Work Text:
"They're running off to your left, Buck"
Sam's voice echoed in his ear as he kept running in the direction indicated by the man, when they had been summoned for this mission he thought it would be easy, just a few remaining Flag smasher's supporters who had taken over a huge building in downtown Washington, DC, it should be a not at all complicated operation just neutralising a few normal terrorists and then eating sushi to celebrate, but to his complete surprise and disappointment they weren't just normal terrorists, they were super soldiers, apparently Karli's allies had escaped and were now holding hostages in an act of protest.
They had managed to neutralise most of the terrorists, however one of them had escaped when they freed the hostages, and now he and Sam had to hunt him through the building, in theory it wasn't a very difficult task because the place was surrounded, but when it comes to super soldiers things are always more complex.
In a few seconds of running Bucky had already spotted the man, he was moving quickly through the emergency stairs trying to lose the sergeant on the way, then suddenly they are in the penultimate flight of stairs and James can only visualize the target pushing the access door entering the floor, he observes confused the action of the man, it made no sense he enter a closed place where he could be easily captured.
Arriving in front of the floor, Barnes visualized the number "23°" stamped on the surface, it was too high a pitch to consider any escape through the windows or any other means, because there was no other way out but that door, since the lifts weren't working due to the building's power being cut off. He didn't understand what the terrorist was planning, but he suspected it wasn't something good, so as his super soldier senses whistled on alert, Buck pressed his vibranium limb against the door pushing it open while his meat hand held a gun firmly.
In a quick movement the man invades the floor with the gun pointed, immediately his eyes do an initial sweep through the environment, everything strangely silent, the huge room had the walls formed by large windows and a huge rectangular table in the centre, there were some ropes in the corners that probably should have been used to gag the hostages. His eyes roam the room again looking for any abnormality, but again nothing seems out of place except that suspicious calmness.
Something in that situation made his stomach turn with discomfort, his enhanced hearing and vision searched for any noise or detail in the dimly lit room that would explain the shiver that ran down his spine, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as if someone was watching him.
- Sam, I've got a job for your flying thingy. - Buck speaks into his communicator: : .
- Hey, first of all Redwing has a name. - Sam replies, being followed by a snort from the other man, he could clearly picture the other man rolling his eyes - And second, what do you need, babe?
- "babe" seriously? In the middle of a mission? - The sergeant says trying to disguise the smile on his face from hearing the nickname, they didn't usually call each other by nicknames outside of Sarah's house or their small house in Delacroix, mainly because their relationship wasn't something public, Since they both knew that public opinion wouldn't exactly be positive about a black Captain America dating the former Invernal Soldier.
- Okay, Sergeant Barnes. - Wilson says emphasising the other man's title - Just tell me what you need.
- Put your red pigeon to flight and scan my floor. - The brunette replies teasingly, he really hated that annoying flying thing.
The Captain rolls his eyes before adjusting the commands of the device on the control on his wrist, he watches the images move as Redwing flies over the 23rd floor, swiping the thermal camera looking for any life forms besides Bucky.
- Smile, baby! - Sam jokes as redwing flattens out facing the sergeant recording him
- Just get your pigeon to do his job. - Barnes says with a deadly look at the flying object
The camera proceeds to capture the thermal readings, apparently the only dot shown was Bucky, but as the device made its way around it was possible to see a few yellow dots appearing, one, then two, and two more until there was a handful on what should be a wall.
- There must be something wrong with this. - Wilson mutters, forgetting the communicator is on.
- What do you mean Sam? - The sergeant asks, followed by a tortured silence on the line - Samuel! - He speaks impatiently
- It looks like there's a party going on at the wall to your left.
- Party? - Barnes asks confused.
The man turns his neck to face the said wall, everything seemed normal and party-less, just a dull white wall, but before the sergeant could respond with a taunt to Wilson, the silence is broken by a series of shots that start from the "normal" wall. Taking advantage of his advantage as a super soldier, he quickly sneaks away from the shots, rolling over to the large table and turning it over to use as a shield.
