Who Killed Jack Thompson?

Chapter 15

Bucky— or rather, Bucky's likeness— sat handcuffed to the chair, with magnets disabling his mechanical arm. From the other side of the glass, Peggy wished deep down that this wasn't the same man that Steve had talked so highly of, even though it was. They had watched him fall from the train, though, and Peggy had seen the tears stained onto Steve's cheeks after his best friend's death. It couldn't be like this. How was it possible?

Dugan and the Commandos saw their comrade. The man who marched into Hydra facilities with them, and whom they watched fall from a train, into a cold, deep ravine in Europe. They saw his bravery washed away, and only a hollow shell of a great man left.

Dottie saw the man she loved. Someone she had so devoted herself to. Someone who called her little duckling because he was so fond of the blonde shade of her hair. Red Room girls were taught not to show pain, but it was written all over Underwood's face.

Daniel simply felt the pain that hung in the air like a thick fog. He knew not what the others were going through, or how they had known the Winter Soldier before his downslide, but he felt sympathetic towards them.

Peggy exhaled, and wiped her sweaty hands on her pants. "I'll go," she finally said. She opened the wooden door that lead to the interrogation room where Bucky sat. He was looking at the ground, broken. "Do you know your name?" She asked calmly. He grunted, but didn't raise his head. "I don't have a name," he answered quietly. His hair was stringy from sweat, and his face was bruised. "We both know that that is not true," Peggy began, "Your name is James Buchanan Barnes. You were a sergeant of the 107th infantry. Your best friend was Captain Steve Rogers." Bucky was furiously shaking his head, his face contorted in pain. "You're wrong," he spat. Peggy pulled up a chair and recalled a story Steve had told her in hopes of jogging his best friend's memory. "Years ago, there was this little guy— a little fireball. He had a loud mouth on him, and a strong sense of loyalty to his country. He would pick fights with anything that spoke in a way he didn't like, but his best friend was always there to get him out. The little guy wanted to enlist in the army, but due to his health problems he couldn't. Oh how he tried and tried to get in. His best friend enlisted though, but since he knew how badly his small friend wanted in but couldn't, he told him he had been drafted. He wouldn't be there to save him from the bullies anymore," Peggy talked in a daze, remembering bits and pieces of Steve Rogers. Something was changing in the Winter Soldier. He clenched his fists, and tears were welling in his eyes. "The little guy eventually got in, due to the need for a super soldier to take out Adolf Hitler. He went under an advanced procedure to make him taller, stronger, smarter, faster, and he still remained his true self."

"Despite being put into USO shows, the super soldier stayed true to his dreams. I met him again in Italy, and when he found out that his best friend had been captured, he and I secretly planned to rescue him with the help of Howard Stark. He rescued over a thousand men, including his best friend," Peggy sighed, and the Winter Soldier had tears straining down his cheeks. "There was a train," he whispered hoarsely. "He fell, didn't he?" A look of remembrance crossed his face, and his eyes squinted as if he were looking at something far away. "He did," Peggy answered calmly as to not startle him, "Do you know him?" His jaw muscles flexed, and a tear ran down his cheek and onto his collarbone. "I—I think he's me," Bucky said. He looked up at Peggy and she saw something click. "We met," he mumbled. Peggy let a small smile creep onto her lips in satisfaction. "Good. Do you remember your name?" She asked. Tears began to fall heavily from his eyes. "I killed people," he mumbled.

It was almost unnatural to see someone so dangerous and powerful break down in that fashion. The broken shell of James Barnes sat crying in a chair— something he would never have let Steve see. He was always strong, but in that moment he was in his most vulnerable state. He didn't know who he was, or how he got here. He was broken.