#this is why the army kept telling her to reenlist

[writer-of-various]

Nancy: Remember, when burying a body, make sure to cover it with endangered plants so it’s illegal to dig up!

Nancy: Make sure to follow me for more gardening tips!

[study-coffee-chicago]

Seasons of PD: Season 10: A Piece of You, A Piece of Me (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister imagine)

A/N: Grab your tissues and I apologize in advance for making anyone cry!

Your age: 21

Jay's age: 35

Will's age: 37

It was starting to get cold out and you kept reminding yourself that you needed to set out your coat to bring to school the night before or else you'd just think that you could get away with wearing a hoodie like you had the previous two days, and you thought you were going to freeze to death walking around campus. They didn't call Chicago the windy city for nothing because the wind was what was making you freeze to and from class.

You expected to walk inside the apartment you shared with Jay and Hailey (since Will's burned down in the summer) and then make a hot chai latte and get to work on your homework, so you were confused when you walked inside and saw Will sitting in the La-Z-Boy recliner.

"Will, what are you..." You trailed off as you looked closer at Will. His eyes were red-rimmed like he had just been crying. You looked around the room and saw Hailey snuggled up to Jay's side on the couch. Hailey had silent tears running down her face and Jay had his jaw clenched, which he did to hold back tears. He was rubbing Hailey's back in a comforting manner. You dropped your backpack. "What's going on?"

Jay gave Hailey's shoulder a squeeze and stood up. "Y/N..."

"Did someone die? Did Adam, Kim, or Kevin get shot? That's the only reason why all of you would be crying. Oh God--"

Jay put a hand on your shoulder. "Everyone's okay. Everyone's fine. Nobody got hurt."

"Then why are you crying? Why is Will here?"

"Y/N, you might want to sit down."

"Jay, what's going on? Am I in danger? Is there someone trying to kidnap you again?"

"No, no. It's...Just sit down, okay?"

You did as Jay asked and went and sat down on the other La-Z-Boy recliner.

Jay crouched down in front of you. "There's no easy way to say this. But I want you to know it wasn't an easy decision--"

"Don't sugar coat it, Jay. Please. Just tell me."

Jay closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he reopened them, you could see that they were filling with tears. "I re-enlisted."

You felt like the wind had been knocked out of you. You must've heard him wrong. He couldn't be reenlisting, not after all the shit that the army put him through. His PTSD, covering up a war crime for his buddy, Knox. No. You had to have heard him wrong.

"What?" was all you said.

"I re-enlisted in the army. I'll be stationed in Bolivia for eight months. I leave today."

"No," you whispered. Then you looked him straight in the eye. "No."

"Y/N--"

"No!" You shoved him away, causing him to fall down, and stood up from the chair. "No! No! You can't leave! Did you forget what it did to you? It made you pull a gun on me in a nightmare, Jay! You can't go back there!"

"Y/N, calm down. It's only eight months," Jay said and stood up and moved closer to you.

"You could be dead in eight months! You can't-- you can't--" The tears were clouding your vision now and you just needed to get out of here.

You turned around and flung open the door and sprinted down the hallway, hearing Jay calling your name.

Jay grabbed his coat and went to run after you, but Will stopped him.

"Give her some space," Will said. He stood up and walked over to his little brother. "She needs time to process it. She was a little kid the last time you deployed."

"What? Will, what are you getting at?" Jay asked and turned around so that he was completely face-to-face with Will.

"I'm saying that when you left at eighteen, she was what, four? She didn't understand that you might not come back. I did. I processed your leaving once, so it was easy for me to do it again. But, she hasn't. And you're not exactly giving her much time to come to terms with it."

"So I just let her run out there, by herself? We both know she's not in a good state right now."

"Five minutes, Jay. Give her five minutes and you can go out there, find her, and try to talk to her."

***

You almost stopped in the stairwell and slid down on your knees and started crying, but you refrained from doing that because you knew that would just raise concerns if anyone saw you. So, you kept walking down the stairs and then exited the building. It was still windy out and you could feel it seeping through your hoodie, but at this point, you didn't care. You didn't care if it suddenly dropped below freezing and your tears froze to your cheeks.

You walked for a moment before you made it over to the grassy area behind the apartments. You found the biggest tree and sat against it, resting your back against the trunk. The grass was still wet from the rain last night and you could already feel the dampness seeping through your jeans, but you didn't care.

You let out a wail so full of hurt that you knew that if there were any birds in the tree, they were gone now.

"No! Why, God? Why? No-o." Your voice cracked as you continued to sob.

You pulled up your hoodie sleeves to cover your hands and then put them to your mouth to muffle your sobs. You just wept into your hands.

You couldn't lose Jay. You just couldn't. And, what about the promise he made to your mom? That he was always gonna keep you safe. He couldn't do that if he was in Bolivia. What if he got kidnapped or something happened? He couldn't even speak Spanish. And, with him leaving in a matter of hours, you didn't have time to teach him some helpful phrases.

He couldn't leave. He just couldn't.

***

Your eyes had started to close and you wondered if you had actually fallen asleep...but then everything came rushing back to you. You wished it had been a dream.

"Y/N!" You looked up to see Jay jogging towards you.

You just shook your head and buried your face in your hands. You didn't want to see him right now. You didn't want this to be harder than it had to be.

You heard his boots squelch in the grass as he came closer to you.

"Y/N, c'mon, kid. Look at me." He paused. "Please."

You looked up, but what you said next, he didn't understand a word of, which furthered your point of why he shouldn't be leaving.

"¡No puedes salir! No puedes! ¡Me voy contigo¡ Sé la lengua y puedo ser interpréte o algo así. Por favor, Jay, ¡no sale¡ Prometiste a máma que vas a protejerme ¿y ahora? ¡Rompiste tú promesa! ¡Lo rompiste!" Then, you buried your face in your hands once more. (Translation: You can't leave! You can't! I'm going with you! I know the language and I can be an interpreter or something like that. Please, Jay, don't leave! You promised mom that you'd protect me and now? You broke your promise! You broke it!)

"Y/N, I don't know what you're saying," Jay said quietly.

You moved your hands from your face and looked at him. "See! That's just it! You- You don't know Spanish and what if something happens and you can't get out and you don't know it and- and- Take me with you! I can do it!"

"Short Stack, you know that's not how this works."

"Then why can you go on a day's notice and I- I can't?"

"Because I'm trained."

"But what if something happens?"

"Y/N, I'm going after the cartels. It's not like in Afghanistan."

"But you can go after cartels here," you argued.

Jay sighed and sat down on the ground next to you. "I know. But over there, it's black and white. There's no gray area." He knew you'd ask questions, so he just continued talking. "Today, I did something I shouldn't have, and after I just...froze. It was like I was here, but I wasn't. I can't have that happening here. Over there, the bad guys are the bad guys and the good guys are the good guys."

"So you're going overseas to cure the PTSD? That doesn't make sense, Jay!"

"No, I'm going overseas to protect people. You. Hailey. Will."

"Last I checked, the cartel's not coming after me."

"I'm protecting you guys from me."

"What?"

"Y/N, these past few weeks... I haven't been myself. Ever since I ran into that fire, I've tried to play hero way more than I should have. And, I can't have you and Will and Hailey losing me to something stupid. So, I need to get out of Chicago. Change my environment. Come home with a new perspective," he answered.

You never knew this; it was news to you.

"Then go somewhere else. In the US. God to Wisconsin or Florida or California."

"And make Hailey pack up her life? You figure out a new place to live?" Jay shook his head. "Y/N, I couldn't do that to you guys. This way is easier. And, it's only temporary. I'll basically be doing the same job there that I was here."

