Chapter Text
The Asset quickly packed what he needed into a backpack and black duffel bag, the safehouse silent around him. This was one of a list of HYDRA safehouses the Asset had access to around the world, one set-up especially for him and STRIKE at the Director's order. A place to house them when the Asset wasn't at the Vault, either in the chair or cryofreeze, or the Director wanted the team close. This particular house sat in an upper-class suburb across the Potomac in Virginia, near the Pierce's own home.
It was also an address which had been announced to the world when all HYDRA's information had been dumped on the Internet by his targets. Not that SHIELD had the ability at the moment to try and capture him. There were very few who'd be able to track him if he didn't want them to, with the possible exception of one of the Widows. After all, the Asset had encountered this Window before, or so he'd remembered when he'd seen her on the bridge.
His lips curled into a sneer at the thought of getting caught. As far as he could determine, the HYDRA handlers who were aware of this safehouse were now dead, however, he hadn't survived as long as he had by making assumptions. Most of the HYDRA handlers he'd served thought he was brainless; no independent thoughts, emotionless, and malleable. The Asset had never tried to correct the assumption, having learned to remain silent unless forced to speak. Speaking often lead to pain, something the Asset had endured far too often.
Cinching up the drawstring at the top of the backpack, the Asset buckled the outer flap. He'd been trained to operate independently when given a mission, to be able to observe and plan, analyze and reassess when encountering unexpected glitches, and return to HYDRA. The tracking device in the arm had been crushed in the fight on the helicarrier, but there was still an embedded failsafe which needed to be removed before it incapacitated him. The Asset had enough HYDRA cash to stay hidden for a while, but had a pressing need to have his arm fixed. His last mission, Captain America, had done significant damage to the arm with his shield, and to be at top efficiency, it needed to be repaired.
Retrieving his newest journal from its hiding place, he slid it into the front pocket of the backpack, and swung it onto his back. He picked up the duffel bag with his flesh hand, balancing out the weight of the metal arm so he could move quickly. He patted his leg to confirm the envelope with the newest ID and several hundred in cash was in the cargo pocket on his right thigh. The sun had sunk behind the horizon, dusk but not twilight yet, as he stepped out the back door. A cap jammed onto his head, hair hiding much of his face, and his black tactical gear making him almost invisible, the Asset headed for the HYDRA sedan he'd appropriated from the parking lot of the Vault.
After surveilling the car for half an hour, the Asset soundlessly approached it; his sharp eyes looking for any signs of tampering with the boobytraps he'd left behind. Finding none, he popped the trunk and loaded the bags, before starting the vehicle and pulling onto the roadway, still blacked out. The streetlights of the neighborhood cast sufficient light for him to navigate, until he'd reach the highway.
Following the beltway around DC, the Asset merged on to I95 and headed north, keeping his speed consistently at five miles above the posted speed limit to avoid suspicion. The non-descript gray car was chosen for that specific reason, and he drove on as traffic thinned out around him. He kept the visor down to avoid being photographed by toll cameras, his mind finally reducing its hypervigilance level slightly on the north side of Baltimore.
Driving on autopilot, the Asset allowed the analytical section of his mind to go over all the information he'd accessed since he'd been given the mission to kill Captain America and Black Widow, by the Secretary himself. The Widow had taken a bullet and then disappeared. The blond man, Captain America, was a conundrum. He had refused to fight back after he'd completed sabotaging Project Insight, even dropping the oddly familiar round shield he carried, and proclaimed he was a friend. And kept calling the Asset "Bucky". The name made the Asset's head pulse with intense pain, and he had just wanted to silence the man, couldn't seem to hit him any longer when he malfunctioned and he saw flashes of a small, frail blond boy erupted in his mind. He'd chosen to fall into the Potomac after the man, and then abandoned his mission, which triggered even more pain through his mind.
