#compromised | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

xxwritemeastoryxx · 11 months

Text

Target Acquired

Author: xxwritemeastoryxx

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 6502

Warnings: Canon typical violence, flashback scenes, time jumps, and not enough Bucky. Somewhat angst. necessary filler to make sense of what's coming next.

Author’s Note: I KID YOU NOT I TRIED TO MAKE THIS A PART 2 WITH A FLUFFY ENDING AND IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE! So you get an in-between part to lead to the fluff. Don't come for me. I swear the next part to this will end in fluff. Even if it ends up being over 10k 😅 Please be sure to read Compromised before diving into this one! As a reminder please go and follow @xxwritemeastoryxxlibrary and turn on notifications so you never miss a new fic!

I do not and will not ever give permission for my fics to be copied and posted on other sites. Don’t do it. Don’t be that person that ruins it for me and everyone else.

Feedback gives me life and motivation for future things. While likes are appreciated, reblogs are gold. Seriously, if you enjoyed this in the slightest, please reblog ♥

Compromised || MCU Masterlist || Fandom Masterlist || Taglist

“I’m going to ask this one more time.” There was hurt in his voice and every part of him hoped that the answer he now had in his mind was wrong. “Who is your mission?”

“You.”

“I know you don’t owe me any favors, and I definitely don’t deserve this, but please. Just pretend we’re okay, just for tonight, just for show.” She watched as his eyes hadn’t changed as he kept them on her. “Please. The others don’t need to hear about this right now and I promise that I’ll be gone by sunrise.”

He stood there for a moment, taking her in one last time. For the briefest of moments, this was his Y/N that he was looking at. The woman he had loved with everything he could give. She wasn’t the enemy that had been standing in front of him. Nor was she the woman that broke his heart several times within their conversation tonight.

The pain in his chest shattered the illusion a moment later and all he could see and feel was the betrayal from her. The lies he had heard over the years on a loop in his mind as he looked into her eyes. He couldn’t give her the whole night she was asking for. He didn’t even know if he’d be capable of giving her any time longer than him walking out of this room.

“I’ll give you until your candles are out.” He said as he shook her hand off of his and opened the door. “That’s the only time you’ll get. After that it’s fair game.”

Party decorations were still displayed throughout the area. The table that sat off to the side and held several stacks of presents were left untouched. The party atmosphere that had been in full swing several hours ago had been sucked out the moment unease settled within the air.

Bucky didn’t want to talk about why Y/N had left so quickly after she had blown out her candles. Their friends had bombarded Bucky with several questions, trying to figure out what happened. But eventually the different questions had caused Bucky to quickly get up from his seat and leave the room.

He made his way back into the side office he had been occupying earlier. In his rush to leave the room to give himself some space from Y/N, he didn’t grab the file. And as he made his way back into that room, the contents of it had been neatly tucked back into that file.

His eyebrow raised as he moved towards it. The last time he had seen it, the contents of the file had been spread out on the desk, with every piece of information on display. For it to be put back as neatly as it had been, he knew Y/N had been back here as well.

Proof that it had in fact been her had been the single sticky note that had been left on the front of the file. Her writing was easily recognizable to Bucky. And as his eyes scanned the words, he couldn’t stop the mixed emotions that bubbled within him.

It's yours to do with as you please.

Beneath that had been several words and phrases that wouldn't make sense to anyone else. But to Bucky they were code words he only knew the meaning to. A secret language the two had created for themselves. Even though his eyes read the different words on the paper, he could only hear the translation in his mind.

Forgive me. You have my heart. I’ll be there if you need me.

Bucky’s fleshed fingers ran over the words on the sticky note before pulling it off and crumpling it up in his hand before tossing it in the trash can beside the desk. There shouldn’t have been the warm familiarity of seeing the code words, but there was. There shouldn’t have been the slightest bit of guilt seeping through the anger and betrayal he felt. But the guilt reared its head like an annoying thorn.

“Why can’t you just answer the question?”

“Because it isn’t necessary! I left. I made the choice to be better. You got to do the same. Why is it any different with me?”

