Nirvana

A mass of people piled into the Brooklyn streets. Most of them linked by the arm of their significant others carrying groceries - some holding onto their infants as they stumble behind fast outstretched legs. A collection of shops selling clothes, shoes and watches stood ajar for people to wonder in and out rapidly. The thick stench of car exhausts filled the air and whiffed into the dark haired man’s face causing his nose to wrinkle in on itself as he crossed the cobbled roads streaming with automobiles.  A beggar stood on one of the store steps, arms outstretched, eyes intensely begging passers for money.  The dark haired man paused to drop a hand full of coins into his charred, unwashed palm while ducking into a one way alleyway tiled up with bricks.

Amongst the stranded beige boxes covered in sickly green moss engulfing the remains of the untouched surface area and the overflowing dumpsters, stood two large boys. At first they appeared to be mumbling to each other, one towering over the other in a hushed tone but then broke into a fight throwing punches and kicks to a shadowy figure. The dark haired man stood silently metres away watching the two animalistic goons attack the huddled figure lying by their feet.

One of them had a larger build, broad legs and thick arms that pressed against the thin layers of fabric desperately trying to remain in one piece while his smaller associate towered over him by a foot, despite his lanky physique. They both took turns in striking the figure while taking a glimpse of a pause to spit more abusive words at him- one voice harsher, one voice deeper than the other.

One turned, after hearing the dark haired man silently approach them from behind, and stared at him before turning back paying no attention to the man what so ever. Faint sobs escaped the huddled figure on the ground reassuring the dark haired man that the boy is still alive.

“Hey. Quit it you’ve had your fun- HEY”! he yelled after both boys failed to take notice of him.

Both the figures stopped promptly to turn slowly to face the direction where the shadowy figure yelled. The taller, lanky boy wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, giving the smaller one a stern nod before they both bolted into a sprint towards the man. Within seconds the man had tackled one to the ground after punching the air out of the other's chest leaving him heaving for air against the alley’s brick wall. A swirl of arms and legs spiraled in the air.  The dark haired man gave a powerful roundhouse kick in the smaller boy’s ribs; he howled in torment but still raced towards him. The tall boy gave him a sharp punch to the jaw but the dark haired man recovered quickly in response. With blood streaming out the corner of his mouth the dark haired man lunged at the tall boy and rammed his head into the nearest wall. A spine chilling crunch sound echoed when the boy’s face met the wall.

The smaller boy saw his accomplice lay still on the cobbled ground before glancing back at the man towering above him. His breathing was off but his eyes remained locked on him and his arms out-stretched from his sides almost inviting him to give it another shot and fight some more. Instead, the man pulled his friend to his feet and half ran-half limped away from him. The dark haired man was then left with the victim who was-at that point, sat against a dumpster staring.

The man took a quick glance at him while exhaling at the sight of the goons leaving. He then walks to the boy and offers him his rather soiled, bloody hand. The small boy sat still. His eyes wide and alert, not falling off the man’s face. The man let out a hefty laugh with his arm still stretched out to the boy, the kind of laugh that would have frightened a small child if it weren’t for the kind smile that beamed off his face.

“I’m not gonna hurt you, alright? You can trust me.” He leaned closer. He smiled sincerely, his eyes urging him to take his hand.

The boy eventually took his hand and was raised effortlessly to his feet.

“I’m James” The man announced quickly while the boy dusted himself off. Up close James saw that the ‘boy’ was not as small as he looked. His body was young. His arms, legs, torso they all were frail and looked as if they were about to give way against gravity itself but his eyes were old. They had a sharp clear-sighted feel to them that echoed wisdom. 

“Steven” the blond haired man replied with one hand brushing through his outgrown hair “but I prefer Steve”.

 James grinned softly enough for his lips to form a perfect arc and for his eyes to form slight crinkles in the corners. He raised his chin before replying with a gentle smile.   

“Well in that case, you can call me Bucky”

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"Captain!" A deep voice ripped through the air knocking Steve out of his day dream. He staggered slightly against the wall he was leaning on causing his arms to unravel from his chest and settle by his sides. All eyes in the room were on him.

"Captain, Are you able to continue?" Agent Hill asked, seated near him.

"Yes-Yes...continue"

He struggled to remember how he got from his sanctuary for room all the way down to Base yet alone remember what the conversation over 20 agents, including Romanoff, are discussing.

