I don't own Captain America.
Chapter One: Brand New Me
(Bucky Point of View)
"Barnes!"
'Ignore him! Ignore him! Ignore him!'
"Barnes!"
'Ignore him! Ignore him! Ignore him!'
"Barnes!"
'Ignore him! Ignore him! Ignore him!'
Bucky was clenching his teeth. One thing he hated most, was when Tony bothered him about nonsensical stuff. It was one thing when it was something important, but another thing when it was something random.
They were currently in the kitchen area, and Bucky was pouring himself some milk. It was the community kitchen area, and Bucky was wearing tight black pants, a black printed t-shirt, and some ear buds. He was alone for a little while until Tony had arrived.
"Hey terminator, do those earbuds make you deaf?"
Clenching his fists now, Bucky rounded on Tony. "No!" he snapped, irritated.
Tony, in an Iron Man t-shirt and jeans, leaning against the wall, had an amused expression on his face. "Well then answer!"
"I don't have to answer you, Stark."
Tony tutted. "Well, someone is in a bad mood today."
"Go away!"
"Nope!" The man made of "iron" walked forward. Bucky glared with as much a Winter Soldier glare as he could, but that didn't deter him. Ever since Tony and Steve made up, it had taken them time to get used to each other. And while they had become friends, that didn't mean that Tony didn't irritate him sometimes. The Avengers, with an expanded ensemble had been reformed. And with Quicksilver brought back to life, things were always fun, but sometimes without privacy in the new Avengers headquarters...
Tony could still get on his nerves when Bucky really needed to be left alone. Pietro would catch on, but not Tony.
"Come on!" Tony slapped him lightly on the shoulder despite the fact that Bucky was glaring. "I promise, you're going to love this one!"
"I'm sure I won't!" Bucky snapped. "Seriously, Tony, I just need to be left alone right now!"
"Bruce is involved," Tony tried to persuade him, and instantly Bucky was cautious. Why was Bruce involved? That couldn't be good. Every time the mad geniuses got together, nothing good came from it.
When Tony saw Bucky's expression, amusement came on his face. "We can do anything together!" he bragged.
Now Bucky was really reconsidering. Maybe he should see what was going on...
"What are you doing?" he demanded to know as he walked towards the door.
Tony smirked. The trap was laid. "You'll see, he mysteriously replied.
"Why do you need me?" Bucky was suspicious.
Once again, Tony was vague. "Oh, we're just wanting to see if something works..."
Bucky snorted. "And you're using me as a guinea pig?"
"Maybe."
As he was led through the tower, Bucky decided to fish for more information. "Friday, what's the project?"
"The project is currently classified."
Hmm. That was suspicious.
"What date was the project started?"
"The project is classified."
Bucky glared over at Tony who had been watching him with a smirk. Maybe it really was a good reason he was heading over to babysit the mad geniuses. And so, he kept his suspicions with him as they exited the elevator.
The smell of smoke hit his nose, and Bucky coughed. Bruce's face came up in a puff of smoke beside some sort of powered device that looked like a mini rocket. "It's a good thing you're here," Bruce called out to Tony. "It caught on fire."
Now, Bucky was glaring at the both of them. "Why do you have a rocket in your lab, Tony?"
Tony put his hands in his hair. "Uh, it's not a rocket."
"Then what is it?"
Bruce was eyeing them back and forth, when all of a sudden he waved Bucky over. Coming over and practically dragging Bucky over to the rocket, Bruce said excitedly, "Come here!"
There was a control panel behind the rocket, and Bucky looked at all of it suspiciously. "What is this supposed to do?"
"Theoretically?" Stark said. "It's supposed to draw power from the vacuum of space and time. It's unlimited clean energy."
"And you need me why?" Barnes was suspicious.
"Because it's not ready," Bruce replied, punching some numbers into the console. "And, this is a three person operation, we quickly discovered. We need someone to keep track of the power supply, that unit there that you called the rocket, while Tony and I play with the consoles."
"I'm not a scientist. I don't know what to look for," Barnes pointed out the obvious in a flat voice.
Tony was taking his position in the console beside Bruce. "You don't have to," he said. "You just have to read the numbers back to us, and make sure that the bar of lights doesn't turn red."
