Callused fingers stroked down the side of her face, so delicately she could barely feel them on the bruises.

The stale air around her shifted as their body leaned closer to hers, mouth next to her ear.

"Don't lie to me." A voice further away snarled. "You have no right to talk to me in that tone of voice, young lady!" A snap against her cheek. She whimpered.

The hand pressed coolly against her cheek, strands of hair tickling her cheeks. "Shh. It's okay. No ones here. You can go back to sleep Iris. It's okay."

A little unwillingly, she obeyed, forcing her eyes to stay closed and flutter back into sleep.

Iris woke up to dull sunlight and fading voices in the back of her head. Cautiously she touched the side of her face, wincing as her fingers found one of her bruises from yesterday. The room was empty albeit the new nurse on watch, leaving her only the ghost of a nightmare and a faint indent on the covers, faint enough to be mistaken for her imagination.

"I heard about the fight you got into. This won't be affecting your work, correct?" The commander stared pointedly at her. She already knew what a state she looked- bruised cheek, bandaged torso and stitches in her face were just the beginning.

"Of course not, sir."

If he heard the hiss, he ignored it. "The rest of the files you requested are on your bed. I hope that they prove fruitful- I'll be asking for an update in three days. If you need anything, ask for my secretary."

He left just like usual, mid conversation, air hissing through his teeth as he thought. Head held high, Iris walked back to her room, staring some of the recruits down when they passed her.

"I really wish they had google here..."

"Excuse me?"

Iris looked up sharply. Timmy stood in the doorway, looking around at her unclaimed room awkwardly. Setting the files aside, she patted the space next to her on the bed. "Hi Timmy." A twitch of his lips. "Sorry about the room change- I didn't want to risk any more run-ins. For either of us." She looked at him with brows raised.

"Who were they?" The bed sank a bit as he sat down, looking three times bigger with the two inches he still towered above her with.

Images of six malicious snarls and a bloody face next to her flashed into mind, accompanied by the sickening crunch of fist against bone and a churning in her stomach. "Just some of the recruits. They got a bit jealous that I got the job and they didn't, even if none of them know the smallest detail of psychology or brain science. Stupid stuff, really."

He nodded, not catching her eyes. Looking down, she saw that his glove clad hands were curled into fists by his sides. She resisted the urge to unfold them, if not for them then for the safety of her thin walls and tired furniture.

"So...memory exercises. Has anything worked yet?" He hesitated before shaking his head. She looked on sceptically, forcing him to break. "Nothing that makes sense. Just faint images of people- I can't recognise them."

"Well, now that I know the outline of the procedures used, I can target those specific areas of your brain and memory. Ready?" Her smile forced a small one on to his face, a silent thumbs-up giving her the all go. Pushing all dreams of callused fingers and whispered voices out of her mind, she prepared herself for the onslaught of the next few days.

After all, her mission was to get back the memories of a memoriless man, and her deadline was in less than three days.

For as long as their timetables would allow them (though Iris' was mostly made up of gun practise and free time) they were in her room, trying to picklock their way into his head. Every time the name 'Timmy' left a lips with a smirk, the smile in his eyes grew more pronounced, and every time they passed in the corridors, both of them shared secretive looks. He was the last piece of reality tying her down here.

The day before deadline, Iris sat alone on her bed, trying to think of stuff to tell the commander when he requested to see her. Since no actual experimentation had taken place, her best bet was to say that the electrotherapy had been wearing down the walls in his memory instead of building them up, and she'd heard 'rumours' of a better technique back over in S.H.I.E.L.D. The only issue was whether or not he'd buy it.

Her flimsy door bashed open, a hand grabbing it before it could smash against the wall. The soldier- Timmy- stood in the doorway, his hair damp and tangled over the tops of the hastily thrown on uniform. Iris stared at him in shock, trying to recover her ability to speak.

"Er...wha...you...hi?"

"I just got a memory. Someone named 'Steve.' He's blonde, and shorter than me, but also taller, which is really confusing, because there's two of him and I can't figure out which one's the real one so-"

"Calm down, shut the door, and sit." She interrupted, glaring down a passing officer who looked in. Timmy did as she said, running his hands through the damp waves.

"I just don't...it was 1940! 1940! How is that even possible? How can I not remember so impossibly unimaginable?" His brown eyes widened, hands splayed as he ranted towards her. Sighing, his head dropped down. "What's wrong with me Iris?"

"You're crazy." She grinned at him. He smiled back uncertaintly, looking thoroughly horror-movie worthy.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Nah. Only the best people are insane."

His manic grin grew wider, forcing her to put her fingers on either side of his mouth and lower it to a more normal state, giggling all the while.

"Calm down Timmy. While you're here, would you mind helping me figure out what to say to the commander tomorrow? Or we could just get an early start on the memory-"

"Steve."

She glanced up, seeing his vacant eyes and confused frown.

"He was my best friend...like a brother...and I can't even remember his last name. I don't even know how he died!"

Recognising the raised voice and widening pupils, she tried to calm him down. "Timmy-"

"No. It's not Timmy."

He stared at her, a sparkle returning to his eyes. Iris looked on in awe as she realised what was happening, that all her little cracks were finally breaking down the walls inside of his head.

"It's James, Iris. James Barnes." A natural smirk wound its way on to his lips, one eye winking slyly. "But you can call me Bucky."

Author's Note

Just remember that this is set in 2011! Little bit of an Alice in Wonderland quote there, though I don't think it's the actual words he used. Hope you guys like it- I'm rewatching The First Avenger tonight so I can get Bucky ready inside my head ;)