Remember Me

The next few days move in a grey-toned blur. I lock myself away in my room, only leaving to track down Tony and question him every time he comes up from the cellblock. Everyday is the same, Bucky is hostile and has no idea who he is, Tony and Steve spend hours to try to get him to remember something.

And every day, he doesn’t remember.

They revoked my clearance, and I’m no longer allowed to go to the section of the prison where they’re holding him, or Baron Zemo. They’re locked behind a door with a keycard lock, and unfortunately no one will give me a functioning keycard, claiming that I’m too much of a risk to be let in.

So I wait, slipping slowly into insanity as I think of what’s happening in the basement of the compound. No one comes to my door today, leaving me to pace the length of the room in peace as I wait for the usual time for Tony to come up.

Finally, I hear the ding of the elevator, and I swing my door open, following behind him as he walks down the hall. He sighs as he looks over his shoulder at me, waving me on with one hand as he steps into the living room.

He walks behind the bar, pouring a glass of bourbon before offering it to me. I shake my head, and he shrugs, capping the bottle before taking a long drink from the glass.
“You know what I’m going to say.” He says as he sets the glass back down. “No change, and no you can’t go down there.”

I run my fingers through my hair, exhaling loudly as I look back at him.
“I got him back the last time.” I say tiredly. “Please, just let me try. You can come with me.”

He chuckles.
“Oh, I can?” He replies. “How kind.”

I groan, pulling my hands down my face as I glare at him.
“Please.” I beg again.

He looks at me over the rim of his glass as he finishes the liquid inside before setting the glass back against the counter.
“Fine.” He says with a sigh. “One time. And if he flips and tries to kill us, I’m going to be pissed.”

I smile at him, nodding.
“Yes, thank you.” I tell him, trying not to sound too eager.

He nods as well, his expression softening slightly.
“We’ll go tomorrow.” He says, running his finger over the rim of the glass. “He’s done today.”

My eyebrows knit together in question as I look at him.
“He just fought us a lot today.” Tony says, not making me vocalize the question. “Fought the restraints, fought the questions. He’s an angry person like this.”

I nod slowly, ignoring the ache in my chest.
“And Zemo?” I ask.

He shrugs again.
“He’s easier to get the right information from.” He says with a smirk. “Very cocky, predictable.”

I nod, acknowledging what he says.
“I want to show you something if you’re sticking around.” He says, stepping back around the bar. “Are you?”

I follow behind him.
“Of course I am.” I answer. “Not just for Bucky.”
I think of Natasha and Steve, knowing I couldn’t just leave them now.

He looks at me, scanning my face for a moment before nodding, leading me to another room. This room is similar to the conference room, but instead of having the large table, it has several smaller workspaces near all of the screens.

Tony pulls a video up on the screen, showing Bucky in his glass cell. Zemo walks into the room, dressed as the worker bringing a tray.
He presses the button to speak to Bucky, leaning closer to the speaker.

“Do you speak Russian?” Tony asks, turning up the volume.
I nod, listening to the recording.

“Longing, rusted, furnace, daybreak.” Zemo says into the speaker, clearly and evenly.

Bucky screams in the room, covering his ears with his hands as he seems to writhe in pain on the floor of the cell. Zemo isn’t fazed, continuing to recite his seemingly random list of words into the speaker.

“Seventeen, benign, nine, homecoming, one freight car.” He finishes, and as he stops, Bucky stops moving.
He sits up, sitting perfectly straight on the floor with his head bowed.

“Winter Soldier?” Zemo says, still speaking in Russian to Bucky.

Bucky nods once.
“Ready to comply.” He replies, responding in Russian as well.

I watch as Zemo instructs him on how to destroy the room, helping him from the outside as they break him out of the cell. Tony stops the video then, turning to look at me.

“The words control him.” I mutter, looking back at Tony.

He nods, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Any idea what they mean?” He asks.

I play the words over in my head again, trying to think of what any of them could mean.
“Freight car.” I say quietly. “That’s how they told me he died, falling from a train in a battle.”

Tony nods, typing something into his computer.
“I don’t know about the rest, I’ll think though.” I tell him.

He nods again, turning back to face me.
“Ask Steve.” He says quietly. “He knows more than he lets on to.”

I think about it for a moment before agreeing. Tony scribbles the words onto a piece of paper before folding it in half and handing it to me.
“Go find him, he’s probably outside with Nat.” He says taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “I’ll come get you tomorrow to take you down there.”

I nod, stuffing the paper into my pocket and thanking him quickly as I leave the room. I hurry down to the small garden outside, happy to find Nat and Steve sitting on a bench under a tree. I walk over to them, sitting in the grass in front of them and looking up at them.

“Hey.” I say, smiling at them tiredly.
They both smile back, saying hello as they do.

“I guess Zemo used some trigger words to make Bucky… the way that he is.” I say quietly, pulling the list of words out of my pocket. “I got “freight car”, at least I think they’re referring to him falling from the train, but I’m at a loss on the rest of these.”

Steve takes the list, looking at it. He pulls a small, black notebook out of his pocket, copying the words from the list onto a blank page.
“I’ll look through them and let you know if I can piece anything together.” He says, handing Tony’s list back to me.

I nod, thanking him as I tuck the list back into my pocket.
“Are you okay?” He asks me, looking at me with a concerned expression.

I shrug, and he nods, understanding what I mean.

“You both need to eat.” Nat says, looking between us both. “Come on, I’m buying.”
She stands up, reaching a hand down to me with a smile. I take it, letting her pull me up. She puts one arm around my shoulders as she takes Steve’s hand with the other, leading us out of the garden.