"And you'll be safe?"

"I'll try my best. Same as here. Now c'mon. Let's get you out of the cold. I'm gonna order dinner and finish packing and then we can all eat before I have to leave."

***

3 hours later

You all figured a movie while eating your dinner would be a good way to remember the night. But, now it was over and you were snapped back to reality. It was 5:45 pm. Jay had to leave in fifteen minutes.

You had been pondering this idea during the movie and had finally decided on doing it. It was now or never.

"Can I give you something to bring with you?" you asked.

Jay smiled. "Of course."

You went off to your bedroom and closed the door and then dragged your desk chair over to your closet. Then, you grabbed a box from the top shelf.

After digging through it, you finally found what you needed.

Beary's military outfit.

You got down and grabbed Beary from your bed.

"You gotta keep Jay safe down there, okay?" you said to Beary as tears filled your eyes. Then, you put the military outfit on Beary and made your way out of your bedroom.

When you got out there, Hailey and Will had already said their goodbyes.

You held out Beary to Jay.

"Here."

"Y/N, I can't take Beary with me. He's yours," Jay said, even though his heart was melting at the sweet gesture.

"He's always kept me safe and now I want him to keep you safe."

"But what about when you can't sleep at night?"

"I'll sleep with Detective Blue," you told him, referring to the Build-A-Bear he had gotten two years ago after being in the hospital when he was shot.

"But he's not Beary," Jay protested. He was still trying to protect you. He didn't want you to be scared without your comfort item because he's couldn't jump on a flight and bring him back to you.

"I know. But then I have a piece of you and you have a piece of me."

At that, Jay closed his eyes and shook his head as tears started to run down his cheeks. "C'mere, kid."

You gave him the biggest hug and cried into his t-shirt.

"I'm gonna miss you so much," you told him when you finally pulled away.

"I'm gonna miss you, too. But eight months isn't that long. I'll be back before the Fourth of July and then we can all go up to Wisconsin."

"You promise?"

"I promise." Then, he took the hat off Beary. "Here. I think Detective Blue can keep this part safer than Beary can." He looked at his watch. "I gotta go."

Will gave him one last hug, Hailey gave him one last hug and kiss, and then it was your turn.

You hugged him the tightest you ever had.

"I love you," you said as tears rolled down your cheeks.

"I love you, too." He pulled away and picked up his bag. "I'll keep Beary safe for you. Don't forget to write."

Will wrapped an arm around you and Jay took one last look around at his family.

And with that, he walked out the door.

A/N: I CRIED DURING THE EP AND I CRIED WRITING THIS! But thank you guys so much for reading! Don't forget to reblog and comment! As always, if you want to be added to my taglist, just tell me and I’ll add you!

Taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @911ls-tarlos @iamasimpingh0e @i-like-sparkly-things @herecomesthewriterwitch @liampayne88 @glitterquadricorn @luvreading67 @smoothdogsgirl @afriendlyneighborhoodhufflepuff @actlikesummerr @lcothr523

[ask-de-writer]

THE TAIL OF THE GHOST : Tales to Read AFTER the Lights Are OUT! : (1 part)

Return to the Master Story Index Return to MLP Fan Fiction Return to TALES TO READ AFTER THE LIGHTS ARE OUT!

THE TAIL OF THE GHOST

by De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

2317 words

© 2016 by Glen Ten-Eyck Writing begun 10/30/16

All rights reserved.  This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author. ////////////// Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions. All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

He awoke to the almost feathery sensation of tail hairs flirting softly across his face.  Again.  The soft, sweet voice of the young mare offered, “Up, Old Warrior!  It is time for us to battle another night away!”

Opening one eye, the Old Warrior beheld two things.  One, the young mare was right.  The sun was setting.  Time for him to get up and fry a few hay twists for breakfast.

The other was a bit more awkward to see.  The young mare herself.  Other than the fact that her mane and tail were darker than the fur that covered the rest of her, there was simply not much to be seen.  Her outlines were slightly hazy and he could see the wall mount with his old battle honors and medals right through her.

Years ago, needing to reduce the size of a peacetime army, Master Sargent Warrin had been mustered out for his age and infirmity.  Some Infirmity.  True, he was missing the tip joint of his right wing.  That had failed to slow him down any.  Only dumb headquarters brass saw it as an infirmity.

When mustered out, Master Sargent Warrin had got from his forward post in the forest to Fort Everfree Edge faster than the overweight but “fit” pegasus Lieutenant that had delivered his Orders.  The scene that followed had got “insolence” added to his mustering out Orders.

All that he had done, after all, was point out to Base Commander Morrgripe that the UNFIT pony that they were mustering out could out run, out fly and carry a heavier battle pack in the air or on foot than ANY officer in the Fort.  That might have been bad enough, but the 950 golden bits that he had won while proving it, including a bet from the BC, had earned him the insolent tag.

Then the Prance border heated up a few years later.  For the fourth time!  They tried to get him to sign a forced reenlistment.

He had taken great pleasure in rubbing the Infirmity Muster Out in their faces!  At that time he was employed flying express post for Princess Luna’s Royal Road Commission.  AND had racked up SIX commendations for his swift deliveries!

He was smiling as he looked up at his second wall mount.  The commendations for swift post and two of Luna’s Crescents for gallantry in dealing with deadly civil emergencies were in it.

The sweet little mare poked her head through the wall near the stove where he was seasoning his frying hay twists with assorted dried flower tops.

With not a care in the world, she walked on into the kitchen, hooves about 10 cm above the floor.  “Smells lovely, Old Warrior.  I wish that I could eat some along with you.  That is something that I miss a lot.

“Until you came, ponies that stayed here at this old chateau were afraid of me.  I just saw you smiling.  Was it remembering your Insolence or was it the Fast Post Service that you were remembering?”

He looked up and offered her a small plate of his seasoned hay twist.  “It was a little of all three things, Sweetie.  The third being you, of course.  Mostly you.

“Here, this plate is yours for now.  If you cannot eat what I cooked for you, at least you can smell it and share breakfast with me that way.”

Her eyes twinkling, the little mare, Sweetie, sat.  On the air.  And sniffed appreciatively.  He poured her a small cup of the strong Rom black tea that he favored.  She smelled that too, a blissfully happy expression on her face.

He watched in fascination as she reached out a hoof and the day’s mail appeared in the same ghostly form as herself.  When she took back her hoof, all of his day’s mail was solidly there on the table.  She seemed to be pleased at his expression.

He sorted his mail and made a sour expression when he opened one with the Army Retirement Board seal on it.  He brightened considerably at the contents of a different envelope  It bore the seal of Chancery Court of Princess Luna’s Royal Road Commission.

“I have to go down to Everfree Town, Sweetie.  I wish that you could come with me.  I enjoy your company.”

She smiled like a conjurer doing a clever slight of hoof trick.  “I can.  I have followed you to your garden that is in the glen.  Because it was daylight, you could not see me but I was there.  I am hard to see in bright lamplight too.  That does not stop me from seeing you, only you from seeing me.”

“I thought that you were haunting this chateau.”

“I was.  Then you came.  You were not afraid of me.  You even started waking at sunset and spending the night awake, just so that you could see me and talk to me.

“It took some time for me to learn how to talk to you so that you could hear me.  Nobody else can hear me at all.  I love being able to talk to you.  The stories that you tell me of your adventures are endlessly fascinating.  I especially like the one about your meeting Princess Luna on the Prance frontier.”

The ex Master Sargent Warrin grinned!  “You learned how to move real things and that led you to writing too!  I must say that I admire your determination.  I would have loved to have you in a platoon of mine!

“Now, let’s go to Equesrian National Bank and try to settle this business!”