After he had hauled the man's limp body up onto the silty riverbank, the Asset had paused, and looked down at the bruised and bloody face, ensuring he was breathing. His brain felt foggy, the pain having increased as disconnected images swirled up from deep within his mind. Blinking his eyes, he stood for a moment, doing an internal statis check and the first thing he became aware of, was the compulsion to return to HYDRA was gone. Pressing deeper, the obligation to obey any HYDRA handler, as well as the directive to immediately present himself for a wipe in the chair, were also absent.
Taking one last look at the man, the Asset then lost himself in the strip of forest along the Potomac, moving in expanding circles until he'd was sure no one was following him. He was able to reach the Vault by mid-afternoon to find it abandoned. Gathering what intel he could find, he searched through the old bank vault where he'd been kept, looking for the maintenance folder the technician always had, casual clothing, money, and a new set of keys. Destroying the chair with his bare hands and bashing the controls to the cryochamber were logical moves – if they were destroyed; they couldn't inflict any more pain.
Before heading to the Virginia safe-house, the Asset had stopped at a museum. Slipping through the light crowds, most of whom were chattering about the accident over the Potomac, he located the section dedicated to Captain America. The Asset kept his head down, listening to the film clips and the voice describing each section. When his eyes had landed on the tribute to James "Bucky" Barnes, the Asset had frozen. This face was the one that stared back at him from the mirror every time he was told to shave. Apparently, he was Bucky.
Pulling off at Christiana, Delaware, the Asset quickly found the small HYDRA facility near the airport, keeping watch long enough to know the building was deserted. No alarms sounded as he slipped inside and silently searched for additional supplies, money, and keys to a new vehicle. Transferring everything to an unremarkable black SUV, he used backroads until he was out of the city. He took the beltway around Wilmington, before merging back onto I95, before his mind went back to integrating the information he'd found in the abandoned Vault. Recovering his own file had provided more details concerning his conditioning, the trigger words, and his arm. The ache in his shoulder was almost unbearable now and the functionality of his arm was down 25%; finding a technician with appropriate skills now moved to the top of his mission list.
HYDRA had brutally honed his skills, concentrating on lethality, combat training, analytical thinking, and strategy. The memory wipes they had conditioned him to endure, were used routinely prior to him being returned to cryofreeze, to prevent memory flashes or malfunctions from occurring while he was under. Upon being awoken, the Asset was able to recall his skills after the initial fog he'd experience from being frozen dissipated, however, the longer he went between wipes the more often he got flashes of fragmented memories. The fall into the Potomac had jarred something in his head, increasing the amount of the past he remembered, although it was still pretty scrambled.
A stop at the edge of a truck stop allowed the Asset to take care of his bodily needs, as well as retrieve a couple nutrition shakes from his duffel bag. Cutting northwest, he circled Trenton before returning to I95 and his swirling thoughts. Ruthlessly sweeping away a memory of fighting alongside the blond man in a different war, both his arms intact, the Asset concentrated on his next steps. He knew he was done killing people at someone else's direction, nor was he going to permit anyone to hurt him again with either discipline or mindwipes. The Asset wanted to once again have a name, like picture of the man in the museum exhibit he'd seen.
For the first time in his memory, the Asset made a conscious, independent choice; a choice not to allow HYDRA to recapture him, no matter the personal danger. A decision to retrieve the name which was given to him so many years ago.
Tony Stark dropped in low over the Potomac River, his eyes and JARVIS' sensors searching for survivors or at least, heat signatures, from the helicarriers that had crashed into the water. Steve Rogers had been found on the bank of the river just hours ago and Tony had gotten the formal request from the President's office to assist in finding any others. His platypus was also on the way to help in the rescue and recovery operation, from that undisclosed base overseas he'd been stationed at. The main concern from the military was the survivors they found had a high chance of being HYDRA, and therefore a danger to anyone who might find them.
"JARVIS, is there an update on the progress of the data retrieval?"
