Bucky Barnes ★ The Winter Soldier (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cryogenics) wrote2015-03-14 10:54 pm
cryogenics) wrote2015-03-14 10:54 pm
That AU thing
It was supposed to be a relaxing hike in the woods. He was going to finish up some errands in the city and then meet Steve at the campsite. They'd discovered it by accident one day, when they'd been hiking on the weekend after a long stressful week. It was an isolated spot up near the mountains, quiet and peaceful with a beautiful view down into a valley.
The sky was overcast, the clouds heavy and gray, and thunder rolled through the mountains, but the weather forecast said that things were going to clear up soon, so he had faith that it was going to be a nice weekend. Even if it rained, they could just spend a few days inside and find out all of the different ways to have sex in a tent.
The temperature was cool enough to warrant a jacket, hiding the ring of ugly scar tissue around his left upper arm where he'd nearly lost it overseas. He'd been lucky; if the damage had been any deeper, then he would have lost his arm and risked bleeding out. Now that he was home, he was going to take advantage of what he had; he wasn't going to waste time.
The path to the campsite was vague at best, just like it'd been the first time they'd found this place, but that wasn't going to stop him. They'd been up here enough times that he was familiar with the route, and even the deer seemed to be getting used to him by now. A breeze picked up as he stepped over a small fallen tree, and he tipped his head back to look up just as a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. Maybe the weather wasn't going to get better after all. Rain they could handle, but a storm could be dangerous.
He paused for a moment, wondering if he should head back or at least give Steve a call, get his opinion. Steve had said he'd thought his photo-shoot would wrap up early so that he could get a head start on getting out there. He might have been setting up already, or maybe he'd thought twice when he'd seen the clouds rolling in, too. Bucky pulled his phone out of his pocket to make sure that Steve hadn't tried to contact him but he'd missed it. No missed calls, no text messages.
A branch snapped off in the woods to his right and his head jerked up. Combined with the overcast sky, the canopy of trees made it gloomy and hard to see for very far. Somewhere close by though, something was moving. He could make out only the vague shape of it; it was large and dark. It could have been a bear, but it was moving awfully fast, breaking branches and trampling bushes as it barreled right at him. He did what anyone would have done in that situation; he ran. As he headed up the path, he heard the animal crash out of the forest and onto open ground. It was gaining speed now, he could tell by the sound of its heavy footfalls, but he didn't look back.
Even with his attention focused ahead of him, he didn't see the trap. It was cleverly disguised, and the only way that he knew it was there was when the ground gave way beneath his feet, thin branches snapping easily as he fell. Leaves showered down around him and for just a moment when he hit the bottom of the pit, he lost consciousness. It felt like only seconds later that he opened his eyes again, dazed and with pain lancing down his spine, his right ankle throbbing. As he laid there looking up at the sky, it started to rain, the first drops of cold rain landing on his face. Briefly, he saw a head appear over the edge of the pit, but it wasn't anything human as far as he could tell. After a moment, the creature disappeared and then Bucky lost consciousness again.
~-----~
When he came to, he was wet and cold and sore. It was night now, and it was still raining, though harder, and the bottom of the pit had filled with about an inch of water. It must have been clay or stone or just hard packed dirt for it to not absorb the water like that, but that was the least of his concerns. The primary one was the fact that he was trapped in a pit that was at least eight feet deep. There was no way that he could reach the top by normal means.
Wincing, he pushed himself up on his hands. His ankle was still throbbing, though dully now, until he moved it experimentally, and then the pain flared up. He didn't think that it was broken, since he was able to move it and he couldn't feel any protruding bone, but it was likely badly sprained. Still, he hauled himself up to his feet, avoiding putting weight on his bad ankle for the moment, and surveyed his surroundings. There wasn't much to see, just whatever cloudy sky was visible overhead, occasionally tree branches, and the muddy walls of the pit. His phone lay smashed to pieces on the ground next to him; it hadn't been lucky enough to survive the fall. There was no way that he could call anyone for help now; unless Steve found him, he was on his own.
He wasn't going to just give up that easy and wait in this trap. He tried to see if he could climb up the side of the pit, but his fingers sank into the mud and then it crumbled away against his hand. There were no roots visible, nothing he could use to grab onto and pull himself up.
"Shit," he cursed under his breath. Turning in a circle, he looked for anything at all that could help, but there was still nothing.
He was soaked through and shivering, but the rain was starting to ease up now, lightening to a faint drizzle. It was a small thing to be grateful for, but it was better than the alternative, like the storm getting worse. There were noises all around and with the rain still coming down combined with how heavy the branches and bushes likely were from the water, it was hard to tell what was a normal forest noise and what might have been something more.
