We now conclude our whump.

"Well this is going well."

"Shut up Dum Dum," Steve hissed, though between Hydra's bullets and Dum Dum's voice, the gunfire was definitely the more distracting. Steve had made the choice to separate the team once they got out of their cells, taking Dugan with him to track down Bucky while the others went to the lower level to find some transport and stick bombs to anything that would blow up. As he and Dugan crouched low behind the steel container keeping them alive, Steve really hoped the rest of the guys were having better luck than them.

Before they had taken cover he had counted three Hydra goons with automatic weapons firing at them from the other end of the wide hallway they found themselves down. Steve had his shield back and though he didn't love the odds he knew their best bet was for him to rush them. It wasn't pretty but it would be fast, and with the alarm sounding he knew they had to find Bucky quick.

Steve turned to Dugan to tell him his plan but before he could speak the automatic fire behind them was interrupted by three clear rings of a revolver and then nothing.

"What the ..."

Steve leaned out to carefully peek from behind one side of the crate while Dugan quirked an eyebrow and checked the other side.

"Bucky?"

The Commandos' sniper was standing in the shadows at the intersection of the hallways, lowering a revolver. The three bodies in front of him dropped dead. Steve walked out from behind the crate as Dugan whooped with joy.

"Hell Barnes, here we were coming to rescue you."

Bucky looked them over and they both froze, his eyes showed no recognition, but he seemed to catalogue them.

"Bucky?" Steve took a step forward and felt his heart sinking when he saw the blood coating Bucky's arms and the blank gaze on his friend's face.

Not Hydra, keep moving.

Bucky turned on his heel and walked down the hall in the other direction. These men were not his mission.

But Steve was jogging after him, Dugan only a few steps behind.

"Bucky, what's going on?"

A question was not an order. Bucky continued to march until strong fingers wrapped around his wrist and forced him to look into concerned eyes.

"Are you hurt?" Steve asked, going colder the longer Bucky looked at him with that dead expression.

"Jesus, look at all that blood," Dum Dum muttered from a few feet away, watching their backs while Steve tried to deal with Bucky.

Bucky waited a moment in the man's grip, awaiting orders. When none came he tried to walk away again to fulfill his mission but was held back.

"Bucky stop."

A name. An order. He froze.

"Good. Now what's going on? What's wrong with you?"

Bucky stared straight ahead. A question was not an order. He caught movement in the corner of his eye. He brought up the revolver. Steve flinched and took a step back but Bucky only aimed at the catwalk high above them and fired once. A body fell two stories into a stack of barrels.

"Holy hell," Dugan said, amazed at the shot and the cold efficiency of it. They all knew Barnes was good but that had been a revolver, not a sniper rifle, and he'd barely been looking.

"Awaiting instructions," Bucky said, speaking for the first time now that they were secure.

"Instructions?" Steve repeated. "Bucky, snap out of it. Please."

Bucky faltered. He wasn't certain how to comply.

Steve pulled off his mask and took Bucky by the shoulders. "Bucky! It's me! It's Steve. We have to get out of here. Snap out of it!"

Steve shook him one more time and it was like crashing to earth from an airplane. Bucky gasped, suddenly desperate for air and stumbled back, would have fallen if not for Steve's grip on his arm.

"Steve?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah Buck, I'm here. I got you," Steve said, relief evident in his voice as he gripped Bucky tight.

Bucky was looking around the hallway and at Dugan and the dead bodies, confused, overwhelmed and feeling assaulted by the alarm blaring around them.

"What's going on ...? Where ...?"

"We're in a Hydra base that could blow any second now and we really gotta get out of here."

Bucky shook his head and stayed rooted to the spot. "I don't remember. I ... oh my god. Whose blood is this? Steve I'm soaked in it ... what?"

The alarms were blaring louder. Dugan shook his head. They didn't have time for this. Steve took Bucky's face in his hands.

"Bucky, do you trust me? Don't ask anything else, just answer me, do you trust me?"

