The next day, the winter soldier shows up and cuts me from my bonds before starting to throw punches. I was still weak but I fought back, losing every time. Things continued like this for another day or so until I was so worn out and beaten that I just laid on the floor and took it, never hearing one word from the soldier. The next day I heard the familiar sound of the large metal doors being opened and closed and the heavy footfalls that followed. I remained unmoving on the floor, bracing myself for whatever followed, keeping my swollen eyes closed. I was suddenly confused when I heard the 'clunk' of something being placed on the ground next to me, and then a shuffling sound. I continued to listen to what was going on, hearing the sound of dripping water. I frowned as I forced one of my eyes open, only to see the winter soldier sitting next to my broken body with a bowl of water and a cloth next to him. I watched as he dipped the cloth in the water, wringing it out before dabbing my forehead with it. I flinched at how gentle this action was, and he paused briefly before continuing. He said nothing as cleaned my wounds that he'd inflicted, and I too said nothing and closed my eyes again, slowly drifting off to a more comfortable sleep. I woke up the next morning before the soldier arrived and managed to drag myself to the wall and lean against it in a sitting position. After a minute or so, the winter soldier walked in just as he did yesterday, carrying a bowl of water and a cloth. He hesitated slightly before approaching me, when he saw me staring at him. He knelt down beside me, placing the cloth in the water before wringing it out again and bringing it to my injuries. "what are you doing?" I mutter hoarsely as I glare at him. He does not respond. "you think you can beat me senseless and then just walk back in here tending to my injuries like nothing ever happened?!" I continue furiously. when I continue to get the silent treatment I angrily kick the bowl of water over. The winter soldier glances at the now empty bowl of water before turning to me.

"I didn't want to hurt you" he says quietly, a look of hurt and desperation crossing his features. I continue to stare at him and he looks away. "they gave me orders to hurt you, but yesterday and today they told me I could do whatever I wanted with you." he says after a pause. "you are different because you are not afraid of me like the rest of them and you don't try to control me or use me…" this is probably the most he has ever said in a long time. I sit there, gaping as my mind races through the torturous things he must have endured for him to obey them so willingly. I look at him with a look of pity and sadness before I place my hand gently on his cheek. He flinches at first before turning to look at me; confused and shocked. I stroke his cheek with my thumb before letting my hand drop.

"I'm sorry…" was all I managed to say. Sorry for what exactly, I don't know. We both sat in silence for a few moments, unsure of what to say. The winter soldier puts the cloth down before joining me in a leaning position against the wall.

"I uh… don't get much free time… and I'm not usually allowed to speak with anyone so this is… different…" he says after settling against the wall.

"well what do you normally do when you aren't on a mission?" I ask.

"train. Prep for the next mission or they put me back on ice." he replies with a sigh.

"not much of a life…" I say sadly.

"weapons do not have a life." he says and grits his teeth.

"but you're not a weapon…" I say softly. He turns to look at me. "you're a man. Not an object, not a puppet or some toy soldier that they can pull of the shelf when they feel like it… You are a human being" I tell him, looking him in the eyes. Those dead eyes that still lack life. He shakes his head and turns his head. I sigh. "do you remember anything from before?" I ask, changing the subject but he just shakes his head again.

"they wipe my memory every so often, especially when I start to disobey or express my own thoughts to them that they feel may compromise my purpose to serve them." he explains, still not looking at me. "I am surprised they haven't done so at this point." he adds and I nod, thinking It over. It is strange, why they let him speak to me so often.

"why don't you fight back? I mean you obviously could, given the right opportunity-"

"Why would I?" he cuts me off "my work is helping a cause that-"

"but you must know that the people you are working for are part of something evil?" I cut him off this time and he sighs.

"I admit, I do question some of the things they have me do but I trust their system." he says as I glance around, wondering if their cameras heard what he just said and whether or not he will be punished for speaking ill of his employers. "the cameras only record images, they don't pick up sound, and the room is not bugged." he adds, noticing me. I look back to him.

"how would you know that?" I ask.

"because they have had me monitor you." he replies. Oh god… I think to myself, thinking back to all of the stuff I have done in my spare time here. "what about you… what was your life like?" he asks, interrupting my thoughts.

"um… well before I joined shield, I was… uh not the greatest human being. My parents… well I had run away from home a few times when I was younger, so by the time I was 16, I was on my 5th runaway attempt so my parents didn't even bother looking…" I say, my voice trailing off. I shake my head a moment later before continuing. "not that they were bad parents or anything, I was just troubled. I ran away to be with my boyfriend, Tyler. My parents hated him because he dropped out of school and was into drugs and shoplifting and all that bad stuff."

"did you love him?" he asks and I nod.

"I did at the time, even though he liked to sleep around and cheat on me… he got me into drugs and taught me street smarts and he treated me like I was his, and his alone…" I sighed at the memory and how vivid it all seemed. "but then there were other times he treated me like dirt. Told me I was worthless…" I added and shook my head as if to get rid of that memory. "we were also accompanied by some of his friends who were just as bad as us. We moved around a lot, abandoned buildings, cars, alleys, the streets… anywhere we could find. It wasn't until we were shoplifting from a drugstore that we… I… was caught. Nick Fury from Shield ran into us and my boyfriend and his gang all took off, leaving me behind. Fury caught me by the arm and proposed an offer that would keep me out of jail. He told me I had the potential of a Shield agent and that it would turn my life around. I figured it was better than jail so I accepted." I looked over to the soldier who seemed to be listening intently. "I picked up on training right away and very soon received my badge." I continued "I was a good shield agent until I met Loki…" I said and continued on to explain what happened in New York and also my relationship with Taz and Loki. He nodded, hanging onto my every word. I also told him about Skye and how she was the one that was on the phone that night of my mission. "after they started to trust me again, they assigned me to the missions they didn't want to do, and… well, here I am." I say as I finish. "pretty boring right?" I add with a half smile.

"No. I like hearing about other peoples lives, especially since I can't remember mine" he says sincerely. I nod. After a moment he coughs nervously before standing. "I should go." He says as he stands and picks up the bowl.

"ok" I say as I wince and shift my position against the wall. I watch the soldier walk towards the door and pause before leaving.

"It was nice talking to you Brianna." He says without turning around.

"It was nice talking to you too… Ummm…" I paused not sure what to call him, then I remembered my dream. "Uh, would you mind if I called you James? It sounds better than 'soldier' I think." I watched as he turned his head slightly and I think I saw a hint of a smile.

"I would like that." He said and I smiled. He then opened the huge metal door, leaving me alone for the remainder of the day.