Avengers: Hunt for the Winter Soldier
Chapter 10
The Tools He Needs
Steve opened the door and stood there waiting patiently. He watched the Soldier – Bucky- He had to start thinking about this man as Bucky Barnes, if he hoped to help him back to himself.
"Buck?" he said, trying to get his friend's attention.
The Soldier had finished putting on the sock and just stood there with his eyes toward the floor. He didn't respond to his name when it was spoken so Natasha reached out and touched his arm. His gaze shifted to the hand resting on his forearm. Keeping his head down, he raised his eyes to her face. She was looking at him so he dropped his gaze again. He wasn't supposed to make eye contact with his handlers unless they spoke the words first and only so they would know that he was paying attention to the mission instructions they would give him.
"Bucky?" Steve said again.
The Soldier realized the man was referring to him. He'd called him that a few days ago... at least he thought he had; he didn't know who Bucky was, but this man seemed to think it was he. He looked to the American standing by the open door.
"Do you want to take a short walk?" Steve asked him.
The Soldier looked to Natasha, as if for confirmation that he could actually leave the room. She gave him a smile and nodded then moved her hand from the top of his arm to behind it as if guiding him to move forward.
He stepped forward, glancing at the two people he now assumed to be his new handlers as he approached the door. This was a new place with new handlers and he wondered why he was being tested. Had he done something to displease Hydra? As he neared, the American stepped out and moved a short distance down the corridor. The Soldier stopped at the threshold and looked down the hallway. There were no armed guards or Hydra soldiers waiting for him to exit. Natasha waited behind him until he stepped out of the room.
Steve figured a short walk to Banner's lab would be a safe excursion for his first time out. He may be a super soldier but he'd been through the wringer and still showed signs of his battle with the team. His face neck and chest showed the bruising he'd gotten when he impacted the water at terminal velocity. It really was a wonder he'd survived the impact. A few bruises were the least they could expect, he supposed. When he reached the lab door he saw Bruce inside, looking through a microscope.
"Dr. Banner?" he said in greeting.
"Steve," Bruce said, looking up at him. "What can I do for you?"
Steve held his arm out to the side and Bruce waited. His mouth opened slightly in surprise as the Soldier appeared beside Rogers.
"We're just taking a short stroll. Not going far, don't want to tax him," Steve told him as Nat appeared behind them.
Bruce stood up and moved around his lab table. "Oh… sure, come in," he invited the trio inside. "Since he's here… I'd like to take a sample of blood to do a work up. I've analyzed the urine sample we were able to get earlier… I'd like to double check something."
"Oh, umm… okay," Steve said. He turned to Barnes who hadn't reacted to the request in any manner. "Umm... Buck? Why don't you take a seat over here?" Steve said, walking to a chair nearby. He put his hand on the back of it and waited for the Soldier to move. When he didn't, Natasha touched his arm again and gestured for him to move toward Steve. He did as directed.
"Have a seat," Steve told him, patting the back of the chair.
The Soldier sat down obediently.
Dr. Banner approached him with a small tray that held a blood sample kit. He set it down on a silver tray table and rolled it closer to his patient. "Can you put your arm up here?" he asked, indicating the table top.
The Soldier raised his right arm and laid it out on top of the silver tray twisting his arm so his palm was up. It was actually a rare occurrence when Bruce didn't have to adjust the position of the donor's arm as most people set their arm down with the palm facing down; the Soldier apparently was quite accustomed to these procedures.
Bruce watched him closely as he wrapped a rubber band tourniquet around his bicep. The Soldier just sat patiently. It took only a few seconds for a vein to swell under the pressure of the band and Bruce pressed on it with a finger. When it remained visible he then swabbed it with alcohol to clean the area. The Soldier still didn't seem to notice or perhaps he simply didn't care. Bruce glanced at him nervously as he picked up the needle. He hoped the Soldier wouldn't see his actions as aggressive, but his fear was unfounded as the man didn't react at all to the insertion of the needle into his arm.