"Like I was saying…" Nick Fury mumbled before dabbling over information to keep the agents up to date of the situation they're facing.

"Cap, you alright?" Agent Romanoff asked silently appearing at his side.  Steve has yet to learn how she could get point A to B without anyone hearing or seeing her approach. She was suited up into her thick black - blue leather gear, which complimented her figure, with gun holsters and numerous gadgets attached to her wrists, legs and hips. Her red hair perfectly straightened and curled inwards when it reached just below her shoulders.

"Why are you geared up?" He half whispered.

"Why are you?" She twitched her lips into a smile. Steve looked down at himself to find that he also was suited up.  Over his arms laid the royal blue and silver tailored suit. Attached to his back was the indestructible shield, polished to its finest, sitting comfortably in its latches. He craned his neck back down at his chest almost expecting it all to fade or disappear and for him to wake up sitting in bed in his blue sweatpants and white polo shirt. Steve’s blank expression and vacant eyes caused agent Romanoff to scold at him. She let out a long breath.

"You didn’t get any sleep at all last night?"

"No. I didn't."

She gave him another heavy sigh before turning her attention back to the conference.

"That serum you took doesn't strengthen your ability to stay up on endless nights."

"Yeah well... it wasn't intentional." Steve’s voice came to a stop when Nick gave him a fierce glare.

"Captain with all due respect, we're facing a situation similar to the New York incident so this discussion requires full attention and co-operation. If you and Agent Romanoff would prefer to continue your little chit chat in a private room then please, be my guest." Nick rolled the words off his tongue in his usual sarcastic, slow tone. The room grew silent. Eyes fixated on them both.

“With all due respect” Steve spat out causing agent Romanoff to give him a quick side glance as a warning. "I’d want to know all the details on how we're going to do this, including the details on how you're going to use the prisoner to your advantage."

"OUR advantage, Captain…you're part of this more than anyone else." Nick corrected.

Steve stumbled for words at first. His eyes darted from face to face around the room. Agent Hill kicked her chair back and stood up at the rounded table.

"Our objective is to question the prisoner again. We need to find out what it is that Hydra desperately wants in terms of S.H.I.E.L.D data, why they're willing to mass murder and take innocent lives in the process." She boomed through the room.

 Numerous voices raised into murmurs.

"Questioning starts now. The sooner we get answers the more lives we save." Agent Hill added before leaving the room with her hair brown bouncing in a loose bun with every step. With that to conclude, Steve followed her to the door before Sam gave him a beckoning look from the opposite side of the room, which Steve chose to ignore.

"Agent Hill." Steve called out while jogging to catch up with her long strides.

"If you have any more questions you can consult with Fury."

"No, I want to question him with you." Agent Hill's strides began to slow slightly. Her eyes scanning Steve’s before stopping at the entrance of the prison.

“This isn’t a two man job”

“I want to help”

"Are you sure you can do this?" She asked hastily. He replied with a nod. "Cap, you backed out the first time we questioned him."

"Because you were torturing him and there isn't any involved this time" He said hastily.  His eyes drifted to hers. A doubtful expression sat on her face. "Right?"

"Let's hope it doesn't lead to that." She added before pushing the heavy metal door, sending a gust of cold air into his face.

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Sitting on the cell floor against the wall was Bucky. His head draped down, one leg bent with an arm resting by his knee. Usually they'd step into his cell and interrogate him from the interior but this time agent Hill insisted on speaking to him through the speakers on the other side of the one way glass screen.

"We have a change of plan for today" Her voice boomed through the speakers. "Instead of getting answers from you through torture, we’re simply going to ask you questions"

Bucky didn't even flinch. Steve wondered if Bucky could hear her at all.

"I need you to co-operate with us" She paused

Bucky locked his jaw before glaring towards the screen through his hair. He dropped his gaze before returning back to staring at the floor.

Agent Hill began with the questions.

"What does Hydra want from S.H.I.E.L.D?" No answer.

"What is your mission?" No answer

"Why were you specifically assigned to this mission?" No answer

"Are there others like you?" No answer

After a number of unanswered questions agent Hill slowly rests her back against her chair with a sigh. She turns to Steve giving him an encouraging look becoming him to ask questions to see if Bucky would be willing to co-operate then, if it were coming from him but Steve simply gave her a shook of the head before staring back at the glass.

