Captain America Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier Steve Rogers Fan Fic - The Constant

Chapter Five: James Barnes - The Prisoner

James Barnes - The Prisoner

When he arrives at the facility, the first thing they do are his blood works.

They confirmed he was indeed James Buchanan Barnes, and that Arnim Zola's serum is mixed in with his blood, it is the life force that is just about keeping him alive. But, for the first few weeks, they are not sure if his injuries are too much for even Zola's serum to work on. After all, the batch in his blood stream had been far from perfect.

It took time to heal, and the amount of formula in his blood stream was not strong enough to do all its work; neither was it correct. It had still been very much in the testing stage when he had been rescued from them before, and was nowhere near complete.

Even now, they are still no closer to finding a perfect batch.

The perfect serum.

And when it comes to the serum, Armin Zola is looking in a completely different direction to the one Abraham Erskine considered and perfected. As a result James's injuries take a longer time to heal; and then, when they do, the serum has not worked as it should. He is left with scarring to remind him of what he has been through, as well as chronic pain in his joints and bones. Zola's formula also burns at such a rate that James's body is prone to high temperatures that cause terrible headaches and migraines. The formula repairs some areas, but causes more problems in others. Bones do not grow back properly, too much marrow floods areas or does not grow at all. Skin lesions and rashes appear, accompanied by terrible itching that drives him insane. Bones have to be re-broken and reset.

And pain. There is always pain.

The doctors are excited about the research and being able to carry on with Zola's work (albeit with American money paying for it this time), but they are sensitive souls and have no wish to hear about what this man is going through. Their brains rule him out as a human being. He is an experiment, and that is all. He is presumed dead by everyone he knows. No-one will come looking for him. When he is out of sight his injuries are out of mind, and the doctors plan and look forward to the next phase of whatever they dream up for him. The latest batch, the latest trials.

They will leave the caring side to the nursing staff they have employed.

The doctors are oh so gracious and agree not to begin the new experimentation straight away. They give him at least a month to get over his present injuries - kind souls that they are. They are not ones for psychology, so they prod and poke and repair areas they can see but his mind they leave alone for now. That will need breaking - but they will think about that at a later date.

Keep him sedated, they think, he can sleep through it all. They do not hear his groans or see the agony he goes through. Even the doctor who 'rescued' him from the interrogation camp soon forgets what this poor man has already had done to him. What they are working towards is for the good of mankind, and it is in the name of research for a better future and will benefit all of mankind.

What is one soul against millions?

They do increase the amount of morphine the nurses are allowed to give him, not knowing that the morphine never reaches the patient it is intended for. He doesn't sleep through it. The sedative used is nowhere near strong enough to combat the weak serum in his blood stream. They may as well have given him nothing.

James knows he has been moved from the interrogation camp, and for the first few weeks he is barely conscious - but enough to know something is happening to him.

*

The first time he comes around for more than just a few minutes, he finds himself alone. He is in what appears to be a room with a medical bed set up for him. He feels so hot: the room is airless, and there are no windows, just walls with faded paint and stains. A door stands open and overhead lights buzz.