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He didn’t recognize the man, but that hardly mattered. He had a SSR badge and the ranking of colonel, probably Phillips counterpart in the field. Whoever he was, he’d be able to mobilize this mission.
The man approached Steve, his lips drawn in a tight line. “Captain I heard about Barnes—“
Steve put up his hands; he didn’t let him finish. “We have to go back. We have to find him.”
The colonel’s eyes widened; he looked almost taken aback. Steve frowned; did he not understand? Then the colonel cleared his throat; his ears had turned red. “Captain, I'm not sure—“
Steve shook his head, cutting him off. “He was supposed to be dead before and he wasn’t. I saved him, I’ll save him again.”
Steve knew his Commandos had arrived at his side; they were flanking him now. Without even looking, he knew their movements and gestures by instinct. He knew Bucky’s breathing as well as he knew his own.
The colonel didn't move, didn't do a damn thing to mobilize a rescue mission. And that only spiked Steve’s anger. “Are you going to help me or not!?” His voice came out a little louder, a little stronger than before. But if that was what it took to get his point across, then so be it. They were losing precious time!
Jim Morita touched Steve’s arm. “Maybe you need to sit down.”
Steve shrugged him off, then turned away from the idiot colonel. He darted his gaze around the base they’d been led to after Dr. Zola’s capture. “Where’s Agent Carter?”
Someone answered: “She’s en-route to London by way of Geneva. She’s to meet you there.”
“Did Stark come out this way?”
There was a strange silence now. The background din of people moving, talking, making calls, carrying stacks of papers from one place to another had all stopped. Military personnel and SSR agents had been walking, going about their business before; now no one moved.
“No, Stark’s still in London,” another unknown voice answered, hesitant with their words.
Steve turned to Gabriel. “We need a plane. Find me anyone who could—“
Gabriel’s eyes went wide. “No plane could fit in that gorge!”
Montgomery touched Steve’s arms now, facing him, talking slow like he might to a skittish cat. “Captain. Please. We can’t go back. There’s no way to get to the bottom of that gorge.” Steve took a step back from Montgomery. “You don’t understand.”
“Captain.” Dum Dum shook his head.
Steve stepped further away from his team. Their faces were ashen and pale with sad eyes and a nervous pull to their mouths. Did they think Steve might do something crazy? This wasn’t crazy; this is what he had to do. “We have always rescued each other.” Steve had to make them see. “I can’t just not this time.”
Montgomery cleared his throat; his voice wavered as he spoke, thick with emotion. “There won’t be anything to rescue. Captain, that fall could not be survived. James Barnes is dead.”
The words strike like a slap to the face; for a second Steve can’t breathe. Then he said, “Then I need his body. We get something back!”
Jacques looked scandalized. "Capitaine!"
Jim shook his head. “No, Captain. Not this time.”
“No.” Steve put up his hands; they kept coming closer to him. “No, you don’t understand. He’s all I’ve ever had.”
“I’m so sorry,” Gabriel said.
“No.” Steve stopped moving. He stared at his team. His incomplete team. He shook his head. “It can’t be like this. It can’t end like this.” They flank him again. Gabriel laid a hand on his shoulder. Dum Dum rubbed his back. Steve felt his breathing get quicker; his eyes were stinging. “There’s so much more I should have said to him. I was going to tell him something...” His voice cracked. “It can’t be ending like /this/.”
This is wrong, he thought.
“I’m sorry, Cap.” Steve doesn’t even care which one of them said it.
“Bucky,” Steve whispered.
Bucky.
END