That night, after a long shower, she went to bed crying and in the morning, she woke up to a damp, tear-stained pillow.

There was a knock at her door and she froze. After a moment, the door beeped and they opened up to reveal Agent Rumlow. She quickly sat up.

"Hello! Ever heard of privacy?"

Agent Rumlow rolled his eyes and tossed a heavy envelope at her.

"Good morning. That packet is all you need to know about Hydra. We figured you'd find a way to do your own little research so we're saving you the trouble. Inside you will also find out more about the soldier you've been specifically treating lately. If you're hungry, I'd get dressed and hit the dining hall before breakfast runs out. I'll be outside." He said as he turned to leave the room.

Still slightly shocked at everything he'd managed to rush out in a matter of seconds, she looked back down at the packet. Opening it, she took out a large file labeled 'Classified.' Inside were numerous reports on hit and kills from the last century thanks to Hydra. It was no surprise when she saw JFK's name. Everyone on the list in one way or another had wanted to help better the world. Even Howard and Maria Stark were on it. She felt a chill run up and down her body. Hydra was responsible for so much innocent blood. She set the file down and picked up the folder that read 'Winter Soldier' on the front.

Inside was a stats cover page and a picture attached. The picture was of the man she had been treating, except he had shorter hair and no facial stub. He looked so young and happy. What had her confused was that it had been in black and white and a bit frayed. She had seen similar pictures of her grandparents. Picking up the picture, she set it aside and scanned the page it had been attached to.

'James Buchanan Barnes, DOB: March 10, 1917'

1917?

What the hell?

Reading through the paper more carefully this time, she realized that James Buchanan Barnes was the man she had read about before at The Smithsonian!

There was a whole exhibit dedicated to the life and achievements of Captain America from the forties and today. She had gone to go see it when it first opened to the public. There had been a whole dedication just to his childhood best friend, Bucky Barnes; he had helped Captain America throughout the war back in the day.

Giselle couldn't believe her eyes as she continued to read through his file. Her heart felt heavy. He had almost lost his life at war and had been captured by Hydra but was saved by Captain America. They had been through many missions together before their last one where Bucky had fallen out of a train and was thought to have died. That's what the public knew; but in the file, the details of how they had found him unconscious and bleeding out from a severed arm were making her want to throw up. He had been found by Hydra scientists and taken back to the lab to be experimented on. They turned him into a weapon. For years and years he was put in and out of a cryogenic chamber and used to carry out Hydra's dirty plans. It all made sense now and she really didn't want to believe that any of it was true, but it was staring at her there in the face.

After failing to calm herself down, she went to go wash up and get dressed for the day to put herself somewhat at ease. James' file had put her off so bad. This was more of a wakeup call than anything. She had actually sat on the edge of the bathtub to cry for a few minutes. She couldn't believe all that he had been through and he was still here today taking their orders with no free will.

When she finished up, she stared at herself in the mirror. Her black scrubs were soft and comfortable and fit her just right. Her shoes had been the ones she had gotten here with. Her hair was tied into a low ponytail with some strands falling out to frame her face. Her eyes were the same hazel color they had been for a couple weeks now; the dullness had set in. Long gone was the sparkle. Whether she liked it or not, she had to go face the day. She wasn't ready to be killed off just yet. There was still a lot she wanted to accomplish with her life and she knew that cooperation was key to survival in this type of situation.

Just like he had said, Agent Rumlow was found waiting just outside her door.

"Took you long enough," he muttered. "Your patient is waiting so you're going to have to skip breakfast for today."

"Used to it." She shrugged, following along.

When they made it to the familiar vault, she tried to compose herself before stepping in. All was quiet and she saw James… or, Bucky, sitting on his usual chair. Next to him was the same metal table only today there were materials on top that were for blood collection. Tubes and syringes and a small cup for a urine sample. She looked over at her patient.

"Good morning." She said quietly.

The silent nod was reassuring and she looked back at Agent Rumlow.

"Do you mind giving us some privacy?" she asked.

Agent Rumlow gave her a look before shrugging and stepping out of the room. She waited until she heard his footsteps quiet down the hallway and she turned back to the soldier. She crossed her arms and pulled up the spinning-chair to sit on it in front of him. The soldier was dressed in black pants and a black shirt. His hair was down in its usual disarray. She saw him differently today than before. She knew the horrors of his past now. She knew why he was quiet, and emotionless. She now knew the horrible things that he had gone through to get to where he was today. And none of it was his fault...

