Tw: cussing, angst, choking, bruises
Part 2
Words of Command - Part 3
The lights in Stark Tower dim on a gentle cycleâcool and golden like a fading sunset. You rub your eyes as the hallway stretches quiet and long before you, socks sliding soft over polished floors.
Itâs late.
And you're exhausted.
You offer a tired goodnight to Steve, who nods with a warm smile from the common room couch, book half-forgotten in his lap.
Behind you⌠Bucky follows.
Silently. Footsteps so soft for a man made of steel and shadows.
You glance back at him. âYou donât have to follow me now,â you murmur, voice laced with sleep.
He tilts his head.
âProtectionâ he says simply.
Not a question.
A statement.
You bite your lip and nodâtoo tired to argue, too soft-hearted to tell him no. Still, anxiety coils in your gut.
You grab your Stark Phone and speed-dial Tony.
He answers after three rings, voice groggy and annoyed. âIf this is about him eating toothpaste, I swear to Godââ
âTony,â you whisper. âHeâs following me. Into my room.â
Pause.
â...Okay, thatâs less funny. Still not my problem. Give him a blanket or something.â
âI donât think he knows what blankets are, let alone boundaries,â you say, glancing at the man shadowing your every move like a silent sentinel.
âYeah, wellâRoboCop's not getting his own room until you've got him fully housetrainedâCongrats, Thumbelina. Youâre now the proud owner of a six-foot trauma-soaked heat-seeking murder puppy. Mazel tov.â
You sigh.
He hangs up.
You push open your bedroom door and slip inside, flicking on the lamp with a soft click.
The light spills across the room in a warm washâcream walls, soft bedding, a shelf of books you havenât had time to finish. Itâs a safe space. Your space.
The Soldier follows.
And pauses.
Like an animal entering unfamiliar territory.
You move to the dresser, trying not to act weird. âIâm just getting ready for bed. You canâum⌠you can sit? Over there?â
He stands by the door. Watching.
Every mirror, every shadow, every flicker of movement, he tracks it all. Head snapping slightly, expression unreadable.
And then JARVIS speaks.
âGood evening, Miss. Shall I dim theââ
CLANG.
You whip around just in time to see him moveâsmooth and deadly, like a switch flipped inside his skull.
Arm raised, metal hand snapping toward a wall panel like heâs going to actually rip JARVIS straight out of the drywall.
âShitâNo!â you squeak, rushing forward.
He throws a glance over his shoulderâtense, locked inâbut the moment his eyes meet yours, the storm stalls. His breathing is shallow. Pupils blown wide. JARVIS had startled him.
âRoom compromised,â he says, clipped.
You place a hand on his armâhis flesh armâand slowly ease him back.
âThatâs just JARVIS. Heâs⌠heâs like a ghost that lives in the walls, okay?â
He blinks. â...Ghost?â
You smile nervously. âHe wonât hurt anyone.â
Slowly⌠so slowly⌠he lowers his arm.
But his eyes never stop moving.
You set your clothes down for the morning and glance over to find him standing in the corner, half-shadowed, metal hand flexing subtly at his side. Not speaking. Not relaxing.
Just watching.
âDo you⌠do you want to sleep?â you offer gently. âI could make a spotâon the wee couch, orâŚâ
He doesnât answer. But when you climb into bed, turn off the lamp, and settle under your blanket, you hear the smallest creak of the floor.
He moves.
He sits in the corner.
Back against the wall.
Facing the door.
Soldier on guard.
Watching.
Protecting.
Sometime in the night, you wake to a strange stillness.
The room is dark, but you can feel his presence.
Eyes heavy with sleep, you lift your head and see him still thereâknees drawn up, eyes open.
He hasnât moved.
Not once.
You whisper, âYou can rest, too, you knowâŚâ
He says nothing.
But for the first time, his head tilts.
The soft hum of Stark Tower fills the silence like a heartbeat in a hollow chest. The skyline glows faint behind your blackout curtains, and somewhere distant, JARVIS murmurs about internal diagnostics.
