The Handler

Muse, The Handler

Sam wanted to snarl at the way Zemo pet Bucky's hair like he was nothing more than an animal but refrained when he saw the older man lean into it.

"Our mission is to find out about Donya and see if the other Flagsmashers are still in the area," Sam said with a calculating eye on Zemo. 

Bucky hung onto every word and dipped his head in a soft nod. Sam bit his tongue and gave Zemo one last look before making his way off of the plane.

The Asset twitched uncomfortably and settled in step behind both of his Handlers.

Scan for threats, protect Handlers, scan for threats, protect Handlers-

"Hey, Soldier," his Primary Handler startled him out of his thoughts and he briefly wondered if he was going to get punished for not paying attention.

"Hello," he replied tentatively.

Hander Sam smiled his bright smile at his answer and for some reason it made him want to punch something and scream. He shook his head as if he could psychically dislodge the thought.

Harm against Handlers is strictly forbidden.

His Handler gave him a concerned look as they continued to walk down the busy street. He vaguely heard people talking in numerous languages around him and his training perked up at the thought. What really made his training perk up, however, was the sound of a small, familiar beeping noise.

A bug.

He stopped in his tracks, not caring as an angry man behind bumped into his back and muttered angrily at him in French.

Both of his Handlers walked for a whole four meters before realizing that he wasn't keeping point behind them and stopping.

"Soldat?" Handler Zemo frowned at him.

The soldier felt his annoyance flare up again as the other spoke and he turned around sharp and quick.

"Somebody is trying to tail us," he murmured quietly.

Handler Sam came beside him, a concerned hand resting on his shoulder. "What? Who?"

The soldier marched forward mechanically and picked up the small bug that had been beeping quietly. He silently handed it to his Handler.

"Damn, man," his Handler whistled, "you got some good hearing to hear this, cyborg."

The name caused his lips to twitch and he inwardly cursed when he realized Handler Zemo had seen the malfunction. He hopes he's not going to be taken to be wiped. Still, the praise from his higher up caused him to puff out his chest with a swell of pride. The pride was quickly erased when a movement in his peripheral set off alarms in his head.

He widened his stance, mission ready. "Tail identified, permission to pursue?"

The Sokovian man answered before his Primary Handler by saying a curt, "yes, Soldat."

The only reason the Asset didn't wait for the direct order from his Primary Handler was because he was internally itching to check out the person tailing them.

But that isn't right, the Asset thought, the Asset doesn't have wants.

With a grunt, the soldier started to march down the street with intent to kill. The humans around him scattered at the sight of a predator on a mission. A monster in human skin.

He heard distant shouts of his Primary Handler behind him and he fought to ignore him and pursue his mission.

Query:

> Primary Handler orders
.
..
...

Status:

> Override order?
.
..
...

Calculation:

> Punishment probable

Risk for punishment:

96.49%

With a shake of his head, he internally repeated an internal 'override' as he turned down a brick alley. The alleyway was empty and his Handlers have not caught up with him yet, causing him to frown. There was nobody in the alley and his Handlers were going to be disappointed.

Mission failed

A sharp intake of breath pricked his ears and he whipped around with a glare.

"White Wolf," a strong looking woman addressed him.

The Asset immediately decided to do a threat assessment.

Threat Assessment:

> Shorter than the Asset, unknown armor, strong stance, lack of hair for aerial advantage, lithe build, hard eyes, always gave him a hard time about his hair-

He twitched.

Mission query:

> White Wolf?

Query Denied

Discontinued Query

Continued Threat Assessment Data:

> Asset probability to win in combat

96%

Mission:

> Detain and Question

Final Assessment:

Mission ready

He widened his stance automatically, focusing his gaze when the woman did the same.

"You are not the White Wolf," she stated when an unidentifiable accent. He searched his training for a hint of what it could be, but none came. Somewhere, something deep in his mind whispered to him that he knew it.

"I am the Winter Soldier," the Asset stated blandly. "I know of no 'White Wolf'."

The voice whispered louder.

"Bucky!" His Primary Handler rounded the corner, causing him to internally sigh. He has not gotten any sufficient information out of this woman.

"Ayo?" Sam said incredulously. They knew each other. 

The woman relaxed marginally, but tensed again when his Secondary Handler rounded the corner.

"You are to be arrested," she spat, springing forward.

The Soldier intercepted her leap with a snarl and caught her throat in his flesh hand, the woman's pulse fluttering under his squeezing palm.

"Fuck, Soldier, no!" His Handler yelped, immediately causing him to open his flesh hand and let go of the choking woman. "She's friendly!"

Intel Gathered:

> Woman: Ayo
-Friendly
-Past Handler?

"What did you do to him!" Ayo demanded as she threateningly took a step towards Handler Zemo.

The Asset stood between the woman and his Handler, a solid wall of muscle and metal preventing her from reaching him.

"James did this to himself," the Sokovian man answered.

Query:

Past Aliases:

> James?

> Bucky?

ACCESS DENIED

He came back to himself with a gasp, alerting the other three.

"Wolf?" Ayo asked him carefully.

"Who the hell is 'Wolf'?" He growled at her.

Info Query:

> "Who the hell is Bucky?"

ACCESS DENIED

"What did you do to him!" She demanded again, this time with a hint of sorrow in her voice.

His Primary Handler grimaced before answering, "we were in an explosion and I think he...reverted or something,"

Reverted?

"Reverted? How do you know that he did not cause this?" She snarled and pointed at the Sokovian. The Asset puffed himself up again, ready for violence.

