Chapter 3
The soldier shook her head from side to side, hitting herself in the forehead with her flesh right hand. What was this? Stephanie Rogers was her… friend? Yes. That felt right. Stevie Rogers was her best friend in the entire world. So… what? What was she supposed to do now? She had explicit orders to kill Captain America. She had to follow through on her mission or there would be… consequences. After all, she was the Winter Soldier, an assassin who had never failed to eliminate a target. Not once. But she was Bucky. That was the name Stevie had called her. Bucky. It sounded odd when the soldier tried to match that name to herself. The name was kind’ve soft, rich, kind. Nothing like what she knew of herself, but somehow… it felt right. It fit. Why?
“Mission report.” came Pierce’s hard, demanding voice. Bucky didn’t respond. She didn’t even look at him. He mind was elsewhere. “Mission report. Now.” Pierce demanded once more. Bucky still didn’t move her eyes. Slowly, Pierce stepped closer and crouched slightly. Bucky paid no attention to her higher-up. Immediately, she felt a sharp pain shoot through the entire left side of her face from Pierce’s unbridled backhand. Bucky’s eyebrows pulled together, her mind slow, foggy, as her eyes continued to ignore Pierce.
“That woman on the bridge.” Her voice was ragged, distant. “Who was she?”
“You met her earlier this week on another assignment.” Pierce spoke definitively, as if daring the soldier to say otherwise.
“I knew her.” Bucky finally looked Pierce right in the eye, for the first time in her memory directly questioning authority. She had a good sense that she was making the right choice.
“Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century. And I need you to do it one more time.” Pierce’s voice drove into Bucky’s ears. “Society's on a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we’re gonna give it a push. But: you don’t do your part, I can’t do mine, and HYDRA can’t give the world the freedom it deserves.” Bucky was silent for a second, afraid to go against Pierce a second time. It was a decent speech, but Bucky couldn’t listen to it. Her mind didn’t stray from the image of Stevie’s face from earlier. Betrayal mixed with hope.
“But I knew her.” She said resolutey. Doubt filled her, yet she knew. Pierce turned around and began to walk away.
“Prep her.” Came his orders to the other men in the room.
“But she’s been out of cryo for too long…” A doctor said, unease evident in his voice as he looked over at Pierce worriedly.
“Then wipe her, and start over.” Pierce spoke coldly, as if Bucky wasn’t even a person. In many ways, she wasn’t. Hadn’t been in a long time. Bucky’s eyes still displayed a ferocious disobedience as she was pushed back against her chair and strapped in on both sides, given something to bite down on. She breathed heavily, afraid for the first time in her memory as metal clamped down on her head. There was a whirring in her ear as she cried out in agony, all her muscles tense against the pain and terror. Pierce walked out of the room, his face icy and emotionless, ignoring Bucky wails as she was tormented. She was nothing but a machine, an assassin, a soldier, designed to follow orders and kill. Nothing could stand in the way of that.