top secret hydra weapons facility.
austrian alps.
october 1943.

     DIANE struggled against the leather restraints strapped across her body. She shut her eyes. It was useless. Her head was pounding. She tried to lick her lips, but her mouth was too dry.

     Diane was exhausted. And terrified. She tried not to let her mind linger on the fact that she couldn't move. Breathe, she told herself.

     "The procedure will begin now, Ms. Freeman," Zola grinned down at her. Djé, please save me, she began to pray. He reached over and slid the cylindrical cover over her body.

     Her eyes snapped open. She was shrouded in darkness, the only light coming in through the tiny circular window fixated just above her head. The growing anxiety finally overwhelmed her. She writhed and thrashed, her head turning from side to side in a frantic attempt to find air. Breathe, she chanted to herself, breathe. She tried to keep her attention on the light fixture positioned just above her.

     Before she could relax, a brilliant blue light ignited hidden panels along the inside of the chamber and flooded her vision.

     She would have thought it looked quite hypnotizing, but she barely had time to form the thought before a burning sensation washed over her.

☆

     "Bucky, you gotta try and get some rest, buddy," Gabe tried to coax him to sleep. Truth be told, even the men in the cells around them couldn't doze off.

     He had finally stopped crying, but he kept her tags shut tight in his hand. He stared into nothingness, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of Diane. "I can't sleep like this," he grumbled.

     The silence in the cell ward was loud. Everyone was restless and on edge. The had grown accustomed to being sang to sleep. Now it seemed as though those days had come to an end.

     Bucky exhaled loudly and dropped his head. He inspected the tags and ring in his palm, replaying old memories.

     "What the hell am I thinking? I-I can't do this," Diane shook her head, going back down the steps.

     Bucky sprinted down the steps to stop right in front of her. He tenderly placed his hands on her shoulders, "Diane, you gotta tell someone. He can't keep doing this to you!"

     "This is just a battle I won't win..."

     "So you won't even try?"

     "'Won't try?' What do you think I've been doing all my life? I think I've learned by now when to back down and when to...  James, you have no idea what it's like living like this," she huffed, clearly exasperated.

     "I'm sorry, Diane. I didn't mean it like that."

     "I know, I'm sorry. It's just Geri's out of work, I have to provide for three people and this is our only income."

     "We'll find you another job–"

     "And who's gonna hire me, huh? A negro woman?" she scoffed. "And even if I did find a new job, there's no way they'd pay me enough to live on."

     "H-He can't do this..."

     "But he can," she looked into his eyes, tears flowing freely. "And he knows he can so he does. Because who would believe a negro woman over a white man?" He wrapped his arms around her, "It's so exhausting, James, dealing with it all."

     "I wish there was more I could do. I just... I just want to protect you. I want you safe."

     She thought about the racism and ignorance and hatred that ran rampant through their society and all the trials and tribulations she's had to overcome because of it. You can't protect me from the world, she thought to herself. Diane raised her head with a sad smile gracing her lips, "I know." She smoothed a rogue lock of his slicked back hair, "You'll always be my hero, James Barnes."

     The sound of distant screams shook Bucky from his thoughts. His head popped up, looking around. His heart was racing. The screams were feminine and there was only ever one woman in the whole facility...

     "Diane... DIANE!" Bucky yelled out for her even though she would never hear him. The soldiers had never heard a sound more painful than that of a tormented angel being stripped of her wings.

     Dugan removed his hat and closed his eyes. Gabe, Dernier and Falsworth lowered their heads in solidarity.

     "GODDAMMIT!" Bucky pounded his hands against the bars. Each blow landing with more ferocity than the last.

     Gabe rushed over and gently pulled him away from the bars, "Hey, hey. Take it easy before you hurt yourself now."

     "They're torturing her! They're torturing her, Gabe! And I can't... This is my fault..."

      "Come on, now. None of this is even close to your fault."

      Bucky shook his head, "I never should've let her enlist!"

      Gabe sighed. "Listen, Bucky, I may not have known Diane as long as you, but I know this for sure: that girl wouldn't let God or the Devil stop her from doing anything she set her mind to."

      Bucky tried to drown out the faint sound of Diane's cries. He focused on the ground beneath him. He hadn't noticed when he and Gabe ended up on the floor.

     A tear hit the ground beside him. He raised his head and met a silently crying Gabe. He felt his gaze on him and gave Bucky a sidelong glance. "That girl is like a sister to me," he smiled slightly.

     Then, without warning, darkness swept over everything just as the screaming came to an abrupt stop. Fear trickled like ice down Bucky's spine.

☆

     "Subject #85872, deceased. 23:48," Zola narrated for the record.

     He removed his hand from her wrist. He turned away from her to get another body bag when her eyes shot open. The girl was desperately gasping for air. Zola spun around and gaped in astonishment, not only at her arousal from the dead but something else spectacular. At least to Zola.

     The girl's eyes were swirling pools of rosy pink light. He couldn't tear his eyes away. He was paralyzed by a mixture of fear, excitement and awe.

     One of the guards in the room came to his senses and picked up the needle with the sedative and injected it into her. Almost immediately, the light died down and the girl slipped slowly into a peaceful sleep.

     "Subject still alive," Zola said shakily before turning off the camera. "Tell Schmidt we finally have a survivor. And she seems to be a success."

     "Bucky, I never told Diane this, but our father died from walking pneumonia that he got while he was off at war. He barely made it home before he collapsed, she rubbed the back of her hand. "Naturally, I never wanted Diane to enlist. She probably didn't tell you this, but we got into a big fight about it." Bucky shook his head. "Yeah. I told her that I forbade her to go. She told me I wasn't Mother... there was a lot of yelling," she sighed.

     "Yeah, I've had Rebecca tell me that a few times."

     "That you're not her mother? Do you need to be reminded of that often?" she quipped. He cracked a smile. "Can you promise me something, Bucky?"

     "Sure, Ger."

     "Can you promise me that if you ever see her out there, you'll look after her. Make sure she eats and drinks enough water and doesn't do anything crazy or stupid. I know you will, but I just need to hear someone say it. She's my baby sister and I..." her voice broke. Bucky pulled her into a hug. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, Bucky, but I just need someone to tell me she's not alone out there," she cried into his shoulder.

     "Yeah, of course. I promise I'll look after her, Geri."

     "Thank you," she sniffled, hugging him tighter, "Thank you."