What If...? Rumlow Turned Against Hydra: Book One

9

He had never actually lost consciousness since the elevator in the Triskelion, but his awareness was not completely present. He was surrounded at all times by people in lab coats, black uniformed STRIKE team members and occasionally, Pierce, who spoke calmly with the others present, would watch him, smiling, pleased, triumphant. The cold sting of a needle, forcing substances into his veins to keep him from his full strength, was all he could feel besides the rage, an all-consuming rage not just on his own behalf but for Bucky as well. They were afraid of him, at least the STRIKE team members were, the ones who had worked most closely with him in SHIELD. The technicians, or medical staff didn't seem afraid, but they were taking no chances with him, finally putting him on a constant IV drip of whatever sedatives, muscle relaxers and other substances that could keep him a prisoner allowing them to concentrate on beginning other treatments.

He had no idea how much time had passed, hours certainly, days probably. He could have tried to keep track of time, watching for the change in personnel as some went to sleep or eat and others took over, but it didn't seem all that important in the face of the revelation that Bucky was alive, that Hydra had never been destroyed. His helplessness didn't bother him as much as the thought that Bucky had already endured such things - probably worse - many years earlier until they'd turned him into a murderer, taking away who he was and replacing it with their vile mindset. Their intention to do the same to him made him already begin to brace himself against it, holding onto his identity and Bucky's tighter as needles began to inject other things into him that at first seemed to do nothing, until pain and nausea would take hold, the effects making it harder and harder to think clearly.

He ignored what they did to him, examining memories in great detail instead, finding refuge in them over and over again. He could see again his childhood in Brooklyn in the 1920's and 1930's with Bucky; the war where he'd been left behind until Erskine had chosen him to be the test subject for the super solider serum. Fighting in the war, rescuing Bucky, continuing to fight side by side with him as he'd always wanted to, only to watch as Bucky fell to his death that was not his death. Steve would at that point become wracked with guilt, that he'd let Bucky fall, not even trying to find him even if it was only to recover a body. Because he hadn't tried, Bucky had been captured once again by Hydra. What he'd endured for so many years was Steve's fault, he could never atone for it. He could grieve that while Bucky was physically alive, who he had been may have been killed beyond any hope of resurrection.

But, strangely, always at that point, he would turn to more recent memories, where he'd recognized Bucky as the assassin who'd killed Nick Fury. He watched in amazement as Rumlow, the one who'd incapacitated him in the elevator in the Triskelion, had attacked staff in that first room apparently in an effort to rescue him. He would have blamed the drugs they'd given him if the memory hadn't been so clear as to be irrefutable. Bucky was the one who'd dragged Rumlow out of the room by the throat on Pierce's orders, but Steve was sure he'd seen something in Bucky's eyes, some spark of the person he'd been. Enough to give Steve hope.

He'd been taken from that first room, and as he was wheeled down the bright, undecorated hallways, he'd heard a single gunshot. Those around him, including Pierce had been pleased at the sound, assuming Rumlow was dead. Steve was hopeful that perhaps Bucky would instead be able to break free of their control and escape, with Rumlow if he was indeed turning his back on Hydra. Steve didn't think he would be able to find out for sure, especially not anytime soon. Yet, by the time he was placed in another room, smaller, with the feel of a laboratory, there was consternation among the STRIKE team. Pierce seemed angry and agitated while Steve fought the drugs to comprehend everything that was being said.

"How many were killed?" Pierce demanded.

"All of them, everyone left behind in that room. There's no sign of either of them. Surveillance was cut off to that room and the exterior."