@powderedhcarts
He'd run for as long as he could, the weeks and months blurring together. It took every bit of skill he had to stay one step ahead of HYDRA. Ironically, he supposed he had the Winter Soldier to thank for how long he'd managed it alone. He was made to disappear between the cracks of the world, and there were so many times it almost seemed preferable to just give up rather than continue this hellish mission to keep his mind and body free. Was it even freedom, if he was constantly running like this? He had enough of James Barnes's memories to know it had been a long damn since he felt like he was in control of his own life, HYDRA or no HYDRA.
It wasn't the first time agents had caught up with him, but it was by far the messiest. Apparently, they'd learned some things from the last time they came for him. He'd covered his tracks as well as he could and knew it wasn't near good enough, but it was a secondary problem compared to the injuries he'd sustained. He hadn't had time to fully catalogue the hits, but the gunshot wound in his shoulder and whatever was making it hard to breathe were his top concerns. There was something wrong with the metal arm too. It kept glitching and jerking, sending little electrical spikes through his nervous system, neither hand steady enough to stitch himself up. He couldn't be down both hands and expect to get very far.
But he'd made it here. It was truly a last resort solution, asking Avengers for help. Steve and Natalia had no idea he was even still alive. He had been keeping loose tabs on them so he knew they were safe, but he had no desire to drag them into his mess. He was sure no one had followed him, couldn't guarantee how long that would be the case. He told himself he'd only stay long enough to heal a little, and then he'd be in the wind again, and he knew it was a comforting lie. Contacting them at all put them at risk. Far worse if someone else caught up to him first though. He couldn't let HYDRA turn him back into their leashed monster.
He'd made it all the way into Avengers Tower--knowing he was setting off just about every alarm and defense the place had, but what was the point in keeping quiet now?--before he finally passed out from the blood loss. It wasn't the way he would have chosen to approach them, by putting himself entirely at their mercy, but real choices had gone out the window decades ago. It was a pleasant surprise to wake up at all, more pleasant that he didn't seem to be in a cement-lined bunker of SHIELD's--at least, not yet. It had the bland look of a hospital room, but his instincts told him he was still somewhere in the Tower. He guessed he had Steve to thank for that. Anyone else would have tossed him straight into a cell. He cleared his throat quietly.
"Steve?"
