Doctor

It was quiet in the infirmary, unlike the busy trauma bays that filled several years of her life. No one was screaming in pain, and she didn't need to worry about slipping on wet pools of blood that had yet to be mopped up. It was peaceful, serene almost. Her quiet after the storm. Looking at the room that lay before her, images of landscapes carved up and vacated by powerful tsunamis and hurricanes danced before her eyelids. The empty beds like the trees that had been pitched to one side- the ground barren and eroded beneath them- while they remained in a crippled position as if flash frozen at the most traumatic point of the natural disaster.

It was the hesitation in her step that shook her from her undisciplined mind as she quickly sought to correct herself. Not all of the beds were vacated, though, and as she looked at the one person who could always be a shield from every storm, she shook her head lightly; a small smile accompanying the movement. She hoped that it would be enough to fully sink in.

"We have to stop meeting up like this, Steve," she chuckled lightly, grabbing his chart from the bedside table.

"Well, how else am I supposed to see the best medic in town?" He joked, flashing her that award-winning smile.

"DC is a city- or is it a state?" she said, eyes glancing upwards as she interrupted herself. "And it's doctor," she added. "I spent a lot of years and a lot of money for that title." She smiled at him playfully. "Besides," she shrugged, "any moron who took a basic anatomy class and picks up scalpel could be called a medic."

"Very well, Doctor," Steve corrected himself, a mischievous sparkle dancing in his blue eyes. The flecks of green only added to the playful nature. "Any chance we could skip the formalities and you just let me get out of here?"

"Ha ha. That almost worked," she teased. "But it didn't. Lie back and take off your shirt—"

"Now I see what you're really after."

"So that I can take a look at that injury you weren't going to tell me about," she continued, giving him an sarcastically appalled look. "I didn't think men were this forward back in 1945."

"I guess I'm just changing with the times," Steve smiled.

She rolled her eyes, waiting for Steve to do as she had instructed. There was bloody gauze covering an injury that was just slightly below his right shoulder. She moved to the side of the bed, carefully removing the bandages to take a look.

Minimal bleeding, clean, and dressed nicely in the field. She replaced the bandage back to where it had been. "Knife wound?" she asked him. At his nod in agreement, she continued on with her examination, checking the dilation and tracking movements of his eyes, checking his airways, blood pressure, temperature, palpating his abdomen, and looking for any other sources of discomfort, pain, or injury.

Returning the stethoscope around her neck, she set down his chart once she had finished adding today's results from the exam. "It looks like everything else checks out," she smiled, her eyes flickering up to his. "I am going to stitch up this up, though."

"Alice," Steve said, his voice reassuring and just a slight bit of condescending, "it will be completely healed by tomorrow."

"Yes, but you being Captain Steve Rogers means that you are most likely going to do something to either get it to start bleeding again or make the injury worse." Alice crossed her arms, "I am stitching it up."

He chuckled lightly. "Are all you Starks this stubborn?"

Alice couldn't help but laugh, as she began to sterilize the skin around the incision. "Were all men from 1945 this reckless," she began to stitch up his injury, working slowly to keep the discomfort he might feel to a minimum, "or just the ones who were part of a German scientist's super-soldier program?"

"Only the ones who joined the army," Steve corrected her.

Alice smiled, taking care not to laugh or jostle the fluidity of her movements in any way. "So roughly half of the men."

"Give or take," he agreed, matching her smile with one of his own. Alice merely huffed in amusement, continuing on with the task at hand, a restful silence falling upon them as she wove the wound closed.

"You know," Steve started, bringing the conversation back after the small pause, "if you came on the missions you could help make sure that I didn't end up in here that often. I mean, look how well you did in New York."

Subtle, Alice thought, her calm demeanor refusing to show the slight annoyance she was beginning to feel. Instead, she finished the suture, taking as much time as she wanted. It was only as she was placing a fresh bandage over the stitches that she replied, "Did Fury put you up to this?"

"He asks about you unofficially, but no." Alice looked up from her work at him, the soft green of her eyes turning cold as they locked onto his own. The luscious black hair that framed her pale face making them more vibrant and intense.

"No." It was cold the way she said, but not because of anger. It was firm and unchanging in the certainty of her decision.

"Alice," Steve said, "if this is because you're afraid—"

"I'm not afraid," she snapped. "I'm just… I can't be a weapon like the rest of you with your mechanized suits, lethal training, and superhuman abilities. I can save lives here."

"I know you can," he agreed. "But you would have the opportunity to save more out there, on missions."