Once he had the needle set, Bruce popped a sample tube onto it and watched it fill quickly. He pulled that one off and slipped another on. Bruce took five vials of blood for sampling while the Soldier just sat there with his eyes directed at the floor in front of him. Once he was done, he removed the needle and placed a small bandage on the insertion site.
Bruce moved the tray of samples to his lab counter and then came back and sat on a stool in front of the Soldier. He looked at his face closely, checking the bruising and swelling of his eyes and mouth. The split on his bottom lip had already closed itself and seemed to be healing on its own without stitches.
"Okay, we're done with that," he told the Soldier. "That wasn't so bad, huh?"
The Soldier didn't respond.
Bruce looked up at Steve. "Is he talking at all?" he asked.
"Once in a while he says something. He's no Chatty Cathy though," Steve told him.
Bruce looked at the Soldier closely and then pulled a pen light out of his lab coat pocket. He reached out and put his fingertips under the man's chin and pressed upward. "Can you look up for me?" he asked.
The Soldier lifted his head and looked at the ceiling.
"Umm, no, not that far up," Bruce told him. "Look straight ahead," he told him. The Soldier lowered his head to a neutral position and stared straight ahead as directed. Banner pointed the light into his right eye and then the left, checking pupil reactivity. His pupils were sluggish and slow to respond to the light. The Soldier tried not to react to it, but considering how slow his pupils were to close against the sharp light, Banner didn't blame him for flinching slightly.
Bruce put the pen light back in his pocket and raised his hands to the Soldier's face. He pressed his fingertips around the bruised eye gently. He was actually looking for a response to pain stimuli but the Soldier didn't react. Bruce put his thumb on the Soldier's bottom lip and pulled it down slightly to see how the split was healing on the inside. It too was closed up nicely and didn't show signs of infection.
"Okay, you can take him back now," Bruce told them.
"Is everything okay, Doctor?" Steve asked.
Bruce stood up and looked at Steve with an expression that told him he had his concerns but didn't want to discuss it in front of the Soldier.
"I'm going to get to these samples right away," Banner told him. "He should get back to bed."
"Okay," Steve nodded. "Come on, Buck, let's head back."
The Soldier looked up at him; hearing the name Buck again and assumed it was to him the man was speaking. The American was holding his hand out, indicating the door, so he stood up and moved in that direction.
Natasha stepped out of the room into the hall first and the Soldier followed her. Steve watched them for a moment and then turned back to Dr. Banner.
"Let me know as soon as you have the results," Steve requested. "And then you can tell me what you're so concerned about."
"I will," Bruce nodded. "I'm going to call Dr. Golden in for consultation as well."
Steve nodded and followed Natasha as she walked slightly behind the Soldier back to the room.
Natasha walked with him to the bed and the Soldier stopped beside it.
"Why don't you have a seat? You don't need to get under the sheets, but just rest on top," she told him. He turned around and sat on the edge of the bed. He glanced at her and then away again.
"You can look at me, you know," she told him. He kept his gaze averted and she leaned toward him. He glanced at her again as her face moved in front of him. She was smiling at him. He sighed and furrowed his brow in confusion. "Hello," she said, waving her hand in front of him. He raised his head slightly and looked at her. She was still smiling. "It's okay to look at us," she told him.
The Soldier swallowed and then glanced at Steve. Steve gave him a nod and a small smile. The Soldier looked back to Natasha.
"You were looking at me yesterday," she reminded him. "Do you remember that? You were angry and you yelled at me. Do you remember?"
The Soldier lowered his eyes and chewed lightly on his bottom lip. His respirations picked up slightly and he appeared to become anxious. "I didn't know who you were," he explained.
"You know who I am now?" she asked, hopefully. He nodded with his eyes lowered. Natasha looked to Steve and he also looked hopeful. She turned back to the Soldier. "Who am I?" she asked.
He hesitated to speak and then asked for confirmation, "New handler?"
Natasha stilled, shocked by that revelation. He was being compliant with them because he was under the impression that they were in a Hydra facility and these people were his new handlers.
