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The first thing he sees is the shine of florescent lights bouncing off those familiar metal cuffs. The way they wrap around the wrist suffocatingly, more of them tugging the biceps in and forcing the body to mold to the chair.
That cold, unforgiving chair.
Bucky’s heart seizes, his throat clamping shut as his lungs refuse any air. He’s desperately tearing at his restraints when he realizes it’s not him in the seat, gaze flying down to see his own arms and legs bound and chained to a normal chair.
Then who-?
“Thanks for joining us, Soldier. We were just about to begin.”
The world tips, all the blood in Bucky’s veins frozen as his heart loses its beat. His voice is small and childlike, the sight draining all color from his face.
“ Stevie...?”
“It’s alright, Buck,” Steve lies, fists balled so tight his knuckles are almost transparent. It’s his wrists locked beneath those slabs of metal that hug him too close. “It’s ok. Everything’s gonna be-”
A groan pushes through Steve’s teeth as a cattle prod shoves into his neck, blue lightning scorching burn marks across his skin.
“Stop! Stop!” Bucky snaps, the man turning toward him. The sudden smile churns something ugly in Bucky’s gut.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he chimes, feet padding along the floor quickly as he wags the prod in Bucky’s face. “You’re a tough one to catch, but I got you. And I even got a bonus.” Steve glares daggers at the man, frown twisting his lips.
“Who the hell are you?” Bucky growls but the man only smiles wider.
“Who I am doesn’t matter. It’s who you two are that matters! Or rather, what you are. I’ll have who you think you are wiped away in no time.”
“The fuck you will,” Bucky strains against his chains, earning a wave of electricity to his chest for his efforts.
“Quiet. I already have a particular auction lined up for this deal, and when I present The Winter Soldier and his new counterpart, The Summer Soldier - well, I’m going to have a very happy retirement.”
“You sick fu-” Bucky chokes back a cry as the prod jams into his shoulder.
“Filthy mouth. I’ll make sure the wipe that out of you.” Bucky huffs, the challenge in his eye apparent, yet the man only smirks. “But him first.”
“What?” Bucky gapes. “No!”
The man grabs the tablet off the plain white folding table, leaning against it casually as his fingers dance along the screen.
“I’m your best ticket to retirement, wipe me first. Hey. Listen to me, damn it, I-”
The machine whirs, headgear dropping slowly around the blond’s head.
“Bucky, turn around,” Steve orders.
Bucky thrashes in his seat. “ Steve- ”
“Don’t look, Bucky, turn around. Don’t look. Don’t-” Metal plates clamp either side of his head, blinding his left eye completely as his breathing grows panicked. “ Don’t look, Bucky. Don’t look, DON’T-”
The lights flicker with the first scream, Bucky sat in stunned horror as Steve and the terrible crackle of electricity echo off the concrete walls.
It feels like an eternity before it finally stops. When it does, Steve’s breath hitches, starved lungs gulping in all the oxygen they can get as his body tries to curl in on itself.
“Soldier,” the man steps forward, lifting the blond’s chin with the prod. “Now you say, ‘Ready to comply’.”
Spit smacks his face, Steve’s eyes ablaze with hellfire.
“Good,” the man wipes the drool away easily. “I was hoping for a fight.”
With a simple tap to the screen, the screams and electric buzz return, Bucky trapped in violent terror as his cries mix with his best friend’s.
….
Agents scramble left and right, Natasha’s gaze fixed on the dozen screens blinking in front of her, arms wrapped around her waist. The doors open with a hiss and Tony storms in, nostrils flaring.
“Tell me we have something,” he begs. Nat shifts her gaze, lips pulling thin. His fist pounds against the table, a soothing hand rubbing his shoulder gently.
“He’s smart. Using old resources from World War 2 Hydra affiliations makes his tech impossible to track. They could be anywhere, but we’re working on it. Scouters are checking all abandoned bases near the abduction site but Hydra picked their locations specifically because they’re difficult to access. It’s gonna be awhile.”
“That’ll take too long, they could be gone by then!”
“I know,” Natasha frowns. “There were also signs that whoever took them had a plane. Satellites are searching the area now but there’s almost half a million acres of forest within the flight radius. He could have flown them in one direction to a getaway vehicle and drove in the complete opposite direction under the cover of the treetops.”
“So we have nothing,” Tony deadpans, his jaw ticking to the side. “Awesome.”