"I'm not a fighter," Alice refuted.

"But you were."

"I'm not anymore," she corrected herself.

"I'm not asking you to change that."

"Then you should drop the whole 'become an active agent, it'll be great' pitch," she sighed.

"I can't," Steve smiled, quickly donning on his shirt before rising to his feet. He easily dwarfed her small stature, but that didn't make her ever back down from an argument with him no matter how intimidating his size was. "Working with you was so much fun."

"Why? Because you no longer had to beat your head against the metal doors I could now open for you?" she asked with dry humor.

"Because you are one of the very few people who can keep up with me." Steve's smile was warm and honest. "Have a good day, Doctor." He started to walk away from her, but turned back after a few steps, "And let me know if you change your mind."

"I won't!" Alice called after him, but all she got was a dismissive wave as he continued out through the infirmary's doors.

Alice's head smacked against the side of the truck, throwing her from unconsciousness into the painful waking world. She hissed in pain and confusion as she took in her dark and cramped surroundings. Nothing looked the least bit familiar to her. As her eyes began to adjust to what little light there was in the compartment she tried to remember anything that could explain where she was. She remembered the quinjet and her fellow colleagues, but everything after that went hazy, like a half-remembered dream.

Cold metal dug into her wrists, cutting off enough circulation to cause numbness. "Really," she asked groggily, "metal handcuffs?" She pulled her wrists away from each other, expecting the cuffs to pull apart and fall the floor; but they remained. She frowned, not understanding why it hadn't worked.

A soft chuckle came from inside the compartment. It was the first time Alice realized that she wasn't alone. Her eyes tracked the noise to the source. There was a shadowed figure- several shadowed figures- lined along the edge of the container. The one seated in the left corner reached to dig something out of one of the pouches on his uniform.

"See this?" he said, his voice gruff, arrogant, familiar. The man was holding a vial with a dull green liquid inside. "It's a neutralizing agent for your abilities, developed by the people who created you."

Wait, that voice… "Rumlow…? What are you—what are you talking about? 'Created' me?"

He sighed, "You really don't know anything, do you?" Rumlow rose to his feet. "We've been here since the beginning, sweetheart. It didn't die with Schmidt." Alice could just make his face. He was smiling, victorious. "Cut off one head, and two more shall take its place."

And the tsunami hit, crashing over her with a wave of memories long forgotten

"Doctor Stark," Director Fury said, his voice always carrying well even when it didn't need to, "thank you for joining us."

Alice smiled, accepting his offered hand and shaking it in greeting. It was not the first time that she had found herself in the Director's office. There were several high risk and highly classified missions she had completed for him before New York which required private meetings. There was also the one time she had attempted to resign. The attempt had been unsuccessful on her part.

"This is Secretary Alexander Pierce," Fury continued.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Secretary."

"The pleasure is all mine," Pierce replied, a thin smile spread across his lips. "I wish I had the opportunity to meet you earlier. Your work was exemplary."

"It still is Mr. Secretary," Alice replied, her voice no less pleasant but full of defiance.

"Of course," Pierce chuckled nervously. "However, Director Fury and I believe that there is a way for you to do more for your country than patch up Captain America and our agents."

Alice smiled tiredly, shaking her head in disbelief. "As I have told Captain America and Director Fury on multiple occasions: no, I will not become an active agent again."

"That's not what we're asking, Doctor," Fury added in, a sense of pleading softening his gruff voice.

"We're asking you to put your skills to good use in Wakanda," Pierce informed her.

"Wakanda?" Alice asked. "As in the very closed borders country in Africa?"

"Yes," Pierce said, "the normally reclusive people have now started to open their borders to a select few. There is an outreach program with a handful of highly qualified volunteers heading to a small village along the Wakandan border. We'd like you to join it."

"As a doctor or as a spy?" Alice inquired skeptically.

"Your skills as a doctor would be a fine addition—"

"Both." Fury said flatly, interrupting Pierce. At Pierce's scolding look he added, "She's one of our best agents, Mr. Secretary. She'll know if you're withholding anything."

Pierce didn't look pleased but continued anyways. "As I mentioned earlier, Doctor, the Wakandan people are very reclusive. The idea to have an outreach program along their borders was their King's, presenting us with a unique opportunity to gain insight and offer what knowledge we have. Who better than the great Alice Stark to make the first impression as a representative of the outside world?"

"And while I make this impression I would also be spying on them and exploiting them."

