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Description
As Alex sat waiting in the same room she was always taken to after her serum dosage, it struck her that she felt a lot more alert than usual. Whether it was the serum taking effect or the anticipation of being able to see Bucky again, she didn’t know, but she felt great. Any minute now they’d be returning her to her cell and then she’d be able to send Fury the code and it’d all be over. She could go home.

The guards forced her up, guiding her back towards her cell, and Alex had to do everything in her power to stop the smile that desperately wanted to dance on her lips. Once they had shoved her inside, slamming the door shut behind her, she heard the sound of the door locking and immediately sank to the floor, pulling off her boot and shaking it until the device Fury had given her fell out into her lap.

For a moment she panicked, her mind had gone blank and she couldn’t remember the code – it had been weeks and it took a while for it to come back to her. When it did though, Alex almost cried out in joy – she would’ve if it wouldn’t have caused the guards to look inside.

Punching in the code, Alex felt her heart race and the green light flashed, giving a small beep to inform her that the code was correct. Now all she had to do was wait…

“BARNES!” Fury shouted, walking fast towards their briefing room.

Bucky popped his head around the door, confused. “What?”

Fury sighed with frustration, the only time Bucky wasn’t constantly asking if he’d heard anything from Alex. “The code came through.”

Standing up straighter, Bucky grabbed all the things he needed and practically ran to the briefing room where Fury was inside with Steve and all their best agents.

“This is what we’ve been planning and training for. If we can do this successfully we may end Hydra forever – you all know Alex – she’s been through a lot to get us to this point. So, one of our main priorities we be to find Alex and get her out of their safely.” Fury started his rousing speech for the room.

“I’ll lead the group to find Alex,” Bucky chipped in.

Fury rolled his eyes, “I’m well aware that that will be the case, Barnes. I have been for the past few weeks,” he said deadpan, causing Steve to smirk.

“So the rest of you will be with me,” Steve instructed, “We’ll be rounding up all the Hydra agents so we can finally put an end to this.”

Fury stood straight, walking to the door, “Captain Rogers will give you your orders – Barnes, with me for a moment,” he said, going out into the hallway, Bucky following quickly behind and shutting the door behind him before Steve could start ‘giving orders’.

Bucky was ushered by Fury into the office, and he gestured for Bucky to sit, but he refused. If Alex had sent the code, they hadn’t got time for this. But, nevertheless, Fury sat, leaning back in his chair and looking calmly at the man stood before him. “I’ve sent word to Doctor Banner that we’ll need him later.”

“What for?”

Fury sighed, “Alex has been given Hydra’s version of the serum – we don’t know what that has or will do to her. I want Banner here to check her over as soon as we bring her in.”

“She has to be okay. She sent the code.” Bucky mumbled, trying desperately to convince himself that when they got to Alex she’d be perfectly fine.

After a brief moment of quiet, Fury thought better of trying to get Bucky’s hopes to a more realistic level and instead dismissed him, allowing Bucky to return to Steve who was in the process of getting his team out into the cars.

“Are you ready for this?” Steve asked Bucky as they got into their car.

“Definitely.”

It had been a little while since Alex had sent the code to Fury and she was waiting for anything that could signify that their team was on the way.

Suddenly there was a loud crash somewhere in the building – it was impossible to tell which side, there were so many corridors in this building that the echo made pinpointing noise completely impossible. But Alex could hear boots on the ground, gunshots and shouting. It was something that at any other moment in time would be terrifying, but right now was the most comforting thing she had heard in weeks.

There was a sound at her door. Someone was unlocking it.

Alex stood, bracing herself for whoever was on the other side. When it swung open, her heart sank – she had been expecting Bucky or at least one of Fury’s agents that she would recognise. But, when the metal door hit off the solid wall, the only person on the other side was Jake.

He stormed inside, grabbing her arm, which still smarted a little from the last injection she’s had only the day before. “Move,” he said pushing her in front of him, “Your little boyfriend’s come to get you, shame he won’t find you. My boss wants you out – we still need you.”

Her heart started pounding loudly, as Jake’s gun kept nudging her back, moving her onwards down the corridor. They turned to go one way, but when Jake caught sight of shadows at the other end; he pulled Alex in another direction.

Unfortunately for him, the corridor they had turned down was the exact one that Bucky was coming from the other way. All of them froze, both Bucky and Alex’s eyes widening at the sight of each other. Suddenly, Jake pulled her back, the cold steel of a knife at her neck and the gun in his hand pointed directly at Bucky, who was pointing his own at Jake.

