Assassin Or Friend?

"Rachel, come on we need to run quickly!" She screamed, herding everyone into the van as she tried to protect Rachel from the soldiers. They surrounded the back of the van where she and Rachel stood and she quickly put her arms up in front of Rachel who cried behind her, tears streaming down her face. She took a breath, slowly backing away, a tear slipping down her own face as she slowly herded Rachel to the van. "Wait a moment please. If you're going to kill me, give me a moment." She pleaded, taking a breath as the soldiers cocked their guns.

She shook under their aim, trying to calm herself with the deep breathing exercises and suddenly, Rachel was pulled out from behind her and the van doors closed as they sped off. She dropped to the ground, trying to avoid the gunshots being fired at the bulletproof van.

When the van got away, she got up holding her up and coming to terms with her upcoming death as she wiped away the tears and smiled at Rachel's safety. Her eye caught Bucky's as he punched the last soldier and she nodded, mouthing her last words. "Thank you." She closed her eyes, ready for the shot and Bucky ran as fast as he could, trying to get to her before-

BANG!

"Helena!" Bucky shouted, his eyes snapping open as he breathed harder, his chest heaving as he recovered from the nightmare. It was the same one he'd been gotten for a month after this supposed incident happened. Bucky remembered having the dream before but after what HYDRA had done to him, he didn't properly remember a thing. He didn't know who the woman was but he remembered her little sister, Rachel. He didn't remember a last name, how he met them, what was happening in the dream but what he did know was that the woman was important.

"Good morning. You have a free day." FRIDAY told him as he groaned, looking at the time and seeing it was only 5:00 in the morning. He got up, knowing that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. He made coffee in the pot he'd transferred to his room for incidents like this and sat on his bed with the mug and gently sipped at it, thinking over the dream again.

He knew the events of the dream (if they had happened) had happened a few months before Steve had saved him. He knew that HYDRA had been trying to reverse what the woman had done to him. He knew that the woman was probably dead and he shouldn't waste time thinking about it but he couldn't help it. He knew she was important somehow and part of him believed she wasn't dead and she was real. He didn't know how but he just knew she wasn't dead. But the rational part of him didn't let himself believe or indulge in the luxury of hope for long.

He never properly remembered his reaction to the dream, just hearing noise before he properly registered life. It was another thing that HYDRA had done to his brain, to help him register pain less and he felt angry every time he thought about it. Even as he thought about it, the handle which he held in his metal arm crushed and clay dust fell into his hands as he sighed, putting the mug in the bin with others like it.

He thought about asking FRIDAY to tell him what he said but was apprehensive of the answer. He didn't want to hear something he'd regret but he threw caution to the wind, knowing he already had things he regretted. Another would barely make a dent. "FRIDAY?" He asked, trying to get the AI's attention first.

"Yes Sergeant Barnes?" She asked, polite as always.

"Do you know what I say when I wake up from that nightmare?" He questioned, hoping not to find something he didn't want to.

"I did record it as a matter of fact. Playing." FRIDAY spoke, the recording playing as Bucky clenched his fists, his insides feeling like they were doing the same.

"Helena! Helena! Helena!" The recording played over and over again, tormenting Bucky as his mind flashed with images of the woman again. He fell to the floor as he kept seeing the pictures and tried his deep breathing exercises, remembering who he learnt the technique from.

"Sergeant Barnes are you alright?" FRIDAY asked, alerting Captain America as she stopped the recording, leaving Bucky gasping for breath on the floor.

"Buck!" Steve shouted, rushing into the room. He knelt by Bucky as he pulled him up from the floor. "What happened?" He asked, looking around for any attackers.

"Memory." Bucky whispered, his head pounding as he looked up at Steve, getting up with a low groan.

"It's never affected you that much." Steve stated, worry obvious on his face as he helped Buck to the seat. "What did you remember?" He asked and Buck shook his head, telling him not to pry. He knew that when Buck did that, Steve had to leave him alone with his memories. He would tell him everything later but at that moment, it was too raw and fresh. Most of Buck's memories were of killing people and he always needed a moment. "I'll see you later." Steve told him, reluctant to leave. He didn't want to leave Buck to face everything alone but he knew that his friend needed space, not only from him but from the world.