"You would be sending us reports back on anything you think would be of interest," Fury said, trying to reassure her. "We just want to have someone we can trust make a proper assessment of whether or not they are a threat. If you remember correctly, we recently had an otherwise reclusive people open their borders with us and they began carrying out their plans for world domination in New York."

"I remember it well, Director," Alice responded coldly. "And while I continue to remember it correctly, wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D the ones who provoked them, in a manner of speaking?"

"Stark," Fury sighed. "You don't want to fight, but you want to save lives. This is an opportunity to save lives and influence them for good, to prevent organizations with an agenda from provoking a timid people into war or continued seclusion. And you would be bringing your medical expertise to those who need it and may not have it."

Alice frowned. "And what if I decide to devote more of my time on the medicine than your reports."

"Then that would be your prerogative," Fury said, grabbing the file that was on his desk. "Here are all the details. Read it over. You have until the end of the month to make a decision. I'm hoping you'll make the right one."

The two gentlemen made to leave the office as Alice leafed through the first couple of pages of the report. Pierce created the outreach program and mission, Fury signed off on it, but there was one space that was blank.

"Sir?" Alice called out, grabbing the Director's and Secretary's attention. "There's no lead agent listed for the mission."

"Well, that's because you would be the lead agent if you agree to it, Doctor. In fact," Fury added, raising his eyebrows in the closest expression he ever made that resembled a smile in amusement, "you would be the only agent on the mission."

"You still with us, sweetheart?" Rumlow called out to Alice, mockingly.

Alice stared blankly at the metal floor, her mind swimming with memories she hadn't even known existed. She was frozen to the spot at the most traumatic moment of the storm. "How did you know it was an activation phrase?" Her voice was far away, devoid of emotion, defeated.

"From your file." Rumlow chuckled, enjoying the moment, enjoying her weakness. "You think we had forgotten about you?"

"He kept all his notes private," Alice continued. "Didn't go into much detail on the official file."

"No, but he was required to put a little more information into the files he sent to the head of HYDRA," Rumlow countered. "That is if he wanted more funding for his project."

For the first time in several hours, Alice turned her gaze from the floor to Rumlow. "Has the leader of HYDRA been the same all these years?"

"Yes. No need to try and figure out who it is, though. You'll be meeting him once we get to our destination."

Alice looked up, smiling in disbelief and desperation as she rested her head against the cold metal wall behind her, "Alexander Pierce." He was the one who created the false mission I was supposed to be a part of.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alice could see the smile Rumlow wore that accompanied his laughter, "You always were one of the smarter agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

For all the good it did me… Alice thought as she desperately tried to keep herself calm even as her world unraveled around her.

The truck lurched violently as it came to a sudden halt, throwing Alice forwards then back, causing her head to wrap against the metal walls once more. Groaning at the pain, she raised her cuffed hands up to feel the tenderness and make sure it wasn't anything serious.

The men that had been seated on either side of the container rose to their feet, readying their weapons. Their uniforms and weapons were standard issue for S.H.I.E.L.D. STRIKE units, but she now knew that none of these agents had any loyalty to the organization they worked for.

Rumlow slung his weapon behind him as he approached Alice. "Get up," he growled in the same instant as he reached for Alice's handcuffs, yanking her to her feet by them. They dug into her skin painfully, pinching nerves and grinding against the bones in her wrists as Rumlow dragged her to stand in front of him as if leading her with a leash. "Move," he ordered before his voice dropped into a threatening hiss, "And if you try anything I will personally put a bullet in both of your knees."

Alice got the picture as the doors to the container were thrown open, the intensity of the fluorescent light stinging her eyes. Rumlow shoved her forward before her eyes had a moment to adjust, and Alice had no choice but to comply.

"Ah, Doctor Stark," said the man who was responsible for her current condition. He had been waiting for her just outside of the container doors with several armed bodyguards that kept their weapons trained on her. "How nice of you to join us." His smile was sick and twisted, like one a spider might give to a trapped fly.

"I think it's a good idea," Steve offered once she had finished telling him about the Wakandan operation. "I think you should take it."

Alice sighed, running her hands through her hair, "Somehow I knew you'd say that. You've been wanting me to get back into the field immediately after I got out."

"True, but I think it'd be good for you."

"Because it would get me back out in the world?" Alice asked.

"It just might get you back to trusting it again." Alice looked at him, a slight tilt of her head as she waited for him to continue. "You know, I've been trying to figure out why someone like you wouldn't continue to fight as you had been for the people that needed it. You would do anything if it meant even possibly saving a life." Steve paused. "You stopped fighting because you knew you would win, but you don't trust the people you would be winning for."

