Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After being stuck as the fist of Hydra for far too many decades James had still problems to adjust to his new reality. While he was back to himself for months now, thanks to the kindness and compassion offered to him by Heike, after her husband had found James in cryo in a Hydra base, he felt like his new life was just a dream. Some nice little fantasy his brain had come up with to make the reality of being used and abused more palatable.

The wake-up call, that he was very much not dreaming, came in the form of a left hook hitting him in the jaw.

“Stop!” The sharp order was barely audible to James past the supposed noise cancelling headphone he had been wearing. He pulled them out of his ears and looked to his right. Colonel Zemo stood on the side of the gym, watching his men and James training.

“Sorry man,” Goran said, “I would have pulled my punch more if I had known that you wouldn’t just duck or block it again.”

“It’s fine, I didn’t pay enough attention,” James mumbled.

Goran held out his tape-covered fist and James bummed his own against it.

“That is enough for today, you can go shower,” Zemo said.

While the others scattered Zemo walked up to James.

“Are you alright?” He asked concern more obvious in his voice now that the other men were no longer there.

“I’m fine,” James replied. “Just got stuck in my head again.”

“You realise that you do not have to do this, right James?”

“Yes Helmut, I know. But you should know that I have more reasons than anyone else to severe Hydra’s heads once and for all.”

“I do, but you can give yourself more time. You probably should give yourself more time.”

“We do not know how much more time we have,” James reminded Zemo. “If Hydra really thinks that I am dead, they will try to get the other Winter Soldiers down with their program. We cannot let them have that kind of power.”

In between the many unpleasant memories from his time with Hydra, the most concerning part had been to remember that he was not the only Super Soldier Hydra had created. While he himself had been their prized possession for many decades that had not been enough for them. So, in true Hydra fashion they had strived to create more. But turning a group of already highly dangerous people into Super Soldiers had come with its downsides. Unlike James who had gotten his physical upgrade in tandem with getting his brain put through a blender, Hydra had had the hybris to expect their former kill squad to just fall in line. They had not. As far as James knew they had been put into cryo until the Hydra scientists would come up with a more efficient way of brain washing them. When he had last been at the headquarter for the Winter Soldier program in Siberia, they had still been frozen, but he had no concrete idea how long ago that had been. Probably a few months before EKO Scorpion had found him in a base in Sokovia. But it was also possible that it had been some years.

“I know that, but my men and I can do this without you having to physically come with us. You gave us the location, the access points, the floor plans. We can complete this operation while you stay with Heike.”

“I will not let you or the others go there without me,” James stated. “Should they have managed to brainwash even one of them, you will need me to take them down.”

Zemo raised an eyebrow. “You really think that we would not be able to take down one Super Soldier? I can ask the others to come back here. I am sure they would gladly demonstrate you, that they can take you down.”

“Taking me down is very much within their skills, I do not doubt that. But the Winter Soldiers are different. I would not fight them with the intent to kill them. The Winter Soldiers don’t know what mercy is. They aim for the kill, and they almost never miss.”

Zemo looked at him for a moment and tilted his head to the side a bit while he studied his face.

“You are worried about me?”

“Of course I am worried. And you should be too.”

“I may not be an active combatant for as long as you have been, James, but so far, my men and I have completed every mission successfully. And that is because we are a skilled team. We plan every mission carefully and everyone knows their role by heart. You can be a part of that if you want to, but you do not have to be out of some feeling of obligation towards my safety.”

“I could never look Heike in the eyes again, if you die because I wasn’t there to help you,” James muttered.

“Heike knows that she married a soldier. She would never blame you.”

“I know, but I would blame myself.”

James was surprised when Zemo pulled him into a hug. At the army base the platonic touched were usually reduced to a pad on the back, or a slight squeeze of a shoulder, especially since they were not in Zemo’s quarters but in the gym.

“Never blame yourself for the action and decisions of others,” Zemo said.

James wanted nothing more than to relax into the comforting embrace, but he couldn’t, so he took about half a step back.

“I will be coming with you,” he insisted.

“I am the leader of EKO Scorpion, and you will only go out in the field with us, when I give you the clearance,” Zemo declared. “So, if you can keep your head in the game while training, we might take you with us. Otherwise not.”

“Yes Sir,” Bucky said with a slightly mocking two finger salute.

Zemo raised an eyebrow. “If you are in need of some disciplinary actions, feel free to say so, Sergeant.”

“You’re not even my official commanding officer.”

“Yes, because you officially died about sixty years ago. Look James, I am fine with your sass when it is just the two of us, but I am serious when it comes to my team. You cannot come with us when you and I cannot be sure that you will be fit for duty.”

James nodded. “I know. I will not put you or your men at risk.”

“Good, then you can go now.”

After a shower James joined the others in the mess hall for lunch. None of them had voiced any objections when Zemo had showed up with James in tow some weeks ago. But there had been a lot of weary looks in the beginning. James didn’t blame them. They had all seen him right after coming out of cryo. He had been nothing but the shell of a man. A breathing husk, that obeyed orders but acted more like a living statue than an actual person.

“Sorry again man, you good?” Goran asked when James join him and the others at the table.

