The Return of The Winter Soldier

The Search

Sam was flying over the woods, searching for any motion trying to find Bucky. He wasn't too high above the trees, but high enough that he could easily scan the ground if he saw movement. After a little over half an hour of flying over the woods, he decided maybe Bucky headed home, so he thought maybe he would find him there.

The beautiful architecture of Wakanda came into view as Sam flew into the barrier. Sam and Bucky had been staying with T'Challa and Shuri in the palace since the Avengers Compound was in the middle of reconstruction after the battle with Thanos. He landed in the courtyard before the palace doors as Shuri came out to meet him.

"Your majesty," Sam grinned at her.

"Back so soon?" Shuri asked curiously, eyeing his metal wings. She was always fond of the engineering behind Sam's pack, and one day Sam even let her try it out for research purposes so maybe she could replicate it or make more advanced technology-based off of it.

Sam nodded, letting his wings fold back up into his pack. "We finished up pretty quickly," Sam smirked, "Those agents didn't stand much of a chance anyway."

Shuri gave a chuckle and smiled.

"Is your brother here?" Sam asked the girl. Shuri shook her head. "No, he's out at some boring business meeting or something with my Mother. He'll be back sometime tomorrow evening."

Sam nodded then Shuri gave him a questioning look. "Where is the White Wolf?" She cocked her head to the side, waiting for an answer.

"Barnes? I thought he came back here," Sam frowned and quickly glanced up at the palace that was towering majestically behind Shuri. Shuri shook her head.

"He has not returned yet," Shuri had a concerned look on her face. "Did something happen?"

Sam shook his head and shifted his gaze to the ground. I thought for sure he'd be here, where did he go?

"We were fighting off the last of the agents when one of them was getting away, so I left Bucky and went after him," Sam started to explain. "I also circled the area a bit but didn't see Bucky again, so I was hoping he came back here."

"Maybe he took a wrong turn or something, I'm sure he'll be back shortly," Shuri said with a grin, trying to reassure him. Sam nodded in reply, then Shuri turned on her heel and entered the palace with Sam trailing behind.

Yeah, he'll be here soon, I'll just wait a little bit.

~¥~

Bucky felt like he'd be walking for hours. His legs were sore, but he wouldn't stop.

He couldn't.

Even if he wanted to, the Winter Soldier still had complete control over his body.

No matter how hard Bucky tried, it seemed he couldn't break through even a little bit. He'd be trying that for hours too, and it mentally drained and exhausted him to the point where many times, he thought about just giving up and letting the Winter Soldier take him over completely again.

But that's exactly what Hydra wants, and I can't hurt anyone else. I have to keep trying.

Bucky knew it wouldn't be much longer that he would have this much of his mental corner left. He could already feel it decaying; his corner getting smaller, his grip on reality slipping. It wouldn't be long until the Winter Soldier completely took over his mind too.

Bucky decided to focus on his surroundings for a bit to try and figure where they are and where they were going. The Winter Soldier seemed to be going somewhere . . . familiar.