Her voice rang in his ears at the memory. The conversation was just hours old and Bucky was still playing it back as if it just happened. The guilt that poked through the anger constantly reached for that exact moment. The exact words eating at him.

Was her situation the same? Definitely not. But had she done as he had and left the grasp of Hydra and done better since then? He knew she had. He knew she had worked harder since that night he found her sitting in his doorway. She had proved time and time again that she could be trusted. That she was one of them as the years followed.

“Because I don’t know how I can trust you without knowing all of the facts.”

His own voice played through his mind as the memory continued. His voice shot back at her as he took that step closer to her to keep her from leaving. His anger and hurt laced within his words as he said them. He believed that anyone else would understand how he was feeling. He was sure they’d understand why moments later he had told her to leave.

Bucky had all the information he needed right in front of him. It pointed to all the right reasons why Y/N shouldn’t be around him or the team. Why he feared whatever ties she may currently still have to the organization he fought so hard to escape. And the one person he had opened his heart to had been working for them. Yet, the guilt laid there under the anger telling him that he had taken it too far.

Grabbing a hold of the file, he walked out of the room, returning to the common area. He could have waited until the morning to tell the others. He could have waited a few days to process everything. But he knew he wouldn’t have been able to handle the questions that would come if didn’t deal with it now.

“I don’t see her just up and leaving like that.” Tony’s voice carried over as he spoke with the others. “Did something happen between them that she would need time away?”

“I doubt it.” It was Sam’s voice that came next. “They had been gone for a bit earlier. He came out before her and there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary.”

“She left because I told her to leave.” Bucky made his presence known as he walked over to the table they were sitting around.

He hadn't missed the shocked looks he had received the moment the words left his lips. The furrowed brows mixed in with the widened eyes was something he was used to around here. He watched as Tony opened his mouth to speak before Bucky started once more.

“There was something she mentioned some time ago that didn’t sit right with me. I tried to ignore it but after a few weeks I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.” His eyes moved to Steve for a moment before looking at the others. “‘Being free from the memories tied to it makes it easier to get the job done.’ Were her exact words that I couldn’t get out of my head.”

“That could have meant anything.” Tony shook his head. “We say a lot of things around here that sound weird out of context.”

“How many SHIELD agents do you know that can relate to having memories taken away?” Bucky asked. “Because all the agents that came over besides her never experienced anything like that.”

“She was Hydra.” Steve said with a disappointed look forming on his face.

“No.” Natasha added. “There’s no way she was. There would have been some kind of information on her.” She looked over to Tony. “Your A.I. would have picked up on something.”

“I wondered the same thing.” Bucky said, catching their attention. “I wondered how someone could have gotten through not only your defenses but kept a low enough profile to not have anything on record anywhere. So I asked someone that I knew was good at digging.” He looked over the others before his eyes landed on Natasha. He knew if anyone was going to understand, it was going to be her. “Phantom.”

The others watched as Natasha’s eyes widened the moment the words left Bucky’s lips. She shook her head quickly after. “No. There’s no way that can be her.”

“I didn’t want to believe it at first.” Bucky tossed the file on the table in front of him. It slid across the top and came to a stop in front of Natasha. “But it’s hard to ignore all of the signs when they’re in bold flashing letters.”

“Wait, who is Phantom?” Sam asked, looking between Bucky and Natasha. “Isn’t that the woman Scott had to deal with?”

“No.” Steve shook his head. “I believe that was Ghost.”

“Phantom,” Bucky said, getting their attention once again. “was used more frequently by Hydra. Never hand in hand on missions with the Winter Soldier or else I would have remembered her. I remember it being said where the second batch of Winter Soldiers failed, Phantom was their success.”

“While in the Red Room we heard stories about a girl who was purchased by Hydra the day before her ‘graduation ceremony’.” Natasha added. She hadn’t missed the grimaces on some of their faces when she said ‘purchased’. “Phantom was to be their saving grace. It was said Phantom could get in and out of wherever easily with whatever information was needed in record time. Put Phantom undercover for 24 hours and they’ve got everything they need to overthrow the target in 12 hours.” Her eyes moved to the file that she hadn’t touched yet. She shook her head before sliding the file towards the middle before looking up at Bucky. “It's not her. Or else we would have been in shambles years ago.”