"Dr. Banner is advising slow success overall, Sir, however we have managed to scrub all information on special operations, along with undercover SHIELD operatives and their families, including Agent Barton. Although, with the HYDRA infiltration so deeply entrenched in SHIELD, they already had access to all this data."
"You’ve sent all the pertinent information on any extractions to Rhodey to disseminate?"
"Yes, as well as cutting off all of the funding sources to the organization which originate from within Stark Industries and the Stark Family Trust."
Tony’s mind threatened to blue screen. "What! How can that be?"
"I will compile a report and forward it to Ms. Potts, shall I, Sir?"
Spotting three bodies washed up on the Virginia side of the river took Tony’s attention and he breathed in sharply, as he verified they were beyond help, before geotagging them for the coroner. Two more bodies were just a hundred feet further along the bank. Tony gritted his teeth as he sent the geotag coordinates to the Command Post. His total was up to eighteen dead and no survivors in the three hours he'd been working the river. Tony couldn't help but wonder how many people had been trapped in the helicarriers as they fell.
"Sure, J, and see if we can retrieve any of those funds as well, for fuck's sake! What about the HYDRA data?"
Pivoting, Tony flew over the river below the visible debris and began to work his way up the Washington side of the riverbank again. There was a staging area at the location for firefighters, various law enforcement officers, and EMS, many sounding their sirens when they saw Iron Man fly overhead. Tony sent up a flare and a peace sign to acknowledge to the first responders.
"The majority of the data which was released has been captured and downloaded to the secure server farm upstate at the Compound building site, Sir. We are endeavoring to separate true SHIELD information from the HYDRA data."
As darkness fell, Tony engaged the spotlight from the main arc reactor in the center of his chest, watching for obstacles as he flew lower, and heat signatures on his HUD.
"Any surprises?"
"Several, Sir."
JARVIS’ tone was flat and Tony pulled up, hovering in the air. "Anything earth shattering?"
"Indeed."
The AI's pause concerned Tony, his heart beating a bit faster. "JARVIS?"
"Perhaps you should conclude your sweep, Sir, and return to the Tower first."
His blood ran cold when Tony heard this, his mind trying to bring up all kinds of possibilities and he shoved them ruthlessly to the back of his mind. "Any halfway good news, J?"
‘I believe I have several bits for you, Sir."
"Let the authorities know I have completed my sweeps for tonight and am headed home now, please. And lay that good news on me, J."
"Despite news reports to the contrary, Director Fury did not succumb to his injuries and is secretly directing the clean-up of the Triskelion and HYDRA mess."
"Good to know." This news didn't surprise Tony.
"Captain Rogers is currently hospitalized with several broken bones, including a right orbital fracture and a concussion. Former Air Force Pararescueman Sam Wilson is with him. Agent Romanoff was been treated and released, whereabouts currently unknown."
Tony rolled his eyes. An insane amount of havoc had been created in the last 72 hours by Rogers and Romanoff, accompanied by Wilson, apparently with the Stark Exo-Wings Tony had invented for the military. He was in a Board meeting at the Tower when the news came of the attempt on Fury's life, and within hours, Captain America was a wanted fugitive, with Natasha disappearing as well. Not even JARVIS could locate either Avenger. Neither Bruce, who was in his lab at the Tower, or, more troubling, Barton, who was on an undercover assignment but had actually managed to call Tony wanting information, knew what was going on. The only contact Tony had from SHIELD was from Maria Hill, asking for access to a secure communications satellite for their ultra secret operation. Tony could only approve the request, hoping it helped whatever they were doing.
Not twelve hours after that, JARVIS had alerted him to reports of a missile attack on Camp Lehigh, running gun battles through the streets of Washington DC, and then the very public arrest of Rogers, Romanoff, and Wilson. Tony had set his attorneys on their case, working through the night trying to get some idea of what had led up to his fellow Avengers going rogue. He'd waited in vain for a call from either Steve or Natasha.
