"Get on the jet."

"You could say 'please', you know. It's not gonna kill you."

The HYDRA soldier rolled his eyes slightly but his expression didn't change and his voice remained flat. "Get on the jet now...please."

With his gun pushed into your back, you stepped quickly up the ramp and to the seat designated for you, easily identified by the shackles at the ankles and chained cuffs for your wrists. Apparently, HYDRA thought that you were a pretty high risk to go to such dramatic efforts to secure you.

"Do I really need to wear all of this? If I'm sitting across from the Winter Soldier, why would I be much of a threat to escape?"

"You're an Avenger. It's protocol. Sit."

"You have a protocol for the transport of an Avenger?" you chuckled, despite the gravity of your situation. "Well, I suppose that makes sense, given the guys that I work with."

He secured your restraints and took the seat directly across from you, his weapon still in his hand if he should need it. You were completely unarmed and had no intention of trying to escape, at least not yet, but having been trained by both Steve and Natasha, it made sense that he would feel apprehensive. You wondered how long it would take for them to find you.

"So," you sighed, looking around the jet and noticing that other than the pilot, your captor was the only one there. "Budget cuts at HYDRA? An error in staffing, maybe?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said plainly, staring ahead but not looking at you. "And if you don't mind, could you please not talk at all? It's a long flight."

You nodded silently and leaned your head back against the chair, hoping to maybe get a little rest to build your strength. The fight with the soldier had completely drained you, barely holding your own, and only due to the skills that you had learned from that other super soldier on your team. Sparring with Steve really did pay off, keeping your injuries much less than they could have been.

"I'm going to take a nap," you announced with a smirk. "So if you could keep it down over there, that would be great."

~~~

You startled awake with a jostle of the aircraft, having banged your head sharply against the seat. Shaking away the momentary confusion, you looked across the jet to see your soldier still there, still staring blankly ahead and motionless. The sky outside had turned from early dusk to black, so you knew several hours had gone by at least, but not knowing where you were headed, you didn't have much frame of reference for how long you had yet to fly.

"How long was I asleep?"

"I don't know. I don't need to know."

"Well sure, I don't really need to know either, just more of a curiosity." You regarded him for a few minutes, marveling that he could sit so still and so determined for this long. "Okay, you haven't moved at all since we sat down. Are you a robot? Human? A little of both?"

'He's fast. Strong. Had a metal arm.'

His eyes flashed in your direction for a split second and forward again, but if you didn't know better, there was a hint of amusement now on his face. "Yes."

"That was more than one question."

"I'm human. Now please stop talking."

You already knew the answer, but your goal was to get him talking; a goal that seemed completely unattainable right now. Getting captured by the Winter Soldier and having him hand you over to HYDRA wasn't really in the plan, but you couldn't help but feel a small stroke of luck that he was the one to capture you. You couldn't give away that you knew who he was; that wasn't for you to do. But you could maybe crack him just a little.

'Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky.'

A few more minutes passed before you tried again, knowing how easy it would be for him to silence you for the remainder of the trip if he really wanted to. "No sleeves to fit over that thing or what?"

Bucky sat quietly, staring forward at first, but then briefly looked at you and back to the wall. He tried to hold his composure, but a small smile broke through the tough exterior. When he realized what was happening, his expression quickly returned to a blank resolve.

"It interferes with the movement of the mechanism."

"And that really looks so much cooler anyway."

You thought you were hallucinating when a laugh came from him, completely unexpected but completely genuine. "Dammit," he mumbled as he laughed, allowing it to fade away naturally, "why do you talk so much?"

"I'm bored," you shrugged, "and I like a challenge."

"In the position you're in, you think that now is the time for a challenge? And that I'm the one you want to take on?"

"I've been in worse," you lied. Your gaze averted to the floor, waiting for him to respond, but nothing came. "Have you ever been captured?"

Bucky sat quietly with an expression of reflection, as if he were searching his mind for something that wasn't there, or something that was very well hidden. "Not that I can remember. But I don't remember much other than what I need to do."

"You know, they say that memory is one of the first things to go when you get older."

His head snapped towards you in shock at what you had said, as if you had just given away a secret that you never should have known in the first place. The Winter Soldier was meant to be a ghost, a hidden threat, and no one should know anything about him. He had been altering history and following orders for more years than you had even been alive. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing," you mumbled, with a nervous swallow, "it was a joke."

"It wasn't funny."

"They say that humor is right behind memory."

"Dangerous territory, (Y/N)," he warned, pointing at you with a glimmer of humor in his eyes, "no matter how old I am, I still took you down."

"I demand a rematch."

Bucky lifted his human hand in front of him and waved it at you almost playfully but you weren't even sure if that part of his personality was still in there. "I could take you with one arm tied behind my back."

"No, no, no," you huffed, "not that one. The other one." Your eyes widened at a thought that flashed through your mind, but you weren't sure if you should say it. Throwing caution to the wind, knowing that your situation couldn't get much worse anyway, you went for it. "Hey, is that arm removable? Like, do you take it off at night, polish it up and put it away? Can you share it with someone in a fight? You know, take it off and throw it to your partner, kinda like how Steve throws his...shield..."

If you could move to slap your palm over your face, you would.

"We're done talking now," he replied, his voice again flat and his eyes straight forward. You knew that the mention of the Captain's name could shut Bucky down and pull him into his own mind; lost in his own confusion at the man who had claimed to know him. The man who called him 'Bucky'. The slightest hint of the man that you made laugh had slipped back into the Winter Soldier, likely to not return again.

