Knife Edge: A Stucky Fancfiction

Chapter 12

Bucky breathed a deep sigh of relief when he managed to get to the centre of the city. He had walked and hitchhiked for almost two days. He thought once he got somewhere near civilisation, he would be able to find where Steve and Clint were.

He knew that Steve would have been taken to prison, after he saw a young agent take him in. He also knew Clint was badly hurt, he didn't see what had happened to him but he heard the gunshots and Clint's pain-filled screams.

He couldn't shake the sound of those screams from his head, they were so similar to the screams he knew all too well from his Hydra days. The more he tried to repress the memories but whenever he closed his eyes, he could see them, hear them, all the people he'd killed-no, not killed, murdered. That was the right word, yes, all the people he had murdered.

Bucky shook his head, trying to stop the memories from finding their way to the front of his mind. One specific memory came to the forefront of Bucky's mind. Tony's parents. The way Maria Stark had called out for Howard, their desperation to get out alive, the way he had squeezed the life from her body, the air from her throat.

Dead.

He remembered all of them, of course, all his victims. No, no, not here he thought, this can't happen here, especially not without Steve.

Focus, focus, he told himself, focus on what you came here for. Steve and Clint, find Steve and Clint. He stood up straight and walked over to the nearest tourist shop.

He walked up to the cashier. "Um, excuse me," he asked in a thick, unconvincing British accent "Could you tell me the way to the nearest hospital?" He shuffled nervously as the man behind the till gave him directions to the hospital

Once he'd arrived, Bucky had regained some of his confidence. He strode up to the front desk, to a kind-looking lady, "I'm here to see Clint Barton." He said confidently. "I'll search the database, one moment please, sir."

She typed his name into the computer and said "Ah yes, Mr Barton. Can I take your name please, sir?"

Bucky opened his mouth to say 'Bucky' but realised that he should use his full name "James Barnes." He replied. It had been so long since he had used that name to introduce himself.

"Thank you Mr Barnes, Mr Barton's doctors have been alerted to your arrival. Mr Barton's room in on the sixth floor, ward 6A. The lifts are just down there, to the left" she pointed down the corridor. Just the thought of being in a confined space with strangers made his stomach churn.

"Um, I'd rather take the stairs, it that's okay?" He replied, somewhat more shakily than before.

"Of course, Mr Barnes, they are just behind the lifts. Have a nice day." The lady returned to her computer as Bucky walked down the corridor, towards the stairs, towards Clint and, he hoped, towards safety and, most importantly, towards Steve.