You breathed a sigh of relief. You'd found him. The Winter Soldier had escaped HYDRA and you had left shortly after. Now that he was out, S.H.I.E.L.D didn't need you undercover anymore. You snuck out as quickly as you could and followed after Bucky. Bucky had ended up in Bucharest, hiding out in a tiny apartment and ready to run at any moment. When he left for the market, you decided to wait for him in the apartment, so you picked the lock and snuck inside.
Bucky could immediately sense that something was off when he returned to the place he called home. Someone was there that shouldn't have been. He opened the door and prepared for a fight. You stood up the second the door opened. "Bucky," you managed to breathe out before he dropped his bags and lunged.
His hand wrapped around your throat and he pressed you up against the wall. "Bucky, please. I'm not here to hurt you," you choked on your words. "You're with them," he growled and you tried to shake your head. "I'm-I'm not. I never was," you felt the air leaving your body and your eyes grew heavy. To your surprise, Bucky let go and you fell to the floor, coughing and struggling to breathe.
"You're not?" You shook your head. You sat gasping for a few minutes before you could speak again. "I was never HYDRA. I was undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D. I was assigned to you by Captain America. He wanted to see about getting you out. We never expected you to escape." Bucky stiffened. "Does he know where I am?" You shook your head. "I was burned by S.H.I.E.L.D as soon as you escaped. I haven't been able to contact Steve. I want to help you, Bucky. If you'll let me."
*time skip*
You and Bucky worked together to try and break his programming. It was difficult. Beyond difficult. He had been under HYDRA's influence for so long, breaking him wasn't easy. But Bucky trusted you. He wasn't sure why at first. Maybe it was because you were familiar, but a safe familiar. You had seen what HYDRA had done to him first hand. You had seen how they turned him from Bucky Barnes into the Winter Soldier. You had seen the fight inside Bucky's head.
"Hey, Bucky. How you doing today?" you asked one afternoon walking into the room you were sharing. "Any luck remembering?" Bucky frowned slightly. "A little. I remember a little from before the war. Before my accident." You smiled at him. "That's great, Bucky!" Bucky just grunted a little. You sank down next to him. "What's wrong?"
"D-Do you remember the words?" You blinked in surprise. "The ones to bring out the Soldier?" Bucky nodded and you confirmed his fear. You had a pretty good memory and those words had been burned into your brain when you saw what they did to Bucky. "Could you say them?" You bit your lip. "Are you sure?" He nodded. "We have to try. Just protect yourself." You nodded and took a deep breath.
After Bucky was handcuffed, you readied your extremely powerful taser and started. "Longing." No reaction at first, so you read the next word, "Rusted." He tensed. "Seventeen." You could see him trying to force himself to stay in the foreground and not let the Winter Soldier take over. You wondered whether you should stop. However, you knew that you'd never break the programming if you didn't try.
"Daybreak."
"Furnace."
"Nine."
"Benign."
"Homecoming."
"One."
"Freight Car."
With each and every word, you could see Bucky's resolve crumbling. Then, his entire face contorted from his normal expression. You could see the spark leave his eyes, void of all emotion. He was the Winter Soldier. You stepped away as he began to fight against the cuffs. You knew they wouldn't last very long. Not against him. Your taser was there, ready to use when necessary and you knew it was going to be necessary when he got out of those cuffs.
As if on cue, you heard the sound of metal breaking. Bucky's, no, the Winter Soldier's eyes focused on you. You heart was pounding as he started stalking toward you. Your breathing picked up. You were waiting for him to show any signs of attacking. His eyes narrowed when you didn't give him any orders and you knew he was assessing you as threat. Just as he was about to lunge for you, your hand went to your taser.
Bucky convulsed for a minute and you weren't sure if the weapon was actually turned up high enough to knock down the Winter Soldier. But he did eventually sink down to the ground. As soon as he was down, you rushed forward and pushed the syringe full of sedative into his neck. Hopefully, when he woke up, he would be Bucky again.
You'd given him enough sedative to knock him out for a few hours and when he woke up again, it was dark. He groaned and opened his eyes. He sat up. You were sitting across the room, taser in hand just in case. "Y/N?" You sighed and put the weapon down. "Are you okay?" you asked him and he nodded. His muscles felt a little sore from all the convulsing before, but he was fine. "Did I hurt you?" You smiled and told him that he hadn't.
"I'm sorry. I thought we'd been able to stop it." You sat down next to him on the bed and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I think we need to be away from HYDRA a little bit longer before you're able to break away. They used you as a mindless weapon for 70 years, Bucky." He stood looking down at his hands. He clenched his metal one. You saw this and reached over to take it in your own. "Bucky, I promise that you will overcome this. I will do everything in my power to help you. You aren't alone in this. We can do this...together." Bucky gave you a teary smile. "I trust you, Y/N. Thank you."
You leaned your head on his shoulder and he stiffened for a moment. You began humming a lullaby. One that you had discovered soothed Bucky when the night terrors were really bad. Bucky laid down, pulling you with him. You ran your fingers through his hair and continued to hum. Bucky carefully snuggled closer to you. He felt safe there. When he was there with you, he believed that one day, he could break his programming and live a normal life.