Sweetie smiled happily, “I love going out with you!  What is Equestrian National Bank?”

Bemused, the old warrior paused in the doorway and looked over at Sweetie, who was simply strolling through the wall of the chateau.  There was no porch under her but she did not seem to notice that.

He mused, “Forgot how long ago you died, Sweetie.  A bank is a business that takes money from many ponies and then loans it out to businesses, farms and home buyers.  They make money off of the loans and then share some of what they make with the ponies they got the money from.

“Usually, everypony sort of wins.  While they hold my money, they keep track of how much I have and add on my share of what they earn with it.”

Sweetie had no wings but she easily kept pace with him, seeming to trot along like a pegasus on a well made cloud.  Except, of course, there was no cloud!

With a luminous smile she explained, “I have managed to change from haunting the chateau to haunting YOU!  That means that I HAVE to stay close!  That makes it easy to keep up.  The magic of haunting and all of that.”

He flew with happy strokes of powerful wings.  She trotted ahead and flirted her ghostly tail in his face sometimes!  It made him get a goofy smile on his face every time that she did it.  He spiraled down to the Equestrian National Bank and walked in.

He requested a meeting with Mister Horshiz, the branch Vice President of Operations.  Instead of having to wait, Mister Horshiz, a really sour gray maned red pony, demanded, “There you are, Warrin!  Why are you six days late on the rent for the Royalmont Chateau?  You owe us 1500 golden bits plus six days of penalties!”

Warrin looked askance at him.  “Not possible.  I was PURCHASING the chateau from Princess Luna, who owned it.  There is a title deed transfer that my agent told me has been delayed.  My making the purchase was the Princess’ idea.”

“I have the DEED right here!”

Horshiz held out a blue scrolled edge document.  Warrin’s battle trained reflexes snatched it faster that Horshiz could pull it back.  His eyebrows rose at what he saw.

In a saccharine voice he asked, “Where is the original?  This is a Chancery Copy and it has been altered.  The Royal Seal is a copy, not an original, as required by Crowns Law.”

“That is a trivial detail!  Pay the past due rent and penalties or be evicted at once!” Horshiz demanded.

Sweetie’s voice caught Warrin’s attention.  “Keep him talking love of mine.  I see some very interesting things in this file on his desk!”

Warrin grinned like a shark seeing a helpless swimmer.  “When Princess Luna’s personal property deed was so severely delayed in transfer, I wrote to her.”

He held up his envelope with the seal of the Royal Road Chancery Court on it.  He read, “Dear Master Sargent (Ret.) Warrin:  It is with great pleasure that I enclose your latest Royal Road Fast Post Commendation for assistance in the recent Dappleton Grist Mill dam failure.

“In spite of your Retirement from our Postal Service, your heroic over flight in thunderstorm weather and precise damage assessments made all of the difference for some hundreds of our subjects.

“In response to your request for an audit of the title problem concerning the Royalmont Chateau, I have disturbing news.  The Title Deed was sent to the Everfree Town branch of Equestrian National Bank to have the deed transfer to you notarized and the transfer registered.

“Celestia and I jointly agreed, after the Dappleton disaster, to gift the Chateau to you for your many services to our Realm.  Along with the deed, all needful fees and a full refund of all the monies that you have paid were sent to the Bank.

“The deed, fees and refund were directly stolen.  A Royal Audit has shown other irregularities concerning your accounts at the Everfree EQNB.  Among these, your retirement payments from both Our Army and the Royal Road Post System have subverted.  The direct golden transfers on the Royal Treasury are being made to Everfree EQNB.  They are issuing DRAFTS, which they fail to pay until thirty days have passed, giving them unlawful access to the use of your honorable retirement funds.

“The whole scheme has been directly traced to General  Morrgripe of Fort Everfree, who appears to have a grudge against you concerning how your took your Muster Out.  Something about losing a bet.

“I may add that due to My personal friendship, stemming from your heroic shielding of my person with your body during a surprise attack by Prance forces, it was my request that you be kept in our Royal Armored Pegassi.  However, in the end, such decisions do properly belong to the Base Commander.  Then Colonel Morrgripe ordered you Mustered Out.

“I will never forget that you lost your right wing tip when protecting me during the Third Prance Incursion.  

“Both General Morrgripe and Branch Vice President Horshiz have been summoned to Our Royal Court to answer charges Under Our Royal Wing, concerning the theft of My personal property and gift.  They must also face the subversion of our Royal Retirement System.

“Please find enclosed a fully transferred Title Deed formally Sealed by both my sister Celestia and I.  This Deed supersedes any previous documents and is already Registered in all of the appropriate Courts of Law.

“I remain your loyal friend, Princess Luna.”

While Warrin was reading, he noticed with amusement that he could, just barely, see Sweetie.  She was laying her hoof on documents from the file on Horshiz’s desk.  Like when she picked up his mail at home, the documents faded slowly away while Sweetie grinned.

For his ears alone, she said, “We called them Sharing Associations when I was alive.  Losing needed documents is still a favorite ploy, I see.  He is losing some that he will wish that he still had!”

Warrin grinned even more widely.  He held up his copy of the Chateau’s deed.  “You are effectively dead, except that you will be working on the Royal Roads!  This one is ALREADY registered by the direct order of BOTH Princesses.

“I was coming to let you know that both the payment by draft and the Deed issues had been taken care of.  I was going to let you off the hook on all of this and shaft General Morrgripe, whom I do detest.

“Unfortunately, you just had to try to extort a rent from me for a property that I own outright as a Royal gift.”

Sweetie strolled through Horshiz’s desk and laid her hoof just above Warrin’s lap.  A number of documents faded into existence in his lap.

She hugged him, which felt like being surrounded by the softest of feathers.

Whispering in Warrin’s ear, she said, “Come, my love, let us go to our home and leave this pony to his fate.”

Agreeing, Warrin stood, folding the documents into his shoulder pouch.  He turned to the stunned Horshiz, “I would love to see you try to claim either rent or eviction.  The first thing that the court will do is look to see who owns the property.  The Registry will show that it is ME.  That will make you prima facie guilty of fraud.  You know it, too.

“A pleasant evening to you.”

He stopped by the Police Station and delivered the documents that Sweetie had purloined.  He explained, “These are part of the evidence in a case Under the Royal Wing.”

He produced his letter from Princess Luna.  The desk pony checked his Wants, Warrants, and Summonses file to confirm the Royal Summons and took the documents, saying, “I will be see to getting these forwarded to the Royal Road Chancery Court.”  Shaking his head in disbelief he added, “Stealing from Princess Luna?  Not a wise thing to do!”

Warrin’s flight home to the Chateau was in no way hindered by Sweetie getting in front of him and flirting her tail in his face from time to time.

~THE END~

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[dragonlady761]

“The Snake Awakens: John Kreese”

Chapter one

 A new nurse named Nicole pushed a man in a wheelchair into the TV room. The man with gray curly sat still and stared blankly at the space in front of him. Her co-worker Jack asks, “What’s so special about this guy that he gets private TV time; plus outside time?

Nicole said, “He’s got a very rich friend who owns this place. The guy demands that Kreese be kept separate from the other patients.”

“I heard that’s because he fought with other patients and they’d kill him first chance they got. Must be nice to be a troublemaker and get special treatment.” Jack said.

“The head nurse Dottie told me the other staff are afraid of Kreese She’s the only one that can deal with him.”

“Why? This guy’s a harmless gork?  

