Cry of Rage

Opening her eyes to see that she was in the living room and on the couch. Sitting up she looked around the room and saw that she was alone. Quickly she shot up off the couch and ran into the kitchen.

“Bucky?”

He wasn’t in there either. She turned to hallway and quickly walked down the hall, looking in the rooms as she past.

“Bucky?”

She called when she stood at the end of the hallway. She looked to her left then she hear a squeak from the floorboards behind her. Turning her head she saw Bucky standing there. She she was going to say something but then his left arm grabbed onto her throat. She gasped as she as she was lifted up into the air and his grip tightened. She looked into Bucky’s eyes and saw a blank look in his eyes, he wasn’t in control anymore, he had fallen back into the programing of the Winter Soldier.

Gwen’s hands when to his wrist, trying to pull his hand away, knowing that wouldn’t happen.

“Bucky.”

She was able to croak out as Bucky glared at her. She was starting to see black spots and slowly the spots were talking up her vision.

“Please.”

Bucky didn’t break at all. His face was hard and not changing. His dark eyes had no emotion and were as hard as his face. Gwen could tell that her eyes and face were filled with fear. Tears were falling from her eyes as she tried to hold onto her conscious self. Bucky didn’t do anything other than tighten his grip on her.

“Buck-”

The next seconds happened fast. The front door opened and Steve stood there with Sam. When the two saw what was going on between Bucky and Gwen, they broke into ‘hero mode’. Bucky turned his attention to the two at the door, then looked at the woman in his hand. Steve grabbed his shield off his back and threw it at Bucky, knocking him to the ground and Gwen out of his grip. When Gwen was free she coughed and held onto her neck, trying to restore her air supply.

The shield came bouncing back and he was ready for whatever came next, but Bucky didn’t get up. He was still on the floor looking at Gwen. Sam hurried to her side, seeing that Steve wasn’t doing anything.

“Gwen are-”

Bucky’s eyes shot up at Sam with the same hostile look that was locked on his face a few seconds ago.

“Bucky, it’s alright. He’s a friend.”

Gwen told him as she looked over at him. Bucky’s eyes went from Sam to Gwen. She was still laying on the floor and trying to regain herself. Bucky just nodded and looked over at the other pair of eyes looking at him. Steve was still standing in the doorway looking at him. It was the same look at he have Bucky when he saw in on the bridge.

“Bucky?”

Steve stood on the edge of the cliff and look out over it. Below them was a couple hundred foot drop covered in snow and ice. Bucky looked over at Dum Dum, who was standing next to Gabe sitting over the radio transmitter. He walked over to Steve and stood next to him and looked out at the landscape.

“Remember that time I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?”

“Yeah, and I threw up?”

“This isn’t pay back is it?”

“Now why would I do a thing like that?”

Steve said with a smirk on his face as he looked over at Bucky.

“Punk.”

“Jerk.”

Bucky let a smirk play out on his face. They were closer and closer to bring down HYDRA. He hadn’t told anyone but he had wanted to do this since him and the 107th was captured two years ago. Out of everyone in HYDRA he wanted revenge on Zola. Whatever Zola did to him still haunts him. The pain and memories still haunted him in his sleep. He hadn’t old Steve about this, he knew that Steve knew, he’d be worried for his friend. But Steve needed to focus on what the bigger picture was, bring down the rogue Nazi science division.

“You were right. Zola’s on the train. He just got clearance to open up the throttle. Wherever he’s going they need him fast.”

Gabe told the rest of the Commandos as he moved the headset away from his ears. Bucky’s jaw locked and he glared at the train tracks across the ravine. Zola was on the tracks and he was finally able to face him after two years.

“Buck?”

“I’m good.”

“We better get moving.”

Steve said turning to the rest of his Commandos, while Bucky just looked down at the ravine below.

“Bucky?”

He looked up and saw that Gwen was now kneeling beside him on the hardwood floor. His eyes looked up at Gwen’s face and locked eyes with her. He looked into her brown eyes and saw that they were filled with concern. From her eyes he looked down at her neck, seeing that huge dark bruises from where his fingers were.