“We’ve been here before,” Jake chuckled, “The three of us in this stalemate. But it looks like I’ve got the upper hand now, Soldier. Make a move to hit me and I cut her throat,” he threatened.

Bucky smirked, “If you think I believe that, you’re deluded. I know you can’t risk hurting her – you need her alive.”

Jake’s jaw tightened as he realised that Bucky wasn’t as stupid as he’d imagined. All was quiet between the three of them as no one made a move for fear of someone getting hurt. “We’ve got somewhere to be, Soldier. Can you just move?” He cocked a brow, testing Bucky.

“I’ve got nowhere I need to be.”

Alex almost rolled her eyes – she’d never get out of this if someone didn’t make a move. So, quickly she pushed the knife-wielding arm out of her way, throwing an elbow backwards that connected with Jake’s nose with a crunch. Ducking out of the way, she watched as Bucky took the shot, hitting Jake straight in the chest. He fell to the floor with a thud, spluttering as his blood filled his mouth.

She watched carefully as Jake’s life was extinguished, feeling no remorse. And when all was quiet again, she looked to Bucky, who hadn’t moved from where he had stood, but now locked eyes with her.

They both rushed to each other, meeting in the middle with a tight embrace, as if each was trying to make sure the other was really there. Bucky rested his cheek on the top of Alex’s head, holding her as close as he could, like he was never letting go again. And in his mind he didn’t want to let go. He’d have held Alex forever if it meant never having to go through anything like this again.

Pulling away a little, Bucky looked down at Alex’s face for the first time in weeks. It felt like it had been longer – but here she was, and she was okay.

“You’ve cut your hair.” Alex smiled, stroking his newly short hair as Bucky nodded.

He smiled, pulling her in for a deep kiss, which Alex eagerly responded to, her hands reaching to cup his face. The sound of gunfire brought them back to their current situation, Bucky grabbing Alex’s hand. “Come on, we need to get you out of here.”

When they got outside, Steve seemed to have the situation in hand. He beamed as he saw Bucky and Alex running from the building. “Get Alex back to Fury so Banner can look her over!” he shouted above the noise of their fighting.

“No! We can stay and help you!” Alex shouted back.

Steve moved closer to them, “I can deal with this, what’s important now is that we know that you’re okay.” He touched Alex’s arm gently, nodding slightly at Bucky before returning to the fight.

“Come on,” Bucky took her hand again, getting her into one of the cars and driving as fast as he could back to headquarters.

As they drove, Bucky looked over to Alex and noticed blood on her sleeve. “What happened?” He gestured to the wound when she seemed confused.

“It must’ve happened when I pushed Jake’s knife away,” she looked at it carefully.
“But it’s already healing.”

After a moment, Alex lifted her head. “It must be working,” she smiled half-heartedly, stroking a finger along the once-deep cut in her forearm. Bucky’s eyes remained on the road, but his brow furrowed as he wondered what this would mean for Alex.

When they reached headquarters, Bucky ushered Alex inside where Fury was waiting. “Alex. It’s good to have you back.”

“Good to be back,” she chuckled softly.

“We should get you into the infirmary,” he said, moving the two of them on until they reached a white room, with a large window on the side.

Looking in, Alex could see a bed and chair as well as a lot of medical equipment, including a screen that was being used by a dark haired man in glasses. Fury ushered her and Bucky inside, “Alex, this is Doctor Banner, he’ll be checking you to find out the extent of the serum’s effects on you.”

She exchanged a smile with Banner, and stood close to Bucky as her heart began to race. She could hear him start talking to Banner, “The serum’s already started working hasn’t it Alex?”

“I think so,” she nodded absentmindedly.

Bucky lifted Alex’s hand that he’d been holding, pulling up her sleeve to show Banner the healed cut on her arm. “See? This cut only happened half an hour ago and---wait, why is it starting to bleed again?”

Alex blinked quickly as her head started to spin, “Alex?” Bucky could see that something wasn’t right. She tried to answer, but she couldn’t manage it. “Get her on the bed,” Banner’s voice accompanied Bucky’s. Suddenly, everything went black.

“Alex? Alex?!” Bucky called frantically, catching her as she collapsed on the floor. “What’s happening to her?” he looked to Banner, but the doctor said nothing in return, fearing what could indeed be wrong.

