Winter's Redemption [winter soldier//Bucky Barnes AU]

Chapter Eleven

BUCKY'S POV

I shivered in the cold mountain air. The zip wire went all the way to the nearest mountain, resting right above the train tracks. The train itself will be here soon.

"Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?" I asked Steve, looking over at him. It's still strange to call him Steve, because the Steve I knew was smaller than me. Not bigger than me. He looked over.

"Yeah, and I threw up?"

"This isn't payback, is it?" I asked him. He smiled and laughed.

"Now why would I do that?"

I grinned and shook my head. It was not a humorous situation at all, but I always found a way to joke around with Steve. After all, he was my best friend. My brother.

I sat up, breathing heavily. I remember that conversation; I remember what we were about to do, why we were on that mountain. It came in pieces, like a puzzle, and every time I got a piece, I felt more human. More like Bucky.

I surveyed my surroundings. I was in the forest. After Sarah and I got away from the cops, she was exhausted. She kept claiming she was fine, but I could tell that she was going to give out any second, so I made her stop in a thick patch of trees where we would be well hidden. The second I handed her our only pillow, she had collapsed against the ground and fallen asleep.

Now I sat here keeping watch, our bag resting a couple feet away from us against a tree. Sarah laid between the bag and I.

I reached down, hesitating for half a second before brushing the hair out of her eyes. She breathed softly, hardly making a sound. Goosebumps were prevalent on her skin and I realized with a start that she was cold, so I reached over her and grabbed the last blanket from our bag. I draped it over her small frame and stared at her face, finding myself wondering if she'd ever killed anyone. I couldn't imagine her as anything except the innocent girl before me. She was way too good to perform an act of malice.

I fell asleep again shortly after that, thinking of how some things in this world are just too purely good to exist among such evil.

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STEVE'S POV

We all combed the woods for hours after we found traces of Bucky in that old house. It was clear that not only one but two people had recently been there, and I didn't allow myself to relax until I had searched the entire area for him- though not finding him made my heart begin to race again out of fear.

By the time night fell, Tony had arranged for a huge five star hotel of his in Arlington to take us in. The place was massive and flashy, and overall just screamed Tony Stark Helped Pay For This.

Exhausted from hours of walking, all of us slowly made our way up to the penthouse floor, where Tony already had things set up for us.

"I keep a penthouse suite in every one of my hotels in case I ever need somewhere to stay that has some of my tech stuff," Tony had said once we entered the living room. "I'll be in my room until at least noon tomorrow. Don't bother me."

Before anyone could answer, he'd closed the door behind him to one of the rooms and I heard the click of a lock. Apparently Tony really wanted to sleep.

Nat, Sam and I started exploring the place after a few moments of silence. The main area was made up of a large living space, complete with a kitchen, a dining room and a lab (though I wasn't sure why Tony would put that next to the kitchen). A couch and Tv were nestled in the corner, and the hallway in which Tony was now sleeping broke off into four different bedrooms and two bathrooms.

I wandered over to the huge floor to ceiling windows, staring out at the lights of Washington. We were only a little ways away from Reagan National airport, so every now and then a plane would take off, it's bright lights getting farther and farther into the night sky. D.C. stretched for as far as I could see from this height and I couldn't help but admire the beauty of it.

I guess I had a somewhat troubled look on my face as I gazed out of the window, because soon Natasha came over, eyes flashing with concern.  I could tell on her face that she was going to bring up Bucky- she'd been wanting to say something to me ever since we left the woods, and I could see her uneasiness in the way she nervously handled her gun.

"We'll find him, Steve," she said quietly. I swallowed as memories of him rushed in, and I stopped thinking about DC.

"He's out there somewhere. He's being hunted by Hydra with half a memory and no knowledge of the modern world, and by the looks of it, he's possibly caring for another person as well as himself," I muttered, scanning the horizon as if Bucky would appear amongst the lights of the sleeping capital. I saw Natasha glance at me out the corner of my eye.

"We're going to find him, Steve. One way or another, we will find him."

I looked over at her. She had a determined look in her eyes, and I was suddenly full of gratitude- my friends have traveled halfway down the east coast just to help me find my lost best friend. I couldn't ask to be surrounded by better people.

"I can't thank you enough for helping me look. It means a lot," I told her, drawing my attention away from outside and instead focusing on her flaming red hair. If anyone could come close to living up to Peggy's courage, it was Natasha, and lately I couldn't help but draw similarities between the two fiercest women I'd ever known.

"We're a team. We look out for each other, right?" She questioned, a small smile playing on her lips. I smiled back.

"Yeah, you're right."