"Ah," Bucky was finally getting bored. As he watched them, he could see how this was a three person operation. The two scientists were constantly plugging numbers in. Which left Bucky merely standing around and stare at the rocket like thing, bored as a dog.
When Tony noticed Bucky looking around bored he sighed. "Ready to read?" he asked Bruce.
Bruce shrugged. "Better now than never."
Bucky rolled his eyes. "Just get on with it!" he snapped. He wanted nothing more than to head back to his room and nap. He had an appointment later, and then there was the press conference at three. He loved press conferences, note the sarcasm.
Bruce rolled his eyes. "I turn into a scary green monster, remember?"
Bucky snorted and Tony sighed. "All right," Tony cracked his knuckles. "Powering on in three... two... one..."
The console came on, and Bucky stared at the rocket. "A/C D/C," he quoted in boredom, reading the LG screen on the outside of the rocket. "Ha, ha, ha," was his sarcasm.
When Bruce looked over at Tony in curiosity, Tony shrugged. "Don't look at me!" he exclaimed. "I didn't do it."
"Uh-huh," Bruce replied, looking at his console. "Sure."
"L3," Bucky rolled his eyes, reading the rocket.
"So far so good!" Tony replied eagerly, and he and Bruce vamped up the power.
"Twenty four percent," was Bucky's bored tones.
"Just a little more," came Tony's eager voice.
"Thirty five percent," Bucky yawned. "How long is this going to take?"
Suddenly, Bucky felt a strange pull in his stomach. As he looked around, the air around him was shimmering. Bruce's eyes were transfixed on him in shock, but Tony didn't seem to notice. "Hey Barnes, why did you stop reading?" Tony jumped.
Bucky was frozen, but Bruce seemed to come out of it "Hey... Tony?!" He risked a glance over at the man.
"Not now!" Tony waved him off, paying attention to the consul, his head down.
"It's just that... if anything happens to Bucky... Steve will have our heads," Bruce leaned over with the reply.
"Nothing's going to happen!" Tony waved him off, reading something, despite the lights around Bucky getting brighter. He didn't seem to notice.
"Well, something's happening," Bruce was more direct. Tony looked up and panicked.
Blue light was solidifying around Bucky, and he snapped out of it. Opening his mouth to say something he found that sound wouldn't come out. He started choking, as if the air was being sucked right out of him.
"Step out of there!" Bruce was calling out, and in instant, they were coming right over.
But Bucky was frozen. He tried to mouth, "I can't!" but found himself choking more. Tony reached towards the light, and both were shocked when he was thrown back, the light acting like a shield.
Bucky was frozen. He couldn't move. Bruce was shouting.
And then... he blacked out.
(Steve Point of View)
Steve was told he was going to carve a hole in the floor with all his pacing, but he didn't care. He was mad. He was standing outside the infirmary, his best friend in there. While the burn wounds were all healed now due to the serum coursing through his best friend, Bucky was still unconscious.
Bruce and Tony stepped out in the hallway, where he was at. He turned to glare at them both. Bruce and Tony looked sheepish. "On the bright side," Bruce said. "He's fine."
"He's unconscious," was Steve's unimpressed voice.
"But, he'll be fine," Bruce pointed out.
Anger coursed through Steve. "What were you thinking?!" he demanded. "Why on earth would you have him in there? What were you even working on?"
"A top secret energy saving device," Tony replied. "It's better than an arc reactor."
"Well it's not so top secret anymore," Steve clenched his fists. "Bucky has a press release at three. How do you think we're going to explain this?"
"Oh, don't take it out on Luna!" Tony begged. Steve rolled his eyes at the name of Tony's new project. Putting a hand to his shaking head, he sighed. "Something has to be done," he pointed out. "This press release is absolutely important to him. It shows that with all the hard work he's done, he's mentally stable enough for the public to trust."
"We'll think of something," Bruce promised.
"You'd better," Steve threatened. He pushed passed the two men into the infirmary.
Bucky was still asleep.
(Bucky Point of View)
Bucky groaned. He didn't know what had happened, but he was fairly sure the light was too bright. And his eyes were closed. It couldn't be that bright, could it? And what was that beeping sound?
Opening his eyes, he was shocked when he was dressed in strange white clothes, some strange apparatus that looked like spaghetti noodles attached to him, going under his shirt, no doubt attached to his chest. He started panicking, and the beeping increased.