"I'm not," she told him softly. His brow furrowed again. "We are not your handlers."
The Soldier looked up at her and she could easily see his confusion. She straightened and walked to Steve. "I actually thought we were gaining some ground with him."
"I guess it's a little too soon for that," Steve said.
"Yeah," she nodded. She went back to the bed and waited for the Soldier to follow her direction and lifted himself onto the bed and swung his legs around. They chose not to put him in the bindings as he was cooperating with them in every way so far.
Steve asked Tony to sit with him while he and Nat went to talk to Banner about the test results. He had reluctantly agreed and Steve just grinned. He understood both Tony and Sam's feelings regarding the Soldier as they both had gotten into serious entanglements with him. It was something everyone was going to have to get past in their own time.
A few hours later, Dr. Banner requested that Steve and Natasha meet him in his lab. When the two arrived they were greeted by both Bruce and Dr. Golden.
"Steve," Dr. Golden greeted him with a smile. "I hope you're feeling better than the last time I saw you."
"I am, thank you… and I apologize for running out on you this morning," he told her.
"That's quite all right," she told him. "You've been taking in a lot of upsetting information. It's understandable."
"So what's up?" Natasha asked.
Dr. Golden looked to Banner to see if he wanted to start.
"After the results of the urinalysis I did on the Soldier yesterday, I became concerned about a few things," Bruce explained, "which is why I took blood samples this afternoon, as I wanted to double check those few things…"
Steve nodded, "And?"
"Bottom line… your old friend is jacked up on all kinds of chemicals and drugs," Bruce came right out with it.
"What kinds of chemicals and drugs?" Steve asked, concerned.
"All kinds," Bruce told him, shaking his head. He picked up his tablet to read from it. "Thorazine, scopolamine, barbituates…"
"I read about those experiments in the file," Steve said nodding, "but that was back in the 50's."
"Well, you may have read about them experimenting on him with drug therapy… but the evidence clearly shows… they are still pumping him full of all kinds of drugs and chemicals. A couple of them really concern me."
"Such as?" Steve asked.
"Scopolamine, for one, it's in a class of medications called anti-muscarinics. It works by blocking the effects of a natural substance called acetylcholine on the central nervous system. Acetylcholine works as a neurotransmitter."
Steve was listening intently, but his expression read as he was totally lost in Banner's explanation.
"Basically scopolamine blocks the activity of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor… it prevents his central nervous system from transmitting needed data to his brain… like pain, for instance."
"I can see how that would be seen as a benefit if he were injured on a mission," Steve commented.
"Steve, pain isn't a thing to be suppressed to the point of not even knowing you're injured," Banner told him. "Pain is a necessary symptom to tell us when our bodies have been compromised; whether it's in danger of being maimed for life or in mortal danger. Only after realizing we are injured should the pain then be suppressed, but in order to aid in a patient's comfort… not in order to trick them into believing they aren't injured.
"Scopolamine is usually used in surgical settings to prevent nausea and vomiting after anesthesia. Under controlled circumstances it can be a very beneficial drug… but the amount showing in his system is not at all beneficial for him. It's why he seems to vacillate between cognitive thought and speech and then appears confused and amnesiac for events that transpired only a short time ago. Scopolamine is the "go to" drug to erase a person's memories and at high doses can cause… terror. It's considered the world's most terrifying drug."
"The notes on the record in the file said that it's an amnesiac," Steve mentioned, unsure if he remembered that correctly.
"Yes," Dr. Banner confirmed. "The biggest side effects from the over use of scopolamine is the concomitant appearance of transient cognitive amnesia, as well as, electro-physiological changes."
Steve gave him a look. "What?"
"Electro-phys… it can cause abnormal heart rhythms… it can, in extreme amounts cause sudden cardiac death… and to be honest with you, with the amount of it showing in his bloodstream, as of today… I'm surprised he's not dead yet."
Steve looked at him with a pained expression. "Is there a way to… I don't know, flush the drugs out of his system?"
