Winter Soldier's POV

I lead her to the back of the building to the door of a storage closet. The door was locked with a keypad, and after disabling every nearby security camera, Shadow easily detached it from the door, crumpling it into pieces in her palm.

We entered the storage room with caution, making sure no other facility staff were lingering around. Relievedly, nobody was there, and we were in the clear. Straight ahead in the dimmed room, there was a light glowing around the frame of the door leading to the museum. We inch towards it slowly, praying there was nobody waiting on the other side. Shadow tugged at her hood, preparing herself for whatever awaited us beyond this closet.

I push the door open with my forearm, letting out a sigh of relief when I see the bare hallway of the facility basement.

We crept slowly into the hall and took a moment to figure out where we were going. I journey to the left and look around for any stairs or elevators that could get us to the main level.

"Hey, over here." I hear her voice echo. I jog over to her and see a sign.

"Elevator —>" It read.

We head in that direction, changing our pace to a speed-walk to avoid any chance of meeting an unwanted guest.

As we approached the elevator, I hear a series of footsteps coming from behind us.

"Shit." Shadow mumbled to herself, jabbing her finger on the 'up' button.

We glance behind us to see a lone janitor staring blankly at each of us.

I ravage through my mind for a valid excuse I could give this guy, until Shadow abruptly threw out a random phrase.

"We just needed a place in private, you know?" She chuckled nervously. "The bathroom down here is much less busy."

He continued to stare at us, his eyes wide with an emotion I couldn't make out.

"There is no bathroom on this floor." He replied with a slight croak in his voice.

Before either of us could say anything, he walked towards us, cornering us right into the open elevator.

Both of us stood frozen in place. I debated whether I should knock him out or not.

He leaned over to us and whispered hoarsely in our ears. "Hail HYDRA."

He exited the elevator and pushed the up button, leaving us both dumbfounded, yet relieved of what just happened. I look over to Shadow, to which she just shrugged. Hopefully the man would keep this to himself, if not for us, for his sake. Chances are that he could've turned us in. HYDRA would've rewarded him with something if there was any hope of it rebuilding itself somewhere. It's possible he was scared that we would attack him, even though we were no longer under HYDRA's control.

Snapping me back into reality, the doors opened, following a ding, alerting us that we had arrived to the main level.

Shadow takes a deep breath beside me, I could sense the nervousness in her expression. I place a hand on her shoulder to reassure her that everything will be fine.

A small smile tugs at the corners of her mouth before we step into the crowd. As expected, the museum wasn't nearly as busy at I figured it would usually be. The crises going on miles away had everyone frazzled and distracted from their everyday lives. Regardless, the place remained open, and a fair amount of people were still here.

"Welcome to the Smithsonian." The PA message boomed over our heads. "Visitor information booths are available on the second level."

I adjusted my cap and walk over to a big sign posted above an escalator.

'Captain America Exhibit'  it read.

Shadow hurried over to me. I watched as her eyes lit up when she saw where we were heading.

"C'mon." I lead her down the escalator.

Unlike the rest of the museum, this exhibit was still full of people. I'm sure that I'll find the answers I'm looking for here. He claimed he knew me, but why can't I remember him?

Shadow must've wandered off because she was no longer at my side. "I'll catch up to her sooner or later." I shrug.

I lower my head slightly as I shuffled through the busy crowd of people walking around all of the attractions and information boards. My attention soon draws to a series of statues all lined up along a wall with a large poster with the American flag on it. Each statue was dressed in a uniform, and they most likely belonged to people on the poster behind each of them. I read the labels from left to right, all seemingly part of a group called the Howling Commandos. Something about that title struck to me.

"The Howling Commandos." I repeat to myself. It definitely stuck out. In the middle of all of the statues, there was Captain America. The label underneath read 'Steve Rogers'. Before I could read the rest of the names, Shadow hurries up to me. "You need to see this." She stated. She motioned for me to hurry to where she was talking about, pulling me through the thick crowd of people. Eventually she stopped at a big board that read about Captain America's history. She gestures me to read it.

I read the first panel. "Steven Grant Rogers was born on July 4th, 1918 to Sarah and Joseph Rogers. After losing his father to the First World War, his mother raised him alone before passing in 1936 to tuberculosis."

I stopped and looked at her questioningly. "Keep reading.." she told me.

