The moment Steve approached the old house he hopped off of his motorcycle, barely stopping to put the kickstand down. There was no sign of anyone outside aside from a few neighbors, all of whom he paid no mind to. He ran to the battered front door and threw it open to reveal the mess that was Marlena's house. Everything had either been thrown to the floor or overturned, everything except for the television and the couch. The destruction made him worry for Marlena's safety; the phone line had disconnected before he even had a chance to finish telling her he was on the way, so he wasn't exactly sure whether or not she was still here.

He could only hope, though.

"Marlena!" Steve called, only to receive no answer.

The large house was so quiet it was almost unsettling; the only sound Steve managed to make out was the faint murmur of voices coming from upstairs. He recognized them from a movie he had watched a while back, but he couldn't determine exactly which movie it was from, nor did he care.

Without another thought, Steve cautiously made his way up the stairs. He hadn't seen anyone suspicious lurking around outside when he arrived, nor had he seen any vehicles, but he knew better than to underestimate Hydra and their agents. He knew he would be able to fight them off if it came down to it, but he couldn't help but wish he had his shield with him.

He inched himself closer and closer to the end of the hall, checking his surroundings every now and then for anything that could potentially be a threat to him. Fortunately for him, there was no one, not even a single explosive or even a booby trap. The situation was growing too suspicious for Steve, and he was beginning to pick up on the vibe that something was seriously wrong.

He hurried into the bedroom, and he knew almost immediately that it was Marlena's. The decor of the room looked as if it belonged to a young woman rather than an adult woman or a male. Unless Marlena had a sister, which he highly doubted, he was sure the room belonged to her.

"Marlena," Steve called once more, only to yet again receive no answer from her. He was only growing angrier as the seconds passed, and was more than ready to call for her again until he noticed a piece of paper sitting on her bed.

He walked over to pick it up, and his entire demeanor had changed as he read the words on the slip of paper. Hydra had taken Marlena in an attempt to get Bucky back, and the very thought of it made his stomach drop. Had he only arrived earlier he could've helped prevent her abduction, but he didn't, and it made him feel awful. He didn't know Marlena personally, but he knew enough to know that he was supposed to protect her. He felt that it was necessary to look after his old friend's family as he could no longer do it himself, yet he had already failed him.

Outside the house, Bucky was working on parking Marlena's Jeep. Before he and Mason had left earlier that afternoon, Marlena had told him to take it as she didn't feel it was very necessary—nor was it safe—for them to be roaming the streets of Washington D.C. on foot. She was rather hesitant about her decision at first, but she felt taking the Jeep would help prevent them from being detected by any kind of law enforcement that could potentially be pursuing Bucky. It took her about twenty minutes to teach him how 21st century vehicles worked, and although it was a frustrating endeavor for the both of them, they managed to figure it out. Marlena's only hope had been that they wouldn't get pulled over.

As Bucky put the vehicle in park, he noticed Steve's motorcycle sitting in front of the house. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at the random motor vehicle and turned his head towards the house. He noticed the open and battered front door and instantly became wary. His mind immediately shot to Marlena which in turn sent an unsettling and nauseating feeling coursing throughout his body. Something was wrong, and he wasn't so sure about what it was, but he was more than determined to find out.

"Why's the front door open?" Mason thought out loud.

Bucky fixed his eyes upon the door for several more seconds before finally getting out of the car, not bothering to answer Mason's question. He only ran over to the passenger's side and pulled him out, shifting the small boy behind him in a protective notion before slowly continuing towards the house.

The moment he stepped through the door he was met with the same horrific sight that Steve had been met with when he first entered the house. Bucky was sure someone—or multiple someones—had been inside the house, and his worry grew. He feared that something had happened to Marlena, as the house was eerily quiet and seemed to be relatively empty, abandoned almost.

"What happened?" Mason gasped, his words going ignored once again.

Bucky's eyes shot around the room, and he swallowed the growing lump in his throat as his emotions threatened to consume him.

"Marlena!" he called out to her, his tone laced with fear and slight caution.

Upstairs, Steve heard the familiar voice of his friend and ran out of the bedroom immediately, the note from Hydra still within his grasp. He ran to the top of the stairs and stopped when he noticed his best friend standing at the bottom with a young boy clinging closely to his side.

The sound of Steve's heavy footsteps sent Bucky into assassin mode, and he snapped his head towards him, pulling Mason further behind him. His blue eyes were cold and distant, but they seemed to relax when recognition began to set in. It was Steve, meaning Bucky had nothing to worry about at the moment.