Bucky closed his eyes, curling up in the chair as he thought about what he saw. He saw so many images of the woman, Helena. He saw her from under her, looking up at her sweet smile. He saw from above, close as he comforted her teary face. He saw her on her knees, talking to Rachel and comforting her younger sister. He saw her from a distance, looking beautiful, up close with a caring smile. He saw her from so many different angles and they all flashed through her mind.

He closed his eyes, trying to relax as he went to sleep before waking up again quickly when JARVIS started speaking again. "You have now got a 9:00 meeting with Director Fury." He told him, the rest of his words sounding like water through Bucky's tired ears. He quickly got up and rushed to Fury's office. He met Natasha outside the office and they both entered together as Fury called them in.

"Hello Sergeant Barnes. Miss Romanoff." Fury greeted with a smile as they both stood opposite.

"What's the mission?" Bucky asked, looking him straight in the eye.

"Just a simple recon. We recently found out about an abandoned HYDRA base, scope it out. Find anything useful and download it onto this." Fury told them, giving them a memory stick.

"And if we don't?" Bucky asked, still not entirely convinced about SHIELD.

"Nothing gained, nothing lost." Fury replied, trying his best to seem friendly. Natasha had told him all about his 'trust issues'. And even if she hadn't, he'd been through this before. He knew.

"When do we go?" Nat asked, trying to keep things light.

"Now." Fury replied and they both walked out, going to the Helicarrier. The trip was short and it seemed like the mission would be even shorter when they found no one inside the HYDRA base before Bucky did find someone. Before he heard footsteps and carefully creeped into the room.

It was only at the last moment that Nat had thought to bring Bucky into it. They barely had enough time to fully explain what had happened so he didn't understand it too well but he was only a precaution. If Nat had to start fighting or if there was a HYDRA official there and they didn't play, then Bucky's 'skills' might be necessary.

"Excuse me? I don't think you should carry on with that. Just a thought." He warned the woman, calling out in a deep and dangerous voice as he tried to scare her. The woman turned around with a smirk, leaving the memory stick to carry on downloading as she tried to distract the man.

"And who is it who thinks this?" She asked before seeing his face properly as Bucky removed the gun from his face, lowering it at the sight of her face. It was her, the woman he'd been remembering. She was real, she wasn't a dream. And best of all, she wasn't dead. His mind was buzzing with obvious revelations as he looked at her. She was so different from his memories but it was definitely her. She didn't have a kind smile on her, she was wearing HYDRA uniform and her face was harder and angrier with eye bags as she glared at him.

"Helena?" He breathed, remembering the name from earlier that day. "What are you doing?" He asked, looking at her as she recovered from the initial shock. His guard faltered as he recognised her.

"My job." She told him matter-of-factly, turning back around to check the download but internally cursed when she saw it was going to take another minute yet. She turned to Bucky and saw he was advancing and stayed backed up against the computer, still a little wary. "And what would the Winter Soldier be doing with an Avenger?" She asked, obvious disdain in her voice as she tried to mask her fear and pain as she properly remembered everything. Her head was pounding like her heartbeat as she remembered flashes of Bucky.

"I'm not the Winter Soldier anymore. I'm Bucky Barnes." He confirmed, shaking thoughts of his past life out of his head. He had to forget that. He was not him anymore.

"You sold out? How long has it been?" She asked, disgust in her voice as she regarded the assassin who looked away at her question. "Strange how you were an assassin as the Winter Soldier and yet in SHIELD, they still use you as an assassin." She told him, moving away from the memory stick as she was sure she had his full attention.

"I was never me as the Winter Soldier. That wasn't me. Not the person I am now." He defended, almost pleading her to understand his situation.

"How was it not you? Was it an act? How did you get out?" She asked, bombarding him with the exact same type of manipulative questions that HYDRA would ask. Bucky's comm link crackled with Natasha's voice, asking for Intel but he ignored it, turning it off. Helena scoffed at this, commenting on it as she barely contained her bitterness at his escape from HYDRA. "Not fully obeying your masters yet?" She asked, mocking him.

