BRAINWASHED ─ marvel

V. An Unlikely Partnership

Chapter Five:
Bucky

It feels like the universe is trying to mock me.

After the woman left the safe house, I scrambled together all of my own supplies, packed everything in the car I stole, then drove towards the nearest HYDRA base. In Mongolia there is only one, and from what I remember, it was abandoned some time ago, but that wasn't going to stop me from checking it out anyways. There's a chance I could have come across this base at some point in the last seventy years and I refuse to leave a stone unturned.

But now I'm at the base, and do I find anything about me or my past? No. This base is a ghost town. No people, no files, no signs of life. It looks like it's been that way for a long time. There is a thick layer of dust on every surface, the lights on the ceiling flicker on and off every few seconds, and all the doors scream in protest as I open them, their joints rusted away. If any information about me was here, it's long gone, along with everyone else who once worked here.

What do I find here though? The same woman from the safe house. I find her as I'm searching through the prison cells of this base. I had wondered if there would be any signs of me being held here, and of course, there wasn't any. The woman seemed to have been searching the cells as well.

But why?

"What are you doing here?" She asks me, once again pointing her gun at my head.

I do the same, eyeing her suspiciously. "I could ask you the same question. Are you following me?"

"No. I'm looking for something." Her fear from earlier is gone, as is her anger. She only looks confused, maybe even a little conflicted. I desperately want to know why.

"And what might that be?" I ask.

"Like I would tell you," Her grip on her gun tightens, as does her tone. "Now tell me what you're doing here."

"I'm looking for answers."

"Answers to what?"

"Why should I tell you?" I ask, trying to keep my voice calm, just as I did the last time I was at the end of her gun.

She doesn't answer me, just stares at me with the same look of confusion and conflict. I start to wonder if those feelings come from how different I'm acting. Whenever our past together took place, I was the Winter Soldier, a robotic madman. Instinct is telling her I'm a threat but my actions are telling her different. Maybe that's why she's so confused.

I need to show her I'm not a threat.

I step forward and lower my gun, dropping it on the floor in front of me. I then hold up my hands in surrender, promising her: "I'll answer your questions if you answer mine."

She hesitates, then does the same, her confusion more potent than ever.

"You first." She says.

"I'm here for answers," I explain. "HYDRA...they took me captive and brainwashed me. I have little memory of my life before HYDRA, and I have memories missing from my time within it. Right now it's all a haze, so I'm trying to sift through it."

The woman studies me for a beat, then realization floods her features, her eyes widening and her mouth parting slightly.

"You don't remember me do you?" She asks, sounding as if she wants to laugh, but there's no humor in her tone.

I approach her cautiously, only stopping when I'm about a foot in front of her. With me so up close, I can really take in her features. I can see the black of her pupils, the crease of her mouth, the slopes of her nose. All of this is familiar to me, I know I've seen it before...I just can't remember where.