Echo - A Thawbound Trilogy

It had been years since Bucky Barnes found something close to peace. Quiet, low-level missions. Nothing complicated. Nothing messy. And absolutely nothing connected to Hydra.

Until Fury called.

Bucky didn't want the job. But he owed too many people too many things. What Fury failed to mention?
Alina Vetrova.
His former Hydra handler.
The one who broke him in ways he still hasn't found language for.
The one whose face surfaced in his nightmares long before his memories came back.
She was one of the few he feared. One of the ones he never stopped hating.

Alina didn't want the job either. But she owed SHIELD her freedom. Without them, she'd still be locked in the Raft-or worse. And anything is better than that.

Even returning to the place that stole her life.
Even working alongside the man who embodies everything she can't forgive herself for.
James Buchanan Barnes.
The Winter Soldier she was assigned to control.
The regret she can't wash off her conscience.

They've both been taught:

Trust is a liability.

Connection is a threat.

But when they're forced into a joint mission deep behind enemy lines, the rules begin to fracture. Neither trusts the other. Neither should.

They were made to survive.
Trust was never part of the design.
But beneath the ice-they're starting to crack.