It was protocol. Hydra protocol. They had to wipe his mind again. Again. He had been out of cryo-freeze for too long. This was his only option now. The clamps closed around his wrists, then his upper arm. The cold metal held him back once more and a warden shoved a plastic mouthguard between his teeth. The chair was reclined and the machine was brought around his head and it hummed on right before the electricity penetrated his mind. He screamed out in protest, he hated this, he hated what it did to him, he hated becoming a mindless zombie once again. It was protocol.

The memories were being wiped from his mind. But these memories were the ones he didn't want to let go. Someone had recognized him. The "Winter Soldier" had a name and had a friend.

Bucky?

That name. His objective knew him. That name was familiar...where had he heard it before?

Who the hell is Bucky?

This objective he was fighting also looked familiar. He had heard his name before, Steve Rogers. Oh, God that name was so familiar. More than familiar, like he had known him. He wanted to keep these memories. He didn't want these ones wiped. Maybe he could grow off them. Maybe he could figure out who he was. He knew he was more than the Winter Soldier. More than a ghost with no identity.

He had flashbacks from the past; a lab, some German scientists, something about falling off a train. But those were the only memories that didn't wipe away. Those stayed. Those haunted. Those tempted him to ask about himself. Maybe he was this "Bucky".

But then it came. The darkness and stinging that came with the electricity that cleared his mind. It crept up on him, and polluted those memories. The memories of this "Steve Rogers" who knew him so well. Like spilling ink onto carpet, it pooled and dripped across those memories. He fought and he clawed to keep them. He screamed out, he wanted to scream "stop", but the mouthguard restricted him.

He was loosing those memories. He was loosing Steve, who swore to be with him until the end of the line. He was loosing everything again. He didn't want to forget. Not these memories. It spilled over, the dark void. He was forgetting. These last memories, the ones he wanted to keep, were forgotten.

"Bucky" didn't exist anymore. Now he was the Winter Soldier. Now he was a ghost.

It was protocol.