Looking to his left, he was a met with a strange monstrosity. A metal... arm? And as he moved, it moved, like an arm!
At this point, Bucky completely lost it and tried to leap out of bed, but he got tangled in all the wires and tripped. No one was in this strange tiny room, and he bet he knew why. It was Hydra. This strange place had to be Hydra. It had to be.
Ripping the wires off of him, a screaming high pitched sound was heard and he heard movement out in the hallway. When one of the wires got caught in his hair... Why did he have long hair? He panicked.
The wall parted in a sliding manner, and Bucky scrambled back as some strangely dressed people stepped in. "It's okay, Bucky," a woman promised. She had long hair and blue eyes, and was dressed like he was.
"Who are you?" Bucky demanded.
She approached further and Bucky backed away. "It's all right. Why don't you go lie down again?" was her suggestion.
"Stay away from me!" Bucky shouted and tried to run passed them. He made it out into a little strange hallway, but suddenly, walls started forming, sliding shut both in front and behind him. He panicked and started pounding on them with one. When the metal arm moved and acted like an arm, indenting the wall, he panicked, and started trying to pull the arm off.
"Bucky!" the two women shouted, when they saw him this way. They were out in the hallway now.
He was breathing hard. He couldn't think. A voice that sounded so familiar was heard on the other side off the wall as he leaned against it, keeping his eye on the two women who were dressed in white like he was. "Let me in!" a voice begged.
Bucky fell over and hit his head on the floor as the wall suddenly slid away, opening up. He was breathing hard and he crawled further away into the next nearest wall.
Someone knelt beside him, and due to his panic, his eyes were open, but he couldn't see. Nothing was registering.
"Bucky?" the voice beside him whispered, so familiar.
He thought he recognized the voice. His breathing slowed some. As his eyes started clearing, his vision coming into focus, he saw Steve's face. But Steve was wearing a strange outfit. "...Steve?" he asked after a moment of hesitation.
Steve looked encouraged now that Bucky recognized him. He nodded encouragingly. "That's right!" he whispered. "You recognize me!"
Bucky nodded. "But why are you wearing strange clothes?" he asked.
Steve looked confused and then looked at Bucky again, concerned. "Are you all right?" he asked again in concern.
"No, I'm not!" Bucky began panicking again, well aware that there were people watching, but he didn't care. He was safe as long as Steve was here. It couldn't be Hydra if Steve was here. "I'm in strange clothes! I've got long hair, definitely not military standard, and I've got a metal arm!"
Steve's facial expression was getting more and more concerned by the minute, and this was only panicking Bucky more. Steve seemed frozen. "What's going on?!" Bucky begged. But, Steve was in shock, unable to answer. So, Bucky leaned forward and shook Steve by the shoulders, practically begging in fear, "What's going on, Steve?"
Steve shook himself out of it. "Bucky, I want to take you back into the infirmary room." His voice was filled with concern.
"Why?" Bucky was suspicious. He didn't like the thought of going in there again.
"Please, just trust me?" Steve begged.
Despite his panic, Bucky found it in himself to trust Steve. The man helped him up, and Bucky was guided by the shoulders back into the dreaded room. He jumped when the door closed. "It's all right," Steve reassured him. He helped him sit on the bed, and then he turned to the two women who had followed them in. "Please get a doctor!" Steve begged, and they nodded and exited.
Bucky didn't know what was going on, but he knew it must have been urgent. A short time later, a man with glasses walked in. Steve and the man exchanged looks. But, to Bucky's surprise, Steve also seemed angry. Pointing at Bucky, Steve said in a barely controlled, soft tone, "This isn't normal, Bruce."
The man, Bruce, held up his hands to appease. "Do you want me to evaluate him or not?" Steve sighed and stepped aside.
Bruce stepped over, but Bucky scooted away. Bruce instantly stopped, alarmed. "Bucky?" he asked. Bucky stared at the man suspiciously. Bruce paused for a moment, and then asked, "Don't you remember me?"
"Should I?" Bucky asked in suspicion.
Both men were in shock. At this, Bruce turned back to a very concerned Steve.
"I think we're going to need to do some scans. He's got amnesia."
(A short time later)
(Bucky Point of View)
Bucky was lying down on a strange, bed like thing. He didn't like it and Steve had had to reassure him several times. Currently, they were not in the room. It was something about radiation. Bucky wasn't sure how he felt about that.