“Come on, Tony, we all know you’re a mother hen. Now would be a great time to tell us you had some kind of tracking device implanted under our skin while we slept.”
“Ok, one, I am a mother hen but I would never do that on the simple fact that you and Barton would kill me. Two, it’s a little creepy to me, personally, to track people secretly like some overprotective boyfri-... sonofabitch.”
Tony sprints out of the room, Natasha close on his heals.
“You really think Barnes planted a tracker on Steve?”
“Let’s hope so.” The elevator dings, doors sliding open. “Jarvis, get us to Roger’s floor. Quickly, please.”
“Understood, sir.”
Tony bursts into Bucky’s room, flicking on the lights and turning to Nat expectantly.
“Russian spies think alike.”
The redhead smirks, taking a brisk glance around before shoving Tony out, the genius stumbling backwards as the door shuts in his face.
“Oh, come on!”
Tony taps his foot anxiously and door reopens, Natasha standing victorious with the small device in her hand.
He heaves out a breath of relief. “Thank you overprotective boyfriends. Alright,” his fingers tap away, a little wire popping out of a nearby outlet. He hooks the device up, fidgeting a bit before he huffs out a ‘ gotcha’ . “Jarvis, give me some visuals.”
A hologram globe projects large and bright, slowly spinning as a red dot blinks, coordinates glowing.
“The signal went out four hours ago.”
“But it shows them stopping there before it dies. That has to be it, they’re there. Jarvis, call the medics and the evac team. Tell them we’re up in five. Also, if you could input these coordinates into the Quinjet, buddy, it’s very important.”
“Of course, sir. Shall I also notify Dr. Banner to accompany you on this mission?”
“Yeah, and tell him to be ready for anything.” Tony sets the device down, both of them entering the elevator. “I got a bad feeling about this.”
….
Blood trickles down the dip of his right palm, a ring of split flesh matching the curve of the metal cuffs entrapping him. Shredded raw and deep, the metal slices further into him as Bucky bruises himself against his restraints, screams weaving with Steve’s.
“You’re killing him you stupid bastard! You can’t do it all at once!”
“Yes, you’ve said that. He has more to erase than you. He just needs more time.”
Bucky grits his teeth, tears threatening to spill over the corners of his eyes. “I swear, I’m going to fucking kill you.” The man hums, disinterested.
The machine clicks off and Steve’s gaze is blank and unseeing under the sheen of sweat covering his face.
“Soldier.”
Steve stutters incoherently, his head shaking as his whole body withers, twitching uncontrollably. Bucky feels the burn behind his eyes in full force, his fingers clawing into his armrests.
“ Soldier .”
Nothing.
The man slaps Steve hard, skull slamming against the metal headgear, and Bucky roars, more blood slipping down his hand. That grabs Steve’s attention.
Bucky’s heart clenches, that glassy blue iris looking up at him, searching his face.
“Soldier,” Steve responds to the call and Bucky’s stomach drops, “do you know that man?”
His eye shift from Bucky’s face down to the wet crimson dripping from his fingers and up again.
“ A...Are you ok? ”
Steve’s head flies back, eyes squeezing shut as a wail rips out of him bodily and to the ceiling. The electricity rumbles louder than before, the veins in Steve’s neck bulging.
“STEVE!” Bucky thunders, metal cuffs almost digging to his bone. “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU’RE DOING. JUST STOP THIS. STOP. HIS BODY CAN’T TAKE MUCH MORE, YOU PSYCHOTIC SADISTIC FUCK, YOU’RE GONNA KILL HIM.”
“He’s almost ready…” the man assures him, a crazed glint in his eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll get to you just as soon as I’m done and you’ll forget all about him.”
Before Bucky can say another word, alarms blare out, the whole room tinted in red light.
“ No.” The man grinds his teeth, grabbing the tablet and gliding his finger across the screen. The sizzle of lightning grows deafening.
“ STEVIE!!! STOP STOP PLEASE-” His voice is drowned in the pure anguish coming out of Steve’s throat.
The far door explodes, a sob brushing past Bucky’s lips as a mop of red hair and the iron man suit come soaring through the smoke.
“Nat.”
“On it.”
With a single blow the man goes down, Natasha working quick to shut off the machine as soldiers surround him.