“It wasn’t the Avengers she was trying to dismantle.” It was the tone of Bucky’s voice that clued the others in on what her Mission was. “When I confronted her, she admitted that her mission was to infiltrate and report information that was deemed useful to Hydra while waiting for her orders about her main target." He paused for a moment. “When I came to the compound, I knew there was something off. I felt it in my gut when I first met her. But she had been thick as thieves with most of you so I put that feeling aside. And after some time of letting that guard down I let her in not knowing that I was her mission.”

Steve shook his head. “If that were true, she would have attempted to take you out at some point. We would have known.”

“Unless she had a change of heart.” It was Tony's voice that spoke up.

Tony had taken the file and begun going through it while the others continued to speak. The amount of information that it held was astonishing to Tony. How FRIDAY had missed any of this had stumped him.

Every search that had been done on candidates had been thorough. Sealed records and even crimes that one may think had been brushed under the rug would have been found. Yet everything in the file was news to him.

Sighing, Tony gently tossed an image onto the table. It was a photo they had seen before. A destroyed Hydra base they had no explanation for. “We were wondering who our mystery vigilante was that took down that Hydra base. It makes sense. She spends a bit of time with a kindred spirit and when given her mission, she can’t go through with it.”

“Hydra would have pulled her out if she was compromised.” Nat shook her head.

“Not if it meant getting our attention that she was gone.” Steve added.

“And wiping her memories would have risked the mission.” A huff of a scoff passed Bucky’s lips as a thought crossed his mind and shook his head. At one point she would have been breaking through the brainwashing Hydra had put her through. The nightmares she’d occasionally have along with her moments of spacing out, remembering something. All the same things he had gone through, just not at the same intensity. “All of the signs were right there and I didn’t see them.”

“None of us did.” Sam said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“The question we should be asking now is do we trust her enough that she’s actually changed?” Tony asked as he looked at the others. “Or should we be on full alert that the one person who knows way too much about us is out there with no alliance?”

It was that question that Bucky couldn't bring himself to say anything. His mind and emotions were everywhere and he couldn't give an answer. He had been on the opposite side of things this time. He hadn't been the one on the run. He hadn't been the one with all eyes on him.

"I am not Hydra anymore! If you’re going to take anything away from this, please let that be it.”

And it was as her voice rang through his head once more that the guilt poked through again and hooked on. He shouldn’t have just let her leave like he had. Not for the fear of what she could possibly do, but for the fact that while he had gotten a new chance, he practically tied the noose around her neck for her.

ONE AND A HALF YEARS LATER

Old floorboards creaked as Y/N walked across the room with a ceramic mug in her hand. She walked over towards the small window in the kitchen that gave her the perfect vantage point of the neighborhood. There was some peace that came over Y/N every morning that she came to stand by it. She had only been in this apartment for a few weeks, but there was always a need to keep checking to make sure she was in the clear.

After leaving the compound, she jumped from place to place constantly to ensure she stayed under the radar. She wasn’t sure what to expect in the weeks that followed. She expected many of the people that she cared about to come looking for her. She expected to be arrested for the details that came to light.

Instead, when she occasionally picked a familiar safe house to stay in from time to time, she’d find messages directly to her. Messages asking for her to get in contact with a few of them. Most of the notes had been from Natasha. But no matter how many times she missed the people she cared about she couldn’t bring herself to respond. Soon she stopped going to the familiar places and stuck with the occasional rundown apartment.

Her eyes scanned the buildings across the way before moving down to the civilians down below on the busy streets. She watched as several vendors sold their items from time to time or watched as the schools of children ran home the moment the time came. Always searching for something that stood out in the familiarity of things. Even after moving around for over a year and across the world, her routine never changed.