The back of his neck prickled, an uneasy feeling like he was being watched, but it was too dark for him to see anything. Slowly, the clouds parted, revealing the full moon, and the bright, silver light of it filling the pit and illuminating his quiet company. There was a fox peering over the edge, eyes dark in the gloom. It was better than what the alternative could have been, but it didn't do very much to make him feel better. This kind of trap couldn't be made by a fox or even a bear-or whatever that animal had been; this was the sort of thing that was made by people. Maybe it had been an accident, considering that this hadn't been an official hiking trail, but what would a hunter need with a pit this size?
"Shit," he repeated, sighing. He leaned back against the muddy wall, raking his fingers through his hair. He wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this. Sure, he had things in his back pack, but Steve had the tents and there was nothing else in his pack that could be useful for an escape attempt. He had food, at least, some water, and a knife. He had matches, too, but without anything to burn they were fairly useless.
He was still standing there contemplating his fate when he heard it. There was a soft chuckle, nearby and from somewhere above him. It wasn't a sound that instilled him with confidence, but as he looked up quickly, he called out anyway. "Hello?" Even if whoever it was, wasn't the most upstanding citizen they still might be able to help him out. After all, who would leave a man stranded like this? There was no answer though, and he was alone again; his new fox friend had vanished.
He stepped away from the side of the pit, squinting up into the moonlight. He could hear the faint crunching of leaves, and the snap of a small branch, but he couldn't see anything. That might have been an animal, but just like animals didn't make traps like this, they didn't laugh either.
"Hey, is someone there? This isn't funny."
Clearly, someone thought it was though, because he heard the laugh again, sharper this time but from a different direction. The footsteps were headed away from him now too, and before long they had faded entirely. He stood there listening for a long moment, but there were only crickets and the sound of water dripping. Whoever or whatever had been out there was gone now, taking with them the feeling of being watched.
Sighing, he carefully lowered himself back down to the wet ground, sliding his backpack off of his shoulders and unzipping it to see if there was anything that he could use right now. He hadn't been sitting there for long when the ground beneath him seemed to rumble. He would have chalked it up to just his imagination if he hadn't seen the way the water rippled from the vibrations. Frowning, he started to push himself to his feet but he didn't get very far before the ground split open and he slid down with a yell. He tried to grab onto something, his backpack falling from his hands, but there was nothing he could do to slow his descent. Darkness swallowed him up and it was the last thing that he saw before he struck his head hard enough to knock himself out.
~-----~
He was disoriented when he woke up, his head and ankle throbbing. He was cold enough to be shivering, but no longer wet, he didn't think. Wherever he was felt strangely soft for whatever cave existed below the pit. There was a light flickering; he could see the glow of it even with his eyes closed. There was the sound of movement, and he started to open his eyes, started to sit up, but a firm hand settled on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down.
"Do not try to get up; you need to rest."
The sky was overcast, the clouds heavy and gray, and thunder rolled through the mountains, but the weather forecast said that things were going to clear up soon, so he had faith that it was going to be a nice weekend. Even if it rained, they could just spend a few days inside and find out all of the different ways to have sex in a tent.
The temperature was cool enough to warrant a jacket, hiding the ring of ugly scar tissue around his left upper arm where he'd nearly lost it overseas. He'd been lucky; if the damage had been any deeper, then he would have lost his arm and risked bleeding out. Now that he was home, he was going to take advantage of what he had; he wasn't going to waste time.
The path to the campsite was vague at best, just like it'd been the first time they'd found this place, but that wasn't going to stop him. They'd been up here enough times that he was familiar with the route, and even the deer seemed to be getting used to him by now. A breeze picked up as he stepped over a small fallen tree, and he tipped his head back to look up just as a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. Maybe the weather wasn't going to get better after all. Rain they could handle, but a storm could be dangerous.
He paused for a moment, wondering if he should head back or at least give Steve a call, get his opinion. Steve had said he'd thought his photo-shoot would wrap up early so that he could get a head start on getting out there. He might have been setting up already, or maybe he'd thought twice when he'd seen the clouds rolling in, too. Bucky pulled his phone out of his pocket to make sure that Steve hadn't tried to contact him but he'd missed it. No missed calls, no text messages.
A branch snapped off in the woods to his right and his head jerked up. Combined with the overcast sky, the canopy of trees made it gloomy and hard to see for very far. Somewhere close by though, something was moving. He could make out only the vague shape of it; it was large and dark. It could have been a bear, but it was moving awfully fast, breaking branches and trampling bushes as it barreled right at him. He did what anyone would have done in that situation; he ran. As he headed up the path, he heard the animal crash out of the forest and onto open ground. It was gaining speed now, he could tell by the sound of its heavy footfalls, but he didn't look back.