“Barnes,” Tony whips out his laser, the concentrated light breaking through chain after chain. “Hey, that cut looks bad. Let us-”
Bucky wretches the weakened chains off him before Tony finishes cutting, metal wrist yanking out of it’s cuff and tearing away the other one gouging into his flesh. He ignores Tony’s calls, drops of blood trailing his path as he shoves his way through the crowd of kevlar and heavy weapons.
“No, n-Wait. Wait, please, have mercy, ” the man cowers on the ground as he tries to drag himself away. In one swift move Bucky leans in and snaps the man’s neck, not missing a step as he makes a beeline straight for Steve.
Natasha just gets the headgear to unclamp when Bucky rips the chair apart, metal tearing like paper beneath his hands as he flinging every piece of it as far away as possible.
Everyone watches, awestruck, as Bucky stills, looking like a completely different man as he delicately cradles Steve out of the wreckage and into his arms, spasms wracking the blond’s entire body as Bucky lies him across his lap.
The brunet caresses Steve’s trembling limbs, a tick scrunching those lost eyes together tight between fast blinks.
“It’s ok,” Bucky brushes the matted hair from his forehead, giving the scorched skin around his left eye and temple a wide berth. His neck stiffens and jerks his head back, over and over, and Bucky tucks his arm beneath it, rolling the right side of Steve’s face in to try and keep him from giving himself whiplash. “It’s ok, Steve, I got ya. I’m right here, Stevie. I’m right here. I got ya.”
Steve’s mouth struggles to form a word, lungs jolting as his fingers futily clench to the collar of Bucky’s vest.
“You’re gonna be ok, you hear me? You’re ok.”
Something flickers behind Steve’s gaze, the shaking stopped as a small ‘ Buck ’ puffs between his lips. A smile tugs his cheek before his eyes roll into his head.
Suddenly there are people pulling Steve out of Bucky’s arms - Sergeant Barnes, I need you to stand back - Natasha dragging him away as the medics lie a convulsing Steve on the ground, turning him on his side with his back turned to Bucky.
He swings his head at the sound of wheels rolling something heavy into the room.
“What is that...?” he steps forward, Natasha’s hand coming to his chest.
“ Bucky-”
“Nat, what the FUCK is that!?”
“James,” Dr. Banner is in front of him, failing to draw his attention away from the fucking cryotube heading straight for Steve. “James, listen, Steve’s dying.” Bucky’s eyes snap down to Bruce, metal hand clenching shut. “I know this looks scary, I know this is what they did to you, but Bucky,” he says with overflowing sincerity, “we are not Hydra. I will not let anyone hurt Steve, I swear to you, but he has a lot of brain swelling and if he doesn’t get in that cryotube right now, we’re gonna lose him before we reach the tower for his surgery.”
“S-..” Memories flash behind his eyes, scalpels and saws and a blinding light - God, please, let me die. DON’T TOUCH ME, NO. STOP. “Surgery…”
“Dr. Banner! The seizure passed, he’s ready to be moved.”
Bruce never breaks eye contact. “May I?”
Bucky feels his limbs giving in, a strange fuzziness clouding his brain. “Do it.”
Banner is with Steve in seconds, medics shouting all around as someone lowers the cryotube nearly ground level, everyone lifting Steve up and into the chamber in one swoop. As the cover frosts over, he vaguely hears Nat say she’s going ahead with Steve just in case. He nods eventually, his vision bleary and his mind fogged.
“Hey.”
The sudden touch snaps him back into focus, twisting to see Tony kneeling by his side - He’s sitting, when did he sit down?
“Come on, buddy, Steve’s waiting.” Bucky absently places his right palm on the ground, collapsing when he tries to push off. “ Nope, not what I meant. Ok, let’s go. Both arms over our shoulders, now. Easy. Easy, you’re good. We got you.”
….
Bruce and Tony carry Bucky into the Quinjet, setting him down gingerly next to Steve. His body leans against the cryotube with content, head tipping up so hooded eyes can peek at Steve’s sleeping face.
“May I examine your wrist?”
Banner sits in front of him, bandages and brace in hand. Bucky looks at him from the corner of his eye, cheek never leaving the cool surface of the chamber.
Lifting from his elbow, it dawns on Bucky just how messed up his wrist really is, his hand refusing to cooperate. Bruce smoothes his palm under Bucky’s forearm, careful and supportive. It’s strange watching his feather-like touches gently probe the back of his hand and around the laceration, assessing, kind.
“Can you move your fingers for me?”