No matter how free she had been with the Avengers, she was now someone who was alone. She was someone without any ties to an organization and that meant someone would always come knocking. And Y/N knew that some of them wouldn’t come with a container of cookies.

As she brought the mug up to her lips, her mind instantly went to Bucky and how he would have enjoyed this little town. How even though the streets were crowded, she had mostly been left alone. As the thought played through her mind, it didn’t stop the ache in her chest from forming. No matter how much time had passed, she still missed him.

Maybe she didn’t deserve to miss him. Not after what she had been keeping from him. She tried so hard to bury her past and keep it under for it to only be uncovered by Bucky. She deserved his anger and how easy it was for him to ask her to leave. If she was being honest, she had expected many things to come from that night, but staying under the radar hadn’t been one of them.

A part of her wanted there to be a message from Bucky waiting for her when she stopped by one of the familiar safe houses. Yet there never was. Not that she was expecting there to be. She knew Bucky could possibly never forgive her. If he had…even then she wouldn’t know. Not when she tried hard to make sure she lived like the namesake that was forced upon her.

Shaking her head slightly, her eyes moved along the alley way at the far end of the street. Her eyes instantly fell on the shade the building provided and the man standing within the shadows. He was by himself and scanning the crowd in front of him. She would have thought he had been waiting for someone until he turned slightly and she caught a glimpse of a handgun attached to his hip.

Her eyes hesitantly moved from his figure as she began scanning once more. As she did, she found another standing by one of the vendors. His appearance stood out in the crowd. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand as she watched the second one for a moment. His movements were quick, but she watched as his hand fiddled with the comms in his ear.

When she found a third making his way up the fire escape across the street from her building, that had become her queue to get out of there. After setting the mug on the counter, she began moving around the small space and collected her essentials. Her pace is quick, but thorough.

Moving from place to place meant keeping things light at all times. Her getaway bag had maps and tools she needed to ensure she could get from one place to another. Tucked in a hidden pocket in the back of the bag, she had a yellow envelope with small mementos of her life before leaving the compound. Once she had what she needed she was out the door.

"There's my favorite rogue agent." A feminine voice came over the low murmurs of patrons speaking around them.

Y/N's eyes rolled as she finally turned her attention to the woman that had been speaking. "What do you want, Valentina?"

The moment Y/N heard Valentina step into the area, she had known she had overstayed her welcome in the city. She may have been across the country from the Avengers Compound, but it apparently wasn’t far enough for her to show up.

“You mean I can’t come and visit you while you plan out your next move to completely avoid your ex boyfriend?” A close to genuine chuckle passed Valentina’s lips as she continued to move closer to Y/N before taking a seat next to her in a small cafe. “I must say you’ve gone soft over the years. The Y/N I knew when we first met wouldn’t have let someone such as James Barnes to drive her away. Let alone turn her back on not one but two organizations she showed loyalty to.”

“There’s a reason one of those organizations no longer exists and most members are dead.” Y/N’s eyes never left Valentina’s. She didn’t trust the woman at all and with her being there now, it couldn’t be good. “Some people refuse to be puppets.”

A small smirk pulled at the woman’s lips. “Yet here you are, hiding out in a cafe after spending the day on rooftops to get even the smallest glimpse of the man you betrayed. Seems to me he’s still holding the strings.” She watched as Y/N shifted through her emotions for the briefest of moments. “Such a shame the betrayal happened on your birthday. Must have been one hell of a party.”

Before the words completely left Valentina’s lips, Y/N had her gun cocked and aimed at Valentina from under the table. While any other time she wouldn’t move to make a scene, Y/N acted on her emotions. “You were his informant. You handed him the file.”

Valentina rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Oh sweets, I have someone else to do my dirty work. I simply provided the information at a higher link."

Valentina may have heard the sound of the gun cocking back, but she made no move to act on it. She was calling Y/N’s bluff. It was a crowded cafe and she knew Y/N wouldn’t intentionally cause a midday scene with the Avengers still in the city.

"What is it that you gain from giving it to him?" She asked with a raised brow. "Or was it for the satisfaction that you still have some ties into my life?"

