"I was born in Brooklyn. When the war broke out, we both signed up. He signed up a lot. I got into the 107 regiment, and Steve...I don't really know what happened to Steve."

"That's okay." Iris smiled next to him, one hand on top of his in comfort. "We can't expect you to remember everything-"

"No, it's not that. I genuinely don't know what happened to him. Some sort of drug, like a permanent super steroid." He smiled down at her. His natural grin was slightly lopsided, tilting up more to his right than the left. "All I know is that HYDRA, the old one, caught me, Steve got me out, we destroyed a lot of their factories, and I fell."

She waited for him to continue. "You fell? That's the last thing you remember?"

He frowned at the wall opposite him. "Erm...it was snowy. Super cold. And my arm hurt. I can kinda see why now." His eyes flickered to the metal arm. She hastily threw a blanket over him, answering his questioning look with a simple 'it can wait.' He'd been through enough for one day.

"But no HYDRA secrets? Nothing that could get us out of here?" Her innards flinched at the clear desperation in her voice, but she ignored it nonetheless. It wasn't like it was a lie.

"Sorry, Iris. And did you really call me Timmy?" She nodded uncertainly. "I'm a brainwashed super soldier with a machine gun and two very large knives on my person, and you chose Timmy?" Heat rose in her cheeks as he laughed.

"Don't be mean. It was the first thing that came to mind."

Outside of the door, a group of people passed, their laughs and whispers silencing them for a few minutes. Tim- Bucky looked at the flimsy wood in worry.

"What am I supposed to do? I have orders to complete in two days, and I can't exactly do them. Do I really look like someone fit to murder a billionaire?"

Iris frowned. For some reason his next target didn't seem realistic- with fame and fortune riding alongside his out-of-this-world technology, Tony Stark wasn't a guy you'd see getting killed by a ghost. "I don't know Ti- Bucky!" He smirked at the obvious mistake. "But I swear, I'll figure it out. Tonight. I'll figure it out tonight. Until then...act normal."

"And normal is?" He raised an eyebrow sceptically. There was a faint scar cutting through it, cleanly healed but raggedly cut.

"Just act like a robot and you'll be fine. That means no smirks, winking, or...just not you. Okay?"

A final roll of his eyes (she added that to list of 'what brainwashed super soldiers shouldn't do') and he got up to leave, his new but old attitude looking out of place with the long hair, skin tight black suit and handfuls of weapons. She bit her lip, wondering how they were going to get through this alive. While doing all those little memory exercises, she hadn't actually thought about what would happen if they worked. They just weren't meant to.

"See you later Iris. And..." He hesitated by the door, hands impatiently pushing strands of hair out of his eyes. "Be safe. Promise me you'll stay safe, right?"

A tiny bit of courage inside of her chest, she held out her pinky and waited for him to hook his around it. "Pinky promise. And right back 'atcha, soldier." Standing on her tiptoes, she delicately kissed his cheek, ignoring the heat on her own as she pushed him outside. Her back hit the door, letting her slump to the floor with her head in her hands.

Now all she had left to do was finish up a ruse for her 'commander', and figure out an escape plan out of an impenetrable lair.

It was absurd, and had a lot more probably not's than probably so's, but it was a plan. And they were going to make it work.

The next morning, Iris ignored the green bruises on her cheek and the new blood encrusted on the stitches over the scratch marks, leaving her room in search of Buc- Tim- soldi- that guy. It took less than five minutes to spot the familiar long hair and black suit in a corridor near the weapon's room. With the rest of the corridor empty and the security cameras without sound, she decided to risk using his 'code name'. "Timmy! Timmy, I figured-"

He carried on walking. She checked around again, trying to catch up to him without looking suspicious.

"Timmy? Erm..." Another glance. "Oi! Bucky! Are you listening to me?" Her hand grabbed his arm, forcing him to face her. He stared at her with black eyes. Indifferent.

She was pelting away from him, sprinting down the endless corridors, ignoring the looks and shouts which trailed after her.

She passed her room, just registering the overturned bed and ripped pieces of paper.

Her feet kept on pounding in an ever-growing rhythm, forcing her down a final hall and gasping into that small room with the stupid desk and the stupid fringe plastered to his stupid forehead.

"Miss Williams. I was wondering when you would make it." He smirked, two of his men immediately stepping behind her and locking her hands together. It didn't matter; she wasn't going to fight back.

"Why? Please, just tell me why? He was back, he was okay, so why?" He leaned against the desk, eyes as black as the soldier's, despite their obvious blue tint.

"Why? Because he was back." He snarled. Her legs finally crumbled, bile crawling up her throat and spewing out on to the floor. One of his men stepped back to avoid the spray.

"Take her away. Oh, and Miss Williams?" She looked up, waiting for him to say it. To tell her that the deal was off and her siblings were here, waiting to see their traitor sister one last time before they died. "You can call me Alexander Pierce."

A smirk. A turned back. A flash of recognition. Another retch. A thunk to the back of her head, finally letting everything just disappear.

Author's Note

Thanks for the awesome reviews- I haven't gotten around to answering them, but I'll try to soon. Quick (and early) update because the next chapter is hopefully going to be big one on the word count, and I want to finish it sooner rather than later (I only have 4 more days until school!) Keep on reading and reviewing- I love hearing your opinions on Iris and Bucky :)