The longer Bucky spent alone, the more paranoid he became; the more convinced he became that someone was watching or following him. He stooped about in the blackest eclipsing shadows, traversing under the cover of their dark blanket, and avoided CCTV cameras at all costs. He skulked about like a timid creature of the night; avoiding the bright open daylight or people. He concealed himself from the prying eyes of civilians and the watchful lenses of cameras. He remained out of sight and off the radar and made sure not to revisit the same neighbourhood twice: that had served unsuccessful on both occasions he had done it.
But he was certain he recognised some of the city goers that passed by. He was sure he'd seen a few men pass him by more than three or four times. He was one-hundred percent sure he'd crossed their path at the other end of the city and exchanged a momentary glance; but they didn't acknowledge him as they strayed by him again. The men had unfriendly gruesome faces, scarred in a defining pattern, completely unique to them. They didn't smile and had the unnerving eyes of a predator or a huntsman; sharp with a cunning cleverness about them.
Bucky tried as best he could to keep his head down when he did note the worrying reappearance of certain characters, pulling a baseball cap down over his face or shrugging his jacket up a little higher. He always kept his hands hidden in his pockets, not willing to risk hinting at the bionic metal implement covered by the long sleeve.
He tried to keep track, making a mental note every time there was a reoccurrence of a face; and that's when he knew there was no mistake. He was right. He was being tailed by people.
Bucky became even more cautious with his every move, constantly checking over his shoulder to see if there was anyone there. He weaved down streets instead of going direct to his intended target location, trying to meander away from them and lose them with crafty manoeuvers. But they pursued him everywhere; every time he thought he had lost them, one would appear in front of him and walk past him and then eventually the one behind him would catch up again. It was all like some thoroughly choreographed routine.
He felt threatened and stalked, and knew it was only going to be a matter of time before one of them made a sly move that injured him. They were shifty and shady characters, not to be trifled with, who carried a sense of power with them, in their stance and their bearing. They always seemed to rattle as they walked past, probably armed with some nasty selection of weapons; concealed beneath a heavy long coat. They were untrustworthy and they wouldn't get lost.
Bucky was sloshing his way down an alley, wading through the puddle trying to break into his shoes and he heard a splashing behind him. His ears prickled as the sound reached him and his eyes flicked to the puddle beneath him and he caught the reflection of a familiar man in the rippling water; distorted, but obviously him.
He upped his pace, trudging a little faster through the murky mess and he heard the footsteps crash into the puddle a little faster behind him. His heart began to thump at a higher pace, pulsating wildly in his ribcage as he tried to keep calm. His breaths came snappy and shallow, hesitant as he tried to hide his undeniable fear.
He sped up more, testing the stamina and closeness of his stalker. He heard the splashing increase to higher intervals. It was certain he was being followed.
Bucky had the temptation to look over his shoulder; to just sneak a glance, to peek at the man so set on tracking him down for whatever reason. If he was going to have to hide from him, he'd have to see his face properly. He wanted to see at what proximity the stranger was; if he was at arm's length or at enough distance to lose him if he ran. He wanted to size him up, to calculate his weaknesses and work out if he was a real threat or not. He wanted to see if there were more of them.
He knew one brusque glance could give away the game. It would make them aware that he was being watched. He had managed to keep it a secret up until then.
Then he stole a brief glance, just one quick look. Bucky's curious blue eyes locked with the man's inquisitive dark brown ones. Bucky's eyes widened in horror as the man's narrowed. He had been acquired as a target and was marked as a threat to eliminate. He had become self-aware of the monitoring and had to be shut down.
The man ran at him, practically diving at Bucky to take him down. He was about equal in height and stature, but god only knew what weapons and devices he carried beneath that coat.
Bucky predetermined the tackling move and crouched, his solid head battering into the man's stomach as he pounced and flipped him over onto his back. The man landed with a sickening thwack, the air being winded out of his lungs and coughing.
