Chapter Text
The only sound Bucky could hear was the loud, rapid beating of his own heart, drowning out the soft hum of the spaceship around him. He tried to maintain his calm — now was not the time to panic — but, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to keep his breaths even. His gaze was fixed on the computer screen in front of him, his fingers flying over the dimly lit controls.
He only had about four minutes before an operator would catch wind of what he was doing — six at the most.
Bucky knew there was no going back from this. The moment he had locked himself in the cramped control room and sat down in front of the terminal, his fate was sealed.
It was now or never.
Logging in to the network had been easy, his fingers remembering the username and password even if he had never used them before. Finding the files was a little harder, but only because Bucky wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for. He needed information — anything that would help the Alliance to eradicate HYDRA once and for all — but there were so many folders to sift through.
It surprised him that there were no safeguards for him to get past — no hidden alarms or other passwords required aside from the one he had already typed in. Bucky had full access to HYDRA's entire database, either because his account's security clearance was high enough to override them all, or because HYDRA had never considered the possibility of an inside threat.
Bucky was fairly certain it was the latter.
As far as HYDRA knew, their soldiers were perfectly obedient — mindless puppets meant only to follow orders.
All but one.
Bucky grit his teeth and began transferring files to the portable drive he had hooked up to the computer. HYDRA would be aware of his betrayal soon enough, even if they probably wouldn't know how or why he had done it. Bucky's memory of the past couple of years was patchy at best, but he knew for a fact that the Winter Soldier had never defied orders before, let alone broken into the network in order to steal sensitive information. That would never even have been an option, had Bucky not been able to wrestle back control over his body.
As if sensing his thoughts, the presence at the back of Bucky's mind stirred. Bucky still wasn't entirely sure what it was — he had no name for the sentient, parasitic life form now living inside his head — but he knew it came from the virus HYDRA injected into everyone they captured, be they soldiers or civilians.
Bucky had been taken at the tail end of the war, wounded and delirious, and HYDRA had wasted no time before they started the process of rebuilding him. First came the virus, which had burned like ice through his veins and erased everything that he used to be, creating something else in its stead. Then they had given him the arm, made out of cold, ruthless metal that shifted and whirred as he moved. And then, somewhere along the way, that other presence had taken over, pushing Bucky to the deepest, darkest corners of his own mind, helpless and weak.
It had taken years — more than Bucky wished to count — before he had regained control.
Unfortunately, the presence had remained even after that — like a monster lurking in the shadows, just waiting for a chance to strike. It haunted him day and night, always watching — always keen to exploit his weaknesses.
The only reasons why Bucky hadn't given in yet were Steve and his need for redemption. Bucky couldn't even remember everything he had done over the past couple of years — the missions HYDRA had sent the Winter Soldier on and the number of people who had been killed by Bucky's hand — but he knew he had to repent. He knew he had to do something to stop HYDRA before the threat grew to become as big as it had been at the time of the war.
No one even knew that HYDRA still existed, since people believed they had gone extinct after the end of the war. No one would see them coming unless Bucky was able to find enough information to expose them — to help the Alliance defeat them once and for all.
Bucky kept looking through folders and directories, copying those he thought would be useful, all while trying to ignore the presence at the back of his head. It disapproved of what he was doing. Bucky couldn't say how he knew or why the creature even had emotions, but he had decided not to acknowledge it.
He was just about to consider himself done — Bucky had to leave as soon as possible, before any alarms were tripped — that he saw a gathering of files that made his heart stop cold in his chest. Bucky's eyes widened in horror as he scrolled through the list, breath stuck in his throat and a lump of dread settling in his stomach.
It couldn't be.
Bucky swallowed and quickly transferred the entire folder, forcing his hands to stop shaking. He didn't have time to break down.
While Bucky had only been looking for intel that might help them in the future, he had found something much worse — something that could mean the end of the Alliance and the free world.
He had to get this information to Steve.
Bucky watched the progress bar fill with agonizing slowness, his body thrumming with pent-up energy. The tension was getting to him after three months undercover within HYDRA and this new revelation didn't help in the slightest. Had this been earlier — before HYDRA — his leg might have bounced up and down with impatience, but his training didn't allow that. He sat in the chair, stiff and barely breathing, waiting for the files to download.
