Hi everyone !
This was written for the Stucky flash bingo, square #4 'Silver'.
Square #5 won't appear in this mini series, as it was written for a round robin and has multiple authors. You can find it by looking for 'Stucky flash bingo 2021 Round robin' on AO3.
Til next time!
The glint of metal, the sight of a tool and Bucky was back in DC, a decade ago.
The asset was lost in his head. His… thoughts were all confused. He wasn't used to that. His life was simple. A bit hard, sometimes, but simple. He did not have confused thoughts. His handlers would wake him up, help him get adjusted -that process was painful, the asset didn't feel good when they had to do that- the orders would be given, then the mission would be conducted and it would be another step towards freedom.
So yes, the asset's life could be hard, but it was simple. Confused thoughts were not normal. Was maintenance required?
The tech on his left opened a plate in the metal arm and an image completely different sprung into his head. A small man, with what sounded like a german accent.
'Sergeant Barnes', he said.
Then there was a train, snow and… the man on the bridge! His face was weird, and he was screaming at the other person. 'Bucky' The man on the bridge had called the asset Bucky. Then there was the mountain, more snow, and someone was being dragged across it. The focus of the image went on an arm that was bleeding, the end severed mid forearm. It shifted to a lab, someone sawing the arm just above the elbow. Then the image shifted again, and showed someone lifting both arms, one flesh and the other metal. Was it… was it the asset? 'You are to be the new fist… of HYDRA'. On the image, the asset lifted a tech by the throat and was stabbed by a needle. Were those images… memories? Did the asset know the man on the bridge? He had recognised the asset! Yes, they probably knew each other!
'Put him on ice.'
No, not the ice, he needed to know who was the man on the bridge!
The images stopped, and the asset went back to seeing the bank vault. It took him a second to register the lab tech had been thrown away and all the men had their weapons pointed towards him. The asset's chest was going up and down very quickly, too, and it was strange because that usually only happened during recalibration.
Bucky came back to the present when someone let a tool fall in the lab. Shuri's lab.
In. Out. In. Out. This was all in the past, HYDRA couldn't control him anymore, he wasn't alone.
"Buck, you good?" Steve; of course he'd pick up on the slightest change in his breathing pattern. Bucky didn't answer, trying to calm his heart before he opened his mouth, because who knew what would come out with Steve looking at him like that.
That didn't work though, because the images kept replaying behind his eyes, and his heartbeat went back up.
"Do you need to postpone?", Steve insisted.
"Sergeant Barnes?" This time Shuri was the one asking. Shuri, who had abandoned all her work the second he finally admitted something wasn't totally right with his arm.
Bucky took a deep breath, then closed his mouth again. Steve frowned then shifted to place himself on Bucky's right.
"Give me five things you see.", Steve said out of the blue. That was probably the exercise they both used the most.
"You, Shuri... my arm, a blue and black bird who just flew by the window… the little wheels."
"Great! Now four things you can touch."
"Your hand, the sheet, my leg and my stress ball."
"Good. Three things you can hear?"
"The hum of the machine, your heartbeats and … rock music down the halway?"
Shuri piped in. "Ah, that must be Melokule. She loves Muse. Two things you can smell, Sergeant Barnes?"
Bucky tuted at the name but gave his answer anyway. "Some antiseptic and your perfume."
"And one you can taste?"
This time, Bucky looked up in Steve's eyes and gave a soft smile. "Your chapstick, punk."
Steve's face lost its tension, and he gave Bucky a small peck on the lips. "There you go, a bit more chapstick."
"You old men are disgusting, even more than my brother and Nakia! And you are distracting everyone!"
They both chuckled, then Bucky squeezed Steve's hand and told Shuri they could start again. He was fine now.