Alice smiled, Steve was a genius in his own right. "Do you?"

"Not really, no," Steve answered frankly. "But I know that even if my actions benefit an organization that might be corrupt, it's also benefiting the innocent by removing a threat."

"And that's enough for you?"

"Sometimes it is. Other times I have to spend my time with you catching up on what I missed out on to shake away the doubt."

"I bet you say that to all the girls," Alice said, her lips tugging upwards into a small smirk.

"Only the ones who've saved my life a couple of times," Steve said, his smile glowing.

"You could always come with me."

"I doubt Fury would go for that. Besides, what help could I offer?"

Alice shrugged, "You could help build them better homes, lift heavy objects, stand around looking pretty, or fight off the wildlife that attempts to eat small children."

Steve's laughter echoed throughout his apartment, "That's actually very tempting."

As his laughter faded, the lighter tone of the conversation took a more serious direction. "You should go to Wakanda," he said, all teasing aside. Alice tossed her luscious black hair off of her shoulder as she turned her head to face him, green eyes boring into his blue. "You might find your reason to fight again."

"Shouldn't saving innocent lives be enough?"

"Sometimes it is," he said, a soft smile ghosting his lips. "Other times you need something more."

"What's your reason?" Alice asked, her voice calm and melodic.

Steve hesitated with an answer, staring at a point past Alice, before finally managing an answer. "Peggy being a founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. is the reason I joined them, but… Bucky. Bucky's my reason I keep fighting."

"I'm sure he'd be proud of you, Steve," Alice said, smiling at the warmth that was always generated whenever Steve spoke about Bucky.

"I'm sure he'd be the complete opposite of proud. If anything he'd be yelling at me for all the stupid things I've done since he died." Steve could picture it, and laughed at the sight of his best friend chastising him. "Aliens and world ending events? Pretty stupid."

"Yeah, well, the best kinds of friends are the ones who give you the most grief over your decisions."

"Oh?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "Then that must mean I am a very good friend."

Alice couldn't help but laugh. "Careful now. Your ego might inflate to the size of my brother's if you keep talking about yourself that way."

"I don't think that's even superhumanly possible," Steve replied jokingly.

Alice hummed softly in amusement before it faded slightly. "How am I going to tell Tony about this?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something, Alice," Steve said, trying to reassure her. "You would just be starting up and running a clinic out there. It's not like you're going off to fight a war."

"What do you want from me?" Alice asked, her voice and body language exuberating nothing but calmness in light of what was happening.

"You have a particular set of skills that we are interested in using to further our cause," Pierce answered, not even looking back over his shoulder as he led the way through the HYDRA facility.

"My enhancements."

"Actually, Doctor Stark, it is your medical skills that we are interested in at the time," he corrected her.

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we kill you—"

"So I die."

Pierce stopped, turning to face her. "We kill you after forcing you to watch us blow up several children's hospitals because you refused to cooperate."

Alice clenched her jaw tightly, letting her nails dig into the palm of her hand. She could feel her heart begin to race, and willed it to slow down. She needed to keep the panic from setting in. Twisting her wrists back and forth, Alice tried to cause discomfort, pain, anything to draw her mind away from what was happening.

"So I'm HYDRA's personal doctor now?" She asked coldly. "Here to keep your traitorous snakes from dying on the line of betrayal?"

"That's cute," Rumlow chuckled from beside her.

"That will be one of the tasks assigned to you," Pierce agreed, although he shot Rumlow a glare. "There is one asset in particular that you will be providing primary care for."

"Asset?" Alice asked. "Does this asshat have a name?"

Pierce stopped before two double doors, similar to those in a hospital separating the doctors from the family members. "It does." He threw open the doors and the guards motioned for Alice to follow behind Pierce.

Alice's gasped. "That's—!"

"Out of the question! Absolutely not!"

"Tony…" Alice groaned. "Don't you think you're being a little ridiculous?"

"You wanted to get out, but they wouldn't let you. Now they're giving you this small mission, but it's-it's like a gateway drug to bigger missions," he rambled. "Next thing you know you'll be an active agent again doing the kinds of things you didn't want to do in the first place!"

"That's not what's going to happen!" Alice argued.

"It is! It is going to happen!" Tony shouted at her as he wheeled around to look at her, a panicked flutter entering his voice. His eyes were wild, like those of a spooked horse as he stared at her. Alice had never seen her brother so fearful before. And just as soon as their eyes met, Tony looked away.

