11, 23, 22! with bucky barnes (preferably in that order but if not that’s okay) i’m in the mood for some bucky angst
11: don’t make promises you can’t keep23: please let me help you22: you betrayed me…
warnings: guns, i think that’s it
a/n: this is set during civil war, hope you like it. also i have not proof read this so sorry for any mistakes :)
Bucky Barnes was your friend. Your best friend. Someone you cared deeply for. Someone you would risk your own life for. But he was also a criminal.
You’ve known Bucky all your life. Brooklyn was your home, it’s where you met him, young and so full of life, dancing and charming his way through a party. That was before he left for war, before he was branded missing in action, before he was turned into something so evil, before he became a criminal.
70 years you were in that ice. 70 years of not knowing where Bucky was or what happened to him. You’re much like Steve. An old soul trapped in a young body.
He was The Winter Soldier and you were a devoted S.H.I.E.L.D agent. That day at the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, when The Winter Soldier had destroyed nearly all of it’s existence, he recognised you. He said your name. For a brief moment you saw something flash in his eyes. He knew you.
You were ordered to shut him down but you let him run. He was your friend, you couldn’t do that to your beloved Bucky. You never saw him again after that.
Now he sits infront of you, locked up and looking conflicted. He’d gone back to his old ways, his Winter Soldier days, and blown up a building in Vienna. When he was spotted fleeing the scene, you were immediately order to capture him, and you did. You thought he had changed. He’d been off the grid for so long. But all that sits before you is a metal armed killer. Bucky’s gone.
Tony, a friend of yours which you have recently grown closer to more than Steve, eyes the long haired man before him. The Avengers are over, no more superheros to spontaneously save the day. You thought it was a good thing, they caused too much destruction. And locking The Winter Soldier up would reduce that.
But he wasn’t The Winter Soldier anymore, he was Bucky Barnes and he recognised you. He kept his head low, avoiding everyone’s eyes. He was ashamed of himself, even though he wasn’t him who caused the explosion, he still felt ashamed.
A S.H.I.E.L.D official announces The Winter Soldier to be taken somewhere secure and orders other officials to unhand-cuff Steve and his new friend Sam. They had also been captured by you, they weren’t helping themselves by helping The Winter Soldier and choosing to ignore that the Avengers are no longer allowed to dive into action when danger strikes. But they don’t hold much of a threat and Tony is sure he can convince the Captain to change his mind.
Steve and Sam are lead away by heavily loaded agents. Steve throws a sorrowful look back at his childhood friend. All he wanted to do was help Bucky, but unlike you, he hasn’t realised Bucky’s gone.
“Let’s go.” Tony’s voice appears at your side, his hand is resting on your shoulder and he looks at you with sympathetic eyes. He knows Bucky was your friend and how hard it was to go against him.
You step forward to the glass container The Winter Soldier sits inside. He looks up and meets your eyes.
“I promise you’re safe now and we’re going to help fix you.” You say, looking deep into his stare, hoping that Bucky is still in there somewhere. He stares hard at you, studying your features with a clenched jaw. He doesn’t look like himself anymore. You turn away from him and walk back over to Tony.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, (y/n).” The deep voice of The Winter Soldier grumbles behind you. Or was it The Winter Soldier? He knows your name.
You spin around, emotions running high. Maybe Bucky is really there, maybe he heard you.
“You know my name?” You say.
“Of course I do, we’ve known each other since before the war, haven’t we?” There’s a jokey tone to his voice but his face remains expressionless. You stand awestruck, lost for words. His glass container is wheeled away before you can say anything and Tony’s hand appears on your shoulder again. He’s still looking sympathetic, maybe even more than before, did he hear what Bucky just said?
You follow Tony down a series of corridors and into a glass walled boardroom. A large table sits in the middle, with Steve, Sam and Natasha gathered around it. Tony takes a seat and you do the same, though not before you catch a glimpse of the other room through the glass. Monitors on the walls show a live feed of Bucky locked up.
Tony slides a piece of paper towards Steve. You know what it is, it’s The Accords, you signed it yourself not too long ago. Steve pushes it back, shaking his head. There’s no way he’s going to sign it, he lives for saving people, he wouldn’t be able to sit and watch danger go by, killing and harming innocent people. He was made to risk his life to save others. He needs to jump into actions when he needs to, not when someone tells him he can.
Not wanting to listen to them argue, you leave the room and head straight for the monitors. Bucky is your main concern, he remembered you. The screen shows him looking defeated, his head hanging low and his wrists locked tightly to the chair he sits on. You did this. You hunted him down and locked him up. You. You who was supposed to be his friend. But you didn’t know he was still there, you thought The Winter Soldier had taken over his mind completely.
“Which room is he in?” You ask the agent sitting before the screen.
“In the basement.” He replies without looking at you, keeping his eyes on the screen.
You’re out of there straight away, streaming down the corridors, all the way down to the basement. It’s grey and cold down here. The walls are thick and heavily locked. A secure place to keep a cold-blooded killer.
After turning many corners and peering into open rooms, you reach him. The glass box is situated in the middle of the room and he doesn’t see you lingering in the doorway. There’s camera in all four corners of the room and you know the agent you spoke to earlier can see you.
“Bucky.” You say softly. He head lifts up and you see how drained he looks. He’s tired of running, tired of trying to hide from everyone.
“Bucky, I’m sorry.” You say as you move into the room. He stares at you with dark eyes.
“This is all my fault, I’m so sorry, I was supposed to be your friend.” You stop right in front of the glass.
“You let me go last time when you knew I’d done wrong, and now when I’m innocent you lock me up?” He looks angry, hard features form over his face and his eyes bore into you.