There was no hesitation. "Yes."

"Then trust that I will explain everything I can later but right now we have to get out of here. Can you do that?"

Bucky looked down at his blood soaked arms once more before he bit his lip and nodded. "Yeah, yeah I can do that."

"Good, cause I need you to cover my back. Now let's go."

The three of them ran for the stairs, Steve taking point to cover them with his shield while Dugan and Bucky watched their back and corners. Bucky was still shaky and confused but his aim was surprisingly steady and they met no tough resistance until the ground shook as they neared the roadway that had brought them into this hellish place.

"Feels like Dernier found some bombs," Dugan said as they all braced themselves against the trembling walls.

"Let's hope they also found some transport like they were supposed to," Steve replied, leading the way out into the open air just as another blast rocked the base, cracking and splitting the wall above them.

When they got outside they found the rest of the Commandos holding position around a tank they had commandeered and were currently firing at any approaching groups of Hydra soldiers. Morita and Falsworth smiled and waved when they came out, Gabe and Dernier had to be inside manning the thing.

"I was expecting a truck," Steve said, jumping up onto the tank's treads. He turned around to help Bucky up only to find his friend already next to him.

"Go big or go home, Cap!" Morita yelled as he laid cover fire across the road behind them.

"Let's do both." The base shook again, crumbling. The tank pulled away to barely any resistance, the remaining Hydra soldiers focussing on saving themselves, their comrades, or their base.

The Commandos were done here.

Steve turned to Bucky who was watching the base burn with wide eyes.

"You okay?" Steve asked.

Bucky's mouth opened and maybe he would have answered, but he was stopped by Morita's arms wrapping around him.

"Barnes! You unkillable son of a bitch," Morita exclaimed, his excitement dying as he pulled back and looked Bucky over. "Shit. Are you hurt?"

Bucky looked down as well. His sleeves were rolled up past his elbows and both his arms were drenched in blood, fresh enough to still be wet. His shirt was stained with splatter and though his boots were black he was fairly certain they were coated as well. And yet he felt fine.

"No, I ... I don't think it's mine."

Upon seeing the lost look in Bucky's eyes they all turned to Steve who wrapped a hand around his friend's shoulder.

"Let's get you up top and check you out, just to be sure."

The Hydra base was already fading into the distance and the road ahead looked clear.

"Stay alert, all of you," Steve said, leading an oddly compliant Bucky up the ladder to the interior of the tank they were riding. The Commandos all saluted their understanding, the joy of victory quelled by Bucky's sombre attitude.

"He'll be fine," Dugan said when they were gone. "Barnes is tough. He got through this once before. He'll be fine."

"Not the sort of thing a man should go through even once, let alone twice," Falsworth noted.

"I don't disagree Monty. If going back and killing them would help I would in a heartbeat but ... honestly, from what I saw I'm not sure Barnes left any of them alive."

If Steve had to pick one word to describe Hydra it'd be evil. If he had to pick two words it'd be evil and decadent, and the tank they were riding home was no exception. As Steve climbed down the ladder he could see there was enough space inside for a dozen men. Dernier and Gabe were together in the front. Both smiled and waved to see Steve and Bucky alive. Those smiles faded when they saw the blood Bucky was covered in.

"Come on, back here," Steve said, leading the way to the back compartment which was full of shelves and what looked to be a small bed. Lavish bastards, Steve thought, but it was something they could use. He motioned Bucky to sit while he started rummaging through the closed cabinets. "Careful when you sit down."

"Why, you think Hydra booby traps their beds?" Bucky asked, trying to force some lightness between them but unable to maintain his false smile.

"No, you've got two loose knives in the back of your belt Buck," Steve said.

"What?"

Bucky reached behind him and came back with a blood stained knife in each hand. He dropped them both to the floor, looking horrified, and collapsed onto the bed, running his hands over his face.

"What did they do to me Steve? Jesus Christ."