“Shh, if Dottie hears you use that word, you’ll get fired.” Nicole said. “Besides, I learned in psychology catatonic people can hear you, they just don’t react. Plus, they go in and out of consciousness.” She grabbed the remote and turned the TV on and put on a local news station. The show was discussing current events in the Valley. One event was the All Valley under 18 Karate championships. The newscaster was discussing the surprise entry of a karate dojo called “Cobra Kai.”

Then man named John Kreese launched himself out the wheelchair and landed in a karate fighting stance. “Cobra Kai never dies” he shouted, repeatedly. John and Nicole stood in total shock. John continued yelling and threw punches into the air. Jack ran over to John and put a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down buddy” he said. John grabbed Jacks wrist, twisted it until Jack was laying on his back on the floor. John then lifted his foot and stomped on Jack’s face. “That’s for calling me gork!” Nicole stared at John as she backed away from him.

“Hey Dollface, I’d never hurt a pretty girl like you.” John said. “Come here, I need to ask you a favor?”

“What Mr. Kreese” Nicole said with her back against the wall.

“Can you please get in touch with Terry Silver?” John asked. “Tell him the snake has finished brumating. He’s chosen to emerge and got business to take care of. Also, tell him to bring Cigars.”

Nicole nodded and ran out the door to the receptionist desk. She pushes a red button on the wall. Red lights flash and alarms blare. Two men dressed in security uniforms stormed into the room. John crouched into a fighting stance and shouted, “It’s party time.”

Behind the security, an older nurse named Dottie sprinted into the room. “I should’ve known security was for you. Nice to see your awake, John. This place been boring since you been asleep.”

A security guard walks over to John. “Sir, you need to calm down. If you continue to be loud and violent, we’ll have to sedate you.”

“Oh Hell No! The poor man just woke up and you want to sedate him already?” Dottie shook her head. “Damn shame!”

“Dottie, it’s the same old shit they been doing to me for the past 30 years.” John said “This time, I won’t let them put me back to sleep.”  He grins at the security guards. “Hey fella’s wanna dance? I need some sparring practice.”

“You need a little shot so you can calm down.” The security guard reaches into his pocket and pulls out a syringe. “Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Just stand still and this won’t hurt a bit.”

John yells “Strike first, Strike hard, No Mercy.” As he punches the security guard holding the syringe. The second guard says, “Well guess it’s the hard way.” And runs towards John He tries to tackle him, but John leaps away from him. He then does a flying knee onto the man’s stomach. Then grabs the hair and punches him square in the face.

Dottie sees the guards are out cold on the ground. She runs to the phone on the wall. She picks it up and yells, “Hello, we need all the security in the TV room stat!” Dottie listens to the phone. “Why? Cause Kreese is awake!” she said. She hangs up the phone. She throws back her head and laughs. “Now it’s a party.” She sits down and props her feet up on the table. “This shit’s better than a Jackie Chan movie. Too bad I don’t have popcorn.”

Four Security guards’ race into the room. They surround John Kreese. “Huh, That all you got?” John said as he throws a hook kick into the face of the third security guard. He then spins and hits another with a round house kick.  Two security guards sneak up on Kreese and grab him by the arms. John Kreese breaks out of their wrist grabs and punches the guard on the right. He then does a front snap kick and makes the guard falls. Kreese picks the guy up by his hair and punches him in the face, knocking him out.

He then side kicks the other guard in the knee. You hear a loud pop as the guard screams. John then trips the guard and he falls to the ground. John then kicks him in the face repeatedly. blood all over his face.  All the guards are knocked out cold.

Dottie stands up and claps. John bows to her and she bows back. “Now, can you behave until Terry gets here?”she asks.

“Sure, if you guys let me practice. I’m a little rusty. Took me way too long to beat those guys.” John said.

“You don’t fool me, when you’re alone in you room, you do karate. When no ones watching, you practice until you’re ready to strike.” Dottie said.

John just got down on the ground and did pushups on his knuckles.

  Chapter Two

Terry Silver sat at his table eating lunch. His phone rang and he looked at the caller ID. His heart sank when he saw the number of the veteran’s psychiatric hospital. He knew this call was going to be the one saying John Kreese died. With a lump in his throat he answered the phone. “This is Terry.” A woman’s voice answered that he didn’t recognize. “Hello Mr. Silver; this is Nicole a nurse that takes care of John Kreese. I’m calling with a message from him.” Terry let out a long sigh of relief. “Thank-God” he muttered. The woman said, “Excuse me, Mr. Silver are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here. Tell me the message.” Terry answered.

“Mr. Kreese said that “This snake’s  brumating and he’s got business to take care of. He also wants you to bring cigars.” The woman said.

Terry threw back his head and laughed. “Johnny boy’s back!” He shouted as he pumped his fist into the air. “Tell him Quicksilver’s on his way.”  He was so excited he hung up without saying goodbye. He jumped up from his chair so quickly it fell over. He sprinted to his office and grabbed some cigars. Then, he ran to the garage and jumped into his car. He started the engine and raced down the driveway. He drove to the security gate and stopped. Mike Barnes stuck out his head and asked, “Hey boss where you are going in such a hurry?” Terry shouted, “. I just got a call from the hospital. The snake has awakened” Terry laughed when he saw Mike’s shocked expression. “Listen, I’ll call you when I have more information.” After the gate was raised, Terry stepped on the gas and drove away.

As he drove towards the hospital, Terry recalled past events with John Kreese. Especially the ones after their ill-fated attempt to get revenge on Danny and Mr. Miyagi back in 1985.  Terry realized too late that the revenge plot did a lot more harm than good for his dear friend. He should’ve listened when John tried to talk him out of it. Things got much worse when John tried to reenlist in the Army. They turned him down saying his mental state wasn’t fit for combat. This major defeat plunged John into a deep depression. The poor man gave up all hope.

Terry tried to help by offering his friend a job as bodyguard or security, but John refused. He said it was a handout and told Terry to go to Hell. The next morning, John’s room was empty except for a note. It said “Dear Terry, I’m sorry for what I said. I don’t want the job because I’m no good to anybody. I’m a broken man that can’t be fixed. You’re better off without me.  Love John. P.S DON’T TRY TO FIND ME. THAT’S AN ORDER!” Terry burst into tears as he crumbled the letter. He ran to the wall and punched holes in it. He grabbed his hair and screamed. “Screw your order! I’m coming for you Johnny.”

He ran down the steps into the room where Mike Barnes, Snake and Dennis were staying. “Kreese is gone, I want you three to find him. I’m going to hire a Private investigator to get intel. You guys will bring him back. Understand?” The three boys nodded. “Prepare to leave soon, I don’t want his trail to go cold.” Terry left to find his personal assistant and receptionist.  “Margret and Milos, come to my office.” Terry shouted into the intercom. He wiped tears from his eyes as he walked to his office. He bumped into Milos on the way. “Mr. Silver what’s wrong?” Milos asked.

Terry gasped and tried to hold back a sob. He swallowed and choked out. “John’s gone! He left a note saying not to find him.” Margret overheard this as she walked towards them. She put a hand on Terry’s shoulder. “Oh dear, such a shame.”

“I’m going to find him. I’ll never give up on him.” After saying this, he let the sobs came full force. Margret went to embrace Terry, but was pushed away by Milos. Milos raised his hand and slapped Terry full force in the face. He shouted, “Pull yourself together. You’re doing no good standing here blubbering like a baby!”

Terry let out a deep breath and wiped his eyes. He nodded. “Let’s get down to business. Milos use your contacts in all the hotels within the state to keep an eye out for Kreese. Margret, start looking up private investigators and fax them John’s picture. Tell them to check all the homeless shelters. Especially veterans’ shelters. Also cancel all my meetings here and overseas. Finding John is my number one priority.”  Both Margret and Milos nodded. They went into Terry’s office to carry out the orders.

