A/N – This is a different take on the events of Civil War. I've tried to make it as accurate as possible! It's also the longest chapter of this book so far, at over 1900 words. I hope it's okay.
—— ★ ——
"Hello, Mr. Barnes. I've been sent by the United Nations to evaluate you. Do you mind if I sit?"
Bucky remained silent, wishing that you, his girlfriend, could be in the room with him. After Steve had located your shared apartment in Bucharest, things had gotten out of hand, and you'd all been arrested and taken to a facility in Berlin. You'd been separated from Bucky, who was now due to be interrogated by a man you'd never seen before.
"Your first name is James?"
Meanwhile, you sighed as you sat in some kind of office room, carefully watching Bucky on a small screen. You would be lying if you said you weren't worried; as the former SHIELD agent and trained assassin who'd gone undercover within HYDRA to help him remember his identity and escape, the two of you had been together for a long time, yet you were still fiercely protective of him.
Anyone who tried to hurt him would have you to answer to.
Across the room from where you sat, Sharon approached Sam, pushing a piece of paper towards him. "The receipt for your gear."
Sam glanced at it and scoffed. "'Bird costume'? Come on!"
"I didn't write it," Sharon defended. Glancing towards Steve, she turned and pressed a button, allowing everyone to hear the interaction between Bucky and the unknown man.
"I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, James?"
Bucky kept his eyes trained on the floor, refusing to speak. You could tell how uncomfortable, how scared he was, and your heart ached.
"I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James." The man attempted to bargain with Bucky, prompting him to finally talk.
"My name is Bucky."
As you sighed gloomily, Steve frowned at the blurry, black and white photo of whoever bombed Vienna.
"Why would the Task Force release this photo to begin with?" He directed the question at Sharon, who shrugged.
"Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?"
"Right. It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding." Steve raised his eyebrows slightly. "Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier."
"You're saying someone framed him to find him?" Sharon replied, furrowing her brow.
"Steve," Sam interjected, "we looked for the guy for two years and found nothing."
"We didn't bomb the UN. That turns a lot of heads."
"Yeah, but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him. It guarantees that we would."
"Yeah," Steve sighed, looking towards the man on the monitor, suspicion evident on his face. You followed his gaze, eyes narrowed, as the man began to speak again.
"Tell me, Bucky... you've seen a great deal, haven't you?"
"I don't wanna talk about it." Bucky was frowning now, clearly confused and upset.
"You fear that, if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop." The man continued despite Bucky's protests, and you stood up, glancing desperately towards Steve. On the monitor, the man tapped a screen in front of him, an evil smirk consuming his face.
"Don't worry... we only have to talk about one."
Suddenly, the power went out. You gasped, your hand flying to your mouth as everyone realised that Steve's suspicions had been correct. This guy, whoever he was, was bad news. He was dangerous.
You had to help Bucky.
Everyone was thrown into a frenzy. Everett Ross was impatiently ordering for the monitors' connection to be restored, while Tony was asking FRIDAY for the source of the power outage. You turned towards Sharon, silently pleading.
"Sub-level five, east wing," she told you immediately. With no time to thank her, you took off running, Steve and Sam hot on your heels.
Although you could no longer see or hear it, the ordeal continued. Bucky, now only illuminated by a dim red emergency light, was still trapped in his pod, tormented by the man before him.
"What the hell is this?" he questioned warily.
"Why don't we discuss your home? Not Romania. Certainly not Brooklyn, no."
The man pulled a notebook out of his bag; red leather, with a star in the middle. As Bucky laid eyes on it, he could only hope that it wasn't what he thought it was.
"I mean, your real home." The man took his glasses off and opened up the notebook, before shining a small torch at it. He began to step towards Bucky's pod, ominously reading from the pages before him.
"Желание."
Upon hearing the first of the dreaded ten words, Bucky squeezed his eyes shut, throwing his head back. "No."
"Ржавый."
"Stop."
"Семнадцать."
"Stop," Bucky repeated, growling angrily as his metal arm began to shake within its restraints. He knew he didn't have long left – he couldn't control it. Only one person could, and that was you. He needed you.
"Рассвет."
Bucky was screaming now, clenching his fist as he ripped both of his arms free. Unperturbed, the man continued to read.
"Печь. Девять. Добросердечный."
As he aggressively punched the bulletproof door in front of him, Bucky could feel himself slipping away. He still tried to fight, but he knew it was hopeless.
"Возвращение на Родину. Один. Грузовой вагон."
As the man uttered the final trigger word, Bucky finally broke through the glass, coming to a standstill just outside the pod, his jaw clenched. Cautiously but smugly, his tormentor approached him.
"Солдат?"
"Я готов отвечать," Bucky responded, not missing a beat.
