An-When Bucky Steve and Natasha go back to a HYDRA base they find Peter in a stasis pod

TW-mentions of torture, death, blood

———————————————

The HYDRA base was strangely quiet as Steve, Natasha and Bucky walked carefully through the halls, ducking into rooms looking for files and computer logs. Bucky clamped up when they entered the stasis section. Most of the pods were flung open, smashed, only a few select left in damaged.

"You don't think they'll have people in them do you?" Natasha asked hesitantly, stepping into the took slowly. Bucky shrugged, not sure what to say.

"Not unless a prisoner or experiment was useless to them. But HYDRA doesn't have a habit of not finding a use for someone." Bucky said quietly, weaving through the pods with misty eyes as the two followed him.

"Buck, look," Steve whispered, pointing to one of the only pods still connected to power. Bucky turned slowly to the pod, his breath catching in his throat. The pod was humming slightly, misting and covered in a sheen of frost. Bucky stumbled forward and placed his hand on the window, slowly wiping away the frost, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open.

"There's a kid in there," Bucky whispered.

"A kid?" Natasha asked. Bucky nodded and stepped to the side for the other two to look in the window at a teenage boy frozen in place, hands raised, clawing at the glass, his mouth open in a silent scream and face twisted in terror. Bucky places his hand on the glass again, for a moment his mind was filled with his own memories of being locked in these very same pods.

"How do we get him out?" Steve asked. Bucky nodded shakily and felt around the side of the pod for the realise button, pressing it and stepping back.

"It'll take a couple of minutes for him to come back. After that, he's not gonna be up and about for a while and he's gonna need warming up. Check the other pods for other people." Bucky ordered. Steve and Natasha nodded and walked off, coming back a few moments later just as the pod let out a flood of mist, the door lifting off and moving out of the way. The boy stayed frozen for a moments before falling forward, into Bucky's waiting arms. The boy fought weekly in his arms, making small quiet noises in protest.

"Kid, kid, stop fighting. I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm not with HYDRA, I'm with the good guys. We're gonna keep you safe, we're gonna help you." Bucky said gently, the boy protested for a moment longer before slumping in Bucky's arms and going limp.

"There you go. You're okay. Go to sleep kid, we're gonna get you home."

——————————————————

Peter, who Bucky had spent hours with just to get him to tell him his name, even if they had his complete file was fidgety and cautious of everything. After getting him processed and a part of SHIELD and a member of the team, he was coaxing Peter into bed. After convincing Peter to shower, eat and change clothes Peter desperately needed sleep after being in stasis for possibly years, even with the two hours he got on the plane to the compound.

"I can stay while you sleep if you want." Bucky offered, watching Peter who was standing in the middle of the room and wringing his hands. He nodded slowly and dropped his hands, drumming the side of his thighs.

"Okay, you want help into bed?" Bucky asked, Peter looked him in the eyes, searching for something before he found it. He nodded slowly. Bucky nodded and pulled back the covers for Peter, who watched in curiosity. Bucky knew that he wouldn't remember anything for a long time, but with time Bucky was hopeful he'd remember. After a moment he pets the free spot in the bed on the bottom sheet.

"Lay there and I'll pull the covers over you," Bucky said with a small smile, Peter nodded and slowly got into the bed, sliding his legs under the covers and humming as he sunk into the mattress, resting his head on the pillow. Bucky grinned and pulled the covers over him, he'd specifically gotten extra blankets because Peter obviously ran colder than normal humans.

"I know, when I first lay in a bed I never wanted to get out. You should sleep better then you have in a long time." Bucky said quietly, propping Peter's head up with another pillow and putting one by his side. Bucky himself had a habit of hugging them in his sleep after he was free from HYDRA. Peter hummed and tugged the pillow up to his side.

"I'll sit, I have some paperwork to do."

—————————————————

Peter was sat cross-legged in the lounge room slumped over the coffee table. Bucky understood Peter's discomfort when sitting in chairs and couches when he couldn't remember anything but sitting on floors. Steve, Natasha, Tony and Wanda were also in the living room, most of them reading or talking. Steve was sketching Peter on the floor, who looked a mix of shocked and gleeful when Steve showed him he'd drawn him.

"Getting bored Pete?" Bucky asked. Peter looking up at him and nodded.

"Well you've already read all of the books in the library and learnt how to use computers laptops and phones faster then Steve and Bucky did," Tony said, not even looking up from his Stark pad.

"You drawn yet?" Steve asked suddenly, sinking to the floor next to Peter who recoiled away from him for a moment before relaxing and going back to his position. He shook his head and watched Steve closely as he pulled out a brand new notebook from nowhere, (Bucky knew from experience that Steve could pull one from nowhere and no, he didn't know how) and several graphite pencils and blenders. Peter narrowed his eyes and took them carefully, staring down at them and looking between Steve and them.

"You can keep them. I've been trying to find time to give them to you." Steve said, getting up from the floor and sitting back in his seat. They all peeked up from their distractions to watch Peter carefully open the drawing pad, and slowly start drawing. He propped his head up on his elbow as he drew what the team could only describe as almost photos.

"Why'd he look shell shocked when I gave him the drawing pad?" Steve asked, watching Peter closely.

"First possession that's solely his. I was like that at the start. Remember?" Bucky asked. Steve hummed and turned back to watch Peter.