It took a month before he got his first lead on John. John Kresse was excellent at staying hidden. A private investigator found him in Los Angeles at a homeless shelter. Terry decided to go with Snake, Dennis and Mike. When John saw them, he tried to run away. The four men chased him and caught him.

 John sobbed and said, “I gave you an order to leave me alone! Go away!” Terry hugged him tightly and said, “Screw your order. I owe you my life! Remember Cobra Kai for life, if your brother has a problem you all have a problem. I’ll never give up on you.”

They managed to get John to come back home to Terry’s house. Terry thought everything was going to be okay. He could keep an eye on John and take care of him. He told Mike, Snake and Dennis to also keep an eye on John. He tried to get John to train them in Karate. John shook his head and walked away. John mostly stayed in his room and hardly spoke to anybody. He didn’t eat or sleep. A few days after John arrived, Milos and Margret sat down with Terry.

“Mr. Silver, we need to have a word.” Milos said. He cleared his throat. “It’s about Mr. Kreese.”

“He’s not a well man. This time he’s much worse than ever before.” Margret said.

Terry glared at them. “Yes, I realize that. I’m taking care of him.”

“He needs professional help. Without it, he’ll get much worse. He needs to be hospitalized.” Milos said.

“Bullshit!” Terry shouted. “I would never dump him in a loony bin. I owe that man my life. Hell no!” He started to walk away but Milos grabbed his shoulder. Terry shrugged him off and turned towards him.

“Sir, Mr. Kreese is on the brink of a major breakdown. If something’s not done, you’ll lose him”

Terry shoved Milos. “I said No! Cobra-Kai takes care of his own. John’s my brother and you don’t’ abandon family.”

 Two weeks later, Terry learned the hard way that Margret and Milos were right. It was the middle of the night when Milos ran into Terry’s room. “Mr. Silver wake up! It’s Mr. Kreese, he’s standing on the ledge threatening to jump. Terry ran to the balcony, the same one where John handed him the dojo keys. Where Terry told John he’s going to Tahiti. Terry sadly realized a trip wouldn’t help John this time. He should’ve listened to Margret and Milos. Terry decided he’ll do anything to help his friend.

He walked slowly to the ledge. “Johnny, what are you doing?”

“This time I’ve given up for good.” John said.

“Defeat doesn’t exist in this dojo, right? Cobra Kai never dies!”

John turned and glared at Terry. “Cobra Kai is dead and I will be soon.”

Terry smiled, “Alright, I’m right behind you. When one of you makes a move, you all make a move.”

John threw back his head and laughed. “Don’t you know by now the lessons I taught are  Bullshit.” John walked closer to the ledge and lifted a leg up on it.   Terry followed him and took his hand. “I’m right beside you, brother.” Then in a quick, sudden move, Terry jerked John’s hand backwards and flipped him onto the ground. Then he grabbed John around the neck and put him in a choke hold.

He said, “I’m sorry” over and over. After John was out cold, Terry dragged him back inside.  By then Snake, Mike and Dennis ran into the room. Milos was with them. He walked over to John with a syringe in his hand. He stuck ii in John’s arm. “That should keep him out for at least 8 hours.” Margret walked into the room. She handed Terry a piece of paper. “Here sir, is a list of Veterans hospitals and other mental health facilities. I suggest you start calling right now.”

Terry ran to his office and called the first name on the list. It was a private sanatorium in downtown Los Angeles. Terry spoke to the head psychiatrist and was told all the beds were full. He shouted, “I don’t care, kick somebody out! I’ll give a million dollars cash to get my friend in there.” Suddenly a bed was free.

That was back in 1986. The start of many hospital stays for John Kreese. Terry had to gain legal and medical power of attorney and get John declared incompetent.  For the past 32 years, John was bounced around from one veterans psyche ward to another. The first private sanatorium kicked John out because he constantly got into fights with staff and other patients. He also escaped many times. So, Terry tried having John live in halfway houses. John would be okay for a while, take his meds and keep his appointments with doctors. Then he’d go off his meds and disappear. Terry lost count of the many times he dropped everything to find and help his friend.

. John got a reputation for being difficult, a “problem patient” The hospitals had to have security constantly watch him. Many times, John was neglected and mistreated.

The hospitals idea of treatment was to overmedicate him and strap him down to a bed with a strait jacket on. One-time Terry dropped in unannounced and was horrified to see John was locked up in what was called “The Hole” John was soaking wet and covered in bed sores. He was also severely malnourished. Terry knew this was illegal but didn’t pursue legal action. He handed down his own brand of justice.

Terry remembered how angry he was. He called Snake, Mike and Dennis and told them he had a job for them at the hospital.

Terry and the boys beat down the security guards. Then they put them in strait jackets. “All right Gentlemen, now the real pain begins. You think what you did to my brother was bad? But you guys are tough, you can handle it. Such big men who abused an elderly war hero. “

Those men didn’t leave the Hole for a week.  No food and water. After they got let out, they ran away. After that, Terry vowed his brother John would never be mistreated again. He bought the facility and hired staff that would give proper care.  He let a few other Vietnam Veterans in, but the place was mostly for John.  

After buying the place, Terry went to see John every day. Despite having the best care, John sank deeper into depression and PTSD.

“Why do you bother? I’m broken and will never be fixed. Let me go.” John begged.

Terry hugged him, “Never! Johnny, you’re my brother. All the family I’ve got.” Terry held John as he sobbed.

As John got older, the depressive episodes worsened. He couldn’t let go of the past, and attempted suicide many times.

“It’s all my fault, Terry. They’re dead because of me. I didn’t listen and forced them to show mercy to those kids. I don’t deserve to live. Let me die.” John said.

“No, you had no idea how that was going to end. Stop blaming yourself. I’m alive because of you. You came to find me and carried me out of the jungle to safety. You took me under your wing the very first day I’ got to Vietnam. You taught me Karate. I owe you everything. I’d die without you. ” Terry said. Terry pulled up his shirt. He points to the Cobra Kai tattoo.  “See this, it means brothers for life. Our bond goes deeper than the ink on our tattoos. It goes to my heart.”

Then 5 years ago, John gave up completely and became catatonic. He wouldn’t’ respond to sound or touch. He had to be fed through a tube. It seemed like John had no idea who Terry was.  No matter what number of medications he got, he didn’t get well. Seeing John like that broke Terry’s heart. He couldn’t handle John’s blank stare.  He saw John less frequently. It got to the point where Terry went to see his old friend every six months. He always called to check up on him.

Then Terry heard about shock therapy. Doctors did more research on it and found that it helped catatonic patients. John received these treatments for the past 6 weeks. Apparently, the treatment worked. Johnny boy was back.  This is the happiest Terry has been in many years. He couldn’t wait to see his old friend.

[one-that-had-to]

Unkind Encounters

Tygan opens the stasis suit recovered from the clinic to a woman in civilian clothes whom Bradford has never seen before. His heart drops to learn that they did not recover the Commander, but nevertheless he orders for the chip in her head to be removed. If nothing else, she is one more person freed from ADVENT’s control.

He can hardly wait for the Spokesman to contact again so he could hopefully find some answers.

“To the best of my knowledge, the asset kept in that facility was integral to the alien’s plans,” the Spokesman replies. “I had no reason to believe it was not the Commander.”

Bradford glares at the screen as he leans back in the chair, though he knows no good will come of it.”What are we supposed to do now? We have an even larger target on our backs now and no commander” he snaps. “Why would they have a civilian, of all people?”

The Spokesman looks down at him, and though he can’t see his face Bradford gets the feeling he is considering his words carefully. “There were a number of names on the shortlist for the commander position. The man ultimately chosen was perhaps not the best suited,” he explains.

