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A Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier Fic - The Constant	By : TheConstant1944 Category: Marvel Verse Comics > Captain America Views: 2391 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Chapter List
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Chapter Seventy-One
The Winter Soldier & The Constant - The Broken Promise

You are both due to go back into cryo tomorrow. The Soldier's mission is over, mission report has been filed and he has just come back to you – you are both getting ready to sleep.
Outside their door, Rumlow hesitates. There are people who would barge in, and there are people who would knock.
He knocks.
He is considerate but it doesn't mean that he is a nice person. The two things don't always go hand in hand.
The door is opened by the woman.
“We need the Soldier,” says Rumlow. You look behind him, recognising one of the STRIKE force with him. Rollins, you think his name is.
It's no good refusing or closing the door and so you open it wider to allow them in.
He is sat on the sofa and by the looks of it they have just finished eating. When the Soldier sees it is Rumlow, he stands up. He is in combat trousers, tee shirt, his feet bare and they can tell he has recently showered, removed the dirt from todays mission. He has already had the memories removed.
“You are to come with us. You have another job to do,” Rumlow says, and the Winter Soldier nods. He would never dream of not obeying.
“Is there a problem?” you ask, but Rumlow just looks at you. He will not answer your questions you should know that by now. You wonder why it is him and Rollins and not the Winter Soldier's own team.
The Winter Soldier puts on his socks and boots and grabs his jacket to follow.
*
The car is quiet. Rollins drives with Rumlow next to him whilst the Winter Soldier sits in the back. This is a mission he has not been properly programmed for. Rumlow has been in on the programming before today and knows what is usually involved. He has already argued with one of the programmers tonight about the nature of the programming for this mission. The programmer tried to explain that certain conditions should be met before using the words but Rumlow is under orders. He has already run through the trigger words to make the Winter Soldier ready to comply. We don't need extensive programming for such a small inconsequential mission like this. Pierce's words. Neither do we need his team. I want to keep this just between ourselves.
Rumlow has his misgivings, but will obey orders. This is the first time he has been out on his own with the Winter Soldier and he is a bit hesitant, a bit uneasy.
Rumlow gives him his orders and asks him if he understands and he nods. He is given a gun fitted with a silencer instead of one he would normally use; the gun will disappear after this.
The Winter Soldier and Rumlow leave the car. It is night and the area is dark and quiet and they make their way to the apartments. The one they are after is on the ground floor. Rumlow has been given a key and he lets them in, both are silent. Although it is late, their target is still awake and appears to be in the sitting room – the lights are on.
Rumlow signals the way and the Winter Soldier nods and follows. Neither make any sound. They round the corner and come into the main room. She is sat at a table doing paperwork and she starts as she sees the two men come towards her.
She knows both the Winter Soldier and Rumlow and for a moment she is more confused than frightened to see them. Rumlow steps forward, hands in an open gesture whilst the Winter Soldier circles behind her. She cannot watch them both at the same time and her smile slowly falters.
“I'm sorry, Maggie,” Rumlow says. It's all he can think of saying.
She tries to stand but the Winter Soldier places his hand on her shoulder to stop her. She looks up, behind her, into his face. His eyes are blank, his features expressionless.
Maggie turns back to Rumlow and gives a bitter laugh. “Why am I surprised?” Her voice is hard. “Alex is too much of a coward to do it himself.”
She knows now why they are there, and deep down she has always thought this would be her ending. It doesn't make it any easier to know she was right.
Rumlow looks at the Winter Soldier and nods his head. Maggie feels his hand grip her tighter and she watches as he lifts the gun in his hand and puts the barrel of the gun to her head.
She should fight, should beg – but, in truth, she hasn't the energy. The last six months have been hard on her and she is tired. She doesn't agree with what Hydra has been doing, doesn't agree with Project Insight and had even told Alex of her misgivings about it. One time her dream would have been to follow Alex to the end of the world...but now? Now she knows that whilst she may still love him, she doesn't like him and without that sense of respect she cannot carry on with the way things are going.
Rumlow looks away, waiting to hear the shot. Taking it for granted that he will.
