protivvyter | (no subject)

He stumbles out of the base, his flesh arm hanging limp next to him. For the second time, it's been dislocated. This time by being hit by a door.

Behind him, explosions reduce the base to rubble. He's not going to look back. He's not. This was another base that fell to a mysterious force, and he planned for it to stay that way. His metal arm fumbles at his belt, putting a couple of thumb drives into his pockets. He got the information out, and will be taking that to his contact to drop it off.

Bucky starts running, able to feel his body protesting the movement. Still, whatever Zola infected him with did its job and kept him moving. the pain in his shoulder dulled. He's sure there's other wounds on his body, but he's ignoring them for now. They can be handled later.

His internal timer counts down and he stumbles behind a tree just as the main bombs go off in the base behind him. Something stings on his bad shoulder and something else pings off his metal arm. Panting, he puts his forehead to his upraised knees. This is a lot harder than he thought it would be.

Hearing a twig snap, he jumps to his feet, prepared to fight again.

Threaded | Flat

For months, it seemed like each lead was another cold one that Steve couldn't seem to find an end to. Sometimes, the Avengers would look into the HYDRA bases. Other times it was just Steve and Sam. And each time, they were just a few steps behind Bucky. Each time, they were too late, the bodies still reeking but the fires gone cold. To anyone else, it would look like some team had taken the base out, some tactical force that had many skills. No way could it be the work of one man?

But Steve knew better.

The boys are separated. Sam is somewhere, Steve's not sure where. In the sky perhaps? They'd lost contact thirty minutes ago, something that Steve regretted. And yet, he thought that this time it was different. This time, there was a trail. The blood trail was small, but it was there. Bucky had to be hurt in some way.

He wasn't the tracker that Bucky was, but he had a few skills still left up his sleeves. He hears the explosions going off around him, trying not to be startled by the noise. He's heard worse. Hell, he'd caused worse. He doesn't expect to see Bucky like this, catching him off guard. His eyebrows raise and he reaches up to tug off his mask. "Buck... It's me? It's Steve."