"So… first thing's first. I'm gonna talk and let you know a little bit about myself, and if you want to at the end, you can tell me about yourself. My name is Giselle Gilmore. You can call me Giselle, or my friends usually call me Gigi for short. I'm 25. I've been living in D.C. since I was five, and before that, I was born in New York. I graduated high school at 17 and was able to do dual enrollment and get a head start at college. I always knew I wanted to be a doctor. Thanks to my dad." She said with a small smile. The soldier stared at her thoughtfully and nodded. She looked behind her and then back to him as she scooted closer. "Do you know what your name is?" she asked and he shook his head once. She let out a humorless chuckle, "I'm going to tell you something that you need to keep to yourself, okay?" she said and his eyes squinted warily at her but he nodded. She sighed heavily, "I was able to read some of your file and… there are things I don't want to mention just yet because I don't want to… trigger you too much but… your name is James. James Buchanan Barnes."

The soldier stared at her, eyes wide.

It was quiet for a moment and she felt her heart pounding in her chest.

"James." He said finally.

"Yes, James." She nodded with a small smile. He stayed quiet and her anxiety was weighing on her.

"I… it doesn't sound familiar to me. But… it feels… right." He finally said after a moment; his voice was deep and a bit hoarse.

Giselle gave him a small reassuring smile.

"There's a lot going on I don't know here. I'm sure there are many things they keep you in the dark about as well. But I figured that can be something you hold onto, James. You don't mind that I call you by your name, do you?" she asked. He looked up at her thoughtfully and then nodded.

"That's fine."

Giselle smiled and patted his knee, "Great. Alright, so… let me get started on your vitals for today."

After going through her usual routine with him, quietly and quickly as possible, she took a step back and crossed her arms.

"Okay so, next thing on the list… your blood work. When was the last time you ate?" she asked.

James licked his lips and crossed his hands, "Yesterday morning."

"By choice?" she asked warily. He shook his head.

Giselle let out a sigh, "Do you mind if I take hold of your arm?" he shook his head and slowly brought it up to her.

She looked at the inside bend of his arm to see if he had any good veins by slapping the area a few times. The veins were scattered and not very prominent but she saw a few she could possibly work with. It wasn't going to be easy since he hadn't eaten apparently for almost twenty-four hours, but she would make it work.

"Well, it's good that your system will be clear but, you need to better nourish yourself." She said and went to make a few notes in her notebook before turning back to him. "I'm going to take a few samples of your blood now. I'll be testing them for various reasons and concerns. I'll also need a urine sample but that won't have to be right now, I'm sure you're dry as hell at the moment. Once you get some liquid in you just get the sample to me." She smiled and went ahead to put some gloves on.

Gathering her supplies, she found a page full of labels that she'd put on the clear blood collection tubes. She wrote in all the correct information for each label and then stuck them on the tubes. She picked up a syringe and then she took a moment to let him know she'd be taking his arm again and finding a good vein to stick. After a few seconds of searching, she managed to find a big enough vein and she carefully pierced his skin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his metal hand twitch but she kept focus. The blood didn't immediately come rushing out like it should have so she tried again. This time she was luckier. As the first tube filled up, she removed it and replaced it with a second one. That one filled up and she did the same thing a few more times. Once she finished, she ripped open a Band-Aid and placed it where she had stuck the needle in him to stop any more bleeding from coming out. She collected the tubes and placed them together in the small plastic crate that had been on the table.

"All done! You did a great job, thank you. I'm gonna have these tested and I'll bring you back in when I get the results. Until then, I need you to go eat something. Doctor's orders." Giselle smiled.

James stared at her and nodded but didn't make any moves to get up.

"Do they have to come and get you?" she asked and he nodded.

After jotting down a few extra notes, she gathered her things and packed up her bag. Rumlow had come in just a few minutes later and sent her back to her room. She had to wait a few hours until the test results from his blood work came back. There were many different things they were testing him for; more so than what she usually asked her patients to test for.

Besides that, she was feeling good about the fact that she had gotten him to talk. She had thought it would take longer but after Rumlow had given her the file that morning, she knew what she had to do. She had to give him some sort of hope to hold onto. She'd seen the look on his face; he had no hope. He had nothing. No emotions whatsoever and today she had elicited not only curiosity but shock and thoughtfulness.

Hydra was obviously concerned about their soldier's wellbeing to a sick extent. They needed healthy killing machines. That much was apparent. Almost every 'agent' she'd encountered or seen so far was physically fit above and beyond. Every day that she thought about the things that were going on just under her nose, it made her want to throw up. There was absolutely nothing she could do now. She kept hope that things would change for the better, but she had no idea they were eventually only going to get worse.


A/N: Yay, he speaks! Hahaha. I hope everyone is having a great winter break! Happy holidays and happy New Year! More will be coming soon!