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

Chapter Twenty One

*Bucky's POV*

When the door slid open, it was oddly silent. I didn't hear any voices, and all I saw was an opening in the wall a few feet away, leading to a vacant hallway. I looked at Steve and frowned, before we began to creep down the hall.

Several doors were half open, and a look inside each revealed a lot of dead bodies. Blood smeared the walls and the silence of death was haunting. Clearly Nat and Sarah had been here, and been successful. But where were they?

After a few more turns, I heard someone talking, and me and Steve backed up against the wall to listen. I clicked the safety off of my gun and clutched it to my chest, focusing on the sounds coming from around the corner.

"...how are you alive?" I heard, the voice undeniably Sarahs. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"There are ways to cheat death, my dear. I'm sure Fury would never tell you, but other countries, and other scientists, have found ways to bring people back to life."

I frowned as the other person spoke, because the voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. By the look on Steve's face, he couldn't place it either.

"What do you want with us?" Natasha asked next, her voice another big relief. At least they were alive.

"I want to do what I've been trying to do for months." The voice said, pausing for dramatic effect. I glanced over at Steve, who's eyes were wide; he suddenly recognized who the voice belonged to. A second later, I did too. "I want to kill you." Garrett said.

I gritted my teeth at the sudden recognition, and me and Steve unanimously walked out from behind the wall. Garrett's back was to us, but Sarah and Natasha were in clear view. They made eye contact immediately. Sarah's bright eyes shone with pain, and my heart lurched when I saw the bloody tourniquet on her leg. She had been shot. Natasha looked shooken up- she had seen something scarring, like many of us have.

I pulled my machine gun out and held it in front of me, double checking that it was loaded. Steve and I walked towards Garrett just as he whipped around.

His face was distorted, pussy and bruised, matching his grotesque smile. Dried blood slicked back his hair and his eyes looked crazed. Honestly, he looked like what we had thought he was; dead.

"Oh look. The men coming to save their damsels in distress. Sorry, fellas, but you're too late." He hissed, eyes reflecting hatred. I had never seen someone so...crazed before.

I frowned at his words, but soon I realized what he was saying, as guards began to flood in from both ends of the hallway. At least fifty or more rushed in, their boots clunking loudly on the linoleum floor, huge guns strapped to their chest. Three of the soldiers were dressed in orange, and appeared to be leading the rest; a glowing orange thing was attached to their arm. It looked like a bug.

I eyed them all warily. When I turned back around to face Garrett, an eerie smile was settled on his face, making him look even more haunting. This man looked as though he'd crawled through hell, went insane, and then crawled back out. He had lost his mind completely.

"You haven't met the Centipede soldiers yet, have you?" He asked quietly. I didn't reply, trying to look anywhere but his horrific face. The centipede soldiers must be the orange ones.

"They are just as strong as you and Steve, injected with similar serums. Their strength matches yours and their wits match yours as well- they'd be an equal match to you if you weren't protecting your friends. That makes you weak." Garrett muttered, his eyes shifting back and forth while he spoke. Then, for some reason, something snapped- he started to run, heading in the direction of Sarah. My heart rate increased for a moment, worried that he'd try something, but I forgot that Sarah could protect herself. She nonchalantly held her hands out, and ice grew on him, slowing him down and freezing him to the floor. The ice grew until it covered him completely.

"Damsel in distress my ass." Sarah muttered, kicking the block of ice. I laughed out loud along with Steve and Nat; but the moment of happiness didn't last for long.

The sound of guns clicking filled the room, and the second I turned around the guards began to open fire. I dove to the floor quickly as Steve's shield flew across the room, knocking several guards forcefully to the floor. Sarah worked her magic again as ice trickled along the walls. Spikes of frozen water grew horizontally, impaling the soldiers where they stood; others were shot by Natasha's guns.

I recovered and hopped up, only to have my gun kicked out of my hand. I looked up to see one of the Orange soldiers staring at me.

I pulled my arm back for a punch, but before I could even swing, he kicked me in the chest and sent me flying. I hit the wall hard and went straight through the drywall. I groaned, muttering a few choice words, before standing up. I was really pissed now.

I yelled and ran towards the guy, tackling him to the ground and nailing him with a hard punch to the head. It should've knocked him out, but instead he just growled and pushed me off of him.

I frowned as he clambered to his feet, posture menacing; the next kick he threw at me was much harder than I was expecting. I blocked it, but the power of it knocked me back a few steps. In the time it took for him to reach me I pulled out my gun, shooting him point blank in the skull. He fell back, eyes wide with pain; but the bastard was somehow still alive.

I kept shooting until he stopped twitching, hoping to god I had actually killed him. I sighed and looked up, seeing Cap fighting the other two Orange guys. A fight that he seemed to be losing. Natasha and Sarah had killed the rest of the guards, and were now trying to help out Steve.

I hurried over and roundhouse kicked one of them, hurling them to the ground. The guy moaned in pain, and with a grunt moved much faster than I was expecting, grabbing my leg and yanking me to the floor. My head slammed into the ground and my vision went fuzzy for a moment, my movements hazy. He got on top of my chest and held my arms down, restricting me almost completely as I struggled to clear my head. I blinked quickly, trying to see through the fog, and I lurched my head forward. It collided with the man's forehead and sent him flying backwards and into the wall.

I knelt on the ground and clutched at my head; it was pounding worse than it ever has. But now was not the time to be weak. Not when everyone was counting on me to be strong.

So I ignored the pain, and the fact that I couldn't see, and stood up. I shot the guy before he had the chance to climb out of the wall.

I glanced over at everyone else to see that they had managed to take down the last soldier, and after a moments pause we all got up and ran towards the elevator. Sarah's hand found mine as we piled in and I clutched it tightly.

"What floor?" Natasha asked, her finger hovering over the buttons. I made eye contact with Steve and immediately knew that we had been here a long time- we needed to head to the main level and meet everyone.

"The first floor." I told Nat, who nodded and punched in the number. The elevator creaked as it hauled us up the main floor.

I was a fool for thinking that we had already endured the worst of it- because as usual, the worst was yet to come.

--

A.N.

Thanks again for reading this!

-Jordan💕