After the bed moved and fed him through a strange, monstrous device, they told him through some sort of radio he couldn't see that he needed to hold still. When he started panicking at the tight space, Steve was instantly on the radio, reassuring him, telling him he had to hold still.
It seemed like forever, but finally, the tube like thing spit him out again. The nurses from before helped him up. Then, after a ten minute wait, he was led back to the dreaded room.
It was at least a half an hour more before both Bruce and Steve came over. They were in an argument outside in the hallway, getting louder as they came up to his room. "I can't explain it," Bruce was saying. "His brain scans are completely normal. There's no sign of amnesia!"
"What if it was mental?" Steve asked.
"This device is special. It would have shown."
"This is your fault, Bruce!" Steve spat out, upset. They were right outside of Bucky's room now. "If you and Tony had never asked Bucky to help, there would never have been that little mishap!"
"We weren't expecting a mishap to happen!" Bruce argued back. The man sighed and then the door opened. They walked in and then the door shut.
"What mishap?" Bucky instantly demanded. Bruce fidgeted. "What mishap?" Bucky demanded again with a harsher tone. Steve folded his arms and turned to Bruce, demanding.
Bruce sighed. "So, Tony made a new invention-"
"Whose Tony?" Bucky cut in, but he was ignored as Bruce continued.
"-but it was a three person operation. We asked you to help out, read some of the symbols."
"You were there?" Bucky demanded. Bruce nodded. "I thought you were a doctor!" Bucky demanded.
"I am," Bruce replied.
"A medical doctor," Bucky replied, not sure that he liked someone who wasn't a doctor doing medicine on him. It was bad enough being examined as it was.
"I am," Bruce clarified, slightly annoyed. "I have... many talents."
Bucky's eyes flickered to Steve. "It's true," he confirmed. Bucky relaxed slightly, but he was still apprehensive.
"And now," Bruce stepped closer, and Bucky tensed. "That leads us to the next questions. What do you remember?"
Images flashed through Bucky's mind and he voiced them out loud, still tense. "I remember being on a mission with Steve. To... Austria? We're going after the Red Skull still, aren't we? Or, am I off the team?"
Steve froze. Bruce had an... unusual look on his face, one of guilt almost, and knowing he was in trouble with Steve. He reluctantly turned to a wide-eyed Steve.
"Austria?" Steve whispered. "Nothing else?"
Bucky shook his head. "Should I remember something else?"
That's when everything broke loose. Steve's face was in his hands, his head shaking, his whole frame shaking. "That solves it," Bruce said with an awkward matter-of-fact tone. "He's lost seventy years of memories."
"Seventy years!" Bucky shouted out in panic. "Impossible! I look young!"
"This can't be happening," Steve was saying, his head still in his hands.
"We'll work with him," Bruce promised. "It may not be an easy road, but we'll do what we can."
"Seventy years?" Bucky demanded, but they continued to ignore him.
"You'd better," Steve was telling Bruce. "I don't want him to have to go through any more!"
"Seventy years?" Bucky was shouting more, and Bruce glanced at him.
"We'll get started tomorrow," Bruce promised, and he exited the room. It was almost like he was fleeing the scene before an angry Steve rounded on him.
Immediately, Bucky turned to Steve when the wall closed. "Seventy years?" he demanded.
Steve put his arms on his shoulders. "I know this is frustrating and scary right now," Steve was calm on the outside, but shaky on the inside, Bucky could tell. "But, I need you to calm down. Panicking won't help you at all. We'll solve this together, I promise."
"How can I just loose seventy years of my life?!" Bucky stared into his friend's eyes upset.
Steve's eyes were filled with compassion.
"It'll be all right."
(Bucky Point of View)
Currently, Steve was by Bucky's side. It had been a restless night for the both of them as Steve didn't want to leave Bucky when he didn't know if he was all right. The next day, they'd called in Bucky's therapist (he had a therapist?). Right now, both were sitting on a couch of what Bucky had learned was called the therapy suite of the Avengers lounge. ("What's an Avenger?" Bucky had asked Steve.)
Bucky's therapist, James, he had later learned, had talked to Tony and Bruce specifically about what had happened. Bucky found it intriguing that Tony was Howard's son. After getting a full report, the therapist came in.