Description
As Alex sat waiting in the same room she was always taken to after her serum dosage, it struck her that she felt a lot more alert than usual. Whether it was the serum taking effect or the anticipation of being able to see Bucky again, she didn’t know, but she felt great. Any minute now they’d be returning her to her cell and then she’d be able to send Fury the code and it’d all be over. She could go home.

The guards forced her up, guiding her back towards her cell, and Alex had to do everything in her power to stop the smile that desperately wanted to dance on her lips. Once they had shoved her inside, slamming the door shut behind her, she heard the sound of the door locking and immediately sank to the floor, pulling off her boot and shaking it until the device Fury had given her fell out into her lap.

For a moment she panicked, her mind had gone blank and she couldn’t remember the code – it had been weeks and it took a while for it to come back to her. When it did though, Alex almost cried out in joy – she would’ve if it wouldn’t have caused the guards to look inside.

Punching in the code, Alex felt her heart race and the green light flashed, giving a small beep to inform her that the code was correct. Now all she had to do was wait…

“BARNES!” Fury shouted, walking fast towards their briefing room.

Bucky popped his head around the door, confused. “What?”

Fury sighed with frustration, the only time Bucky wasn’t constantly asking if he’d heard anything from Alex. “The code came through.”

Standing up straighter, Bucky grabbed all the things he needed and practically ran to the briefing room where Fury was inside with Steve and all their best agents.

“This is what we’ve been planning and training for. If we can do this successfully we may end Hydra forever – you all know Alex – she’s been through a lot to get us to this point. So, one of our main priorities we be to find Alex and get her out of their safely.” Fury started his rousing speech for the room.

“I’ll lead the group to find Alex,” Bucky chipped in.

Fury rolled his eyes, “I’m well aware that that will be the case, Barnes. I have been for the past few weeks,” he said deadpan, causing Steve to smirk.

“So the rest of you will be with me,” Steve instructed, “We’ll be rounding up all the Hydra agents so we can finally put an end to this.”

Fury stood straight, walking to the door, “Captain Rogers will give you your orders – Barnes, with me for a moment,” he said, going out into the hallway, Bucky following quickly behind and shutting the door behind him before Steve could start ‘giving orders’.

Bucky was ushered by Fury into the office, and he gestured for Bucky to sit, but he refused. If Alex had sent the code, they hadn’t got time for this. But, nevertheless, Fury sat, leaning back in his chair and looking calmly at the man stood before him. “I’ve sent word to Doctor Banner that we’ll need him later.”

“What for?”

Fury sighed, “Alex has been given Hydra’s version of the serum – we don’t know what that has or will do to her. I want Banner here to check her over as soon as we bring her in.”

“She has to be okay. She sent the code.” Bucky mumbled, trying desperately to convince himself that when they got to Alex she’d be perfectly fine.

After a brief moment of quiet, Fury thought better of trying to get Bucky’s hopes to a more realistic level and instead dismissed him, allowing Bucky to return to Steve who was in the process of getting his team out into the cars.

“Are you ready for this?” Steve asked Bucky as they got into their car.

“Definitely.”

It had been a little while since Alex had sent the code to Fury and she was waiting for anything that could signify that their team was on the way.

Suddenly there was a loud crash somewhere in the building – it was impossible to tell which side, there were so many corridors in this building that the echo made pinpointing noise completely impossible. But Alex could hear boots on the ground, gunshots and shouting. It was something that at any other moment in time would be terrifying, but right now was the most comforting thing she had heard in weeks.

There was a sound at her door. Someone was unlocking it.

Alex stood, bracing herself for whoever was on the other side. When it swung open, her heart sank – she had been expecting Bucky or at least one of Fury’s agents that she would recognise. But, when the metal door hit off the solid wall, the only person on the other side was Jake.

He stormed inside, grabbing her arm, which still smarted a little from the last injection she’s had only the day before. “Move,” he said pushing her in front of him, “Your little boyfriend’s come to get you, shame he won’t find you. My boss wants you out – we still need you.”

Her heart started pounding loudly, as Jake’s gun kept nudging her back, moving her onwards down the corridor. They turned to go one way, but when Jake caught sight of shadows at the other end; he pulled Alex in another direction.

Unfortunately for him, the corridor they had turned down was the exact one that Bucky was coming from the other way. All of them froze, both Bucky and Alex’s eyes widening at the sight of each other. Suddenly, Jake pulled her back, the cold steel of a knife at her neck and the gun in his hand pointed directly at Bucky, who was pointing his own at Jake.