“You couldn’t have mentioned this years ago?”

“Central,” Tygan’s voice crackles to life in his ear. “The woman is awake again and far more cognizant this time.”

He glances up at the Spokesman, then presses a finger to his comms. “Bring her up to the quarters, we might be able to get answers yet.:

The argument with the Spokesman is put on hold for the few minutes it takes for Tygan to escort the woman up through the Avenger. He almost regrets asking for her the moment she arrives.

She tugs herself out of Tygan’s supportive grip to stalk into the room, still slightly unbalanced from surgery and sleep. “Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” she hisses, narrowing her anger in on Bradford.

“Ah, Ms Mercier,” the Spokesman says the second she steps into view of the terminal. There is no relief in his voice, but at the same time no anger, instead keeping himself perfectly neutral. “I thought we would have spoken again in 2011. It’s been too long.”

She snaps her attention to the terminal and immediately her burning range cools into something so much more dangerous. Bradford can only hope that she is restrained enough to not turn her anger on him again. “You burned that bridge, sir,” she retorts.

“So you two’ve already met?” Bradford asks, stepping in between them slightly. He looks towards the Spokesman again, trying to figure out just what was going on. “She had nothing on her that spoke to being military.”

“I haven’t been part of the army in years,” she answers quickly. She takes a deep breath then offers him her hand. “Tatiana Mercier.”

He gives her hand a shake, but it does not answer any questions.

“Ms Mercier was one of the better snipers in the US Army, mostly for her ability to coordinate anyone under her scope. She was, at the time, considered to have untapped strategic genius, and as such was to be placed on the shortlist of XCOM personnel,” the Spokesman explains.

It helps but it still doesn’t quite make sense. “So what happened?” he asks, looking towards Tatiana. “The army doesn’t tend to let high value assets get away so easily.”

She gestures at the terminal. “This asshole did nothing while I was being accused in my damn interview,” she snaps.

“There was nothing I could have done, you know that. Van Doorn had photos that your direct superiors weren’t going to forget because I told them so.”

“You could have done something other than just sit there!”

Bradford waves a hand between them just to break up the fight before it can get off the ground. “Someone fill me in before you start going for each others’ necks.”

Tatiana snaps her gaze to him, bright burning anger behind her eyes. “I was interviewed for an at the time unknown promotion with him and my superiors. This was in 2004, mind you. That coward Van Doorn was jealous, had me followed, and then passed on photos of me and my then girlfriend to my superiors. I was discharged without a chance to defend myself,” she explains, barely concealed contempt in her voice. She turns her attention back to the terminal, and once again he thinks she might lunge at the screen to get to the Spokesman. “Ruined my career, nearly ruined my entire life, and sent me on a downward spiral just because you couldn’t speak up.”

Bradford stares between the two of them in disbelief.

“You would have had the right to reenlist once Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed,” the Spokesman offers quietly.

She scoffs. “I was happy at that point. I righted my life again, I had a regular job, Amelia and I were married. I wasn’t going to get rid of that.”

The two seem to come to a momentary impasse, one that Bradford could not be more thankful for. He needed a drink the moment this was resolved. He rubs the bridge of his nose, still trying to sort out everything in his head. “You said Van Doorn,” he says after a moment, glancing up at the Spokesman once more. “As in Commander Van Doorn?”

“Unfortunately,” he replies. “He felt Ms Mercier was not adequate for the position.”

“So when you said he might not have been the most suited —”

“Ms Mercier likely should have been Commander.”

Bradford takes a deep breath. He felt more lost than he did when they opened the stasis suit initially, though now he had entirely different questions to be answered.

Tatiana takes a few steps back to lean against one of the sofas in the room. With her rage slightly tempered, the exhaustion of surgery and whatever the aliens had done to her was catching up again. “Now that you’ve sorted out who I am, can someone please explain to me where the hell I am? I’d like to find Amelia and go home.”

An edge of desperation works its way into her voice, and the sound of it only makes his stomach turn.

“I will leave this to you, Central,” the Spokesman says. The screen promptly goes dark before anyone can object.

Bradford sighs and steps around to the sofas, motioning for her to take a seat as well. “What do you remember from before you woke up?” he asks.

She leans back and thinks — or at least tries to, as she winces as though it were physically painful. “There was an attack,” she says at last. “We were heading home together, and San Francisco was attacked. I was trying to get Amelia out to safety and I took a hit from behind.”

Tatiana falls silent for a moment, reality finally starting to set in.

“San Francisco doesn’t exist anymore, does it?”

“No, not like you remember it,” he answers sadly. Finding the words to explain that twenty years had passed is harder than he expected. “The invasion happened in 2015 and it’s currently 2035.”

She shakes her head. “No, that can’t be. How can my last proper memories be from twenty years ago?”

The panic in her voice makes the explanation so much harder. “We found you in a stasis suit in an ADVENT facility. Based on intel the Spokesman had gathered, we knew that whoever was being kept in it was important to the aliens. We had assumed it would be the Commander.”

“Van Doorn,” she says flatly.

“When I knew him, he seemed good, not like —” He trails off and waves his hand weakly, as though that could explain the pain he’d apparently put her through.

She scoffs, but does not pick a fight.

“The world’s changed a lot in twenty years. All of the city centers are controlled by ADVENT, the aliens’ puppet government. If you stepped foot in one of the you’d almost certainly be carted off back to another stasis suit,” he continues.

“So what are my other options?” Tatiana asks, crossing her arms and leaning back. “Stay here with you lot and be reminded of how my life nearly ended daily?”

“We can drop you off at a haven, outside of the alien’s grasp. It won’t be comfortable, but you’d at least be free to do whatever you like.”

“Please.”

He nods and helps her back to the infirmary.

[your-modern-shakespeare]

I’ve Waited My Whole Life (4)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Request: “Could you do a Bucky soulmate story? Like the au with the countdown to the moment you meet your soulmate, but Bucky doesn’t have it because his arm is gone so the reader freaks out a little bit. But it’s all ok in the end. Like super fluffy fluff… maybe leads to smut, whatever you’re feeling.”

Pairing: Bucky x Reader (Eventual)

Word Count: 3820

A/N: So I am posting this…finally! I am about 30 minutes away from my surgery so I will be out for a while. Thank you guys for being patient and for anyone who’s is still with me I hope you enjoy!

Y/C/N- Your City Name, Y/S or C/N- Your State or Country Name

Warnings: mentions of violence, sad!Bucky, cliffhanger (I promise that its not as bad as before)

Tags: @seargantbcky, @lust-for-pan, @38leticia, @barnes-and-noble-girl, @karipaleta, @capandbuck, @camillechan, @findacauseandserveit, @audasia25, @kendallefire, @alicerozenju, @snuggleducky, @thisisthelilith , @boyzines, @ballerinafairyprincess, @axelinchen, @sarahfhealy, @blazeshira, @the-strandedgypsy, @luckylundy13, @fandomtainment, @sebstanwassup

BUCKY’S POV

“Steve, we have to find her.”

“We will, but we need to figure out who has her first.”

“It’s obviously HYDRA.”

“No, it’s not. Y/N was in the army, she’s bound to have made enemies. We’ve called Agent Hill and she’s going to bring in Y/N’s file.”

“Don’t we have a copy of her file?”

“We have the redacted version.”

“What was so bad that they would have to redact her file?”

“You’re guess is as good as mine.”

But as we waited for Agent Hill to show up, I started going through all of the files that we had on HYDRA: any possible locations, known associates, anything that could possibly tell me why they would take Y/N.