“I know and I’m sorry.” A sob almost escapes you but you hold it back. “I thought I’d lost you, I thought Hydra had taken you again or maybe you were still The Winter Soldier.”
“I haven’t been like that in a while, I was doing good, keeping out of the way and keeping to myself.” He talks with venom in his mouth, it’s such a contrast to how he spoke to you earlier when he said your name.
“I’m sorry.” You say again, dropping your head. There must be something you can do to make it up to him, or maybe even earn a little forgiveness.
You snap your head up to him. “I’ll help you get out of here.” You say in low, rushed voice. He stares at you through the glass barrier, seemingly considering your offer.
“No.” He says plainly after a short pause of silence. “It will only make things worse. Maybe I should be kept locked up forever, it will be better for everyone that way.”
“What! No.” You exclaim, throwing nervous glances over your shoulder. “I can help you.”
Bucky turns his head away from you. “Just go.”
“Please let me help you.” You beg in a whisper, leaning close to glass, your hot breathing fogging it up.
“You betrayed me!” He growls, snapping his head back round to glare at you. You step back, eyes wide and heart pumping fast. You know he can’t hurt you inside while he’s locked up, but something about the way he looks at you sends fear running through your bones.
“I know I did and I’m sorry. I believe you, you’re innocent, now let me help you.” You plea. You don’t want Bucky to spend the rest of his life locked up, he’s been through enough already. You glance up at one of the cameras, surely the agents watching is getting suspicious now.
“I’m going back up to the monitoring room, when the shackles unlock and the doors open I want you to run. Don’t wait for me, I’ll find you somehow.” The words pouring from your mouth in a rush, you’re guessing you don’t have much time before people staring coming down to question where you’re here.
You turn away from and calmly walk out of the room so as not to draw more attention to yourself. Bucky’s voice makes you pause at the entrance way.
“I’m not do it.” He says and you turn your head to look at him.
“I’ll hold off any agents, but it won’t be for long so be quick.” You say, choosing to ignore his disobedience. Ordering him what to do is better than pleading with him to run, that way he’ll feel more compelled to go.
You dash off down the corridor and back up to the monitors by the boardroom. Tony, Steve, Nat and Sam are all gathered behind the agents monitoring the screens.
“What were you doing down there?” Steve asks, his arms folded across his chest. You ignore him.
“Forgive me for doing this, but it’s the right thing to do.” You say and you pull a gun out of the back of your jeans and point it at the agents head. Someone gasps and from the corner of your eye you see Natasha pull out a gun too.
“(y/n) what are you doing?” Steve asks anxiously, his arms unfolded now and his body on guard.
You ignore him again and look directly at the agent. “Unlock the shackles and the doors.” You say. You would do it yourself but you don’t know how.
“I can’t do that.” The male says, his voice shaking.
“Put the gun down (y/n).” Tony says. He looks calm, like he’s got the situation under control.
“Unlock them.” You say again, a little firmer this time.
“Why are you doing this?” Steve asks.
“He’s innocent.” You snap, glaring at Steve. He of all people should be on your side, Bucky’s his friend too and he believed he was innocent when you didn’t.
“Bucky didn’t cause the explosion and he’s not The Winter Soldier anymore.” You say and turn your attention back to the seated agent. “Now unlock the container and set him free.”
The agents fingers tremble over the controls.
“Don’t do it.” Tony says to him. “He’s still a criminal.”
“I’m not afraid to shoot you if you don’t do it.” You snap, frustration and impatience flaring up inside of you. Regret is taking over you and you’re starting to fear that your plan isn’t going to work.
“Please.” You beg. “He’s my friend and he’s innocent.”
The agents looks up at you with a slight turn of his head. Your near watery eyes catch his and you can tell he doesn’t know what to do.
Then, all of a sudden, he presses something and you hear the sound of metal clinking and locks unlocking. On the screen you see the door of the container swing open. Bucky remains seated, staring at the open door and for a second you think he’s not going to run. But then he stands up and he’s gone in the blink of an eye.
Tony rushes to shout orders through an intercom and Natasha disappears down the corridor, still holding her gun.
“What have you done!” Tony hisses at you before following Natasha.
Alarm bells and flashing lights ring through the building. People pour out of various rooms and levels of the building. S.H.I.E.L.D agents and government officials dodge there way through the crowds, heading for all exits in hope of catching Bucky. You follow, pushing your way down the stairs and racing across the marble floor to the exit, where a hot sun beats down on you and your feet slam against hard concrete. The crowds are bigger out here and if Bucky is among them, there’s no way he’d be spotted, he could easily slip away.
You run out onto the street and whip your head up and down both ways. No sign of Bucky. He’s either long gone or still in the building. You hope it’s not the latter.
Panting, you look back at the building and the people emerging from it. They all look confused, throwing questions and assumptions at each other. Here and there agents with heavy weapons stand fixed to the spot, scanning the area. You look up at the building, the sun’s flare reflecting off the windows. Something at the top of the building catches your eyes. You shield your eyes with your hand as you look up at the roof of the building. A dark figure moves rapidly across the rooftop and from the silver shine attached to it, you know that it’s Bucky. You watch him disappear from sight, undetected by those after him. He’s got away, he’s free.
You tell yourself you’ll go looking for him when all of this has calmed down. You don’t know if he’ll want you to look for him or not, he might still be angry at you, but knowing that you’ve set him free again gives you an odd satisfaction. He’s free to live his life, maybe not in peace, he’ll still be on the run, but at least he’s free. Free of false crimes and his old Hydra days.
