Bucky POV
...
The woman is Kalee Batrei. HYDRA Sargent. Bucky thought she died with the rest of them. Obviously not.
Bucky's once barren walls are now covered with newspaper clippings, classified files, pictures from security cameras, and sheets of paper with Bucky's unruly handwriting scribbled all over it. Sure, the technique may be a little old-fashioned, but so is Bucky. For a 106-year-old man, Bucky thinks he managed quite well without owning his own. He stopped at the public library to do some research on HYDRA and even figured out how to use the printer.
He estimated a timeline, starting from the night at the boathouse. Most of that information was Bucky writing out everything he could remember that night. He was sent on a mission to save Kalee Bateri from Fury. For being a good guy, the man sure does use some questionable means of interrogation.
The mission was supposed to be fairly easy until HYDRA found out that Kalee broke. At the time she was one of the newest recruits, she spilled everything she knew about HYDRA. Bucky blew up the boathouse, two SHIELD agents died as well as Kalee. Or so Bucky thought.
Turns out, only two months after that night she was spotted in Slovenia and a few months after that in South Africa. After that, the next time she was seen was when Bucky saw her the other night. Bucky doesn't even know her motive.
The super soldier sits in his recliner staring at the evidence on the wall. None of it makes sense really, he deducted that Kalee wants him dead, but besides that, he can't figure out where she is or what happened in the alley. In fact, Bucky has visited that alley twice after his encounter and still can't figure out where she disappeared to.
The shops on either side are abandoned but they were both empty. Bucky has mastered finding secret doors and stairs, but absolutely nothing.
The man even thought of tracing the number. Regrettably, he made the splendid decision to throw his phone against the wall in anger.
"Damn it," He mutters to himself, slamming his hand against the arm of the recliner. There has to be something he is missing.
...
The air is slightly chilly on his skin but it feels nice. It's relaxing, especially because his apartment is small and muggy. Upon waking up, Bucky decided to go back to the alley again. There has to be something there, after all, normal people can't just disappear into thin air.
Actually, if Bucky's being honest he wouldn't be surprised if they could considering it is the 21 century. It's almost comical how different it is, women are CEOs of companies, people are (mostly) free and accepted to date whoever they want whether it be two boys or two girls. That stuff is all good, the thing Bucky doesn't like as much is technology.
Sure it has its perks, you could get food from hitting a button on your phone instead of having to walk four blocks, you could watch movies from your house, text or call people anywhere in the world, and so much more Bucky probably doesn't even comprehend. Nevertheless, he misses going out with Steve to take ladies dancing or roam around the city. Sometimes, if Bucky had off of work the best friends would even go out past the city and into the woods. Inside of the woods was a small stream that they rested by for hours. If it was hot, they even walked in it.
Now though, Bucky's positive that the stream and woods have been replaced by enormous buildings. He yearns for the quiet times when the city was still a city but just a little smaller. Just a little less busy. He misses being young, he misses his life before the war turned everything inside out, before it put his brain through the blender and he had to put it back together again.
Most of all though, he misses Steve, little Steve. Sure, he loved Steve the same before and after the serum, but there was always something so inspiring to him about how the kid would go running into trouble to save a dame he never met before or to stand up to a bully. If Bucky's being honest, he missed being his best friend's hero. After the serum, Steve didn't need him. After HYDRA, Bucky was nothing but a burdensome responsibility.
As the alley gets closer, Bucky tries to concentrate on finding anything that will help him find Kalee. At first glance, nothing is strange about it. Lines of garbage, walls covered in graffiti. He walks deeper into the alley, examining the walls and looking up to the roofs. Nothing.
After closely scrutinizing the area, pushing on the back wall to see if there are some super-secret doors, he finds nothing. Bucky stands in the middle of the alley with a sigh.
Think Bucky! Steve or Sam probably would've figured this out already. Sam. I could call Sam. Bucky shakes off the idea quickly. He wouldn't want to help. Besides I can figure it out. She couldn't have gotten out back onto the street because I would've seen her. She didn't get out through the back because it is a wall. The only other way out is up.
Up!
Bucky quickly scans the area for security cameras or any prying eyes. When he is sure it is empty, he takes a few steps back and then a running start. With all his might he launches himself upwards, it's not enough to land on the roof, so he thrusts his arm outwards to catch himself. As expected, his metal arm breaks away part of the brick to form a perfect hand holder.
He brings his flesh hand up and does the same thing, quickly making it up to the roof. He probably could've found a fire escape somewhere, but that would've taken a lot longer.
From up here, he can see the crowds of people on the streets below walking like herded animals to their jobs, stores, or back home. Bucky exhales deeply scanning the top of the roof for anything out of the ordinary.