- I found the party. - He says breathlessly into his communicator, which ironically had been damaged en route.
The gunfire only increased in intensity, it must have been at least ten people heavily armed and of course alongside the escaped supersoldier, Barnes had no idea who they might be or why they were involved with the flagsmacher, not that it was going to change anything as they seemed to get closer and closer to Buck's makeshift barricade.
The sergeant closed his vibranium fist and silently began a countdown preparing for an attack. After some of the longest seconds of his life the countdown zeroes, at the same instant the man jumps off the table throwing himself facing the terrorists, in one swift movement his vibranium arm grabs the barrel of the gun one of the men was wielding, then in less than a second he spins it around knocking out his enemy. Wasting no time Buck starts shooting at the others hoping to buy some time with this.
However, the sergeant knew that this would be a losing battle, after all the weapon's ammunition was limited and with no chance of reloading, while his enemies had a more than complete arsenal at their disposal.
As Barnes faced an unexpected attack on the building, Sam desperately tried to communicate with her boyfriend by watching a confusing scene through the redwing thermal camera.
- Bucky, answer for the love of god! - Sam shouts hysterically at the lack of response
Before he could say anything a deafening sound hits his ears, amidst the chaos Wilson turns towards the source of the sound and the moment his eyes meet the building he can clearly see where the explosion had happened, there was a large gaping hole in the side of the floor and the inside seemed to be on fire, but it was when his eyes visualised the number of the affected floor that his heart soared, it was the 23rd.
…………….
"shit!"
The supersoldier exclaims as he pulls the trigger and does not feel the impact of the projectile being launched, his ammunition had run out and there was no chance of a reload, which his enemies quickly realised by intensifying their shots.
With no other choice Buck crouches down sneaking into the centre of his makeshift barricade, hearing the footsteps become closer he closes his eyes just waiting for a new confrontation.
But to his surprise the firing stopped along with the footsteps, that made Bucky's stomach turn he had something very wrong going on. Then he could only hear a very low click like the triggering of an explosive or bomb, before an explosion hit him, causing the force of impact to propel the table throwing it against the large window of the room breaking it, in turn dragging the sergeant along.
Barnes had less than a second to recover from the explosion, after all his body was literally thrown out of the building, his senses were still dazed, his vision blurred and an irritating noise sounded in his eardrums, when luckily his robotic arm, which will not suffer from the impact, with a non-human reflection grabbed onto an iron of the structure that was out due to the explosion, preventing him from being dragged along the table in free fall.
It took only a few seconds for the supersoldier to regain consciousness, when his senses returned to responding his eyes faced the huge drop beneath his body suspended over twenty stories high, he felt the strong wind hit his body due to the altitude as his fingers tightened more and more around the iron.
As the adrenaline began to dissipate, a sense of despair came over the sergeant, he wasn't just hanging by an iron about to a possible fatal fall, he was trapped again in his memories.
He felt back on that train in 1945, feeling the cold winter wind along with the speed of the vehicle frantically rocking his suspended body, while his left arm clung to a metal rod, trying his best to hold his body from the deadly fall beneath his feet. But this time was different, he was alone, there was no one to support him, to tell him that everything would work out even if the odds were against it.
Buck feels his heart leap again as his body seems to hang lower, this could not be happening not again, the metal rod was crumbling, perhaps due to the simple fact that the hand gripping him was simply vibranium the strongest material on earth and unfortunately the iron of the rod would not resist it.
Feeling his inevitable end approaching, James decides to end that torture of just watching the iron crumble little by little in his hand, then, gathering the last bit of courage he still had, he releases the rod, throwing his body into free fall, trying to end that nightmare.
His body begins to plummet rapidly gaining speed, Buck closes his eyes as he feels gravity pulling him, his mind returning to the endless feeling of despair from when he fell off the train, which was repeating itself again as he heard the involuntary screams escaping his lips, he was falling again and perhaps now there is no turning back.
