And for a brief moment, their eyes met, and he tilted his hair to the side... long brown hair softly falling on his shoulder. She couldn’t help but wonder who he was before all of this. He used to be someone’s baby. Some mother held him in her arms.

The Winter Soldier kept on staring at her. He reckoned that he had stopped wishing for things a long time ago, but in that moment he wished he could have read her mind. Know why she was looking at him with an emotion that wasn’t fear or bitterness. He swallowed thickly.

“I meant what I said, by the way.”, she unexpectedly spoke up, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat instantly:” I do think that you’re a good man, underneath all of this. I don’t know your name, and I doubt you do at this point. But please, try to remember that someone in here believes in you.”

She scanned his features but only saw how his left nostril twitched. “What are you doing?!”, a loud voice suddenly reverberated through the room, making her flinch. A second later, her face made contact with the cold floor. A groan escaped from her lips and when she opened her eyes to look at the grey tiles, there were a few splatters of blood. Her blood.

“You know the rules!”, the guard shouted, pulling her by her upper arm:” No talking to the subject!” His voice was rough and brutal, and the fist that hit her cheekbone was the same. The Winter Soldier watched. He knew what would happen if he attempted to interfere. She knew it too.

“I just…”, Sam began, looking at his sister:” He is distancing himself from me, and I don’t know why. Do you think I said something wrong?” Bucky and Sam were visiting Sarah and the children at her house. Sam’s eyes move over to the window, he watches how Bucky plays with his nephews outside. But even at this moment, there is some bizarre new emotion hiding in the eyes.

“I figure you tried talking to him.” “He’s brushing it off.” Sarah nods and sighs:” Well, I understand that you only want to help him. And I love you for being so caring, but you know him by now. He needs his time. Maybe he is still trying to figure it out himself.” At the sound of her phone ringing, she gets up and walks out of the room.

Sam knows she is right, he scoffs softly. “The Lady with the milk will be here any second.”, Sarah says as she enters the kitchen again:” Do you think you can help me with the cartons?” Her brother only nods.

Outside Bucky perks up at the sound of a vehicle approaching. A white van, with images of cows on the sides, drives up the road and parks right in front of the lake house. He observes how a woman with short black hair gets out of the car before he continues to throw the frisbee he’s been holding in his hands.

“Sarah! It’s good to see you!”, the woman lets out and Sarah, who is walking down the stairs opens her arms. “Y/N! I’m so happy, too.” Bucky freezes up. It’s as if every nerve ending in his body catches fire. His head snaps back to the woman. Y/N?

He watched how the guard dragged her out of the room. And despite her having blood all over her shirt, she was smiling at him. She couldn’t be mad at him for not doing anything.

“Bucky?”, Sam, who is leaning against the doorframe frowns his eyebrows as he watches over his friend's weird behavior:” You alright?”

Y/N! Oh god. Y/N! That’s it. Holy shit.

“Y/N!”, he repeats and points at the woman, like a child who just learned a new word. It leaves his lips like a promise he has made years ago. The woman blinks at him before she nervously chuckles:” W-What?” “Y/N.”, he throws the frisbee on the ground and storms up the stairs into the house, nearly tripping over one of the stairs. He softly shoves Sam out of the way before scanning the room for his jacket.

“Talk to me, Bucky!”