“Did I do that?”

Gwen looked confused for a moment then she followed his eyes, seeing that he was looking at her neck. She brought her right hand to her neck and lightly ran her fingers over it, even from the light contract it made her cringe in pain.

“Yes. But you didn’t mean it.”

Bucky didn’t look away from the marks. Gwen frowned and looked over at Steve. Bucky followed her eyes and saw Steve again.

“You’re Steve. I remembered you.”

Bucky told him as he stood up, still looking at Steve who was still standing in the door.

“You remembered? That’s great.”

Steve said his face lighting up hearing what Bucky said. He closed the front door and walked into the apartment.

“What was it, Bucky?”

Gwen asked standing up standing next to him, now having a hopeful look in her eyes.

“You were there, some other people too. We were standing on a mountain… and there was a train.”

Steve’s face fell when Bucky said what he remembered. That was the last time all the Howling Commandoes were together. It was the point in time that Steve wishes he could go back to. Gwen looked over at Steve and gave him a weak smile, she knew what Bucky was talking about. Steve had talked about that day with her many times over the last two years, it was one of the days that still haunts him.

“That’s great Bucky.”

Gwen said to him then she turned to Sam, who for the most part had been forgotten. She smiled at him, but he was looking at Bucky. He faces was telling Gwen what she needed to know, Sam didn’t trust Bucky.

“I’m going to make some food. Sam come and help.”

Sam took one last look at Bucky and followed her into the kitchen. When her and Sam were in the kitchen she turned around and slapped his arm. Sam was taken back and rubbed the spot where she had hit him.

“Ow. What was that for?”

Gwen glared up at him and poked him in his chest a few times as she talked.

“Don’t ‘what’ me. You know what I’m mad about.”

She told him, trying her best not to yell. Sam looked at her then towards the hallway.

“Look what he did to you. You can’t blame me if I don’t trust him.”

“Sam, he wasn’t his fault.”

“You don’t even know if he’s with HYDRA right now.”

Gwen crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. Sam did the same and they just looked at each other for a few seconds.

“If he was under the control of HYDRA I would be dead.”

Sam didn’t say anything, Gwen smirked and walked past him and to the fridge. Opening it up she grabbed the carton of whole milk from inside, closing the fridge, she stood on her tip toes and grabbed the box of Honey Bunches of Oats from on top of the fridge. Walking around the kitchen she opened a few cupboards and drawers, getting what she needed for her cereal. As made her breakfast she looked over at Sam, who was now sitting at the island counter, in the same chair that Bucky sat in last night.

“Whose apartment is this?”

“Pepper Potts. She stays here when she’s in DC.”

“When are you planning to go back to New York?”

“I’m not sure. I want to stay here and help Bucky. Maybe I can get him to come to New York with me. Tony has wanted me back since he heard about has happened here.”

Sam nodded and looked around the kitchen. Gwen poured her cereal out and then the milk. She could hear Steve and Bucky talking down the hall together. Leaning against counter Gwen ate her cereal and looked over at Sam.

“What are you going to do now?”

She asked Sam as she ate. He looked up over at her and lifted his hands.

“I’m not sure. I was going to help Steve with finding Bucky, but I see you did that on your own. Why did he come here in the first place?”

She shrugged her shoulders and took another bite.
“I asked him and he told me that he saw me with Steve a few times. I’m guesses that he didn’t see me as a threat. I want to help him, I know that the Bucky was once there is in there somewhere.”

“‘What makes you think that?”

“Steve and I are still alive. That’s why.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Steve sat with Bucky on the couch, Gwen sat across from them on a LazyBoy arm chair, and Sam was the small love seat.

“I want to go back to New York.”

Bucky said as he looked at his hands. Everyone in the room looked at him then looked at Gwen.

“I can get a jet here tonight. Are you sure Bucky?”

He looked up at her and nodded at her before he looked back down at the floor.

