Path to Protection (BuckyBarnes x OC)

Epilogue

     The group scoured through the wrecks, searching for the secret, underground passage Hydra's files wrote about with highly efficient codes. The girl they were looking for was even more protected than the Winter Soldier, presumably because she used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., and they had to conceal any lead of anyone ever finding her. Little was known about her location, but they figured this would've been the right place to start looking.

     "Hey, guys?" the redhead woman exclaimed. "I think I found something." She cleared the dust off one part of the glass coffin lying beneath her. An emotionless face of a hazel-haired woman stared back at her; her cheek held a frozen tear.

     "Is this her?" The pararescue asked as he glanced at Cap's flushed face.

     "It's her," the Captain confirmed and nudged the short redhead. "Can you get her out?"

     "I think we'll need Stark to do it. Or Banner," the woman replied after studying the computer screen by the side of the glass container, the technology of which was so old-fashioned it could've only allowed access to its contents if being overridden. It wasn't her field of expertise.

     "Then let's call him," the other man spoke. "Barnes won't wait forever."

     "I think that's exactly what the point of a jail is, Sam," the redhead quipped.

     "You know what, Nat? I'm tired of your continuous schooling."

     The Captain sighed as he pulled out his phone, still confused over the proper usage of the device. He ignored his two partners and walked to the side, holding up the phone close to his ear. "Tony?" he spoke unpleasantly. "We need a little help here. You think you could fly down to Jersey?"

     "Don't you think she'll freak out if we get her out here?" the other man called out. "She did have quite the history with Hydra, man. I don't think she would want to be woken up in the same place."

     Cap glanced at his friend, his eyebrows furrowing. "Good point. Tony, bring the quinjet. Let's carry her home first."

     -

     I blinked my eyes open once I felt the familiar warmth of fresh air washing over my body. The scents were unknown to me; the last time I was awake, the only things I could sense were mould, sweat, and blood. Where the hell was I? Was it just another one of Hydra's stations? I won't let them take advantage of me again, not after what I was able to achieve last time.

     I immediately shot up and braced myself for any type of unwanted touch or attack. My vision was still unclear, so I wasn't able to decipher who stood in front of me yet, but I knew I wasn't alone. Two strong hands wrapped around my wrists as I tried desperately to punch my way to freedom. I wouldn't ever stop trying, not until I was still alive.

     "Willow!" A booming voice echoed through my brain, toying with my memory, and I froze in place. "Relax, you're okay, it's just me, it's Steve."

     As the fog before my eyes cleared, I was able to see the aquamarine eyes and the ashy blond hair of a man I once knew. Something told me that I was even able to call him a friend back in the day, but who knew how long it'd been since then. The front of my head ached as I tried to revive the memory.

     "S— Steve...?" I stuttered as a flash of the man appeared in front of my eyes. "But... you went under the ice. How did you survive?"

     The blonde puffed a chuckle. "The same as you, Willy," his voice was breaking. "We were both frozen."

     "No, no, I wasn't," I opposed. "Not all the time."

     "Her vitals are stable, her body is fully operational, and mind is intact," a fella with round glasses standing behind a computer, typing something into the device, announced. "I'll need a blood sample."