Winter Soldier (Book One)

Chapter: 19

DAY: 8

Winter Soldier

Thor flew out the broken window, aimed down to fly after Lark. Clint and I shot at Jack but he disappeared into thin air. We both ran to the broken window and looked down. Alarms were going off all around us, Clint was responding to his com and I was left standing there. In the darkness I couldn't see anything out the window. I could only imagine Lark falling through the sky to her death, with Thor racing after to catch her before she could die.

"I've got a lead on Jack," Clint shouted across from the bridge. "I'm chasing him down."

"Go, before he can go after Lark while she's falling. I'll stay behind to make sure they get back."

"Keep an eye open." he called before he took off running across the bridge.

Then something flew past me and landed on the floor, rolled a few feet and stopped. It was Thor, and Lark was laying a few feet away from him. Thor sat up and I ran over. Kneeling beside Lark, I pressed my fingers to her neck, feeling for a pulse. It was faint and small but it was there. Her shirt was burned, revealing red and bloody skin on her stomach.

"I almost didn't reach her in time. He was almost too strong, almost too fast." Thor said. Jack was doing the things I feared that he would. He was reckless.

"She's still alive, but we have to get her help." I told him. I slipped Lark into my arms and stood, Thor rose to his feet and we both quickly ran to the infirmary. Several men and women were inside, and when they saw us they dropped everything.

"Set her down here," "What happened?" "She okay?"

I laid Lark out onto one of the tables and she moaned, her eyebrows came together in a pained face.

"Lark? Can you hear me?" I said to her. I turned her head to face mine and she seemed to open her eyes for only a moment. But that's when doctors pushed both Thor and I out of the way and began hooking her up to machines and peeling back her clothes.

"We'll need you to step out for a moment." someone came up to us and said. She pushed us back out the door and into the hallway. She rushed back in and Thor and I stood there in silence. Through the side window we could see each one of the people inside talking frantically, a few of them were keeping an eye on Lark while the others began taking test tubes and plastic bags filled with clear liquid and setting them out on a table.

I felt angry that I couldn't stop Jack, that I couldn't save Lark from him. I walked out of the hallway, back towards the bridge where I found Fury talking with Alexander. I felt the anger rise up in my gut, the hate burning behind my eyes.

"Bucky, how's Lark?" Fury asked. Fury stopped me from walking any further and looked over at Alexander. No one could have understood how much I wanted to walk over to Alexander and punch his wrinkled old face.

"Ask him." I gestured to Alexander, who went rigid.

"What's he talking about?" Fury asked him. I clenched my teeth, tightened my jaw, my fists clenched and it was all I could do not to slam Alexander up to the wall.

"I have no idea." He replied after a thoughtful moment. "What's happened to Lark? No one will tell me anything."

"Bucky, explain yourself." Fury turned and looked at me.

"Could no one else put the pieces together? No one noticed that he was on edge ever since he came here, or how Jack suddenly appeared again? Jack works for Hydra. And I know one thing for sure, Hydra can't act with just one head in one place. Another has to work along side to to complete anything." I told them. "