You Must Remember This

Chapter 51 - Unraveling

HYDRA base - Siberia, September 10, 1946

Pain was the first thing seeping through. The silence permeating around Evelyn the next. Where was she? Had the super-soldier gotten to her after all? Had he locked her away somewhere to continue his rampage and ensure no further interruptions? Would he kill her after having his way with her? No, she'd rather die now before letting that happen. Either by her own hand or by forcing him to do it.
Evelyn tried to move, but couldn't. She was bound to... a chair, maybe? The ropes tying her down weighed onto her beaten body. She could scarcely breathe. Her eyelids fluttered, fighting against the unyielding bright light she was bathed in. She looked down, finding her right wrist and leg badly swollen and completely black and blue. 
At once, the nauseating cracking sound of her knee being pulverized underneath the super-soldier's foot came back to her. The whipping snap of her wrist as her pistol was snatched from her followed soon after. And then... gunshots. Blades whirring and coming to a stuttering halt. Blood raining down on her. A voice...

"Evelyn."

Was it...? No, he was away on a mission. 

"Evelyn."

There it was again. As if he were right there with her. 

"Doll, please, open your eyes."

"Bucky?" Evelyn finally looked up against the light. Despite the white brilliance, her eyes widened when she recognized her lover's figure opposite her. "Bucky! What —?"

The words caught her throat. His face showed tiny dried rivers of red, and his hair was matted and darkened by blood. His bare chest was badly bruised, and the Winter Soldier's arm had been removed, leaving the horrid scars around his stump naked for all to see. But his harrowing state wasn't what stilled Evelyn's heart completely. 
Bucky had been placed in front of the Winter Soldier's reprogramming device. The terrifying machine loomed over him like a mechanical angel of death, threatening to take him in its cold embrace at any moment. 

"Bucky," whispered Evelyn. "No..."

"I'm so sorry, doll," said Bucky in a voice stricken with sorrow. "I had no choice. They would've killed you."

Evelyn realized with a shock he must have surrendered, so she would get medical help. Goddamn idiot, why didn't he run like she'd told him? 

"I need to get you outta here. I need to—argh." 

She grimaced as pain shot through her wrist. Struggling against her bindings was definitely out of the question. She'd probably end up hurting herself even more. But she couldn't just give up like this! There had to be a way to break free and save Bucky. 

"Lemme talk to the Winter Soldier," she said. "Give him control."

"I can't," said Bucky. "He took a hefty beating from that other super-soldier. He just... slipped away after the fight. I've been tryin' to connect with him, but he's not conscious."

"No, no, Bucky, we need him. Just close your eyes again..."

"Evelyn."

"... I'll say the words, and..."

"Evelyn, please."

"...he'll come out. Желание, Ржавый, Семнадцать, Рассвет —" 
(Longing, rusted, seventeen, daybreak —)

"Blondie!" The rest of the magic formula fell away at Bucky's urgent exclamation. Evelyn stared at him, his blue eyes showing an unusual calm. A smile crept up his lips. "It's okay." 

Fear clutched Evelyn's heart at his surrendering tone. "Bucky, no, please don't give up."

"I won't. I'll never give up, doll. I'm gonna keep fightin' these bastards for as long as it takes. But you have to stop. You've done enough." He chuckled, tears brimming in his eyes. "You brought me back from the brink and gave me a new purpose when all seemed lost. I owe you my life. So let me be the one to do the savin' now, okay?"