There was something strangely comfortable about that sentence, this time there would be no Hydra and their experiments, no friends or family to lose. But there would be Sam, he would lose the one person who made sense in his life, the possibility of building a family together or whatever future they could imagine.
Then the despair returns to the sergeant, the life really wasn't fair with him, every time that he thought that he had found his place the destiny found a way to take it from him, it was in the train in 1945 when he thought that maybe he could end the war with Steve and one day come back home hug his mother and sister, who knows to give a better life to Becca, it was when Hydra transformed him in the Invernal Soldier, gave him that terrible metal arm, turned him into an obedient assassin without even a memory, without choices, without anything, only a trail of pain and death, and it was also like that when after all those years of torture Steve made him believe again that maybe he could have a normal life, that he could be James Buchanan Barnes again, but as always his expectations were destroyed when Steve abandoned him.
Then the man tries to swallow the tears that seem to accumulate in his worn-out throat, trying at last to accept his unhappy fate that awaited him.
However just as the sergeant's body was a few feet from touching the ground Sam's large red and blue wings suddenly appeared, quickly his arms wrapped around the man's body holding him tightly to his chest, then swooping away seeking to stabilise his speed, before gliding into the air.
As he slowly descended to the ground, Wilson could feel his boyfriend struggling in panic under his arms, his heart was so fast he could feel its beats going out of control, his breathing hyperventilated, while his eyes remained tightly closed, Sam recognised those symptoms and knew Bucky was in a panic crisis.
- Make room! - The captain shouts as his feet finally touch the ground, he tries to disperse as much of the crowd as he can while carrying Barnes to the nearest ambulance, the last thing he wanted was a bunch of reporters photographing Buck in that state.
Within a few metres he reaches an ambulance whose stretcher was outside completely unoccupied except for a not very large blanket meant to calm shock victims that was on the end, quickly Sam takes her boyfriend out of her arms placing him sitting on the stretcher.
- Shh... It's going to be okay. - Wilson speaks gently, slipping the blanket over the supersoldier's shoulders enveloping him in a cozy squeeze, watching Buck instinctively cringe at the movement. - Come on babe, breathe with me okay. - He continues then begins a breathing exercise
Bucky nods his head positively to his boyfriend, then following him in the exercise, first exhaling to his limit, then inhaling counting to four, then holding his breath for another three seconds. And after that he exhaled again while counting to seven seconds. So Barnes repeated the exercise for three more times until his breathing began to stabilise and his mind came back to its senses.
- Better? - Samuel asks as his hands trace imaginary circles on the back of the supersoldier, who nods positively to his question. - So everything's okay, babe? - He asks, staring into the other's weeping blue eyes.
- Y-Yes... - The sergeant replies a little hoarsely - I... I... - He tries to speak, but the words seem to get stuck in his throat just letting out dysfunctional sobs.
- Put it all out there, babe. - The captain speaks affectionately, while her boyfriend collapses leaning on his chest - You'll feel better.
After a few moments the crying subsided in intensity, becoming just a few stubborn tears that insisted on collapsing. Then mustering what courage he still had left, Buck took a deep breath raising his eyes towards the deep brown of Wilson's irises.
- I-I was falling and... I felt back on that train in the '40s and... - The man takes a deep breath trying to pull himself together - I-I didn't want to lose it all again, I-I couldn't lose you. - Barnes finishes before giving in to crying again.
- It's okay, I got you, Buck. - Sam says, hugging her boyfriend, "And I'll always be there to catch you if you fall.
Bucky raises his face to face Wilson again, unable to contain a small smile forming on his lips.
- I love you, Sam!
- I love you too, babe! - Wilson says before depositing an affectionate kiss on her boyfriend's lips, even though she doesn't care about the crowd around and that their relationship will most likely just become public.