CHAPTER 4 - Memories

"Put him on the bed and then stand by the door," Rumlow demanded. Bucky did as told, his eyes flicking around the room. There were no security cameras. No one could watch inside the room. Bucky almost sighed in relief but Rumlow was still watching. After dropping the still dazed archer onto the bed, Bucky backed up toward the door, thankful for the relief on his leg. It was already healing and standing still on it didn't seem to bother it, just walking and certainly carrying Clint. "Don't let him escape."

With that Rumlow shut the door behind him. Bucky waited, listening as best he could as Rumlow's feet stomped away. Once the hallway was quiet, Bucky surged forward.

"Barton!" the soldier called. Clint twitched, looking up at Bucky in confusion. "Jesus, Barton. I can't do this."

"What?" Clint muttered. Bucky's face twisted in pain. He had hoped that Clint's serum would have given him some sort of defense against the Chair. Yeah, it hadn't really with him but then again, his brain had been fried for years. But, how much had Clint lost? "Who are you?"

"Fuck, I'm Bucky. Bucky Barnes," Bucky replied. Clint's face furrowed. He knew that name. Coulson always mentioned it. Hell, he had had long debates with Coulson over who was better, Steve or Bucky. But, there was no way this was Bucky.

"He's dead," Clint murmured. If Bucky was alive, Steve would be going to the end of the earth trying to find the sniper. Bucky closed his eyes. They were so screwed.

"No. I... I was under Hydra's control for the last eighty years," Bucky informed. Clint looked at Bucky in confusion and right away the soldier understood. At the memories Clint seemed to have forgotten, the archer was likely stuck in memories before Bucky's time. That would have put him closer to seventy years that Bucky had been under Hydra.

"That... That makes no sense," Clint grumbled, looking to the floor. Bucky put both hands on Clint's cheeks and made the archer look up. Clint tensed, his eyes zeroing onto the metal arm. Bucky couldn't help but wince as he knew what was coming next. "Winter Soldier!"

"Jesus, of course you'd fucking remember that," Bucky hissed as Clint pulled away from him, his back hitting the wall. Clint stared at him in surprise and fear. "Barton, please."

"How... How do you know me?" Clint wondered, his voice trembling. Bucky sighed, looking to the ground before pushing himself away from the bed and running his hands through his hair. He couldn't let Clint go back into the chair. Not again. "Are you gonna kill me?"

"No!" Bucky cried, spinning to look at Clint in surprise. But then he remembered. The Winter Soldier had been a vicious assassin. No one was left alive after meeting him. Bucky winced. "Fuck, we have to get out of here."

"What?" Clint questioned, shifting on the bed to get more comfortable. Bucky let out a whine of despair and started pacing the room. Only Sam knew that they were captured and Clint was far past the point of even remembering Sam. It wasn't likely that Clint would willingly follow them. Especially if Clint couldn't remember S.H.I.E.L.D falling because it was released that Hydra was in their ranks. Growling, Bucky twisted and slammed his fist into the wall. It didn't even dent. The cell had been built to hold a super soldier.

"Fuck!" Bucky snapped. Clint was missing far too much for him to trust anyone.

"Aren't you working for them?" Clint softly asked, remembering the soldier standing in the corner watching as whatever was going on just continued. Bucky winced again before shaking his head.

"No... No, I... Steve broke me out," Bucky stuttered. "I regained my memories."

"You... Why did you lose them?" Clint wondered. Bucky sighed, turning to look at Clint.

"That chair I removed you from. It... It makes memories van... Not vanish but hard to reach," Bucky tried to explain. "Tony tried to tell me once but it was too technical."

"You know Tony?" Clint questioned. Bucky groaned moving to place his head against the wall. This was seriously not going well. God forbid when Clint finds out most of his friends are dead. And many of the new friends likely didn't know he had gotten taken. "What's wrong?"

"I... Forget it for now. Just, we need to get out of here," Bucky growled. Clint moved to get up as Bucky turned to check the door. It was locked. Of course it was locked. Bucky tried to tightly squeeze the handle in order to break it down but to his surprise, it didn't even dent. Holy shit, they were really screwed. Bucky leaned his head on the door now. "Damn it."

"What?" Clint whispered, moving to check on the soldier in extreme confusion and caution. While Bucky seemed to know what he was talking about, and his face was vaguely familiar as an actual friend, Clint was still hesitant in trusting him. What if this was all a ruse? He could tell something was indeed wrong with his memory but, what if Bucky was just taking advantage?