Alice frowned, concern causing creases on her brow. "Tony, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Alice," he said, waving her away.

"On a scale of one to—"

"I said I'm fine!" he snapped.

"On a scale of one to ten," Alice repeated, "how bad is it?"

Tony glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He sighed loudly before answering. "Eight."

Alice nodded. "Tony, you don't need to worry about me."

"You're my little sister, Alice," he disagreed. "It's my job to worry about you."

"Yes," Alice sighed, "but you could ease up a little. It's not like I'm still thirteen going through that God awful goth phase."

The image made Tony chuckle softly. "You're still just as awkward looking, though." The small smirk he wore with his brotherly teasing faded, though. "You're still just as malleable." Alice frowned. "You're like mercury Alice, conforming to every container's shape and easy to manipulate just so long as you believe you're helping people." Tony turned to face her. "It's just one mission now, but once you show you're willing to cooperate with them, Fury will have other missions and start passing them along your way that gradually get you back to what you were doing before New York."

"I want to do this, Tony," Alice pleaded with him. "I want to actively help people, but I want to do for something or someone I believe in." She said, a soft smile tugged at her lips, "Maybe while I'm there I'll find what makes me -40 degrees Celsius or lower."

"What?"

"It's the temperature at which Mercury is solid."

"Bucky!" Alice breathed, the shock freezing her to the spot.

"Bucky Barnes died 70 years ago, Doctor," Pierce corrected her. "This is The Winter Soldier, HYDRA's greatest weapon. He has no memory of his previous life and is easily the greatest assassin to have ever lived." He motioned to one of the guards, ordering him to step forward and remove the handcuffs around Alice's wrists. "If you try to make him remember who he is or who his best friend was, not only will you and several other innocents be punished for your insubordination, but we will wipe the Soldier's mind as well—a painful process that involves sending a great deal of electricity to his brain." Alice looked back at the man that was sitting in the chair of the memory suppressing machine—one of her father's old designs she thought had been scrapped. I guess HYDRA isn't above recycling old ideas.

His hair was much longer than had been in the footage from the war. It obscured his face a little, but there was no way that Alice could mistake who it was. His eyes were an intense ice blue, wild and cold as he stared at a space just before the metal floor. He looked like a ghost, his face haunted by who he no longer was: a person. And where his left arm should be, there was metal.

At first, Alice thought that his arm was encased in it, but as she looked more closely she could tell it was his arm. It included his shoulder as well, rough scarring around the areas where the metal connected to his flesh.

"He will be your patient, Doctor," Pierce continued. "You will clear him before and after every mission and tend to his injuries." Alice had kept her eyes on Bucky. She let out a yelp as Pierce seized her by her hair, drawing her closer to him. "And if he dies, or you try to keep him from doing his job, I will make sure that you suffer the same fate as him." He pulled harder on her hair. "Do we have an understanding here?"

"Yes," she answered through clenched teeth.

Pierce released her, causing her to fall backward a few steps, no longer being forced up on her toes by her hair. "Good. Oh, and one more thing before I go: he was only recently brought out of his cryogenic stasis, and will most likely be unstable; so try not to let him kill you, okay?"

The traitorous Secretary of State gave her a smile before exiting the room, several of the armed guards following him. That left Alice with Rumlow and a few other members of the STRIKE team. Rumlow looked smug, clearing his throat as he said, "Well, sweetheart, you better get to it."

Alice glared at Rumlow before turning to look back at the Winter Soldier. It's Bucky. He's Bucky, she kept having to remind herself. But she just couldn't believe that this ghost in front of her was the lighthearted sergeant she saw in the films, the one laughing with Steve. She took a cautious first step forward, expecting him to maybe react, or glance up at her; but Bucky remained frozen where he was.

They had him locked in place with metal restraints to the memory suppression machine. There were several monitors on both sides of him displaying various scans of his body that were dated for today as well as a couple of engineers working on the machine. As she approached, Alice motioned for them to step away, grabbing a nearby chair and wheeling it up to him on his right side. She made sure to move slowly when sitting down and adjusting the nearby tray that had an assortment of medical supplies beside on it.

Bucky- the Winter Soldier- had not moved at all since Alice had arrived and continued to remain still and silent even as she seated herself beside him. It was unnerving, and Alice had to take a couple of deep breaths to stabilize herself and keep her hands from shaking.