Steve knelt down in front of him. He had found a canteen of water and some cloth. He pulled Bucky's hands off his face and started to wipe away the blood. "What do you remember?"

Bucky let himself be manhandled, watching as the blood thinned and disappeared from his skin.

"A little bit more now. I remember Streicher, the cells, getting shot and dragged to a lab. They started shocking me. I guess I passed out at some point and then ..." Bucky ground his teeth and shook his head. "Then I was in that hallway with you. The rest is just blank."

"I don't know much more than you then. We found you in that hallway looking like this." Steve hesitated over a mark in the crook of Bucky's elbow. "Puncture wound, they must have shot you up with something that messed with your head. I don't know how you got away but you saved Dugan and I, shot some goons that were firing on us, but then you just walked away. It was like you didn't recognize us, barely acknowledged we were there, you just moved on and killed some more Hydra agents. It was almost like ... like you were on a mission."

"What snapped me out of it?"

"Me I guess. I just kept shaking you and shouting until you were yourself again." Satisfied that most of the blood was gone from Bucky's skin, Steve stood up and went back to the cabinets.

"Thanks for that," Bucky said. He rubbed at the blood still visible beneath his finger tips that wouldn't clean off easily. "What did I do Steve?"

"You didn't hurt anyone that didn't deserve it, if that's what you're thinking. There was no one in that base except us and Hydra agents, and we're all fine."

"Yeah I guess," Bucky said. Looking at the knives, he wondered if he had anything else on him and started patting down his pockets.

"I hope Streicher didn't make it out of there alive, I'll tell you that much," Steve muttered, hating the man responsible for all this.

Bucky found something in his front pocket and swallowed.

"I don't think you have to worry about that."

Steve turned around and saw Bucky was holding out a bloody rectangle of cloth with a name stitched into it: Streicher.

"Well that's something."

"Yeah." Bucky looked at the ground. "What if it happens again?"

Steve knelt down and took him by the shoulders. "This is never going to happen again, do you hear me?"

"No, not ... not Hydra getting me. Me. We don't know what they did to me. What if I go blank again ... start killing people?"

"You won't Bucky, you're yourself again. They drugged you with something and it wore off now. You're fine."

"You don't know that Steve."

"Yeah I do."

"You trust me too much Steve," Bucky said. "Hydra's done something to me, twice now. If I was anyone else you'd put me in cuffs just to be safe, and that's what you should be doing right now."

"You're not anyone else. You're my best friend. You're James Buchanan Barnes, not whatever the hell Hydra was trying to make you do. Think about it this way, all right, they messed with your head somehow but I can't imagine their goal was for you to become a Hydra murdering machine so whatever they wanted, whatever they were trying to do to you, you fought them, you were stronger than them and you killed them all instead. You never raised a gun at Dugan or I, didn't even think about it. So yeah they did something to you, and you weren't quite right but you were still you, you still fought them, and that's why you're not in cuffs right now. Got it?"

Bucky smiled and hoped it didn't look as forced as it felt. "Got it."

"Good. Let's get you cleaned up. I found some clothes you can wear."

Bucky scowled at the Hydra uniform he was tossed but Steve held up a hand before he could protest. "Just wear the pants and under shirt."

"Fine," Bucky said, inspecting both items closely first to make sure they had no Hydra logos on them.

"There's some bandages here too. I'll get Morita to look at your foot," Steve offered.

"It's fine," Bucky muttered, not meeting Steve's eye as he pulled off his boots to change.

"Bucky you were shot."

"Hydra took care of it," Bucky said, showing Steve the wrapped appendage. "Stitched and bandaged. They did it before they started ... whatever it was they were doing."

"All right. I want a real doctor to look at it when we get back though."

"Yeah, of course," Bucky said, pulling off his shirt and avoiding Steve's eye, sick with the thought of being prodded again, even by one of their own doctors. He swallowed as his mind started to wander, wondering what would happen when they got back, when the Colonel found out Hydra had experimented on him again. They would want to know why Hydra was so interested in him, they would want to run their own tests, figure out what Hydra was doing to him, they might even pull him from the Commandos if they found out Zola had put him on some special capture list for further experimentation. He shivered at the thought of being taken off duty to be prodded and strapped down again, but by his own people.