"They're not my masters. They're my friends. And I was saved by Steve. My friend." He told her, stressing the words. He wondered what had happened to the lovely woman he'd met as the Winter Soldier. The woman he'd met had been hardened, her core turning cold through the years of being an assassin.

"Aw, you had a friend to save you. Lucky you." She mocked again, her bitterness obvious. "At least you have someone." She whispered, that last comment more for herself than him. "A friend." She spat louder, snapping out of it.

"I'm your friend. I can help you, I promise. Just trust me." He tried, knowing exactly what she must be thinking at that moment, having gone through it all.

"Why should I?" She challenged angrily, backing away from him, making him hang his head. "Why should I trust the man who took it all away?" She asked and Bucky looked up in surprise. "Oh yeah, I remember that. I remember how I had a sister and a lifestyle and you and your HYDRA goons took it all away. And then they enslaved me, keeping me as their little pet!" She spat, making Bucky sigh again as he remembered what he'd done to her. "And then he got saved by his bestie, ran away and lived happily ever after. Suddenly he wants to help me?" She asked sceptically, a little resentfully.

"Because I am your friend." He told her, trying to reassure her and ignore her harsh words and scoffing. "You helped me, I want to return the favour." Bucky spoke truthfully as Helena raised her eyebrows at this, crossing her arms and keeping her distance. "And I know you don't like this life. Nobody does. No matter what they tell you, you wish for a better life like in the stories you told me. I know that's true because you told me." He finished triumphantly, catching her off guard. Her eyes started to shine over and she breathed harder, moving over to him angrily.

"The person who told you that is gone. Someone else replaced her. Someone realistic and clever." She growled, her voice deliberately hardened. She didn't give him the chance to respond as she used her knife to lunge out at him, quickly attacking. Luckily, his quick reflexes saved him as he used the butt of his gun to block as they switched positions in the room. Where Bucky had been standing at the entrance, she was there. And where she had been by the computers, Bucky was there.

"That's not true." He challenged, not breaking even as she attacked. Every word he said just angered her more but he persisted regardless. "I know she is in there. You may be clever, but the imagination was what I loved about you." He tried, not wanting to lose another friend.

"It is true." She combated, both verbally and physically as she held the knife inches from his throat, only blocked by his metal arm. "If you don't believe me, just look at me. I am attacking you. Why would a friend do that? Ever imagined that?" She asked, mocking him again as she stopped for a moment, breathing heavily. Suddenly, she struck out again, getting close and only not succeeding in her murder attempts because of Bucky's increased strength.

"Because you're scared? Threatened?" He suggested as they circled again, returning to their earlier places.

"I'm not scared." She breathed, holding the knife out in front of her before watching him and seeing his genuine concern.

"Then why are you doing this?" He asked as they continued circling.

"Because I have no choice! What do you think?" She growled, her other hand fumbling behind her as they stopped circling. Bucky was too occupied with the knife pointed at him in her other hand to see her pocketing the drive.

"I'm giving you a choice. Come with me, I can help you!" He pleaded, looking her in the eyes. It seemed he had gotten through to her as tears filled her eyes. She seemed more like the person he'd met all those months ago and Bucky dropped his guard. A tear fell from her eye and Bucky moved closer, taking a risk as she let the water flow, her breathing becoming shakier as she let down her walls. He put a hand to her face to wipe the tears away and she flinched at the touch. It had been too long since she'd had a warm, caring touch.

Despite her flinching, Bucky persisted, moving closer but it was too much. "Other people get everything handed to them on a silver platter in life." She told him, sobbing as she wiped away a few of the tears. "I did everything for Rachel and other people, I tried to help everyone and nothing worked." She finished, reminiscent of the memories they had both regained. After this sentence, she pushed him back and ran to the exit, holding up a gun at him. "I'm sorry." She whispered as Buck held up his hands. She fired at a gas pipe and threw a lighter into the room before running as far as she could, hoping to get back to base and leave him there.

Bucky ran, getting out before it exploded but he was quiet as he walked around for a bit, circling the rendezvous point, waiting for Natasha to join him. Little did he know, Natasha had ambushed Helena who was still recovering from everything that had happened. "Running away are we?" She asked, moving forwards with a gun as Helena back away, bringing back out the knife again.

