11th May 2014

His whole existence was a void. His mind-scape uncluttered by memories, thoughts or feelings. The nothingness was beautiful and all-encompassing. He tried to grasp on to anything, but could not recall any sense of self, no past; everything came up blank. He had the inkling what he was missing was important, somehow wrong to be missing. He was then aware that someone was screaming themselves hoarse. The sound was hopeless and seemed to echo in a small space. The man was glad when the darkness became silent once more.

…..

The agony of extreme pins and needles rolled across his entire body, which then intensified to combine with crippling muscle cramps as he woke. He became aware of a small amount of warmth seeping into the his cold, jerking limbs and that he was naked lying in a large bath tub of lukewarm water. He could not help but whimper as his teeth started to chatter uncontrollably and as his body was wracked with violent shivers. Heavy limbs bashing against the confines of the metal bath, resulting in water slopping onto the floor. He opened his eyes to observe a tall dark haired stranger adding a precise amount of warm water to the bath. Raising the ambient temperature slowly, but the water was still not warm enough to chase away the fact he was freezing cold.

The stranger was handsome with blue eyes and had a metal left hand. The mechanical prosthetic drew his full attention, it was really something, which seemed to flex and work with a full range of movement. The man smiled and stroked the hair out of the bather's eyes and the spoke in Russian, "Hello, Aleksandr. I am James. You are almost thawed from cryofeeeze. Another half an hour and you can get out of the bath. Rest, until then. Go back to sleep."

The man in the bath could only nod his head slightly, not having the energy to talk or move more than that, relaxing into the knowledge that his name was Aleksandr.

His slumber was cut short when his strange nurse lifted him out of the bath with surprising ease. The sopping wet invalid could not coordinate his limbs and was a floppy doll as he was dried and dressed in warm, loose clothes comprising track suit bottoms, sweatshirt, hat and socks. The weak and tired man lay in a narrow bed and was covered over with several blankets. James then spoke of his medical treatment. "I will now put in a drip and a feeding tube". With that the man busied himself inserting a cannula into his patient's left arm and tipped the unresisting patient's head back to insert a feeding tube.

The man showed Alex the plastic feeding tube. "Swallow as a put the tube in your nose. It will stop you gagging."

The man in the bed relaxed, glad after the procedure was over. Tried and exhausted; he closed his eyes and murmured "Yasha?"

"No, Aleksandr, my name is James." The man had a smile but his eyes were sad. He stroked the kid's cheek, after taping the tube in place. James then murmured "You are such a good kid."

The man in the bed frowned, as he could not think why he had called James, Yasha. Who was Yasha? It was confusing. The only facts were that he spoke and understood Russian well, but knew he was not a native. For the life of him he could not recall where he hailed from. He also knew James was not a russian name, but the dark haired man spoke Russian fluently, with a guttural inflections of a native.

"Relax Aleksandr, try not to think too much. You will start to remember soon enough. Tomorrow, you can eat real food and start exercising. Then you will feel much better." Barnes knew that with increased energy and movement, the kid's brain would start to heal the extensive brain damage from the machine. The whole recovery was going to have to be by ear, Barnes only had his own experience to draw from and he was not a medical professional or psychologist. He had been unfrozen for several weeks before he had started to become erratic and then only after he had been confronted by the only person alive whom he had strong emotional ties to.

The dark haired man sat and drank a large mug of coffee and reviewed the files he had recovered regarding the backup Asset. The kid's file showed he had no close friends or any family at the time HYDRA acquired him. The kid had washed out of three high schools in California, but had graduated early with excellent grades. His school record from London was no better, showing long periods absent, disruptive behaviour and being isolated by his peers. There was one foster placement on file, but the kid had walked out on his eighteenth birthday and not returned for any visits or holidays. The foster father had written a book about his foster son after his disappearance. Edward Pleasure seemed to be the only person who had missed this kid or wanted him to get in contact.

The journalist's book outlined MI6's use of the teenager in unauthorised operations in 2001 and 2002. Only, there were several important facts missing from the book. HYDRA had know Alex's father and uncle had been the sons of a survivor of Project Ophion. The effects of the British version of the serum had been passed down genetically from their father and both men had enhanced capabilities and appeared to be perfect operatives. HYDRA had liquidated both men as threats.

Analysis of the actions of Ian Rider, suggested he had been attempting to recreate the KGB's Red Room, to program his nephew to be a weapon. The blood chemistry from the kid had proved the British serum had been effective. The doctor's had been quite disappointed to discover cryo-freeze rendered the subjects infertile. None of the files suggested any attempts to procreate from the kid. Too much hassle keeping two super soldiers erased and prepped for missions and the Red Room had proved to have limited success. Barnes now knew that HYDRA had no intensions of capturing him or using the backup. Termination orders had been issued. His decision to rescue the kid had been the right one. They had already cut the power supply to the chamber and had left the kid to wake up in a sealed unit to die a slow and painful death.

He checked on the sleeping teenager. Tomorrow he would find out if the kid could remember anything and to get the kid acclimatised to his new post-HYDRA existence. How the hell was he going to break it to the kid it was 2014 and that he'd been frozen for nine years?

…

The kid was starring at his breakfast. It looked lumpy. Obviously cooking was not one of James' skills. He had to admit he was hungry and glad to have had the feeding tube removed.

"Eat you're oatmeal, its getting cold." James encouraged. The simple breakfast was the best thing available not to encourage vomiting after a period without solid food.

With the tiniest amount on his spoon, the blond teenager put the objectionable foodstuff in his mouth. Considering it looked awful it tasted wonderful. The next spoonful was about a third of the bowl as once.

"Whoa, slow down there, kid. Eat all that in one go and you'll be puking it all back up again in no time. Small spoonfuls, OK?"

"Yessir." Too soon, Alex was licking the base of his bowl, wanting more. He put the bowl down and watched as James then cleared the table and washed the pan and bowls. "OK, so its time to exercise now?"

"Yeah, yoga first. Do you remember why you called me Yasha last night?"

The kid frowned, as he could recall all his interactions since waking, but who this Yasha was drawing a blank. "No, but you haven't told me my full name nor yours."

"Well, I'm James Buchanan Barnes and you are Alexander John Rider." Barnes hoped that the kid's full name would jog some memories.

"Well, that sounds right." It felt good to know that was who he was, because it did not feel like a lie. Running the name through his head, he knew he had repeated it like a prayer, like that knowledge had been the only thing to hold on to. Only it hadn't been Alexander, something shorter… Alexei?…. Xander?….Sasha?… Alex. "Call me Alex, James."

Barnes did not push for Alex for more, knowing it would take time for memories to return but that he had remembered his preferred name was a good start. It would be good to talk about his past with his new friend. "My best friend when I grew up was a skinny runt called Steve. Sassy little punk gave me the nickname Bucky. You can call me James or Barnes."

Alex looked at the guy who was a number one badass MF, and quipped "Yeah, somehow you don't look like a Bucky."