Bucky stomped over with determination. The man slipped a sleek loaded gun from a holster and clicked off the safety with a dexterous thumb. He started firing shots off as Bucky moved towards him. Bucky agilely evaded them them, darting from side to side as each shot sparked out the end. He kicked the gun away from the breathless man's hand and pinned his wrist to the grubby floor with his boot. His other foot went to the man's stomach, holding him down and making him writhe in pain as more pressure was put on his wrist.
"Who are you working for?!" Bucky barked, glaring down at the man who had been following him for endless days, his eyes livid and a scowl across his face.
The man laughed foully at him. He chuckled at his expense, still grimacing in pain as he belted out the accented laughs. Bucky was repulsed by his arrogance and punched him across the cheek. That ended the laughter momentarily as his head jerked to the side. Blood began to trickle in a scarlet stream from the man's nose and down to his lips, some droplets leaking into his mouth.
"I said: who are you working for?!" He spluttered, crouching down and locking his metal hand around the man's fragile neck and giving it a cursory squeeze, testing the pressure he could put on without breaking it. "If you don't tell me, I will crush your throat with my hand..." He bit out.
"You really don't know?" The man goaded in a rich German accent, still laughing callously away through the torture. Then there was a sickening crunch as his back teeth clinched together and a frothing began something leaked into his mouth. "Heil..." He coughed, foam bubbling from the back of his throat and starting to pour out of his trembling bloodied lips. "HYDRA..." He gasped, seething and guttering. As he coughed, flecks of corrosive blood showered his face and the white froth poured down his cheek. "Cut off one head..." He wheezed, using his final breaths to utter the organisation slogan. "Two more shall take it's place..." Then the life left him with a final whiny rasp and he convulsed in the mud, with no dignity in his death. The lights left his eyes and he stared blankly up at the sky, no consciousness residing in his brain any longer.
They were trying to get him back. Operatives were gathering behind him, and more still leaped across rooftops either side of the alley and ran ahead, hunting down a new prey.
He looked behind him at the monstrous men, armed to the teeth with knives and guns and broke into an all-out run.
Steve was returning from a refreshing lunch in a café bar. It had been the first proper meal he'd consumed in an eternity and he felt sated. The dehydrated headache had faded away and he no longer felt sick with hunger. He felt relieved. He felt zingy with energy and his sinuses felt clear. The day felt fresh and his lungs felt full and he was fused with life.
The streets were packed as he tried to make his way back to his bike, crowded with too many people to move. Too many people were walking slow, four abreast in the street, blocking him off and crowding him out. Then, by luck, he noted an alley that he could cut through back to the car park at the shopping centre. Seeing it as a far better option to trying to push through the streets, he headed off.
He churned his hand through his pocket as he walked, attempting to hook out his keys. He withdrew them from his pocket and toyed with them between his fingers trying to sort the others from the key to his bike.
Slam!
A fist flew to the side of Steve's face, jabbing him right in the eye, catching him completely off guard and unaware. His ears rang out with a high pitched screaming noise, falling completely deaf and he toppled to the side. His head spun and swirled and his vision blurred. The whole world turned into a dizzy fog and he fell against a wall, his hands scrabbling behind his back to hold him up.
His faceless assailant kneed him directly in the gut and Steve keened, lurching forwards involuntarily and clutching his wounded bruised belly. He tried to squint through the obscured smudged blur before him and avoided the next punch swung at him and managed to kick back his attacker, sending him back, hurtling into the wall opposite him. Then his ears cleared up, like someone had yanked a pair of ear defenders out.
"Where's the Winter Soldier?!" A Russian voice yelled at him.
His unrelenting attacker came right back at him again and hurled a brutal curled fist at Steve's already bruised face. Steve caught the fist at the last minute, inches away from his face with a slap as the skin collided. His hand shook as he tried to shove it away, pushing it away from his face and twisting it, trying to break the wrist at the end of it. He bared his teeth as he struggled to do so, his usual combat skills failing him. A fist was slammed into the other cheek, knocking him askew and making his nose crack. The knuckle met the bone and something snapped, blood poured in a thick gloopy flow from Steve's nose.