"S-Steve?" Bucky stammered, his eyes brightening slightly at the sight of his old friend running down the stairs.

Steve was more than ecstatic to see Bucky again, especially now that he actually remembered who he was. He wanted nothing more than to sit down with him and have a long chat about what had been happening in their lives, but now was not the time for such a thing. Figuring out where Marlena had been taken to was his only concern at the moment and would soon become Bucky's greatest concern.

"Buck," Steve breathed in relief. "It really is great to see you, buddy, and I would love to sit down and have a chat, but there's a situation."

Bucky noticed the upset look in his eyes and was soon brought back to the reality of what was going on around him. "What's wrong?" he forced out as he began thinking about Marlena. She hadn't answered him when he called for her, and that frightened him.

"They took Marlena, Bucky," Steve told him quietly, fumbling with the piece of paper in his hand.

Bucky's face paled at the sound of his words, and his eyes flashed down to the piece of paper in his hand. "Who took Marlena?" Bucky questioned through clenched teeth.

Steve held the paper out to him. "Hydra took her."

Bucky's jaw clenched as Steve's words settled in, and he snatched the paper from Steve's hand, examining each and every single word scribbled onto the paper.

You will comply, Sergeant Barnes. It's either that, or we send your friend back to you and her precious little family in a body bag.

Bucky let out a throaty growl before crumpling up the paper and throwing it to the floor.  He was now angrier than ever, not to mention rather distressed. Hydra had taken Marlena—they had taken one of the most important people in his life to use as bait for him.

He wanted to vomit just thinking about Hydra having Marlena hostage. Hydra wanted what they wanted when they wanted it, and they didn't care who or what they needed to hurt or kill in order to get it. Right now, they wanted him, and Marlena would definitely be no exception to that policy. They would harm her—torture her until her body couldn't take the pain anymore, or at least until she finally cracked, and thinking about Marlena being harmed at the hands of Hydra only further angered him. Marlena deserved no part in this whatsoever, and Bucky chastised himself over and over again for being stupid and careless enough to put her—and her family—in such a dangerous situation.

"We need to find her," Bucky spoke calmly as he ran a hand through his hair. He was attempting to control his emotions to keep from frightening Mason, but he could only do so much before he lost that control. "We need to find her now!"

"Where's my sissy?" Mason asked, a sad expression on his face.

Bucky frowned and ran a hand over his face. "I don't know, Mason, but we'll find her, I promise. We'll find her," Bucky answered, trying to convince himself rather than Mason.

He couldn't believe the situation he was in at the moment. Marlena had done so much for him; she had shown him so much kindness, so much compassion. She gave him someone to trust, someone to confide in—she gave him someone to truly care about again, yet he was repaying her by allowing her to fall into the maniacal grasp of one of the deadliest organizations in the world.

Marlena should be at the house with Bucky, cuddled up against his chest as a random action or Sci-Fi movie played on the television in the background.

Bucky should be focused on the beautiful sound of her giggling when one of her favorite characters made an attempt at a lame joke; he should be focused on the adorable way she fisted his t-shirt when a scene she had watched over two hundred times startled her in the slightest; he should be focused on the way her perfect pink lips curled up into a slight smile whenever her favorite character made an appearance; he should be focused on the comforting way she held on to his metal hand as she slept on his chest, as well as the intense feeling he received from it.

He should not, however, be focused on how he should retrieve her from Hydra, despite the fact that he had no other choice but to do just that.

He couldn't bear the thought of her being away from him, though, especially under these particular circumstances. As the seconds passed, it was only getting harder for him to accept the fact that this was actually happening to him—happening to her.

He needed her back. . .he needed her safe, and he was willing to do whatever it took to make sure she got back to him safe and sound. He refused to lose Marlena at the hands of Hydra or the hands of anyone else for that matter. Thinking about his life without her in it was barely a life worth living, at least in his opinion it was. He had Steve, and of course Steve was a very important part of Bucky's life—he always had been, even when he didn't know it himself—but had it not been for Marlena he wouldn't have even been able to realize that. Marlena completed Bucky, and because she was now missing, he felt almost as if a part of him was missing too.

"We'll find her," Bucky muttered to himself as he pushed his way passed Steve. "We have to find her."

Steve and Mason could only watch as Bucky ran up the stairs to search for anything of importance that could possibly lead him to Marlena. Bucky knew finding her was going to be a time-consuming endeavor, but he didn't care. He needed his missing piece, and no matter how long it took, he would stop at nothing until he found her.