[2] instability ▷ bucky barnes

[18] ▷ repeat

BREXA awoke to the feeling of ice cold water being splashed onto her body, and she sat upright immediately, gasping dramatically with a stout shiver at the end. "What the hell," She breathed immensely, taking in her new surroundings with curiosity. "Am I being taken hostage again by different people?" She asked subconsciously as she recognized more chains on her legs and arms.

The person who splashed water on her did not say a word, only sat the bucket down and left the room with the same silence he had acquired when he retrieved her. He was not allowed to speak to her unless given permission to, and he would not dare go against his superior's orders. He walked down the long, dark corridor, gooseflesh unconsciously covering his arms at the almost childish fear of his.

Upon nearing the end of the long hallway, the man made a sharp left turn to stand in front of a tall, red door. He knocked twice, granting access once the door itself slightly opened on its own. With a slow but collected pace, he walked forward into the dim-lit room, toward a large, beautiful, shiny black oak work-desk, and behind it sat a ferocious beast, who was disguised as an almost petite woman.

"You have completed your mission, A-24. Very good." The raven haired woman said with a very thick Russian accent, a cigarette hanging from her fingers as a constant scowl looked the man up and down. "Now that you have retrieved her, I have a new objective for you. I want you to do what you do best, my dear." With that being said, she shooed him off, supposedly like someone would do a fly, and he immediately turned on his heel and headed back towards her cell.

Brexa was counting the tally marks on the wall when the man burst through the door, but not obnoxiously. "Someone has been here for 334 days, I think that's their bones over there," She pointed to one corner of the wall, where there were, indeed, bones. "That's crazy, and hey, dude, by the way, what organization has me now? It's like everyone's just trying to play 'Capture the Brexa.'" She rambled. Half of that was due to sleep-deprivation. The other half belonged to the fact that she was naturally just a sarcastic asshole that never shut up.

The man didn't say a word, as usual, as he progressed towards her, and something in her mind clicked. "Wait, you're the dude that saved me last night, aren't you?" She asked, but didn't receive an answer as he picked her up by the chains on her arms, forcing her to stand upright on her feet. "What the hell are you doing?" She questioned, making his teeth clench. He wanted so badly to tell her to shut her trap, but he knew if he did he would receive a punishment for even opening his.

Once she was fully on her feet, he threw a punch to her gut, which knocked her back into the wall harshly, as well as took her breath away. "Come on, man, I thought we were friends." She squeaked out, still trying to catch her breath as she was doubled over in pain. Before she could muster up enough strength to even attempt at fighting back, he grabbed her by the shoulder and powerfully used the palm of his other hand to dislocate the bones that connected at her joint, causing her to let out a screech of pain.

He then placed his hand on her forehead, pushing it back into the wall with so much force that it left a crack in it. Blood poured from the now opened gash on the back of her head, and the man nearly flinched. He wanted to stop himself so bad, but he didn't know how. He didn't want to hurt her but he knew he had to. He had to or they would hurt him.

Her head swam as her vision blurred helplessly, and the man's breath became shaky as he now took his strong hand and placed it around her small neck, squeezing her airway tightly.

She struggled under his embrace, her small hands grasping at his one big one, trying to pry his fingers away. Her eyes were wide and bulging as she stared directly at him, pleading for him to stop, until she noticed something she hadn't in a very long time.

When she was younger, she would look up into her older brother's eyes, and adore them for their uniqueness. One of them being completely blue and the other speckled beautifully with splashes of brown. He had a very unique disorder, also known as heterochromia, which only .67% of the world's population is graced with.

Looking into the eyes of her apparent fate, she believed she had seen a ghost. Her mouth fell open even more so than it already was, as she squeaked out the name that hasn't rolled off her tongue in 12 years, not since the night he had died in that car accident with her mother and her father. All those long years ago, and here he was trying to kill her. It's a funny world.

"Carl?" She said, and his eyes softened.

*

BUCKY was in a frantic state once he heard the news that Artemis had went out on a mission with Steve while he was unconscious, and he felt hurt in some way. But he knew that it had to be an urgent situation for her to leave his side, so he brushed it off as if it didn't bother him. She's had so much happen in her life, and so had he. They had a lot to catch up on.

Sitting in the back of the quinjet, he bounced his leg with an anticipatory glare. He wondered what she'd be doing, and where she was, and how she was, and if she was all there, or if she was even there at all. The thought struck him painfully, and he let out a shaky sigh, his hand running down his face. "God, Arty, please be okay," He begged under his breath, his eyes watering unwillingly.

But suddenly, a smile formed on his lips. He began to look at the bright side of things, and he saw her smile, he heard her laugh, and her snarky comments, and everything he had fallen so in-love with. He was smiling because they would, once again, for probably the 100th time, be reunited. He chuckled at the thought.

After a while, the quinjet he had ridden in began to slow down, and Bucky stood up, grabbing the duffle-bag of his things and placing it on his metal shoulder. He grabbed a handle that hung on the roof of the quinjet once the aircraft landed, making sure he did not topple over. "Rough-landing much?" He questioned under his breath as the door opened, revealing the top of a seemingly-expensive building. He stepped out onto the roof, looking around as his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight in front of him.

A few seconds later, he heard, "Hey Buck," from behind him, and he turned around at the voice of his best friend, Steve. A smile covered his face as they embraced each other, Steve giving Bucky a pat on the back once they pulled away. "Where's Artemis?" Bucky asked, eager to see her face and speak to her while he's not bleeding out.

Steve chuckled. "You know Arty, I think she went out to help Daredevil for the night. I blacked out, I was super tired." Steve said, but upon seeing the look of almost horror and anxiety on Bucky's face, he stopped walking, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't fret, Buck. I'm sure she'll be back soon. Let's go inside and talk or somethin', okay? Get your mind off of it." Steve gave him a genuine smile, in which he returned.

Bucky nodded in agreement, smiling as Steve lead the way back into the homey abode that they would be staying in for quite a while.