Captain America Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier Steve Rogers Fan Fic - The Constant

Chapter Forty-One: The Winter Soldier - Who is he?

The doctor passes her a black tee shirt. Then she turns back to him.

"You can put this on when you're ready to stand up. I need to go now but I'll see you later." He can see she wants to say more but something is holding her back. She places the tee shirt on his lap. He gets the feeling that if they were alone she would have leant forward and kissed him and it causes a stirring in his groin.

He doesn't say anything; his mind still trying to fill in the blanks. He watches her leave and then he is alone with the scientists.

Freya. Her name is Freya. She is here for me. Always for me.

They keep him sat there for ten more minutes and he uses this time to get his bearings, study the doctors and look around the room. He knows the Russian language but doesn't follow all that they say because it is of no interest to him.

His ears have stopped buzzing and he no longer feels light-headed, but now he is feeling a slight impatience. He doesn't want to be here, he has things to do...but he doesn't know what. His leg starts jigging up and down and when the doctors see him doing that they know it is time to move him; they do not want him losing his temper in here with them. They know what his impatience can be like and they can spot the danger signs with ease.

He stands up and for a moment thinks the world is going to spin but it doesn't. His face is impassive - his eyes blank. One of the doctors has just opened the door and called out to someone else.

As the Winter Soldier puts on his shirt another man comes in.

For some reason he was expecting a different man. Why? He catches a vague shadow, the man with blond hair, but again he can't catch the thought.

He instinctively knows he must go with this man for the next stage of whatever it is he is going through. It is so ingrained in him that he does not even realise he doesn't have a choice.

As he moves to the door he catches a glimpse of himself in the reflective glass and looks away. He doesn't want to see.

When he quits the room he is in a long corridor, and there are two guards with guns. He studies them and sees one go pale but they are of no interest to him so he turns away and follows the other man. The guards follow behind. They do not encounter anyone else. Whenever they move the Winter Soldier after cryo freeze they ensure the corridors remain clear until after he has been programmed.

Their booted feet ring down the long concrete tunnel and he can feel the cold seeping in down here. The lights are yellow and everything seems a little unreal.

No one talks to him.

They reach a set of doors, the man turns and nods to the guards. They take up their posts either side of the door, and the man and the Winter Soldier go in. Once the doors close they are locked; the guards have never been inside. It is rare for people to be invited in and most people would not want to go. This is where they programme the Winter Soldier and there are times when they have heard him scream in agony.

Five hours later when he comes out he cannot remember anything that went on in the room; his mind is blank of those details, and so are his feelings.

He knows his mission. He knows the training he will need to fulfil that mission and that is all that is in his mind.

His ears are buzzing again and when he first leaves the room his co-ordination is slightly out of sync, as if he is drunk. He hits the wall and stops for a moment whilst the dizziness abates; he can feel the cold stone against his hot body and for a moment he closes his eyes against the lights. The guards know to expect this and give him time before delivering him to his next port of call. By the time they get him to the lift he is walking properly but they do notice one of his eyes is bloodshot and there is a trickle of blood from his ear. They do nothing about it; that will be his Constant's job.