Swan Song ✧ STEVE ROGERS [✓]

33 - Trust Issues

"IT WAS HIM," STEVE SAID AS THE FIVE WERE DRIVEN AWAY IN AN ARMORED TRUCK. "He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."

Raevanna stared at Steve, the sadness in his eyes almost unbearable to witness. She could see just how much seeing Bucky alive but not being recognized had affected him, but as much as she wanted to comfort him, she couldn't. When they had been detained, Rumlow had put special cuffs over her hands - cuffs that not only nullified her powers, but also prevented her from holding him. So all she could do was look at him sympathetically, trying her best to offer as much comfort as she could.

"How's that even possible?" Sam asked. "It was like seventy years ago."

Steve was silent for a beat before it hit him. "Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..." He trailed off, unable to finish.

Natasha shook her head, her voice full of pain and exhaustion as she spoke. "None of that's your fault, Steve."

Steve sighed. "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."

Raevanna glanced at Natasha, seeing that the redhead's eyes were squeezed shut, and her breathing was labored as blood dripped from the open wound in her shoulder. It was obvious that she was in pain, and even though Raevanna couldn't physically do anything, she still wanted to make sure Natasha was okay. So Raevanna nudged her with her knee, causing the woman to look at her.

"How you doing?" Raevanna asked.

Natasha gave a pained smile. "I'm okay. Trust me, I've been hit with worse."

Sam, who had also noticed Natasha's bleeding shoulder, looked at the guards in anger. "We need to get a doctor here," he snapped. "We don't put pressure on that wound she's gonna bleed out here in the truck."

One of the guards pulled out an electric rod, igniting it and pointing it at Sam, who recoiled from the blue electricity. But then, out of nowhere, that same guard spun the rod before jamming it into the other guard's stomach, electrocuting him. Then, the guard kicked him hard in the head, and his head slammed into the side of the wall before he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

As the five watched the guard in shock, they took off their helmet, revealing it to be none other than Agent Hill. 

"Ah, that thing was squeezing my brain," Hill said, flipping her hair out of her face. As Sam looked at her in confusion, she turned to Steve and asked, "Who's this guy?"

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Hill took the five to a secret facility hidden in the woods. As they got out of the truck, Raevanna stretched her arms up above her head, flexing her shoulders in relief. She was happy to be out of the cuffs, but also still shocked that Bucky was alive. And the fact that he hadn't recognized either of them was even more so.

As a man in glasses (most likely a doctor) ran towards them as they walked towards the facility, Agent Hill called to him, referring to Natasha's wound, "GSW. She's lost at least a pint."

"Maybe two," Sam added. 

"Let me take her," the doctor said, motioning for Natasha to come forward. 

"She'll want to see him first," Agent Hill said. 

The woman took them inside the facility, walking down the dark hall. Then, she stopped in front of a room and pushed back the plastic curtains, revealing — much to the five's shock — Fury, who was very much alive as he laid in bed, looking at them impatiently.