The man standing at the entrance to the base with a blonde woman in his arms didn't look like the man they had seen in the security footage from a week ago. His hair was cut short and he was dressed in civilian clothing, but the blood-soaked white T-shirt didn't hide the metal arm that was also caked with dirt and gore. Two gunshot wounds were visible, one through his right forearm and another in his right thigh. Both were tied up with torn strips of cotton, most likely an old shirt.

The blonde woman had to be Jemma. At this distance though, she couldn't see any injuries given that the Winter Soldier had her tightly wrapped in his jacket, her face buried in his chest. Jemma was shivering violently though and watched the Soldier adjust his hold on her so she could soak in more of his warmth. He cared for her it seemed…

Those pale blue eyes scanned over the four of them, most likely assessing their threat level. But May could see that those eyes, while attentive, were slightly glazed over. That and the alarmingly pale pallor of his exposed skin lead her to believe he was suffering from extreme blood loss and premature hypothermia. He wasn't surprised by the number of guns being pointed at them and she had no doubts that he could probably take them, even in his current condition.

"Sergeant Barnes…Sergeant Bucky Barnes of the Howling Commandoes?" Phil's voice faltered and he lowered his gun.

Damn idiot! She was about to send him a glare when she watched the Soldier's expression. His brow furrowed and he seemed confused about the question. He nodded and she noticed him sway on his feet. The Soldier…Barnes would collapse at any moment. Phil turned to her, ignoring the smoldering glare, and said: "Get two gurneys."

"But Phil…"

Her response was met with a stern look of his own. "We can talk later May. These two need medical attention." He turned to Morse and Hunter, ordering them to lower their guns. They did so reluctantly.

Two gurneys were brought out a minute later and she watched as Barnes laid Jemma down onto one of them. Doing so showed the extent of the man's injuries. She couldn't hide the shock on her face when she caught sight of the blood-soaked bandages wrapped around his torso and left shoulder. She couldn't fathom how the man was still on his feet… They let him pull himself onto the gurney, jaw clenching as he laid flat on his back and closed his eyes.

He stayed that way until they were both rolled into the medical suite and his eyes sprang open as Phil injected a heavy sedative into his right arm. Given the amount Phil had injected, it only took moments for Barnes' eyes to close.

May looked down at the now unconscious man on the gurney. The left arm was unlike anything she'd seen, save for Mike Thompson's Deathlock hardware. Phil had advised that no one touch the arm without Barnes' express permission, except to examine the wound near it.

While not exactly the most medically inclined, Phil thought it best that only he and May work on Barnes in case someone or something sets him off. She helped Phil strip the man of his bloody clothes and bandages. She started with the bullet in his thigh and was first surprised by the amount of healing that had occurred in that time and second by the sheer luck that it hadn't hit the femoral artery. Reopening the wound, she pulled out the bullet and proceeded to sterilize and wrap it before moving up to the two wounds in his abdomen.

"How is Simmons?" She again reopened the wound and sterilized it before moving onto the next one.

"Four bruised ribs, deep tissue bruising on her right shoulder, deep laceration to the palm of her left hand that was expertly stitched up, her right wrist was broken a day or two ago and again reset by someone who knew what they were doing." He helped turn Barnes onto his right side. "Along with layers of bruising around her throat, there also bruises covering her arms and legs. Looks like he took the brunt of it though."

"Jesus Phil…" The injuries on his back no better. She hastily removed the bullet and sterilized the sight before wrapping gauze around his stomach and back. The wound to his left shoulder looked like someone had taken a hack at him, but on closer inspection, she noticed the torn muscle and skin. Someone had stabbed him and pulled down with sufficient force. "How was he still standing?"

"Not the worst beating he's taken." Came a cool voice from the doorway.

If they hadn't been experienced agents, they might've jumped. Phil and May only snapped their heads up, unable to pull their weapons with their hands full of an unconscious Barnes. Natasha Romanov was leaning against the doorway, arms folded across her chest. She raised one eyebrow at Phil's stunned silence. "No hello?"

"I…"

On any other day, May would have been amused by the expression, but she only turned to the Russian. "Could you help? We need another set of hands."

Cool green eyes met hers before Romanov walked to stand by May's side and looked at the damaged shoulder. After quickly assessing the injury, the woman sterilized the wound and began stitching it up, mindful of the chromed metal components woven throughout the muscle and embedded in the bone that were visible within the injury. "There was no damage to the arm, so I would advise not to let anyone mess around with it without his permission."

May nodded. "I'm assuming you've been tracking him?"

Romanov had them lay him on his back, her eyes taking in the other injuries and clean-shaven appearance. She nodded. "Since the attempted assassination of Pepper Potts. I've been watching for any attacks on HYDRA…given that his programming was dissolving rapidly since Steve broke through it, I figured he would want revenge."

"Programming?" Phil had finally managed to speak. "You mean he was brainwashed?"

