–January 1945–
BUCKY'S BODY TUMBLES towards the ground, screaming until his voice becomes raw, his throat filled with pain, and the cold air biting into his skin as he falls. His body crashes into the snow and his head lolls to the side slightly, his eyes barely open. He sees blood coming from his left arm, at the elbow, it dying the shining snow underneath him. The cold air seeped into the wound as his body slowly started to bleed out, and Bucky could do nothing but watch as his skin became paler and paler, nearly the same colour as the bone sticking out of his skin. Out of where his arm should be.
In the distance the black-glad figure walked towards him, their weapon no longer in their hand, instead it was strapped to their back. Their movements were fluid and precise as she walks over and bends down in front of Bucky's face. She strokes his skin and mutters to herself, taking the comm out of her ear as she does so. "Hi, Buckaroo." She chuckles slightly, her voice seemingly forced. Bucky's eyes widen at this, the smallest ray of hope sparking in his chest as she talks to him. "You'll live." She reassures him, her eyes cold. She touches his destroyed arm. "Well, most of you will."
He looks at her in fear, barely able to focus. He tries to reach out and grab her arm, but he felt like they were made of lead. She places an arm on his, trying, and failing, to reassure him that he'll be okay. She stands back up, lifting her head and looking at someone near his head. Bucky tries to look, but gloved hands hold his head still. "Актив готов к добыче (Russian: The Asset is ready for extraction)." She tells them. Bucky looks at her in shock, he hadn't known that she knew Russian, but she was working with the enemy.
Rough hands start to drag his body through the snow, as if he were a rag doll. He sees the woman walk beside him. She glances down at him every now and then, her face full of recognition and sorrow, pity, but she never tries and takes his hand. She would have done so originally. Bucky's face falls, both scared for what's going to happen to him, but concerned about what had happened to her to make her seem so emotionless, robotic.
Stars start to dance in Bucky's eyes, his head feeling heavier and heavier as each second passes. He tasted copper on his tongue and his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. He tries to focus on her, on anything, his surroundings getting more blurred the harder he tries. His mind starts running a mile a minute, multiple questions going here and there as his brain tries to keep him conscious. He knows subconsciously that while he is likely to survive, given the dead look on her face, he is not likely to be kept safe following that. His mind gets drawn out, his vision tunnelling in and going black around the edges.
He looks back at her, trying to recognise who it is, but for some time his mind can't tell. His body gets hauled up by stronger hands, the woman's head beside his, holding him up as he is roughly placed down on his back on a hard ground. He was something being placed in the crook of his right elbow, and a strip of fabric being tied tightly around his left arm, where the blood had been flowing out. The woman's face pops back in his vision, upside down while she places something around his neck, stopping him from moving his head. She pats his chest lightly, a soft smile on her face before moving out of his field of view quickly. Something cold runs through his arm and he blacks out, his mind finally realising that Steve was wrong. Yawa isn't dead.
— — — — —
A sharp pain and the sound of a saw brings Bucky back around to consciousness. The room he is in has a strong smell of antiseptic and alcohol. He feels something hard and plastic in his mouth and he nearly gags, only to find out that his body isn't responding. A bright light is above him, shining down on his body, and another, smaller, light is shining over his arm. He feels a searing pain that quickly goes, the smell of copper filling his nose.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a short, blurry figure with glasses cutting away at his arm, going deep into the bone. His face was emotionless, and Bucky could see him cut directly into the bone, amputating the destroyed arm. The man's eyes glance over at Bucky, leaning over and looking directly in the pain and fear filled eyes. His face came into focus. "Sergeant Barnes…" Zola says, his voice soft but serious. Bucky tried to move, but his body didn't respond to him. Zola notices, leaning over and pressing something behind Bucky's head, causing his body to feel more heavy. "The procedure has already started." Bucky's eyes widened before passing out.
— — — — —
When comes to again, he can see some Hydra agents standing around him. He sees a metal glint from his left arm, seeing a metal arm where his arm had been previously. Zola looks back over at him with a smile on his face. "You are to be the new fist of HYDRA." He tells him, his voice filled with happiness as he looks down at Bucky, feeling at his arm. He looks at the other agents and mumbles something before looking back at him.
Bucky's eyes follow his arm, looking down at the metal arm, fear growing in his body as he does so. In seconds, he grabs the man by his neck, squeezing it tightly as anger fills his vision. His heart rate speeds up, and he throws the man away from him, him landing in a heap on the floor, groaning. The other agents turn and look at Bucky with urgency, and one runs at him, holding something in her hand. Bucky looks directly in her eyes, realising exactly who it is. She ignores his gaze and stabs something in his thigh, and Bucky suddenly feels more numb. His head falls back and he sinks into unconsciousness.
— — — — —
He awakes slightly, his eyes open barely. He feels his arms dragged harshly, his legs scraping across the ground. There was a searing pain in his brain, it was as if it had been ripped out and it ached greater than anything than he had ever feared. Zola leans over at him, examining him from head to toe before ordering; "put him on ice" to the scientists standing near him.
Bucky's fear increases tenfold as he is dragged through the hallway, the figure looking distinctly like Yawa walking beside him wearing tight black sweats with the Hydra logo on them. She walks over to him and picks him up, placing him against something, cold metal pressing against his back. She nearly cries as she backs away, closing the lid, sealing the chamber shut. Bucky raises his hand, metal touching against metal, as he looks at her in betrayal.
Cold air shot through the chamber — liquid nitrogen his mind supplied — and his body became colder and colder. He could feel his heart slowing, his eyes becoming stiff and heavy. The small oval window frosted over as Yawa continued to look in, and Bucky could see her heart breaking as he finally went limp, his body falling into suspended animation.