There is no shot.
He looks back at the Soldier. He has not fired the gun, although the barrel remains against Maggie's head.
He can feel her trembling through the hand he has locked on her shoulder. He can see that her breathing is faster and he can see the fear in her eyes. This should not stop him...but it does. He knows this woman. She looks up at him and her eyes begin to well with tears.
Rumlow steps closer. “Soldier. You must comply. You must fulfil your mission.” The Soldier tries. His hand grips her even tighter and his finger tries to push down on the trigger but he can't. He cannot do it.
“You won't hurt her, will you?” A memory. His Constant's voice.
“Soldier!” Rumlow un-holsters his own gun and brings it up, unsure as to why the Soldier is not obeying orders. Sweat is dripping from the Winter Soldier's face and he wipes it on his sleeve; the gun in his hand is actually trembling now and Maggie is looking at him, into his eyes.
She turns slightly in her seat so she can see him better. His hand releases its grip on her shoulder and instead he holds the gun in both hands. Rumlow is speaking and the Winter Soldier tries to clear his head, tries to concentrate, but all he can see is the woman's eyes, hear the voice in his head.
“I can't do this. Don't make me do this. Please. Don't.” He is trying to fight his programming.
But it is Maggie who reaches out to him, not Rumlow. She tries to smile whilst silent tears run down her face. “You have to,” she says quietly, placing her hand over his.
But the Soldier has made a promise not to hurt this woman and says so. “I promised...” he whispers, almost silently.
“Listen to me...” Maggie is solely focused on him, her own heart beating wildly, and for the first time she can see why Freya loves this man. She understands the utter sorrow of the Winter Soldier; he is just one more victim of Hydra. Of a world gone mad. “You need to shoot. You must. I understand. Please tell Freya I understand and you had no choice.”
The Winter Soldier sobs. He tries to clear the sweat and tears from his eyes using his arm. Then he shakes his head. No. And he cannot look away from her. She removes one of his hands from the gun so it is just being held by his left hand. Then she brings the gun closer to her forehead and puts her fingers over his.
Rumlow has realised that the Winter Soldier is not going to shoot and curses silently. He is going to have to re-encode the Soldier with the comply words. He moves further forward, his gun trained on the Soldier.
“Longing...” he starts to recite the words thinking that just by simply repeating them it will put him back in charge of the Soldier's mind - if only it was that easy. “Rusted, seventeen...” The Winter Soldier clutches the gun tighter.
Maggie cannot cope with the look in the Soldier's eyes. She knows what the words mean that Rumlow is saying. She focuses totally on the man in front of her.
“I understand and I forgive you,” she says quietly, smiling at him as she depresses his finger.
The shot takes her full in the head, throwing her body back like a rag doll. She is dead before the sound stops. Blood runs down the wall, splattered on her clothes and the paperwork on the table.
The Soldier does not move. Does not lower his arm.
Rumlow holsters his gun. Rollins has followed them in; he will stage the rest of it to look like a robbery gone wrong.
Rumlow walks over to the Soldier. “Holster your gun,” he says, but the Soldier does not move, just stares at the dead woman. Rumlow growls. “I said holster your gun!”
The Winter Soldier hesitates, and then does as he is told. If Rumlow didn't know better he would say the man was in shock. He turns to Rollins. “Finish up here and we'll meet you back at the car.” Then telling the Soldier to follow he leaves the premises.
On the way back to base they stop once to throw the gun into a fast-flowing river, where it will never be found. There is to be no mission report. Instead, Rumlow says the words and instructs the Winter Soldier to forget.
The Soldier does not say anything, does not look at Rumlow and Rumlow has a terrible feeling in his gut that tonight isn't over yet.
*
It is the early hours of the morning when the Winter Soldier is returned to you. You are told nothing but you can see something has happened. There is a splattering of blood on his clothes.
He walks into the quarters, but after he sees her he backs away. Rumlow is behind him, will not let him leave. Freya tries to talk to him but he doesn't want to even look at her, doesn't want to go near her. How can he after what he has just done?