"For decades." She responded.

"So what led you here?"

"There was a car explosion about nine miles from the base. I founded a wrecked car, a black SUV, and van. There was a grand total of forty-two bodies and bloody trail to your front door. " Her lips twitched in a ghost of a smile. "Soldier ripped those bastards apart."

Forty-two bodies? May looked over at Barnes. He had been enhanced by HYDRA, experimented on, and brainwashed for decades. This was HYDRA's response to Captain America, their own super soldier to control. May knew it was no coincidence that they picked Barnes. HYDRA erased a lifetime, erased an entire person from existence. How long did it take before he stopped fighting? What did it take to break a man like Bucky Barnes? "What happened to him?"

Romanov didn't miss the tone and she allowed her sadness to show for a moment. "He'll tell you." She tilted her head in the direction of the other medical lab. "Is she one of your agents? The woman he brought in?"

Phil nodded. "Jemma Simmons. She's an expert in human and alien biology, which made her useful to HYDRA so they could continue their experiments. They had her for almost five weeks…Barnes destroyed the base and took her with him. We still aren't entirely sure why…"

May sighed…sometimes Phil could be so transparent. "He cares for her…wants to protect her."

"Bucky Barnes," Romanov smiled. "Ever the lady's man."

"Did…someone say my name?"

May and Phil were the only ones shocked when Barnes slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, his pale eyes still a little glazed over. His eyes narrowed when they landed on Romanov. "Наталья? Это ты?"

Whatever was said froze the Russian in her tracks, her green eyes widened before she turned and left the room. Barnes seemed disoriented as the door shut and it took him a minute or so to come back. After a few slow blinks, the glaze faded away as his alertness returned and he examined the clean bandages wrapped around his bare torso. "What happened?"

May and Phil shared a look, deciding to let Romanov explain when she came back. Phil wore a slightly guilty expression. "I gave you a sedative so we could remove the bullets and stitch you up. Didn't want to risk other agents."

Barnes nodded. "And Jemma? Is she al'right?"

It seemed the Brooklyn accent was coming back in full force, a complete 180 degrees from the Russian he spoke minutes before. May assumed it wouldn't be the last time he'd phase in and out like that. She met his worried eyes. "She's fine. She should be waking up within the hour."

"You have questions then?"

Phil nodded again. "We do, but I thought you might want to change into some fresh clothes." He set the bundle of clothes next to him and made a gesture to the still blood caked metal arm. "I can also have our mechanical engineer get some cleaning tools for your arm if you want."

The second statement had him staring at the arm for a moment. "Is his name Leopold Fitz?"

May raised an eyebrow, but Phil didn't seem fazed. "Yes. Is there something wrong?"

"No, it's just…Jemma mentioned him a few times." His brow furrowed as he continued to stare at the arm, mechanical whirling and humming sounding from within as the fingers twitched.

There was something else though. May noticed the tense set of his shoulders, almost as if he were preparing himself for a strike. Her stomach rolled. "Fitz won't hurt you, Barnes."

"But I hurt her." He lowered his head. "I should be punished."

The flatness of the last few words had her hackles rising. It sounded rehearsed like he'd been told it before. How many times had he been punished? "Fitz trusts Jemma's judgment, Barnes. He won't hurt you."

"We'll give him a tranquilizer gun," Phil said after a moment. "He's a decent shot."

Barnes nodded. "Okay."

May and Phil left the room to give him some semblance of privacy. "What did they to do him, Phil?"

"I can't imagine… He's been a prisoner of HYDRA for nearly seventy years. We can at least give him peace of mind." Phil shrugged. "If that means arming Fitz, then so be it."

"You think he's ready for that? He just got Jemma back."

Phil opened the door to Jemma's medical suite. "Barnes saved Jemma…he'll do it."

May watched Phil tap Fitz on the shoulder. Fitz looked back to Jemma for moments, wringing his hands. He seemed to think it through before asking Phil why him. For a moment she was wondering the same thing, but Barnes had asked for him. Mack would most definitely put Barnes on edge, whereas Fitz was on the other end of the spectrum. Plus Fitz had worked closely with Jemma for years, meaning Jemma trusted him…and Barnes trusted Jemma. She wasn't really surprised to see Fitz nod and take the ICER from Phil.

"He's going to grab his things," Phil said once he reached her side. "He wants you with him."

May nodded and before she left, snuck a glance at Jemma. In the week since the video, she'd managed to put color back into her cheeks. She was still too underweight for her liking. The bruises were dark on her ivory skin and when she looked closer to ones around her throat, she remembered what Barnes had said. Did he cause all these injuries? May felt anger rise for a moment before remembering Barnes saying he should be punished and it faded. Clearly, he was unstable and unpredictable at times and Jemma was probably the only one around…

"I'm ready May." Fitz's voice was steady.

"Let's go then."