Opening the eyes is more difficult than she remembers it. Everything hurts, she feels dizzy and has the feeling to get sick at any moment. She is cold. A shiver runs up her arms and after several tries, she manages to open her eyes. The room is small. No windows, no furniture, just the bed she's lying on. She tries to sit up but her whole body feels numb. Panic rises in her and she looks around more hastily. My body hurts, I can feel it. So why won't it move? She's scared and if she wouldn't know that something happened to her, then she would scream. Instead, she whispers, just to calm her nerves. "It's okay. Everything's fine. Tony knows. He's coming to get you. You're alright." Light lights up the room and hurts her eyes. She presses them close and as she opens them again there's a face just above hers. "You're awake. Wonderful. Then we can start." The guy claps his hands together and two more men come in with a wheelchair. One of them picks her up and sets her down. She tries frantically to get away from him but still her body refuses to move. "You know, we cupped some nerves in your body. You can try as much as you want. You won't be able to move." The first man turns around and smiles down to her before he cups her chin in his hands. "Don't worry. We didn't really cut them. It's just a drug. Not very comfortable. But, hey. It's not me." An ugly grin spreads on his face before the man turns around again and starts to leave. The two others follow him, one of them pushing the wheelchair. "W-why are you doing this?" She knows her voice is shaking and that everybody can see how scared she is, but she doesn't really care. She wants to go home. To Steve and Bucky. To the Avengers. Anywhere is okay now but not here. "What? We didn't even get started." She hears the smile in the husky voice of the first man. "You know. These people, these Avengers", he spits the name out with disgust. "I hate them. And there are more people who do. People more powerful than me. I'm just a stooge, but I get to do the fun stuff, so it's fine. And of course, we can't get to one of them. It's good that the news discovered someone our dear Captain and his friend got quite attached to. You're living with them, so I assume the others got to like you as well. What a better chance is there to get them pining and mourn, than to take something they love and turn it into something they hate?"
"Wha- what do you mean?" The man laughs as they run a corner. "You're amusing. You really want to know what we're going to do to you?" He doesn't turn around or waits for an answer before he continues. "What do your so-called heroes hate? Villains who want to destroy the city or planet. People who use the power they have to control others or use it for their own liking. So, we're going to do just that. We're giving you powers. We have to turn your mind for a bit but I think we're well-trained for that. We got the Winter Soldier for almost seventy years after all." A shiver runs down her spine. She doesn't need to hear more about what they want to do to her. She knows enough about Bucky's past to fear what's coming. The brunette never told her himself but Steve did and the others filled some gaps. She finds herself drifting into her own personal mind space as the man carries on his monologue. Suddenly there's a slap and her cheek burns. "You know it's not nice to ask questions and not to listen to the answer." Fearful she looks up at him. The man glares at her but soon turns around and walks through a door. The room is filled with light. Some people run around and hushed voices are heard. "Welcome to your new home." He gestures through the room but Y/N's eyes fix on something in the middle of it. It looks like a stretcher from a hospital, made out of metal but there are more tubes, cables and other things Y/N doesn't know. The stretcher is cut length in two halves. Some tubes run through the cut, the open side looking to the ceiling with thick but short needles looking up. Y/N is sure that if she lies down, they will bore into her spine. "I see you inspect your new bed for the next few days. I can reassure you, it will really hurt." Her eyes twitch for a second to him before they get back to the stretcher. Strong arms pick her up and suddenly it hits her. She's going to get tortured. "No. No! Please, please don't. PLEASE!"
* * *
Tony paces around the common room. He worries and tries to think of some solution, something to find Y/N as soon as possible. The doors fly open and several steps stomp in. "Tony! Anything new?" Steve comes up. He's dirty from the fight earlier and has some cuts in his face. He uses his Cap-voice and the look in his face shows that he's ready to throw some punches at whoever has her. Tony just shakes his head and looks at everyone for a brief moment. Natasha, Clint, Sam. Bucky and Steve. "Since her call there's nothing new. She lost it in the park. I can't pinpoint where she is. FRIDAY lost track of the truck as it left New York."