Banner shook his head and gave a shrug. "Blood and urine test results show high levels of a number of these chemicals in his system. Considering he's a super soldier like you, his physical enhancement due to the serum he was given, means his body should be working at a faster than normal rate to metabolize the foreign substances and dispelling them at a higher rate.
"Subsequent tests of both blood and urine samples should show this to be the case. His system ishould be/i breaking down the chemicals and drugs that were injected into his system. Without repeated treatments he should be able to eventually rid himself of the drugs and, in conjunction, hopefully, the effects from them."
"Hopefully?" Steve asked, "That wouldn't be guaranteed?"
"Unfortunately, no," Bruce told him. "There's no guarantee that the effects can or would be reversed. Chemical alteration of brain functions along with prolonged Electro-Convulsive… Therapy; I really need to find another word for what they did to him, because it certainly wasn't therapeutic… is not new in terms of mind control experimentation.
"He exhibits a number of symptoms which indicate severe chemical imbalances in the brain. Right now, those symptoms seem to be limited to mostly memory and cognition."
Steve nodded as he thought about his interactions with the Soldier – with Bucky – to this point. He had to admit that interacting with him from one hour to the next was a bit confusing. One moment he was showing an over-abundance of cockiness and confidence; challenging him and Natasha as if he was being held prisoner as an enemy combatant and the next time he walked into the room the Soldier appeared submissive and hesitant about speaking to them or even looking them in the eye.
"There is another chemical in his system that is particularly troubling to both me and Dr. Golden," Bruce told them. "I have to admit that due to information regarding sterilization protocols used by Hydra that Natasha shared with me, its presence didn't completely blindside me."
"What is it?" Steve asked.
"Suprelorin," Bruce told him. Steve just shook his head looking lost. "It's a powerful drug… used for chemical castration… usually on dogs and other animals."
"For castrating animals," Steve exclaimed, trying to understand. "Why would they do that?"
"Chemically castrating," Bruce emphasized. "Most likely for easier control… it inhibits natural sexual desire by severely limiting his body's natural production of testosterone, so the results would guarantee that he wouldn't be distracted by hormonal needs or desires."
"They sterilized him?" Steve asked, feeling sick to his stomach.
"Well, no… not necessarily," Bruce told him. "Once the drug has run its course and he recovers from its effects, it's possible his body will revert to its normal levels of testosterone production. Although, that would depend on the dosage that he's been given and how long they've been administering it. Hopefully, they implant the chip only when he's awakened from cryo-stasis and not fed the drug continually even through sleep cycles.
"That being said, with the number of different chemicals and drugs pumping through his system, it's hard to say what kind of withdrawal symptoms he might experience and to what degree. We may have a real problem on our hands, more than just trying to get your friend to remember who he used to be. This could very well end up being a fight for his life in more ways than one," Bruce informed them.
"As time goes on, he could experience a litany of physical and psychological issues, these may include loss of appetite, irritability, aggression, restlessness, sleeping too much or the inability to get to sleep or stay asleep, extreme mood swings, lack of energy or motivation, too much energy, lack of empathy or compassion toward others, feeling numb or displaced in his own body. I'm guessing that we're going to be dealing with some major post traumatic stress symptoms… nightmares, anger, rage, combativeness… and I haven't even gotten to memory loss and the inability to control other behavioral responses to unknown stimuli."
Steve moved to a nearby chair and dropped into it, his mind reeling. Natasha moved to him and put her hands on his shoulders to show her support.
"Will his memories come back?" Steve asked. "Will he ever remember me?"
"It's hard to say, Steve," Bruce told him as honestly as he could. "He may regain some of his memories of his friendship with you before you both became super soldiers. But it's possible those memories have literally been burned out of his synapses. He's undergone so many electro-shock treatments that it's really hard for me to give you any guarantees. I'm sorry."
"But we shouldn't give up hope, either," Dr. Goldman interjected. "It's quite possible that even though his neuro-transmitters have been essentially cauterized by the electrical shocks his brain has been subjected to…"
"Wait, what?" Steve interrupted.
