Winter Soldier's Soulmate Ch. 03

Bucky watched as rays of sunshine peeked through the trees. Dawn was always one of his favorite parts of a day on a mission. It was a piece of beauty that he could see that couldn't be stolen from him. They could take his memories, his mind, his body, even his soul. But they couldn't take this away.

Not the art of the natural world. He had grown to truly love nature under Hydra's care. To be out in an open space and not caged underground somewhere like he was most of the time. He had escaped them and had no plans of going back.

But they had broken him. The question that remained was he the kind of broken that could be fixed, or the one you threw in the trash. He had a feeling he might be the latter of the two. So with no way to redemption then why not end it?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the side door of the SUV open and watched as Lucy scurried out of the car, toilet paper in hand. He couldn't help but smile. She was a strange one.

She went behind the same oak as before. Bucky clocked the area making sure there was no threat to her when she was in such a vulnerable position.

He heard her shuffling as she came back from around the tree and headed back to the car. She slowed before she reached and looked up into the tree he was in.

She searched for him; he stayed perfectly still, curious if she would be able to spot him without the help of movement. She was perseverent though and finally did spot him. She waved and motioned toward the car. He gave her a nod. He wasn't sure if she saw it or not, but she turned away and moved back to the car, climbing in.

He checked the area once more, surprised that no one had shown up last night. He didn't believe in luck which meant hydra might have a more elaborate plan they were putting in place.

Bucky climbed down with smooth movements, dropping down from the eight foot high lowest branch landing with the quiet grace of a panther.

He moved towards the car with his quiet natural stealth. He opened the back without thinking about it and heard Lucy squeak. He looked at her confused until he realized he could see her bare back. She was facing away from him clutching a blanket to her chest, to cover some of her nudity.

Bucky would have blushed, or been embarrassed except for the tattoo that covered her back. He put his knee on the floor of the trunk of the car and leaned forward unthinkingly to trace a finger down one of the folded wings she had on her back. They were angel wings that went from the top of her back all the way down to the dimple just above her ass. They were done in black and white and greys. They were highly detailed and accurate. The muscle definition at the attachment point between and slightly below her shoulder blades was exquisite. The elbow part of the wing was what brushed the top curve of her shoulders. He could almost picture the wings opening using that elbow joint to spread out and lift her aloft. The feathers then trailed down her back in an almost cascading waterfall effect. His fingers followed that waterfall all the way down to the last feather which ended at the curve of her ass.

The sound of Lucy clearing her throat pulled Bucky out of his trance. He snatched his hand away as if it had been burned.

"I guess you like my tattoo." Her voice was hesitant from nerves at the somewhat awkward situation they were in.

"It's..." he was at a loss for words.

When she turned to look at his face, he realized his silence had been too long. "It's nice." he finished lamely. He wanted to smack his forehead with his metal palm. What the fuck was that? The tattoo was much better than nice; it was breathtaking. He couldn't figure out how he hadn't noticed it before this moment.

"Thanks," she said after another awkward silence. "I got it when I graduated high school. My parents were very opposed but...I always thought it would be cool to be able to fly under my own power. Part of that feeling came from not having a soul mark until just a couple weeks ago. It was my way of saying fuck you to the universe. If you don't want to give me a soul mate that's fine, I'll just carry myself."

He nodded in understanding. "It reminds me of a fallen angel." he murmured.

"I never thought of myself as one, but I guess with all the trouble I've been causing the last few days, it makes sense."

He grunted before turning his back to her. She deserved as much privacy as he could give while she changed.

He heard her shuffling on clothing behind him. He didn't move until she was sitting beside him on the edge of the open trunk. He looked over to see she wore sweatpants and a t-shirt. The casual outfit looked good on her.

"So what's the plan?" She asked when he remained silent.

"Two-hour nap for me then we hit the road. Stay in the car while I sleep; it's safer." She nodded and climbed back in.

"Bucky?" She asked tentatively, as he laid himself down in the makeshift bed, after closing the trunk.

He grunted to let her know he was listening. He closed his eyes and clasped his hands over his belly.

"Is there any way we could stop at a library or used book store at some point?"

He cracked an eye open and looked at her questioningly.

"It's just kinda boring to be riding in a car all day." She was fidgeting, moving restlessly on her knees, sitting about a foot from him. She had her hands clenched in her lap. She was holding them so tightly that her fingers had gone white.

"We will be stopping in Atlanta for some things; we can find a used book store there."

She unclenched her fingers and gave him a relieved smile.

He closed his eye again and resettled himself, instantly dropping into a light doze.

*****

Lucy watched from her kneeling position by the left side door as Bucky almost immediately fell asleep. It was astounding. She could never do that.

Last night she had tossed and turned the whole night, unable to really get comfortable or block out the idea that they could be attacked at any moment. She had finally fallen asleep due to sheer exhaustion, in the end getting maybe 2 hours of sleep in total.