"How could this happen? I thought you stayed back to watch over her!" Steve looks back at his boyfriend but doesn't say anything. "She wanted to go alone. I told Happy to follow her and he did. But he lost her somewhere around the lake."
"Stark, I swear. If anything-"
"I get it. You'll rip my ass open. Fine! But I'm blaming myself enough already."
"Stop it!" Natasha steps between them and glares at Bucky. "We need to find her before something serious happens to her." Bucky looks at her before he stomps back to lean at a far-off wall. Steve watches him but says nothing. He turns back to Tony again. "Any idea where to find her?" Tony sighs and strokes through his hair. "I thought it back and forth but I can't come up with anything. FRIDAY searches for empty and abandoned buildings that are possible for HYDRA to stay at."
"This was a trap. This whole base thing was a trap just to get to her somehow." Sam turns around and punches at the wall before he turns back and looks around. "Why Y/N?"
"She's not special. I mean she has no powers." Clint steps away from Bucky who glares at him as Natasha sits down on the backrest of the sofa beside her and starts to talk. "But she's familiar with all of us, and she's living here. You don't need to be an assassin to know that you capture someone dear to your target to get to it."
"But who do they want?" Steve looks lost at her and she shrugs. "Boss. I got some buildings located."
"How many?"
"Twenty-three."
"Too many. Can you exclude some? Search for big buildings with more floors. Cellars. Something like that." Tony starts pacing once again. "That leaves three buildings."
"Any indication for humans?"
"In two of them."
"Shit." Tony kicks against a chair. "Suit up, Tony." Tony's head snaps up at Steve's words. "Two is still better than three. We're enough people. You, Bucky and I get to one, Nat, Sam and Clint take the other one. Its quicker. Wanda, Vision and Bruce stay here, just in case something comes through which we need to know." Tony stares for a second, then he nods and presses a button on his watch. A whirring sounds through the room and in mere seconds the pieces of his suit come flying in.
* * *
"Nat, we reached the building."
"We need two more minutes. I don't see any trucks or people."
"Here are many of them." Steve looks at the trucks which are in front of the building they want to go in. "Should we come to you?"
"No. Look around. If you don't find anything then come to us." He looks back at Bucky and Tony and nods. The two other men nod back after hearing what Nat had said. "Let's get her out of here."
"We have to be quick." Tony scans the area and curses. "There are a lot of people here."
"Buck, can you get in unnoticed and snoop around?"
"Sure." The brunette nods and crouches out of their hide out. Steve observes as his lover runs over the open place. He searches a few windows before he slips though one into the building. Nervously he stares at the spot Bucky just slipped in and shuffled around. A hand lays on his shoulder and he turns around. "We get her. Are you planning on telling her then?"
"We... we haven't talk about it yet. I don't plan on waiting to long. I did it once." Tony nods before standing up. The helmet covers his face as he looks around. "Better get moving, Cap."
"Try to secure the west and north side of the building. There are the doors that can get dangerous for us." Steve nods to Tony as the billionaire speeds into the air, then he grabs his shield and runs after Bucky. It takes him just a few seconds to look at his surroundings. He's in a storage room. Slowly he opens the door. A few agents lie on the floor, most of them unconscious. He steps over them and runs down the hall, before stumbling right into the fight. Bucky is on the other end of the large room, fighting against six agents. Four more notice Steve and come running at him, shooting wildly. Steve throws his shield at one of them which knocks him right into the head. The man falls down motionless. "Buck! Did you find something?" He twitches and groans as a bullet grazes his right thigh. "Not yet. But she's here somewhere." Bucky has some blood in his face, though Steve can't tell if it's his own or not. Steve nods before he punches another man in the face and uses him as shield against the other two who violently try to shoot him, instead they hit their colleague. Steve lets the body fall, scoops up his shield and throws it once more. It hits the wall before knocking both men down to the ground. With a quick motion Steve hits the shield into their faces and both are unconscious. "Cap! They're are coming more! Romanov and the other are on their way. They're here in about ten minutes!"
"Roger that. Can you block the door?"
