Finite Consistency - Bucky Barnes

Chapter 3: Soldat

If it had happened a third time, waking up on that cold floor, James definitely would have become sick of it. However this time was different. He wasn't thrown into consciousness by the pain in his right shoulder or the hard concrete but more so lulled into waking by the soft warmth that surrounded him. For a moment, he almost let himself enjoy it but he was quick to remember that Hydra had never offered him a warm place to rest.

Immediately after the realisation, the soldier jumped to his feet with quick regret as his body reminded him why he had been lying down in the first place. Every nerve in the body screamed at Soldat to go back to that still and resting position but Hydra had trained him past acknowledging what his body required when in a high intensity situation.

Firstly, in a battle ready stance, the soldier scanned the room for any threat not only with his eyes but his ears. He only came across what he summed up to be one body in the next room over. The door rested slightly ajar. Coming to the conclusion that this was not a Hydra base but most likely a civilian's dwelling, James couldn't tell if the person in the building with him was a threat or not so to be safe, he scanned his body for weapons and to no surprise of his, they had all been taken off him. All except for the hidden knife in his boot that he could feel with the lump in the leather that it was still there. His next action would be to scan the room for exits but he was quickly interrupted by the opening of  the door he concluded the one body to be behind.

The soldier turned fast yet stiffly toward the door where a man stood. The brunette tried to piece together who he was and his purpose but the mind was fumbled and he couldn't find the answers. He has seen this man before. He knows it but something must have been knocked loose because he can't put a name nor a purpose to him. And maybe he should know this place too. Has he been here before? Perhaps he'd hit his head the last time he'd blacked out without realising.

"You remember me?" the blond man stood cautiously in the door frame, not moving to restrain the soldier nor run from him. Soldat quickly flicked through his mind for where this man was from again but nothing came of it. He should remember him. Soldat knows that much but in that moment it's all he knows.

Winter Soldier is yet to find out whether this man is trustworthy so chooses not to answer. His eyes dart quickly from the man in the doorway to different locations around the room in hopes of finding an exit incase he needs a fast escape. The blond must pick up on this as he stiffens a little so Soldat stops darting and holds the man's eye to avoid worsening the situation. The soldier doesn't need the American to know where he plans on escaping from if need be.

The stranger calls him by a name the brunette doesn't recognise and there's a pause before, "James." His expression falters for just a fraction of a second as he recognises the name. The blond must have caught it. "You know that name." the man stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Где я." The soldier is met with a confused and disappointed look. Was he not supposed to be speaking Russian right now?

"I'm gonna need you to speak english." The blond's tone is low and his face says a hundred different things but Soldat can't seem to read one. He seemed so... distressed. In turn making Soldat uneasy.

"Where am I?" The soldier repeats and though normally this is the time where he would launch himself out the open window, he can't help but feel this man is of relevance. Perhaps a controller.

"You're in my apartment in Brooklyn, New York. You remember me?" There's hope in his eyes now, though Soldat couldn't care to notice it. He'd been taught against reading human emotions to the point where he struggled to even recognise them if he tried. The soldier shook his head slowly. "You pulled me from the river." The soldier stands quietly as he tries to recall the moment but nothing comes to mind. "What about on the bridge?" He speaks when James doesn't but again the soldier has no memory. The blond opens his mouth to speak, hesitates, and then, "You're last mission?" he asks but all Soldat hears is a demand. Not worded how it usually is but still a familiar demand nonetheless.

He opens his mouth to speak but nothing follows. First he wakes up in what he 4now believes to be a controller's home and now he can't recall his last mission. This isn't right.

The man approaches him now and the soldier knows if he doesn't speak soon he'll likely take a hit to the face. Nothing comes to mind and there must be something wrong. He feels it solid in his bones that a piece is missing. Why can't he remember? What can he remember? The soldier retraces his steps but can't go further than waking up in this stranger's house. His mind is in pieces with the confusion of the past few days. His consistency was slipping from his fingers and without his mind wipes to keep him steady and his drugs to ease things along, the soldier was lost and left wondering what had happened for him to get to this point. No memory, in a strangers house, with no maintenance. Apart from the apparent fixing of his dislocated shoulder.

Soldat had no idea where this day would lead, nor did he have the mental strength to look ahead but one thing was for sure. His consistency was finit. And though The Winter Soldier was yet to realise, the last of it was about to slip through his fingers.