A huff of a chuckle passed Valentina's lips as her eyes never left Y/N. "I did it because if given the right persuasion, I'd gain you without any loyalties to anyone or any organization."

“Wrong move. Because I’d rather be retired than have any kind of ties with you.”

“What if I told you I happen to come into possession of something that can remove that trigger in your head. Would you change your mind?"

"I'd call you a liar and still want nothing from you. I'm safe from my triggers. They don't exist anymore."

A huff came from Valentina. "You should know that there are a few others that are interested in having you with them. I'm your best shot at not letting you fall into the wrong hands. They're building from the ground up."

Y/N's eyebrow raised slightly. "I think I'll take my chances."

This wasn't the first time she was forced to move because someone had found her. After her interaction with Valentina, she was always keeping her guard up. Her past made her a valuable asset to have. Many tried bribing her before she kept herself under the radar. Others were planning on a more forceful approach.

Y/N wasn’t stupid. She knew that there was the possibility that there was someone out there that was crazy enough to try and keep Hydra going. While the Avengers and herself had taken out the bases, she knew there were smaller factions that were waiting for their big break. Their big break being the woman that can easily get what they wanted quickly.

Following her escape route should have been easy. She had timed it out twice since moving in and it had been an effective way out of the town. If her pursuers hadn’t seen her yet, she’d be able to get away in record time. If they had, she'd have to find a way to push the time.

The moment she reached ground level, she began merging herself in with the small crowds around the vendors. Her pathway out of town was to the west and from where she currently stood. Her eyes are constantly moving, taking in every detail to ensure her escape as quickly as possible.

Two vendors down, she took note of the man she saw from her window. She watched as his eyes moved from the booth he was looking at, up to the apartments. No doubt looking at the window she had been standing in not too long ago.

As she carefully made her way, she kept her eyes focused on the vendors as she passed him while keeping her ears open. She needed to know their current stance before making a run for it. The moment she was in proximity of him, she had been able to hear the partial conversations he had been having through his comms.

“She was just there.” There was a pause as he listened. Y/N stiffened a bit as her hand ran over a necklace hanging in front of her. Don’t run. It will bring unwanted attention. “Search the area. She couldn’t have gotten far.”

With that, Y/N moved in between two of the vendors before making her way down the street. She had almost been to the alleyway she had marked for her escape when she caught sight of another agent walking out of that exact alley way.

Quickly thinking, she walked into the small tourist shop she had been in front of. The shop had several aisles of shelving that were filled with trinkets. She moved her way through the little shop, knowing there was a back entrance she could slip out through.

"Alleyway clear."

The moment the words were said, she backtracked her steps and moved back into the aisles. Shit. Her thoughts played as her eyes moved towards the front of the shop. She watched as two others ran right past the window of the shop.

Knowing she was surrounded this time sent a spike of fear through her body. Her mind raced through several ways this could play out. One, she could fight her way out with the attention it would bring and run with the ability to lay low. Two, she'd fight and die in the process because she wouldn't let anyone take her to manipulate her. And then there was the third option.

It was an option that she didn't know if it would work at all. She could lay low for as long as she needed to in order to get a message out before fighting long enough before being captured. But it was a matter if the person receiving the message would care enough to act on it.

She bit her lips as she watched the agents from the opposite end of the street begin to close in. "Option three it is."

She worked quickly to get the items she needed. Grabbing a postcard from the rotating rack, she made sure it had the little shop’s name on it. Second, she grabbed a small decorative box that had been on the shelf across the way.

With both in hand, she began making her way towards the shop owner that had been standing there watching her the whole time. His eyebrow was raised with a small scowl on his lips as she approached the counter and she gave a soft smile, placing the items on the counter.

She had been in his shop only once before. But it had been enough to know she could use him to help get her message out. Even now she could see the way the news clippings and posters of her former teammates hung directly behind him.

"What if I told you I can get the Avengers to show up here to your shop?" She asked as she pulled out her old Avengers patch from her tactical suit and placed it on top of the items. The scowl on his face slowly formed into a smile and she knew she was in.