Even with his attention focused ahead of him, he didn't see the trap. It was cleverly disguised, and the only way that he knew it was there was when the ground gave way beneath his feet, thin branches snapping easily as he fell. Leaves showered down around him and for just a moment when he hit the bottom of the pit, he lost consciousness. It felt like only seconds later that he opened his eyes again, dazed and with pain lancing down his spine, his right ankle throbbing. As he laid there looking up at the sky, it started to rain, the first drops of cold rain landing on his face. Briefly, he saw a head appear over the edge of the pit, but it wasn't anything human as far as he could tell. After a moment, the creature disappeared and then Bucky lost consciousness again.
When he came to, he was wet and cold and sore. It was night now, and it was still raining, though harder, and the bottom of the pit had filled with about an inch of water. It must have been clay or stone or just hard packed dirt for it to not absorb the water like that, but that was the least of his concerns. The primary one was the fact that he was trapped in a pit that was at least eight feet deep. There was no way that he could reach the top by normal means.
Wincing, he pushed himself up on his hands. His ankle was still throbbing, though dully now, until he moved it experimentally, and then the pain flared up. He didn't think that it was broken, since he was able to move it and he couldn't feel any protruding bone, but it was likely badly sprained. Still, he hauled himself up to his feet, avoiding putting weight on his bad ankle for the moment, and surveyed his surroundings. There wasn't much to see, just whatever cloudy sky was visible overhead, occasionally tree branches, and the muddy walls of the pit. His phone lay smashed to pieces on the ground next to him; it hadn't been lucky enough to survive the fall. There was no way that he could call anyone for help now; unless Steve found him, he was on his own.
He wasn't going to just give up that easy and wait in this trap. He tried to see if he could climb up the side of the pit, but his fingers sank into the mud and then it crumbled away against his hand. There were no roots visible, nothing he could use to grab onto and pull himself up.
"Shit," he cursed under his breath. Turning in a circle, he looked for anything at all that could help, but there was still nothing.
He was soaked through and shivering, but the rain was starting to ease up now, lightening to a faint drizzle. It was a small thing to be grateful for, but it was better than the alternative, like the storm getting worse. There were noises all around and with the rain still coming down combined with how heavy the branches and bushes likely were from the water, it was hard to tell what was a normal forest noise and what might have been something more.
The back of his neck prickled, an uneasy feeling like he was being watched, but it was too dark for him to see anything. Slowly, the clouds parted, revealing the full moon, and the bright, silver light of it filling the pit and illuminating his quiet company. There was a fox peering over the edge, eyes dark in the gloom. It was better than what the alternative could have been, but it didn't do very much to make him feel better. This kind of trap couldn't be made by a fox or even a bear-or whatever that animal had been; this was the sort of thing that was made by people. Maybe it had been an accident, considering that this hadn't been an official hiking trail, but what would a hunter need with a pit this size?
"Shit," he repeated, sighing. He leaned back against the muddy wall, raking his fingers through his hair. He wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this. Sure, he had things in his back pack, but Steve had the tents and there was nothing else in his pack that could be useful for an escape attempt. He had food, at least, some water, and a knife. He had matches, too, but without anything to burn they were fairly useless.
He was still standing there contemplating his fate when he heard it. There was a soft chuckle, nearby and from somewhere above him. It wasn't a sound that instilled him with confidence, but as he looked up quickly, he called out anyway. "Hello?" Even if whoever it was, wasn't the most upstanding citizen they still might be able to help him out. After all, who would leave a man stranded like this? There was no answer though, and he was alone again; his new fox friend had vanished.
He stepped away from the side of the pit, squinting up into the moonlight. He could hear the faint crunching of leaves, and the snap of a small branch, but he couldn't see anything. That might have been an animal, but just like animals didn't make traps like this, they didn't laugh either.
"Hey, is someone there? This isn't funny."
Clearly, someone thought it was though, because he heard the laugh again, sharper this time but from a different direction. The footsteps were headed away from him now too, and before long they had faded entirely. He stood there listening for a long moment, but there were only crickets and the sound of water dripping. Whoever or whatever had been out there was gone now, taking with them the feeling of being watched.
Sighing, he carefully lowered himself back down to the wet ground, sliding his backpack off of his shoulders and unzipping it to see if there was anything that he could use right now. He hadn't been sitting there for long when the ground beneath him seemed to rumble. He would have chalked it up to just his imagination if he hadn't seen the way the water rippled from the vibrations. Frowning, he started to push himself to his feet but he didn't get very far before the ground split open and he slid down with a yell. He tried to grab onto something, his backpack falling from his hands, but there was nothing he could do to slow his descent. Darkness swallowed him up and it was the last thing that he saw before he struck his head hard enough to knock himself out.
He was disoriented when he woke up, his head and ankle throbbing. He was cold enough to be shivering, but no longer wet, he didn't think. Wherever he was felt strangely soft for whatever cave existed below the pit. There was a light flickering; he could see the glow of it even with his eyes closed. There was the sound of movement, and he started to open his eyes, started to sit up, but a firm hand settled on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down.
"Do not try to get up; you need to rest."