Eventually he allows you to help him out of his jacket, remove his boots, you suggest a shower but twenty minutes later he is still in there so you go to him. He is sat on the floor of the shower leaning against the wall. He has been like this before in the past, but not for a long time. You switch off the water, bring a towel, and wrap it around his shoulders.
But he pulls away from you. “Don't touch me!”
The anger in his voice is frightening and so is the look he gives you. He rears up, pushing you away.
Angrily he begins to dry himself as you look on. You want to help but you can feel the heat of his anger rolling off him – yet there is also this look on his face. This look of utter contempt. You realise it is not for you, it is for himself.
And you know the anger in him is not directed at you.
He goes back through to the main part of the room and grabs the clean clothes you left out. Then as he dresses you realise he is crying.
“What is it? What's wrong?” you ask, touching his arm, trying to get him to look at you - but he won't. You think he is going to leave but then it is if he runs out of steam and falls backwards to sit on the edge of the bed. You kneel at his feet. “Talk to me,” you say, but he shakes his head and covers his face with his hands. “Please, I can help you!” It tears you apart to see him like this, to see him so upset. What has happened?
“No one can help me,” he says quietly. “I'm a killer. All I do is destroy. I don't stop chaos I create it!” His voice begins to rise.
You are aware of the words he is saying and your heart starts to thump. If they hear him then you are worried they will do something. “I can help you. You're tired, just...just let me in. Trust me.” But he shakes his head.
You lean back on your heels, watching him, and finally he looks at you. His eyes are wet, dark, and there is a pain in them that is desperate. “Don't ask me,” he whispers. He reaches out for you and you respond.
“Don't hate me!” his voice begs.
“That will never happen.” You stand and move to sit beside him. “Do you want to talk?” He looks so tired, so broken.
He turns to look at her to study her face. He wants to bury himself in her. She will hate him, he knows that. “I killed her,” he says and looks away from her.
“Who?” she asks, but he doesn't reply. She stands up, meaning to crouch down in front of him and he looks back up at her. They are both silent and then he sees it, the dawning of the truth in her eyes.
She tries to smile but all the time shakes her head, the smile fades “No...” And then, without realising she is doing it, she slowly backs away. Her hands come up. “No.”
He stands and reaches out. “I'm sorry,” he says and swallows. The look on her face is pure shock and she knows who he is talking about without him saying her name but he still tries. “I didn't know, I didn't know it was to be her, Freya I didn't know it was Mag...”
“No!” she screams, stopping his words, stopping him. “Don't you dare! Don't you dare even say her name!”
She turns, stumbling backwards. “No...” Then she turns back, a keening sound coming from her throat. “But Pierce...Pierce wouldn't have allowed it...not Maggie...not Maggie.” And then she is sobbing. He moves forward and tries to touch her but she hits out at him.
“Don't touch me!” Their roles reversed now. “Don't touch me.”
His hand reaching for her drops.
“It's what I am. A murderer. Nothing but a murderer. They say the words and I follow them, I obey...” And now his eyes look dangerous as the real truth begins to dawn on him.
You look at him. Your mind is numb, you are in shock. Why? Why did they kill Maggie? She loved Alex. He should have protected her. But then you hear a noise that makes you feel sick to your stomach. Running feet in the corridor and before you know what is happening the door bursts open and then there is a full STRIKE team led by Rumlow.
You are between them and the Winter Soldier. You look at him, seeing that he has given up. Rumlow goes to walk past you.
The recording device in your quarters, they heard what he said. They know he is remembering, he has been out of cryo for too long.
“Don't touch him,” you say, stepping back so you are still in between. Rumlow stops and looks at you, a sardonic smile on his face.
“You're going to stop us?” He looks beyond you to the Soldier. “You're to come with me,” he says, but the Soldier does not move. “Are you disobeying orders?” Rumlow continues. The team have their guns drawn.
“He'll be all right, just...just leave him alone,” you say.
Rumlow focuses on her. People fascinate him and he looks at this woman who even now is trying to protect the man she loves. He has heard the recordings, knows she loved Maggie.