“Yes, don’t worry about it.”

“You should stop wearing those ear plugs, I don’t think they actually help you focus,” Vidak said, looking up from his food for a moment.

James shrugged. “I should have paid more attention, that’s all.”

“You just want to make us normal people look bad with your skills,” Mirko joked. “I mean, next time you’ll probably put on a blindfold and still kick my ass.”

“Kicking your ass is also not that hard,” Goran said. “Any of us can do that.”

While Goran and Mirko were bickering, James thought about Vidak’s comment. It probably would be a lot easier, if he could hear everybody’s movements, but the noise cancelling was necessary. Zemo and James had chosen not to tell the others, but there would be a risk for James to confront Hydra directly. There were code words that could activate his Winter Soldier programming. And while he did not know for sure, if they would still work, it would be a big risk to ignore it. But this was not information that James wanted to be known, and Zemo had agreed with him. Which was why James came up with a story that was part truth and part lie. His ears were quite sensitive, and he wanted to use the noise cancellation to reduce the stress unexpected loud noises would cause.

When Goran’s and Mirko’s bickering stopped, James didn’t even need to look up to know that Zemo had joined them. It had been fascinating for James to see how different Zemo was acting around his men in comparison to his behaviour at home. Granted his demeanour towards his wife was expected to be a lot softer and more loving. But James had also noticed a shift in the way Zemo was interacting with him. While at home there were gentle words and platonic touches but at the army base there were almost exclusively clear commands and stern looks. One more reason why James had been surprised by the hug earlier in the gym.

“Your break is until 1400. I expect to see you all then for the tactical planning,” Zemo said in between eating.

A chorus of mumbled “Yes Sir” echoed along the table.

After lunch James grabbed the science fiction novel he was currently reading and made himself comfortable in a quiet corner of the courtyard.

Well, at least it was quiet until Luka joined him.

“How’s the book?” Luka asked sitting down next to him.

“Good. What’s up?” James asked putting his bookmark back between the pages.

Luka just looked at him for a moment. “I know that’s probably a weird question to ask, but is everything alright with your left arm?”

James frowned. “Why do you ask?”

“This morning during the training it looked like weren’t able to lift is quite as high as you other arm.”

“You’re pretty observant.”

Luka looked almost embarrassed. “Well, what can I say, you usually cover it with long sleeves shirts so whenever I get the chance to look at it, for once, I do look. It’s a pretty cool piece of tech.”

“Ehm... thanks?” James said unsure what do make of Luka’s statement.

“I mean, I’m not an engineer or a doctor but I think you should let someone look at it eventually.”

James nodded. “Yes, I had the same thoughts recently, but it’s a bit tricky. I mean, I can’t go back to the Hydra scientists for some maintenance check-ups.”

“Well, you said that the base in Siberia are the headquarters for their Winter Soldier program. So, if there is any place where we might be able to find some information about that arm of yours it’s probably there.”

“Have you told Zemo that you want to expand the mission scope from burning everything down, to recovering information?”

“Not yet, I wanted to talk to you about it first.”

James frowned. “Why? It’s not my call to make. He’s the commanding officer.”

“True, but it’s also your past. I would understand if you would just want to see everything reduced to ashes.”

During his first day at the base James had given the men of EKO Scorpion a brief run down of his past. American Soldier during WWII, captured by Hydra and turned into their weapon against his will. He hadn’t shared any details with them, but they weren’t stupid. It was quite obvious that he had suffered a lot at the hands of Hydra.

“Thanks,” James muttered. “But your right. There could be stuff in their documents that would be helpful for me.”

James paused for a moment before he added. “I think I never apologised for breaking your rips.”

“Fortunately, they were not broken, just a bit cracked. But it was hardly your fault at the time.”

“Still, I was the one who hit you. Sorry.”

Luka gave him a pat on the back. “It’s ok. Just don’t do it again and then we’re cool.”

“Sounds like you want me to go easy on you during training,” James said with a slight smirk.

Luka grinned. “Look at you, already shit talking your comrade like you’ve been with us for years.”

“I’m trying my best to fit in.” He said it jokingly but they both knew that it was the truth.

“See you at the meeting, enjoy your book.”

“Thanks. Also, for giving me a head up regarding the possible added objective.”

“Don’t mention it.”

James was one of the last to join the meeting, which got noticed by Zemo with one slightly raised eyebrow.

They were discussing entry and exit points again, as well as the surveillance systems. As early as their first meeting weeks ago they had come to the decision that the safest way would be if they never even saw them coming. But that was difficult to plan, since they had no idea how many men were currently staying at the base.

“If we manage to secure the control room, then we’re good, right?” Vidak said. “When we can control all doors, we can just shut down all corridors and pick them off one by one.”

“Yes, but due to its central location there is no way we can get there without being noticed by anyone halfway competent along the way,” James pointed out.

“It there anything that would be a big enough distraction for everyone to focus on something else?” Goran asked. “I’m definitely down for blowing a big hole into one of their walls.”

“The base is built too secure for that, we wouldn’t create enough damage, and everyone would be on high alert afterwards.”

While the others discussed the different options there were to distract them, James thought silently about it. There was one option that would definitely distract every Hydra agent in that whole base.

