Ready to Comply: A Bucky Barnes Fanfic

Twenty - Rescued?

I open my eyes and groan as the throbbing in my head returns. I look around to find that I am in a different room this time. It is a cell, stone walls on all sides and a steel door to my right. My arms and legs are chained again, this time with handcuffs.

I sigh shakily and look around as my eyes focus in the dark. There are no men, and no machines this time. The room is empty other than the hospital bed I am laying on. Only it's not really a hospital bed. More like a stone rise about the size of a bed, a couple feet higher than the floor. Likely made specifically to hold a person down during torture or testing. If I know anything about Hydra.

There is light filtering in through the small window in the steel door. I can hear men talking out there. There must be two guards set outside the door.

Why would they need to guard my room? I was so weak from exhaustion and lack of food - it must have been days since I've eaten - I doubt I could put up much of a fight. Plus, they had me tied up.

"Excuse me," I say, my voice weak and rough. One of the guards peers into the room through the bars of the door's window. "How long have I been here?"

He looks like he's not going to answer, but eventually he speaks. "About 72 hours. You've been asleep most of that time, though."

Damn. No wonder I was hungry. I pull at my restraints lightly, and the handcuffs clank loudly against the metal poles of the bed. Too loud.

The guard casts an angry look through the door. I stop and try to relax, though I know something terrible was about to happen. My body is shaking, but I am not sure if it is from malnourishment or fear.

It seems like hours before I hear a door open in the distance. The guards shift on their feet, looking down the hall. Someone is coming... fast. I can hear loud footsteps, and then the guards yell in terror.

I jump in fright, and the chains rattle again. There is a bunch of commotion outside of the door, though I can't see any of what's happening.

I hear the grunts of the guards just before one gets slammed into the door hard enough to tear it right off its hinges. The steel hits the stone floor with a loud crash, the man crumbling unconscious on top of it. The other guard is just outside the door, also lying motionless on the floor. I tug on my restraints in fright.

Then a familiar face appears.

"Sophie? Sophie!" he exclaims with so much concern and equal joy, I momentarily forget the predicament I am in.

"Bucky?" I whisper happily as he runs over to the side of the bed. He places his real hand on my head, leans down and gently kisses my forehead.

I sigh in relief. The real Bucky is back.

"Oh my god, Soph, what have I gotten you into?" he says, his voice breaking as a tear runs down his face.

He quickly breaks the handcuff holding my left hand, and I immediately sit up and wrap my arm around his neck, not even caring about the pull of the other restraints. He responds by wrapping both arms around me in a tight embrace, and I cry tears of joy. God, I missed his warmth. He was here now. He saved me. Everything was fine.

But wait...

My eyes widen in realization as I remember my last conversation with the man in the suit. About how Hydra would get Bucky back under their control. I pull away from him and look into his steel blue eyes, tears running down my face.

"Bucky, you have to leave, now."

He narrows his eyes in confusion. "Soph, what..."

"It's a trap. They used me as bait to lure you here. So they could capture you again."

I am realizing with each passing second how bad this is. We're in the basement of the building. There's nowhere for him to run.

"Where's Steve?"

"He's helping take down the guards, closer to the front of the building. Why?"

"Bucky, go now! I don't have time to explain..."

"No, I'm not leaving you!" he exclaims as he shifts down to break the restraints that held my feet.

"Bucky, please listen to me." I say shakily as his metal hand pries the cuffs apart. He shifts to my other side to break the last handcuff, the one holding my right hand to the bedpost.

Then I hear footsteps.

We both freeze, his metal hand ceasing it's work to get the handcuff off. He turns around to face three men, who walk calmly into the room.

"Barnes, it's good to see you again." the man in front says.

I swallow hard when I realize he is the same man who spoke to me when I was strapped to the metal table a couple days before.

"Run if you want to stay alive," Bucky growls, standing defensively in front of me. I had never seen him so angry. It practically poured out of him, perhaps because he knew these were the people who had done this to me.

I wonder why they don't have weapons on them, or at least more guards with them. They appear completely defenseless, which must be why Bucky hasn't attacked them yet.

"Not so fast, Barnes. We don't want any trouble. After all, you are our greatest asset."

"I'm no one's asset," he says, taking a step toward them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the man says, motioning to the man to his right.

This second man smiles when Bucky stops in his tracks, and pulls out a little red book with a black star on the cover. He holds it up just long enough for Bucky to recognize it and take a step back. I narrow my eyes in confusion.

"What is that?" I ask loud enough for everyone to hear. The man in the middle smiles at me.

"Just a little incentive for your friend here to follow our orders."

The second man proceeds to open the book and begins speaking in German. Bucky shifts on his feet and takes a sharp breath.

I took German in high school, so I recognize bits and pieces of what he's saying, but none of it makes sense... Seventeen... Daybreak... Nine... I can't quite translate the rest. But mostly because I am too busy watching Bucky.

He had crumbled to his knees, clutching his head in his hands. He kept yelling "Stop!" over and over through the first few words, but after a while he just screamed, as if he were trying to block out the words. I couldn't stand to see him like that. And as much as I didn't want to believe it, I knew what was happening to him. My Bucky was slipping away with each word, and the cold, trained assassin was taking his place.

"Stop it!" I cry as the man continues. "Look what you're doing to him!"

And as quickly as it had started, the words stop. Bucky stops screaming and remains still for a moment, then stands up and looks at the man who holds the book.

"Soldier?" the man asks in German. The last word I recognize.

Bucky says something back... also in German. I take a shaky breath when I realize he is now gone. He is not even speaking English anymore.

The man closes the book. "Find and terminate, Steve Rogers and Sophina Skye."

My eyes widen. Their plan worked.

And Bucky is gone again.