Of course, my first thought would always be that they took her because of me. Maybe they took her because we were getting closer or at least I thought we had been…

“Then why don’t you?” I heard her ask me. At first I thought I had imagined it, so it took me a minute to react to her. I looked her in the eyes, looking for any sign that she actually didn’t want this and when I didn’t find anything but hope in her eyes, I  stepped forward, grabbed her face in my hands and moved to kiss her.

But before my lips could reach hers we were interrupted by Steve and Sam walking down the hallway.

She pulled away from me and we both took in a deep breath.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you.” She whispered before she turned and walked away.

I watched her as she walked away from me and it took me a second to realize what I was about to do. I liked Y/N, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to screw around with what we had.

“So what was that about?” Sam asked, sounding exactly like he was mocking me.

“You guys are seriously the worst.”

I stormed off towards the elevator and tried to push the button for my floor, hoping it would close before Steve caught up to me. But I was wrong.

He walked into the elevator and stood right next to me as the doors closed.

“So…” Steve started.

“I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“I can tell that you really like her.”

“It doesn’t matter if I like her.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ll never know for sure.” I looked down at my arm and back up at the door. “She doesn’t deserve that.”

“Bucky, there had to be a reason that the numbers never counted down…maybe they didn’t because she hadn’t been born yet.”

“Don’t you think that I thought of that? I’m saying that there’s no way to know, not with this anyway.” I lifted my metal arm so that he could see what I was talking about. The doors opened on our floor and I walked out first, not in the least expecting him to stay in the elevator.

“But you have the numbers and you know the day you met and I’m sure we could even figure out a specific time from the cameras.” He said, catching up to me.

“Steve—”

“And we can look up when she was born from her file.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“You don’t want to know?”

“No. I’ve thought of looking before, I wanted to connect the dots…”

“But?���

“But if she isn’t…my soulmate…I think it would be worse than thinking that she could be. I like Y/N and she seems to like me too, even if she doesn’t like me like that. I just like being around her and now she’s talking to me again, so I don’t want you stepping in and looking into this.”

“What if I said that Y/N was asking about you.”

“Asking what?”

“About you.” I glared at him. “Just simple things, like what you used to be like and what kind of things you liked.”

“She really asked that about me?”

“Yes.”

“Well you’re still not going to change my mind. The only thing I care about is getting to stay close to her, I enjoy her company and I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.”

“Like kissing her?”

“That was heat of the moment and not that I didn’t want to, but it could have confused things. She means too much to me, so we’re going to keep things the way they are…right?”

“Whatever you say.”

“Thank you.”

The next time I saw Y/N we didn’t speak of the kiss…the almost kiss. So instead we completely ignored any feelings and spent the next couple of months becoming close friends.

We never argued again, at least not like we did. We fought over things, but more like where to go out for lunch or who was the better driver. And getting over our deepest secrets seemed to have made us more comfortable around each other because we told each other everything. Neither of us held anything back.

That being said, it was very easy for me to fall in love with her. I know that I had told Steve that I just wanted to remain friends with her, but every time I spoke to her or saw her smile or made her laugh, it was like my heart grew a little more for her, like it was trying to make more room to love her more. And it was driving me absolutely insane.

I just wanted to touch her, to hold her, do anything but sit there and wish that I could. But I would never tell anyone this, especially Steve. And unfortunately not Y/N either.

I sat and stared at the screen, I had pulled up my file…seeing if maybe there was someone to cross both of our paths. But the longer that I stared at the pictures of what I had done, the longer I spent convincing myself that this was my fault, that I didn’t deserve someone as good as Y/N.

“Don’t do that to yourself.” I heard Steve say from behind me.

“Do what?”

“Blame yourself.”

“I don’t care what’s in her file, I know that this was HYDRA and I know that I’m involved somehow.”

“If you are then you know that, if I let you go to rescue her, it could be a trap.”

“If you let me?”

“I have to consider things, like the fact that I know you would give yourself back to them if it meant getting Y/N back.”

“No I would just kill them all.”

“Bucky, if that’s what you plan to do than I really can't—”

“Steve, I wasn’t serious.”

“Well don’t say things like that then.”

“I am very serious, though, about getting Y/N back, so I would advise that you don’t pull me off of this.”

“Bucky—”

“Don’t Steve.”

“Fine. I just came to tell you that Agent Hill should be here now.”

“Great, let’s find her.”

I followed Steve into the conference room where the whole team now sat, Agent Hill at the head.

“Let’s get started.” She said, handing out copies of Y/N’s unredacted file.

“Sergeant First Class Y/F/N Y/L/N. Born in Y/C/N, Y/S or C/N on September 21, 1989. She enlisted when she turned 18 and has been in the army until about 3 years ago, when she was honorably discharged. When she got back to the states, she had a few jobs, but none of them stuck and she never had a permanent address after she returned. A year later she reenlisted and was immediately deployed overseas. Now, the event to lead to her final discharge and quite possibly the reason she was taken. Her last mission, was an eight month stay in Vietnam. Now, I was able to get most of her file cleared up but this mission is top secret, it was even need to know to Y/N’s unit which is why she got all those cool moves, because they had so much free time waiting for orders.” We all smiled a bit thinking about how awesome Y/N’s moves were. “So unfortunately I don’t have all of the details, but I do know what happened. Y/N and her unit were ordered to storm a warehouse that was believed to have connections to a terrorist’s cell. But when they got inside it turned out to be a group of HYDRA agents. Unfortunately they shot and killed any of the soldiers who resisted, then relocated the remaining soldiers and tortured them. We had been notified of the kidnappings and the belief that HYDRA had been involved so we sent in Tony, Wanda, and Clint to aid in the rescue of her unit. When they got there Y/N was the only survivor and barely at that.” Flipping through the files there were tons of pictures of what she had looked like after she had been rescued. I tried my hardest to be objective, to work this mission like every other one but seeing her like that, barely breathing and beaten so bad to cause them to put her in a medically induced coma, it just broke my heart.

“So what? HYDRA’s mad that one soldier was rescued despite the fact that they brought down an entire military elite squad? No they don’t think like that, they do things by the big picture. Y/N was one soldier.” I said, clearly upset.

“I wasn’t finished. We all know Y/N, she’s a fighter. That being said, they planned on killing her with everyone else. But she found a way out, was making a run for it and she killed a HYDRA agent in the process. They got to her before she could completely escape and they kept her alive so that they could avenge the guy she killed.”

“But we can’t assume that HYDRA just randomly found out where she was and decided to take her now.” Steve commented.

“Yes we can. She killed one of them, they don’t leave any loose ends.” I confirmed.

“Then we also have to assume that this was a way for them to get you back. You’re a loose end too.”

“Did Y/N have any other enemies, beside HYDRA?” Tony asked, stopping the banter between us.

“No. She was one of the best soldiers, she was highly decorated and she was respectable to everyone.”

“Y/N can have a short temper, maybe she upset someone.” I wanted to believe that this wasn’t HYDRA despite every alarm in my head telling me that it was.

“You know, she’s only like that with people she likes.” She smiled at me and everyone else kind of snickered.

“This isn’t about me. We need to focus on finding Y/N. If she’s with HYDRA and they did all of this to her the first time, then it’s bound to be worse this time.”

“Well they may keep her alive if they want you to come for her.”

“Let’s hope so.”

I grabbed my file and left the conference room, not wanting to talk about HYDRA anymore. But what I had missed was Agent Hill telling the team that she knew a few new possible locations in the states. It wasn’t the surest process for locating a missing Agent but we figured that if they were trying to draw me out, they wouldn’t be hiding very hard which meant they were probably close. It was a hunch, but it was better than sitting around.