"What is your real name?" She asked after a long pause. "..Because we know you by two names."

This caught Bucky's attention. His head rose slightly.

"We know you as the Winter Soldier." She paused. "And we also know you as Buck-"

"My NAME" he grumbled. "…Is not Bucky. I don't have a name. I have a code and a nickname that’s all."

"Why do I feel like you're lying to me Bucky-"

Within a split second he was on his feet taking large strides towards the screen. He punched his fists on the glass making it shudder and wobble for several seconds.

"I don’t answer to you or your questions. I don’t have to co-operate with you. I don’t have to feed you information." His face; filled with rage, was almost pressed against the screen. Little strings of spit bounced out from his lips and settled on the glass as he grew more and more impatient. "I am not you're little puppet. I'm not going to tell you shit."

Agent Hill remained calm and collected hearing every word he had to say. Her grip loosening from the mic before settling on the desk covered with overspread sheets of paper. She flipped through 4 maybe 5 sheets before looking back up.

"Late 20s. Born in Shelbyville, Indiana in 1925"

"Stop." Rage pooled in his eyes.

"Orphan, the son of a soldier killed in training at U.S. Army Camp Lehigh in Virginia just before the United States' entry into World War 2." Her voice raised to match his. Steve's pulse began to quicken.

"ENOUGH I am tired of you demanding answers! I’m tired of you getting in my head!"

Bucky punched again at the screen making it shudder under his fits, small dents and cracks began to appear where his metal arm constantly made incisions. Angry scowls left his lips. Flickers of spit continuously splattering against the glass as he wailed a hefty cry. His eyes, wild like fire were determined but then he flipped like a light switch and suddenly stopped. He returned to the position he was before flipping into angry screams, with his arms being supported against the glass and knuckles pressed close to each other and his head hanging low. Collecting gasps of air, Bucky spoke in a hushed tone.

"You enjoy this, don’t you?" he asked. "Pushing me to my limits”

"All we want is answers." She added.

"And you." Bucky tilts his head and stares straight at Steve. Despite the mirrored screen preventing him from seeing the other side, Bucky withheld his stare on Steve. Steve unravelled his crossed arms and let them swing to his sides. He opened his mouth slightly failing to deliver a response.

"You enjoy seeing me like this?"

Bucky's native hair that was once a light shade of brown but now blackened with sweat and swung by the side of his face. His eyes continued to burn through the glass. Up close Bucky looked a lot worse, his pink lips were dry and chapped, his cheeks flushed from colour and his eyes surrounded by bags of dark skin.

Steve spoke up.

"I don’t enjoy this any more than you do, Buck- Listen.... You need to just-just answer the questions and all this will be over." Steve gestured towards the cell even though he knew Bucky wouldn't be able to see what he meant by 'all this'.

"If I really was this Bucky… your friend, you wouldn't have let this happen to me in the first place." Bucky raised the corner of his lips to curl into a menacing grin. "Some friend you are."

Heat rose to Steve’s cheeks. Bucky smirk rippled back into a frown. He slipped his arm and fists off the screen, and let them swing gently by his sides. He brushed his mouth with the back of his hand before turning to return back to the corner of the cell with his arms resting on his propped up knees.

"You need to stop messing with my head” Bucky roared loud enough for them to hear over the echo. “Stop feeding me lies, stop calling me your friend and give up. I'm not James. I’m not your friend"

Agent Hill was already out of her seat and walking towards the exit before Steve could take in everything that had just happened. He skipped up behind her heels and caught up with her. Pushing the metal door to the corridor connecting the base with the cell; Steve asked

"What was that?" He asked.

"What was what?" She replied.

"Your approach. We're you meaning to make him snap?"

She smiled still walking with her arms swinging by her sides.

"Tick them off and they'll eventually give you answers…and what was with you?”

A silence stretched between them. She gave Steve a quick glance going through the next set of double doors. His eyes distant but his mouth was tweaked into a perfect grin.

"What are you smiling about?" She asked

"We made progress."

"Progress? He still refuses to give us anything. I wouldn't call that progress."

"No"  He huffed a quick laugh. "But he did tell me to stop calling him James."

Her eyebrow raised; a confused look shun on her face. Steve stopped at the end of the corridor to face her.

"This whole time, we've addressed him as Bucky. We never once told him his real name was James, never….. He thought of that himself." he smiled again "Progress."