After several hours Peter had already worked through at least half of the drawing pad, his eyebrows furrowed. Bucky could tell just by his expression he was remembering, and based off of the lack of reaction to Bucky sinking to the floor beside him was anything to go by he was subconsciously drawing.

"What you drawing?" Bucky asked. Peter looked up with a dazed expression on his face and frowned, placing the pencil down and sliding the book over to Bucky who stared down at it. It was what looked like young Peter and two people who Bucky assumes we're his parents.

"I think they're my parents," Peter said quietly. Everyone snapped their heads up to look at him. He barely said anything other then three-word sentences.

"Yeah? Do you remember their names?" Bucky asked, flipping through the drawing with Peter's watchful eye. More and more drawings of what Bucky realised were vivid memories.

"I think they're dead." Peter said suddenly. Bucky looked up at him and gaped at Peter. Peter shrugged.

"Yeah. They're dead." He said quietly, staring back down at the coffee table and shrugging.

"How do you know that?" Bucky asked. Peter slid the notebook back over to himself and flipped to the third page, pointing to it and sliding it back over to Bucky. The same woman from before, obviously in first-person based on the view of his mother.

"I remember that. She and my," Peter paused for a moment, "Richard had to go on a business trip and she promised she'd come back." Peter said, pausing to flip a few pages to what looked like a newspaper article.

"And her and his names are in the newspaper article I remember. And this one. It's of a photo I've seen. And I think that's me. As a baby." Peter said, flipping a few pages again and pointing to a photo of a baby swaddled up in blankets and being held by his father with his mother cooing at him.

"Do you remember anyone else important?" Bucky asked gently. Peter nodded and flipped to another drawing of another photo, Peter smiling wide in the middle, his parents were gone, he was with a woman and man, and a boy and girl the same age as him.

"That's Ben, and that's May. They were my aunt and Uncle. And those were my friends. But I can't remember their names." Peter said slowly, Bucky nodded. He was shocked by how calm and collected Peter was. But he also didn't miss Peter's Adam's apple bobbing in his throat, his lips pressed into a thin line, his knuckles white and tears burning in the corners of his eyes.

"Do you know where they live?" Bicky asked. Peter shook his head and slid the book back to himself and closed the book.

"They aren't alive either."

—————————————————

Bucky sat up suddenly when he heard the screaming and struggling from down the hall, more specifically Peter's room.

"Mr Barnes, I have been told to inform you is Peter is in extreme distress," FRIDAY said from overhead. Bucky threw off his covers and stumbled out of bed, slamming open his door and running down the hall and slamming open Peter's door. Steve, Natasha and Tony were standing tiredly outside the door, following Bucky into Peter's room.

In the six months, Peter had been at the compound he'd decorating his room with posters from various shows and books, drawing from and Steve and himself. Tony had even got him a Star Wars bedspread. Peter had hugged the life out of him when he gave it to him, surprising even himself as Tony was the first person he'd hugged since they found him.

Peter was tangled up in the sheets, balled in his fists, head shaking back and forth, back arched off of the bed and feet kicking wildly. Bucky unfroze and rushed to beside the bed, ripping the covers off him and scrambling for a hold on Peter's ankles and holding them against the mattress. He clambered you onto the bed and pinned Peter's ankles with his knee and getting a hold on Peter's wrists and holding them down to the bed as well. Bucky's grip loosened for a moment when Peter's eyes snapped open, Peter's body stilled immediately, chest heaving and mouth falling open.

"It was just a dream. You're okay, you're in the Avengers compound. Your name is Peter Parker and you're sixteen years old. Can you tell me my name?" Bucky asked slowly, Peter nodded slowly.

"James," Peter took in a deep breath, blinking rapidly and taking in several gulps of air.

"James Buchanan ," Peter started again, Bucky nodded encouragingly.

"James Buchanan  Barnes." Peter finishes. Bucky nodded and released Peter's wrists and slowly withdrew his knee and moved to sit next to Peter.

"You okay?" Bucky asked, Peter shrugged and pulled his knees up to his chest, his back resting against the headboard. Peter shook his head no and buried his head in his knees. Bucky sighed and shifted to sit next to him.

"Can I touch you? Am I allowed?" Bucky asked. Peter lifted his head to nod, resting his chin on his knees. Bucky hummed and wrapped his arm around his shoulders, pulling him into his side.

"You wanna talk about it?" Bucky asked.

"The day they put me in the stasis pod. They strapped me down to one of those metal tables in the middle of the room and tested my advanced healing. And then they wiped my memories." Peter explained. Bucky's closed his eyes for a moment. He could remember the pain of the testing, and the pain of the memory wipe.

"It hurt? Like when I got it?" Bucky's asked, Peter nodded.

"Yeah. Worse than when I cracked my head open when I was seven." Peter muttered. Normally the human brain couldn't remember the pain, but HYDRA had spent many years experimenting on the human brain so that it could.

"Yeah. It always hurts real bad. Do you remember going into the pod?" Bucky asked. Peter nodded.

"Yeah, it was really dark and cold. And I was really scared cause they pushed me into it and the sound it made when the door closed and started freezing me. It was so cold in there." Peter said. Bucky hummed and pulled Peter closer to him.

"But you're okay now. You aren't ever gonna be cold again."