"No, fulfilling a mission. You should know all about that Miss Romanoff." She told her, speaking with venom as her tear tracks dried in the wind.

"Oh trust me, I do. But what I don't understand is your eagerness to get back to your base. You aren't under any mind control, you might've had your memories wiped and you really don't seem the type for psychopathic tendencies. Why do you love this life so much?" She asked, moving forwards as if stalking her prey. Helena moved further back with her knife still in front of her as if warding off a ghost. A tear slipped down her face and Natasha watched with an interested look. "Ooh, this is exciting." She spoke, analysing her as she stood in front of her.

"What?" Helena spat at the woman who just laughed at her attempts of intimidation.

"You're crying. And not crocodile tears. So you are very much capable of emotion." She nodded with an amused smile. "You just hide it. It was learnt." She whispered, moving in on her prey.

"Just like you I'd say." Helena fired back, leaving the redhead with a small smile.

"The only question is, who made you? The red room is gone, it is gone for sure. It can't be that. Oh wait, HYDRA." She depicted, waiting for a reaction from the brunette.

"Just let me finish my mission, I need to do this ok?" She told the redhead who simply narrowed her eyes at Helena.

"Why?" She asked, but got no answer, only an attack. She lunged and threw her knife at her, the attack missing as Natasha flipped to doge it. While she was momentarily distracted, the other woman fired a gunshot into the air, prompting Natasha to pull her own out and looked around while Helena disappeared into the smoke bomb she had released. When it had finally cleared, Helena was long gone. "Damnit!" She cursed, looking around for any trace but was unpleasantly supplied with only the news that Helena was good. She had disappeared and was good as her, perhaps even better.

She went back to the rendezvous point and then eventually SHIELD with Bucky but kept the encounter to herself. It seemed like it wasn't just her who had been shaken by the mission failure. Barnes seemed uncharacteristically quiet and sullen. Natasha eyed him quietly but didn't speak. He was the one who'd let her get away. What had happened? How did he get fooled? She doubted her got distracted by her as a woman, she wasn't that kind of assassin and Barnes wasn't that type of agent. However, it was the only other idea she had. She had to branch out and think of what other possibilities there could be.

Nat decided to forget about Barnes for a moment, thinking about the woman. What about her? Who was she and why was she so eager to get back? The most likely scenario seemed to be a hostage. She had someone hostage and HYDRA was the one keeping them there, prompting her to do their bidding. If so, that would be hard. The people with hostages never believed it would be okay if they went with SHIELD. They had good reason but they always believed that they had to do it themselves.

How was Nat going to work around if it was a hostage? She decided to go talk to Barnes and get his opinion on it, and find out what was wrong with him. "JARVIS? Can you locate Barnes?" She asked, getting up.

"Sergeant James Barnes is in the research room where he has been for the past few days after the mission." JARVIS informed and Natasha fiddles with her arrow necklace absent-mindedly.

"Ok, thanks J." Nat flashed him a smile, not that he could see it and set on her way. She picked up an almost empty pizza box on the way to give to him and have as a legitimate excuse other than getting information out of him to visit. "Hey Barnes. Figured you could use some food." Natasha greeted as she walked in, seeing the mess everywhere. Bucky tried to frantically clean up some of the mess and hide it so she wouldn't see as she sat down in the only other chair, putting the pizza between them as a peace offering.

"Thanks." He spoke, opening it up as he watched her cautiously.

"Forget it. It's nothing." Natasha smiled, taking a piece for herself.

"What do you need?" Bucky asked, never having had such a close relationship with the redhead.

"Ok, I'm just going to cut to the point and ask you what happened with the mission." She asked, seeing Bucky stiffen with the question. "Yeah, I saw that." She confirmed as Bucky cast his eyes downward.

"I just had a moment." Bucky made up, trying to excuse himself from the conversation.

"What about the rest of the excuse? Why did you have a moment in the first place?" She challenged, folding her arms as she watched him carefully.

"Can you keep a secret?" Bucky asked before looking up and seeing Nat's face, raising a brow at his question. She was one of the most trustworthy people in the Tower. One of the skills taught to you when you became a spy. How to keep a secret. Easily.

"Really?" Natasha asked sceptically.