“We’ve been here before,” Jake chuckled, “The three of us in this stalemate. But it looks like I’ve got the upper hand now, Soldier. Make a move to hit me and I cut her throat,” he threatened.

Bucky smirked, “If you think I believe that, you’re deluded. I know you can’t risk hurting her – you need her alive.”

Jake’s jaw tightened as he realised that Bucky wasn’t as stupid as he’d imagined. All was quiet between the three of them as no one made a move for fear of someone getting hurt. “We’ve got somewhere to be, Soldier. Can you just move?” He cocked a brow, testing Bucky.

“I’ve got nowhere I need to be.”

Alex almost rolled her eyes – she’d never get out of this if someone didn’t make a move. So, quickly she pushed the knife-wielding arm out of her way, throwing an elbow backwards that connected with Jake’s nose with a crunch. Ducking out of the way, she watched as Bucky took the shot, hitting Jake straight in the chest. He fell to the floor with a thud, spluttering as his blood filled his mouth.

She watched carefully as Jake’s life was extinguished, feeling no remorse. And when all was quiet again, she looked to Bucky, who hadn’t moved from where he had stood, but now locked eyes with her.

They both rushed to each other, meeting in the middle with a tight embrace, as if each was trying to make sure the other was really there. Bucky rested his cheek on the top of Alex’s head, holding her as close as he could, like he was never letting go again. And in his mind he didn’t want to let go. He’d have held Alex forever if it meant never having to go through anything like this again.

Pulling away a little, Bucky looked down at Alex’s face for the first time in weeks. It felt like it had been longer – but here she was, and she was okay.

“You’ve cut your hair.” Alex smiled, stroking his newly short hair as Bucky nodded.

He smiled, pulling her in for a deep kiss, which Alex eagerly responded to, her hands reaching to cup his face. The sound of gunfire brought them back to their current situation, Bucky grabbing Alex’s hand. “Come on, we need to get you out of here.”

When they got outside, Steve seemed to have the situation in hand. He beamed as he saw Bucky and Alex running from the building. “Get Alex back to Fury so Banner can look her over!” he shouted above the noise of their fighting.

“No! We can stay and help you!” Alex shouted back.

Steve moved closer to them, “I can deal with this, what’s important now is that we know that you’re okay.” He touched Alex’s arm gently, nodding slightly at Bucky before returning to the fight.

“Come on,” Bucky took her hand again, getting her into one of the cars and driving as fast as he could back to headquarters.

As they drove, Bucky looked over to Alex and noticed blood on her sleeve. “What happened?” He gestured to the wound when she seemed confused.

“It must’ve happened when I pushed Jake’s knife away,” she looked at it carefully.
“But it’s already healing.”

After a moment, Alex lifted her head. “It must be working,” she smiled half-heartedly, stroking a finger along the once-deep cut in her forearm. Bucky’s eyes remained on the road, but his brow furrowed as he wondered what this would mean for Alex.

When they reached headquarters, Bucky ushered Alex inside where Fury was waiting. “Alex. It’s good to have you back.”

“Good to be back,” she chuckled softly.

“We should get you into the infirmary,” he said, moving the two of them on until they reached a white room, with a large window on the side.

Looking in, Alex could see a bed and chair as well as a lot of medical equipment, including a screen that was being used by a dark haired man in glasses. Fury ushered her and Bucky inside, “Alex, this is Doctor Banner, he’ll be checking you to find out the extent of the serum’s effects on you.”

She exchanged a smile with Banner, and stood close to Bucky as her heart began to race. She could hear him start talking to Banner, “The serum’s already started working hasn’t it Alex?”

“I think so,” she nodded absentmindedly.

Bucky lifted Alex’s hand that he’d been holding, pulling up her sleeve to show Banner the healed cut on her arm. “See? This cut only happened half an hour ago and---wait, why is it starting to bleed again?”

Alex blinked quickly as her head started to spin, “Alex?” Bucky could see that something wasn’t right. She tried to answer, but she couldn’t manage it. “Get her on the bed,” Banner’s voice accompanied Bucky’s. Suddenly, everything went black.

“Alex? Alex?!” Bucky called frantically, catching her as she collapsed on the floor. “What’s happening to her?” he looked to Banner, but the doctor said nothing in return, fearing what could indeed be wrong.