"Alright," she breathed, letting him know she was there, "I'm going to take your pulse now." Alice waited for a response, leaning forward slightly to put herself within his line of sight. There was no response from the Winter Soldier, though, not even a flicker in his eyes as they saw movement. She sighed softly before tentatively reaching out for his wrist.

The instant the warmth of her gentle fingers touched his cold skin, the Winter Soldier reacted.

His left arm tore away from his restraints, breaking them, as he violently seized Alice by her wrist, yanking her arm away from him. The tight grip he held onto her wrist by was nearly enough to crush the bone, and for the first time since she arrived, the Winter Soldier looked at her; his intense blue gaze holding a feral nature.

The HYDRA agents also sprang into action, though were not nearly as quick to respond. Raising their weapons, they trained them on the Winter Soldier.

His eyes were dancing between Alice and the agents holding the guns. There wasn't any panic or fear held within the icy depth of his eyes, however. Instead, they were flickering from target to target as the assassin planned out his next 20 moves, neutralizing everything he saw as a potential threat.

"Lower your weapons," Alice said as calmly as she could, thankful that her voice didn't sound frail or frightened. Her gaze remained firmly fixed on Bucky.

"I don't think that's a good idea, sweetheart," Rumlow called back.

"Lower your weapons," Alice repeated more forcefully.

Agent Rumlow shuffled nervously, his finger fidgeting on the trigger before he groaned loudly in frustration. He lowered his weapon, letting it fall back to his side. His men quickly following suit.

The Winter Soldier's gaze remained on the agents behind her for a few more seconds before he slowly moved it back to Alice, meeting her forest green eyes. His grip on her wrist lessened slightly, releasing her from some of the pain and discomfort he was causing her.

"I'm a doctor," Alice said, trying to reassure him. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to make sure that you're alright."

The way the Winter Soldier's eyes bored into her own made it seem as if he were searching for something, searching for the truth or the lie. He must not have found any falsehoods, though, because he released Alice's wrist, his eyes lingering on her for a moment before he returned to staring at the spot just before the floor once more. Alice couldn't say that he relaxed back into the chair, but he did look noticeably less tense.

Massaging her wrist gingerly, Alice turned to one of the men that had been working on the machine that held Bucky in place, surprised to find that none of them had fled when the Winter Soldier had lashed out. "Release the rest of the restraints, please."

The engineer hesitated for a second, exchanging quick glances with his colleagues before he finally spoke up. "This early out of cryofreeze? He's still wildly unstable."

"And I'm about to be unless you release him from the remaining restraints." But instead of doing as she instructed, the engineers looked to agent Rumlow.

"Do what the good doctor says," he growled out, and that moment was the first time Alice had even a remotely pleasant thought about the man since this nightmare began.

As the engineers moved to do as instructed, Alice decided to test how much authority being a doctor got her here. "Agent Rumlow, please have the rest of your men wait outside. They are not necessary at this time."

"Listen, sweetheart," Alice was beginning to get tired of his little pet name for her, "I let you order me around last time because it was your life on the line, not mine," Rumlow barked out. "You don't get to decide what's necessary. In fact, let's get one thing cleared up right now so there's no confusion on the matter: the chain of command here is Pierce, then me, then everyone else in this compound, and at the very bottom of the list are you and the asset with no authority whatsoever."

Alice turned to glare at him. "The amount of men with guns in this room makes me uncomfortable. I can't even begin to imagine how it is making him feel."

"He's a weapon. He doesn't feel anything."

"And you're a giant tool, but doesn't mean you act like one all the time even though I have yet to see any evidence to the contrary."

Rumlow opened his mouth to argue further with Alice, but he was silenced when the Winter Soldier snapped his eyes from the floor to Rumlow.

Most people glare to make a point. Some people look foolish when they do so, others convey that they are not pleased with what's happening, and very few can manage to actually look menacing. The Winter Soldier didn't glare at Agent Rumlow, he threatened him with promises of pain without death, and he did so without any spoken words. And then he returned his gaze to the floor.

Agent Rumlow looked visibly shaken by the conversation. "Men, clear out," he said, his voice much quieter than usual. The restraints were finally removed as well and with a nod from Rumlow the engineers filed out of the room as well. That only left Rumlow, Alice, and the Winter Soldier remaining.

Letting out a deep breath to relax, Alice decided to begin her examination once more. "I'm going to take your pulse now," she said again. "To do that, I'm going to need to touch your right arm and probably move it." Alice leaned forward to try and get him to look at her, "Is that alright?" She turned it into a question for his sake, to give him that little bit of control back.

