I feel as if this chapter is short again, but if I continue rambling it will seem like that and won't be a cohesive story. I inserted places or times as my break since none of my breaks were being inserted. Happy reading!

"Attention everyone," Peggy said to the entire room early that morning.

Everyone fell silent around Ellie. She swiveled around in her chair to face the front most part of the room. Peggy stood as authoritative as ever beside a sharp dressed man. From his outward appearance, however, Ellie could tell he was very nervous.

"We have a new agent joining our ranks," she said gesturing to the man beside her. "His name is Thomas Volstad."

Everyone nodded in a polite hello.

"He will be with our strategic division planning out rendezvous points to intercept our enemies. He fought in the war and has an expertise in the terrain and points of interest in Eastern Europe."

The men standing by the maps smiled. They were experts as well, but they could always use an extra brain in the mix.

"That will be all."

The bustle of work started again and Ellie turned back to the paperwork she was organizing.

"Excuse me, miss," she heard from behind her.

She turned back around to face the man that was newly introduced to the room.

"May I help you?" she asked sweetly.

"Yes, um, Agent Carter said that you might be able to introduce me to the men in my department." He fidgeted a lot, she noticed.

Strange. Why would Peggy ask her to introduce her to his fellow workers? Shrugging it off, she stood up and directed him towards to the long table holding various maps and markers.

She cleared her throat as she approached. "Gentlemen, as you all know this is Agent Volstad." She started to point around the table as she introduced each and every person on the Strategic Planning Team before turning back towards him. "If you have any more questions you may ask anyone here."

"Thank you," he smiled.

He certainly did have his charms, but she was always leery of new agents until she got to know them.

Later that day

"What do you think of our new agent?" Peggy asked Ellie over their afternoon tea.

"He seems nice. I only talked to him to introduce him to his team."

Peggy nodded and set her cup down. "I think he'll be useful."

"Where did you find him?"

"He came recommended to me by a colleague; something about working in his unit on the front. Of course I interviewed him before bringing him on. He seems quite the gentleman."

"Are you pushing him towards me or what?" Ellie asked rhetorically and with a laugh.

Peggy only raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, Peggy, you can't be serious!"

"It's been almost two years, Ellie."

"I still love Bucky."

"And you always will, but he's not coming back."

Ellie held back harsh tears. She had cried for Bucky many times over the past years, but the hurt in her heart had gotten bearable. She still loved him just as much as the day he left. She knew no one that came along would compare to him.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't try setting me up with new agents, Peggy." She said her name so definitively as she got up that Peggy knew broaching the subject again anytime soon would be suicide. She watched her as stomped off down the hall and into her room.

"I tried," she whispered to herself before taking another sip of tea. She glanced towards the framed picture that Ellie had brought with her when she moved in. In it, Steve and Bucky were standing side by side smiling directly at the camera. She touched the glass lightly where Steve's bright smile shown out at her before looking at the smiling face of Bucky. "I'm trying to get her to keep her promise, Buck. She's as hard headed as you and Steve."

Somewhere in Siberia

He felt empty, he felt nothing, and he felt no pain. He laid in his cell staring at the ceiling, listening to the constant drip of water.

"Soldier," a man said at his cell.

He sat up obediently and stood before the door. He held his hands out through the small opening and the man bound his wrists with very thick cuffs before opening the door. He led him down the same corridor he walked every day at this time. Every day it was the same thing; he woke up and stared at the ceiling until they came for him. He entered the now very familiar cavernous room. He glanced around at the various doctors at their stations and even the ones above him in glass rooms staring down into the theater. He stood still as they unbound his hands and he sat in the chair without struggle. He opened his mouth to receive the guard and sat still as they bound his hands and feet. He knew what was coming. He knew he couldn't stop it. He wouldn't feel anything afterwards anyway, so why fight it? The doctor who led him in went to his station and pressed the button that would bring down the contrivance around his head. He bit down hard as he waited for the shock that would reset his entire day.

It came very suddenly and violently. He screamed as he knew he would. That reaction was involuntary because he was so used to it by now, he was sure he could get by without screaming if he could control it. His whole body was drenched in sweat within seconds. The pulsing stopped and he let out sharp, short breaths from around the mouth guard. His eyes wildly scanned the ceiling above him. He could describe every detail of that room to you, but then again, why would he want to? He had a moment's breath before it started again. He could feel the saliva building up in his mouth, but this never gave him a chance to swallow. He felt it as it slid around the guard and down his chin. Other previous times this may have been degrading, but he didn't really recall those times anyway. He did remember, faintly, soiling himself a few times, but he had hardened himself to these exercises and therefore never had that problem again. The pulsing stopped suddenly. The same doctor came over and took the guard from his mouth.

"What…is…your…name?" he sounded very impatient.

He thought for a second; his stare blank as he looked at the doctor.

The doctor rushed forward quickly and grabbed him by his hair, wrenching his head to the side.

"I ASKED YOU WHAT IS YOUR NAME?!" He felt the spittle hit his face.

He looked at the man, devoid of all emotion towards the situation and said finally, "I don't know."

Somewhere else in the facility

"It is done, sir," the man in the white coat said to the man before him. "We have finally broken him."

"Not quite," he said firmly as he slid a picture across his desk to the man. "When they are brought here Sergeant Barnes needs to show us that he is completely ours. You will still refer to him as the Soldier; I don't want any unwanted memories coming back to him. As for now, you will continue your tests and start training him. Hydra is going to need him eventually and he needs to be ready."

"Sir, how will we go about obtaining this person?" the doctor asked while holding the picture and studying it.

"I already have a man on it, doctor, no need for you to worry," he said with a wink.