Do not own EMH
The Winter Soldier sat in the back of a cattle train, somewhere in Germany. His eyes shut but senses ever alert, he tried to remember as he puzzled why he had spared the man from a week a go. The man was familiar…had he known him in his other life? He knew he had had another life, despite the lies the Scull had fed him. And in the deepest part of him that still held hope, he dared to believe maybe he hadn't always been a brainwashed assassin. Then he heard the voice of the Red Skull in his mind, laughing and taunting him and his eyes flew open. It didn't matter who he had been or what he was now; all that mattered was making Skull pay.
Steve glared through the impenetrable glass at his oldest foe. His heart burned with rage that would make the Hulk proud but he kept it in check. To the end, he would remain a better man than Johann Schmidt.
"What was Code Red really about?" The Captain asked, unable to hide his ire. "Why did you brainwash , Falcon, and-"
"The Winter Soldier?" The Red Skull tsked. "A disappointment, that one. He intrigues you, doesn't he, Captain?"
"Who is he?" Cap demanded the Skull sneered and Cap pounded the glass separating he and his nemesis. "Tell me!"
"These are questions you might not like answered…but I will tell you this: you have only yourself to blame Captain." The last word was spat out and Steve had plenty more to say if the alarm had not gone off. Reluctantly he sprinted off to answer the call.
Several hours later he sat in the Avengers debriefing room, the Sleeper threat momentarily dealt with. Cap had tuned most of it out, the wheels in his mind turning. Tony gave them their assignments and Steve approached his friend.
"Tony, I'd like to try a different approach. I would like to go after the Winter Soldier."
Tony was surprised. "Why? What's this about Steve?"
When he was answered with sheepish silence from Cap he shrugged. "Fine, keep your secrets. I trust ya Cap, but to pull this off your gonna need someone sneaky with access to top secret files."
An hour later Steve had thrown a change of clothes into his old army knapsack and hopped onto his motorcycle, an address and name of a man who had once promised him a favor. Ordinarily, he would never have cashed it in but he was desperate to know the truth before the questions drove him mad. He just hoped the answers weren't as bad as the sinking feeling in his stomach told him they were.
Not sure if anyone is interested in this story or not but I'm gonna keep it going!