Chapter Text
“Go! Go! Go!” Natasha shouted from behind as Steve kicked the door open. Sunlight blinded the three as they spilled out of the compound, a hail of bullets raining down on them.
Steve kept his shield up as the three sprinted towards the tree line. “Barton!” Natasha was breathless as she called through the comms. “We’re clear! Bring the building down!”
“Took you long enough,” he muttered back. “Little help, Tony?” Clint looked to where Tony flew on the other side of the clearing.
“With pleasure,” Tony let loose missiles at the entryway Steve, Natasha, Bucky and (Y/n) had been in just a moment ago. “You pick up a new friend there, Cap?” He quipped.
“Not the time, Stark!” Steve growled before explosions shook the ground. The three managed to keep their footing but jarring made (Y/n) let out a low groan.
Bucky was covered in (Y/n)’s blood-he could feel it saturating his shirt and the top of his waistband. He only hoped they weren’t too far from civilization. Before he could ask where they were going, a man dropped out of the tree they were passing. He nearly dropped (Y/n) as he started reaching for a gun.
“Behind you!” — Bucky called and as Steve turned ready for a fight, Natasha lunges forward and raised Bucky’s arm forcing the shot away.
“He’s one of us!” She growled. Bucky shifted (y/n)’s weight and scowled at Natasha.
“Some warning would’ve been nice, I’m not linked into your comm,” he said as the group picked up speed again, moving away from the collapsing base.
“Yeah, next time we’re escaping a Hydra base on red alert, I’ll make you a PowerPoint presentation,” Natasha rolled her eyes.
“What the hell is a powerpoint?” Bucky furrowed his brow.
“Another time! Can we focus?” Steve’s exasperated tone. “Tony! Quinjet ready?”
“I’m way ahead of you,” Tony said.
Only a second later the four heard the quinjet roar to life over the hill. (Y/n) let out a scream as Bucky lost his footing, squeezing her tightly to keep her from falling. Her body was cold, sweaty, numb, and on fire simultaneously. She couldn’t make her mouth form words, and she was vaguely aware of her cries as she regained consciousness briefly.
“Shit,” Bucky swore looking down at her.
Steve looked at (Y/n) over his shoulder. She wasn’t going to make it if they didn’t get her help soon. The quinjet landed in front of them, lowering the ramp so the four didn’t even break stride as they sprinted inside.
“Go! Tony!” Clint shouted as he was the last inside.
As the quinjet sped off, Steve guided Bucky to a stretcher surrounded with medical equipment. “We couldn’t risk bringing in a medic—“ Steve gasped out, catching his breath while Natasha pushed past him.
“How far away is help?” Bucky asked placing (Y/n) on the stretcher. Natasha immediately began cutting what was left of (Y/n)’s clothes off so they could see the extent of her injuries.
Steve stared in horror at her broken body. He couldn’t see where one bruise ended and another began. She was covered in fresh blood where she’d been impaled. “Oh my god...” his hands hovered over her, not knowing where to start.
Natasha clapped her hands near Steve’s face, but he just turned and stared at her, mouth agape. “Help me, or move Steve,” she said matter of factly. He nodded but didn’t move.
“How far out, Stark?” Clint called.
“30 minutes!”
“She needs a line in...she’s lost too much blood. We can’t stitch that up...” Natasha said to herself as Clint came back to her side, handing her an IV kit. They worked together seamlessly, their years of partnership showing.
“Cap, there’s a shock blanket in that drawer,” Clint said while he tied a tourniquet around (Y/n’s) arm. He’d done this enough times on himself and Natasha and soon he had an IV placed and taped down. “Here,” he tossed a bag of fluids to Natasha who hung them at the head of the stretcher.
Steve spread the silver foil blanket over (y/n) as she started shivering. “She’s going into shock...” Bucky said quietly, watching (Y/n) over Steve’s shoulder. Steve stroked (Y/n)s hair, and leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead.
“I’m so sorry, (Y/n),” he whispered, swallowing hard.
“She’s tough, she’ll make it,” Bucky said both to Steve and himself. She had to.
Natasha stood with both hands pressing down on (y/n)’s side, stemming the tide of blood with gauze. If she could just slow the bleeding...
“Landing in 10,” Tony called out.
“Where are we landing?” Clint asked running to the front of the quinjet.
“The tower. I called Helen—she made some calls and they’re expecting us,” Tony said quietly looking back to where (Y/n) lay. “Is that...” he started and looked at Clint.
“We haven’t been formally introduced,” Clint kept his voice low. “We’ll need to have a conversation once (Y/n) is stabilized.”
Bucky stiffened as he heard the hushed voices from the front of the jet. A conversation indeed...
The quinjet landed on the tower’s helipad where a team of doctors, surgeons and nurses awaited. Steve and Clint wheeled the stretcher down the ramp as they were surrounded by medical personnel. Natasha told a nearby nurse what she could and before she could blink, the stretcher with (Y/n) on it was whisked away into the tower leaving her, Steve, Clint, Tony and Bucky staring.
Tony was first to break the silence. “Soooooo..... friend of your’s, Cap?” He asked staring intently at Bucky.
“Now’s not the time, Tony.” Steve scrubbed a hand over his face. He needed to get to (Y/n), he needed the doctors to tell him if she was going to be okay.
“No, now is definitely the time.” Tony said sternly, arms folded across his chest.
“Tony...” Natasha tried to intervene but Clint put a hand on her arm. Steve looked at the door, torn between going to find where (Y/n) was taken and finding out just what the hell was going on finding Bucky alive and in a Hydra base.
