I sat next to Matt in the stuffy courtroom. There were too many noises. The shuffling of papers or the stifling of a cough made my hands twitch. They handcuffed me with a special "power draining" handcuff. They didn't know that my metal arm wasn't anything supernatural.

The judge stood high and mighty above the rest of us. The jury talked quietly to my left. It was mostly younger people, with an even number of men and women. I was glad that they had to pick people who didn't know me. It'd be easier for them to sentence my to death that way.

Matt started the trial when the judge allowed it. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, your honor, Sergeant James Barnes, or Bucky as I will refer to him as this trial, is a veteran of World War Two. He served for this country and risked his life multiple times for us and for our freedom. He did end up giving his life for this very cause. He was tortured, brainwashed, and studied against his will by the enemy who would not let him die. Ask any soldier and I'll guarantee that is one of their fears. Bucky fought hard against HYDRA,the nazi organization that held him hostage, for the long time of five years. For five years he fought against killers who took his Brian and turned it into mush. He is just as much of a victim as any of the people lost to the crimes of HYRDA."

The other judge said his opening statement and when he spoke the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Something was wrong.

Run. Run go now. Now. NOW. Not safe. Not safe.

My instincts screamed at me, willing me to run. But the logical side of me knew I'd be met with a billet to the head. Steve was seated right behind me. He's either get hit or witness it. So I stayed calm.

"Id like to bring Steven Rogers to the stand," Matt said, his head cocked upwards slightly as if he were listening to a voice only he could hear.

"Captain Rogers, how would you describe your relationship with Bucky Barnes?"

Steve stared at me, furrowing his brows as if conjuring a memory. "Bucky and I were closer than close. We were inseparable. He came from a better off family, not rich but not dirt poor like I was. I was the skinny, sickly kid who had no friends and nobody to talk to. And then Bucky came along as if he were some kind of protector sent by god. After my parents died, we moved in together. He helped me learn to cope and how to stick up for myself. He eventually was drafted in the army, even though he told me he volunteered. He always put on a brave face for me that way. Anyways, after he was drafted, he continued to try and talk to me. He wrote me letters all the time and made sure I was okay. Then one day the letters stopped. I had become an Captain America, or more like I had become the super soldier, at this point. While giving a speech I learned of what happened to the men in his squad. When I found him, he was laid on a test table with scars running up and down his cheeks and forehead. They had done something to him, even then. And I should've known they had more plans for him. I should've jumped off the train after him-"

Matt stiffened. Steve has said something wrong or something too much. "No, Captain Rogers. No more questions. Please sit and have a drink of water."

Steve stared at me, his eyes speaking of pain and longingness. I knew that day on the train was replaying in his head over and over again. It haunted me to. But he had the innocence of not being with me when the cut the rest of my arm off. Or when they kept me awake during surgery.

Natasha was called to the stand. I clenched my jaw just thinking about how terrible she would make me look. Then again, she was an assassin too. That's on her.

Matt stared at Natasha. He's creepy that way and I'm not sure he's blind. "Miss Romanov, you were also trained by HYDRA. Would you please explain to us their training rituals?"

"Yes of course." Natasha took a deep breath. "I was trained in what's called the Red Room. That's where they tried to raise their most deadly weapons. We were not human, we were weapons. They excruciatingly taught us how to be proper with ballet classes that would break your ankle if you stoped. I was very young when the first girls started to go missing. I didn't know where, but eventually I figured out they were killed for being too weak. Then they started having us do target practice. It started with just targets on papers but then it became the girls that went missing, and some boys from the class over. Their heads in bags. Then it became men in suits. I was the only one in my class to survive."

Matt paused. I could tell he was thinking of how to word the next question so I wouldn't be imprisoned immediately. "And how did Mr. Barnes fit into this situation?"

"He was supposed to train the boys along with his handlers, but he often came into the girls room. He always had this look, like of a cage animal. He never spoke, and I'm not sure he even breathed." She paused and looked at the blind lawyer for permission. He nodded. "Whomever found him in HYDRA gave him set words in order to wipe him. That basically meant he lost all of his memories over and over and over again. They'd hypnotize him, make him commit crimes, and then wipe him and put him in cyrofreeze, which was a tube filled with ice and other cold temperatures to subdue him. It was based around how Captain Rogers survived in ice."

Something caught my ear to my right. I ended up looking and caught the other lawyers face for the first time.

No. No no no no. Run! Run now!

My breath quickened as he turned to smirk at me. My old handler from HYDRA, aka the Grimm Reaper. He was sent here to get me. And there was not doubt about it that he planned to say the words and turn me in front of this entire courtroom to show them I'm an animal.

Matt senses something somehow. He's my guardian angel. "Mr. Barnes, to the stand please."

I stood up, feeling my chest rise and fall faster than ever.
Don't look. Don't look at him. He's going to hurt you again. Don't. No. Run. Leave. Go now while you can.

"Bucky?" Matt's voice snapped my attention. I turned my head back to him, trying to calm my breathing and heart rate. "What do you remember about your service in the Second World War?"

"I made a mistake. My men and I were fighting against a surprise attack of theirs. So many of us were dead. So many were hurt. They told us if we surrendered they'd spare us. I tackled one of them to the ground and shot him but he lived. His men took me and the rest of my survive squad to their base. They experimented on me. The one man said that I was stronger than he'd remembered. They put something in my arm."

"Could that have been a tracking device?"

"Maybe?" I wasn't sure. I'd never thought of it. "I mean, that must've been why they found me at the bottom of the mountain after the train accident."

Matt's head perked up. "Yes, can you explain what happened that day?"

"Steve had planned for us, the howling commandos, to override one of their trains. We were on these huge mountains, I've never been that high before. We zip lined down onto the train and were met with a few soldiers. We took them out easily. But as I was getting to the control room a man in a giant robot like suit started to shoot at me. I was in a different compartment than Steve, but somehow he found me. The door swung open and I fell out of it but I managed to hold onto the side of the train. It was cold and the winds were strong. Steve tried but- but he was too late. I just remember looking at his face as I fell. I didn't think I'd ever stop."

"No further questions, your honor."

I didn't look at him because I knew he was standing up, walking towards me. I felt his steps vibrating in my body. I could see his smirk.

"Soldier," he stared, commanding me to look at him. "Why do you think yourself the victim? You were a gift to this world."

Cmon Matt. Steve? Somethings obviously wrong here! Help!

I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Constant eye contact or I was weak. He smirked and his eyes drilled holes into my brain.

He's gonna say it. Somebody stop him please

He started speaking in Russian. The words that I'd fear come out of him. My metal arm clinked as I felt myself start to succumb to someone else.

I don't know what followed. All I heard were screams. I saw somebody shove Grimm Reaper down onto the ground. There were sounds of punching and fists on faces. I heard the metal clink of a shield and the reloading of a gun. I saw the red and white of Matt's cane thrown somewhere. I heard the footsteps of the jury fleeing in different directions.

I curled up into a ball underneath the stand. "It's not real. It's not real. It's not real. My name is Bucky Barnes. I'm a soldier. HYDRA took me. I'm not safe here. I'm not safe if I leave. I'm dead here. I'm dead if I leave."

It went dark.