The sound of cement crumbling was heard as James felt his back collide with the what used to be a wall behind him, labored breaths being heard from him as his calculated glare locked onto Ray. He remembered him, from the past.

The two were supposed to be partners in the shit hole the secret empire or sons of whatever-the-fuck, working alongside one another in the field. Key word, supposed. Obviously what happened happened and that didn’t necessarily follow through. The result of that? It seemed obvious how gone you were.

Was this his fault? Had he caused you to be lost to this depth? Maybe.

—The sound of you charging at him, thudded footsteps mixed with a snarl, snapped James out of his momentary reflection, body moving out of the way and wrapping around your forearm, leg sweeping your own until he was pinning you onto the floor, foot square on your chest.

“Ray, quit it!” He shouted, struggling to keep your body underneath him, not wanting to hurt you but also trying to keep himself from being torn apart. It was a challenging task, one that was reluctantly wearing the man out.

“You betrayed us. How could you?”

The words had erupted from your mouth, making Bucky’s brow furrow the slightest, mind reeling for a response that just woudlnt seem to come. It was a matter of seconds before he was flung off, crashing into some nearby furniture that really fucking hurt.

He huffed, body moving back up and locking his gaze onto you, sweat beading against his skin, making the heat of the room feel almost humid in a way, like the air was something that could be cut and not this clear nothingness that it usually was.

How the fuck was he supposed to do this? Supposed to convince a fully gone and brainwashed soldier to just.. snap out of it. It honestly felt like James had better luck finding Santa and his reindeer.