"Mission report. December 16, 1991."
By this point, you were sprinting through the dark, unfamiliar building. As you rounded a corner, you were greeted by the sight of multiple agents lying on the floor, out cold. You slowed a little, shaking your head as you realised you were too late.
"Help me. Help."
You practically growled as you recognised the source of the plea; the man who had done this, his identity still a mystery, lay crumpled on the floor next to the now empty pod where Bucky had been.
Before you had a chance, Steve marched over. "Get up," he demanded. When the man didn't move, Steve seized him and pushed him against the wall.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"To see an empire fall."
You desperately wanted to punch him, kick him, kill him. But, trusting that Steve would take care of it, you focused on the more important matter at hand – finding Bucky.
As it turned out, you didn't have to search. As Sam entered the room behind you, a fist swung at him, smashing through the wall behind him as he ducked. Suddenly, his body was flying through the air as Bucky grabbed him by the jaw and hurled him towards you.
"Shit," you muttered, holding out a hand to stop Steve from approaching his best friend. Knowing that you had the best shot at getting the situation under control, he nodded wordlessly and grabbed a groaning, slightly injured Sam. Both of them jogged out of the door, pursuing the man who, taking advantage of the distraction, had managed to run away.
Now, you were alone with Bucky. He glared at you, but you could see a hint of pain in his eyes. You held your arms up, showing him that you didn't intend to hurt him, before approaching him extremely slowly, one step at a time.
"Your name is Bucky," you murmured, trying to trigger any kind of memory, like you'd learned to do back when you'd first started trying to help him escape from HYDRA.
Bucky showed no recognition, but he made no move to attack you, either, which was a positive. His eyes followed your footsteps as you kept speaking in a soft, relaxing tone.
"Your best friend is called Steve, Steve Rogers. He helped me save you from HYDRA."
Your hands shook for a second when Bucky growled as you mentioned the name of the evil organisation that had handed him endless years of torture. Quickly, you tried to backtrack.
"You're safe here, nobody wants to hurt you. My name is Y/N... I'm your girlfriend. We've been together for—"
You abruptly stopped speaking as a voice echoed over the loudspeaker, informing all agents that the east wing had been compromised. As he heard the message, Bucky shuffled his feet, seeming to realise that soon, armed agents would storm into the room, intending to capture him again. He frowned, conflicted between running away or staying with you – the girl who he knew from somewhere, the only one who somehow wanted to help him.
When Bucky took one step towards the exit, you darted over to him, quickly grabbing his wrist. He flinched, but then stood still, staring at you.
"You're my... my girlfriend?" he mumbled, his eyes softening.
"Yes, I am." You smiled comfortingly, glad that he was beginning to recover a little, before bridging the small gap between the two of you. You tenderly placed a hand on his face, caressing his jaw with your thumb. He watched you, perplexed.
Suddenly, you heard quick footsteps approaching the room. As you instinctively moved to stand in front of Bucky, Sharon appeared in the doorway, causing you to let out a sigh of relief.
"I can't keep them away for much longer," she told you, referring to the countless agents who had presumably been told to search for Bucky. "You should get him out of here."
You nodded, even though she was already gone, running back down the still dark corridor. Again, you turned towards your uncertain boyfriend and grabbed both of his hands, squeezing them.
"Do you trust me?"
After a brief moment of hesitation, you took a slight risk and moved to wrap your arms around Bucky, pulling him into a tight hug. You audibly gasped when you felt his arms circle your waist in return.
"Y/N..." he murmured shakily. "What happened? Did I- did I do something?"
He was back.
"No," you replied quickly, pulling away to smile at him, "you're fine, it's okay. We have to get out though, people are coming here to find you."
Bucky didn't want to leave. Of course, he didn't want to be caught, but he just wanted to stay with you. Despite the episode he'd just been through, he felt safe.
"Thank you," he said. Then, surprising you, he leaned forward and kissed you, quickly and passionately. "You're the only one who keeps me sane, y'know, I wouldn't be here without you. I swear, when all of this is over, I wanna marry you."
Tears sprung to your eyes at his sweet and unexpected words. "Is that a proposal, Barnes?"
After thinking for a second, he nodded. "I suppose it is... I don't have a ring, though."
"You could get down on one knee holding a blade of grass, for all I care," you chuckled, "I'd still say yes."
You leaned in to kiss him again, before the sound of yelling interrupted you. You pulled two hand pistols out of your thigh holsters and handed one to Bucky, smirking at him as the two of you stood side by side, ready to take on whoever was coming your way.
The whole ordeal was tough, but to both you and Bucky, it only proved one thing. No matter what happened, however many challenges you had to face, you would always stick together.
You made a good team.