Chapter Text
Sam woke up slowly. The first thing he noticed was the pressure on his chest and the way dust clouded his vision. He tried to keep his breathing in control as he realized he was stuck under a pile of rubble. It took him a few seconds before he remembered…
Mission. Explosion. Concrete. Trapped. Can't move. Bucky…?
“Bucky!” Sam yelled out even though it felt like shards of glass were in his throat. “Bucky!” Sam kept calling out.
Sam knows Bucky doesn't die easily and has much proof of that but it didn't help the dreaded feeling that his friend could be hurt or worse. They've had a few close calls together but something about this mission was off from the start and it didn't help with the worry.
Sam stopped shouting for his friend when he heard footsteps nearby. He couldn't see through the concrete he was trapped under but there was no way back up could have gotten here so quickly. Sam could hear slight chatter happening between what sounded to be three men.
“Search the area and find them both, then we'll head back,” a deep voice said. Sam could hear some movement as they shifted.
“What about the enhanced one? I don't think anyone's escaped him alive…” the other voice sounded nervous.
“That's why you have a sedative. Just give them that if they're not already knocked out,” a different voice sounded before Sam heard the sound of boots walking over concrete. None of that sounded good, Sam thought. Whoever it was definitely wasn't on their side.
He really hoped they wouldn't get their hands on Bucky knowing what he's already gone through. I guess that's just hoping Bucky is okay in the first place for a start.
The Shield was nowhere to be seen but that was the least of his concerns. Sam tried to move again but quickly realized there was no way out without help. He was on his back with a large chunk of concrete ceiling laying across his chest and some other pieces pinning his arms and legs. Fortunately the shield was lying next to his right arm. Bucky will be glad to know he didn't lose it. Again.
His head was pounding with what seemed to be a mild concussion but at least he was lucky enough to not have broken anything. He should probably thank Shuri later for his custom suit that just saved his life.
He would like to be dug out of the rubble soon but not by whoever was here for them. There wasn't exactly a way out so he'd have to work that out before anything else.
He figures any wrong move and he'd be at risk of becoming a captain america pancake so he ruled out opening his wings. If he could get redwing out from underneath him then maybe he could laser his way out. Sam figures it's worth a shot and gently shimmies his right arm out from whatever was holding him and tries his best to tap a few things on his other gauntlet. He hears a click as redwing slid out of the suit on his back. The drone didn't get far past his head but Sam tapped his gauntlet once more and he could hear the sound of the laser cutting into the rock.
“Hey I hear something over here!” One of the men called out and Sam's heart dropped. He didn't know how far along his drone buddy had gotten but it probably wasn't far enough. Sam shut off his drone and held his breath, hoping he wouldn't be found.
“Guys, I found one!” What? Nobody was near Sam, meaning they had gotten to Bucky first.
Sam's blood turned to ice as he heard the other men rush to help clear the debri off his friend. What if he was hurt or dead? Or if these men had something worse in store for him? Sam had to fight the urge to start crawling his way through the rubble to get to Bucky.
There was a groan and a whisper as he heard concrete shift and quickly realized it was Bucky.
“Sam?” Bucky's voice was a mix of pain and confusion that made Sam's heart pang.
“Looks like he's still conscious. Let's drug him and bring him back to base.”
“What about the other one?”
“Our orders were to get this one back, and I'm guessing the other didn't survive, so let's just do our job and forget about it all,” one of the men said harshly to another.
There was more shuffling and a moan as he assumed Bucky was dragged out of the wreckage. Bucky was going to be taken to some awful place while he slowly starved under some concrete. Sam couldn't bear to listen to it all unfold anymore. He wasn't going to die here and let them take Bucky.
Sam wasn't going to let them take his friend he knows for sure.
Disregarding the risk of being crushed, Sam grasped the shield in his hand and let the metal wings unfurl, pushing the concrete apart and him out of the debris. He launched out from underneath the pile of wreckage and landed on-top turning to see the three men who were armed and surrounding Bucky.
Before they could raise their guns, Sam flung the shield at the nearest head, leaving him unconscious. With a swift catch and shove the other man's gun was thrown from his hands and knocked down with the shield.
“Drop the shield and stay where you are, Captain.”
Sam spun as quickly as he could to see the larger of the men, likely the leader, holding a gun to Bucky's head.
Bucky had a deep gash tracing the side of his face that was dripping blood down his chin. He was being held by his hair and could barely open his eyes, let alone keep himself upright. Even if he was a super soldier, he wasn't in good shape by any means. He really looks like shit, he thought.
“Drop it,” The man who had Bucky said harshly. He was dressed in heavy tactical gear like the others and looked like he wasn't someone you mess around with. Sam placed the disk down by his feet and raised his hands, his wings automatically folding back in. He was too far to reach Bucky in time even if he managed to disarm the man in time.
“Now you two are going to come with me. Put these on.” The burly man in front of him threw two pairs of hand cuffs which Sam assumed were for him and Bucky.
“Come on man we don't need to do it like th–”
Sam stopped when a gunshot resonated through the remnants of the room they were in.
Bucky flinched at the sound away from his captor but that only got himself his head yanked back.
“Put them on now,” the man said with no empathy or remorse in his voice. He dropped his grip on Bucky's hair and he instantly pulled away, letting his body slouch.
Sam abided and put the cuffs around him and Bucky's wrists. Bucky barely noticed him putting them on which wasn't a good sign. Sam was starting to lose hope that they were going to make this out alive.
“Get him up and walking, I don't care if you have to carry him.”
Sam grabbed his friend's arm as best he could with his hands tied and lifted him onto his feet, trying not to fall when Bucky started to list to the side. He groaned at the moment but Sam couldn't ask for anything more than his usually grumpy and stupid friend to be alive right now.
“Sam?” Bucky's voice was harsh from all the dust and possibly cracked ribs.
“We'll get through this Buck,” Sam tried to reassure even though he didn't fully believe it himself. If he was being honest, he didn't know where he was going to go, who was taking him, or what would happen to them, but at least they weren't dead or would be soon by the looks of it.
“Let's go.” Sam started walking, holding most of Bucky's weight up on his own when their captor gestured with his handgun for them to continue out of whatever room they were in, back to the forest. Apparently they were leaving the other two soldiers Sam had knocked out earlier. Sam made a mental note not to test this guy again.
Him and Bucky stumbled out the rubble out what was the entrance to the small secluded concrete building in the woods.
“This way,” the man that was holding them at gunpoint said while holding a finger to the left toward what looked to be a small path. They started walking into the thick, dark underbrush, pushing deep into the forest.
It was supposed to be a simple mission.