"I... I can't break the door open," Bucky grumbled as he fought fearful tears from forming. Clint winced. Oh. Well, that sucked. He almost felt bad for the soldier until he realized that he was trapped as well. But... Someone had to know, right?

"Oh... Is... Does Steve know we're caught?" Clint inquired. Bucky couldn't stop his flinch. Clint frowned. That wasn't a good flinch. That was someone trying to hide something from him. If Bucky was a 'friend,' then Clint doubted he'd try to keep it secret. Or... Or this could be another test? God, why couldn't he even remember how he got here? Last he could remember was movie night at the tower. They had been halfway through Jurassic Park. Had the tower been attacked? Was everyone caught? "What don't I know?"

"I... Just forget it," Bucky tried, moving to stare at Clint with pleading eyes. Clint's face turned dark. This was leaning more toward ruse now. He tightened his hands into fists. There was no way he was friends with the Winter Soldier. Friends with Black Widow was one thing. There was no way he was lucky enough to be friends with the two most deadly assassins in the world.

"What am I missing?" the archer growled. Bucky winced. Scanning over the archer's face, Bucky knew he had lost. If he didn't explain, Clint would never believe him. Might as well just give in and tell him the truth. Otherwise any possibility of trust there could have been would vanish.

"What year is it?" the soldier retorted. Clint's face twisted in surprise. What the fuck did that have to do with anything?

"2013. Why?" Clint asked.

"2025," Bucky corrected. Clint paled. He was missing twelve years? A lot could happen in that time. Cooper, Lila, Laura! What happened to them? Cooper would be 21 years old. Lila, 19.

"What?" the archer cried. Bucky sighed, completely knowing the feeling.

"It's 2025 and... And a lot has happened that you've missed," Bucky sighed. Clint stared at him in expectation. Bucky groaned lightly. "Hydra is part of S.H.I.E.L.D, Tony built an android that attacked Sokovia. That enacted the Sokovia Accords which stated no one could be a 'hero' without working for the government. There was two sided war started because of that. You... You had your soul stolen. You went to space... You... You went back to 1943 and stayed with me and Stevie."

"What the fuck!" Clint couldn't help but screech. While it may have been twelve years that he lost, there was no way all that shit could have happened. Especially Hydra being in S.H.I.E.L.D. Which, it's odd that of all that Bucky listed, that was what Clint didn't really believe. Bucky winced. He had to finish saying everything otherwise he doubted he'd get it out.

"Half the population vanished," Bucky whispered. Clint paled but Bucky held his arms up to placate the archer. "But, it's fixed!"

"Is... Is everyone okay?" Clint wondered. Bucky looked away from Clint. Clint shifted to look closer at Bucky. "Is everyone okay? Are my friends okay?" Bucky didn't answer. But apparently that was answer enough. "Bruce?"

"He's fine," Bucky quickly answered.

"Thor?"

"In space doing... Something."

"Steve?" Bucky hesitated here, his own feelings of abandonment and betrayal still rather fresh even after all this time. Not that Bucky didn't understand where Steve was coming from. Hell, if he had been in Steve's shoes, Bucky might have stayed behind to be with the love of his life. "What happened with Steve?"

"He... He used an Infinity Stone to go back in time and he lived out his life with Peggy," Bucky muttered. Clint frowned. That didn't sound so bad. He had already survived those seventy years. So, he should still be around, right? "He's... He's too old to fight anymore."

"Jesus... Tony?" Clint continued. Bucky didn't answered. Clint's face hardened. Was he seriously going to have to pry all this information out of him? "What happened to Tony?"

"He... The way that half the population vanished was an alien named Thanos had collected the six Infinity Stones. Using a gauntlet to control the power, he snapped his fingers and we... Well, the populations vanished into dust."

"We? So, Tony was part of that?" Clint asked. Bucky shook his head, his face pained. Clint frowned before realization struck. "You were."

Bucky nodded. "I was one of the ones that vanished. Five years passed before you and the others were able to collect the stones from various times in the past and Thanos's gauntlet was stolen. You placed the stones in the gauntlet and... Bruce... He made the snap to make everyone return but it permanently destroyed his arm. While we fought a past version of Thanos... Tony... He used the gauntlet to destroy Thanos and his invading army."

"If Bruce's arms was destroyed... Tony..."

"Tony died," Bucky sighed out. Clint paled and he moved, nearly loosing his balance in stunned surprise. Bucky quickly shifted out and grabbed the archer to steady him. Surprisingly, Clint didn't pull away from him.

