One-shots/Short Stories

Bucky Barnes - Part II

The Past Catching Up To You - Part II
Bucky placed the unconscious Steve on the ground, having just saved him from drowning.
   Bucky stared down at him, finding the Captain very familiar. And what he said to him. . .

"I'm with you 'till the end of the line."

He knew who Steve was. He was familiar. And when he called him Bucky. . .
   Bucky walked away from him, already making his plan for the day. First, he was to change out of his wet clothes and get fixed up as much as he could. And then, he was going to go the Smithsonian where they have one section all for Captain America.

***

He read every plaque in the Captain America section, even watching the videos from back then that people have managed to recover. The last plaque to read was about him himself: James Buchanan Barnes.
   He read it with intensity, only for his eyes to widen at the last couple of paragraphs.

James Buchanan Barnes was married a week after being rescued and reunited from a HYDRA base, to Hope Mary Samuels, a woman he was courting before the war. The two reunited back at base where Hope was residing in fear of being far away from Steve Rogers, having received news about Barnes' 'death'. The two were reunited and on that same day James proposed to Hope.

Beside the paragraph was a photo of him and Hope at their wedding, smiling brightly at the camera. He noticed Steve was standing on the other side of Hope. Bucky barely remembered Steve being the best man, Agent Peggy Carter being the Maid of Honour. Bucky continued to read the plaque.

However, two months later Bucky was lost to the world when he fell out of the train he and the Commandos were on to capture scientist Zola.

The pain was too much for Hope Barnes that she got a miscarriage since she was pregnant at the time, and with her being at a base, HYDRA had ambushed them and shot Hope with a dart that contained a chemical that no one has the cure for.

In an attempt to keep her alive, they put her into cryo sleep in an attempt to slow the poison in her veins.

Sadly, the place she was contained in burned down, and they were unable to grab her in time. No body was found but it was believed that she had died during the fire.

Bucky took a step away in horror, his eyes tearing up. He was gaining memories. Fast. Everything from the past. When he first met Steve, when he defended him in fights, when he first met Hope, when he got captured and experimented on, when he proposed to her, when they were happy that they were going to be parents. . .
   "Oh Hope." he whispered in a cracked voice. "I'm so sorry. . ." A solitary tear slid down his face, as did he. He fell to his knees, the pain he was feeling was something that defeated all the tortures he got from HYDRA. His best gal was gone, as well as their child. And then he almost killed his best friend. . .
   A small video was playing beside the plaque; it was the two telling their friends that they were expecting. Bucky watched as they smiled widely, his hand rubbing her flat stomach lovingly. It was decided. He was going to avenge for her. HYDRA did this to them. They gave the two pain their whole life. They turned him into a monster. They killed Hope. They almost got him to kill his best friend. . .
   Bucky quickly moved himself out of the museum, adrenalin high from his new mission.

To kill every single HYDRA agent.

***

Bucky threw away the dead body from his hands, having just snapped the guy's neck. He looked around the weaponry room, grabbing some items to help him remove the rest of the cult. So far so good. During the months he removed over twenty bases, killing every single one of them. At the same time he grabbed information on them and secretly sent them to Tony Stark, who would do the rest.
   He went to leave the room when he saw a door hiding behind a cabinet. Curious, he easily moved the cabinet away, removing the door from its hinges just as easily. He walked in the dark room with his gun up, waiting for an attack. But none came to him. It was quiet except for the buzzing in the room. There was a small circle of light ahead of him, which meant the buzzing was coming from that area. The buzzing sound of electricity running through.
   He slowly walked towards the small light, finding it to be a cryogenic chamber that was similar to his. He wiped the dust off the glass, only to gasp and stumble away in shock.
   It was her. It was Hope. Hope Mary Samuels - Hope Mary Barnes. She was here. She was safe. She was alive. And she was in the same room as him.
   "H-Hope. . ." Bucky breathed  out. He dropped the gun, his hand finding its way to the glass. His fingers hovered around her face as if it was actually touching her soft skin. All this time she was in a HYDRA base. Hidden away from sight. Did she suffer like he did during the stay at a HYDRA base? He needed to take her to Stark. Now.
   Grabbing the chamber with a little struggle, he started making his way out, exploding the base while he was at it.

***

Bucky made sure to do this at night so he wouldn't be discovered by the people around New York. He made sure his baseball cap was on, as well as his jumper and gloves. He made the chamber look like a giant delivery box for Tony Stark.
   He was ushered into the tower, the staff unaware of who he was until he took off his hat and jumper, revealing himself and his weapons. They immediately called in security and the remaining Avengers. He saw Iron Man, Black Widow, Maria Hill, and Falcon. They aimed their weapons at him.
   "What are you doing here?" Black Widow demanded. "What's in that box?"
   Bucky raised his hands in surrender, giving them a pleading look. "Help me." was all he said. They looked at him bewildered. "Help me, please."
   "Wha-? Why the hell should we help you?" Tony exclaimed.
   "I remember." he told them all. "I remember Steve, I remember Hope - she's right here, in this cryogenic chamber." He took off the blanket that was covering her, showing them her peaceful face inside. They gaped at the sight.
   "How did you. . .she was claimed dead." Tony murmured. "My Dad said so. . ."
   "She was in a HYDRA base." Bucky explained. "She was hidden away. I found her while taking them down -"
   "Wait, you're the one that has been taking down HYDRA bases?" Sam questioned. "Why?"
   "I read my plaque at the Smithsonian," Bucky admitted quietly, "I wanted revenge on them." He looked at them desperately. "Please, I don't know what they could have done to her. What if they tortured her like they did to me? Can't you find a cure on what she got shot with? Please, help me. She needs help."
   The team shared a look. "Promise you won't kill us?" Maria told him.
   "I give you my word." Bucky vowed.
   "Good." Natasha walked up to him. "You're coming with me." Before he could say anything, she brought her gun down to his head, knocking him unconscious.