“I’ll go tell Tony.”

She said standing up and walking out of the room. Pulling out her phone, she dialled Tony’s number and waited for him to pick up.

“GWENDOLYN! When are you coming back?”

Gwen laughed at him and shook her eyes at the millionaire.

“That’s what I’m calling about. I need a jet.”

“I’ve had one there for you since Monday, doc.”

She smiled and rolled her eyes at him. She walked into the bedroom she was staying in. She walked over to the window and looked out at the city.

“I’m bring a few people with me. I’ll see you in the morning Tony.”

“Who are you bringing?”

“You’ll see. Bye, Iron Man.”

“Wait, Gwe-”

Gwen hit the drop call button and removed her phone from her ear. She looked out at the city, it must have been three in the afternoon. She had lost track of time since Bucky showed up last night, ever since then he was the only thing on her mind. Turning away from the window, Gwen walked back to the living room, seeing that the boys were how she had left them. When she entered the room she felt all of them look at her.

“There’s been a jet here for me since Monday. When do you guys want to leave?”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Zipping up her large roller suitcase Gwen let out a loud frustrated sigh. She pushed down on the fabric suitcase she tried again in zipping it up.

“I didn’t pack this much stuff.”

She said to herself. She whined and jumped up onto the top of it. When her body weight was on top she finally zipped up the suitcase. Getting off the suitcase Gwen felt a pair of eyes on her, looking towards the doorway she saw Bucky standing in the doorway in a new change of clothes. He was now wearing a pair of denim jeans and a grey long sleeve shirt.

“Did Steve bring those for you?”

“Yes. Are we going to go?”

Gwen nodded and pulled her suitcase off of the bed.

“I’m ready. Are Steve and Sam down in the car?”

“Yes.”

Gwen walked up to Bucky and looked up at him as he looked at the floor. Whenever she was in the same room with him she just wanted to study him. He was so fascinating to her. She wishes she could just pick his brain and help me get past everything that HYDRA did to him.

“Do you want to talk about anything?”

She asked, making him lift his eyes up to met her gaze. Her brown eyes were locked on his blue eyes. He wanted to tell her something, but when he thought about something to tell her all the pain came back to him. He would have flashes of him sitting in the chair with people around him. He would be pushed back all the way into the chair and then the chair buzzed to life. Slowly the head place would lower down around his face.

“I… I can’t”

Gwen placed her hand on his left arm and smiled up at him.

“I’ll be here if you ever want to talk, Bucky. I’m here to help you.”

He looked down at her hand that was resting on his arm. From her hand he looked at her face again. He gave her the closest thing she had seen as a smile. This made a Gwen smle even more at him.

“Let’s get going.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

On the jet off to New York everyone was quiet. Steve ask across from Bucky and both Sam and Gwen sat by themselves. Steve had fallen asleep about ten minutes ago. Sam was playing on his phone. Gwen sat in her seat and looked over the file that Steve had given her, it was from Kiev and about Bucky. She studied the file, the Russian that she didn’t know she typed it into Google translate. She was nose deep in the file when she heard someone sit across from her, looking up she saw Bucky in the chair across from her.

“Hey, Bucky.”

“They would… they would wipe my memory after I’d come back from a mission. After that I’d be put into cryo freeze until I was needed again.”

Gwen watched his face as he told her about what HYDRA did to him. His facial expressions told her everything he wouldn’t say. Quickly she grabbed her yellow legal pad and wrote down what he said and what she saw. When her pen stopped she looked up at Bucky and gave him a soft smile.

“Bucky, I’m happy you told me this.”

He looked over at her face. It had something that he hadn’t seen in a long time, she had a friendly face. He had a feeling that she wouldn’t hurt him and that he could trust her, but those feelings were coming from a place down inside him that he himself wasn’t sure about.

“If you share something with me, I’ll share something about myself.”

Bucky continued to look at her, not sure what to do or say. Gwen looked at her note pad one last time before placing it down and then she looked over at Bucky again.

