Bucky hit just about every branch on the way from the air to the ground, but knew that in spite of all the bruises that would cause, it was the only reason he survived. He hissed as he landed before groaning in pain, realising that he had definitely hit something with his metal arm, which wasn't just malfunctioning but also hurting the stump of the arm connected to it. He ignored the pain as he jumped up, Tony gracefully landing beside him a second after.

"Oh, you can't fly? Just me then?" he asked as he opened his mask to look at Bucky's scratched and dirty face.

"Shut up," Bucky muttered as he looked around them. Tony remembered why they were there and lowered his helmet. Only a second after, Steve landed surprisingly gracefully, immediately touching his earpiece.

"Banner, any update?" he asked quietly, trying to look around them in the dark.

"Got it. Tony, we need some kind of light," Steve ordered, Tony looking annoyed at him.

"This suit doesn't have any pockets, I don't have a lighter," he claimed.

"Don't tell me you built that and didn't include a flashlight," Bucky scoffed.

"Uh, this is a bit more high tech than a small bulb and two AA batteries," Tony claimed.

"But not high tech enough to have the same abilities. Got it," he replied with an eye roll.

"I don't see anything," Steve pointed out.

"There's nothing here," Tony stated.

"Could we have been wrong?" Steve asked, looking at Tony for his expertise.

"I... I mean, technically. We don't exactly know what we saw," he admitted slowly.

"Stark, tell me you didn't drag us out here for nothing," Bucky said angrily.

"I didn't drag you out here for nothing, that's for sure. You just latched on. Like a leech," Tony pointed out before grimacing; "You're a leech."

"And you're a dick, so far so good," Bucky muttered, still looking around them. "We're not going to be able to find anything in this light."

"Buck's right. We'll check immediate surroundings before retracting to Nat, then we'll check first thing tomorrow," Steve decided, clenching his fists.

***

As Lana woke up, she couldn't help but wish she hadn't let herself fall asleep. She woke to the sound of the forest, to the sound of birds and a slight breeze hitting the trees, but she also woke up incredibly dizzy and thirsty. As she sat up she felt how sore her body was, and immediately leaned her body against a nearby tree. Breathing through her mouth, she tried to swallow her saliva to somewhat lubricate her throat (for optimal yodelling, of course) to ease her breathing, but with no success. She coughed slightly before opening her eyes again.

She'd been with Loki for at least a week, but she honestly did not think clearly enough to come with an estimate. In that week, she had been malnourished, bordering starved and left with only very little water. When had she last had any? She couldn't remember clearly, but it might have been not long ago, she was just so clouded in her head.

She had to keep going.

She took a deep breath before opening her eyes, forcing her weight forward as she stood up against the tree, it carrying most of her weight. As she tried to take a step forward, her leg collapsed beneath her and she fell, something hard hitting her head. She cried out quietly in pain, not daring to touch her leg. She felt her face, recognising the red on her hand as blood. She was so dizzy, but was it bloodloss or a concussion?

Blinking heavily, she realised something. She wiped her hands against her cheek, getting them wet in blood before looking at it. She ignored her immediate reaction and instead moved her hand to her mouth, sucking the blood of the fingers. She almost cried at the relief of the wetness hitting her drenched tongue, breaking out in a smile as she desperately tried to get more on her fingers.

***

"Are you ready to go back out?" Steve questioned as he tightened his grip on the shield. Tony glanced at Bucky before nodding solomenly. This time, Bucky didn't wait to be pushed, and instead jumped out, landing much more succesfully when on his own terms. His arm was still malfunctioning, every once in a while cramping up and generally just costing him pain and annoyance, but luckily no one had noticed.

Steve and Tony landed somewhat simoultaniously, and both began looking around them.

"I think I found something," Steve called after not long, Bucky and Tony gathering Steve.

"Something definitely landed here," Tony stated with certainty, bending down to look closer at is.

"Something landed, something landed," Steve muttered, looking around them.

"There's footsteps," Bucky noted, walking over to them.

"Do you think they're Loki's?" Steve asked, standing himself next to Bucky, who just shrugged.

"I've actually spent a lot of time thinking about Loki's footwear, and I think these prints could look like the bottom of some shoes he'd definitely wear," Tony decided when he reached them. Bucky looked confused at Steve, who just shook his head.

"They go over here," Steve realised, following them the few steps; "But..."

"Whoever it is walked backways one of the ways," Bucky agreed.

"Definitely Loki," Natasha interjected, heard by the others through the earpiece.

"How do you figure?" Steve questioned.

"Who else do you know who walks as much backwards as him? If it's three steps and he turned on the fourth, it's him. I'm sure," she added confidently. Steve followed the steps with his eyes before walking next to them, turning when they did.

"You're right," he realised out loud, practically hearing Natasha's smirk.

"That's great, but any idea what he was doing here? Because otherwise, it doesn't matter much," Tony decided, looking towards the treetops as if that would make a conversation with her easier.

"Think about it. Why would he walk backwards?" Natasha hinted.

"Now isn't the time for a pop-quiz, Nat," Tony complained, hearing her sigh on the other end.

"He was dropping something off. He looked at it as he walked back. It was something valuable," she informed flatly.

"There's nothing here," Steve noted quietly.

"Maybe he wasn't dropping something off," Bucky interjected, looking at his teammates; "Maybe he was dropping someone off."

***

Drinking blood turned out to be a bad idea, because in spite of the immediate relief she'd felt, she threw up shortly after. Apparently, she wasn't a vampire, and this was god's way of telling the 12 year old in her to stop obsessing over twilight. That being said, she did feel a certain connection to Bella in New Moon when Edward left her and she was alone in the woods. The only difference was, there wasn't anyone coming to save her.