It wasn't long after he had helped her get things in order when she heard the front door open. She could hear the heavy boots hit the tiled floor.

Perfect timing. She thought as she gave the shop owner one more smile. "Sorry for any damage that's about to happen."

The moment she finished, she felt a hand grab a hold of her shoulder. Out of instinct and all her years of training, Y/N was able to flip the agent over onto his back. A knife was easily in her hand, stabbing him right in the neck before he had even hit the ground.

Another set of hands reached for her before she blocked his movements with her own arm. It allowed her to turn and face him as she dodged his blows and before swiping her legs right under his. With his fall, he crashed against one of the shelves of trinkets causing a shattering mess of figurines.

As he moved to get up, Y/N looked around for anything to use to her advantage. At least that was until the shop owner held out a crowbar towards her. Her eyebrow raised for a moment before she shrugged and took a hold of it. Without a second thought, she swung the crowbar, hitting his head with full force, sending him back into the broken glass.

A scoff passed her lips as she took in the mess before her. It had felt way too easy to her. She hadn’t even come close to breaking a sweat. Neither of them seemed prepared for what she was capable of. If they really wanted to take her down, it was going to take a lot more than they had been giving.

Placing the crowbar on the counter, she leaned down and pulled the knife still lodged in the first agent. “Mail that out quickly. When they get here, make sure you stick-”

“To the instructions you gave.” The shop owner rolled his eyes. He motioned towards the front door. “If you’d be so kind as to leave before more of them come and cause more damage.”

She pulled the knife out quickly before she was moving out the door. It gave her the chance to move along a few of the shops towards the other alleyway she knew would make it out of the block to exit the town. Turning into it, she began running.

As she neared the end, she braced herself for whatever would come next. Her escape had been too easy. Agents had barely put up a fight. And in the back of her mind, she knew. This is where they get her.

The moment she ran out past the exit of the alley a shuddered gasp left her lips. A jolt of electricity pulsed through her body, immobilizing her. She fought to keep the scream that bubbled in her throat at bay, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of hearing it. When she fell to the ground, she watched as the shadows of agents moved in on her. Before darkness could consume her, she watched as one of them stood over her.

“Welcome back to the fold, Phantom.”

_____

"Man, it sure is good to be back." Sam said the moment he stepped off the ramp of the quinjet.

"Debrief is in an hour. Don't get too comfortable." Steve added as the rest of them made their way towards the compound.

A few groans filled the air before they went their separate ways. Some of them went towards their rooms to free themselves from the tactical gear they were in. Others, in an attempt to not fully relax before the debrief, went into the common area.

"Looks like we've gotten mail." Wanda noted as she walked past the countertop they were on, heading for the fridge.

"Does anyone else find it odd that you actually get mail here?" Clint asked.

Sam collected the small stack of mail and started going through it. As he did he began handing them out the people currently in the room.

"Can't hide from the bill collectors." Natasha joked as she reached out and got the singular piece of mail from Sam.

"Bill collectors or fan mail." Sam added. When he reached the bottom of the stack an eyebrow raised. "Well that's a first." His eyes caught as Bucky moved further towards the seats by the back wall. "Barnes actually has mail." He began moving towards Bucky.

"What, junk mail?" Bucky joked as he sat himself down in the arm chair.

“Looks like fan mail.” Sam said as he handed him the post card. “Though it doesn’t say who it’s from or why they sent it.”

Bucky’s eyebrow raised as he took a hold of the postcard. A foreign gift shop covered the front of it. It was a place Bucky had never seen let alone heard the name of. When he turned the card over, he instantly knew who it was from.

Y/N’s writing had been rushed. The Compound’s address is written along with his name. Right in the open block for a message had only been one single word. It took a moment before recognition registered in his brain at the phrase, causing him to quickly stand from his seat.

