Winter (A Bucky Barnes recovery story)

21. Gone

Bucky collapsed on his couch when he reached his apartment, enthralled to be home. The next day Steve came over and he could tell something was wrong, Bucky seemed agitated. At one point Steve tried to approach the subject but Bucky brushed him off.

"Bucky what's going on? You've been agitated all morning, why?" Steve says after yet another futile attempt at conversation.

"I don't know. Kay. Just stop asking!" he huffs, giving his mug a venomous glare.

"Fine. Whatever, I've got to go home. Don't get into trouble." Steve says, walking towards the door. He looks back at Bucky before shutting the door, and walking across the street. He calls Nat.

"Hey, were you planning on visiting Bucky today?" a response from the other end of the line. "Oh good. I just thought I'd warn you he's in a bad mood." He pauses listening to her. "Yeah, yeah. I know. But yeah he wasn't very talkative." He nods to her reply. "Yeah. Okay, like I said just thought I'd warn you. Bye." He hangs up and tosses the phone on the couch.

Natasha sits down on the black leather couch in her apartment, she planned to visit Bucky that day and was glad Steve had given her a heads up. Nearly two hours later she goes to Bucky's apartment. After several minutes of knocking with no reply she picks the lock. She first looks around the living room, then the bedroom, when she doesn't find him there she begins to panic. She checks the bathroom and then the rest of the house. Panicked she calls Steve.

"Hey Steve, have you seen Bucky?" She asks, pacing the living room. She frowns at Steve's reply, her anxiety building. "No he's not in his apartment. I'm coming over." She shuts the door behind her and races across the street to Steve's.

"So he wasn't there. And there was no signs of forced entry?" Steve asks, as they were searching the street.

"No." Nat has Bucky's winter jacket in her arms and Steve has a couple blankets.

"Do you think he ran?" Steve says, asking the question they both feared.

"I really don't know what to think, but we've got to find him." Nat replies, and Steve nods.

They searched all night long, until they could no longer see and had to return to Steve's and get flashlights and more jackets. Then they resumed their searching.

Bucky was curled up in an alley on some street he didn't know, shivering. He couldn't stop his teeth from chattering. He ran away, he had to. He realized after he hurt Steve that he was dangerous, and unpredictable. He couldn't put them in harms way. He'd have to find better shelter though. He thinks before he falls asleep, shaking from the cold.

Steve and Nat only stopped their search when neither of them could feel their fingers or faces. Having to return home just until they could resume. Steve called Sam and told him what happened, and Sam agreed to meet them and help search.

Nat called Clint and got him to join their search. They all met at Steve's and they split into groups, Sam and Steve, then Nat and Clint.

When Bucky woke up he was freezing, he couldn't feel his hand or his face, he moves out of the alley and walks to an abandoned part of town. Everything was rundown and falling apart, threatening to crumble and collapse. The wind got stronger and he went into one of the houses, the smell of mold and death fills his nose. He scrunches his features in disgust but sits down anyways, thankful to be out of the cold.

When night fell they met once more at Steve's, and they all agreed they would meet the next day and search again.

"Oh God, he's probably freezing." Nat mumbles burying her face.

"We've got to find him." Steve says, Nat nods.

Bucky wrapped himself in as many not entirely moldy blankets as he could find, which in the end was three. He had found multiple dead rodents and with every gust of wind the house would make ominous noises. He was happy not to be outside, but the house wasn't really much better. He tiredly allows sleep to pull him away.

Nat and Steve barely rest, both to anxious. When Sam and Clint met them the next morning they split up again and resumed the search.

Bucky pushed himself off the couch to find that his left arm was stiff. He looked down and saw that it was frozen and he could no longer move it. He sighs and stands up, he steps outside into the cold and moves again walking a large distance, before collapsing into a heap on the side walk.

Steve growls in frustration as they search another block and still can't find Bucky. "Where could he be?" He moans, rubbing his hands together.

"I don't know." Sam replies pulling out his phone. "Any luck?" he asks after dialing Natasha. He sighs as Nat tells him the same results. "No." He replies to her question. "Kay, bye." He hangs up and turns back to Steve. "Don't worry. We'll find him."

"I hope." He sighs, and they resume searching.

Bucky wakes up freezing, he looks around and very slowly realizes he doesn't know where he is. He is in a house, and he... he can't move... or, or... he can't think straight. He hears voices.

"Good job. When he wakes we'll move him to the facility." The first man says, and Bucky recognized that voice but he couldn't tell from where, his head was to fuzzy.

"Yes sir." A second voice replies. The second man comes and stands next to Bucky and the first man slowly follows. As the first man comes into view Bucky instantly recoils, well as much as he could in his dis-coordinated state.

"Ahh Soldier your awake." He says. Bucky glares at him, an attempt to be strong even though he could hardly think and he was terrified of the man in front of him.

A/N: hey so thank you all for reading Winter, and I'd like to know who you think the two mystery men are. So yeah thank you all again for the reads, votes, and comments. Please continue to read, vote, comment.

Love spideymanandloki <3