He knows it isn’t good when he has to physically ask his brain to make the pads of his fingers twitch, the movement barely there. Bruce doesn’t flinch.
“It’s a deep gash and you lost about a pint of blood judging on the puddle you left behind, but your tendons are starting to stitch themselves back together. With your accelerated healing you should make a full recovery, but for right now let’s go easy on your right arm ok?”
Bucky eyes him cautiously, nodding after a beat of silence.
“Great. A brace will help keep your wrist steady and add a bit of compression so it can heal properly. Can I put one on over your bandages?”
He nods again, the doctor smiling warmly as he pulls out the disinfectant.
“Sorry if this stings.”
He cleans and wraps the wound swiftly, yet his patient eyes tell Bucky he wasn’t in any rush. The brace fits snug under his hand, muscles melding to the mold as Banner calmly fastens every latch. Once he’s done, Bucky takes his wrist back, tucking himself as close to Steve as he can with his arms crossed over his lap.
It’s whispered so softly Bruce almost misses it as he moves to leave.
“What are you going to do to him?”
His whole body freezes, eyes fixed on the ever-shrinking form that is James Barnes huddling himself into the very technology he despises - a cryotube for God’s sake - just to be near Steve.
“Um,” he settles back down, crossing his legs. “We’re going to run a few tests to get a sense of the damage and how to approach fixing it. The neurosurgeon Tony’s talking to-”
“I thought you were the one operating on him?”
“No,” Bruce lifts his hand when Bucky looks ready to argue. “I know I just wrapped your wrist, and I know I treated people when I traveled, but I am not qualified to perform brain surgery. It’s beyond my field of expertise and that’s exactly what this woman is. An expert. She’s trained most of her life to handle difficult situations like these, and I need you to trust me when I say I’m going to be right there with Steve the entire time.”
“The whole time?”
“Yes. Once he’s stable enough to be moved into a room, I’ll have JARVIS call you over and I’ll wait right next to him until you take my spot. Sound good?”
Bucky’s lips pull into a thin line, his gaze falling back to his best friend.
“Ok.”
“Sixty seconds, guys,” Natasha calls from the cockpit. “Get ready.”
As the medics jump to action, maneuvering around Steve, Bucky prompts to stand when a surge of pain shoots through his right arm. He bites back a groan, metal hand tugging the arm in tight.
“I see the shock finally wore off.” Bucky half-glares at him and the doctor shrugs with an innocent smile.
The hangar door cracks open, streams of light pouring in with the sudden rush of air. Bruce and the medics are already rushing Steve away and into the tower before Bucky can get a final glance.
“Relax,” Tony smacks his hand on Bucky’s shoulder, offering a crooked grin. “We both know Steve’s pulled through worse. You’ll see him in a couple hours. Right now, let me pour you a drink.”
….
Bucky awakes with a start, a sudden grip that would have snapped non-metal fingers clinging to him as the heart monitor flares.
“Steve?” Bucky calls, taking the blond’s frantic grip in both hands. “Steve, you’re safe. Breath.” His blue eye bounces off every corner of the room, heart rate hysteric as he flails in Bucky’s arms. “Steve, look at me! Look at me, Stevie. ” The blond wavers, shoulders scrunched around his ears as their eyes finally lock.
“ Bucky…?”
“ That’s me,” Bucky smiles, his eyes glossing over as Steve pulls their foreheads together softly. That’s when Steve feels it.
“Uh,” his fingers trail along the bandage covering half his head, confused. “What...?” He flinches, large hands clutching every piece of Bucky they can reach when they suddenly halt, hovering an inch over Bucky’s brace. “I’m gonna kill him.”
“ STEVE,” Bucky flattens his body against the raging blond, holding him down on the bed while tubes and limbs tangle. “Steve, stop, you’re gonna hurt yourself!”
“That bastard did this, Buck. He put you in that chair again, he-”
“ This wasn’t from the chair! ”
Steve stops, angry tears spilling from his eye as he stares Bucky down. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I ain’t lying. This,” he twirls his arm so Steve can see, “came from my restraints, yeah. But I didn’t gouge a piece of metal into my arm because I was being electrocuted. It happened while I was trying to break free.”
“...He didn’t touch you?”
“No, Stevie. He was dead before he ever got the chance.”
Steve melts against the mattress, arms wrapping around Bucky’s back as they holds each other firm. “ Thank God.”