I continued on. It read about him always being bullied by others for his weak build, and that his passion would later be to fight in the Second World War. He apparently enlisted dozens of times until being accepted by a German scientists to undergo an experiment of the first ever super soldier.

"I feel like I already know all of this." I crease my forehead as I try to think back.

"That's the thing." Shadow pointed to the next panel. "Look at this."

Before I could start reading, I see a black and white photo of three people. Steve, and two others. A man and a woman. I look to the young woman who stood on Steve's left. I couldn't believe it. I look back and forth from her and Shadow who stood next to me, just as perplexed.

"She looks exactly like you." I point.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "I was talking about the guy. He looks just like you." I take a closer look to the man who stood to Steve's right. He was smiling brightly at Steve and the girl, even though they were all standing in the battlefield. They all looked so happy together.
It was hard to make out, but the man did look a little like me. His hair was cut short, unlike mine, and his eyes were pale and icy. The label read 'James Buchanan Barnes (Bucky)', the name that the two of us had heard Steve call me. Could that really be me?

The name next to it was 'Y/n Y/l/n'. I'd heard Steve say that too. I turn to Shadow. "You don't think she looks like you?" She bites her lip. "I mean, I guess she sorta does." The only difference I could see is that the girl in the photo wore a brilliant, radiant smile that could light up a room. The longer I stared at her, the more I felt a familiar sense of comfort.

"James Buchanan Barnes, known to his friends and comrades as Bucky, was Steve Rogers's most dearest friend since childhood. Not long later, they both befriended Y/n Y/l/n, and the three became as close as ever, in both schoolyard, and battlefield. Y/n Y/l/n became one of the first women in the division, along side Peggy Carter. Both are still inspiring young women to this day."

Shadow stared blankly at the panel, mesmerized at the information. I couldn't help but read the paragraph over and over again, even though I somehow am able to recognize the information. The picture of the three on the battlefield was making my visions more blurry the longer I looked at it.

"It's you." I state. "Y/n Y/l/n is you, Shadow."

She leans closer to the board and frowns. "Maybe it is. I... I really don't know."

The pictures, the information, it was all right in front of us. But it was impossible to completely come to terms with it all. When I try to look back, it's as if a hazy cloud forms in my head.

"I think we found exactly what we were looking for." I rub my eyes. "Those two people are definitely us."

"I guess so. I just get an odd feeling when I look at all these photos and paragraphs. The more I do, the more I seem to remember." She softly places her hand on the photo and shudders. "It's all so much to take in."

"I know. It's hard for me too." I glance to the right and notice that we'd missed one of the panels. "Hold on we didn't read this one. It talks about..." I stop.

Shadow nudges my shoulder. "About what? Tell me. I can take it"

"About how we died." I say, not taking my eyes off the panel.

She gestured me to move over, and read out loud.

"After Rogers was miraculously able to save the soldiers from the grasps of HYDRA, he continued on with his legacy and role in the war, with the help of his two friends. In 1945, during a mission to capture the HYDRA scientist Arnim Zola on a train, Rogers, and the rest of the Commandos were able to hijack the train. However, this came at a devastating cost. While fighting the back onboard soldiers, an explosion caused a chunk of the train to detach, sending Barnes dangling on the side of the train for his life. Y/l/n attempted to save him and grab ahold of his hand with the help of Rogers, but instead was pulled down with him, causing them to fall to their most unfortunate deaths. They will both always be remembered at the Howling Commandos who gave their life to the war."

I remember now, those dreams, or rather nightmares, I'd always have to face when I was wiped. It wasn't just a dream anymore. It was a memory, it had really happened. And it happened to me.

I watched as tears, tears, streamed slowly down Shadow's face. Someone who's always shown little to no emotion towards anybody while in HYDRA, it made sense. The Winter Shadow was fading, and the Y/n Y/l/n was slowly returning.

I thought maybe she wouldn't want to, but when I reached my hand out for hers, she grasped it tightly, as if to reassure herself.

"It wasn't just a dream." She whispered.

"Let's go. I think we've both seen enough." I start walking away, but stop when she didn't follow.

She placed her hand on the photo once more, before joining me again.

As we start walking to the exit, I stop. "Wait. I want to ask to something. Well it's more like a favor."

"What?"

"From now on. Call me Bucky."

A chuckle escaped her lips. "Then call me Y/n."