“I was brought in by SHIELD when they found Steve. He was found by a Russian oil team up in Greenland about three years ago. SHIELD had heard about my work and wanted me to Steve come to grips with the world he found himself in. When he came to New York he was still frozen in ice, but a few days later he woke up. When he did SHIELD had the plan of breaking it to him slowly. They put him in a room and staged it like it was still 1945. I came in dressed as an Army nurse and told him that he was in a recovery room in New York. I wasn’t really lying to him, but I didn’t want to break it to him like that. He figured out that I was lying, because of the radio on his bedside table was playing a baseball game that he had been to in 1941. He ended up breaking out and ran away, but SHIELD found him and brought him back. After that he came to my office and I’ve been working with him ever since.”

Bucky let out a small and short laugh. Gwen’s ears perked up hearing that noise coming to him for the first time.

“That sounds like Steve. He was always too smart for his own good.”

Gwen smiled. Knowing that if she made a big deal about what he just said could bring him back a few steps, and from how he was early that morning it was a large improvement.

“He is like that, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“We should be there soon. Maybe when you’re ready we can go to your old neighborhood. Hopefully that could bring back some memories.”

Bucky nodded and looked across the plane to where he was sitting before.

“Do you mind if I stay here?”

“Not at all. I’m yours whenever you want me.”

Gwen told him with a smile. Bucky nodded and looked out the window of the jet. Turning her attention back to the file, Gwen looked at a picture of Bucky that was paperclipped on the folder. It was him in his military uniform back before he was the Winter Soldier. She smiled at the picture then took a quick glance at the man in front of her. She would never admit this to anyone, but ever since she first learned about Captain America and his Howling Commandos in grade school she like Bucky. He was her favorite out of all of them, sure there was Captain America, the Star Spangled Man with a Plan, but Bucky was the one she wanted to learn more about. The chilling fact that he was the only Commando to lose his life in the line of action made her love him even more. He followed his best friend into the face of danger and payed the ultimate sacrifice for his country and his friend. As she grew older Gwen found herself think that Bucky was the best looking out of the Commandos. She thought it was funny at the time to think that. Back then both Bucky and Steve were dead as far as the world knew. Now she calls Captain America her friend, she has helped him through many things in the 21st century, and she has fought alongside to save the world. Not to mention she is now trying to save Bucky Barnes, hoping that she can say about Steve is the same for Bucky.

Gwen came out of her train of thought and looked out the window to see the night time skyline of New York. She turned her head to look at Bucky who was doing the same thing, but only with his mouth open a bit.

“I guess it’s changed from 1943, huh?”

“You’re telling me.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Getting off the plane Gwen stepped out and saw Happy down on the tarmac standing next to a black SUV. A huge grin formed on her face and she ran down the stairs to met him. She hugged him and let out a laugh.

“I saw what happened down there. Are you alright?”

“If I wasn’t I would be here to tell you no.”

Happy smiled and let go of Gwen to see who she brought with her to New York. Gwen turned around to see her three companions were off the plane and on solid ground.

“Happy, you remember Steve.”

“Of course. Captain Rogers.”

Steve nodded and Gwen continued with the introductions.

“Then this is Sam Wilson, he’s a pararescue. And, this is Bucky Barnes.”

Happy looked at Bucky and didn’t say anything other than his hello. Bucky nodded and looked over at Gwen.

“I’ll get your bags, you can all get in the car.”

The four did as they were asked. They all piled into the SUV, Gwen in the front, and the rest in the back.

‘Since when do you get the front?”

“Since I’m a lady, Sam.”

He rolled his eyes at the woman whose seat was across the car from her. In the seat directly behind her was Bucky, while Steve was in the middle seat.

After a minute or so Happy got back into the car and started it up. He looked over at Gwen when he started to drive, she was looking in the side mirror at the man in the seat behind her. Happy cleared his throat and she looked at him, with a hint of blush in her cheeks at being caught looking at Bucky.

“Ready to go home?”

“You have no idea.”

Notes