“There is one thing that would work,” James said.

“No.” Zemo’s objection was calm but stern.

“You know it would work.”

“It’s a far too big risk. I am not sacrificing you or any other of my men to secure that control room.”

“I agree with you Colonel, but what would have been your protocol if someone captured you, James?” Luka asked.

“Kill everyone who stands in my way to get back to the handler or the base.”

“No,” Zemo repeated his objection again. “Too much time has passed. They will not belief that you just come back to them on your own.”

“It would still be a…,” James started but Zemo interrupted him.

“I said no.”

The two men stared at each other until Luka cleared his throat. “Sorry, for bringing this up.”

“Technical I brought it up,” James said.

“Yes, and I am ending this discussion,” Zemo said and the shifted the topic back to the surveillance cameras.

When Zemo ended the meeting three hours later Luka and James stayed behind, while the others left the room.

“Colonel, I have a suggestion,” Luka said. “We should try to recover as many documents about their Winter Soldier program as possible.”

“Why do you think that?” Zemo asked glancing at James for a moment before focusing back on Luka.

“Having details about what they did to James could help to support his recovery. Plus having blueprints of his arm could help with the technical maintenance.”

“You raise valid points, Luka. I have contemplated about that myself.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” James asked.

“Because the main priority is to take them down with as little risks as possible,” Zemo answered. “And securing data always comes with its risks.”

“There are no other bases nearby that could send back up there before we would be gone again, no matter if we take some time to dig through their files or not.”

“Incorrect, there are no other bases nearby that we know of,” Zemo pointed out. “You have said it yourself in the past, James. You do not remember everything yet and you probably never had a complete overview to begin with.”

Zemo looked at Luka. “It is good that you considered additional options for this mission. We should discuss it with the others at the next meeting.”

“Yes Sir.” Luka gave a quick salute and left the room.

“You know that it would also be a risk for you to get those documents, right?” Zemo asked. “If anyone would gain access to those, they might be able to control you again.”

“You don’t trust your men?” James asked.

“The much more important question is whether you would trust me with that kind of information, James.”

“Why wouldn’t I trust you with that?” he asked with a frown.

Zemo raised an eyebrow. “You would trust me with the power to control your Winter Soldier programming?”

James paused to think about it. The thought that Zemo might abuse that sort of ultimate power over him had never even occurred to him. He knew that Zemo’s primary goal in the beginning had been to get him to his more normal self in order to gain information about Hydra. While Zemo had helped him in the process it had not been his motivator. But a lot had happened since then. James was now living with Zemo and his wife for many months, and he would consider both of them his friends. He had also protected Heike from Hydra and James knew how much that had meant to Zemo.

“Yes,” James said. “I would trust you with that information.”

“You should not,” Zemo said with a slight shake of his head. “No one should have that much power over another human being.”

“If they have documented what they did, then maybe they also wrote down a way to undo it,” James pointed out.

Zemo still did not look convinced, but he nodded. “I will consider it in the planning. But only if you agree to dress like all of us for the mission and try nothing reckless like using yourself as bait. I much rather have a Super Soldier in the midst of my men that Hydra will not expect and also not see coming. The element of surprise is our biggest advantage in this endeavour.”

James agreed with the last point. “It’s your call, Colonel.”

The following week was spent with more planning and more training. And with a semi friendly competition between James and Dušan to determine who was the better sniper. James had won in the end 9 against 8 but it had been a very close call.

Overall, James had managed to keep his concentration during all training sessions and thereby convinced Zemo that it would not be a risk to take him with EKO Scorpion.

They had also finalised their plan. With the weather forecast for Siberia showing mostly clear days they had decided to start their attack at dawn, from the east. With the rising sun in their backs reflecting off the snow any scout would have a hard time spotting them decked out in white camouflage gear. Especially because James and Dušan were tasked with taking care of every man that they could spot through the scopes of their sniper rifles.

Once the outside was clear Dušan and two others would stay behind to keep an eye on the surrounding area and to make sure that their way out would be secure. Plus, they would take care that no one of Hydra would get away, should anyone make it to the exit.

Inside two teams, one led by Zemo, and one led by Goran, would secure the two hallways leading towards the control room. Whichever team would get there first, would take the room, and shut all doors in the facility.

Though that was only plan a. Everyone knew the strategies b to f as well in case something would go wrong along the way.

James hadn’t slept a single minute during their night flight from Sokovia to Siberia. But he didn’t feel tired. A mix of anxiety and anticipation was enough to keep him wide awake.

They landed as close as they could to the facility without arousing suspicion and continued from there with two big trucks. Everyone did a final check of their gear while Zemo’s voice was in their ears through the coms they were wearing. James was the only one wearing one in each ear but his were also the only ones with noise cancelling.

“We will reach their perimeter in a moment,” Zemo said. “Get ready.”

James lay on his front scanning the perimeter through the scope of his rifle. He hardly registered the cold air which turned each careful breath into a small cloud of fog.

“There are two close to the entrance,” he muttered.

“Yes, got them in my sight,” Dušan replied. “I'll take left, you right?”

“Sure,” James agreed focusing on the head of the right man.