“Even now, even when you know what he's done, you still love him. You still try to protect him.” Rumlow says to her. Whilst he talks to her he sweeps his arm to indicate to his men to take the Winter Soldier. She knows she cannot stop them and he can see it in her eyes that it hurts.
“And you will never understand that will you?” Her voice shows disgust for him.
“He killed your friend, your mother figure if I remember rightly,” Rumlow says deliberately belittling, taunting almost, and she shakes her head. “No. Alex Pierce killed Maggie. And so did you. James...” And here she says his name deliberately, “James was just the gun in your hand.”
No more is said. They walk the Winter Soldier out and straight to the Main Room. They force and lock him down into the master chair. Rumlow refused to allow Freya to follow. She annoyed him; she is so blinkered by love. How can she love the Soldier? How can she forgive him? It annoys him that she is so weak. That she makes the Winter Soldier weak.
One of the programmers is waiting for them, and is tetchy. They are not normally used at a wipe but it was felt it was best to have one present on this occasion.
“I told you the words should be used in controlled situations only!” he snaps, and Rumlow has had enough.
“Well them maybe you would like to tell Pierce yourself,” he snaps back. The man tuts as they fasten the Soldier down. There is no fight left in him and Rumlow looks at him, more angered than he should be.
“You belong to Hydra. In the future, Soldier, you will obey orders.” Rumlow walks forward and leans over putting both his hands on the chair arms and looks into the Soldier's eyes as if looking for something. Whatever it is, he doesn't find it. “You know, I used to look up to you. I thought you were the perfect Soldier. But you're not, are you? You're weak. Like all the rest of the bleating sheep out there.” He wants to get a rise out of him, to make him angry, bring him back to who he is supposed to be.
The Soldier focuses on him. “Why? So you can get me to murder anyone when they don't suit your way of thinking? Hydra's way of thinking?” he says quietly. He is tired, not just physically but mentally. He has been out of cryo too long, too many thoughts are coming to mind. The Winter Soldier laughs, and it is an awful sound. “You are wrong. Hydra is wrong. You're nothing but a bunch of psychopaths,” he spits the words at Rumlow and watches as the man clenches his teeth in fury.
He has nothing more to say to Rumlow. He looks away.
“You think she loves you? You think you love her? You think because you are beginning to remember you know everything? Well, you don't.” The Soldier looks back and Rumlow shakes his head. “You don't love her. You can't...and do you know why that is? Do you remember yet?” He leans in closer. “Because you love someone else. A man you thought was dead...but he isn't. Do you remember the name Steve Rogers?” And he sees shock in the Soldier's eyes. Rumlow smiles an awful deaths-head grin. “He's alive but we're going to destroy him, and it will be you that we use to take his life.”
And Rumlow can see the name does sound familiar to the Winter Soldier, sees him look down and his mouth move saying the name. Sees a terrible look come into the Soldier's eyes.
Rumlow hasn't finished. He leans in even closer and whispers into the Winter Soldier's ear. “And guess what Soldier. In a moment, they're going to wipe you, take away your memories again and once they wipe you, you will forget him all over again. How does that feel?”
He slaps the chair arms and then walks away. As the Soldier starts to remember, as he begins to react, the clamps hold him firmly. It is too late.
“No, no wait a minute, wait...” The Soldier tries to say as memories start to show, as he begins to realise.
“Wipe him!” Rumlow turns his back on him and leaves the room hearing the screams begin when he is a few feet away and walking down the corridor. And it makes him smile. They will soon have their Soldier back and in perfect working order.
*
During the time the Soldier is away you cannot settle. You pace the floor for what seems like hours, but then you hear a quiet sound and as you watch the door opens and the person there puts a finger to his lips to tell you to be quiet. He beckons you out to the corridor. It is Rollins.
You follow him a slight way down the corridor, not knowing what he wants. You can see he is nervous. He stops you, puts his hand on your arm. “They can't see us or hear us here,” he says, his voice quiet. You do not really know this man and feel uncertain as to why you trusted him. “They have taken him for wiping so he won't remember, but...” He looks at you, he can see your eyes are full of pain and he knows you are finding this difficult. “I was there tonight. Maggie knew, she knew why we had come, you could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice.”
