Hello Sergeant (Bucky Barnes)

I will stay with you

James' POV

What do those gestures mean?" I asked, furrowing my brows. I'd seen them used before by people in the streets sometimes.

"They're sign language," Sarah said. "One of our friends is partly deaf, so we learned to sign when we were kids so she could join in the conversation when her hearing aids weren't working properly. One of my teammates is also deaf, so I sometimes use it to communicate with him."

"Like military sign language?"

"Yes and no, same concept – nonverbal speech – different signs."

I nodded my understanding.

"James, how is it that you only look like you're in your twenties when you're really 95 years old?" Jace asked, studying me.

"I haven't aged since 1943, Jace." I said, not knowing why I remembered that detail. it must have been important at one time.

Jace looked at me thoughtfully. "When you were captured by Hydra, Steve said he found you in a separate place from everyone else, strapped to a table and mentally confused. He thinks that they were experimenting on you then."

"It wouldn't surprise me." I said bitterly. "Hydra enjoyed many forms of human experimentation."

"Well, whatever they did made it so you could survive falling hundreds of feet from a train while on a mission in 1945," Jace said, looking over at Natalia.

"They gave you the serum, then, James." Natalia put her hand on my arm. "It must have been an earlier version of the one they gave me. I've seen photographs of you before the war and you were not nearly as well developed physically as you are now. I know your endurance is greater than mine and you are considerably stronger than I am. Do you also heal at an accelerated rate?"

"Yes. Gunshot wounds are gone in hours, broken bones are knitted in a day – two at the most if it was a particularly bad fracture."

"I'm assuming you know that from experience." Sarah said, meeting my eyes. "I saw the scars on your body back in Kiev. You've had some pretty bad injuries in your life."

"I know exactly how long I have to lay low before going in for treatment. The only times I had to report in early was when this malfunctioned or was damaged." I held up my cybernetic arm. "I remember waking up with it, but I don't remember much before that. Bits and pieces come to me at times, but I know I'm not getting a whole memory a lot of the time."

"How long has your memory been coming back?" Sarah asked.

"Since around when I met you in Kiev?" I looked at Natalia. "I haven't been wiped since then and this is the longest I've ever been out of cryo since I started going out on assignments."

"It's been a little over a month if you left that day," she said, watching me. I nodded slowly.

"Yes. I checked in and told them I hadn't been able to reach my target, a well protected government official. They gave me three more days before my next check-in, so it would have been four days before they would have realized I went rogue, but they were already following me."

"Are they still watching you?" Jace asked, looking at Sarah with concern.

I shook my head. "I lost my tails in Canada before slipping over the border. I haven't had one since then, but I took a very roundabout way here; I didn't want them to learn about Peggy." Jace shot a speaking glance at Natalia.

"Sarah, James. Her name is Sarah," Natalia corrected me.

I took a deep breath, blowing it out in exasperation. "Sarah," I repeated. "I will remember this, Natalia. I am trying."