"He's not going to talk unless it's necessary, sweetheart," Rumlow piped up from behind her.

And he was right, the Winter Soldier didn't say anything; Bucky, however, unclenched his right fist and relaxed his entire arm for her. It may not have been any spoken words, but he answered Alice's question.

Alice smiled for the first time since this mission began, "Thank you."

With a little more confidence, Alice once more reached for his wrist, frowning slightly at how cold his skin still was. Cryogenic stasis, she reminded herself. His pulse was higher than normal, but when she compared it with Steve's, it was within normal ranges. She returned his arm back to the armrest on the chair. That went surprisingly well.

"All good," Alice said, putting as much light into her voice as was possible. "I need to check your heart and lungs," she reached for the stethoscope on the tray beside her. "I'll start with your heart, if you don't mind, of course."

There was no response at first, and hearing Rumlow's mocking scoff behind her made Alice clench her jaw tightly; but after a moment's hesitation, Bucky straightened, exposing his chest further and shifting his gaze from the floor to the doors in front of him. This new posture gave Alice better access to his chest.

"It may be a little cold," Alice warned out of habit, before realizing that he himself was still very cold. "Sorry, I'm just used to always giving that warning," she chuckled softly. She placed the stethoscope on his skin and listened to the rhythmic beating of his heart. "Though I am sure you are used getting these exams." His heart sounded strong, and there were no abnormalities in its beat. "Good, now if you could—" but Bucky was already leaning forward so that she could listen to his lungs. "Oh!" she said, smiling, trying to sound pleasant. "Thank you!"

Rumlow groaned loudly. "Do you always talk to yourself this much? Or are you just doing to annoy me?" he asked. "Like I said before, he isn't going to talk. Not unless he needs to or is ordered to."

"Agent Rumlow," Alice said, as she removed the stethoscope from his back. "You can relax now," she added in a quiet aside to Bucky. "Did you go to medical school?"

"No."

"Did you ever learn about patient care?" She grabbed the small flashlight from the tray.

"No."

"Then your input isn't necessary at this time," Rumlow grunted in anger, but took the hint; though it didn't stop him from making as much noise as possible as he crossed his arms aggressively, clearly unhappy that Alice had won yet another battle.

Alice returned her full attention back to her patient. The next part was likely going to prove a little more difficult than anything else she had asked of him, including what caused his initial violent outburst. She needed to check the responsiveness in his eyes, and given the fact that he found the floor very interesting and had thus far avoided almost every opportunity to look at her or the others that had been in the room, Alice wasn't quite sure how to approach the challenge.

Then she had an idea. He's their weapon, their asset… Perhaps he has to behave a certain way while in their presence? It was worth a shot. "Agent Rumlow," she said softly, "I'm actually going to have to ask you to step out of the room."

"That's not going to happen, sweetheart," he scoffed.

"There is only one exit to this room," she explained calmly. "I would have to go through you and the rest of your men that are patiently waiting outside if I were to attempt an escape. My chances of escaping would be slim, even slimmer than normal since my enhancements are neutralized." Alice turned to face him. "Please step outside."

"He's dangerous," Rumlow countered as a last ditch effort.

"So was New York."

"Alright, Doctor," Rumlow said. "You're clearly calling the shots here." He exited the room, the double doors slamming together as he left.

That left only Alice and Bucky in the room. Alice let out a nervous sigh, before smiling, trying to force some light into the darkness she was feeling. "It's just you and me now," she commented, in case he hadn't noticed.

For some reason, Alice found herself hoping that, that simple statement would unlock him; that Bucky would look up at her and start talking as if it were all just an act in order survive; that Steve's friend was still in there somewhere. But he didn't. The Winter Soldier remained where he was silent and unmoving as he stared at a fixed point in the nothingness of space.

Alice didn't fully understand why, but that was the moment when she realized she was truly alone. All she could do was try and move forward on her own and complete the task at hand, though.

Alice shook her head lightly to shake the dark thoughts that lingered. "I'm going to need you to look at me, okay?" But there was nothing, no hesitated response as there had been with her previous questions. Alice moved her chair closer so that she was seated in front of him slightly, but still on the right side of his field of vision.

"Hey, I know I wasn't talking to myself just now," she said, continuing to try and get some kind of response. "And I know that you heard me." He remained where he was, though, refusing to acknowledge her.

She sighed softly before trying something a little more drastic. As gently as she could manage, Alice reached towards him and took hold of his hand, squeezing it just a little. "Please look at me," she begged him.