Tony had finally managed a few short hours of sleep the next morning when JARVIS woke him by advising him of the dumping of all SHIELD files on to the Internet. Pulling in Bruce and SI's entire IT Division, they had all gone to work on trying to limit the impact of releasing the secrets of a hidden government agency to the world. Tony had JARVIS seek out and remove any files which had the Stark name in them, knowing there could be embarrassing information on both he and Howard in SHIELD's files. Not to mention what HYDRA might have on Stark Industries.
The data dump had originated from SHIELD Headquarters, but wasn't the only activity going on. The massive helicarriers Tony had helped design began to lift out of Triskelion Base and moved to deploy over DC. Almost immediately, JARVIS announced the targeting matrix were online and getting ready to fire. Frantically, Tony had pulled up the schematics of the engines, opened the failsafe he'd built into the engines to shut them down safely; while JARVIS attempted to call every number they had for anyone connected with SHIELD. JARVIS was able to bring up the video feed from one of the helicarriers and Tony had watched, his heart threatening to beat out of his newly repaired sternum, as a black-clad HYDRA assassin tried his best to kill Captain America.
"If you recall earlier today, Sir, when Captain Rogers and his assailant fell from the helicarrier—" The AI seemed to hesitate.
Tony sighed, feeling weary. "Was there more to that statement, J?"
"Facial recognition shows the HYDRA assassin who was attempting to kill both Director Fury and Captain Rogers, was Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes."
"What the fuck! J, how can that be?" Tony sputtered in disbelief.
A picture appeared on Tony's HUD, showing a clear, close-up picture of a white male with shoulder-length dark hair and cold blue eyes. Another picture appeared alongside the first; one of the Bucky Barnes Tony was familiar with, clad in his blue Howling Commando uniform. There was no denying it was the same person. The HYDRA assassin looked, at most, a handful of years older than Bucky did when he was lost, his face showing none of the laugh lines Tony's own face was starting to show. He was also considerably more bulked up than Bucky, able to withstand the blows Rogers was throwing at him as they fought.
"He has the serum, or some attempt at it," Tony guessed, comparing the two photos. "Is it possible Bucky Barnes survived the fall from that train in 1945?"
"That would be the assumption, Sir. It has been noted that Captain Rogers has successfully survived jumping from airplanes on several occasions."
"Holy shit!" Tony tried to wrap his head around the fact that Bucky Barnes was alive. "Did Rogers recognize him?"
Blurry CCTV footage appeared, showing the two men fighting in an intersection. Tony watched as the mask Barnes had been wearing was flung off when Rogers landed a punch. He could tell the moment Rogers recognized Barnes, as he stiffened and his jaw went slack. Barnes turned back toward him, just as SHIELD tactical agents surrounded them and took Rogers, Romanoff, and Wilson into custody.
"What was it they said to each other, J?"
"Captain Rogers asked 'Bucky?' and Sergeant Barnes responded 'Who the hell is Bucky?'"
Tony closed his eyes tightly, his brain running through likely scenarios, knowing JARVIS was guiding his trajectory. "Somehow HYDRA found Barnes after the fall and, I assume, brainwashed him to the point that he has no memory of Cap."
"There is information contained in the data we have retrieved from HYDRA, setting a pattern of torture and what appears to be some type of memory eradication. Additional documentation shows Sergeant Barnes was particularly resistant to HYDRA's conditioning."
Wincing at that, Tony shook his head, his stomach growling, and his head starting to pound. "Fuck! Hold on to the rest, JARVIS. I'm about ten minutes out from the Tower now. If you will order me a couple cheese burgers, I'll look over the information while I eat."
"Certainly, Sir."
Thirty minutes later, Tony was freshly showered, dressed in comfortable sweats, and seated on the couch in the lab. The cheeseburgers had been eaten and washed down with coffee. He realized he needed to sleep, having been awake since he'd received word of Nick Fury's attack, but Tony also knew he wouldn't be able to until he'd heard what JARVIS had uncovered.