"Ok, sorry." He apologised with a small smile. "I just, I remember being the Winter Soldier. All of it. Most of it was terrible, just killing and killing but…" He trailed off, lost in memory. "I remember her." He revealed and Natasha watched, interested.

"How?" She asked, wondering how someone could have made such an impact on the Winter Soldier. Not Sergeant James Barnes, the Winter Soldier.

"I was on a mission. Can't remember which one but, I had been careless. I forgot to cover my tracks so they couldn't retrace the signal back to the base. Then she came. She was so fast. The soldiers had begun to beat me for my mistake." He remembered casually as if it was every day for him. Natasha winced as she knew it had been every day for her as well. "I was on the floor, bleeding out. Then she threw a smoke bomb and when it cleared, all the agents were on the floor. She had only one left to fight and she did it easily. HYDRA aren't so easily beaten but she did it like it was nothing." He shrugged, smiling at the memory.

"What happened then?" Nat asked, prompting him to go on.

"I passed out. Woke up in a whole other country, Helena was helping me. She had a bowl of water and a ripped piece of cloth. There was so little in that place but she used it to help me." He told Natasha as if trying to convince her of Helena's innocence. Despite what she had said, and what she had become, Bucky truly believed she was still there. Even after 3 days of nonstop searching with little to no leads, he still believed he could find her, and if possible, bring her back.

Flashback:

"What happened?" Bucky asked, groaning as he tried to get up, seeing bright light all around him.

"Just rest. You were quite badly wounded when I found you." A calm, smooth English accent spoke, soothing him slightly.

"Who are you?" He asked, not quite done with the questions just yet. A part of him was about to attack if he didn't get any answer soon. The way she soothed him was nice but when he realised what she could do, it unnerved him, the HYDRA brainwashing kicking in.

"I'm not important. I just thought I should help." She shrugged, gently cleaning up some blood from his face. She was a beautiful woman, short brown hair matching her eyes which he swore had flecks of gold in them but he couldn't tell if it was his concussion which was making him see that or not. She wasn't short but in fact, just a few inches off of him, he guessed. She had a cut on her lip which seemed fresh and he had a feeling that it was from the fight she'd had with the soldiers beating him. A bruise was fading from the side of her head and another more prominent one was poking out of the bottom of her jaw, its purple outline obvious.

"How bad is it?" He asked jokingly, seeing that she was his ticket out of the place and that he shouldn't antagonise her.

"No so bad anymore. I've cleaned the wounds, sterilised the wounds. You have quite a few bruises which will fade with time but the most concerning thing for me is your arm. It seems to be metal." She noted, smirking as she joked around with him. She finished her medical assessment and got up, putting the water to one side.

"Yeah, it does that." Bucky smiled back, not being able to help himself. Something about the way this woman was so calm about him made him smile. "Why would you help me?"

"Because you needed help?" She offered, wondering just how naïve he was.

"That's not the only reason. That's never the only reason." Bucky told her, suspicious of her intent as she arranged some bandages on the table.

"What if it was?" The woman fantasised, dreaming of a world where it could be as she turned to face him. "What if the only reason we helped each other was because we could?" She asked and Bucky must've had a confused look on his face because she laughed at him, about to turn back to the table when a little, timid knock on the floor alerted them both to someone at the door.

"Um, Helena? I bought the food you asked for." A young girl told her, holding out the wooden bowl on a tray in front of her. She shook with the weight although it didn't look like much and it made Bucky frown with her weakness. She didn't look like she'd had a lot to eat herself, neither of them did.

"Thank you Rachel." Helena smiled kindly, relieving the weight from her and putting to down next to Bucky, keeping a smile on her face as she concentrated, placing it down gently even as it shook in her hands.

"Um, Helena?" Rachel asked, bringing Helena's attention back to her. "Who is he?" She asked, pointing to Bucky who was busy looking at the food. It was very little but still more than HYDRA and who was he to complain when she had saved him?

"Just someone who needed help." Helena told her as she stroked her hair, hugging her gently.

"I'm hungry." She moaned, her stomach grumbling on cue as she sighed, leaning into Helena's stomach which was emptier than hers. She heard Helena sigh, guilt almost dripping off of her as she kept her close for comfort. "How long are we going to be here this time?" Rachel asked, looking up at her with tear filled eyes, prompting Helena to pull her in for another hug.