Lucy rested her head back against the window and looked out at the forest. If this whole thing weren't so terrifying, she would have genuinely been able to appreciate the beauty around them. It was gorgeous watching the morning light shine through the trees. It perfectly showcased the fresh dew that had accumulated on the grass overnight. But this wasn't a leisurely vacation. They were both in a life or death situation.

Lucy looked back at Bucky; she had so many questions about him. He had swept in like an avenging angel and rescued her, and yet it appeared that he knew nothing about himself.

What struck her the most was when he said that he thought he used to go by Bucky. And that scar where his soul mark had been. Someone had hurt him badly.

Soul marks were considered sacred. It showed your bond with another person. The registry was new, but it helped connect soulmates and helped prevent the horrible cases of being without your soulmate because you couldn't find them.

Depending on how powerful one's bond was with their soulmate if one died, the other followed within minutes. There were even cases of soulmates who had never met, dying at almost the same time. They were rare, but they did happen. Lucy's romantic side had always thought of it as tragically romantic. But now, she wasn't so sure.

She felt sorry for whoever Bucky's soulmate was. How horrible it would be for your name to be ripped away from your soul mates body. How did you confirm that you were indeed each other's soulmate? How did you help a soulmate who was so...broken?

Lucy's thoughts chased each other around in her head, always ending with the fact that she didn't have enough information, nor brainpower to think about this right now.

He had said there would be answers in New York of all places. She could roll with that. It was a long drive from here to there, but maybe she could take this time to get to know Bucky, as a person. Help him, and help herself.

He would be an interesting test of her psychology knowledge if nothing else. But he felt like more than that.

Lucy shook off her odd thoughts and curled up with her back almost touching Bucky. She felt better being close to him with the risk of danger coming at any second. She heard him sigh and then felt him curl around her, tucking her into the safety of his.

*****

Clint piloted the quinjet, Sam sat contentedly in the co-pilot seat playing on his phone, and Steve paced in the back.

Sam had given up trying to tell Steve to sit down a while ago. Steve wasn't in the mood to listen to reason; he was too hopped up on the need to get any substantial lead on Bucky.

He completely ignored Sam telling him multiple times that it might not be his best friend and stayed tense and hopeful. So Sam had decided to spend his time doing something better than metaphorically beating his head against a wall, and work on some VA planning and scheduling on his phone.

Clint signaled to Sam that they would be landing within the next 15 minutes. Sam sighed and put his phone away. He stretched his back, hearing it crack and pop. Sam sighed in relief and headed to the back of the quinjet to tell Steve. He found the man shifting his shield from arm to arm with impatient fingers and walking in a tight circle. For a giant man, Steve could move with a lot of grace.

Sam cleared his throat, just to make sure Steve knew he was there. He wasn't sure how much his friend was in his head versus focused on his surrounding him. War veterans had a habit of not reacting well when startled, and Steve was no different.

The only time Sam had made the mistake ended up with him pressed up against a wall, with a forearm against his throat, followed by a guilt-ridden Steve following him around and constantly apologizing for the next three weeks. Not something he felt like repeating.

Steve froze, and his head flew up to meet Sam's eyes. He didn't say anything, but all his attention was focused on Sam.

"We'll be landing in 15 Cap. The airport is called Dallas Executive Airport-RBD, and it's about 10 minutes from Lucy's apartment building. It's... a rough part of town." Sam told him.

Steve nodded in understanding. Sam walked back up to the cockpit and sat back down beside Clint. Clint looked over at him and smirked.

"Yea, yea I know. When we get there, you get to babysit him while I gather info. If Steve gets involved, he'll probably scare the poor police force and any investigators they have involved."

Clint's smirk disappeared, and he sighed. "Fine but you owe me one," he said pointing a finger at Sam.

"You got it," Sam said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

*****

Steve could hear Sam and Clint talking about him but didn't comment. They weren't wrong, and it also tightened their bonds as teammates, which was productive for all the Avengers. Sure it made him look less in control of himself when it came to Bucky, but if he was honest with himself. When it came to Bucky, he had little to no control of himself.

There was so much built up guilt, first for not being able to save Bucky from falling in the first place and then not going back to look for him. Hydra had tortured Bucky for over 70 years, and it was his fault. He was responsible for what had happened to his best friend. So it was also his responsibility to do everything in his power to fix it.

All of this made Steve feel very out of control when he was used to being cool and collected on missions. Not emotional and stressed about what they might find. He felt it as the plan engaged it's landing procedure. He tensed up once again, then forced his muscles to relax. He would let Sam take point when talking to the investigators, but he knew Bucky the best, so he would be the one searching for evidence of his best friend's presence.

The plane landed. Steve lifted the shield and placed it against the magnetic hook on his back so that it was secure. He waited for the back hatch of the quinjet to open and allow him to exit the plane and start his search. Steve was impatient. He was tired of waiting; he had waited for years to help his friend. He wasn't going to wait any more than he already had. Not if he could help it.