“You are clear, take them out,” Zemo said.

One second later two bodies hit the ground.

“There are two more guards scouting the area,” Zemo said. He was watching the base through a pair of binoculars. “One west, one east.”

“I’ll take east,” James said.

A few seconds later the two other Hydra goons lay dead in the snow.

“Perimeter clear,” Zemo said. “Group one with me, Group two with Goran. Group three stays with Dušan.

James handed his sniper rifle to one of the men staying outside. Then he followed Goran towards the entrance together with Ranko and Mirko.

They waited for Luka to disable the cameras, then they moved forward.

Going through the heavy steel door and down the steep flight of stairs had James feeling like he was stepping down into one of his nightmares. He pushed the thought aside and focused on watching his surroundings.

That proved to be very useful when two other guards stepped out of a hallway to the side. Though he didn’t need to use his gun. Goran and Ranko grabbed the two unsuspecting guards and buried their knifes in their necks before any of them had the chance to scream or reach for a weapon.

They made their way further down the grey and empty hallway. But halfway down to the control room everything went down hill.

A door opened directly in front of them, with two scientists stepping out without a care in the world.

“I’m telling you; electric shocks are …,” one said to the other in Russian before he noticed his company.

They didn’t have the time to say anything else. Mirko and Goran were closest to them, so they attacked them with practiced efficiency. The problem was that one Mirko grabbed, had been holding a small device they only saw once it was too late. James jumped to catch the small metal box before it hit the ground, but he was a millisecond too slow. The box hit the concrete floor and cracked. An electric charge was released. James left arm was suddenly a dead weight and his coms cracked loud once before he could hear the muttered curses of the others. The EMP had grilled his earpieces.

“Status?” Goran asked them quietly.

“I’m good,” Ranko said. He had been in the back watching their six.

“My coms are dead,” Mirko said.

“Mine too,” James said, barely holing back a loud curse. Especially, when his left arm came back online. He winched and rolled his left shoulder in a wide and harsh motion.

“Ok, the alarm hasn’t…,” Goran started right as an alarm sound blared through the hallway.

“You were saying?” Mirko asked.

“Alright, plan b. Move your asses!”

They made it a few steps further down the hallway when the speakers installed along the hallway were no longer just sounding the alarm. A voice came through, cutting of the alarm sound.

“Winter Soldier,” a familiar voice greeted him in Russian.

James knew this voice. Karpov.

He froze. The EMP blast also fried any noise cancelling function of his headphones.

“It’s good that you’re home now,” Karpov continued.

“James?” Mirko asked.

“Longing,” Karpov’s voice cut through James brain like hot knife through butter.

“Rusted.”

“Goran, tell the Colonel…”

“Yes, I’m on it.”

“Seventeen.”

James tried to cover his ears with his hands, but it didn’t work, he was still hearing Karpov’s voice. Muffled but audible.

“Daybreak.”

“He says we should get him out of here as fast as possible,” Goran said.

“Furnace.”

James breathing increased further and further. This couldn’t be happening.

“Nine.”

No. No! He would not let …

“Benign.”

“James? You have to get up, man.”

“Homecoming.”

This was his fault. He should have listened to Heike. She had always said that it was too dangerous.

“One.”

He would be responsible for killing Helmut and every last one of the men of EKO Scorpion.

“Freight Car.”

James felt all conscious thought slipping out of his grasp. The last thing he heard before drowning in darkness was his own voice speaking Russian.

“Ready to comply.”

Chapter Text

The first part of their plan had been going smoothly. Zemo led Luka, Vidak, and Ivan down the eastern hallway towards the control room without any encounters. Only when they reached the door of the control room, they met their first real obstacle.

The door was closed and secured with a keypad they did not know the code for.

Zemo gestured towards Luka, who immediately started to work on opening the device to get to the electronics below. He let him do his job and moved two steps further down the hallway. There was a window showing the inside of the control room. A man was staring at one of the many screens showing footage from around the facility. Zemo could see two Hydra scientists on the floor and Gorans group. One of the four had his left arm hanging down before he aggressively rolled his shoulder. James metal arm must have been acting up.

The man in the control room hit a button and the alarm started screaming throughout the facility.

“Luka?” Zemo asked.

“Almost there.”

Zemo wanted to go back to the door, when he saw the man inside the room taking out a red book and hitting a new button next to a microphone.

“Winter Soldier,” the man’s voice sounded through the speakers in clear Russian.

Zemo could see James freeze on the screen. Were his headphones not working?

“It’s good that you’re home now,” the man continued.

“Longing.”

Zemo looked to Luka. “Faster,” he ordered.

“Yes, I’m almost done.”

“Rusted.”

Zemo glanced back at the screen where he could see James sinking down on his knees, covering his ears.

“Seventeen.”

“Sir, James is…,” Zemo heard Goran over the coms.

“Get him out of there, now!” Zemo barked.

“Daybreak.”

Zemo watched for a moment on the screen how they tried to move James, but it would not work. Not in the little time they had left.

“Furnace.”

Zemo went back to the door.

“Nine.”

“Luka, open this, now!”

“Benign.”

“Almost there,” Luka said, pulling out two wires.

“Homecoming.”