"I'm sorry."

Bucky's head shot up, startled by Steve's words and only just noticing the pained expression his friend had probably been wearing for some time.

"What the hell for?" Bucky asked, unable to think of anything his friend should be apologizing for.

"I'm the reason this happened."

"You started a war without telling me, that's impressive."

"You know what I mean. Streicher shot you, tortured you just to get to me and I ... I wear a target on my shield for a reason. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me, especially my best friend, so I'm sorry."

Bucky opened his mouth but stopped himself before he said anything, thinking over Steve's words. His friend really didn't seem to think Hydra had any special interest in him, he really thought Streicher had just ordered Bucky to be experimented on to hurt Steve, but Bucky knew the truth. Those Hydra scientists hadn't cared about Steve, they had cared about Bucky, about what he was and how he was different since whatever Zola had done to him, and they cared about changing him even more. And Bucky knew they had changed him, he was shaken but he was also eerily steady, lost but also focussed, a little broken but also stronger. He couldn't explain it and he had no desire to tell any of it to Steve if it meant he could avoid further prodding and experiments from the doctors and scientists back at camp and beyond.

So he shook his head and offered Steve a half smile.

"It wasn't your fault, come on, you know that. You can't blame yourself for what those Hydra bastards did. Besides, if it's anyone's fault it's mine, opening my dumb mouth to save your ass, what was I thinking?"

Steve sighed. "I still haven't been able to figure that out."

"I'm good Steve," Bucky promised placing a hand on Steve's shoulder. "We're good, I swear. Like you said, I'm back to normal, mission's accomplished, we got a sweet tank, technically this is a win."

Steve nodded reluctantly. "It is a nice tank."

They both finally smiled for real and Steve deflated with relief, pulling Bucky in for a tight hug.

"I'm glad you're okay."

Bucky made a point not to tense up at the words. He certainly didn't feel okay.

"Yeah, me too."

Steve had ordered Bucky to get some rest while they travelled, which resulted in Bucky laying on the bed in the back of the tank, wide awake and staring at the ceiling for the last several hours. He had been tempted to get up several times but knew Steve would just order him back down here again, and if Bucky refused that order he'd be given the Steve Rogers puppy dog eyes and he'd be back down here in a heartbeat anyway. Dammit.

The thing was, sleep sounded great, hell, this was war, they never got enough sleep, any of them, but Bucky wasn't tired. His mind was racing and his body was alert but he didn't feel anything resembling fatigue which was ... strange, to say the least.

In the distance he heard shouting and sat upright. Looking to the front of the cabin he could tell that Dernier and Gabe hadn't heard it yet. He raced to the ladder but slowed down halfway. Those weren't shouts of panic or danger, they were shouts of joy.

"Home sweet home," Gabe shouted from the driver's seat when he saw Bucky on his feet.

Bucky managed to fake a smile and climbed up the ladder silently. When he popped the hatch the sound increased ten fold. He looked up to see Steve waving at the crowd of soldiers who had gathered to watch Captain America and the Howling Commandos ride into base victorious on top of a Hydra tank.

Assured there was no danger, Bucky tried to crawl back inside but Steve spotted him and smiled. He couldn't help it, he smiled back.

"Get up here Buck, it's good for morale."

Bucky climbed up reluctantly and stood next to Steve. "You know they all just want to see you, right?"

"Well I want to see you, now start waving."

Bucky rolled his eyes but offered a few waves and salutes to the crowds of whooping soldiers.

"See, morale's improving already," Steve said, slapping him on the back. Bucky hadn't even noticed he was still smiling. He waved again and spotted the blood still trapped underneath his fingernails. He swallowed and dropped his hands. Suddenly he didn't feel like celebrating anymore. Thankfully they had gone as far as the tank could go and were coming to a stop just outside the officers' tent.