"Not for much longer I promise." She told her, bending down and looking at her. "You know, one day we won't have to do this. One day we can settle down somewhere. I'll get a job and we can live happily. One day, you won't ever have to worry about the next meal ever again. I promise." Helena stressed, tears bubbling in her own eyes as she tried to reassure Rachel. "Mum and Dad may be gone but we can still manage ok? We just have to be strong." She told Rachel, setting her head on top of hers and gently rocking her back and forth. "Do you believe me?" She asked, kissing the top of her head.

"Yeah." The younger sister managed to choke out through the tears. "Can you do a magic trick for me later?" She asked, trying to brighten the mood.

"Of course sis. I'll get everything ready once I am done here ok?" She asked, pulling away and wiping away a few tears from both their faces, both completely oblivious to Bucky in the room as he witnessed the emotional scene.

"Ok." Rachel agreed, walking out. Helena sighed, sniffing back a few more tears before trying to pull herself together and going back to Bucky who had been watching the entire exchange, interested.

"She your sister?" He asked as she went back to him, kneeling down again to him.

"No questions about that, you won't get any answers." Helena replied, suddenly frosty. "Ask about yourself. Your surroundings, your injuries but not about me." She ordered, checking over his bandages and seeing if they needed to be replaced. "Please." She added, her emotion bubbling over. "If you want answers, deduce. You never get everything handed to you on a silver platter in life." She spoke angrily, thinking about her own experiences. She laid down the rules as she nervously took a few breaths, trying to calm her emotion. She'd had a lot of experience with that as well. Bucky nodded, getting a sense of how she rolled.

"Ok, she's your sister." He stated first as Helena tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and nodded quickly as though someone could see them and the answer could tear them apart. "I'm in a different country." He stated next and this time, Helena snorted with laughter. His lips quirked at her reaction, finding it cute.

"I wish." She replied, half bitter and half wistful. It was as if she was trying to be positive but even that took its toll on her lifestyle. "No, this is my haven." She smiled, picking up a few more bandages before turning back to Bucky's wounds. "My, safe place." She phrased with a smile. "But then again, not even that is so safe anymore. Nothing is." She finished on a low note, fear in her voice.

"Sounds like you keep everyone safe." Bucky pointed out, shifting away from the makeshift bed she'd summoned up for him. Helena smiled at him, a tear slipping down her face as she quickly wiped it away and started redoing the bandage. "So I'm still in England." He stated, moving on as she nodded. "Are you on the run?" He asked softly, not so much forgetting the rules but wanting to see what would happen if he broke them. Or used them in such a way to get a reaction from his saviour.

"Hmm." She nodded, not having enough words to express her plight. Her eyes were welling up with tears just at the mention and she got up abruptly, chucking the cloth in the bowl before walking to the corner to compose herself. Bucky tried to get up after her but she held out a finger behind her, sensing what he was trying to do. "Wait, just wait." She pleaded as he reluctantly stayed where he was, putting the shirt provided on. "We won't always be. I promise you, we won't always be on the run." She repeated, reassuring herself more than him as her finger dropped.

The words tugged at Bucky's heartstrings and he got up despite her warnings and walked over to her, embracing her from behind. She sobbed quietly, trying to stop the tears from running down her face. As he started to put his arms around her, she turned around into his chest, falling against him. She sobbed louder now, audible enough for Bucky to hold her close until the tears finally subsided. He soothed her, making gentle shushing noises as she cried.

When the tears seemed to show signs of subsiding, she seemed incredibly old and tired, as if the weight of worlds rested on her shoulders. Bucky didn't know where it came from, but he decided to sing a lullaby. When she talked about her mother and father having being gone, it just came to Bucky's mind and he knew that she could be soothed by it.

With Bucky and Nat:

"So you like her?" Nat summarised, looking at him with mirth dancing in her eyes.

"Uh, no, not like that." Bucky stuttered, trying to think of how to phrase it.

