Winter's End [winter soldier//Bucky Barnes AU]

Chapter Twenty

*Sarah's POV*

When the door opened, we were met with a dark, empty corridor. There were no doors. I frowned and stepped out of the elevator, the door sliding closed behind me and Nat. We gave each other wary glances.

We looked around at the empty area and Natasha wandered over to the wall, running her hands along the paint.

"What are you looking for?" I asked. Her frown deepened as she continued rubbing the walls.

"A secret entrance. This is the level where the leaders are, so I'd assume that they'd hide their torture rooms, labs, etc. That way no one would find them."

I nodded and mirrored her actions, brushing the wall with my hands in an attempt to locate some sort of switch or button. I didn't notice anything for a long time. The plain white wall was completely smooth, with no bumps, scratches, or even paint chips. It seemed hopeless.

"Nat, I'm not finding anything." I said, leaving my hand on the wall and turning around to face her. She sighed.

Suddenly, we heard a whirring sound, coming from the wall that my hand was on. I whipped around and took my hand off the wall, the sounds promptly stopping. My eyebrows knitted together in a frown.

"Sarah, put your hand back on the wall." Natasha ordered, and I hesitated before doing what she said.

The whirring sounds began again, and suddenly the wall slid slowly apart, revealing a hallway with several doors. The walls creaked as they moved apart, moving wider and wider and revealing more rooms than I thought could even fit on this level.

Natasha and I rushed through the opening just as the walls began to start closing again. They shut loudly behind us, the sound echoing down the hall. Everything went silent for a moment, before a group of guards came running towards us, guns aimed and ready to fire. Natasha leapt into action and sprinted towards them, holding her guns out and firing bullet after bullet. I shot my hands out and froze the guards' boots got the floor, then threw icy spears through the hearts of the ones Natasha hasn't killed yet. Needless to say it wasn't hard to take them down.

After we took them out, Natasha reloaded her guns and kicked the first door open. A man in a white lab suit was standing in the room, messing with some glass beakers. He looked up right as Natasha shot him in the head.

I turned and went into the next room, where three men stood in front of a white board, a map of DC in their hands. I pulled my gun out of it's holster and shot them.

The nagging voice in the back of my mind wondered if I was killing innocent people. But for the sake of the nation, for the sake of freedom, I had to assume that everyone here was Hydra.

I shook my head as me and Natasha took out the rest of the scientists in that hall, at least injuring them. The next hall we entered contained more guards, which after a few close calls, we killed.

I stabbed the last one with an ice shard and then sighed, pulling my gun out and following Natasha tiredly. The next room we broke into looked like a meeting room, filled with men in suits all looking at a board in the front of the room. Nat and I opened fire right away, but surprisingly, two of the men in the room fought back.

One of the guys pulled a gun out from his pocket and took me completely by surprise, his bullet ripping through the side of my leg. I cried out in pain and clutched at the wound, now gushing blood, and the man rushed to escape. Suddenly fueled by anger I screamed and launched a block of ice at his head, and he fell to the ground with a fresh hole in his skull.

My leg felt like it was on fire, pain rippling through me. But I barely had three seconds before another guy came barreling at me, and I dodged him the best I could, tripping him as he ran past. He slammed to the floor and I jumped on him, snapping his neck in one quick motion. I was confused when I saw blood; he shouldn't be bleeding. Then I realized that it was my blood.

My head started to spin as I struggled to stay conscious. Guards started to flood in and Natasha came out of nowhere, covering me the best she could while I hurriedly ripped the dead guy's coat, tying a section of fabric tightly around my wound. I secured the knot with ice and shakily got to my feet. My head was still spinning from lack of blood.

Natasha broke through the guards and shouted at me to follow her, grabbing my arm and hauling me down the hall behind her. I ran as fast as I could, the pain threatening to tear me apart. I was beyond pissed. If I hadn't been caught off guard, I wouldn't be in this situation. At the moment all I was was a burden to the ones who thought me worth saving.

I gritted my teeth and pulled myself together, using all the willpower I could muster to ignore the pain and follow Nat.

After a few minutes of running, Natasha turned a sharp corner and stopped, catching her breath. I leaned heavily against the wall and allowed both my lungs and leg to rest for a moment. Natasha's eyes flicked to me in concern, clearly worried.

"I'm fine, Nat." I wheezed, making her only frown more, but luckily she dropped it for now. She stood up and glanced around, gesturing for me to be quiet as she listened. I didn't hear anything at first, but then I caught on, my eyes widening as I recognized the voice.

"They are here. The Winter Soldier and Captain America have taken level six already. They're moving quickly, and we need all guards up and moving. Tell them to send out the Centipede soldiers."

Garret's shaky voice echoed down the hall, making my eyes widen. We all thought him dead; but he was very much alive.

We did not plan on this.

"Yes sir. What about Natasha and that Sarah girl? They are here on this level." Another voice said, one I didn't recognize. Garrett answered immediately.

"Oh I'll handle them."

There was a slight pause, and I held my breath, staying as quiet as I could. I swear I could hear the beat of my heart.

"Sir, are you sure you can take them on in your condi-"

"Yes I'm sure! Now go alert the Centipede soldiers before I snap your neck!" Garrett interrupted the other guy, and I heard footsteps run down the hall, away from where we were. Silence ensued and Natasha turned to look at me, gesturing for me to follow her.

My leg burned as we rushed quickly and quietly away from where we heard the conversation, heading towards the elevator. We almost got there home free.

But as we rounded the last turn, we skidded to a halt, just inches from Garrett's mutilated face.

"Going somewhere?"

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-Jordan💕