"All right, J, I have a feeling that Bucky Barnes being alive isn't the only life altering revelation you have for me, but I'd like to continue with the information on what happened to him before we move on. Summarize it for me, please."
JARVIS brought up the large holoscreen in front of Tony and began to page through the information found among the HYDRA data. He sat and listened to the descriptions of the inhumane torture Barnes had been subjected to, the electro-pulse machine which had been developed to specifically short out the long-term memory receptors within the hippocampus, without damaging learning and short-term recall, and the cryonic chamber the Winter Solider was kept in between missions. Documentation also showed Barnes' first HYDRA mission wasn't until the early 1950s and he'd escaped more than once. The information was hard to stomach, just as the systematic torture of the man for almost seventy years, but the description of the forced body modification and way the prosthetic arm had been attached was too much.
Tony slid to his knees and vomited into the trash can at the side of his workbench. Dum-E beeped in distress as he rolled over to Tony, a bottle of water in his claw. Being a genius, Tony's mind, unfortunately, visualized everything Barnes had been through. Making it worse, Tony swore he could feel everything they had done, hoping the assholes at least had something to knock the man unconscious – he knew what surgery without anesthesia felt like.
After emptying his stomach, Tony crawled back to the couch and took the bottle of water from Dum-E. Sipping slowly, he waited until his stomach settled before he looked back up to the now, thankfully, empty screen.
"Start running facial recognition for Barnes, J, especially around the DC area. Someone pulled Rogers out of the Potomac River and I'm beginning to think it might have been his bestie."
"Quite possibly, Sir, as they fell together and no one else was reported in the area."
"I'd like to find him before someone else does. The Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing technology Beck is developing sounds like it might be helpful with Barnes, especially in restoring his memories." Tony finished the water and tossed the bottle to Dum-E, who was still loitering near the couch. "Finish with the information you've got, JARVIS."
"You might be more comfortable in the penthouse, Sir, along with something to fortify yourself."
"You know, I haven't had anything since the Mandarin, J, but I've got a bottle of bourbon down here if it comes to that."
"As you wish, Sir. Through the HYDRA data released we find a number of successful Mission Reports attributed to the Winter Soldier, many of them of highly politically significant, including the Congo in 1961, Dealey Plaza in 1963, Memphis in 1968, Egypt in 1981, and Pakistan in 2007."
"Holy crap! All of those assassinations were really HYDRA?" Tony gasped. "And they used Barnes as their weapon? For fuck's sake, this keeps getting worse and worse for the poor guy."
"There is more, Sir."
"Jesus," he wiped his hand over his face, signaled the AI to go on.
"Obadiah Stane figured in the records, as well."
Tony stiffened at the name.
"There are records which indicate he reached out to Secretary Pierce for information on how to make contact with the Ten Rings terrorist group in 2005."
"The bastard!" His hands balled into fists as anger welled in him.
"However, this wasn't the first collaboration Stane had with HYDRA. He was also in contact with them in 1991, and his name appears in a successful Mission Report from December 16, 1991."
Rage surged through him at the words. His father's business partner had ordered a hit on Howard. A hit through HYDRA. Guilt was added to the mix as Tony remembered how he'd blamed his dad for driving drunk and killing his mother. On top of it, they had sent a tortured and brainwashed assassin, one who had actually known his father during World War II. Tony wanted to summon a gauntlet and destroy something, anything he could find. He wanted to bury himself at the bottom of the bourbon bottle, drinking until he passed out, until he'd dulled the pain. Mostly, though, he wanted to cry in misery as he realized his mother only died because she'd been in the car that night. She was just collateral damage to HYDRA and to Shane.
A tear ran down his cheek as Tony began to shake.
"I've called Colonel Rhodes, Sir."