A familiar figure in a green skirt was waiting with a barely concealed smile of her own.

"Captain, you're late," Peggy greeted as Steve jumped down to the ground.

Steve patted the tank tread. "Sorry. My new ride's a little slow but it packs a punch."

"As long as you're not compensating for something. The Colonel would like your report as soon as possible. We've intercepted a few interesting Hydra transmissions, he needs your take on them."

"I'll be there in a minute, I just gotta ..."

Bucky jumped down behind Steve. "I can get to medical myself Steve, go give your report before Phillips sends us both to a sick bed."

Peggy lifted an eyebrow, waiting while Steve stood there uncertain. Bucky sighed.

"Dugan, can you escort me to medical so Steve can make his playdate with the big brass?"

"Sure, but I ain't holding your hand," Dugan called out from where he sat with his legs dangling over the tank treads.

Steve nodded, "All right. I'll come check on you when I'm done."

"You know where I'll be," Bucky said, his false levity dropping a fraction.

Steve turned to Peggy reluctantly. "Let's go."

"I'm worried about that guy," Bucky said as Dugan appeared next to him.

"What the hell for?" Dugan asked.

"Beautiful dame asks him to come with her ASAP and he's worried about me. He's gotta get his priorities straight."

Dugan laughed and clapped him on the back. "When it's a trip that ends in seeing Phillips, I don't blame him for stalling. Come on, let's get you checked out."

"Oh joy," Bucky muttered but followed along.

When they entered the sparsely filled medical tent a nurse looked them up and down, spotting no obvious injuries on either of them she asked what she could help with.

"Got shot in the foot," Bucky said. "It's been field dressed, just wanted a real doc to take a look."

"No problem." She motioned to one of the empty beds. "Have a seat and get your boots off, I'll get Dr. Parsons."

"Thanks."

Bucky took a seat and side-eyed his companion.

"You don't gotta stick around Dum-Dum. You got me here and I saw you eyeing that mess tent."

Dugan frowned. "I don't know, not sure if I can leave you here in good conscience when you're acting weird."

Bucky's stomach clenched, having no desire to discuss with Dum Dum or any of the base doctors what had happened to him back at the Hydra base and what he had done when he blacked out.

"I mean, you didn't even try to flirt with that nurse," Dugan added after a pause.

Bucky laughed to cover his relief and shot his friend a poignant look. "Well maybe I was waiting for a certain idiot in a stupid hat to get out of here first cause I didn't want to make him look bad."

Dugan chuckled and slapped Bucky on the back. "Fair enough. Good luck. Let me know if she has a friend."

"At most you deserve an evil step-sister."

"I could live with that. We'll come check on you in a bit."

Bucky appreciated the sentiment but waved it off and sighed in relief when Dugan walked out the door. He was almost instantly replaced by a middle-aged man in glasses and a white coat.

"Soldier, I hear you got yourself a bullet wound."

"Hey doc, Sergeant Barnes," he said, holding out a hand.

"Doctor Parsons. Let's take a look Sergeant."

Bucky lifted his foot onto the bed and let the doctor unwrap the bandage the Hydra scientists had wrapped around it. He didn't want to look, he didn't want any attention from any doctor if he was honest, he didn't even want to be here, but he knew Steve would check up on him, make sure he had seen a doctor. Bucky was glad Dugan was gone, it meant there was no one here to tell the doctor what he had gone through, about the way he had been experimented on and blacked out into some kind of killing state. He still kept his eye on the door though. He needed to make sure his escape route was clear.

"You got this treated in the field?" Parsons asked.

"Yeah you could say that," Bucky muttered, eyes still on the door. He thought it was strange that he could stay so outwardly calm while also feeling jumpy and hyper aware.

"Well, they did a good job. I see why you came in. These stitches are definitely ready to come out."

"What?"

