Two Assassins Sitting In A Tree

Memories

It was the most terrifying thing he'd ever gone through. The feeling of the bar giving under his weight, him spiraling through the air as he fell. He screamed so loud, he thought his lungs were going to pop out.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. He was falling, then he could see Steve, screaming out for him, letting go of the handle, falling after him. Then Bucky turned around in the air, going face first into the ravine. He stuck his hand out, trying to grab onto something- anything- the cliff. But when his hand grabbed onto the rocks, his whole body exploded into pain, and his arm went numb.

His body filled with relief as he felt Steve's arms wrap around him as they fell, faster and faster. Steve maneuvered them so Bucky was on Steve's back, Steve's shield at his chest so it would absorb then vibrations from when they'd hit the ground.
And then they did.

Even with the shield catching most of their weight, the contact knocked Bucky dizzy, and he rolled off of him, to the side. He cried out in pain, voice scratchy. He went to grab his arm, but there was nothing there. His heart pounded up into his throat.
Oh my god. His arm wasn't there.

"Steve?" Bucky whimpered out. God, he sounded so weak in that moment. No one responded.
"Steve?!" Bucky tried to sit up, but even that small movement made him nauseous.
He turned his head, trying to see around him, trying to look through the darkness that was filling his sight. The last thing he saw before he passed out was Steve, still laying on the shield, eyes dangerously shut.

-

The Soldier's eyes snapped open. He looked around, trying to find his partner. Then he saw him, seated a bit away, glaring at the ground by his feet.

He pushed himself to his feet, looking around.

"Where is the target." The Soldier's voice was raspy from having just been asleep. He shouldn't have fallen asleep, should not have allowed himself to. A voice in his head shamed him for it.

"Hasn't come through yet." Captain said in a low voice, getting up aswell.

They peeked through the small hole in the wall.

It was silent for a long time before The Soldier spoke again.

"I had a dream." The Soldier whispered.

The two often spoke when they were on missions alone. It was strange, but there was something so... different about being around eachother. It was something about the other— for each of them— that stirred something in their minds. That opened up things that had been nailed shut.
That's why they weren't allowed to do many missions together. The Soldier remembered hearing someone say that they could only work together when it was an emergency- that just being together could set them back.

"What was it about," The Captain whispered quietly back at him. The Soldier's hand drifted to where he knew the bug was on his jacket.

The Captain did aswell, his on his chest.

"I do not know. I was falling. You were there. You caught me." The Soldier said, not looking over, "my arm was gone. You were passed out."

"I remembered something too." The Captain whispered, "we were in a building. You were strapped to a table. I broke the bonds. You kept saying a name. James Barnes. Was that your name?"

The Soldier's brows furrowed. James Barnes. It tickled something in his brain, teasing a memory forward, but as soon as something began to focus in his mind, it was snapped back into the darkness.

"I don't know. Was yours Steve?" The Soldier asked.

"Maybe."

Then it was silent again. Then they heard them. Their target, chatting on the phone, and it was like their minds snapped back onto the track Hydra had forced them onto, and they moved out to complete their mission.