~~~

"We're here, get up."

You watched as the soldier released your shackles and grabbed your arm tightly to lift you to attention. He didn't look at you and said nothing more, pushing you ahead of him with his gun once again drawn and held against you.

"I'm sorry," you said quietly, "I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't."

"Okaaay," you whispered to yourself. He led you into a large group of buildings that looked like an old and abandoned military base, dark and cold, without much lighting to see your surroundings. Once inside the largest of them, he grabbed your shoulder and pushed you to the floor and onto your knees in front of his commanding officer and several other HYDRA agents.

"Excellent work. Excellent, indeed," the man said, walking to circle around you, running his cold hand over your cheek and lifting your chin to look up at him. "She should draw the Avengers here rather quickly, don't you think? Has she given you the information that we need?"

"Oh, I can answer that on my own," you scoffed, "no, I haven't given him a damn thing. And I won't. You can do whatever you want with me, and I still won't give you the satisfaction." You sharply turned your head to release yourself from his hand and spat on his polished shoes. When his hand slapped across your face, you refused to give him any reaction.

"Hey," Bucky interjected, "is that really necessary? We took her only to lure them in."

"Do you have a problem, soldier? Are you questioning me? Are you questioning my methods?"

Bucky's face was covered in confusion and an internal struggle, looking from you to his commander and back, completely unsure of his next move or what his answer would be. "I...well, I...I feel like someone should. There's no need to hit the lady."

The man sighed loudly and turned to the guards behind him. "Take him and wait for instructions. We need to wipe him again."

Trying to convey urgency and that you would help him, you cleared your throat so that he would look at you and see what you were thinking. "Bucky?" you whispered harshly, hoping he would accept the name. When he caught your gaze he reached down to break the cuffs that held your wrists together and pull you to standing next to him.

"Run!" he commanded, following you with his gun raised and shooting anyone who threatened to follow. "Here," he called to you, tossing a spare weapon for to assist him. "Don't shoot me, (Y/N), I'm getting us out of here, okay?"

"Best news I've heard all day."

Once the two of you had made it to the jet and had it safely in the air, you joined him at the co-pilot position and watched him carefully as he worked the controls in silence and not acknowledging that you were there. You weren't sure what it was that snapped him into action, be it a need to protect you or recognition of his name, but either way you knew that this would be a very fragile time for him that you couldn't handle on your own. After several hours of flying in silence, it was finally broken.

"So now you don't talk?"

"I'm not sure what to even say," you chuckled quietly, "other than thanks."

Bucky nodded silently and continued to look forward into the open sky before him. "That name. He called me that too."

"I know."

"I don't know who he is, that man. But I should?" Bucky finally turned to face you with a questioning look, desperate for you to tell him who he was, who Steve was, and how they were important to each other.

"Yes. I'll help you, if you'll let me. Do you want to see him?"

He simply nodded his head, saying nothing further for the rest of the flight. You could see that he was lost in his own thoughts, and knew that if he had questions or wanted to talk, that he would make it known. After sending a message to Steve to not shoot you out of the sky, and entering the coordinates of the tower into the computer, you sat back in the chair and closed your eyes, unable to sleep and for the first time, having absolutely nothing to say.

'He doesn't know you.'

'He will.'