"On it!" Bucky glances at Steve as he hits the last enemy to the ground. "There's no one coming in if the door is blocked."
"They'll find a way." Bucky nods before he looks around. "I'll go up the two floors. You search here and go down to the cellar."
"Be careful. We promised, no injuries." Steve flashes Bucky a smile and they share a short kiss before each man runs in their direction to investigate.
It took Bucky only fifteen minutes to search the top floor, but other than folders, filled with files and some agents, the whole floor is empty. The first floor is trickier than that. More agents are around and every so often he has to fight his way through. At some point Nat joined him. "Where's Sam and Clint?" Bucky punches the head of and Hydra agent against the wall and lets him slide down to the ground. "Clint went with Steve. Sam's outside with Tony." Natasha jumps another agent in the chest which made him stumble in two others before she shoots each of them. "Did you find something?"
"No. Just files." They run down the hall searching the rooms. "Fuck!" Bucky curses as they reach the end of the hall. He angrily punches against the wall creating a big hole. "Steve? Steve! Did you find anything?" The comm cracks and grunting and fighting sounds are heard before Steve answers. "More or less. Here's definitely something." Bucky hears him grunt again as the sound of shoot come through. "Come down here. We might be quicker. Here are more agents then in the whole ground floor." Bucky nods at the redhead before they rush to the stairs. Thy just managed to reach the end of it as the comm cracks again. "Tinman, Capsicle! I found her. South end of the west hall." Tony's voice is hectic but concentrated. Bucky wonders how he managed to find her if he's outside, but he doesn't ask. He just runs in the direction Tony told him to go. In mere minutes he pushes the door open and he stops horrified. There, on a stretcher, she is. Lying almost naked. She's pale, almost white and Bucky can see that there are needles she's lying on. In a corner of the room he sees a similar device HYDRA used to brainwash him and he prays that they didn't got to use it on her. He steps closer. Steve's already holding her hand while Tony stands on a computer. Y/N is attached to several machines. Some showing heartbeat, pulse and hydration. Another one shows a green screen that reads, in big black letters, 'Injection complete'. "Y/N!"
"Don't" Bucky's head snaps up and he glares at Tony. "What?!"
"Don't pick her up." Tony stands at a screen, scrolling through files and texts. "Are you crazy!" Steve lays a hand on Bucky's shoulder while still holding Y/N's hand. "What's going on, Tony?"
"You see these tubes?" He points at the stretcher but doesn't wait for an answer. "They have needles which are attached to her spine. If you try to get her down from the stretcher you could hurt her more, even get her paralyzed. We have to find the code to dislocate the needles."
"Then find it!" Bucky looks down again. He eyes a peculiar thick needle which is connected right on her neck. "Don't yell at me, Tinman! I'm already looking." Tony scrolls further through the files as suddenly an alarm screeches through the room. They all look up and their eyes immediately fall on Y/N. "Quick! Tony, find these codes", Steve screams. Y/N starts to shake and one of the monitors she's attached to shows her pulse slow down. A red light flashes. "This doesn't look good. I can't find them!"
"Fuck this shit." Bucky stands up steps beside Tony and suddenly, with a quick motion rips out the whole computer. "Are you out of your mind! This could kill her!" Bucky doesn't look at Tony but looks at Y/N. "She gets a seizure. We have to lay her down!" Tony looks around and spots a few Hydra doctors huddled in a corner, watched by Clint. In a few steps he's at their sides and drags one of them over to the stretcher and holds a repulsor at his back. "Get these tubes from her! NOW!" In a quick few seconds she's almost free. "The last one too."
"I- I can't. The boss has the Key to it." Desperate Bucky looks around, then he steps to her, pushes the doctor to the side and rips out the whole tube from the stretcher, still connected to Y/N neck. He talks with Steve through their eyes and both decide to do what they can. Together they lift her carefully from the stretcher and lay her on the ground. It takes her a few minutes before she goes still again. For a second, Bucky fears that she stopped breathing altogether but then he sees her chest lift and fall. He lets out a sigh before he takes her hand. He frowns before silently running his thumb over the back of her hand. "She's so cold."
