Captain America Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier Steve Rogers Fan Fic - The Constant

Chapter Fifty-One: The Winter Soldier & Hydra - Time

The Winter Soldier & Hydra - Time

Caldwell is not sending the Winter Soldier to assassinate anyone this time. On the contrary - he needs these people brought back safe and sound. They had talked about using the STRIKE teams, but have decided to use the Winter Soldier mission team to see if it is possible.

He can kill, but can he protect?

His mission is encoded and it had taken a while as the instructions vary to the norm. He seems to have accepted it. Only time will tell. The first of these missions is due the next day, and he will travel to each place after that. It has to be done quickly, before his programming begins to fail; the last thing they want to do is recall him each time, re-wipe, re-programme.

They are on too tight a time frame. They just do not have the time.

*

You look at the time. You are expecting the Winter Soldier back from programming soon and you are fidgety, cannot settle to anything.

Marinov came to see you earlier to say goodbye. He will be leaving the camp in a couple of days, for good. You will miss him. You could not help but ask him how many years you have known each other and he hesitated to tell you. You and the Winter Soldier look no older than when you first arrived – unless someone looked into your eyes, but everyone else has aged.

"I was 35 when we met and now I'm 63, does that help?"

And to hear it spoken in that way was a shock. You tried to smile but you begin to realise that you may out live some people who were older than you when you first met them. It is not something you wanted to think about.

"I shall miss you," you say to him in all honesty, and then surprise him by reaching out and hugging him. His arms hold you so gently as if you are a piece of china and he is afraid he might damage you.

"Who knows maybe we might see each other again," he says and you nod, unshed tears in your eyes. When he left you tried to keep your mind busy, you didn't want to think.

There is a knock on the door and you open it. The guards have delivered the Soldier to you, and now it is your duty to take over his care. The Winter Soldier steps into the room. You know it has been a longer session than normal, but you do not know why. They never tell you about the missions.

You can see that he has been bleeding but they have at least made an effort to clean him up. You do not know the new staff and you do not want to know them; your last encounter with Elise has made you even more reluctant to associate with others. Her death shocked you more than you expected, and you have had trouble understanding what happened. She was someone whom you had disliked and the feeling had seemed mutual, but now a part of you wonders could you have helped her in some way, stopped what had happened. Deep down you know you cannot care for everyone and that it is easier not to get involved with people than to accept you may fail someone else in the future.

You can see how tired he is, but also you notice that his hands are shaking. He needs food, so you persuade him to eat some soup before he sleeps. He is impatient with you, and cold, doesn't want you touching him; you reflect that some things never change.

You see him run his hand over his ribs on the right hand side and he winces, and you ask him about it. On the last mission he came back with a broken rib and you wonder if it hasn't healed properly; sometimes Zola's serum can take a wrong turn. It has caused a few problems in the past.

"Are you hurt? Is it something I can help with?" you ask before seeing the sneer on his face. He looks at you coldly. His eyes clearly show why he thinks you are asking and you feel yourself blush and you turn away.