I sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by paperwork and files that were being lit up by the moonlight. My eyes scanned over the words I could recite, my eyebrows furrowed as I tried to piece together just where Bucky could be. Steve came into the kitchen to grab a glass of water, a sigh escaping his lips when he saw me in the same situation i had been in for the past month and a half.
"Y/N, you need sleep, Bucky wouldn't want you to be up like this." He leant against the work surface, taking a sip of his water.
"I know Steve." Truth be told, I couldn't sleep. My heart felt like it had a hole in it where Bucky normally was.
"Are we ever going to find him?" I sighed, staring down at my lap, attempting to stop my tears from falling. Steve couldn't say anything, his heart cracking slightly at the thought of him never seeing his best friend again.
Heaven knows i'd tried everything. I looked at every single thing I could. Hell I even tried to track the mechanics in is arm. Tony even tried to help, he offered to take a plane out over where we'd last seen Buck, but the thought of him coming back with nothing, or even worse, something, broke my heart.
There's been so many times I just wanted to give up, burn all my files and lock myself away but I couldn't, my heart wouldn't let me. Bucky was alive somewhere, I could feel it. Something was telling me that he was still alive. I looked up only to find I had lost my pen and as I shifted papers to find it, a code fell out of a folder.
"Y/N, can you translate this?" Steve asked as he picked up the old paper. "It could be HYDRA?" He handed me the paper and I scanned my eyes over the russian. My heartbeat raced as I translated the words to find them pointless.
"Steve, it's no good, it's just old HYDRA code." I shrugged, throwing the paper across the table.
My stomach dropped, my tears springing on my lash line.
"Yes but," Steve moved closer to me, his hands searching for the map buried under my piles of paper. "Where Bucky went missing, there's an old HYDRA base about a mile away. They can't detect it on scanner and things. I don't know why I didn't realise earlier." He pointed to it on the map, my hands shaking as I looked at the image ahead of me.
I rested my head in my hands, feeling my body shake as Steve wrapped my shoulders in a hug.
"Okay, we'll talk to Tony in the morning, he'll get us a plane, but we both need to sleep, come on." He pulled me towards my room and held the door open before bidding me goodnight and heading towards his room. I lay down on the bed, a hopefulness filling my heart that really should not have been there.
As the jet moved further towards the ravine in which I'd last seen Bucky, I was constantly checking my guns, checking they were loaded, accessible, anything that could help me get to Bucky sooner. Eventually, the plane landed and I climbed out, Tony and Steve behind me. We approached the door of the old HYDRA unit to find it forced open, snow tracked inside by a pair of combat boots.
I turned to Steve and Tony whilst pressing my back against the door, my gun in my hand. Tony nodded and I forced the door open.
My heartbeat pounded in my ears as I looked around the dark unit. I was pretty sure Tony's suit would alert him that my heart was working too quickly, but as I ascended the staircase onto the iron balcony, i couldn't care. My heart was racing, the adrenaline pumping my system and making my legs work harder.
My senses numbed as I forced open another door which lead to a corridor. The door smacked against the wall, making a thumping sound ring around the hall as I moved towards another door, behind of which a light streamed out from under the door.
"Tony, Steve, might've found something." I whispered into my microphone, taking another step closer to the door.
"Kid don't go in alone." Tony replied, his gps beeping through the speaker in my wristwatch.
"Tony, I do this all the time." I replied, hearing the radio static click.
I forced open the door to find it stopped by barbed wire, the light still on. I climbed over the wire to be greeted by what appeared to be a prison cell, a small camp bed in the far right corner. Next to it there was a familiar camouflage backpack which had been left open, like it always was.
The room was freezing, my breath danced in the air ahead of me as I stepped into the room, my head turning as I scanned the room.
"Bucky, are you here?" I asked, walking towards the backpack and rummaging through it to find Bucky's wallet, keys and his picture frame of Steve, Bucky and I when I took them to the cinema. I smiled at the memory, my thumb running over Bucky's smiling face as Steve joined me in the room. "I mean, this is Buck's, he's gotta be around here somewhere." I replaced the items in the bag, closed it and threw it over my shoulder. Tony followed through the doorway, his suit clinking as he walked towards the doorway at the end of the room.
"There's a heat signature behind here," He tipped his head towards the door before forcing it open with his shoulder. "Kid, give me a hand." He stepped into the room and I followed behind him only to find Bucky slumped against the wall, head hung low.
"Buck, can you hear me?" I crouched down next to him and lifted up his chin. Slowly, his eyes flickered open, a weak smile attempting to flicker across his lips. "Come on, let's get you home."
Tony and Steve helped him onto the plane and left him with me. His eyes were still shut, and from what I could tell he was bruised all over. I brushed his hair away from his face, making him look up at me.
"What did they do Buck?" I asked, seeing just how bruised his face was. I ran my thumb over his jaw, making him smile slightly even though it only cracked his lips even more. There was dried blood under his nose which seemed to have trickled down into his mouth. His right eyebrow had been cut, underneath of which sat a black eye. The normal electric blue of his eyes was dulled, instead they were rimmed with red.
"You don't want to know." He muttered out, his fingers lacing in mine.
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know." I arched my eyebrow, making him nod. A low sigh fell from his lips as he kept his hand held tightly onto mine.
"They wanted information on Steve, I wouldn't give it to them, so this happened," Steve nodded his head in silent thanks, his voice failing him at the thought of him being the reason his best friend got hurt. "They ran when they thought I was dead."
"Well luckily you only need butterfly stitches on your eyebrow, they rest of it just seems to be bruising." Bucky's eyes widened at a realisation and he tried to stand up, only to be stopped by his injuries.
"My bag, did you get it?" He asked, his eyes darting around the plane.
"Buck, it's on my back okay?" I reassured, watching as he relaxed back into his seat. "Let's just get you home, yeah?"