As soon as the transfer was completed, Bucky disconnected the memory drive and slid it into his pocket. He had always planned to leave straight after the data theft — staying would be suicide — but a new urgency fuelled him now. He quickly logged out from the terminal and got to his feet.
He had to get the memory drive to Steve.
Three quick strides took Bucky across the room, where he held up his right hand in front of the scanner by the door. It only took a second before he was rewarded with a cheerful beep, followed by the door sliding open. Bucky almost expected the alarm to start blaring, but it remained blissfully quiet.
Despite his urge to just run, Bucky forced himself to calmly step out of the control room and head toward the hangar where his spaceship was docked. It was a reflex to straighten his spine, emulating the Winter Soldier's way of moving. A part of him was afraid that he would be too tense to do it properly — that he would make someone suspicious and get stopped before he got to his ship — but he seemed to fool the officers he passed.
Bucky made his way through the winding corridors of the HYDRA ship, following instincts and muscle memory rather than any actual knowledge of the layout. The Winter Soldier had walked them many times.
When Bucky eventually reached the hangar, he was a nervous wreck, for once grateful for the mask and dark goggles covering his face, hiding the fear he knew had to be written plainly in his eyes. There were other people in the hangar — soldiers and officers preparing for some sort of mission — but Bucky simply walked past them, hoping that if he showed enough purpose, no one would question his presence.
It worked surprisingly well — at least for a while.
Bucky managed to get inside his ship and had just pressed the button to close the ramp when the alarm went off. It shrieked through the hangar, bouncing against the barren steel walls, making Bucky jump in fright.
Someone had figured out what he had done.
He could hear shouts outside — officers ordering soldiers to head for Bucky's ship and stop him — and knew he had run out of time. Without hesitation, he turned on his heel and ran for the bridge. The ramp might not have closed yet, but if he lingered too long, the operators would have time to shut the doors leading out from the hangar. If they did, he would be trapped inside the HYDRA ship and no doubt executed in a not-too-distant future.
Bucky skidded onto the bridge, slamming his hand onto the control panel to stop his momentum. The screen lit up at his touch, waking from hibernation mode. Bucky had done all the preparations beforehand — disabled transmitters, unhooked trackers, and left the engines on standby — and his ship eagerly hummed to life as he slid into the pilot seat. He bypassed the pre-flight checklist entirely and instead coaxed her into the air the second he got his hands on the controls.
The presence at the back of his head was twisting and snarling, its restlessness sending a sharp spike of pain through Bucky's skull. He grit his teeth and forced himself to focus on getting out alive — something he knew would be easier said than done.
It was with only seconds to spare that Bucky managed to fly his ship out from the hangar, the doors slamming shut just as he slipped through the narrowing gap. His heart was thundering in his chest, but his hands were steady as he set his course. He knew HYDRA would only be a step behind — fighters were no doubt being deployed already — and his only chance to escape was to outrun them.
Another sharp lash from the parasite made Bucky wince in pain, but he kept his eyes on the monitor, refusing to give in. The data drive in his pocket was much too important. He had to get it to Steve.
If he didn't, millions would die.
Bucky hadn't gotten far before his ship was rocked by the first plasma missile, red, angry alarms lighting up across his screen. He knew he couldn't take many hits — his ship wasn't built for battle — but there wasn't much he could do to stop them, either. He would simply have to trust his ability to outfly the fighters on his tail.
Bucky allowed himself a deep, fortifying breath before he looked back at the controls, knowing he would have to do some quick maneuvering to avoid being shot down. After that — once he had shaken off his pursuers — he would contact Steve and arrange a time and place to meet.
No matter what, Bucky had to get that drive to Steve, as quickly as possible.
Another missile hit, nearly throwing Bucky out of his chair, his ship screaming in protest at the damage it was taking. Bucky ignored the flashing alarms and quickly tapped to increase the ship's speed. The presence at the back of his head was snarling, but that, too, was ignored. He couldn't allow himself to get distracted.
Far too much was at stake and Bucky would be damned if he gave up now.
No matter what it took, he would make sure that HYDRA was destroyed, once and for all. With the data drive inside his pocket it was no longer a mere fantasy, but an actual possibility — as long as he managed to get the intel to Steve. If Bucky did that, the Alliance might finally be able to rid the galaxy of the threat that had been hanging over them for decades.
And maybe — just maybe — Bucky could find his redemption.
He could only hope.