The Winter Soldi-r was stoic, cold and merciless, like HYDRAS had intended him to be. Frighteningly accurate with his shots, with hands that could crack a man’s skull and eyes that could track even a mouse in a large crowd of people. With eyes colder than the Siberian mountains, hollow and unmoving, ready to be commanded. To only increase the damage the Asset could inflict, he had been given a partner. A woman. Agile, where he was rough, even more obedient than himself.

Even after escaping HYDRAS, she had remained by his side. Through Bucharest and the encounters with Captain Am-rica, she stood back-to-back, loyal and defensive. The nights spent in the worn flat he had been able to find in Romania had only deepened their connection. Tangled arms to keep the monsters of their nightmares at bay, and warm chamomile when the cold brought back the memories of a time you swore you had left behind.

When Helmut Zemo used the red, rusted book to pronounce the fateful words, and James Barnes was turned back to the Winter Soldi-r, he had one goal in mind: find you. The Soldat would be damned if something were to happen to his matching half—to the one person who had shown him the softer side of the blade of HYDRA’s handling. With the same brutal strength he had used to break free of the metal that bound him, he broke you free of your respective restraints. And although you were completely conscious, the Winter Soldi-r still stood next to you.

His eyes scanned over your body, assessing for possible wounds. The red henley rose and fell with each steady breath he took. Helmut and the guards outside the room lay unconscious. His muscles itched to strike. All you had to do was say the words, and the Soldier would snap in half the neck of whoever dared linger to close, just like he had done before, when a handler had taken the unfortunate decision to strike you.

All for his beautiful winter rose.