Luka cut the wires and held them together.

“One.”

The door opened and Zemo rushed inside.

“Freight Car.”

A second after the words had left the man’s mouth Zemo bashed his head down on the consol table. He dropped to the floor, but Zemo didn’t pay that much attention to him. Instead, he stared at the screen in front of him.

James slowly got up from the ground.

“Ready to comply,” he said in Russian.

Zemo cursed.

He glanced at the unconscious man on the floor. “Tie him up, we might need him,” he told his men.

Zemo knew he had to do something, and he also knew the first Hydra agent that came across James would exploit the vulnerable position the code words had put him in.

“Winter Soldier,” Zemo said in Russian pressing down the button next to the microphone. “Report to your handler at the control room.”

James strutted down the hall, while the others followed him.

“Remove your mask,” Zemo said in Russian when James approached him.

After he had complied Zemo switched to English. “James, can you answer me?”

There was no reaction. His face remained completely blank.

“Colonel, what’s wrong with him?” Goran asked.

Zemo looked around to see his men staring at him and James with various degrees of worry.

“Hydra’s method of controlling him apparently still works,” Zemo answered, before addressing James again. This time in Russian.

“Winter Soldier, who is your handler?”

“You are.”

“Will you take orders from anyone else?”

“No.”

Zemo took a deep breath. That was at least something.

“There are still men of Hydra around. I want you to find and kill them all. Do not harm anyone from EKO Scorpion.”

“Understood.”

James turned around and left the control room.

“Goran, Ranko, follow him. Do not interfere but keep an eye on him.”

“Yes Sir.”

Zemo looked around the control room for a moment. He spotted more cryostasis cambers on one of the screens.

“Mirko, Vidak go to the other Winter Soldiers. Make sure they will never get out of cryo again.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Ivan, stay here and keep an eye on the cameras. Let us know if there is anything …” Zemo trailed off, as he saw some movement on one of the screens. James had reached a room with three Hydra goons. He took them all down with brutal efficiency.

“Holy Shit,” Luka muttered. “He was never like this during training.”

Zemo nodded. James had apparently held back a lot of his strength.

“I’ll keep an eye out for everything unusual, Sir,” Ivan said, reminding Zemo that he had not finished his sentence before.

“Luka, with me. We must find and secure all documents regarding the Winter Soldiers.”

“Yes Sir.”

Beside the red book with the code words and also further information on the Winter Soldiers programming Luka and Zemo also found an archive in one of the labs. They did a quick skim on the first few pages of each folder to determine whether it was of interest to them or not. All files deemed interesting went into some cardboard boxes they found.

From time-to-time gunfire or screams echoed through the base but at some point, it was just eerily quiet.

“Ivan, what’s the status?” Zemo asked over the coms.

“All hostiles are eliminated. Twenty-three in total.”

“Goran, set up the explosives,” Zemo ordered.

“Yes Sir.”

“Colonel, I think James his on his way to you,” Ranko said.

Zemo lifted his head from the files he was currently looking at and sure enough only moments later James strutted into the room.

“Mission completed,” he reported in Russian, standing in parade rest a few feet away from Zemo.

“Well done, Soldier,” Zemo responded in Russian. “Keep watch, while I finish this.”

James went back to the door of the room and then stood guard there.

“That’s so creepy,” Luka muttered.

Zemo looked over expecting him to study some file, but he was looking at James.

“We will get him back to his normal self,” Zemo said. Less to comfort Luka and more trying to convince himself that this would be possible.

Two hours later they left the base again with several boxes full of datafiles and their tied-up Hydra prisoner. James followed Zemo like a brooding shadow. It was quite unnerving to see him in this state again, but Zemo decided to worry about it when they were back in Sokovia.

They watched the explosions from a safe distance. The mission had been a success. At least if they managed to get James back into a normal mental state.

Zemo decides to use the flight home to question man they had taken with them. There had been some information about him in one of the files they took, so Zemo knew now how to address the man. He also knew that he had been involved in the Winter Soldier program for over a decade, which was why he made sure that James was on the other side of the plan, unable to hear them talking. Zemo had ordered him to rest until they reached the airport of their army base.

“Mr. Karpov, we should talk,” Zemo said, removing the tape from the man’s mouth.

“You can just kill me now and safe both of us time,” Karpov responded.

“That would be far too easy. Also, while I am sure we can get all info that we need out of the files we brought with us, I still think that you could be a valuable source.”

Karpov frowned but said nothing.

“I mean, if you really want to die, we can arrange that but would you not rather live?”

“You will kill me anyway,” Karpov said with a shrug. “You only left me alive because you want more information on how to control him.”

“Is that so?”

“I have been his handler for quite some time. It is quite fascinating, wouldn’t you agree? I haven’t been around for his original conditioning and training, but their work back then was impeccable.”

Zemo took a deep breath. He hated how casual Karpov talked about using James.

“But I do wonder, how did you break him? I don’t assume you took any of the equipment from the base in Sokovia because none of you would know how to use it properly.”

“There was no reason to break him, Hydra had already done that.”

“No, you did something. At the time of your attack, he must still have been in cryo. And coming out of there he needs to be properly prepped and wiped for optimal performance. He obviously gave you plenty of information, otherwise you would not have come to Siberia.”

