Rumlow charged into the room.
"I see you made it." said the man in the white lab coat.
Rumlow grabbed the man and pinned him to the wall by his throat. "What the hell was that?"
The man grabbed his arm. "Listen, everything went as planned. You did great."
"Great?" said Rumlow tightening his grip. "Kreutz and Sam died?"
"Yes. They were inconsequential. I knew you would survive." he said gasping for air.
"But you might not." he said in a growl.
"Ella and Barnes did just as I expected. We are picking up right where we left off. Kreutz was in the way and Sam was clueless. They served their purpose. Now we wait." said the man.
Rumlow released the man as he took a deep breath. "You keep me informed of everything this time or I won't hesitate to kill you."
"Understood." he said rubbing his neck.
They landed back at the tower.
"Let's meet up in thirty minutes to discuss what happened." said Tony. Ella walked off the jet without a word as Bucky watched.
"Clint, very appreciative of your help today." said Tony.
"Anytime. Hope she's going to be ok." said Clint.
Tony smiled and patted his arm.
"Buck, you ok?" asked Steve waiting for his friend at the platform.
"Ok is really not an option." he said walking towards him.
"We need to get a new fail-safe installed." said Tony walking past them.
Bucky nodded to Tony and they all headed off the jet. Steve and Bucky headed back to their room.
"You want to talk about it?" asked Steve as Bucky took a seat on the couch.
"You should've left me in cryo." he said.
"What happened?" asked Steve taking a seat across from his friend. "Ella had a lot of blood on that shirt."
He hung his head, "They used the reset. They made her my mission." he said watching his friend's reaction.
"What was the mission?" he asked fearing he already knew the answer.
"To kill Ella." he said looking away from Steve. Steve wasn't sure what to say. "I went after her." he said. He hated himself for what he did to her. He tried to focus on not thinking about the details. Even if he forced himself to ignore the mental images, the emotional tie to all of it was not as easy to ignore.
"She can help. Buck, we haven't even had time for her to work with you." said Steve.
"And what happens when the wrong memory is triggered and I attack her? The mission was never completed. How do I know I won't finish it?" he said. "I won't put her through that."
"She can counter you." he said seeing the desperate fear in his friend's eyes.
"She didn't. She didn't counter me. She said she couldn't dial into my thoughts. I was ready to kill her, Steve." he said looking at him to drive home the point.
"But you didn't." he said.
"You sound like her." he said frustrated. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration and took a deep breath. "So when can we get me back to cryo?"
"Buck-" started Steve.
"You can keep her safe." he said.
"So can you. You made a promise to me and to her. Buck, no one said this will be easy and we know the risk." said Steve reassuring him.
"I know, but that promise was broken the minute I put my hands on her. When I punched until she was nearly unconscious. I threw her by her leg into a wall, Steve." he said angry that his friend was still defending him. No one should.
"It wasn't you." he said.
"It was me!" he said angrily. "I was completely aware. I couldn't stop. I didn't want to. Tell me how that wasn't me." he said.
"I know you." he replied.
"I'm not that person. The person you knew. The person who wouldn't do that." he said. He felt as if he were bouncing between sadness and anger.
"You're tortured by it. That doesn't sound like someone who was a willing participant." he argued.
"If you won't put me back in cryo then I can't stay here." said Bucky.
"Bucky. We took you out for a reason." he said.
"Then I can't stay." he said.
"You can't run." said Steve.
"I have memories of Ella." he said changing the subject.
Steve looked at him curiously. "Other than this experience?"
"Yeah. She helped with the technique of resetting me." he said shaking his head. "She took pity on me and helped me."
"Buck, that makes no sense." he said.
"I remember her from the past." he said. "The reset. They forced her to perfect it. She told me she was using a hypnosis technique using a word string. She asked me for a word that had meaning to me in a sentimental way. Something from my past. I said nine because that is how old I was when I met you."
Steve smiled, "She constructed the technique to bring you back under their control? How did that help you? I thought that was already in place years ago?"
"She helped them perfect it in a way that wouldn't need the neuroshock that always came first. She said that using that word in the string would keep me conscious, connected to me but I would remember everything." he said. "She said it was only until she could find a way to counteract the effects."
"But she didn't?" he said,
"No," said Bucky. "after one of the missions when I came back. I knew I had to get her out of there. They were experimenting on her too. So I took her. We escaped."
"So she is capable of undoing this reset?" said Steve. "They were experimenting on her years ago?" said Steve.
"I don't know. It was probably something similar to us to be able to withstand whatever experimentation. She has some healing abilities in addition to her own that allowed her to hijack mine." said Bucky.
"Have you told her this?" asked Steve.
"No. I can't." he said.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because she needs to remember it on her own. And maybe it's better if she doesn't." he said.
Steve sat back. "You care about her."
"You don't?" he said defensively.
"You know what I mean, Buck." he said looking at his friend. Bucky knew, but it didn't matter.
"Like I said, it's better if she doesn't remember. " he said. "She's hurting right now because of me. Stay close to her. Make sure she's ok."
Steve looked at him. "Bucky-"
Bucky stopped him, "Take care of her."
Steve looked at his friend. His heart sank at his words, "You're leaving."
Bucky said nothing as he got up and went to his room to pack his things.