The Other Rogers

Chapter 1

Bucky’s eyes fluttered open as he grunted. He felt like he had slept for a hundred years. Biting his lip, he held in the groans as he stretched, muscles protesting in pain. Looking around the room he was shocked. Why was he in an apartment? Last thing he remembered was going after Zola with Steve.

Shaking his head Bucky sat up looking around. There was a guitar in the corner of the room, and a window on the opposite wall. This room felt familiar as if he had been there before. The white paint that coated the walls was off-white. How he knew that was beyond him; but then he remembered- Steve loved to paint. He knew all sorts of colours from listening to Steve blabber on while they waited for Anya to finish cooking.

Anya. Bucky missed the woman. Her blonde hair and blue eyes; the snarky comments that always kept him and her brother on their toes. He half expected to hear her humming in the kitchen, but the apartment was silent, besides the soft coos of a woman singing, Over the Rainbow. The sound of it made him cringe and fake gag as he imagined Steve or Anya’s reactions of the cover. Laughing to himself, he pictured Anya standing with her hands on her hips as she screwed up her face at the atrocity that was whoever the singer was.

Standing Bucky stumbled before he was brought to his knees. Images flashed past, some quicker than others. Images of a short scientist; Zola, images of a metal arm choking the life out of another man; a woman teaching children how to dance, her blonde hair reminding him of an angel.

Gasping as he hunted for air, Bucky was left curled up in a ball. He remembered everything; he had fallen off the train, ended up being a life-less drone for Hydra who did unthinkable things. They kept him on ice whenever they didn’t need him. Hydra had kept him; The Winter Soldier; for years, decades ever since Nineteen ninety-five when he fell.

Crying the man felt the wall behind him, trying to remember what his Блондинка ангел always told him; "What can you feel, hear, smell?"

His Блондинка ангел. His angel was Anya. But how was that possible? He remembered how that woman; Peggy Carter told Steve that his sister was among those taken from the camp. She was presumed dead; what else would the Germans, or worse Hydra need a hundred nurses for? Bucky remembered holding Steve up not caring what all the other soldiers thought of them; he remembered how the skies darkened and it began to pour in time with their tears. They had lost the only important person to them both.

Joy bubbled in his chest; Anya had survived- but had she really? She was forced to work for the same organisation as him. For decades she was kept in a dark cell until she was needed. Her job was to make sure the Soldier, him was medically fine to perform assassinations for the corrupt cult. He had no idea how long it had been for them; but he was proud that he was able to stay loyal to her for however long it had been.

A loud crash from outside the bedroom caused Bucky to launch to his feet.

Narrowing his eyes, he made his way out of the room and down a corridor. Every inch of the walls reminded him more and more of the apartment the Rogers twins had back in the forties. A gush of wind caught Bucky’s attention. The window had been broken into. Great was it a burglar or was it something worse?

Bucky's chest tightened as he saw the outline for a man; a tall buff man at that. The man held a shield, one that looked rather like Steve’s old one.

Creeping himself closer to the kitchen, Bucky saw a knife on the corner of the sink. Leaping forward he grabbed the handle and held it in front of him, waiting for the man to turn around. Bucky didn’t have to wait for long; the man turned around as if he had felt Bucky approach. Knees weak, Bucky fell to the ground the second time since he woke-