He stood shivering on the steps, even though his body was not cold. HYDRA was on the other side of the door. They would punish him and shock the disobedience out of his brain, but the end result promised relief from memory and pain. All he had to do was knock, and the agent inside would take him into custody.

But Steve will be gone.

He still didn't know why Steve was important. No matter how hard he tried, he could not remember anything more than the name and distant, unfamiliar sensations, like putting anesthetic balm on wounds, or feeling better after eating stew.

Though his hand seemed to weigh more than the all of metal in his arm, he knocked.

He heard muttering and shuffling as someone moved around. The door opened with a creak. Ron stared at him with open-mouthed shock, and then adjusted his glasses. "Oh, my God, what happened to you?"

He answered out loud, but the old man just blinked, obviously not understanding. He closed his eyes and struggled to articulate in English. "I…I surrender to HYDRA." He raised his hands to demonstrate that he had no weapons.

Ron studied him for a moment with an expression that he could not place. "Come inside," he said finally, opening the door the rest of the way. The yellow dog darted ahead and stood waiting for them, its level gaze fixing on each of them in turn. Ron said, "Follow me."

He couldn't seem to hold still. Every muscle in his body trembled and he was too tired to think. But now that he'd given himself over to HYDRA, he didn't have to. He followed Ron dumbly, and sat down where it was indicated that he should. It was a soft place, but he didn't dare to notice any other details. A machine whirred somewhere nearby, but he did not react to the sound. A few minutes later, a glass container of thick fluid was placed in his right hand. "Drink this," Ron said. "It's just a protein shake, but you don't look like you could handle much more right now. I hope you like chocolate."

He had to use both hands to keep the glass steady enough to bring to his lips. It didn't matter what flavor it was, in fact he hardly tasted it. HYDRA could give him battery acid and he would drink it without question. He did not raise his eyes when Ron took the empty glass from him.

"All right. I want you to lie back on the bed and sleep, if you can. Take as long as you need. I'll be around when you wake up, just make some noise if you don't see me."

Even as he complied with the order, he experienced a flicker of surprise. He had expected to be incapacitated, or at least restrained. Ron hadn't even closed the door behind him. Left alone, he took the opportunity to observe his surroundings. The room was small and windowless, probably an interior room in the building. It was painted a familiar institutional green, with a photographic poster on the wall of a mountain that overlooked a field of trees and green grass. The bed was metal-framed, and topped with a firm mattress. He was lying on a colorful patchwork quilt.

Occasional sounds filtered into the room, each jarring him to alarmed awareness. There were voices in muffled conversation, one of which he was sure was Ron's. There was a laugh, which he was sure was someone else. He choked back a yelp at a loud metallic clang, and realized that his metal hand had begun to twist the steel bedframe. He released it quickly, before he could damage HYDRA equipment.

He'd failed to neutralize Kaptain Amerika, and now he was even failing a simple order to sleep. The thought of being corrected made his bones ache. When HYDRA found him non-compliant, they would beat him to unconsciousness, and he thought he would welcome it.

There was a nudge at his right elbow. The dog pushed its nose under his hand and rested its heavy jaw on the edge of the bed. Golden eyes regarded him solemnly. He had no orders concerning the dog, so he did not move or take his hand away. It did not move either, except to lick its jowls once. He recalled blindly following it out of the alley when he'd been too compromised to navigate to the alternate rendezvous point. The animal's presence was reassuring in some way, and he was glad he hadn't killed it. His heart rate began to slow, and his muscular tension gradually calmed. It was quiet now. He thought he might be able to…