Karpov seemed to be an intelligent and well-informed man.

“How about you answer my questions and then I will answer yours?” Zemo suggested.

Karpov actually had the nerve to laugh in his face. “You’ll get nothing from me. I know you think yourself very clever, having a friendly talk with me, offering me a chance to survive all this, but this is all bullshit. But since you’ll kill me anyway, why don’t you humour me and answer my question.”

Zemo decided to play along and see where it would lead him.

“There was no need to break him. We just gave him time to remember who he was before Hydra. I think it should be unsurprising that he was very motivated to see that base in Siberia turned to dust.”

Karpov looked at him sceptically. “You want me to believe that you did nothing but wait?”

Zemo shrugged. “Why put in effort when the problem just solves itself over time.”

“I do not believe you,” Karpov said.

“Since you belong to Hydra it is probably not a particularly well know concept for you, but not all dilemmas are solved by applying violence.”

“Says the man who commanded a kill squad to wipe out our base.”

“Touché. But since violence seems to be the only language Hydra understands, I have to get down on your level.”

Karpov snorted. “Do you tell that to yourself so you can sleep better at night?”

“I sleep very well knowing that I do not need to brainwash my men in order for them to follow my lead.”

“Free will is an illusion. Our lives are determined by millions of things outside of our control. With the Winter Soldier this is just a bit more obvious than with your men.”

“Normally, I would be fascinated to discuss determinism with you, but we both know that you are just stalling for time in this conversation. Why?”

“Because I want to find out how much our asset means to you. Apparently, a lot since you seem quite distressed with the current situation,” Karpov observed.

Zemo raised an eyebrow. “Distressed?”

“You’re poker face is not as good as you think it is.”

“Well, if you have already figured everything out, tell me what I want from you, Mr. Karpov.”

“You want to reverse it. The brainwashing and the trigger words. But you cannot do this. He is Hydra’s creation, and he will always be ours.”

Zemo would never admit that to Karpov, but the man had put his finger right into the open wound in his chest. Over the last weeks Zemo had worried a lot if there even was a way to help James permanently.

Heike had suggested therapy but that would only help with trauma and not with the root cause. Plus, therapy probably would not work that well without being honest to the therapist and Zemo did not see James opening up to a stranger about his past. He hardly did it with Heike or Zemo.

Zemo put the tape back over Karpov’s mouth. “Well, if you have nothing of interest to say right now, then we will talk later.”

He did not like the defiant but proud glance he got from Karpov one bit. This man would be hard to break. If he would break at all.

Back home in Sokovia Zemo gave Karpov in the competent hands of his men. He was most likely too clever to fall for any tricks, so Zemo told his men to stick to the classics.

Zemo ordered James to follow him, and they went to Zemo’s quarters together. He ordered him to take off his tac gear, to wash himself and to put on some comfortable clothes. But even dressed in just socks, pants, and a t-shirt there was no way to confuse the Winter Soldier with James normal self. Zemo had ordered him to sit down and relax, while he started to read the red book Karpov had used.

It turned out to be a quite horrifying read. The book was basically the instruction manual for Hydra’s prized possession. The text treated James as nothing more than a machine, detailing the production process, the necessary maintenance as well as the words to activate him and a description of the procedure to wipe his mind. And also, some handy examples for punishment methods that had worked well in the past for him.

Zemo felt sick after reading the thin book. Additionally, there had been no indication how to reverse the activation. He stared at James how just stared blankly into the distance.

“James?” Zemo said quietly.

No reaction.

“James, please. It is me, Helmut.”

No reaction.

“Winter Soldier,” Zemo said in Russian.

James turned his head to look at him immediately.

“I need information about your status,” Zemo continued in Russian.

“Fully operational. Ready to comply,” James answered, his voice void of any emotions.

“Could I change that into a status in which you are not ready to comply?”

The tiniest frown appeared on James face. “Non-operational status.”

“Like the cryostasis?” Zemo clarified.

“Yes.”

Zemo held back a curse. Maybe blowing up every Hydra base they came across had not been the best strategy after all. Then he suddenly had an idea.

“Do you just need to be unconscious?”

James frowned again but this time he did not answer. Probably because he did not know it himself.

Zemo looked at him. “James, I am very sorry about this, but I have to try,” he said in English before switching back to Russian. “Winter Soldier, knock yourself out.”

There as a tiny pause, but the Zemo heard the quiet whirring of James left arm. He closed his eyes right before James metal fist connected with his own chin. When Zemo opened his eyes again, James had sunken down on the couch. Unconscious.

This time Zemo cursed out loud. He got up from his chair and went to the small fridge he had in his quarters to get an ice pack. Then he sat down next to James on the couch and carefully held the ice pack on James chin.

He just sat there for some time before he started talking.

“I am sorry I had to give this order,” Zemo muttered. “But I want you to be yourself again. Otherwise, we will have to stay here until you feel better again, because Heike will kick my butt for endangering you with this mission after she repeatedly advised against it.”

“She’d kick mine too,” James mumbled. Then he cursed. “Fucking hell, that hurt.”