"And Nat?" Clint begged. Bucky's face turned distraught. Clint let out a loud whine. "No... No, no, no!"

"I'm sorry," Bucky whispered, pulling Clint into a hug. And to Bucky's shock, Clint took the hug and even began hugging Bucky back.

"How?" Clint croaked out. Bucky sighed. He knew this was something Clint had been killing himself over. The archer blamed himself for Natasha giving her life. And no matter what anyone said, he wouldn't listen.

"To get one of the stones... A sacrifice had to be made," Bucky muttered. Clint let out another sob. "She refused to let you do it."

"Oh god," Clint whimpered. Of course Natasha would do that. Of fucking course she would! Bucky squeezed a bit tighter. Then Clint winced. Something... There were more... More than just the names he listed. But... What. No, who were they?

"Sam? Wanda?" he softly questioned, confusion warring on his face. Bucky stilled before pulling away from Clint to stare at him. If Clint's memories were in 2013, Clint was supposed to be before the Hydra reveal. Before Steve and Sam met. And certainly before Wanda and Ultron. Those happened a year later. He had to be remembering things, right?

"You... You remember?" Bucky asked. Clint shook his head as if someone had hit it harshly. Bucky just watched him closely. He knew what it was like to regain memories that had been electrocuted away. It was disorienting and sometimes painful.

"I... I know the names but..."

"You can't put faces to them," Bucky finished. Clint nodded, shaking his head again right after. Bucky moved closer, placing hands on either side of his shoulders. "It will come back in time, I swear." Then Bucky paused. He could hear something. Footsteps! Shit, he could hear footsteps. "Look, we're gonna get out of here but they can't know that... That I'm fine. They need to think I'm under their control."

"Why?" Clint wondered, focusing his attention on the solider. Bucky grimaced. He wished he could do anything but what he was about to suggest. But if they left now, they'd likely get caught again and then they'd be in an even worse position.

"Please. If you don't, they'll wipe me too and then we'll never escape," Bucky begged. Clint frowned but nodded. "Now, when the door opens, try and escape. I'm gonna catch you, but please try anyways. Also, Rumlow... He isn't S.H.I.E.L.D, he's Hydra."

Before Clint could react to that, Bucky placed himself in front of the doorway and schooled his features into a blank slate. Clint furrowed his brow but smartly stayed quite. A moment later, the door opened. Without thinking too much about listening to Bucky as he likely would have done this anyway, Clint lunged forward. Bucky caught him with a small grunt and a half step backwards. Clint didn't have as much training or experience with the super soldier serum as Bucky and at this point in his memory didn't even know he had it.

"Nice attempt, Barton. But the Asset will always be faster," Rumlow chuckled. Clint's eyes narrowed. 'Asset?' What did he mean 'Asset?'

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Clint hissed needing to know more of what was going on. Was Bucky right? Could it actually be 2025? Could Rumlow actually be Hydra? Rumlow's eyebrow twitched.

"You're already remembering? Fuck," the man cussed. Clint's face darkened in anger. He hadn't wanted to believe Bucky but now... Now he had no choice. All of what the man said had to be true. All of it. Most of his friends were dead or he could hardly remember them. Why? Why was this happening? "Asset, bring him back to the Chair."

Clint's eyes widened, looking to Bucky in surprise as the soldier shifted his grip and started shoving the archer forward. Smartly, Clint tried his hardest to fight back. Bucky grunted, the bullet wound in his leg still bothering him and Clint's strength working against him it was hard to get the archer to move. He was half tempted to tell Clint to give in but the Asset wouldn't do that and Bucky sure as fuck wasn't going to tell Clint that he needed to get in that chair again.

They entered the room again and Clint recognized the Chair and so he did the only thing he could think of, he started flipping out real bad. Bucky shifted his grip again, trying his best to hold Clint down but was beginning to fail. Rumlow came over and then with a metal baton, slammed it into Clint's gut. The air left the archer's body in surprise and Bucky moved the final steps to the Chair and pushed him down with a large feeling of guilt descending over him. 'Thankfully' Rumlow had brought in extra guards to secure Clint into the seat as Bucky held him down.

'I'm sorry,' Bucky mouthed to Clint as the archer gave him a betrayed look. Once Clint was locked in place, Bucky walked backwards to his place in the corner of the room. Someone shoved the mouth guard into Clint's face even as the archer tried his best to struggle against it.

