Hi, guys! I had a little spare time today to edit and post this short chapter that marks the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership upon these characters, though there are two OCs in this chapter.

Chapter Three

Part of the aircraft carrier's metal ceiling crashes down onto the glass floor, and that is all it can take. The floor breaks open underneath us, and I instinctively grab hold of a support beam in the glass.

I look down and watch Captain America fall. No. Not Captain America. Steve. His name is Steve. Just a dumb kid who got had gotten himself into trouble. He might have been my mission, but I can't let him die.

As the water comes up to me faster and faster, I let go of the carrier and drop down after him. Debris from the carrier crashes into the water, but I still manage to spot him through the churning bubbles and sand. I propel myself through the water and reach out for him, catching him by gun strap of his suit.

I kick up towards the surface and the shoreline. My feet eventually scrape the silt of the riverbank, and I drag Steve out of the water, dropping him onto the dirt. I watch him for a moment to make sure he's still breathing. He tenses as water drips out of his mouth before his breathing returns to normal.

There is no extraction team coming for me, and they'll hurt me if I go back on my own with an unfinished mission.

I back away from Steve and retreat into the trees. Now is a better time to lose myself in society than any. The confusion from the aircraft carriers' destruction is more than enough to hide me from them.

I find my way to a city street and cling to the shadows as people run around. Police are arriving one by one, trying to quell the panic, but they didn't look like they were having much luck.

I force my way through one of the shattered windows of a clothing shop and quickly take jeans, a long sleeve shirt and a pair of gloves to hide my arm and a hoodie and cap to hide my face. I run back out before anyone could see and retreat behind a dumpster. I change as police sirens sound behind me, stuffing my uniform into the hoodie as best as I can and zipping it up.

"Everyone needs to return to your homes immediately!" an amplified voice orders as I pull the hood over my head.

I wander around until the sun starts to set. I can't remember if I have ever been out this late alone. And the fight with Steve in the helicarrier replays in my mind over and over again as I walk. I look back into my memory as far as it would go, but short of waking up and being ordered here, there was nothing but blackness and pain. I force myself to think, concentrating on the black memory.

A sharp pain stabs my mind, making me stumble. I hiss and massage my aching temple as I catch myself on the wall of a building. The world tilts underneath my feet, throwing me to the dusty ground.

Pierce's voice echoes in my mind. "Mission report now!...Your work has been a gift to mankind...and I need you to do it again."

Then there was the pain. It was dark, and something was wrapped around my head, drilling into my mind. It was so overwhelming that it consumed everything, draining me away bit by bit.

"Sir?" a woman's voice calls just loud enough to get me to open my eyes. A dark-haired woman stands over me holding the hand of a little boy in a blue shirt with an image of the Captain's shield printed on his chest. "Are you alright?"

I nod slowly. I use the wall of the building I fell into to help my shaking legs get back underneath me.

"We just saw you grip your head and fall to the ground," she explained in a pleasant accent that tells me she's from the south. "You looked like you were having a panic attack."

"Are you still alive?" the little boy wonders.

My heart is pounding inside of my chest, so I must be. "Uh, last I checked, yeah."

"Jason!" the woman groans. "I'm sorry," she mutters, glancing at me before turning back to her son. "One more outburst like that today and we won't go to the museum. Now, apologize to the nice man."

"I'm sorry," Jason mutters, glancing between me and the ground.

"Have you ever been to the museum here?" the woman wonders.

I shake my head.

"You've got to!" Jason exclaims before wincing and looking down again. "Sorry, mom."

"I'm taking him to see the Captain America exhibit today," the mother elaborates.

"Do you want to come with us?" Jason tentatively asks.

I don't know how to answer. It was a simple question, but my mind froze at the decision.

"If you want to come, we can pay your way," the mother offers, scanning me from head to toe.

"I'm doing a paper on Captain America for school!" Jason announces. "Or I was. Until another boy took the topic before I could. So I'm writing it on his best friend instead! His real name is James, I think, but Cap always called him Bucky."

Bucky. That's what Steve kept calling me. Instinct said he wasn't tricking me when he said it, but I still doubted. I needed to know the truth about it. I need to know if Bucky is truly me.

"If-if it's n-not too much trouble," I stutter, my entire body aching with a pain that had no source.

The women smiles. "No trouble at all." She holds out her left hand as she still keeps hold of her son's with her right. "I'm Amanda, by the way."

I force myself not to wince at her movement, though my heart jumps. I slowly lift my shaking left hand and join it with hers, grasping her fingers as gently as I possibly can.

Amanda smiles brightly before thankfully letting go. "It's just this way." She gestures down the street and starts walking down it.

I follow closely behind her until the museum comes into view. She gets into line, and I follow behind her, Jason bouncing up and down on the tips of his toes.

"Listen," Amanda says turning to me. "Do you see that building up that way? The one that sticks out?" She points down a road to a tall building that jutted out a little ways from the rest of the buildings on the block. I look back to her and nod. "If you ever need to talk, you can walk in there and ask for me. Free of charge." She smiles again before turning back around and walking forward as we make it to the front of the line.

What did she mean talk free of charge?

"Two adults and one child," she tells the ticket clerk as she slides a credit card across the counter.

After a few moments, the man behind the counter hands her three tickets and mutters, "Enjoy the museum." He waves the next person forward as we walk through the doors.

"Hope you enjoy it," Amanda says.

I nod and mutter, "Thank you."

The mother and son walk off, and I glance around, straining to see through the crowd of people surging through the museum. I wander through the people, looking through each exhibit until I find one labeled The Howling Commandos.

Something pulls me in there, and I am immediately greeted by a large glass pane with white writing and a black and white photograph printed on it. The longer I stared at the photograph, the more I recognized it as myself. The closer I got to the glass, the more I could read it, and the clearer the voice from the speaker became. "Inseparable in both schoolyard and battlefield, Barnes was the only Howling Commando to give his life for his country."

James Buchanan Barnes was Stephen Rogers' childhood best friend. He was telling the truth. This is who I am, that much is clear, but why don't I remember?

Pierce. It had to be him. It's the only explanation. He sent me after Steve. He was there when I was shoved into that machine that drained me away.

HYDRA did this.

I'm not sure if anyone would catch this, so to clear up a few things about Amanda, she's a psychologist and thought that Bucky was a homeless veteran with PTSD. She wasn't too far off, but I hope that cleared some stuff up about her, and I hope y'all will return for chapter 4!