"Where is he?!" He shouted again, a hand latching onto Steve's throat. Steve's hands shot to his neck, scratching and scraping, trying to peel it away from him, trying to remove it from where it was suffocating him. The world only seemed to rush around him more, blurring more violently before his eyes as he gasped for breath.
"I don't know!" Steve rasped, coughing violently, his chest heaving up and down, his watery eyes pleading for freedom.
"Don't lie, Captain!" The voice demanded and he got a knee between the legs, making him whine and bend over. More reliance was put into the hand pinning him to the wall, practically holding him up as he whined in pain.
"I don't-" He gagged, the pain was overwhelming, he felt like he was going to throw up.
His knee was kicked in the wrong direction and a snapping noise was heard. Steve cried out, screeching in pain, but it came out as more of a hollow whimpering whine, the hand around his throat cutting out most of the noise. He screwed his eyes shut and threw his head back, writhing to get himself free.
The man squeezed Steve's throat tighter and then flung him onto the floor. His head collided with the pavement with a loud crack and black started to creep in from his peripheral vision, clouding his sight further and invading his vision.
Steve was lying on his back, blood leaking from his nose in a steady stream, flowing across his cheek and soaking into his blond hair, coughing and wheezing, allowed to breathe again. He convulsed disgustingly on the floor, every breath making a rugged hoarse noise.
His head was ringing with pain and everything was an obscured swirling vortex, every image was doused with a haze. His lip stung from where it had been split by a fist, his eye was throbbing, and he held out a hand of protection in front of him, the only thing he had left to hold the assailant back. He could taste blood, he could smell blood, and he could feel blood. His whole world tasted like metal and his body was singing with pain, every inch of him aching and burning.
"You have one last chance, Mr Rogers; where..." He said gruffly, cocking a pistol with an ostentatious click and flourish. "Is..." He crouched down and pressed the cold muzzle of the metal gun to Steve's bloodied forehead. "-The Winter Soldier?"
Steve coughed up more blood, whimpering pathetically, droplets splattering from his mouthing and dotting about his paled face. "Even if I knew..." He gagged and gasped. "I'd never tell you," he growled through gritted teeth, spitting blood out at the man.
"So be it..."
A shadowy figure sprung from the rooftop almost silently, landing straight on the man's shoulders and closing his legs around the man's throat. He garrotted him, stopping air entering his lungs, causing the victim to cough and hack and wheeze desperately, scratching at the legs tightened over his throat.
He dropped the pistol to the floor with a clack, his hands newly occupied with the legs around his neck.
The man toppled backwards at the uneven weight distribution, trying to shake his attacker off desperately. The man with his legs closed around his neck landed upside-down on his hands and pulled him over with him, flipping him so he fell smack on his back, being winded in the process, whilst he ended up on his feet.
The man was gasping for his breath, his whole body ragged as he tried to focus on pulling the air into his body through his bruised throat.
"The name is James Buchanan Barnes. You'd do well not to forget that."
Steve's saviour grabbed the gun and took one clean concise shot. The shot resounded, ringing in Steve's ears as the sound bounced around the alley. Steve let his head flop to the moist ground, no longer struggling to stay upright to watch. He knew he was safe.
"Bucky..." Steve sighed in a crackling voice, his chest heaving as he sucked in laboured breaths.
"Steve," Bucky called, lurching forwards towards his injured friend. He dropped to a squat and draped one of Steve's arms across his back. "C'mon, pal, we're going to get you home."
"They wanted you, Bucky..." Steve choked out. "They're looking for you. Why?"
"Who doesn't want a super soldier?" He retorted with a wink.
Steve chuckled, a smile making its way onto his battered face; but the laugh was quickly consumed by a coughing fit - of sorts.
"You need to be more careful..." Bucky started issuing ultimatums. "They want me back at Hydra, and they will stop at nothing to get me back there; which means if you try and stand in their way they will kill you too."
A/N - Dedication goes to TwoFacesYetOneSoul! x