“My name’s Bucky,” he said quietly reading each person’s face.
“Obviously,” Tony said leveling a glare at him. “Why are you alive, and more importantly, why were you at a Hydra base?”
Steve took an aggressive step forward at Tony’s remark. “That’s enough, Stark.” As much as he wanted answers to the same questions, he wasn’t going to let Tony interrogate his best friend and probably the reason (Y/n) was alive.
Bucky’s face was unreadable. He carefully schooled his emotions and gave a slow nod. “Fair questions, but I’d like to talk to Steve about that privately.” He said glancing to the blonde next to him, wondering if this Stark was related to Howard.
“No, I think we all deserve an answer—“ To y started but was interrupted when the door to the helipad swung open and Helen stepped out.
“They just took (Y/n) into surgery, I thought you’d want to go to the waiting area...I can sneak two of you into the physicians lounge to wait,” she said looking at Steve expectantly.
“Let’s go, Buck,” Steve said quietly and turned on his heel, Bucky following closely.
“This isn’t finished!” Tony called after them wincing when Natasha punched his shoulder.
“No it’s not,” Steve said. “I have something more important to take care of.” The metal door shut with a clang, cutting off any retaliatory remark from Tony.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” he said quietly to Bucky.
“I know.”
The rest of the walk to the physicians lounge was silent and when Helen opened the door she glanced at Bucky before speaking to Steve.
“Technically you aren’t supposed to be here, this is for physicians only. But considering the circumstances..”
“Thank you, Dr. Cho,” Steve gave her a weak smile which she returned. “Gentlemen,” she nodded to each.
Both men sat down opposite of each other, letting the silence draw out until Steve couldn’t take it anymore.
“You died.”
“Yea, well so did you...” Bucky grumbled.
“Look, i can understand why you’d think that...I was pretty convinced that I had myself.” Bucky laughed humorlessly.
“I don’t even know where to start,” Steve wiped his hand over his eyes then down his face. (Y/N) was near death in surgery and his dead best friend was sitting next to him-he was emotionally and physically drained. “Did you defect?” There was an edge to Steve’s tone.
“Fuck no,” Bucky bristled at the accusation. “You know me better than that.”
Steve sighed and leaned back in his chair, letting his head hit the wall behind him with a dull thud. “So what happened? How the hell are you here...your arm, you were at a Hydra base...” his mind was spinning trying to put everything together.
The two sat in silence for a long while, Bucky with his elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped between them and Steve staring at the ceiling. “I don’t know,” Bucky finally said. “I remember being cold...thawing out, puking my guts out, needles... and I remember the chair.” Bucky’s hands were clenched together as he recalled what he could from the decades he was held under the Soviets and then Hydra. “I was one of their ‘Winter Soldiers’...” Steve raised his eyebrows waiting for Bucky to continue. “Just another tool Hydra used to manipulate the world to fit their vision.” Bucky licked his lips nervously before continuing, “I’d rather only tell this story once so if there’s anyone else who needs to hear it...” he let his sentence drift.
Steve sat wordlessly next to his oldest friend, trying to grasp the depth of what he was confessing. “Every time I think we’ve wiped Hydra off the map they just pop up again...and again...fucking parasites...” he muttered, staring blankly ahead.
“Cut off one head...” Bucky started, sarcasm dripping from each word.
“We have a lot to talk about, Buck,” Steve sighed and Bucky grunted an acknowledgment. They sat in silence for hours, occasionally asking one another a question that came to mind. There was so much they needed to tell one another, yet coming up with conversation to understand what had happened and what was happening wasn’t easy.
The tension in the empty hallway was palpable until Steve finally broke the silence once more. “What did they do to her?” He finally asked.
Bucky took a deep breath. He didn’t want to think about the torture (Y/N) had endured and how he’d see her broken each night crying out for Steve.
“The worst of her injuries happened during our escape...” Bucky hedged the question and looked down at the tile between his feet. After a long minute, he forced himself to look at Steve. “They tortured her, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone last as long as she did.”
Steve’s heart shattered as Bucky confirmed his worst fears. He sat staring at nothing, until in an outburst he stood and turned, arm striking out and going through the wall. Bucky clenched his teeth but didn’t intervene. Before Steve could do more damage to the hallway, a door opened and a doctor in scrubs and surgical cap came out.
Bucky stood with Steve as she approached. “I’m Dr. Renn, I was brought in to work on (y/n)— she lost a lot of blood. Right now it looks like she’ll make it, but she’ll be in the ICU for the foreseeable future.” The doctor said bluntly.
“Right now? What-“ Steve started to ask and Dr. Renn shook her head.
“Mr. Rogers, it’s a miracle she’s alive right now. I’m a practical doctor and when my patient is as critical as (Y/n) is right now, I don’t give false hope. Considering her condition, take it and run with it.”
“What are her injuries?” Steve folded his arms and tucked his chin to his chest, fixing his eyes on the floor.
Dr. Renn’s eyes softened and she took a deep breath. “I can’t tell you.” Both Steve and Bucky snapped their heads up to look at the doctor. “Before you yell at me, it’s a legal situation. It’d be a breach of patient privacy. Until I get permission from her...” Steve was about to object...loudly when Dr. Renn held up her hands, palms out towards the distraught man. “I can, however, give you this. She’s in PACU now, once she’s ready she’ll be moved to ICU. Usually it’s immediate family only — I will make an exception in this case considering the circumstances.” With a last nod she turned and disappeared back through the door leaving Steve and Bucky dumbfounded.
“You’ll see her soon,” Bucky said quietly and sat down, wincing with the movement.