So we all climbed into the jet and headed to the closest location on the list. WE didn’t have much of a plan other than get in and get out as fast as possible. I don’t think that anyone had been in the mood to wait any longer, not with HYDRA’s reputation.

I sat in the back of the jet, furthest away from everyone, trying to keep my mind off of those pictures, off the way they had found her before. I think that everyone could feel how nervous I was because as long as we spent in that jet, no one came up to me not even Steve.

We landed right outside of what looked like an abandoned building, but knowing too much about HYDRA, I knew that once we got inside we would find a sophisticated operation. So we split up into teams and took separate sections of the building, promising to notify the other teams if we had found anything. So Steve and I walked around the building, making sure to check all of the rooms, even if they were locked and avoiding all HYDRA personnel or taking out any we couldn’t.

“Hey Steve, I think we’ve got something.” We heard Nat say over her com and we rushed off to where Nat and Wanda were assigned.

As we got closer to their area we could see exactly where the “sophistication” stopped and the old abandoned building continued. The rooms down here looked a lot like operation rooms, which was strange since this building looked nothing like a hospital. Nat and Wanda had taken out the few Agents who had been guarding the area, which gave us free reign to check all of the rooms knowing full well that this type of space would be exactly where the would keep prisoners. So we checked all of the rooms until I came across the only one that had been occupied.

Then the whole world seemed to slow down…

I stood in the doorway, obviously seeing her strapped to the chair.

I tried to unsee the things that they had done to her. I closed my eyes, hoping to get the image out of my head, but when I opened them again, she was still there, looking just as beaten as before. The room was empty, she was alone.

I tried to say something, I tried to open my mouth to let the others know, but it was like my lungs didn’t work anymore, it was like I had forgotten how to breath. It felt like forever, but air filled my lungs once again and where function lacked, pain and fear took over.

I tried moving towards her but it felt as if my femur no longer fit in the Acetabulum, my humerus no long rolled in the glenoid cavity, like I was just a torso, with no way to move. It was like I had ghost limbs, a feeling that I had come too familiar with what seemed like a million years ago.

I tried to think of someway to help her, you would think that after seventy plus years of elite training, I would know what to do. But my brain was stuck in an endless loop of what ifs and pictures of what had happened before.

I tried to feel… but my heart stopped.

I tried to hear something coming from her, a breath, a sign of life. But the only thing I heard was someone calling after me or someone trying to get my attention.

And in that moment, I snapped back to reality, where everything was a lot faster and wasn’t in second by second snapshots.

“Bucky!” I heard Steve yell from where he stood next to Nat and Wanda.

I looked at them and when I saw the concern on their faces it was as if everything that had just happened to me vanished and the only thing that mattered was getting Y/N to safety.

I walked over to the chair and took in a deep breath pushing down all of the reservations and terrible thoughts flying through my head.

“Y/N?” No response. I looked at her…really looked at her. Most of the skin that I could see was badly bruised and they must have been looking for some information because she had a few broken fingers.  Honestly I had expected worse, which made me suspicious…

Steve and Nat started to remove her restraints and I moved to pick her up, putting my metal arm under her neck and my flesh hand under her knees.

“No, no, no!” I tired to pick her up, but she fought against me. So instead of picking her up, I just pulled her into my arms and keeping her as close to me as I could without hurting her.

“Y/N, hey it’s me.” I said right into her ear, where she would hear me. “I’m here to take you home. You’re safe now.”

“Bucky?” She whispered. I don’t think she was able to see me but she could hear me.

“You’re safe now.” I went to pick her up again but this time she let me and then we walked out of the room and towards the front of the building where we would get back on the jet. We tried our hardest to avoid people, go through the places that the team had already cleared that way we knew that no people of importance had been notified of an attack or rescue.

Y/N buzzed in and out of consciousness and yet she was trying her hardest to tell me something.

“Stop.” I stopped walking and looked at her, giving her a minute to respond. The team stopped as soon as they saw I had. “Bucky…wait it’s a trap.”

“I know.” I said, finally coming to terms with what was most likely going to happen when we tried to step out the front doors.

“Then why’d you come?”

“I couldn’t leave my girl behind.”

The thing about this mission that had me thrown off was the fact that there was no other prisoners in the building except for Y/N. If this had been an actual HYDRA facility the place would have been crawling with Agents and they would have been doing terrible experiments to people and we would have had a lot harder time getting in.

I know that they must have had a plan, they wouldn’t have just let her go unless they had a plan and not knowing that plan made me all the more nervous.

I decided to push away those thought for now and just worked on getting Y/N back to the jet.

As we got closer to the jet, more and more Agents made their way to us and it started becoming harder to fight off the advances. At least with just the four of us.

Tony, Clint, Sam and Vision found there way into our fight which gave me the perfect opportunity to make a break for the jet.

I got to the jet and saw Agent Hill standing at the entrance waiting for me to bring in Y/N. I climbed up the ramp and laid Y/N down on the bench and she started to look at Y/N to see if there was anything that couldn’t wait to be addressed.

But as we sat there trying to help Y/N we both had been completely oblivious to the man that was behind this all climbing onto the jet.

“I knew you would come for her.” I quickly turned to face the man who had a gun pointed at us, using my body to shield both Agent Hill and Y/N.

“What do you want?”

“You.”

I looked at the man’s face as closely as I could. I felt like I had met him before, it wasn’t a long shot that I had, but he was dressed as a scientist and god knows there were plenty of those operating on me at any given point.

“I did all of this to draw you here, I saw you in New York…with her. I had to get you here, to my lab.”

“Are you part of HYDRA?” I asked, not completely convinced now that this guy was actually one of them. As much as I wanted to believe the guards were, they were a little too easy to take down, where HYDRA would have had them trained better.

“They never believed me when I told them that I could draw out the Winter Soldier. But I was going to find you, even if it was the last thing I ever did.” I took a good look at the man as he talked about something that I stopped listening to, I think it was something about HYDRA but I noticed what may have caused Y/N kidnapping.

“You’re an amputee.” I said, interrupting him. I saw the signs of a limp as he moved around, pacing out of nervousness.

“Yes. I want to replicate the science of that arm. I broke into Stark Industries, I tried to take the one that you didn’t need anymore, but I failed. So I reached out to a member of HYDRA, knowing that they would have the file I needed. Of course they thought I was crazy saying that the only person who could replicate the mechanics of that arm was dead.”

“But you weren’t convinced and you made a plan to draw me out.”

“And you’re here.”

Ignoring the gun that he had pointed at what just seemed like me, I stalked him and wrapped my metal hand around his throat, suspending him in the air.

“You took an innocent women, beat and tortured her, because you wanted the technology behind an arm that has killed hundreds of people? You have played around with HYDRA and you have messed with my friends—”

“Bucky…put him down.” I heard Steve say. I looked over at him as the rest of the team stood behind him. I dropped the man and moved his gun far enough away from him so that he couldn’t hurt anyone. And then I let the rest of the team take over so that I could go back over to Y/N.

Agent Hill put the scientist in handcuffs and was planning on taking him somewhere once we got back to New York. The team every so often would come to check on Y/N but nothing had changed since we had gotten her on the jet.

It didn’t take us long to get back to the facility and where we landing, it looked like there was a small group of medical help waiting for us so they could help Y/N. But as we got the doors open and we’re planning on moving her, Y/N grabbed my hand and started to whisper something. I moved closer to her so she didn’t have to work so hard to tell me what she needed to say.

“27:08:23:14:36.” She said with no problem at all.

But the only thing I could think of as they came into the jet, placed her on the stretcher and rolled her off to the medical ward, was how did she know my numbers?

PART FIVE  

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