After walking around for a while, Bucky notices a square cut out into the floor, it is meant to look blended into the rest of the roof. This might be something. The Super Soldier gets down on one knee and raises his metal arm, punching straight through the thin material. Below him is a set of wooden stairs. Perfect.
To be on the safe side, the ex-assassin pulls out the knife hidden in his pocket and descends into darkness. Luckily, HYDRA facilities are always dark, so he's gotten used to fighting in it. At the bottom of the stairs is a long hallway. Bucky pushes himself up against the wall and shuffles over to the door.
In case it's just another store, he hides his knife behind his leg and turns the knob. Inside the room are computers and technology.
Next to one of them is a girl with jet black hair.
Her back is turned to Bucky, so he tentatively enters the room, careful to stay against the wall and make his way around the perimeter of it.
With a calculated stare, Bucky slowly pulls his knife up and behind his head. Just like HYDRA taught him. Just like The Winter Soldier. Bucky exhales quietly.
I am not the Winter Soldier.
The ex-Assasin releases the knife. His aim is perfect. A scream echoes around the room. Now, Bucky runs forward. Kalee glares at the man from her position against the wall. The knife landed directly under her arm, pinning the woman to the back wall. She looks unamused at the knife and tries to pull it out but to no avail.
Bucky's smarter than that. He threw it at a slight angle so it would be harder to remove. The supersoldier uses one hand to push the agent's other arm against the wall and place his other forearm over her neck. He pushes only hard enough to keep her in the same place.
It's the second rule: Don't hurt anyone.
"I bet you are surprised to see me alive," Kalee says with a smirk pulling at her lips. Bucky applies more pressure to her arm and neck.
His breathing is heavy and he seethes, "What do you want from me."
She lets out a small laugh, "Why would I tell you?"
Bucky clenches his jaw. He can kill her. He can kill her now, and this would all be over. It scares him how prevalent that thought is. It scares him how tempting it is to slide his hands on either side of her head and snap it. It scares him that The Winter Soldier's instinct and training is his too.
"So what are you going to do to me, James? Kill me? I thought you stopped that. I thought you weren't the Winter Soldier anymore."
"I'm not."
Kalee rolls her eyes, "That's not your choice. Whether you like it or not you are The Winter Soldier. So you were brainwashed. It was still you, you and I both know you don't think all that differently from when you were him. The only difference now is the people you kill. How do you not see that? Killing for HYDRA is no different than killing for the Avengers, people just put the Avengers on a pedestal and assume what they are doing is right. The Avengers are no better than HYDRA."
"That's not true," Bucky spits.
She sighs, "Why? Because Steve was one? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe Steve wasn't right, Buck?"
Bucky's face twitches and he forces the woman harder into the wall. His eyes are locked on hers, "You don't know anything."
"That's the problem with society. Anyone who disagrees is assumed to be stupid, to be wrong, or evil. Human's feelings, their emotions, get in the way of deciding what is right and wrong. Human's loved Steve so they refused to think that anything he did was wrong. Steve was wrong. He let the biggest threat to humanity live. He let you live because of his emotions."
Bucky's fingers dig into Kalee's arm, "Don't say his name."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, 'He Who Must Not be Named.'"
"What do you want from me? I'll kill you if you don't tell me," Bucky asks again through gritted teeth. He tries to push the words from his head, it isn't true, it isn't. She is just trying to get into his head. She succeeded.
He let you live. The biggest threat to humanity.
"You're not going to kill me," she says with conviction, "and if you do, you prove my point, James. It's a win-win situation."
Bucky's heart is beating rapidly, his breathing is labored and a bead of sweat drips down his forehead. She can't be right, she just can't.
Steve, he can't be wrong. Right?
"Well," Kalee muses, "This is dramatic."
Bucky sneers at the woman and pushes her harder into the wall.
Pain.
The world moves in slow motion, a blazing orange pierces through the darkroom. Everything is hot. A thick cloud of smoke settles around Bucky, stinging his eyes and forcing its way down his throat.
A loud ringing cacophony fills his ears and his vision blurs. He can make out Kalee standing by an open doorway next to something. Someone. Her lips are moving but he can't hear the voice.
Focus. Focus.
Through the haze, he barely read her lips, "Not yet. Wait until tomorrow."
The frame next to her doesn't have a face. Bucky squints his eyes. He's wearing a mask, big white eyes glower at him, and the hate radiating from him makes a shiver fall over Bucky's warm skin.
The soldier's lungs burn and rattle with smoke, he's positive that if he didn't have the serum he would be dead.
A wet and sticky substance mats his hair to his forehead, pain stretches outward from the middle of his leg. His vision blurs again and he desperately forces his eyes open. The two figures once standing in the doorway disappear.
He takes another ratchet breath. Dots dance in his vision. The dots get bigger until they merge and all that's left is darkness.