Traitor ~ Bucky Barnes

Siberia

Warning: triggering themes such as self harm and torture 

Zemo and Katherine arrived at the Siberia facility that Karpov worked at for years. They stepped out of the tank. All they could see was snow for miles, with the occasional rock peaking from the ground. Snow continued to fall from the sky. Two metal doors were surrounded by rock. It looked like a bunker; this was definitely the place.

As they approached the doors, Zemo said, "look for a keypad." The walls that surrounded the doors were of concrete. Everything was covered in ice. This will be easy, thought Katherine sarcastically. Both looked around; there was nothing that resembled a keypad. Katherine was starting to have doubts.

Scanning the wall, she spotted a box. If there were to be a keypad, it would be behind this. "What about this?" said Katherine. Zemo walked over, his eyes looked over the box covered in ice. Pulling out an ice pick, he began hitting it against the ice.

Katherine stood there watching her father pick at the ice. Each hit of the ice caused debris to fly back. After a few more hits, he was able to pry the box open, revealing the keypad they needed to enter the facility.

"Do you have the book?" asked Zemo. The book he was referring to was the red book with all the information about the Winter Soldier program. Katherine pulled the book out of her jacket and handed it to Zemo. Grabbing the book, he opened the page with the codes. Translating Russian, he put the numbers on the keypad.

Once he finished the code, the two metal doors began to open. It was clear they had not been opened in years as they creaked. The doors did not even open all the way. Zemo further pulled the door open, enough to get them through.

As they entered the facility, there were cobwebs everywhere. No one has been here or used it to their advantage. They followed the corridor down to the room that said "Records" in Russian. Zemo opened the door, Katherine went in first. She flashed her light around the room. It was surrounded by shelves of boxes.

"These are all the missions, reports, and experiment files on the Winter Soldier program." said Zemo. Katherine knew the program was extensive but never to this extent. "We need the file on the mission for December 16th, 1991."

Nodding, they separated in search of the file. Katherine passed files with the year 1963, which was the year the American president JFK was assassinated. She knew Bucky killed people and was used as a toy for Hydra. But, she never expected to this extent. Then, she passed a box that said "Winter Soldier Programing."

She knew she should have moved along, but curiosity got the best of her. Grabbing the box, she opened it. Opening one of the files, she saw the name James Barnes on the corner. Inside was more information on his programming. It explained the tactics to brainwash him. Then, there were images. Bucky was shown being electrocuted, starved, drowned, and frozen. Katherine's stomach grew sour; the images were gruesome to look at.

There was a report on October 13th, 1947. It read: James has hit the "nervous breakdown" point. The subject has lost his grip on reality and has the feeling of being completely lost and alone. After he denounced Steve Roger's was not going to rescue him, he experienced increase shame and loss of identity. We have begun the mind whip process once more, the subject is reacting well to the sessions.

March 4th, 1948: The subject has regained some form of self. The coding has not been effective. James was found in a pool of blood this morning from clawing his metal...

"Katherine? Did you find something?" asked Zemo.

Closing the file, she responded with a no. Katherine did not know what to think. Her heart hurt from what she just read. Bucky had gone through so much, and that was only the surface. She could not grasp anything more than what she just read. He did not deserve this, none of it.

Bucky deserved happiness. He needed it. Taking a deep breath, Katherine put the lid back on the box and walked away. As much as she wanted to really learn what they did to him, she could not bring herself to do it.

Zemo found the file for December 16th, 1991. Walking out of the room, they made their way down to where the other Winter Soldiers were kept.

There they are, the five remaining Winter Soldiers. All of them sat in their own frozen chamber. Zemo walked up to Josef; his eyes were open still. This left a haunting effect. It was creepy to see the most deadly squad be asleep and awaiting orders.

"Here"

Katherine looked at her father, who was handing her a gun. She took it slowly, unsure of what he wanted her to do with it.

"I'll give you the honor," said Zemo, gesturing to the five Winter Soldiers. She understood now. He wanted her to kill them. Katherine nodded at his statement. Zemo turned around to set up the video.

Looking at the gun, she clutched it in her hand. This is where her life ended up. Who knew a year ago, when she was going to university. That Katherine would drop out and begin a path to destroy the Avengers and super soldiers. Is this the life she wanted?

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Every shot was for one Winter Soldier. Katherine turned around and walked toward Zemo. There was a coldness to her. Any and all emotion was pushed down. They are just a means to an end.

"Katherine, I need to tell you something," said Zemo. Taking his attention away from the video setup, he faced her. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he said, "I need you to promise me something."

"Okay."

"I need you to promise that no matter what, you will run away from this."

"What?" she said with confusion. Zemo was ready to sacrifice himself.

"If anyone is going to get caught, it is going to be me."

Katherine became overwhelmed with emotion. Zemo was willing to go down for both of them. But that meant she would lose him too. "We are suppose to do this together."

"We are. But, you still have life to live. Promise me you'll run...and keep running"

Tears were forming in Katherine's eyes. She did not want to promise this. The whole time she expected the both of them to fall for this. As long as they succeeded, that was all that mattered. Zemo did not want his daughter to be behind bars. He wanted her to have a chance at life still.

"I promise," said Katherine.

Zemo smiled at her; any promise between them was always kept. She was going to be safe; that was all that mattered. Pulling her in, they hugged. Katherine hugged him tight because this may be the last time they were to be together again.