Chapter Text
‘Sentry, US Agent, Ghost, White Widow! Answer, goddamnit!’ Bucky hissed into his com.
‘They are blocking our communication,’ Alexei noted, scowling like an angry Russian Santa Claus (Ded Moroz on steroids).
Yelena reappeared from the air vents, dropping into a roll as she hit the ground before standing up. ‘I looked everywhere. But almost all of the rooms are empty of everyone, including the low-level grunts. I could not find the boss.’
Bucky had an ominous feeling twist in his gut. ‘It’s a trap,’ he said in realization. ‘Fuck, let’s go!’
The building shook as something exploded. All three of them cursed in Russian. From the ceiling, Ava appeared, and tumbled onto the ground, covered in ash.
‘What the hell was that?’ Bucky demanded as Yelena helped Ava to her feet.
‘Their tech is beyond anything I have seen, except from SHIELD,’ Ava muttered. ‘It’s not alien, though. Val was wrong. This is definitely Earth technology, just advanced. I wonder if any former SHIELD agents made it, or if some lone genius supplied them with this stuff.’
Oh. Oh, no, Bucky thought.
Bucky knew that all of SHIELD technology was either in Val’s hands or in the hands of Sam’s team, so this was not from SHIELD. This was HYDRA tech, and the thought of the organization made Bucky’s stomach churn.
‘Have you heard from Walker?’ Alexei asked., violating the rule about using real names on missions (but no one cared right now).
He was the only mission member actively participating in the danger zone that had not been accounted for.
Ava shook her head. ‘No. My coms have been down. I haven’t seen him since we entered the building.’
‘We need to find him,’ Bucky said curtly. ‘Because if these people- if they are who I think they are- get their hands on another super soldier, they could make another Winter Soldier.’
Yelena blanched, realizing who Bucky was discussing. ‘HYDRA.’
‘I thought Hydra was dead,’ Alexei said.
‘So did everybody else,’ Bucky muttered. ‘Come on. What rooms haven’t we seen?’
Because it seemed obvious to Bucky that John right now was in captivity. HYDRA was one of the few organizations that knew how to imprison a supersoldier. And since John had been on his own…he probably hadn’t been able to hold them off. Even a supersoldier couldn’t last forever in combat, and Bucky remembered with a pang of guilt that John had seemed exhausted before they had even started the mission. He probably hadn’t slept, and that combined with an adrenaline crash made someone easy pickings on a battlefield.
‘Basement,’ Ava said simply, and that singular word now carried all their hopes.
That seemed like a cliche, the basement being where trafficking and experimentation was taking place, but it was their best option right now, unless they wanted to spend time that they did not have scouring every damn inch of this place (which would give HYDRA time to run off with John). Besides, HYDRA had always been a sucker for cliches. Wannabe Nazi idiots.
‘Let’s go,’ Bucky ordered softly. ‘Ghost, lead the way.’
Ava nodded. As the one who could phase through walls, she had the layout memorized. She and the group set off together urgently to find their lost comrade. Bucky wished that they wouldn’t be too late.
*
Alexei kicked down the wall with a loud crash, revealing a horrifically familiar scene to Bucky’s eyes. Walker was shirtless, tied to a metal table, with a gash in his stomach surrounded by burns and blisters and blackened flesh. Masked people surrounded him, looking at the newcomers with terror. John’s blue eyes, red with rimmed from crying, rolled up into his skull and he passed out just as Bucky met his eyes.
A sudden rage filled Bucky. No one fucking deserved this. No one did. It seems the others grimly felt this too, because the others reacted fast and with a rage he hadn’t seen before.
Yelena shot a pistol into one man’s head and shot another in the balls. Ava phased her hand into one guy’s chest and pulled out his fucking heart- which. Alexei fucking growled and body slammed a dude into the wall.
Bucky noticed a camera recording and he stalked towards it, glaring.
This was all for entertainment, he realized, and that pissed him the fuck off.
He drew his gun and took aim. Behind him, he heard a loud crash, but he ignored it for the most part.
‘Oh, HYDRA. Are you still pulling this Mengele-level shit?’ He smiled coldly. ‘You’ll regret it. Because this bullshit pisses me off. And you can’t hide from the soldier you made me into.’
He fired his gun, destroying the camera and ending the recording, and hurried back to the others. They had gotten John off of the table and were currently doing a look-over.
‘They exposed him to radiation,’ Ava raged, her body flickering. ‘They cut him upon and fucking irradiated him.’
Bucky felt the rage bubble up inside him again. ‘They what?’
‘I am pretty sure he is stable to transfer,’ Alexei said. ‘He is safe to be around, but Yelena should stand back regardless. She is one likely to be hurt due to radiation exposure.’
Yelena crossed her arms but complied. Bucky stepped over and carefully scooped Walker into a bridal carry, careful not to touch his wound.
‘Let’s take him home,’ he said.