salvation ; 𝐛. 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬 , 𝟐

026. all fall down

HE STARED INTO my eyes like he'd never seen me before. And, I suppose, he was seeing me for the first time through a new lens. After all the shit Cerberus had done to him, I was finally being introduced to him. But I knew it wouldn't be long before something went wrong in this rescue mission of sorts. 

We'd been by ourselves for too long. Cara had either gotten caught up with some more thugs from Cerberus, or something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. Either way, I had a bad feeling that was starting to creep into my mind despite the ecstasy coursing through my veins at Bucky's memory of me. 

I glanced down at the end of the corridor. I couldn't see anyone, but that obviously didn't mean that there wasn't anyone there, waiting for us to move before they turned the corner and shot us down, dead only a few feet away from the door of our cell. 

Looking back at Bucky, I noticed that his hands were moving. We were still touching, and he was holding my hands as though they were delicate panes of glass, fragile enough to break in his grasp. He was turning them over, tracing the lines of my palms with gentle caresses from his thumbs. 

A tingle shot down my spine, causing me to forget where we were and what we were waiting for—but only for a second. I forced myself to blink, washing away any and all distracting thoughts that came from his dizzying touch from both his metal and flesh hands. A gentle sigh floated from my lips, drawing his gaze up from my hands and to my eyes. 

"Is this okay?" He whispered, mirroring my own words from just a few minutes ago. 

Funny. How much a person's world can change in a matter of minutes. 

All I wanted to do was nod, curl up next to this boy, this man that saw me, that was relearning me, but I knew I couldn't. It took every ounce of will in my body to tear my eyes away from him. "We have to go," I said softly. 

He lifted his eyes, concern clouding them like a young child. "But I don't want to go."

An echo of a distressed yell reached my ears, this time with the deep resonance of a man's voice. I jerked up to my feet, pulling him with me. Though he had always been a little taller than me, I felt as though I'd grown a foot as I spoke firmly to him, "Bucky, we need to start moving if we're going to get out of here." All I needed was a nod from him, and when I was given it, I started my way towards the noise. 

I ignored the small voice in my head that scolded me for dismissing Cara's request that we stay in one spot before she could come back for us.

Picking up a gun off the floor, strewn away from one of the bodies, I surveyed its weight and held it with two hands, aiming it at whatever might come out of the shadows and bite. 

The yells of horror got louder as we twisted our way through the compound, sometimes at breakneck pace, others at a slow crawl. Bucky followed me through all of it, just like an obedient puppy. I hoped I wouldn't have to drag him out of this place by his hand, and given his independence right now, I thought I was doing just fine. 

With a quick turn, I saw a shadow move just out of sight. We'd stumbled upon more guards, who were presumably more occupied with our friends than to have a thought to find their escaped prisoners. Luckily for us, that meant we were closer to help, which meant we were closer to getting out of here. 

I tugged Bucky back against the wall, checking and double-checking the gun in my hand to make sure it was loaded despite my previous discovery. "Stay here," I whispered, "I'm gonna handle this." I went to take a step forward but was stopped by his hand on my waist, sending...well, mixed signals throughout the rest of my body. 

Giving him a look, I paused at the panic in his eyes. "No," he protested softly, his voice hoarse, "I'll do it." He looked down at his metal hand that had warped itself into a fist. "Look at the person I've become," he said with an air of defeat. "What's one more kill?"