"Sure Barnes." She raised an eyebrow, obviously not believing him. "So, you want to find her again to hand her over to SHIELD?" She challenged and Bucky looked away. "You want to help her?" She corrected herself, looking at him worriedly. "You do realise that might not be possible?" She suggested in a small voice, already having been through this with Steve. She didn't want to make the same mistake twice. "Barnes?" She asked, not hearing any reply.

"Yeah." He spoke, making Nat cringe. She knew he still fully believed he could help her, like Steve did with him.

"Are you sure?" She asked, regretting her promise to keep it a secret.

"Yeah." He replied, more firm as she looked at his research. He instantly snapped shut the folder, picking up the pizza box and shoving it in Nat's hands, a clear sign for her to leave. She did a little reluctantly as she watched the closed folder, leaving the room. Her first instinct was to go find Steve but thought better of it as she realised her promise. She tried to think over what to do and wished that she hadn't been so reckless with her promises. She knew not to be so reckless but her curiosity had gotten the best of her. Bucky made sure she was gone and sighed, looking at the computer.

He knew she was right. He knew he probably wouldn't be able to find her until the next mission but decided to look back at the HYDRA base. He cleaned up the mess in the room, that alone taking him an hour as he finished all the pizza he'd left, printing off all the newspapers he'd seen online that he thought could be connected to her. He knew a rough time zone, knowing this was only a few months ago. Before he was saved by Steve.

He walked out of the room, clearing everything up. Nat watched all this from the CCTV cameras she'd asked JARVIS to let her view and felt a little bit of relief as she watched what she thought was Bucky giving up on her. She knew the pain of losing someone and thinking it was your fault, she'd lost several people in the field. She knew the effects of trying to find someone you thought you'd lost but just found, she'd seen it all happen before with Steve. She didn't want the same to happen to Bucky who was already unstable. Fury wouldn't want to lose an asset like Bucky.

She walked out of the viewing room to meet him halfway in the hall and smiled at him holding the newspapers he'd printed. "You finally come to your senses?" She asked, holding out her hand for the papers.

"Uh, yeah." Bucky agreed, reluctantly giving her the paperwork. He didn't want to but he knew that she would follow him if she actually knew and didn't want that on him. She took it and walked away happily, going to look through it. Bucky watched and waited until she was properly gone before groaning in annoyance, putting his head in his hands. He sighed angrily, in the HYDRA base.

He walked through it, a gun and knife by his side like always. He heard his footsteps echo through the hall like always, only this time, accompanied by someone else's. "Hello?" He called out, his hand on his gun as he looked around.

"Not again!" He heard a voice groan as he walked back into the computer room.

"Who's there?" He called, holding the gun in front of him and pointing it at the figure in front.

"The Easter Bunny." The voice replied sarcastically, making Bucky smirk slightly as he saw Helena.

"Hello again, Rachel's older sister." He smiled, adding her name with pleasure as her attitude dropped, shock on her face as she realised he knew her better than she'd thought.

"How do you know that?" She asked, getting defensive as she put her hand on her own gun.

"Easily." He replied, walking forwards. The nice approach didn't work last time. He thought he should try the approach she might respond to, the one she was hitting him with.

"So what is the Winter Soldier's real name?" She asked, crossing her arms. "I assume the name you told me all those years ago was fake." She told him angrily, walking up to the gun, unfazed.

"Years?" Bucky asked, his heart rising to his throat. He couldn't help the feeling as he thought of the memories. It was only a few months ago, that was how he remembered it. He was sure that was how he remembered it.

"Yeah, don't you remember?" She asked, wondering if he was playing some sort of mind game with her.

"A few months. It was a few months ago." He spoke, like a computer that was buffering. He knew that what she was saying couldn't be true. She realised what was happening and laughed hysterically, not afraid anymore.

"You seriously think that? You seriously think that it was a few months ago?" She asked, walking up to him and looking through the barrel of the gun at him. "It was a year ago. I have worked for HYDRA for one whole year, and it is all your fault!" She screamed at him, slapping him.

Bucky woke up with a gasp, looking around and seeing that he was in the computer room, still researching. He had fallen asleep on the keyboard and saw a mess of different keys on the screen. While he deleted them all, he tried to sort through his memory, wondering if what he remembered was real or not. He pieces together information that he can remember and realises that it has been a year since he had met her.

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