“I am sorry,” Zemo apologised again.

“It’s fine. Pretty clever actually,” James acknowledged. “A hard reset for my fucked-up brain.”

“Do you remember what happened?” Zemo asked.

“Partially. I remember executing your order to find and kill all remaining Hydra goons and I think I remember parts of the way back here and our conversation here.”

James sat up and took the icepack from Zemo.

For a moment there was only silence.

“How do you feel?” Zemo asked.

James huffed. “Like someone gave me a mean upper cut, hard enough to knock me out.”

“That is not what I meant.”

“I know,” James muttered. “But it is a hard question to answer.”

“Did it hurt, when he used the words to activate the Winter Soldier?”

“It’s not really pain. It’s mainly dread I would say. I was terrified that he would make me hurt or kill you and the others.”

Zemo drew him into a hug. James all but melted into his embrace.

“Everything is all right, James,” Zemo assured him, stroking his back. “You did not hurt any off us.”

“This time,” James mumbled. “Who knows what will happen next time.”

“We secured a lot of data. Once we have looked through everything in detail we may find a solution.”

“Maybe, but I won’t get my hopes up.”

“I want to apologise for taking the position as your handler,” Zemo said. “I had hoped that this would prevent Hydra from giving you orders, but it was still wrong.”

“It was the only reasonable thing to do in the situation.”

“Possibly, but I still violated your trust.”

James sat back, so he could look Zemo in the eyes. “You protected yourself, your men and me by taking the position as my handler.”

“Yes, but I could have just ordered you to follow me around and do nothing. Instead, I gave you the order to kill. I should not have done that.”

In the moment it had seemed like a good idea to utilise James superior skills to get rid of all hostiles in the Hydra base, but looking back on it now, especially after reading the red book, it had left Zemo feeling like a total asshole.

“I was ready to kill all men of Hydra who were in that base long before the words were used,” James said.

“Yes, but I still took the choice from you. You have said it yourself. The Winter Soldier does not know what mercy is and after seeing it with my own eye I now understand what you meant.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“But you should.”

“I don’t.”

“I should not have acted like the other handlers before. I should have been better.”

“Well, you’re still the nicest handler I ever had.”

Zemo snorted. “That is hardly a compliment. I have read the book.” He nodded towards the small table.

James eyes widened a bit when he saw it.

“Apologies, I did not think about the fact that it must be connected to a lot of bad memories for you,” Zemo said, feeling again like an ignorant asshole.

“Please make sure that nobody else gets their hands on that book,” James muttered.

“Of course. You have my word, James. When we have found a way to help you, I will happily burn all those documents. Or I will hand you the matches so you can do it yourself.”

“Setting that book on fire sounds like a great idea,” James said, looking back at Zemo.

“Then we will keep that in mind for the future.”

For a moment both men were silent.

“You still have not answered my question in regard to your feelings about this whole situation,” Zemo said eventually.

James shrugged slightly. “It’s very hard to describe. I guess the closest thing would be a mixture of feeling lost and unsettled.”

“Do you think it would help to talk to Heike? I still have to call her.”

“She doesn’t know we are back yet?” James asked surprised.

“Well, I could not have answered questions in regard to your health, so I thought it would be best to wait until you are back to yourself.”

“Call her, I’m sure she is worried about us.”

Zemo took his phone out if his pocket and called his wife.

“How are you?” Heike asked as soon as she answered the call.

“We are fine. The mission was successful,” Zemo answered.

“That is good. You had me worried. I thought you would call sooner.”

“We ran into some problems regarding James past. I put you on speaker by the way, James is here with me.”

“Hi Heike,” James said.

“Hello James. What happened?”

“One of my previous handlers was there. Helmut got me back to myself though, so don’t worry about it.”

“You sound like I should worry about it.”

“I just need some sleep and some food, then I’ll be fine,” James answered.

“Talking about food, when will you be coming home?” Heike asked.

“Probably tomorrow, but I will keep you updated, Love,” Zemo answered.

“Alright. And James? If you need to talk to someone other than Helmut, you can call anytime.”

“Thank you,” James muttered.

Zemo and Heike said their goodbyes, then he ended the call.

“What do you want first, food or sleep?” Zemo asked James.

“Food, I can’t sleep yet.”

“I will get us something. You can stay here.”

James eyes were full of gratitude. “Thanks, I don’t really…”

“I know, having Heike and me fuss over you is bad enough, you do not want the whole team to do it as well.”

“No, your fussing over me is very much appreciated actually.”

Zemo raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Well, that is good to hear, because I think you would have a hard time getting us to stop. Do you want anything else other than food?”

James shook his head.

Zemo left his quarters and went to the mess hall to get some food for himself and James.

Some of his men were also there, so Zemo went to talk to them briefly.

“How is James?” Luka asked, as Zemo approached them.

“Back to himself and hungry. How is Karpov?”

“We put him one of the cells,” Vidak answered. “He got some water but nothing else. We’ll see if he is in a more talkative mood tomorrow.”

“Good. Keep me updated.”

“Yes Sir.”

Returning to his quarters a short time later Zemo found James still sitting on the couch. He was flipping through the pages of the red book.