“Why are you telling me this?” You say to him. Is he trying to make it hurt even more than it does? “Are you trying to rub it in, trying to...”
“No, no...no.” He shakes his head and you see a humanity in his gaze. “I thought you should know he couldn't do it. The Winter Soldier...he couldn't shoot her. He cried. It was Maggie that helped him. She told him that she forgave him, told him to tell you she had forgiven him and then she...” and at this he stops for a second his eyes going back to the scene. “Then she covered his hand on the gun and made him shoot her.”
Your hand flies to your mouth and you make that same keening noise. He touches your arm almost as if trying to console you. “Why? Why are you telling me this?” you ask, knowing the trouble he could get into.
“Because not all of us believe totally in what is happening...” And he tries to smile. “I liked Maggie, she didn't deserve...didn't deserve to die. One day you may need to tell him she forgave him...” you remain looking at him sure he hasn't finished, "he saved my life once...on a mission, not that it was anything to him at the time,"
And then before you can reply you hear a terrible noise. You hear the Winter Soldier screaming. Rollins looks behind him "...not that he'll even remember that he did," he finishes quietly.
He lets go of you “I've got to go...” and turns to leave.
“Rollins...” he turns back to you.
“Thank you.”
And he nods.
*
The Soldier is barely conscious when they bring him back to you. Two of the STRIKE team soldiers carry him into your quarters between them and throw him on the bed and then leave.
You look down at him. He is bleeding from his nose and one ear. There are red marks on his face where the plates clamped down on him, small burn marks where the metal was too hot. What looks like black bruising under his eyes. His face is rough with stubble, and there is a deep scratch on his cheek bone. His hair is knotted and tangled, his clothes smell of body odour and are stained with sweat and yet they were fresh on less than two hours ago. There are scratches and marks on his right arm where his body fought against the restraints and the same marks around his ankles.
It must have been a deep wipe but you know he will be all right. You know the serum will repair the physical damage. But what about him? Who will repair him? His mind? How can you hold him responsible for the things they make him do? You can't. You meant it when you said it was Pierce that killed Maggie and you hope with all your being that she wasn't frightened, that she didn't suffer.
He will have no memory in the morning of anything other than who he is and who his Constant is. And his masters, naturally. No memory of Maggie's last words and what she told him about forgiving him. But you will remember and if ever he needs you to tell him you will.
You undress him and by now he is coming around and is able to come with you to the bathroom where you help him take a shower. By the time he falls back into bed he is asleep on his feet. You cuddle up close to him but before you sleep you have one more thing to do.
You pray for Maggie.
*
24 Hours Earlier
Maggie is clearing the days work from her desk. It is late, and for once she is heading home to her apartment with Alex. Spending time with him outside of work is something that happens less and less these days.
She is under no illusion that he has tired of her, but stupidly she still feels safe. She has spent the last twenty something years of her life at his side. She has kept his secrets, kept him company, done anything he wanted but now he doesn't call on her services as much. She doesn't kid herself. When she looks in the mirror she sees she has grown old and knows that he no longer finds her attractive.
But tonight he spends the evening and part of the night with her. When he leaves the seed of doubt is planted.
“You know how much I appreciate what you've done for me, don't you Maggie?” he says, and it is the past tense that hits home to her.
“Sounds like you're finally planning on letting me retire,” she says jokingly and he laughs, but it is a false laugh.
“Something we can talk about,” he says and he kisses her forehead.
She sees him to the door. She knows she will not see him for another two days as he is going to the country with his wife and children.
“See you Thursday,” she says, and he nods.
She closes the door behind him. For some reason she feels sick and all night she thinks about what he said. No, surely he wouldn't have her killed...not after all this time and their closeness...he knows how much she loves him...
But I am getting old and he wants a younger model. And so she tries to tell herself he is simply talking about her retiring on her sixtieth birthday, which is fast approaching.
In the car on the way home, Pierce calls Rumlow and tells him he wants to meet. He is to pick one other person to bring with him and they are to tell no one about the meeting.
“I have a job for you to do,” he says and hangs up.
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A Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier Fic - The Constant