The man sighed. "I know that no physical evidence was found for why there was amnesia, and while the scans didn't show any mental reasons, I still want to rule out that possibility, not that I doubt Dr. Banner's judgment." He sat down across from Bucky and Steve. Bucky didn't think that he liked Bruce being referred to as Dr. Banner. It felt uncomfortable, especially the doctor part.
James observed Bucky for several minutes. Then, he sighed. "What do you feel about regression hypnosis therapy?"
"What?" Instant confusion was on Bucky's face.
"It's a way," James replied carefully. "To use hypnosis in order to retrieve memories."
Bucky frowned. "Would it work?"
James shrugged. "Possibly," he admitted. "That would, admittedly, be where I would think best to start."
He didn't know why, but the offer was uncomfortable to him. It felt almost like when he was in Azano and Zola was experimenting on him, including trying to get into his mind. He'd never told anyone about that part, and he'd made sure to leave it out of the army reports. The last thing he wanted was anyone to send him to a shrink or think he was mentally ill.
Glancing at Steve, he saw a concerned face. "I don't know," he frowned. What if the stuff about Azano came out? "What would we find?"
James seemed to know what he was thinking. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want, even if you're hypnotized."
Bucky bit his lip. Would it be worth it? Were they still at war, even at seventy years?
He didn't know why, but he finally nodded. "Fine," he folded his arms.
They had him lie down. He was stiff with fear, but he did so. It just reminded him too much of...
He shook his head. He didn't want to think about that.
James spoke to him softly. "I want you to look at me, and relax as you hear me speak." Bucky tried his best, but it just wasn't easy to relax. "On the count of three, you're going deeper. One... Two... Three..."
Blackness.
(A short time later)
As Bucky woke up, he heard arguing. "I don't understand!" Steve was saying. "How can he not remember anything after that mission? Shouldn't he be able to recall something?"
"He should," James confirmed, and there was concern in his voice.
Bucky was looking up at the ceiling. Still feeling slightly disoriented, he sat up. "I take it it didn't work?" He suspected the dreaded answer.
Steve was looking at him in concern, and he shook his head softly. "No."
"Dang," Bucky frowned, still out of it. His fuzzy eyes looked over at James who was still in thought, hand to his chin.
After a moment, James turned back over. "I don't think there is anything else I can do for you," was his dreaded confession.
Bucky's gut clenched. The last thing he wanted was to be missing seventy years worth of memories like they told him he was. "I don't even know how it is that I have a metal arm," was Bucky's confused expression. He held clenched his stomach with his arms.
Steve was instantly by his side. "We'll figure things out," the man promised him.
Bucky looked up at Steve, feeling instantly out of place. He still wasn't sure of his surroundings.
Steve squeezed his shoulder.
"We'll figure things out."
(Bucky Point of View)
"Hey, Sarge!" a voice said.
Bucky groaned. He had the world's worst headache. What did that dang Tony do to him? Oh, right, he'd been nearly suffocated!
"Sarge!" the too loud voice said again. After a moment of no reply from Bucky, he heard the footsteps walk away.
Bucky nursed his forehead with his right hand, eyes still closed, as was his habit. 'Just a few more minutes,' he thought to himself. He was probably in the infirmary.
Putting his hand down, he snapped his eyes open. He... wasn't where he was supposed to be.
He looked up at the cloth ceiling of some sort of tent that was strangely familiar. Looking to the side, he saw a military cot, fully made, empty. He ran his hand through his hair in confusion as he looked at the cot. Then he froze. 'Wait a minute, my hair is short?! Tony better not of have cut it!'
His eyes snapped to the other side of the room, and as he sat up, he froze, looking at his left hand. It was a human hand!
Bucky was just about to think about the oddness of it all, when suddenly, he heard footsteps, and a familiar face popped in. There was a mustache and a bowler hat. "Hey, sarge! The colonel wants us to assemble!"
"'Kay!" Bucky nodded, still weirded out. Why did the man seem so familiar?
The man frowned. "You all right, Jimmy?"
"Yeah!" Bucky quickly replied, and the mustache man left.
Bucky stood up, took a deep breath and then stepped out of the tent. He instantly froze in shock. There were tanks, and weapons that he had seen the Captain America museum, back from the good old days.
He was standing in the middle of World War II.
I hope you enjoy this new story.
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