Bucky looked down and saw that his foot looked almost completely healed. The same foot that had had a gaping bullet hole in it no more than nine hours before. It should barely have stopped bleeding by now, let alone be healed over.

"You sound surprised. Is that not what you came in for?" Parsons asked, reaching for a pair of scissors from a nearby tray.

"Yeah, yeah of course, I mean, I was hoping, I just hadn't checked it in awhile."

"Well you did a good job keeping it clean, no sign of infection." Parsons rubbed alcohol over the wound and began to snip the stitches. "This'll sting a little."

He picked up a pair of tweezers and pulled the twine out of Bucky's skin. Bucky could barely feel it. That couldn't be right though, so he hissed like it hurt.

"Now I remember why I didn't want to come here," Bucky said, feigning pain again when the Doctor pulled out another stitch.

"Almost done."

Bucky looked back at the door. His escape route was still open.

"There we go. Looks good. Bullet missed the bone and this healed up really clean, one of the cleanest I've seen in a long time actually."

By the time Bucky started listening Parsons was already wrapping a new bandage around his foot.

"You'll want to keep it wrapped up for a few more days, especially in the conditions you boys see, but if there's nothing else I can give you a clean bill of health."

Bucky looked back. His escape route was not clear. Steve was standing in the doorway.

Bucky blinked and turned to the doctor. "No. Nothing else."

"He causing you trouble, doc?"

Bucky wasn't certain he could school his facial features right now and focussed on pulling his socks on. It didn't matter as Doctor Parsons was star struck by their visitor.

"Captain, sir, it's an honor," Parsons said. Steve shook his hand politely and then raised an eyebrow, waiting for a reply to his question. "Oh, I didn't know the Sergeant was one of your men. He's in excellent shape, that bullet wound's healing very nicely. Like I said, keep it clean and dry though. If you can, bring some extra socks into the field."

"He's cleared for duty?" Steve asked, surprised.

"If it's not bothering him too much, I feel comfortable signing off, yes."

Bucky finished tying up his boots and stood up to full height. "I can handle it."

"There you go. He's all yours Captain. I have to see my other patients, but it's a real honor."

"Thanks doctor, you're doing great work here," Steve said, though frowning and clearly distracted.

Parsons beamed anyway as he left. Bucky forced a smile on his own face, having composed himself while the doctor rambled.

"Don't look so excited Steve, I might worry you actually want me around."

"You know I do, I just ... It's fine if you need some time, some rest."

"Rest gives me time to think, I'd rather keep busy. Besides, you got the look of a man who's been given a mission. You think I'm sitting out you're crazy."

"I'm sorry. I wouldn't agree to us going out again so soon but this one's got a very small window of opportunity. We'll have to head out tonight."

Bucky shrugged. "Not a problem. What's our target?"

Steve sighed. "Zola."

Bucky froze. "Zola?"

"They intercepted some messages confirming he was heading here by train as soon as possible. They don't think the Hydra base we were in got a message out to him to turn back before it was destroyed. He's still on his way."

"Please tell me we're going to kill him."

"Capture only, Phillips was very clear. He knows too much, he's too valuable, we need him alive."

Bucky's jaw twitched.

"You don't have to ..."

"Like I said, I can handle it. We need him alive, we'll take him alive. I get one punch in though, promise me that."

Steve started to roll his eyes then shook his head instead. "One punch."

Bucky smirked. He was the three time YMCA boxing champ. "All I'll need."

Steve sobered up and met his eye. "This has been a crazy day. Be honest with me Buck. You sure you're good?"

Bucky's mind flashed back to being strapped to a table, electrodes on his head, a blue syringe, blackness, arms drenched in blood and a bullet wound that shouldn't be healed yet. It was all wrong. He felt wrong. Hydra had done something to him. Something had changed. He didn't know what it was or if it was over but he knew that it was not good.

"I'm good," he said. His voice was steady. He threw an arm over Steve's shoulders. "Let's go Stevie. We got a train to catch."

The end.

You know what happens next. Hope you enjoyed!