But inside your room, thereâs stillness.
Youâve long since drifted off to sleep, curled beneath layers of blankets, your breathing steady and quiet.
Across the room, seated in the corner where heâs kept watch for hours, Bucky or 'Soldat' is also asleep.
Or⌠trying.
His back is pressed against the wall, legs drawn in tight, arms rigid across his lap. He hadnât meant to sleep. Hadnât wanted to.
A whimper broke the silence. Bucky's head thrashed from side to side, his long hair flicking across his face with the movement. His metal fingers twitched and clenched.
But the moment his eyes had closed, the nightmare came.
His breath hitches.
It starts in his chest like a tremor, then takes holdâharder, faster. Metal fingers twitch. His jaw tightens. In the dark, his eyes move behind closed lids.
Russian words tumbled from his lips as his movements grew more agitated. Sweat beaded on his forehead as whatever nightmare has him in its grip tightened its hold.
Restraints.
Cold.
Hands.
Falling.
Needles.
The chair.
Pain.
The voice.
Pain.
That voice.
Pain.
"missiya" mission.
He jerks upright with a sudden violent inhale, like heâs surfacing from deep underwater. For a heartbeat, heâs not in Stark Tower.
Heâs not in your bedroom.
Heâs back in Siberia.
You jolt awake instantlyâsome part of your brain registering the shift in energy before your eyes even open.
But itâs too late.
The weight of a body is over you, the cold wrap of vibranium fingers tight around your throat.
Heâs straddled you before his eyes even fully focus, breath ragged and guttural like a wolf mid-attack. Thereâs no recognition in his faceâjust movement.
You canât breathe.
Your hands claw instinctively at his wristânot to hurt him, just to get air.
Your voice comes out as a whisper, a desperate plea.
âSoldatâ!â
The grip loosens instantly.
His eyes go wide.
Recognition blooms like a bomb going off in his chest.
He scrambles backward, nearly falling off the bed as his breath hitches and catches.
You swear for a second he looks at you like heâs seen a ghost.
âHandler,â he breathes, voice hollow.
A beat.
Thenâ
"Awaiting instructions, doll."
Okâthat's newâwhat the fucâ
The endearment slipped out, seemingly without his awareness.
Wait.
His voice.
You freeze.
The accentâitâs... lessened.
Still there, still faint, but thereâs a tremor of something else beneath it. Something almost American. Like muscle memory from a past self is bleeding back in.
You massaged your throat, watching him warily. "What did you just call me?" you managed, your voice raspy.
You look at himâheâs curled into himself now, pressed against the far edge of your bed like he wants to disappear into the wall.
âCryostasis?â he mutters.
A tremor starting in his flesh hand.
You frowned, confused by the unfamiliar term. "Cryostasis? What's that?" you asked cautiously.
His eyes darted to your face, then away, as though even acknowledging the question might be a violation of protocol.
"Cold comes. Then nothing." His odd new accent stumbled over the clinical description.
You whisper, âItâs okay.â
His head shakesâonce, hard. âNo.â
âThat is not going to happen,â you say softly.
He doesnât answer.
You reach for himânot fast, not aggressive. Just enough to brush your fingers against his sleeve. Youâre shaking. So is he.
âI shouldnât have woken you like that,â you whisper.
His eyes flash to yours.
âYou shouldnât come near me.â
He says it like a warning. Like heâs dangerous. A loaded weapon without a safety.
The morning light leaks into Stark Tower through sleek glass panels, catching dust motes in golden slants. The smell of coffee and toast drifts from the communal kitchen as the Avengers mill around in various states of half-awake bickering.
Tony is already three steps ahead, tapping away at a holographic interface while bemoaning someone using his milk.
You step inside, shoulders pulled in, your oversized hoodie swallowing your frame. Your neck is artfully concealedâlayers of makeup, your hair tucked to one side, collar tugged high. You donât want them to see.