"We have to get her out of here. Nat! Gather each information you can get in the next ten minutes. Tony, save everything from the computer you can. Bucky, help me to get her to the jet. Clint, Sam. Help us to cover her." Each of them nods at Steve's word and they get to action. This night no one sleeps. They all wait for Bruce to come back and for Dr. Helen Cho to arrive and to save Y/N.
* * *
The days go by and turned into weeks and then into a month. Bucky and Steve go down to the med bay visiting Y/N as often as they can and stay as long as possible. Steve sits on a chair holding her hand, reading to her or doing sketches of her or the room. Bucky just sits in his chair staring at Y/N, looking out of the window or talks to her about things that are on his mind. They feel responsible for what happened and even if they blamed Tony for letting it happen, they knew he was guilty, too. He was down here almost as often as the two soldiers were. Every time he would stand beside her, stroking through her hair before whispering that he's sorry and leaves. Steve even saw him cry one time. They stopped being angry at him after it. Both of them even knew that he wasn't really at fault because Y/N can be stubborn and if she wants to go out alone, then she goes out alone.
It's day thirty-three and Steve sits beside Y/N again. Bucky has refused to come today and Steve can understand. It's a lot for him. Bucky just got back to himself, lost the trigger words and starts building a new life. And now someone he cares about, deeply, is about to... He can't finish the sentence. He closes his eyes and grips Y/N's hand a bit tighter. Her hand is warm, small in his. He looks up again and strokes his thumb over the back of her hand. He frowns a bit. Then he presses the button that notifies Bruce and just a few second later he steps in. "Steve?"
"I don't know if I imagine it, but she feels warm. Really warm." He lets go of her hand and looks as Bruce frowns himself and steps up on the other side of Y/N's bed. He takes her hand in his own. Steve watches as his frown deepens. "Are you sure? She feels a bit colder than normal to me."
"What? No. She definitely was really warm." He takes her hand again. Still, really warm. Confused about the fact he stands up and touches the other hand. "Oh my... Here. Take her other hand." Steve steps back from the bed. Bucky and Tony take that moment to enter the room. They stop and look at both men standing beside Y/N. "What's going on here?" Steve looks up but says nothing. Tony looks between the two men and steps more into the room while Bucky just stares. Steve sees Bucky's eyes on Bruce as the man takes both of Y/N's hands in his. A sharp intake of air lets them all look at him. "What?"
"I'm right, am I?"
"Bruce...?" Everyone talks at the same time. Bruce let go of her hands again before he takes the chart on Y/N's end of the bed. He flips over a few pages before he nods. "I need to run some tests."
"Bruce! What the actual fuck is going on here?" Tony looks angry between Bruce and Steve and back. "Steve found something interesting, which is not normal and could get her condition worse. I want to test some things."
"And what?" Bruce motions to the chart in his hands. Tony steps closer and throws a look on it before he, too, takes in a sharp breath. "That's strange and definitely not normal."
"Buck?" Every eye pair in the room turns to Bucky as Steve says his name. The brunette stands where he was but now, he's shaking. Steve steps up to him, to lay a hand on his shoulder but Bucky flinches. Suddenly he turns around and runs out of the room. "Bucky!"
"Hey, Tinman!" Steve looks helpless to Tony and Bruce before he darts out of the room as well. It leaves Tony and Bruce alone with Y/N. Both silently agree on doing some tests together and half a day later they stand in Bruce's lab, both crouched over some papers before Bruce speaks up. "Whatever it was, that was in these tubes, it's not good. In the files you gave me I could find some formulas. We know already that they experiment on people. But this time it was to create a new Winter Soldier. Tony. Whatever it was what was in these tubes is giving her powers we don't know of. I can't think about them like the one Wanda has. If they managed to brainwash her, its worse than we think."
"What do you suggest?"
"We should not tell them. I don't think Bucky can handle that right now. Steve probably will blame himself. She's still in the coma. I don't think that this heat changing is noticeable for her. I could run some more tests to find out what exactly it does but I cannot guarantee for anything."
"Don't. Let's wait for her to wake up. Maybe there it's nothing. They could still have failed."