It was slow at first but Bucky turned his head slightly, and his eyes met her own. The icy blue of his eyes melted and no longer had the cold, menacing look as they had held earlier. His expression relaxed slightly as he watched her attentively.

Alice smiled. "Thank you," she breathed, releasing his hand quickly. "Now, can you look past my shoulder for me?" she asked, the click of the flashlight turning on punctuating her question. "I'm going to use this light to test how your eyes respond to it." Bucky shifted his line of sight, focusing on a spot behind her as she had asked. Pupils are dilating as they should be…

"Good. Can you follow my finger for me?"

"Excellent," she said once done with the simple test.

Moving so that she was now seated in front of him, Alice was surprised that Bucky continued to follow her, look at her. And he wasn't just tracking the movement, he was actually seeing her. Alice didn't feel quite so alone anymore.

"Can you give me a small nod when you see my fingers?" she asked, placing her hands on either side of his head. Alice waited a moment, hoping maybe that he would nod just then and answer her question. When he didn't, she continued on anyway.

It wasn't long after she started moving her fingers closer together that he gave her a small nod as she had asked him. He has amazing peripheral vision, she commented to herself.

"The last things I want to check are your muscles and joints," Alice explained as she placed the flashlight back onto the tray. "This means that I'll be massaging some areas of your body and extending and compressing your limbs." She paused a moment before offering him an option as she had made sure to do every other time. "I can do it tomorrow- or later today depending on what time it is- if you would like me to."

Alice met his blue gaze wither her pale emerald eyes as she patiently waited for perhaps nothing to happen at all. She was pleasantly surprised when Bucky offered her his right arm, signaling her to begin her examination. Upon taking hold of his arm, she was also pleased to find that his body temperature had increased a little.

"Can you let me know if you feel any pain, discomfort, or soreness no matter how little it is by… clenching your left hand for me?"

Bucky nodded, and Alice found herself smiling involuntarily.

Strong fingers worked their way across his skin with gentle force as Alice began massaging different muscle groups. Though Bucky had given her permission to conduct the exam, she found herself glancing up at him often, making sure that she didn't overstep any boundaries. Yet, he was transfixed, watching her hands as she kneaded his skin, penetrating deep into his muscles.

Every now and then she would hear and see Bucky clench his hand out of the corner of her eye and immediately ease up on the pressure. It didn't take long for her to figure out that pressure on joints, such as his wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles would cause him some kind of discomfort, enough for him to signal her. It was also as he extended, compressed, and bent these joints that he signaled her as well.

This knowledge wasn't surprising to her. Alice had no way of knowing how long he had been in his cryogenic state, but degradation in his muscles wouldn't be uncommon. What did surprise her was that the level of atrophy was minimal. Bucky could bend nearly to the furthest point possible before he signaled her. Though she doubted that it was a short amount of time, even a few months of complete immobilization or very little movement gave patients significant atrophy of their muscles. Not in his case, though.

Alice smiled, sighing in something akin to relief. "Everything seems to be in working order," she said, "though I don't recommend you take on any missions for at least another 24 hours." Though if he's anything like Steve, he's going to ignore that suggestion without any hesitation. "And I know I've asked you a million questions, so do you have any questions for me?" she asked as cheerfully as she could manage.

The Winter Soldier hadn't stopped looking at Alice since she had pleaded with him to do so. But now, with her last question, he cast his gaze off to the side. Her heart dropped momentarily. Perhaps the interaction had been the act and HYDRA had truly stripped him of anything that made him his former self, that made him human. The only thing that kept her from truly believing that was the case was the fact that he looked as if he was contemplating something.

Bucky hesitated. "Your name—" he started quietly before stopping himself. He frowned deeply as if he were saying no, that's wrong to himself. "What do they call you?"

Alice wasn't quite sure what she thought he would sound like, but the gentleness in his voice, the soft and tender tone that lined his words as he spoke… it wasn't the way that an assassin would speak, it wasn't how the Winter Soldier would sound. Bucky had asked her for her name.

Alice smiled at him genuinely unlike nearly all the other ones she had worn for herself and for him to make the encounter seem more pleasant than it truly was.

"My name is Alice. Alice Stark."

~~.O.~~

Author's Note:

Ok, so, first chapter is done! Yay! :) I have big plans for this story and cannot wait to eventually write them down to be read.

Please let me know what you think. I love hearing from you guys even if it's criticism and especially if it's comments and questions. I'm alwas happy to respond or answer unless it's something I plan on revealing in later chapters.