Hallowed (B. Barnes)

Chapter Thirty-Four

Bucky is locked up in a secure, very secure pod with a UN bunker, he's not sure where, which country he is in, but he is far from Sydney, that much he does know. He can feel it. He knows he did the right thing in breaking her neck to stop her. She would be here. Or worse. Somewhere else being hurt. He couldn't have that. He would never have forgiven himself. He glances up as the door to the room opens, a man entering with a few files tucked under his arm. He closes the door behind him and then approaches Bucky's pod. He sits at a desk facing Bucky's pod, Bucky's fingers curl into the arms of the chair, restrained and held down.

"Hello, Mr Barnes. I've been sent by the United Nations to evaluate you. Do you mind if I sit? Your first name is James?" He asks Bucky. "I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, James? I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James"

"My name is Bucky," Bucky argues. Only Sydney gets to call him James. She is the only one. That is their thing. Her James. Just hers. And he can't hear it from someone else. It's not fair.

...........

On one of the levels above, Steve studies a blurry photograph of the man who bombed the congress in Vienna, Sam Wilson and Sharon Carter both stand with him as he worries over these events, whilst on one hand, he's found his best friend, but on the other, they've pretty much all been arrested.

"Why would the Task Force release this photo, to begin with?" Steve asks.

"Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?" Sharon offers but sounds unsure herself.

"Right. It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier."

"You're saying someone framed him to find him." Sharon realises.

"Steve, we looked for the guy for two years and found nothing." Sam reminds Steve.

"We didn't bomb the UN. That turns a lot of heads." Steve counters.

"Yeah, but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him. It guarantees that we would" Sharon points out, her gaze falls on the evaluator in the screen, her eyes narrow slightly. Steve frowns.

"Yeah." He sighs. "What about the girl?"

"DOA" Sharon answers not taking her eyes off of the screen. "Emergency services called it at the scene" she adds. "They took her to the morgue..." Sharon then nods a little. "She got up and walked out" Steve snaps his head around.

"What?" He asks her, she nods back.

"Scared a morgue technician into peeing his pants" Sharon adds, Steve gives her a look back. "I've got people attempting to track her" Sharon answers.

..............

Bucky still watches his evaluator, eyes sharp and cautious. Something about him rubs him up the wrong way. He doesn't like him. Doesn't like being here. Doesn't like being away from Sydney.

"Tell me, Bucky. You've seen a great deal, haven't you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Bucky grumbles.

"You fear that... if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop. Don't worry." The evaluator/Zemo gets a message on his screen: 'message inbox:1' touches it 'status: package delivered'. "We only have to talk about one." He adds and then looks back at Bucky as the lights go out, descending the room into darkness before the emergency lighting comes on, giving the room an eerie red aura.

"What the hell is this?" Bucky asks.

"Why don't we discuss your home? Not Romania. Certainly not Brooklyn, no. I mean, your real home." Zemo removes his glasses then walks towards Bucky reading from the red book by torchlight. "Желание." (Longing.)

"No" Bucky pleads, his head snaps back but it doesn't have the wanted effect on him. Something softer is settling in him. He blinks and then closes his eyes. Loses himself in what he sees behind his eyelids.

..........

A memory. Two years back now. The first time he'd seen Sydney. She'd been sitting outside a small coffee shop, their coffee shop, her headphones in her ears, sunglasses over her eyes. Her jeans are torn and ripped down the legs, her shirt hanging loose, jacket folded over the back of her chair. Her heel tapping against the chair leg to the beat of her music. She was beautiful and his heart ached. It longed for her. She changed the meaning of that word. Changed it just by existing. Before he'd even spoken to her. Spent time with her.

.............

"Ржавый." (Rusted.) Zemo continues, and yet again, nothing bad comes from the word. Nothing changes in him. Not the way it should. This isn't working.

.............

Another memory floods him. Bucky is sat in a bathroom, a toolbox at his side as he glares at the pipes under the sink.

"This whole system is rusted" He complains as Sydney wraps her arms around his neck, nuzzling in as he tries to work, but he wants to give in so much. Their new apartment needed work when they moved in. And he put himself on the job. Wanting to make it perfect. Most of the pipes in the bathroom are rusted beyond repair. But he is going to do his best. He pulls Sydney around and into his lap. She chuckles and brushes her fingers through his hair, he leans into her touch and closes his eyes.

...............

"Семнадцать." (Seventeen.) Zemo reads. But Bucky internally smiles. Nothing but good. Nothing but Sydney. She fixed him. Fixed him without even knowing, without even meaning to. Everything they did together. Every moment. Every touch. Healed him. "Рассвет." (Daybreak.) "Печь." (Furnace.) "Девять" (Nine.) "Добросердечный." (Benign.) Bucky curls his fingers into his palm and takes a breath. He still has these memories, he can still enjoy them whilst this man attempts to unlock the Winter Soldier, it's not going to happen. "Возвращение на Родину" (Homecoming.) "Один." (One.) "Грузовой вагон" (Freight car.) Zemo slowly rounds the pod with the book and the torch in hand. He shines the torch into the pod. "Солдат?" (Soldier?) He asks, Bucky lowers his head and then smiles, his eyes on Zemo.

"It didn't work" Bucky offers, relieved and amazed. One tiny blonde American vampire saved his life.

"Then we will try again" Zemo counters and looks back down at the book. "Желание, Ржавый, Семнадцать, Рассвет, Печь, Девять, Добросердечный, Возвращение на Родину, Один, Грузовой вагон" Zemo repeats, but yet again, nothing happens. Bucky is actually free of Hydra's hold on him. Bucky actually laughs and rests his head back. He's free of them. Steve and Sam hurry into the room. Red emergency lights flash all around now. Steve grabs Zemo and shoves him against the wall as Sam checks on Bucky's pod integrity.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Steve asks Zemo.

"To see an empire fall." Zemo answers. Steve frowns at that before looking back at the pod.

"Buck?" He asks.

"I'm fine" Bucky answers as he adjusts himself in his seat. It's not like he can do a lot but he can at least make sure he is comfortable. He feels better about this. Like a weight has been lifted from his soul.

A/N - OBVIOUSLY I AM TAKING CIVIL WAR IN A DIFFERENT PATH, JUST TO FIT BETTER. I LIKE TO THINK THAT SYD DID HAVE A GOOD EFFECT ON BUCKY, THAT HER LOVE CHANGED HIM.