"I want him wiped clean this time," Rumlow ordered. One tech winced.

"It took seventeen attempts to completely wipe the Asset when we first go a hold of him, according to the notes," the other stated. Rumlow raised the gun he had up to that tech's face.

"I want it done now. This chair is better equipped than the old one," the man snapped. The tech nodded and turned back to the machine, adjusting some of the dials and things. Rumlow backed off, watching Clint with an evil smile. Clint jerked in the restraints, trying his hardest to break the things. "That chair was made to hold a super soldier like Rogers. You ain't gonna escape at all."

Clint made a grunting sound as if swearing at Rumlow but no one could understand it and every time Clint went to spit the guard out, someone shoved it roughly back in his face. The archer screamed and raged but could do nothing about it. Rumlow smirked and not long after, the technicians nodded that they were ready. Clint whimpered, focusing on Bucky as the chair leaned back and then the pieces fell into place.

Clint's screams seemed louder this time and Bucky had to seriously force himself not to react to it at all. He needed to figure out how to get out of here. There was no way Clint would be able to mentally last that much longer. A minute later, the chair was done and it moved forward. Clint blearily sat there, hardly glancing around the room even as he spit out the guard. Rumlow moved forward, positioning himself in front of the archer. Clint focused on him for a moment.

"Rumlow?" the archer whimpered praying that the other agent was here to help. Rumlow cussed, backing up.

"Again," he ordered. Clint furrowed his brow in betrayal before a tech replaced the mouth guard and the chair pushed itself backwards. The archer whimpered but didn't fight it at all. Bucky closed his eyes, fighting to reopen them as Clint's screams echoed through the room once again. This time took longer than any of the other times and Bucky fought really hard not to just jump forward and shut everything down.

When it ended, Bucky finally got to see what it was like on the other end of the chair. Clint was so unfocused that he didn't even try to spit out the guard. Someone came forward and removed the guard for the archer. Rumlow came forward, lifting the archer's face to stare at him. Clint tried to focus on him but hardly could.

"Do you know me?" Clint shook his head. Rumlow smirked. "What is your name?"

"I... I don't know," the archer murmured, 'confused.' Bucky noted Clint's eyes twitched around the room. Clint must be past the time when he met Rumlow but not as wiped at the man had wanted. Rumlow chuckled and patted the archer's cheek.

"No need to worry about that now. All will be explained at a later point," the man replied, moving to stand up. "I want him ready for programming as soon as possible."

"We need to wait a day at least. His serum is not the same as the Asset's. We don't want to risk losing him," a tech mentioned. Rumlow sighed.

"Then get him ready and do it as soon as possible," Rumlow stressed. The man then turned to Bucky. "Bring him back to the room."

Bucky didn't so much as blink before heading to Clint. He quickly undid the restraints and lifted the archer to his feet. Clint couldn't even attempt to stand this time. Bucky nearly winced but held it in and walked out of the room. Once in the hall Bucky noted no one was around. This might be their chance. Carefully, Bucky led Clint around. He passed the room that Rumlow had sent the duo to before and continued onwards. They needed to find the way out.

"Come on," Bucky whispered, trying to get Clint to support more of his own weight. Clint tried but he was still too out of it. They got down a few more hallways before Bucky felt something prick his neck. Jerking, he turned around but no one was around. What the fuck?

"I heard there was rumor you had broken your programming," Rumlow's voice called through the hall. Bucky stiffed as he started growing weary. Shit, he was tranqed. He stumbled, finding it hard to support Clint anymore. "Should have watched you a bit closer."

"No," Bucky hissed, fighting to stay up and keep moving. Then Rumlow appeared at the end of the hall. Bucky cussed.

"Guess we'll start wiping you as soon as you go down," Rumlow chuckled. Bucky fell to his knees, loosing his grip on Clint who just barely was able to catch himself before face planting. Rumlow also kneeled, keeping his face within Bucky's view. "Good thing we found the notebook that tells us how to program someone. Should be easy to set you right back up."

"No," Bucky groaned again, slipping onto the floor. Rumlow nodded as Bucky's vision began to fade to black.

"Yes."

Darius has been excited the past few days. We found some kittens in our shed beside the house. As the weather was really hot and we were getting overwhelmed by the heat in the shed, we caught them and brought them inside. Now they are hanging out in the master bathroom. Course, we got the kittens but we were unable to catch the mother. Thankfully the kittens look old enough to be separated from their mother but now we gotta figure out how to catch mama.