The Before [Prequel- Part 1]

Hydra History

"He knows Catherine?" Sam turned to me.

I nodded. "I mean, that's what it looked like when we confronted him in Romania."

"What happened?"

"She called him James. Not Bucky. Not Barnes. Not the Winter Soldier. Just James."

"And that means what exactly? That's his legal name." He shrugged.

"You don't understand. No one calls him that. No one. And to top it off, when he saw her, not only did he recognize her, he called her by a nickname."

"What name?"

"Kit-Cat," Bucky spoke up, making us turn to him. "She was Kit-Cat, and I was James. That's how we knew each other. Although Hydra's names for us were quite different. Soldier and Witch. That's what we were addressed as there."

"Hydra? Buck, Catherine never had an encounter with Hydra. I think you have her mixed up with someone else."

"No, she was with Hydra for two months. When she was fifteen. I wasn't sure how she got out; I was just glad she did."

Sam shook his head. "He has to be lying. She was never with Hydra."

"Yes, she was." Loki suddenly materialized in the room.

"Where the hell did you come from?!"

"I've been here this whole time, invisibly. After the power went out, I went to look for Catherine, but I couldn't find her. I heard Stark say he couldn't find her either. I thought Barnes might have something to do with her disappearance, so I followed you here." He explained.

"We'll talk about how creepy that is later, but you're kidding, about Catherine, right?"

"I wish I was. But he's telling the truth. She told me about this a few weeks ago."

"Hang on a damn minute. Why should we trust you? Why would Catherine ever entrust that kind of information with you?" Sam glared at the god.

"Listen! Somethings wrong. The doctor injected her with the serum. If she truly did tell you everything, you realize how bad this could end up being." Bucky looked at us pleadingly.

His eyes went wide with fear as he thought of something.

"Someone check my arm. My metal arm. Is the red star still there?" He sounded like he was panicking.

I checked his arm.

No star.

I shook my head, wondering why it was so important.

"You're sure?" He was sweating now.

"Yes, Buck. I'm sure. What does it mean?"

"It means I got her taken again! You said she disappeared, and last I saw her, the doctor was holding a knife to her neck, and I was going into Winter Soldier mode. It all adds up."

"What adds up?"

"After Catherine escaped, Hydra put a new mission in my head. If I ever saw her again, I would sedate her and use the red star on my arm as a beacon and radio. They've wanted her back for almost nine years. And the doctor just made me give her to them."

"Who was he? The doctor?" Loki asked, growing more concerned than the rest of us.

"I don't know."

"People are dead, and Catherine is gone. The bombing, the setup, the doctor did all that just to get ten minutes with you. I need you to do better than 'I don't know'."

"He wanted to know about Siberia, where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where."

"Why would he need to know that?