They rush to one of the jets. Impatiently Bucky takes a seat in the jet. Steve just had time to grab his shield.
Bucky leans forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. His lips pressed together, he rubs his hands and cracks his knuckles. He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair.
As they land the jet near the location where Dreykov has Natasha, Bucky storms out the back of the jet. Steve stops him.
"Buck, wait. We should wait for backup." He points his finger to the sky.
Looking up at the sky, there appears a vague silhouette that grows larger and larger. It's a person, and he's coming closer. He comes in fast but slows down at the last second landing next to Steve on both feet. His wings fold back into his pack.
"Thanks for helping out Sam."
"Always ready to help." Sam replies as he raises the control panel on the suit's left gauntlet. He taps and swipes the screen and from the back of his EXO suit a small drone shoots up in the air.
Bucky met Sam a few times but he doesn't really know him. They never spoke, and the times they communicated he annoyed the shit out of him. But now Natasha is missing, he can use all the help he can get to get her back safely.
He watches the drone fly up into the air and raises an eyebrow at Sam.
"It's a drone." Sam replies to Bucky's expression. "Redwing will scan the building and locate all living targets."
"Natalia is not a target!"
"Calm down, paranoid android. Redwing knows her signal, she'll be fine."
Squinting his eyes he chooses to ignore his nickname for him and turns to Steve. "What's the plan?"
~~~
They come up with a plan when Redwing has located everybody in the building.
"Good girl. Come back home." Sam purrs at the drone.
Bucky is weirded out by the gesture as Sam blasts off into the air. He's going to scout the building from above and takes everyone out that's trying to escape the building. Steve and Bucky enter the building to search for Natasha.
His hands itch as he grips his rifle tight. His senses are on high alert. He's not going to let her slip through his fingers again like last time. His earpiece is itching but he tries to ignore it.
The building is remarkably quiet and empty. But he remembers it. This was one of the hideouts of HYDRA. He remembers that he was kept here a few times after a mission. Wiping his mind and keeping him in cryogenic state. His muscles tense up thinking about it.
"This way." Steve says softly.
"We need to find her now."
"We will. This way."
All kinds of thoughts go through his head. If they hurt her... then Dreykov is dead...
"Outside the coast is clear." They hear Sam speak into their ear piece. "I see 5 people moving in a room behind the first door on your left."
"On it, Sam." says Steve. "Ready?" he asks Bucky. He nods.
Steve kicks in the door and they both storm in. They see 4 henchmen with Dreykov in the middle.
"Where is she?!" Bucky barks.
"Who do you mean?" Says Dreykov in a condescending tone. He turns around, amused by the two heroes that just burst into the room. "Oh! You mean your ballerina?" He grabs a remote control from the inside of his jacket and turns on an old fashioned picture tube. They see Natasha tied to a chair. She is struggling to loosen her restrains. Her arms and feet are tied to a big wooden chair, her mouth gagged and taped with duct tape.
Bucky gasps and stares at the screen. He steps forward, grabs his jacket and pushes the rifle into Dreykov's chin. "Where is she?! Tell me where she's in or I'll shoot your brains onto the ceiling!"
"I wouldn't do that," Dreykov says, holding up his finger. "If you do, I'll let go of this dead man's button and she'll blow up..." A wide grin appears on his face.
"Stop it Buck! He's right..." He beckons back to the screen.
He just now notices the explosives surrounding Natasha. Bucky growls and lowers his rifle slightly. "Why are you doing this? What do you want?"
Dreykov points to Bucky. "I want you to work for me."
"Ha! Why would I do that?" asks Bucky irritably.
"If you don't, your ballerina will decorate the walls." Dreykov is gesturing to the dead man's switch, firmly grasped in the palm of his hand.
"What I'm asking you to do is stand still while I say the code words to activate the Winter Soldier."
Bucky grins. "Good luck with that."
Dreykov looks at him askance. "What do you mean?"
"I'm free..." Bucky laughs. "While you plotting your plans, I have been working on my mind. Freeing myself from HYDRA's grip."
"Hmm, these are unforeseen circumstances." He seems to be thinking. "But what I can do is keep you both here. If you don't do what I say, I'll kill her."
Bucky and Steve see a small red drone appear behind the men. It's Red Wing. In their earpiece they hear Sam. "Are you ready?" Sam whispers. Steve lets out a soft 'mm-hm'. "Close your eyes in 3...2...1...
Both squeeze their eyes shut, through their eyelids they can see the blinding light illuminating the room. Redwing launched a flash bullet that causes temporary flash blindness to anyone who's eyes aren't closed.
A few seconds later, they open their eyes and see them rubbing their eyes and groaning. Some try and find their way out but bump into each other.
Bucky grabs Dreykov's hand tight of which he is holding the dead mans switch. From his hip he pulls a large hinting knife and with one strong swing he slices his hand off his arm. Dreykov screams in pain as the blood squirts out from the end of his arm. From the ground he grabs a piece of improvised rope to tie of the hand to secure the switch.
"Thanks Sam" Steve says into his earpiece. Bucky looks at the severed hand, still bleeding and twitching in his grip. "Now you know how that feels." He says with a small grin. He kneels down Dreykov, who is groaning and cursing the floor. "Now you tell me where she is..."
Dreykov starts laughing. "You'll never find her in time...! The bombs are rigged and will blow up in a few minutes..!"
Bucky looks back at the screen and sees that she is being taken by 2 men. Bucky knocks Dreykov on his jaw, knock out. "Sam?! Can you see her?!"
"Yeah, I see 3 people going up the stairs towards the roof. One of them is Romanoff!"
Bucky runs towards the stairwell and runs up 2 steps at a time. Steve follows him. Once 12 floors up, they've arrived on the roof. There are 2 men dragging a weakened Natasha by her arms to the edge of the building. Without hesitation they push Natasha off the building.
Bucky gasps. Time stands still as he watching Natasha tumble off the edge. "No!!" He runs to the edge of the roof. His hart stops as he looks down, expecting the worst.
"Help me!" Natasha yells.
There she is, hanging on one of the window frames a few floors below. Barely enough strength to hold on to herself, her fingers fail her and her hand slips. "James!"
Without hesitation Bucky jumps from the edge and digs into the bricks of the wall with his metal hand and lowers himself. When they are at the same level, he grabs her tight with his free arm. She can let go of the window frame and wraps her arms tightly around Bucky.
"I thought I lost you." Bucky whispers.
"It's not that easy to get rid of me, James" she grins with a tired smile. They climb back into the building through the window and hug. He digs his face in her hair and smells it. He really thought he lost her.
"I love you, Natalia."
"I love you too, James."
"The explosives are rigged so we need to get out of here before..."
Before they can react, they can feel the floor shake. Suddenly Sam sees one of the middle floors of the building explode. Debris flies in all directions and the entire building begins to collapse. Steve is almost out but is thrown out by the shock waves from the explosion. "Steve!" yells Sam who just landed. He grabs Steve by his shoulder strap and flies him away from the rubble.
"Where are Buck and Nat?!" yells Steve.
"I- ... I can't see them. Let me scan the area." Sam flies into the sky and scans the area. "I see 2 heat signals on the northeast corner."
Steve runs in that direction and starts yelling. "Bucky?! Natasha?!" He begins to push rubble aside and starts searching for his friends. In the corner of his eyes he sees debris shifting. Bucky emerges from the rubble.
"Help her!" he shouts desperate. He lifts Natasha in his arms up from the rubble. She's unconscious.