“You should not read that,” Zemo said handing James a plate with sandwiches.

He put the book back on the coffee table and took the offered food. “Thanks.”

“You are welcome.”

For some time, both of them were focused on eating.

“Do I remember it correctly that you took Karpov prisoner?” James asked eventually.

“Yes. We want to question him. Maybe he can give us some useful information.”

James shook his head. “He won’t. From what I remember he’s very loyal to Hydra’s mission.”

“What would you suggest that we do with him then?” Zemo asked.

“A part of me wants to put him through the same pain he made me endure,” James muttered, staring at his plate, though it was quite obvious that his mind was somewhere else. Most likely caught up in dark and unpleasant memories.

“But just a part?” Zemo asked intrigued.

“Yes, because his suffering would change nothing. Those things still happened in the past. I will never be that charming boy from Brooklyn again. But that doesn’t mean I have to act like they did.”

“So, what would you suggest that we should do with him?”

James shrugged. “Feel free to question him, but sooner or later he will either kill himself or your men will kill him, I assume.”

Zemo looked at James slightly slumped over seating position and decided that they had enough serious discussions for now.

“How about we go to bed?” Zemo asked.

Now James finally looked at him. “We?”

“I know, most of the time Heike is the one comforting you, but I will manage as well.”

“You don’t have to,” James mumbled. Though he didn’t look away from Zemo.

“I know. But after all the violence today, I think you would not be the only one benefitting from some softer touch.”

James nodded slowly.

They finished their food and then made their way over to Zemo’s bedroom.

“How do you…?” James asked unsure when Zemo sat down on the bed.

“I am sure we can figure this out,” Zemo said.

In the end, Zemo was on his back with this left arm around James, who used Zemo’s pectoral muscles as a pillow. Zemo’s hand slowly moved up and down James back.

“You could not answer me the question in your ... previous state. Do you think there are other methods to basically reset your mental state from being the Winter Soldier back to normal that do not involve cryostasis or unconsciousness through head trauma?” Zemo asked.

“I’m not sure,” James answered. He shifted slightly at Zemo’s side. There was a quiet sound of his metal arm recalibrating as James slowly put his left hand to rest above Zemo’s sternum. “I think you could probably achieve something similar through anaesthetics. At least Hydra never gave me any after they had given me the arm and started to try and implement the trigger words.”

“It might be less painful then being knocked out but we would need to have access to a doctor for that to work reliably.”

“Yes, plus I am also not sure how well normal dosages would work, because of my enhanced metabolism.”

“Would sleep work?”

“I don’t think so. I remember going to sleep and waking up as the Winter Soldier. But the longer I am out of cryo the weaker their control gets, so it could be related to sleeping.”

Zemo continued to softly stroke James back while he thought about the information he had read in the red book. An idea came into his mind. But he did not know if he should bring it up.

“What’s wrong?” James asked.

“Nothing,” Zemo lied.

“Yes, sure. That’s why you got tense and your heartbeat increase?”

“I guess, I am a more convincing liar at a distance.”

“Seems like it. So?”

“What if we would implement some additional code words for the deactivation of the Winter Soldier?”

Zemo could feel James freeze. He careful continued to stroke his back.

“Apologies,” Zemo said. “It is not a good idea.”

“No, it’s actually a really good idea,” James muttered. “But getting the words into my head was not a fun experience.”

“I can imagine, I read the book. But it could be easier when you do not try to fight it.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Both of them were silent for some time and Zemo could feel James relaxing more again. He almost thought the other would have fallen asleep when James spoke up again.

“I guess we could try it,” James mumbled. “We could probably try to modify the process and try with low voltages first. I think they started low at first and only took it higher when it didn’t work. Or rather when I kept fighting against them. I have no idea what kind of drugs they gave me, but I assume that should be written in the book as well.”

“You don’t have to do any of this,” Zemo said. “While EKO Scorpion will continue to hunt Hydra, you do not have to come with us. You can just advise us during the planning and training stages of the operations.”

“Fighting Hydra sounds like a good investment of my time and skills. I mean what else should I do? Sit at home and watch Heike work?”

“Well, we did get you a new identity so in theory you could do whatever you wanted.”

“Not to throw shade on the guy who forged my new passport, but I don’t think it will hold up to a thorough investigation. Plus, my arm is quite recognisable. So, as long as Hydra is still out there, they probably will try to get me back or take me down.”

“I am sure we could find you a nice and quiet place somewhere.”

“Yes? Where? A cabin in the woods or a lonely hut in the mountains?”

“Oh please, you would love that, James.”

“Yeah, probably. But I still would be looking over my shoulder constantly. Plus, as I said. I don’t have that many skills outside of fighting.”

“Well, you are definitely a great cuddler,” Zemo said with a slight smirk.

James huffed. “You can leave the bed, if you don’t want to be cuddled.”

“I did not say that I am not enjoying this.”

“Enjoying?” James sounded quite sceptical.

Zemo smiled. “Yes. It was not a joke.”

James hummed a noncommittal note.

“Thank you,” he murmured into the fabric of Zemo’s shirt eventually.

Zemo knew that the other meant more than just the platonic cuddling.

“You are very welcome, James.”