Behind you, Bucky moves like a shadowâsoundless but ever-present. His eyes never leave you. He doesnât acknowledge the others.
âJesus,â Clint mutters under his breath, low enough that only Natasha hears. âHeâs still glued to her.â
Natasha doesnât respond. Her eyes are locked on Bucky. Calculating.
Steve is seated at the far end of the room, newspaper in one hand, coffee in the otherâbut when you walk in, his eyes lift over the rim of the mug. They soften. Then narrow.
Then shift to the Soldier.
Something is off.
Tony glances up from his projections.
âMorning, Thumbelina,â he greets, in that usual teasing voice he uses when pretending not to care too much. Then his gaze flicks to you againâand he stills.
Youâre not quite fast enough with your coffee mug.
His eyes catch the edge of discoloration peeking beneath your concealerâfaint, but unmistakable. A handprint, forming from throat to jaw. Not quite healed. Not quite hidden.
His expression drops.
âWhat the hell is that?â
You freeze mid-sip.
The room goes quiet.
Tonyâs voice cuts the air like a blade. âThat better not be what I think it is.â
Your throat closes. âTonyââ
âI knew it. I knew the 'silent Soviet scarecrow' routine was just a breath away from having a full-on Hulk-themed episode!â
Bucky reacts instantly.
The tension in his shoulders coils tight like a sprung trap. His jaw clenches, head snapping toward Stark like a weapon finding a target.
One step forwardâfast. Direct.
âBack down.â
His voice is low, cold. His accent is faded but not goneâwords flatter, more clipped. American ghosts clinging to Russian steel.
Steveâs head tilts.
Tony lifts his hands, mockingly. âOh, look at that! RoboRambo speaks. Did they teach you that in murder school or is that the accent of a guy trying to remember who he used to be?â
Buckyâs fist tightens. Metal groaning.
Your hand shoots out, placing it on his chest.
âDoll,â he says instantly, like the word grounds him.
"Stand Down ... Please"
He nods.
But his attention doesnât leave you.
Not for one second.
Steve stands slowly. Not threatening. Just observing.
âYou hear that?â he says quietly to the room, gaze on Stark but words aimed at Bucky. âHis voice. Itâs⌠changing.â
âChanging into what?â Tony mutters, pacing slightly now. âThe warm tones of someone who nearly crushed her windpipe in her sleep?â
Bucky flinches. Itâs subtleâbut itâs there.
âTony, please,â you whisper. âIt wasnât his fault.â
âOh, no, I forgotâbrainwashing, programming, whatever. But forgive me if I donât want my employees being used as a therapy animal for the man who can snap necks like breadsticks!â
Bucky stares blankly.
None of the names or faces mean anything to him.
But the tension rising in youâthat registers.
He steps protectively between you and Tony.
âNeutralize the threat,â he says coldly.
âNo, noââ Your hands are shaking. âDonât do that. Thereâs no threat. Tonyâs just⌠being Tony.â
âIrritating?â Clint offers, trying to diffuse the moment. âYeah, heâs great at that.â
Steve crosses the room slowly.
âBucky,â he tries.
The Soldierâs gaze doesnât flicker. His expression doesnât change.
Thereâs no flicker of recognition in those eyes. Only patience. Obedience. A mind made of shattered glass slowly piecing itself back together.
You guide him gently to the table. He lets you. When you move, he follows. When you speak, he listens.
But when others speak?
He blinks. No comprehension.
âWhy doesnât he know us?â Natasha asks softly. Her words are for Steve.
âI donât know,â Steve murmurs. âBut the accent fading⌠thatâs gotta be memory. It means someoneâs still in there.â
Tony crosses his arms, looking you dead in the eye. âYou need to be honest with us. If youâre in dangerââ
âIâm not.â
âYou couldâve died.â
âBut I didnât,â you say. Your voice is small. âAnd he stopped the second he realized.â
âAnd then went right back to calling you âHandler,ââ Tony snaps.


