“Hypothetical scenario,” Y/N said as she looked over at Bucky as he looked out the window, keeping an eye on the target. She could see the way he slightly shook his head with a small smile pulling at his lips at her words before she even began. It was something she always did with him when they were stuck playing the waiting game. “If anything were to happen that we got separated and went missing. How would you let me know you were alive?”

Bucky spared a glance over at Y/N. “By showing up and proving that I can’t be easily gotten rid of.” His eyes moved back to the target. “I doubt with the technology Stark has, there’d ever be a need for this scenario.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “Okay then let’s add onto the scenario. We’re not working with the Avengers and we’re two rogue agents out there in the world. Someone attempts to take us out and we need to lay low after that attempt to make sure it’s clear. How would you let me know you were okay?”

Bucky sighed and thought about it for a moment. “Postcard of where we are.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Send it to a previously discussed location. Maybe the next safehouse we planned. With a code word that makes no sense to anyone else.”

“What would the code word be?” She asked as she got up from her spot to go stand beside him.

“For safe?” He watched from his peripheral as she nodded. Her eyes on their target. His mind could only think of one thing. The first time he knew he loved Y/N was over breakfast after an exhausting mission. One where pancakes may have burned since they had been distracted. “Pancakes.”

A laugh passed her lips. “Burnt or Regular?”

“While I prefer regular, the burnt ones make the memories.” He bumped his right shoulder against hers. She bumped hers back against his as they watched the target pace back and forth on the phone. “What if you were going to be late to the randevou?”

“Stark.” She said without hesitating, causing him to laugh. “That proves it's a perfect fit. Okay, worst ever possible case scenario. What if we know we’re being stalked- let's say by Hydra- and more than likely be captured. You only have enough time to write one word before sending it, what would it be?”

His brows furrowed at the mere mention of the scenario. Sometimes her hypothetical worried him but he always went along with it and thought about his answers. While he never believed they would ever need something to warn each other, he knew that one word needed to stand out. After a moment he nodded his head. “Siberia.”

Bucky’s widened eyes focused on the single word within the text block. Unlike how she rushed with the address, Bucky could tell she took the extra time to make sure this word was loud and clear.

SIBERIA

"FRIDAY, how long ago did this arrive?" Bucky asked, never taking his eyes off of the postcard.

The postcard was delivered three weeks ago. Two days after the team left for the mission. Threat level zero.

His chest tightened. They had all been gone when the postcard got there. He hadn't been there when it had arrived. The only person that could decipher the single word on it had been nowhere near it when Y/N needed him to get the message.

Three weeks he and the rest of the team had been out there dealing with the small weeds of Hydra that were starting to grow. Three weeks of making sure nothing would ever come from them poking their heads up from the ground. Three weeks of fearing that Y/N would be entangled in them somehow on her own free will.

Even before the mission and in between, he spent several months checking in on safe houses and apartments along the way. It may have been brief moments of arriving but it was enough to give a thorough check in. All of the stops with one goal in common, looking for Y/N.

Looking for her so he could apologize. Looking for her to make sure there was some proof she was alive out there. Looking for her to bring her back home with him. But she was good at keeping herself invisible. Good enough that part of him wanted to give up, but he couldn't bring himself to.

Now, there was no telling what kind of trouble she was in before she had been captured. While part of him hoped it was any other organization attempting to get their hands on Y/N, he knew that wasn't the case. Not with that code word.

An uncomfortable chill ran up his back and he had to stop himself from crumpling up the postcard in his hand as he dealt with the whirlwind of emotions he was feeling at that moment.

"What is it?" Natasha asked, watching him. Bucky’s eyes moved towards her before looking at the others who were watching in curiosity.

For a moment his brain shifted through every memory he had within the grasp of Hydra. Every scream he let out had echoed in his ears. The torment and conditioning he had been subjected to. It wasn't long before the visions of himself morphed into her being the one to experience it all. All of it screaming at him that everything has gone wrong. All because he forced her to leave.

"It seems we missed a growing Hydra faction on our mission. It's from Y/N." He hadn't missed the widened eyes at the mention of her name. "She sent the postcard. It's a warning and a plea for help. She's been captured by Hydra."