The quinjet's slow lowering mechanism for the back hatch did not help with his impatience. When there was finally enough room for his large frame to make it through, he headed out, not caring that the ramp was still lowering. He knew the address. He knew where he was going. He left Clint and Sam in the dust as he made his way quickly to the apartment building.

If this hadn't been a murder scene, then their small troop would be wearing street clothes and attempting to blend in, but for this mission, they needed the access that the uniform would provide. Steve made his way out of the airport, showing with his quick steps and serious face that he was on a mission and did not have time to stop.

He got looks. He knew he would; he was Captain America; there weren't many places he could go without getting noticed even if he was out of the uniform. It was easier to blend in outside New York City because people weren't expecting to see him, but it didn't always work.

He made his way out into the city and headed towards the address. Some people took photos of him, but he ignored it. Jarvis would wipe any of the devices if there were a problem.

Steve was not techno-savvy. He had no idea how Jarvis, phones, computers, or the internet worked. He just knew that they did and that was fine by him. He would leave the tech to Tony. He preferred doing things the old fashioned way.

Steve made it to the apartment complex in record time and entered. He made his way up the stairs and located Lucy's apartment. There was a young cop standing outside the apartment, looking bored as he guarded the door covered in yellow police tape. He didn't notice Steve until the captain was about 5 feet away. The kid looked up and his face blanched. His mouth gaped open as he stared. Steve just kept moving forward until he was standing in front of the kid.

"The Avengers are taking over this case," Steve told him before pulling the tape off the door frame and walking into the apartment. He would have opened the door except it was dangling, broken, from its hinges.

The bodies had been removed, but that was ok, they would see them later. Right now Steve wanted to focus on the crime scene itself. Get a feel for how things went down. White outlines were marking where the bodies had lain and what position they had been in. There were two in the room, both by the door. The third had been tossed out the window. He didn't see many glass shards on the floor of the apartment meaning the window had been broken from the inside.

Steve moved around the room. It was hard to tell what happened fully without knowing what injuries were sustained by the individuals, but Steve could tell the place looked surprisingly clean. The door, the window, and a few bullet holes were the only signs of destruction. The bullet holes were interesting. They weren't that deep on inspection. The bullets had been removed but based on what Steve could see these were all ricochets. Good news for this being Bucky.

Steve heard footsteps behind him and saw Clint entering the room. Steve returned to his exploration of the place.

"It looks like the body closest to the door was killed by his neck being snapped by being hit in the face by something with inhuman strength. The second had his throat collapsed by a hand of some sort. All of this is based on the Coroners report that sam just sent to me." Clint said, scanning his phone.

"All of which points to this being Bucky. I want to see the other apartment that was broken into, as well as find out if any other apartments are empty in this building." Steve replied, looking out the broken window at the white outline of a body on the sidewalk below.

"I'll ask Sam to call the owners of the apartment building to find that out. The apartment that also has a broken door and window is 10C. A floor above us." Clint said, before tucking his phone away and scanning the apartment.

Steve left him to it. He was curious about the other apartment. No bodies had been found in there, but the window had been left open, and the door was broken in.

He made his way up the stairs and into the hallway. He saw the yellow police tape and headed in that direction. The door didn't give him much information; it wasn't hard to break open doors with human strength; a well-placed kick or shoulder would do. Steve was much more focused on the window. He ducked under the tape and moved through the room. He located the window and stood in front of it. It gave him a clear line of sight to the roof on the other side of the street, where he could see another white outline of a body.

This looked like more confirmation of Bucky, but they could never be 100 percent sure with irrefutable proof, like a picture.

Steve pulled out his phone and spoke towards it. "Jarvis?"

"Here as always Captain Rogers." The disembodied voice of Jarvis replied.

It made Steve smile. For a computer, Jarvis had a very distinct personality.

"Please scan all the cameras within a half a mile radius for any visual on Barnes."

"Of course Captain Rogers," was the quick response.

Steve tucked his phone away and went back down to the first apartment to meet Clint. He met Clint at the door.

"What's your assessment?" He asked the master assassin.

"Whoever did this was good. Very good. No blood except for the guy with the broken neck. And very little damage to anything else. The attack was made efficiently. Any word on the girl?"

Steve shook his head. "Her college friend, Stacy was the first one to call her in after she couldn't reach her for 24 hours. By that time they already knew her apartment had been broken into. Lucy's wallet, keys, phone and any other form of identification were found here."

"So she's on the run and deep undercover." Clint hypothesized.

"It looks like it," Steve confirmed. "The only problem is there is nothing, anywhere in her record to show that she had either the training or any skill in running."

"So your guessing she's with Bucky?" Clint asked.

Steve shrugged. "I hope she is. Maybe he saved her and then just left her and she ran. I honestly don't know. I can't predict what he will do anymore. I have assumptions, guesses, and hopes. But that's about it."

Clint moved forward and clapped Steve on the back, gripping his shoulder in a brief, comforting squeeze at the end before letting go. "We'll find them." He said reassuringly.

Steve sighed then nodded his head.

Authors Note: Please let me know what you think through comments.