Red Winter: Timeline

Chapter Eleven: Strange Occurrences

Bucky woke up, his face pressed against a cold concrete floor. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but he could tell where he was, in a HYDRA cell. Slowly he tried to bring his arms around to get up, but he quickly found his arms were bound to the wall. Bucky sighed, the air felt stale as he took in a breath. This would not only change things, but destroy the timeline completely. Doctor Zola must know by now he is here, that there are two James Buchanan Barnes in the facility. And Wanda, where are Wanda? This was a disaster.

Light began to creep in as the door creaked open, Bucky used his feet o shuffled into the back of the cell, stopping once he hit the wall with his back. The light stunned his eyes, but as he opened them again he saw Doctor Zola standing there, looking amazed. "Are you twins?" Twins? Yes, that was plausible. Bucky nodded, staring at Zola hard as the man look upon him with wonder. "What is your name?"

Bucky looked down at the floor, the concrete was dirty and cracked, he cleared his throat and looked back at the man, "John."

"John...John Barnes." Zola nodded, "Yes...yes this works out wonderfully."

"Sir, what should we do?" A soldier from behind him spoke up.

Zola's mind was working, you could see it in his eyes, "I will run the experiment on both James and John."

"The girl?" The girl, Bucky tensed up.

"Yes...she had magnificent power. I need to study her, I need to know how she got that power. Extract it if I can, use it for the project." Zola looked over to Bucky who's eyes were now wide with rage. "We will come back for you." Bucky sucked in air as the door shut leaving him in the cold darkness. It was then that he heard the cell beside him open, he shuffled over to the adjoining wall in order to see if he could listen. Though it was muffled, he heard every word.

"Sir, won't she attack?" A soldier sounded worried.

"No, you see the collar I placed on her neck sends constant electrical voltage through the wearer, rendering them limp. They can't move, they can't speak, they're in continuous..."

"Pain..." Bucky said to himself, finishing the Doctor's sentence. The collar, he knew it well. The idea that Wanda was laying on a cold cement floor wearing one made him sick to his stomach. The door next to his creaked open, he could hear the soldiers enter the cell and drag Wanda out. Bucky felt completely useless.

Everything was fuzzy, everything hurt. Wanda hardly noticed she was out in light, that she was being dragged. Wanda could hardly come up with a  thought. She didn't feel them strap her to the chair, she didn't see them attach wired to her body. But she did feel when more pain thrusted through her, she began to scream.

"What did you do?" The rage and concern in Doctor Strange's voice flowed effortlessly. Bruce sat in his desk chair, his arms crossed, staring at the floor. Sam, his shoulder wrapped, looked over to Strange.

"I get it. We messed up." Sam shook his head.

Doctor Strange looked over at him, "Yes...completely. I may not be able to fix what you have done. I may not be able to save your comrades. After this...you will stop with time travel. You should have never done it in the first place. You're all a disgrace." The fury in his body shook, "Now...where are they?"

Wanda's screams echoed as she was dragged back to her cell, when Bucky heard the door slam shut he shuffled over to the wall. When the footsteps were gone, he knocked, but there was no response. Knocking again on the wall he sighed, pressing his forehead to it. "Wanda..."

It was quiet for a while, but eventually there were three very weak taps on the wall. Bucky perked up, he knocked again. Knowing she probably had the collar on still and couldn't speak, he felt good knowing she was there, and vise versa.

A few days rolled around, or so Bucky thought, he couldn't tell while he was in constant darkness. The footsteps echoed through the hall again, he prepared himself, but when Wanda's cell door opened, he shook his head, "No..." He spoke to himself. Wanda was already too weak. Bucky yelled, rage filling his body, "NO!!!!!" The footsteps stopped, he waited as the door opened, knowing he would get shocked, he just needed to see her. When the door opened he looked up at the guard who thrusted the jolt stick at him. Bucky fell to the floor shaking, but he saw her. Wanda was being held up by a soldier, her skin was pale, her nose had crusted blood underneath, so did her ears. Wanda didn't look, she was passed out. Bucky felt a tear slip from his eye and his body shook form the shocker, and his cell door closed.

It seemed like hours passed, Bucky opened his eyes to hear footsteps again. It was useless, they would die here. Time would be a mess, they ruined it. Then, something happened. Bucky watched in what seemed like slow motion, his cell door flew off it's hinges. A figure came into view, a familiar one.

Down in the lab Wanda screamed, but Doctor Zola was smiling. The readings of energy he was getting from Wanda's wavelengths was fascinating. Out of this world, he couldn't wait to harvest it. Soldiers around the room tensed up, they looked over to the door that swung open as two of their men's bodies flew in and landed on the floor. Doctor Strange walked into the room, Bucky behind him, leaning on the wall. As Bucky looked into the room and saw Wanda strapped onto the chair and screaming, he shook his head, about to run in, but Strange held up his hand. Strange closed his eyes and disappeared, only to reappear near Wanda and he began to disconnect her from the chair. Soldiers shot at him, but the bullets simply missed, though they weren't sure how. Bucky watched, he didn't understand what Strange's plan was, but the moment Wanda was loose Strange grabbed Doctor Zola and reappeared near Bucky, pulling the door closed. Bucky looked up at Strange very confused, Zola was shaking on the floor now. There was a loud screech that made them all cover their ears and the building shook. Strange nodded, then opened the door. Inside all the soldiers were dead, their bodies were flung against the wall when Wanda fell out of the chair and released power around the room. Bucky looked at Strange, who nodded, and ran into the room toward her. Wanda was cold, her body chilled.

"Wanda..." He took her head in his hands, her eyes were open but she wasn't looking at anything. Fresh blood covered the old under her nose, from her ears, and a little on the edge of her mouth.

"Let's get her home." Strange nodded, but he was dragging Zola into the room.

"What about him? Bucky leaned over to pick up Wanda, though he felt weak, he wouldn't let that stop him from carrying her.

Strange looked at the frightened Zola and nodded, "He is a part of this timeline. He must remain alive." Although Bucky hated this, he understood. Part of him expected Zola to say something, but as the three of them disappeared, the Doctor just starred on in shock.