded as the two men stepped into the elevator they arrived in.

He didn't utter a single word back, the metal doors enclosing around them and allowing them to disappear.

Gideon gritted her teeth and her anger consumed her, At a blinding rate, she was already calculating the speed she need to reach to the other side of the balcony, and when she attempted to take a step back to gain speed, Bucky grabbed her arm.

"Bucky I have to go after him."

"I want to too, doll, but not now," he shook his head, cerulean blue eyes staring into hers. "We have to get out of here,"

"He's right," Steve joined them. "This is going to collapse."

"Come on, Gideon," the man she loved pulled on her hand, and she swallowed back her rage before leaving her post; the revenge was meant for another time.

They ran up another flight of metal stairs to escape the ever growing flames, but they couldn't seem to out run them. Standing on a higher balcony, they soon realized that the only way out would have to be across. A structural beam rested between them, and Gideon was the first to cross it. It shook as she placed the slightest amount of weight on the metal, and she immediately transformed. She cloaked herself and it made her weightless, allowing her to cross without the beam breaking.

But Bucky's case was a different story. When he stepped on the beam, it screeched in protest, but he pursued on. His steps were shaking, nervous; each one was an attempt to steady his balance and to keep moving forward. Yet when he reached the middle, the beam broke.

In Gideon's mind, it happened slowly as she thought she had lost him once more, but she continued to scream out his name and reach for him. And when the bridge gave way beneath him, she grasped his hand and held on tight as he jumped to her and clung onto the railing. He climbed over the metal barrier, and just for a moment she felt a breath-taking sense of relief, but it wouldn't last. Steve was still on the other side, and the flames were growing taller, hotter.

And neither were going to leave without him.

"Just go, go get out of here," Steve waved them away.

The situation seemed hopeless. The distance between them seemed to far for his to cross. But Bucky and Gideon stood their post.

"NO, NO WITHOUT YOU," Bucky shouted over the roar of the flames.

She watched determination cross the captain's face through the smoke. He then moved to bend a broken railing in attempt to form a makeshift rope, but it wasn't long enough.

Time was running short. They could tell that the building was going sink within moments as more explosions resonated around them.

Steve then strided backwards, gaining enough space to create the speed and momentum he needed to jump over the gaping opening. Gideon's heart raced when he charged and she grit her teeth hard enough for her jaw to ache, and when he was in the air, a gust of fire covered him.

She cried out for him, but then his hand clutched onto the railing, and they rushed to pull him over.

But this wasn't the end of the road yet. The balcony they stood on shook beneath their feet, and so, they ran.

They ran hard and fast. Her lungs burned from the exhursion and the smoke inhalation, and her vision blurred along with her sense of direction. She didn't know how they managed to get out, but within a seeming blink, she found herself with Steve and Bucky gasping outside as Allied soldiers began to crowd around them.

Most were bloodied and injured, but when they gathered, it was spread throughout them that the HYDRA team stationed at the base was defeated and that they were safe.

At least for now.

[10/12/16]