Memories plagued the Winter Soldier's mind as they worked on his arm. A mouse of a man leaning over him and calling him Sergeant Barnes. One of Steve Rogers calling out to Bucky as he fell from a railing. The 50 foot drop down a cliff face. Men dragging him, missing an arm through the snow. The mousey man's voice again as scientists looked over him and called him the new fist of Hydra. Maggie's face in tears as she sat next to him. Her holding up her tied hands and telling him they already caught her. Fighting to break her free before he was stabbed with a needle. The man's voice again, telling others to put him on ice as he looked through a freezing glass window.
'Promise me,' Maggie's voice rang in his mind, 'you're going to take this ring back from me, take me somewhere fantastically romantic and ask me proper so I can stare at it for a few moments and pretend there's ever been any other answer than "yes."'
He breathed heavily.
Those weren't recent words to come from her, they echoed in his mind like a far-off dream, and he wondered if that's what they were.
He imagined her standing in front of him, storms in her eyes as she glared at him. She was in his shirt, and only his shirt, her hand on her hip and her blonde was in a braid that fell down the front of her. He could imagine her yelling at him and telling him what a stupid idea this was. She was right, he should have listened, but he had never expected to fail his mission. He had never failed one before, why was it when it came down to her, came down to being around her did?
'Our Maggie,' Rogers had called her. The Winter Soldier had been suddenly enraged by the words. The happiness she had brought him…. The happiness she always brought him was not something he wanted to share with anyone else.
He closed his eyes as he attempted to relax in the chair, but images of her from the day before plagued him. They started pleasant. Various moments from their time in bed. Then laughter and teasing as they shared meals together. Then her running from him, trying to escape from the house. His need to lock her up to keep her safe. Her cursing him with tears in her eyes. The look of betrayal as he left her behind.
He came out of the memories swinging his metal arm and knocked the scientist working on him several feet. All the guards in the room trained their weapons on him. He breathed heavily paying them no attention. His own words echoed in his mind.
'Still think I'm a good man?' he had asked her. He had turned away quickly but her eyes told him more than he wanted. Even with everything he had done to her… She was still convinced he was a good man… at least in that moment.
"Sir," one of the scientists spoke from the other room, "H-He's unstable. Erratic."
Pierce entered the room, looking at the Winter Soldier. He looked around and saw the members of the STRIKE team aiming their weapons at the man. Pierce indicated for them to lower their guns and they obeyed. He stopped in front of the Winter Soldier and stuffed his glasses into his suit pocket. Pierce smirked as he looked over the Winter Soldier, seeing marks on the man he knew weren't from combat. The Winter Soldier looked at him for a brief second before looking away.
"Well, well, I see you've been busy. Mission report," Pierce retorted, his tone going from smug to commanding. The Winter Soldier stared into nothingness, as Pierce repeated himself in annoyance, "Mission report now." Pierce stepped forward and when the Winter Soldier refused to look at him, he backhanded the asset.
"The man on the bridge," Bucky started as he looked back at Pierce, "Who was he?"
"You met him earlier this week on another assignment," Pierce stated, and Bucky looked at the ground.
"His name was Steve. I knew him," he said, then he looked up at Pierce, "he knew her. He called her Maggie."
Pierce pulled up a rolling medical stool and sat on it.
"Your work has been a gift to mankind," Pierce began, "You shaped the century. And I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're going to give it a push. But if you don't do your part, then I can't do mine. And that includes eliminating all of our threats. Without that, Hydra can't give the world the freedom it deserves."
"But I knew him," Bucky responded. Pierce sat back and sighed a disappointed sigh before leaning forward.
"And you knew her too," he said, his eyes shifting to one of the bruises on his collar bone, "Maggie… Anya… Speaking of, where is our little Angel of Death now?"
Bucky looked away from Pierce, his jaw clenching as he refused to speak any further. He had already failed her, but he would die before he gave her up.
Pierce smirked and leaned forward.
"You think she won't come for you?" he whispered, "I plan on it. And I can't wait to see your face as I kill her slowly and you can't even remember why you should care."
Bucky's eyes flashed to his and he attempted to lunge at Pierce, but the restraints kept him still.
"Prep him," Pierce said chuckling as he stood.
"He's been out of cryo freeze for too long," the scientist replied. Pierce turned to the Winter Soldier, his smirk growing.
"What a shame. Then wipe him and start over. Make sure he doesn't remember a single thing about her," Pierce ordered. The scientists walked over to the Winter Soldier, pushing him back into the chair. They shoved the mouth guard in, and he bit down on it immediately. Angry tears plagued his eyes as he stared at Pierce's back. He was going to be sent after her. He was going to have to be the one to bring her in. Pierce knew he couldn't kill her…
'I'll give up all of my happiness, if it means keeping you safe,' Bucky had told her. He focused on remembering her face every time she woke up and called him by his childhood nickname. She had remembered him. She had remembered all of him. She still loved him, and her beautiful blue eyes were only for him.
The head clamp lowered, and his breaths became shallow and panicked. He didn't want to forget her. More than anything else, he wanted to keep her in his memories. He tried to imagine her lips on his, her fingers in his hair. He gripped the chair wishing it was instead his hands on her hips.
He should have listened to her. They should have run away together.
He heard the hum of the machine, the ache of the electricity, the feral screams of a pained man… and then for a moment everything was silent.
"Longing… Rusted—" The Winter Soldier writhed as the words droned on.
And then everything was gone.