Chapter 2: The Secret

SHIELD headquarters infirmary. A big dark-skinned man in a heavy trenchcoat and army boots calmly walked through the corridors with his arms behind his back. Doctors and staff moved aside and greeted him quietly as he passed. Serious and stern-faced with a bulldog-ish jowl and a patch over his left eye that told of many battles in the past, this man — Col. Nicholas J. Fury, Director of SHIELD — was obviously not someone to play nonsense with.

He approached the head doctor, and said, "Give me a status report on Captain Rogers."

"Serious concussion from a direct hit to the forehead, sir. Thankfully, no other physical injuries. It would take him at least a week, but we expect him to make a full recovery."

"Has he already recovered consciousness?"

"He did, for a brief period. It's still touch-and-go at this point. Any other man would have snapped his neck with that kind of hit, so, considering, he's very lucky. But this is Captain America we're talking about." The doctor flipped a page. "Signs of mild amnesia as well. He doesn't remember anything from the day of the incident, but, otherwise, his memory is intact."

"That's not so bad." Might be even better that way, Fury thought.

"Also, he did say a name before passing out again."

"Which was?" But, at this point, Fury already knew.

"Bucky. The name was Bucky, sir."

Immediately after receiving the news, Director Fury visited a secret facility in the second floor. To those who did not know its true purpose, with its five-star hotel interior design — red-carpeted halls fitted with finely-carved wood furnishings and stylish paintings — it would have appeared to be the VIP guest suite.

Unknown to most SHIELD personnel, this was the special detention facility, designed to keep superhumanly powered villains in and away from society. Each cell boasted of the comforts of a luxurious home — complete with a library and a jacuzzi — to help mellow down hostilities during the process of reeducating the inmate to integrate with a peaceful civilization. Of course, thanks to SHIELD and Stark Industries technologies, no prisoner could go out without special permissions.

Using a retinal scan, thumbprint scan and a voiced password, Fury entered cell number 13. Inside this cell, still and solemn as a well-behaved boy, was Bucky Barnes. Upon seeing Director Fury enter, he ran to the communications portal and asked, "How's Steve? Tell me he'll be alright."

"He'll be fine, Mr. Barnes," Fury replied. "But, thankfully, he won't remember what happened on your encounter."

"Thank God..."

"Let's have a talk, shall we?" Seeing hesitation in Bucky's face, Fury added: "You want to help Steve, don't you? So let's talk. Pull up a seat." Bucky complied, grabbed the nearest chair and sat in front of Fury, a fusion bomb-proof window between them. "So tell me: What do you remember from being the Winter Soldier?"

Bucky paused for a while, apparently collecting his thoughts, then answered: "Not much. Most of everything was fuzzy. I remember a voice in my head telling me to kill certain people. I remember obeying. I didn't have a choice. And ice. I remember being surrounded by ice. It was so cold at first. After so many times, I've become numb to it. I know it's strange but—" He looked up at Fury with sad eyes. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"Believe me, I've seen stranger things in my life. I believe you."

"Thanks..."

"Do you still feel the urge to kill?"

"Sometimes. Yes. And I'm scared! I might hurt people again, might hurt Steve again..." He buried his face in his hands.

"That's why you're here, so that you won't hurt people. So that we can help you."

"You'll... you'll help me?"

"Yes. We'll help you."

"Oh, okay. Thank you..."

Later that evening, Director Fury and Deputy Director Maria Hill met in his office. With her cute face framed by a black pixie haircut, Hill exuded a sweeter and warmer aura compared to that of her boss. However, hiding behind this beguiling exterior was a tough-as-nails personality that wouldn't hesitate to lie, steal and kill, whatever it would take to get her job done.

"Our agents searched a five-mile spherical radius from the point of the incident," she said. "They did not find any traces of a weapons factory having ever been built there. It was nothing but a frozen wasteland."

"But that doesn't explain why the Winter Soldier was there, waiting for our agents," argued Fury.

"Which means our intelligence was led with false information, to trap Captain America and SHIELD into facing the Winter Soldier. Or maybe..."

"Or maybe what, Hill?"

"Or maybe our intelligence themselves led us there."

Fury's brows furrowed. His voice lowered to almost a whisper. "Are you saying that SHIELD has been compromised?"

Hill leaned closer. "It's not impossible. From a certain perspective, the Winter Soldier has already infiltrated our headquarters, as a prisoner. It's not unlike what Loki had done two years ago."

"Nonetheless, it is safer to have him here, where we can monitor him, and where he can do no harm."

"I agree, sir. But what about Rogers?"

"What about him?"

"If he finds out his best friend is here—"

"We'll inform him ourselves before that happens. Fortunately, he does not remember facing the Winter Soldier. He does not have to know that his friend and his enemy are the same person." Fury straightened himself up. "Meanwhile, keep an eye on Barnes. Make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious."

"Yes, sir."

Steve was already fully conscious the next day. After a routine check-up, he was visited by Fury, who asked about his condition. Just as the doctor had said, Steve did not remember anything from the incident, so Fury went on to fill him in.

"Whoever ran the weapons factory left long before you got there," said Fury. "They had cleared out everything — papers, equipment... We got nothing, not even a trace of the weapon that hit you as you landed. But we did find that they had held a prisoner. I'm sure you know him. James Buchanan Barnes—"

"Bucky?" Steve tried to stand up, but, still weak and in pain from his injuries, quickly shot back down. "But he's been dead for many decades!"

"Well, he wasn't dead when we got him, and he's certainly not dead now. He's in another room here at SHIELD. We suspect he was cryogenically frozen, just like you, and survived the procedure."

"I must see him! I must—"

"That will be for another day, Steve. Though I must warn you... he appears to not be in his usual state of mind. He could be dangerous. You must be careful."

"You don't know his usual state of mind. You've never known him. He's my best friend—"

"Your best friend needs his rest, and so do you. Calm down now, Steve." Fury motioned to a doctor, who then injected a mild tranquilizer into Steve's IV drip. A few seconds later, despite his efforts to fight it, Steve was overwhelmed by a deep sense of peace and quickly fell asleep.

Meanwhile, in the special detention facility, Bucky was reading a young adult novel on vampires. He had been reading all sorts of books to keep his mind away from... things...

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through him, and voices droned like bees in his head:

Death... Death to Fury... Death to America... Death to the lackeys of SHIELD... Hail HYDRA...

The voices droned on and on. Bucky slapped himself several times until the voices died down and the pain was gone.

Bucky gasped as he collected his bearings. When he was comfortable enough, he tried to resume his reading, but found that he had torn the book to pieces.

(to be continued)