Road to War Part I: Terrible Lie

Why Am I Seething With This Animosity?

They wake him like they always do.  He becomes aware of himself, surrounded by metal, melting ice shards sliding down his body as he begins to be able to move.  The door is opened.  Sometimes he catches himself before he falls, sometimes he doesn't.  He is ignored until he is able to stand and move and stretch.  He always stretches.  People in lab coats, usually men, wander to and fro in the room and out the door.  Sometimes he goes out the door, too.  Sometimes he doesn't.  If he goes out the door, he is dressed in gear and weaponry, and goes to kill.  If he doesn't go out the door, he is usually dressed in tight-fitting black clothing and sent down the hall across the open space, into another open area.  On occasion, he is not dressed in any more than he was while frozen, and sits patiently while men work on him.  He doesn't like those days.

Today, there is no gear waiting for him to dress, no official waiting to brief him, so he looks around for the tight-fitting black clothing, and is relieved to find it on the floor near his chamber.  He dresses himself quietly, then stands at attention and waits.  There are sensors attached to him that need to be removed, that he knows he should not remove.  The Winter Soldier follows orders.  Not only in the field, though it is especially important then, but also in here.  The lab, he thinks.  That's what it is called.

One of the men walks over to him and checks on the sensors, and on the screen that shows whatever it is they are sensing.  He waits.  When he is finished, he removes the sensors, which stings a little.  He prefers to be without them, though, so he doesn't mind the momentary discomfort.  Not that he is allowed to mind any discomfort, of course.  The Winter Soldier follows orders.  The Winter Soldier doesn't deviate.  Reacting to pain could be a deviation.  And will only bring more, later, if it affects the mission.  The Winter Soldier is punished if the mission is not successful.  The mission is always successful.

A man who is not wearing a lab coat enters the open space, coming from the side of the hallway that he has never gone down.  He speaks to the men in lab coats, quietly, not loud enough for him to hear, though all of them glance at him repeatedly.  The men in coats nod, agreeing with whatever has been said.  The other man walks over to him, and leads him to a chair near where the men were working.  They step back quickly when he approaches.  That is how people normally react to him.  That is how they are supposed to react to his presence.  The Winter Soldier follows orders, but the Winter Soldier is meant to inspire fear.  Those who do not give him orders are not as important, not as influential, as he is.

He sits in the chair, as expected.  The men in coats move closer again, working on the arm attached to his left side.  He looks away.  It doesn't hurt, exactly, but thinking too long about his new arm leads him to think about his old one, and it is not a pleasant train of thought.  So he looks around the room, at the other man, at the chamber where he sleeps, at the chair where he is corrected, at the screens and apparatus that monitor his continued well-being.

The other man stands to the side, watching.  He doesn't like being watched.  The man is not his superior.  He can't give him orders.  He frowns at the man, who seems considerably started when he makes eye contact.  The man stops staring and moves away, out of his immediate field of vision.  He doesn't turn his head to follow him.  They are adding new things to his arm today.  It feels heavier already.  The three men work diligently, talking all the while.  He understands their words, but pays no attention to them.  It doesn't matter to him.

It is apparent when they are finished, as the men seem very excited.  They tell him to move his arm in certain ways, and he acquiesces.  They are pleased with themselves.  He continues to move the prosthesis, considering how he will have to compensate for the change when he is next in the field.  The weight difference is only slight, hardly noticeable, but he will have to take it into account when he uses it.