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"It was him." Steve states in a defeated tone as he looked down at the floor of the van. "He looked right at me. He didn't even know me."
"How is that even possible, it was like seventy years ago?" Sam questions looking at Steve directly.
"Ice maybe..." Rachel suggested. "Bringing back to..." Rachel sighed as she stopped herself from finishing the sentence. "I hate to say this but I think Hydra brainwashed him." Rachel concludes in a sad tone.
"Zola... Bucky's unit was captured in 43, Zola experimented on him." Steve recalled as Rachel looked at a dazed Natasha. She was growing weaker because of the wound. "Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. He must've found him."
"None of that's your fault Steve-" Natasha assures before stopping herself as pain flew through her chest.
"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky..." Steve admits looking away from Sam. Sam noticed as Natasha leaned her head back to hold in the pain that blood continued to drip through her jacket and had him and Rachel continuously concerned.
"We need to get a Doctor here." Sam tells one of the guards who were keeping them company. "If we don't put pressure on it here she's gonna bleed out in the truck-" Sam was stopped when the guard closest to him pulled out some sort of shocking device holding it threateningly before the impossible thing occurred. The guard stabbed the other one with the device before kicking him in the head rendering him unconscious.
Everyone watched with what seemed to be shock of some sort as it all happened and once over the guard removed her helmet to reveal Maria Hill.
"Ah, that thing was squeezing my brain..." Maria complained as she placed the helmet down on the seat. "Who's this guy?" She asks looking at Sam and then Steve.
"I did not see that coming." Rachel tells Maria as she still awaited her answer. "He's Sam. By the way."
- -
As Maria opened the getaway van's door Steve was the first to step out before helping a wincing Natasha out cautiously. Sam then followed with a slightly wobbly Rachel but made sure he didn't notice. The serum Rumlow used seemed to have some side affects.
As Rachel cringed she attempted to maintain balance when her eyes landed on the building the five were approaching. She had no idea what it was but it had been abandoned for years by the looks of things.
She rubbed the base of her neck to try and relief herself of the pain Bucky had caused her neck to go through. She still couldn't believe it was Bucky no matter how hard she tried.
Maria opened the barred gate for the four behind her with the three following and as they made their way down what seemed to be a never ending hall the doctor that had tried to save Fury came jogging.
"GSW, she's at least lost a pint!" Maria called out as he approached quickly.
"Maybe two!" Sam adds.
"Let me take her." The doctor suggested.
"She'll want to see him first." Maria argues making everyone exchange cautious and confused looks.
- -
Walking into one of the rooms the four fugitives alongside Maria and the doctor walked up to what seemed to be a hospital bed curtain.
Maria tore the curtain back to reveal someone Rachel, Steve and Natasha thought they'd never see again.
"You're kidding me." Rachel says in a tone of disbelief as her eyes came in contact with the one eyes dead man walking: Nicholas J Fury.
"About damn time." He responds lifting his head up at the bunch.
- -
"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache..." Fury lists his injuries glumly as Rachel crosses her arms over her chest with a sad look. She may have saved him from death once but couldn't the second time. His injuries were horrific to hear alone.
"Don't forget your collapsed lung." The doctor, Doctor Fine reminds Fury as he tried to stop the bleeding from the bullet wound in Natasha's chest.
"Let's not forget that..." Fury responds. Although not easy to hear Rachel could sense the sarcasm. "Otherwise, I'm good."
"They cut you open, your heart stopped." Natasha states finding it hard to believe that Fury even survived.
"Tetrodotoxin B." Fury began. "Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him. We found a use for it." He explains truthfully as Rachel tilted her head to the side a little bit.
"Why all the secrecy?" Steve asks looking at Fury almost disappointed with the fact he or anyone wasn't told. "Why not tell us?"
"Any attempt on the director's had to look successful." Maria explains as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Can't kill you if you're already dead." Fury concludes simply in his normal manner and attitude.
"He's right..." Rachel sighs almost pissed off that he was right. "We have that exact thing back at base. An attempt on mine or Tarr's life would be the same. If it came to it..."
"What are you saying?" Steve asks.
"If like Fury, I were to get in a car crash due to assassins and almost died I would have that injected into me." Rachel explained. "But if I were to get in the same predicament without major injuries I would get back up. Keep fighting. Fury was in Predicament A." Rachel sighs once more after finishing her reasoning and made eye contact with Steve who still eyed Fury disappointedly.
"Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust.." Fury admitted making Rachel's head snap in his direction.
"I just supported your argument and you're going to throw that at us?" Rachel snaps in disbelief. "'Didn't know who to trust'? Two Avengers even!"
"Rachel, calm down... you've been off since we got here." Steve scolds approaching Rachel cautiously holding his hand out so there was enough space for Rachel to call her own personal bubble.
"Sorry," she apologised but her tone was less than sorry, "after getting your speed taken from that git I'm a bit salty and stressed." Rachel furrowed her eyebrows towards Steve as she clenched her fists. "First Pierce being an asshat, then Bucky being the man who had Fury not so assassinated, almost had me killed by your best friend who doesn't remember us and then having my precious speed taken from me!" Rachel listed her voice growing in volume as she practically was practically shouting. "See. Salty." Rachel says more casually as she looked at every silent person (which was everyone in the room) with a fake smile.
"Remind me to not get on her bad side.." Sam muttered to Natasha anxiously and she only nodded slowly in reply.
