Marvel Universe Imagines and One Shots Book Two

The Winter Guard - Part 5 - Bucky x Steve x Reader

Apologies for this chapter being a little shorter. But it just made sense to end it where I did. Hope you still enjoy.

"What's going on, Steve?" Bucky asked, as the door closed behind him.

"Bruce and Stark have found out who she really is............."

"Well, that's good isn't it..........? Isn't it..............?"

"Yeah........its good. Um........her name is (Y/f/n) (Y/l/n). She was a major. She fought in the war just like we did. But........"

"But what, Steve? Will you just spit it out!" Bucky exclaimed, doing his best not to raise his voice too much. His brows furrowing as Steve made his way into the room across the hall. Bucky following him. The captain taking a seat and gesturing for his old friend to join him.

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Bucky had been able to do nothing but sit there and listen in stunned silence, as Steve told him what Bruce had been able to find out about the woman in the other room. Part of him not surprised that Hydra would have wanted such a woman. A woman that was not only strong enough to achieve the rank of Major and face the horrors that she had seen. But also, be from a line of Russian nobility. A line that was most probably connected to the Czars themselves. The imperial eagle emblazoned on her arm, now making complete sense. But what had surprised him, was that it was now obvious that he had not in fact been the first subject of the Winter Soldier Project. That it had been (Y/n). That she was the original upon which he had been based. The original that had been imprisoned for even longer than he had. And may in fact be the most dangerous Soldier that Hydra had ever created.

"We have to tell her. Maybe it will help her remember other things." Bucky finally said, as he got to his feet. Steve nodding in agreement. The Captain already understanding how important this was to his old friend. Though he did hope that if all this information did aid in the major remembering her own life, it also didn't help her to recall what she was fully capable of as the Winter Guard.

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"Is everything alright?" Bucky enquired hesitantly, as he and Steve made their way back into the room where the Winter Guard sat. Her eyes cast down onto her metal hand. The fingers curling and uncurling slowly.

"There were........there were trees. A thick forest. The trunks were so close together, that it seemed to make it hard to breath. I was with men...........lots of men in uniform. There was still snow on the ground. It was hanging heavily in the branches above my head. It was so quiet. The only sound the crunch of the snow beneath my feet. And it was cold. So cold. I had...........I had a big coat on. A large hat. But still I was freezing. The cold was like a knife that cut right through to my bones. Then...........then there was an explosion. It was so bright, so loud. Some of the men were thrown through the air. Landing on the ground like limp ragdolls. My back hit a tree and I couldn't breathe for a moment. The oxygen taken from my lungs. I couldn't hear anything but the ringing in my ears. I slumped to the floor. The snow around me no longer white, but red. My arm............my arm was gone. I could feel a burning in my flesh, as if I was being stabbed by lots of red hot pokers. And then..............."

"And then, what?" Bucky interrupted. The Winter Guard turning her attention to him.

"And then...........then there were men in coats. White and grey ones like those that doctors, or scientists wore. They were looking down at me...........smiling. They told me that I was safe. That I was alive. That soon I would be whole again. I would be better than I ever had been. That they would make me the ultimate soldier. A soldier that they called the Winter Guard. After that..........I can't............things are so jumbled in my mind. The things don't make sense. There are deserts and then snow covered mountains. There are jungles, that were so hot, it was stifling. Faces I can't...........villages, lots of different little villages. I don't...................."

"Its ok...........you don't have to remember any more. Things will come back to you, slowly. Some things you won't want to remember. Others, you will. But either way, I...........I'll be here to help. I promise." Bucky told her, as he took a seat. The Winter Guard looking between the two men.

"Is there something wrong? Did I do something...........?"

"No! There's nothing wrong. Steve just came to tell me that Bruce has been able to find out who you really are. What you were before...........before this." Bucky quickly interjected. Taking her flesh hand in his.

"You know who I am? Really..............who.............?" The Winter Guard instantly asked, as she move forward in her seat. Her brows furrowing, as Bucky looked up at the men next to him, before turning back to her. The Sargent hoping that the information that he was about to give her, didn't make everything worse. Didn't click something in her mind. That nothing would cause her to activate. And that the Winter Soldier wouldn't find himself having to fight the Winter Guard.

"Your name is (Y/f/n) (Y/l/n). Major (Y/f/n) (Y/l/n). The only child of Eugene and Maurice (Y/l/n)...................."

"Moya malen'kaya printsessa.................."

"What?" Steve asked, as he took a step closer. The Winter Guard turning her gaze to him.

"Moya malen'kaya printessa...............it was what my mother would call me when I was small. It means..........my little princess.............."