"He doesn't see Zemo as his 'Captain' or 'Handler'," the shorter man explained. "I think that's me and I don't know why Zemo would activate the Winter Soldier and then have me as his first in command."

Ayo frowned before standing down.

"I can help him, but I will take Zemo after. I have rid him of the Winter Soldier once before and I will do it again."

Rid of the Winter Soldier?

He eyed his Handler to see if he would protest, but the superior simply looked relieved.

"Why would you ever have been of use to him?" Zola pet his lanky hair like it was cat fur.

"Steve needed me," he slurred out behind a swollen tongue and buzzing teeth.

Zola tutted before shining a light in his eyes and oh too much make it stop make it-

"He never needed you," Zola reminded him as if they've had this conversation many times before, and maybe they have. He's losing count of days and he can't recognize his accent or his eyes anymore. What color were his eyes? Black? Red? 

"He needed me," he insisted again from where he lay strapped to a table.

"Steve turned into Captain America and left you!"

The Asset blinked back to life.

Query:

> Captain America

Data File:

> "Jerk-"

> "-can get by on my own ____ (redacted)"

> "-need you."

> "mission"

"-end of the line."

> "mission"

"New mission parameters," the soldier announced. "Find and kill Captain America, level six target. Two current known allies. Natasha (Natalia) Romanoff, threat level six, and Samuel Wilson, threat level two."

The Wakandan (I can't trust my own mind) woman and his Primary Handler slowly backed up from him, both trading wary glances.

" 'Samuel Wilson threat level two'," Samuel Wilson: AKA the Falcon mocked him. "Threat level two my ass."

"Sam!" Ayo hissed from beside him.

The Asset marched forward, kill orders in mind.

"Hey, hey, c'mon Bucky-"

He snarled at the name.

"Soldat!" He heard from behind him.

 Insufficient status to delay kill order.

 Proceed.

The woman pushed his target behind him and glared at him. "Stand down, Wolf."

He sneered, eyes burning with hatred.

The feeling was foreign to him, the concept of having feelings entirely was foreign to him. Things just weren't making sense anymore. Except for the burning desire to kill.

Weapons didn't have wants.

His arm recalibrated as he went to move past the woman. She stopped him with a sharp shove in his chest that did not jar him.

"Wolf, this is the last time," she warned.

The Asset's arm shot out to her neck, his teeth baring in anger. She quickly used her agility to run up the side of the wall and attempt to straddle his shoulders. He used her own momentum against her and flung her to the other side of the alley. Ayo did not let go and instead made a grasping motion for his arm. He ignored both of his Handlers' orders and punched her in the face with his flesh arm. She stumbled back, twisting uncomfortably in his strong grip and making a movement towards his metal arm again.

What could she want? She can't wound it.

She struggled to breathe and made one last movement towards his arm, this time managing to hit the upper part of it in multiple, consecutive jabs. He grimaced as the movements sent a tingling feeling up his arm and through his spine, making him almost queasy. He briefly wondered if she had drugged him without him knowing, but he shook it off. He was a machine, he couldn't get drugged. With a snarl, he went to cave her skull in with his metal arm, but an overwhelming wave of nausea overtook him. He flinched as he felt his spine turn to jelly and his balance thrown off to the right.

His arm?

The Asset heard a loud thud on the concrete and looked down in horror when he saw his arm laying there, motionless and dead.

"Sergeant Barnes, you are to be the new first of HYDRA," a nasally voice filled his ears. It almost drowned out the sound of the bone saw as it cut cut cut away his flesh to reveal cold, hard metal. He was not human, he was a machine. The Asset was not human, it was a machine. 

"They took my arm, Stevie," he sobbed to the hallucination. The skinny man with the golden hair and the too blue eyes frowned at him in a disappointed fashion.

"It wasn't yours to begin with," his Stevie reminded him. He always reminded him. Whether it's to be good, or to help them, or if 'good becomes great and bad becomes worse.' Bad becomes worse. "You are HYDRA's, you don't get to own things, you silly pet." He brushed a sweaty lock of too long hair away from his forehead as the bone saw continued to reveal more of what was inside of him.

"'M not HYDRA's, I'm yours" he slurred with an unfamiliar accent. He sounded like he was from the United States. Was he?

"You were never good enough to be mine," Steve smiled at him with too many teeth, "that's why I left, Buck, remember?"

He started to shake his head to remind the other that, no, he did remember, but the straps holding his head down prevented him from doing so.

Steve snarled at the lack of response and slapped his tear stained face, which just made him cry even, more.

"Remember, Asset, remember!"

He blinked awake again and shrugged off the hands that were on him. Too many hands were touching him, too many hands were on his body like it was nothing more than a puppet to be moved.

Bucky shoved them all away with a growl and knelt down in the brick alleyway. He could feel the Asset under his skin, as sure and as real as his human and vibranium bones that made up his skeleton. He felt his lips stretch into a smile and started to laugh and laugh and laugh.

How silly was he? He really believed them when they pat him on the back and said "you're free." He felt tears running down his cheeks and wasn't sure if it was from the laughter or the sadness of the situation. It didn't matter. The Asset didn't have emotions. He stood up and wobbled a little at the lack of balance. They never trusted him. Smart.

Query:

> Trust
-"I'm with you 'til the end of the line"

TERMINATED

Query TERMINATED by Asset

Bucky gasped and held his head before cracking a smile. "Aren't you smart, Asset? A manual wipe? Really? I guess you would be that smart, you are me after all."

"Bucky, what the hell?" Sam's voice demanded answers, "is it really you?"

He threw the three shocked faces a lazy grin and closed his eyes, "Sam, when is it ever 'really me'?"