Road to War Part III: I Would For You

The Warning Posted on the Door

His clip is empty. Rather than reload, he tosses his weapon to the ground and pulls out one of his knives. He always has knives on him, he thinks. Force of habit. Twirling it through his fingers to remind himself of its weight, he continues to move forward, catching bullets that he cannot dodge on his left arm and making quick work of anyone who comes within arm's reach. It's almost too easy, and the sinking feeling that this is where he feels most comfortable is hard to ignore.

"Status, Buck," Steve's voice crackles in his ear.

Hastily glancing around the room, he throws his knife at the last man standing, who drops to the floor immediately. "Threat neutralized," he answers.

"That was fast," Sam's voice interjects, and he smiles grimly.

"Be careful leaving the barracks, Buck. There are a lot more of them than we thought. Meet us downstairs as soon as you can."

"Copy."

He never talked much on missions, even during the war. He was focused, getting the job done. Unnecessary chatter was a distraction, though he knew a lot of guys needed that, needed to distance themselves from what they had to do. He supposed he just wasn't one of those guys. As the Soldier, speaking freely wasn't exactly encouraged, and he was certainly not expected to say anything outside of the mission parameters. Probably for the whole seventy years. So Sam might tease to lighten the mood, but he won't respond to it until the job's done.

Wiping his knife on the clothes of one of the dead HYDRA agents, he goes to where he dropped his gun and picks it up. Reloading it efficiently, he pauses to listen carefully before moving cautiously out of the barracks he was sent to neutralize. Whether or not that meant to kill every last one of them was not specified. Steve prefers not to approach missions with the intention of ending a lot of lives, but he knew what he was doing, sending him in here. Sending the Winter Soldier in here.

As he moves silently down the dark hallways, the stillness somewhat shocking after the intensity of the fight, he considers the other missions he has been sent to perform. Not many involved wanton destruction, unless Steve was involved. Steve is more subtle now, he notes, but definitely not a spy. Not a trained assassin. So Steve takes Sam and they approach the issue like soldiers, while he sneaks in to neutralize threats before they become an issue. Just like old times, he supposes.

He hears footsteps approaching slowly, and he freezes in place, listening hard. The footsteps continue in his direction and he slowly rotates to lean against the wall behind him to present as minimal a target as possible. A heavily armored man appears around the corner, moving hesitantly forward and looking around hastily. He waits as long as he can before springing forward and wrapping his metal fingers around the man's throat; the armor he wears prevents him from using another type of attack as effectively.

Gunfire echoes deafeningly down the corridor as the startled HYDRA agent attempts to get a shot at him. It's useless; he's too close. He tightens his fingers and uses his other hand to knock the gun from the other man's hands. It clatters to the floor as he swings the man against the wall, knocking him unconscious. Probably not killing him, but he doesn't have much experience with less-than-deadly force.

"Status, Bucky," Steve says suddenly, sounding a little out of breath.

"En route," he answers.

"Faster would be better," Sam mutters.

Automatically, he moves more quickly in Steve's direction. When he runs into other agents, he doesn't waste time attempting stealth. They are surprised, afraid, and pose little threat. Even heavily armored ones are quickly dispatched. Finally, he reaches the large room Steve and Sam are trying to fight their way across. It's too small for Sam's wings to be very useful, and they are getting cornered by more than twenty men. He doesn't take time to count them; just jumps into the fray.