“Thank loverboy. He’s the reason we found you.”
Natasha and Tony smile at them from the doorway, Steve keeping a strong arm around Bucky’s waist as the brunet rolls to his side.
“What do you mean?”
“The little tag he put in your suit,” Natasha grins as Bucky’s eyes go wide. “It lead us right to you.”
“Seriously?” Steve laughs, Bucky’s cheeks burning under his hair.
“Yep. But a little advice for next time,” Tony starts, Bucky looking at him sheepishly. “Clue the rest of us in on the tracker. We get Steve pulls a lot of stupid stunts and get’s lost more often than the main floor’s TV remote-” Natasha snorts. “But if there’s one thing all of us are certain of, it’s that you’re gonna be right there with him when shit hits the fan. With you gone, that secret tracker isn’t gonna help anybody, especially Steve. Alright?”
“Got it..”
Tony’s lip puffs out, a furrow to his brow. “Nope. Sorry, I can’t do it,” he says as he turns to march out of the room. “I’ve made up my mind, you’re all getting locators in your suits! No exceptions!” he screams from down the hall.
Natasha smiles to herself, glancing over to the two men knit together in the small hospital bed.
“You good, Rogers?”
“Yeah,” Steve’s face falls a little. “I don’t think anything’s missing, really, it just feels… scrambled. Mixed up a bit. I’ll be fine.”
“The guy didn’t know what he was doing. It takes more than one round in the chair to wipe someone from their own head,” Bucky says simply, Steve’s fingers tightening at his hip.
“Understood. I need to go report in, but I’ll tell the others you’re ok. Barnes, don’t keep him up too late,” Natasha winks, waving goodbye as her clicking heels carry her out the door.
Steve blows a steadying breath through his lips, sinking into his pillow.
“You really alright?” Bucky whispers, lying his head in the crook of Steve’s neck.
“Yeah, Buck. I honestly can’t remember much of what happened. I know there was the machine Hydra used to wipe your memories, and I remember you calling my name. I thought… maybe you were calling for help. That he was hurting you and I couldn’t do anything about it. Thought I was losing you again…”
“Other way around, Stevie,” Bucky digs his nose under Steve’s chin. “I was the useless one watching as he hurt you.”’
“You ain’t useless, Buck, you saved me. You heard Tony and Nat.”
“I sat there while you were screaming for hours. ”
“I’m so sorry you had to see that.”
“You told me to turn around.” Steve pulls back, staring at Bucky in surprise. “Just before it started. You kept telling me not to look. Probably didn’t want me to have a new nightma-”
Steve presses their lips together lightly, palm cupping Bucky’s jaw as his fingers run along in his hair. They drift apart, a serious glint in Steve’s eye.
“If I did that, it’s because I know how painful it is to watch someone you love suffer and not be able to help. You’ve been through enough, Buck. I didn’t wanna be another reason for you push everyone away.”
“I won’t. Promise. I actually talked to Banner a bit, he’s the one who fixed me up. He’s a nice guy.”
“Yeah?” Steve beams, fingers brushing Bucky’s jaw.
“Yeah. I hugged him.”
“Woah. That’s…”
“I think I scared him and everyone out in the hall. They all looked at him funny when I put him down but I just ignored them and came in here with you.”
“I’m sure he appreciated the gesture,” Steve grins.
“Yeah, well, I should kiss the neurosurgeon who managed to fix your head. Lord knows I’ve tried.”
“Who are you?”
Bucky hits him with a pillow, cheeks bright red. “That’s not funny!”
“I just had brain surgery and you’re hit me in the head with a pillow. It’s hilarious.”
The pillow drops so fast Steve bursts out a laugh, Bucky scowling as he contemplates how to strike. He wrestles Steve to the bed with a telling amount of care peeking through his annoyance.
“I think I need security, some strangely attractive gentleman is attacking me. Where’s my call button?”
“Steevve.”
“Is that my name? How many e’s is that spelt with? My mother must have really-”
Steve chuckles against Bucky’s mouth, drawing him closer as his arms encircle his neck. The blond steals a few more kisses, savoring them as exhaustion washes over him. Bucky notices, adjusting himself along Steve’s side while metal fingers drag and tuck the sheet around them.
“Plan on sticking around, stranger?” Steve mumbles, eyelids surrendering to gravity.
“Yes, sir.”
“Promise?”
“Swear. Now get some sleep.”