"A neuro-transmitter is the junction between two neurons," she explained. "One neuron sends a message out to a target neuron; another brain cell, so we can cognitively access that communication. Our memories are a type of communication that the transmitter neurons send to receptor neurons so we can access those memories. There are electrical synapses and there are chemical synapses and it's the chemical synapse that triggers the pre-synaptic neuron to release neurotransmitters."
"Which means…?" Steve asked. "In English, please, Doctor."
"The over-use of electrical shock treatments has caused a disruption to his neuro-transmitters. Where the electrical pulse should connect one neuron to another… the ends of the neurons have been burned to a crisp. His earlier memories may be intact… but his brain cannot transmit those memories to his cognitive neurons where he would be able to access them. It's the equivalent of picking up the phone and dialing," she explained, "You know the number you wish to call and once dialed the line sends out the proper signal that connects you to the correct receiver phone on the other end… but then someone cuts that phone line and you cannot connect to the receiver to deliver your message."
Steve nodded. Her explanation was clear. "I understand. Thank you, Doctor."
"I'm holding onto hope that because his DNA has been altered by the super soldier serum he was given, that those synapses will eventually heal themselves if not subjected to further electrical shocks. We also believe that all the drugs he's being given have most likely altered the chemical function in his brain and, we hope, that too can revert to a natural state, if no more of these drugs are administered to him."
"Why are they still drugging him?" Steve asked. "They succeeded in subjugating him, right? I mean it took a while but they did it… eventually."
"Did they?" Dr. Golden asked. "You read the files, Captain… well, some of them. You need to read the rest of the files."
"You didn't want me to read them in the first place," Steve reminded her.
"I was worried about how you would handle the information," she told him. "But you've been doing an extraordinary job with him and I think you can handle the rest. I don't believe they ever succeeded in fully subjugating Sgt. Barnes as it is recorded that he'd walked away numerous times, proving Hydra did not have total control over their agent. They had to repeatedly perform many of their vanquishing techniques and eventually came to the conclusion that they had to keep him on ice between missions due to their control weakening over time."
Steve nodded. He hadn't considered that both the Russians and Hydra had failed to completely vanquish his friend. The traumas and tortures that he had to endure over and over again… knowing what Hydra would do to him, even then, he continued to resist them and their efforts. Steve let out a forced breath and ran his hands through his hair as he tried to process the implications of what the doctors were telling him.
"If the reports in the file are true and there's no reason to believe otherwise," Dr. Goldman explained, "They keep him in cryo-stasis between missions and then wake him, erase his memories, wipe his mind completely… and then gain control by subjecting him to ECT and drug treatments to make him mentally pliable before each mission…"
"That would mean they just did that to him last week," Steve realized.
"That's our conclusion as well," she told him. "The amount of drugs and other chemicals coursing through his veins right now are the reason for his unstable mental function. His behavior vacillating between dangerous aggression and total submission, confusion, anger, distrust, volatility; all of it points to very recent and very aggressive ECT. They've burned out his synapses so the neural transmitters in his brain can't relay information that he needs in order for him to even know he needs to fight them. That's how they're able to gain control of him on the short term. These drugs they've jacked him up on are all specifically aimed to the advancement of mind control.
"He's a puppet," Dr. Banner interjected. Steve looked to Bruce with a pained expression. "But according to their records the puppet masters realized that he's able to sever those strings after a certain amount of time has passed."
"Well, that's good news," Steve said. "So what do we do?"
"For now, we wait and give him any medical support he needs while his body deals with the drugs he's been given," Dr. Golden told him. "When he starts regaining cognitive control and his memories, he's going to need a lot of emotional support and, for you to be able to give him that, you're going to need to know everything," she explained. "You need to finish the files."
"Okay," Steve agreed with her. "When are you available, Doctor?"
"Tonight," she told him, "after dinner."
"I'll be there," he told her.
TBC'd