Anamnesis [Lacuna #2] {Completed}

Chapter Thirteen

"Kuebiko (n.) The state of exhaustion inspired by senseless acts of violence"

November 1943

Valkyrie.

Bucky stared at the word painted on the part of the plane he and his companions had been working on all morning. It was what the name of the plane would be when they finished it. He hated the word. He hated this plane. He hated this war and he hated HYDRA. They were forcing him to put together a plane that would more than likely fly off to destroy his allies and friends. The thought made him sick. The more days they spent working on plane parts and weapons for them, the more something inside of him felt sick, like he was rotting from the inside.

He let out a rough cough and tried to cover it up with the sleeve of his torn uniform. He looked down to see a small trail of blood. He lifted his fingers to his lip to find he had reopened the split lip he had received yesterday.

It had been three days since Matt had been taken and there wasn't a trace of him to be seen. He asked Colonel Lohmer every day where they had taken his friend, but the only answer he ever received was a punch to the face or a kick to the stomach. He wasn't giving up though. Someone had to know something about what they were doing with the men they were taking and one day Bucky would force someone to tell him.

He coughed again, harder this time. Gabe looked up from his work next to him and gave Bucky a concerned look. "You can't keep pushing yourself like this. You need rest." Gabe told him softly. "Between the beatings and the coughing it's a miracle you're still standing."

Bucky ignored him and continued with what he was doing. "You think they're letting Matty rest? Huh? You think he's getting a break from only God knows what they're doing to him? At least if I'm out of that cage and doing something, I get closer to helping him out of wherever it is they've taken him." He paused looking around the room. "Someone in here knows what's happening to those men and someone is going to take me back there so I can get him out. I'm not letting a stupid cold get in the way of helping my friend."

"You're a crazy man." Dum Dum chimed in a few feet away. "Why the hell would you want to go back there?"

            "If Matt is back there then that's where I need to be." Bucky said firmly.

            Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gabe and Dugan exchange glances. "Buck, listen to me, we know you care about Matt, we're all worried about him, but-"

            "He is a dead man," Jacques finished for Gabe as he set down a bucket of screws he had gone to retrieve.

            "No one has ever come back once they're taken." Montgomery added across from Bucky.

            Anger coursed through Bucky. "I promised I would get him home! He has a girl, a family, a future waiting for him! I can't-" His thoughts were interrupted my another coughing attack. They had become more frequent the last few days along with chills and a headache he couldn't get rid of.

            "Buck sit down, you don't look so good." Gabe commanded.

            "I'm-" He coughed, "Fine." He coughed more. He felt suddenly dizzy and sitting down actually sounded like a good idea, but he wouldn't let Gabe see that he thought so.

"Buck the more days that pass, the more I'm starting to think that it's more than a cold you're dealing with. What else are you feeling besides the cough?" Gabe asked him as they worked.

Bucky sighed in frustration. He looked up at Gabe. Bucky knew he wouldn't give up. "Okay, so my chest hurts." He relented, "Big deal."

            "And you look terrible." Jacques observed.