Tangled Paths | Bucky Barnes

Chapter 6: Go to Hell

6
Go to Hell

Siberian Hydra Facility January 20th, 1945

Bucky slowly started to come too. The last thing he remembered someone was dragging his body away from a river and blood was pouring from his left arm. He slowly reached over with his right arm to make sure his left was still there. He thought to himself it must have been a crazy dream. He started at his shoulder which was tender to the touch and began to run his hand down his arm, only to lose connection with anything about three inches above his elbow. His groggy state quickly dissipated as the shock snapped him awake. His arm still felt like it was there, he moved to lift his left hand and what was left of his arm lifted in motion to complete the task. He starred at the bandaged nub in disbelief.

That fall should have killed him on impact. He tried to retrace the events that led him here. He remembered falling off the train and at that point accepting that he was a goner, but in a last attempt as he got close to the cliff side he remembered reaching for a tree to try and slow his momentum which is how he must have lost the appendage. He only remembered immense pain and then everything went black. He wondered who it was that saved him from the riverside. He was in some kind of hospital bed but the place he was didn't look like any other place he'd been before. He looked down and realized he was wearing a white muscle shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. He ran his hand over his face and realized that he had a few weeks of hair growing from it. He wondered if he'd been in a coma, and if that indeed was the case he wondered how long he'd been out.

Bucky sat up and swung his legs off of the bed he was lying on. He had to admit, for a 1000-foot fall losing an arm and a short-term coma was probably the easiest he would have gotten off. His bare feet touched the floor and he rose off the bed to stretch with a yawn. When suddenly 4 hydra soldiers piled into the room with their guns pointed at Bucky followed by a scientist who was reading a file. Bucky's expression dropped. His mind started racing. Even if he could take these soldiers who knew how many more were out there? Did this mean that the rest of the commandos had been captured? His train of thought was interrupted when the scientist instructed Bucky to sit.

Bucky took a step back and sat back down on the bed, feet still planted on the floor.
"Can you tell me your full name?" The scientist asked with a thick German accent.
"Go to hell" Bucky replied. The scientist looked up from his file.
"I am trying to make sure you didn't suffer any brain damage, Sargent. Barnes." The scientist reasoned. Bucky narrowed his eyes and stared at him. The scientist clearly unamused by this sat on a chair that was fixed to the wall and stared back at Bucky. "You can stare at me angrily all day or you can help me determine if you are of sound mind." He reasoned. Bucky knew he couldn't trust this guy, but felt inclined to answer his questions anyway.

"James Buchanan Barnes," Bucky said dryly. The scientist nodded then looked at one of the soldiers and asked if he'd get them both a cup of water. The soldier nodded and left the room.
"Alright James. What is your date of birth." The scientist asked.
"March 10th, 1917," Bucky replied. The scientist scribbled a few notes down as the soldier came back with cups of water. The scientist thanked him and put his file down then stood and grabbed both cups. He bridged the gap between Bucky and himself and handed Bucky one of the cups of water. Bucky was taken aback by this, he took the cup and watched as the scientist went back to his chair and picked up his file then began to drink. Bucky waited a few moments then downed his cup, he hadn't realized how parched he was until that moment.
"What date did you fall from the train?" He asked after Bucky put down his cup.
"November 4th," Bucky replied.
"Very good." The man muttered as he wrote something down and then read some things over.
"Sargent Barnes. You were in a coma for almost three months. When the Austrian medical men found you your arm was nowhere in sight I'm sorry." He said genuinely. Bucky cleared his throat. This must have meant that it was only him, no one else was captured, which was good it meant they were still out there fighting. But he didn't understand why this scientist was being so kind to him.
"Thank you." He replied as kindly as he could. He wondered what they had planned for him.