As she remembered that fact, she forced herself to get back on her feet, groaning slightly in pain as she began dragging herself forward.

***

"You're suggesting he dropped off the person he'd kidnapped in the middle of the forest for no reason?" Tony asked Bucky, who's eyes were fixated on the ground. "That sounds very, very likely. Good job, Buck. That was sarcasm, FYI," he added.

"He might not be wrong," Steve realised, benching down; "There's a mark here. Whatever he left was heavy."

"Lana isn't heavy," Tony stated with a shrug.

"Not heavy enough to leave a foot print, maybe," Natasha thought out loud; "Steve, you said there's a mark. Is it shaped like someone roughly Lana's size was tossed on the ground there?"

Steve glanced at Tony's horrified look before answering. "It... It does."

"Then where the hell is she?" Tony questioned, looking between Steve and Bucky.

"She obviously left," Bucky pointed out, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"She's in a condition to walk. That's something," Steve tried, Bucky and Tony looking equally horrified at that.

"Okay, we'll just have to find her," he then decided; "We'll split up. Tony, you take that direction, Bucky, you take that, and I'll go this way."

"That's your plan? Walk aimlessly through the woods of Siberia?" Tony complained.

"Do you have a better one?" Steve retorted.

"Let's just get to work," Bucky muttered, turning his back to the two.

***

Lana didn't know how long she had been walking (or rather, limping) before she had tripped, but it couldn't have been that long. That being said, she'd fallen face first down, once again hitting something hard. Her head was throbbing in pain, and she in no way had the energy to keep going. Instead, she lied down, just for a second.

***

"Anyone find anything?" Steve asked through the coms, walking briskly through the heavy forest.

"We're never gonna find anything like this," Tony told, flying below the tree tops and trying to spot anything relevant.

"Buck?" Steve continued. Bucky ignored Steve and kept walking. Talking would only slow him down.

"Buck?" Steve repeated; "Buck do you copy?" Bucky moaned in frustration without slowing down.

"I copy," he then said quickly.

"Good. Find anything?" Steve continued, Bucky's lips tightening.

"No," he admitted.

"Keep looking," Steve ordered before disconnecting, Bucky beginning to run.

***

She knew it was quite possibly the worst thing she could do, but more than anything, Lana wanted to sleep. At that point, she didn't even care that much if she wouldn't wake, she was just so goddamn tired. What was the chances she would make it out of the seemingly endless forest anyway? She let out a dark chuckle as she thought about dying there, never to be found. She felt like there was something she had to remember, something like Mickey mouses surprise tool; something that'd previously help her later, later being then. What was she forgetting?

***

"Anything, guys?" Natasha asked from the earpieces of the three guys travelling through the woods. A sigh could be heard from Steve.

"I hate to say this, but I don't think this is going to work," he admitted.

"We can't just stop, Cap. This is my daughter," Tony decided, Bucky so caught up in his assignment that he didn't even roll his eyes at that.

"I'm not saying stop, I'm saying regrouping and returning with more manpower," Steve assured; "We're not going to find anything!"

"I found something," Bucky breathed out.

"Wait what?"

"I found something," he repeated louder, desperately running closer to it.

"What?!" asked Tony.

"It's... I don't know," he admitted as he reached it.

"Call of the search, we found it, whatever it is," Tony said.

"It's blood, there's blood on the ground, but... I think it might be vomit," Bucky realised; "She must've been here, and the blood here isn't old."

"Bucky, that could be anyone's blood, maybe a deer-" Steve tried, quickly being interrupted by the sound of Bucky yelling Lana's name.

"Nat, send me his location," Tony ordered through the earpiece, the sound of the wind around him rising.

***

She could've sworn she heard someone whispering her name, but she didn't feel entirely sure it wasn't her mum or old pet fish calling from the afterlife. Except she heard it again, and this time she recognised the voice. She tried yelling Bucky's name, but it only came out as a whisper.

***

"Lana!" Bucky tried again before noticing a figure in the bottom of the forest.

"Lana!" he repeated, running desperately and falling to his knees next to her.

"James?" she whispered raspily before smiling; "You came."

"Of course I came, doll," he said, tears running down his face; "Ain't no way in hell I'm letting you get away like that."

"Bucky, report!" Steve ordered through the earpiece.

"I've got her," Bucky said relieved, grabbing her hand carefully; "I've got you."

"It hurts," she told him softly, looking sad.

"What? What hurts, doll?" he asked carefully, looking over her countless injuries. She laughed slightly.

"Everything."

"It's okay, it's okay," he promised; "We'll get you help, okay? I'm gonna pick you up."

"No, don't, it'll hurt," she whispered quietly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry doll," he said, still crying; "I'm sorry, I know it'll hurt." He carefully put one of his arms under her knees, trying to ignore the obvious pain it caused her. He manoeuvred his other hand on her back, slowly lifting her up. As he did so, her head fell motionlessly on his chest.

"Shit! Lana! Lana, talk to me!" he tried before looking up; "Guys, we need to get her out of here." Out of the trees Tony appeared, quickly landing in front of them.

"Give her to me," he ordered, reaching out for her right as Bucky stepped back.

"I'm not letting her go."

"Bucky, we need to get her to the quinjet!" Tony argued; "I promise I'll be careful."

Bucky looked unsure as he allowed Tony to slowly lift her over to him before shooting into the air.