listen i know we’re always on about how much steve loves bucky and how much he would do and did and give up for him etc, but consider: bucky spent two years hiding from steve, who he remembered, who he loves, the only person who knew him before he was a brainwashed weapon, potentially the only person who would be on his side if things went bad, the only person in the world who gives a damn about him. bucky spent two years hiding from him and when steve finally found him he tried to convince steve he didn’t really remember him. bucky did all this, sacrificed having someone in his life who loves him, he did it all to protect steve. from himself, from the dangers of associating with him, from the chance that bucky would hurt him again if he was triggered. bucky knows steve better than anyone, he knew how relentlessly steve would defend him and bucky tried to protect him from doing that, he tried to spare him. that’s how much bucky loves steve. that’s how selfless his love for steve is.
Hi Anon! Yeah, I get what you mean: Marvel’s been vague about Bucky’s brainwashing under HYDRA, which can make his actions difficult to understand. FWIW, here’s my interpretation of Bucky’s conditioning in Civil War:
HYDRA brainwashed Bucky, likely through torture and psychological means, to make Bucky believe that what he was doing was right. We know this because of Pierce’s words: ‘Your work has been a gift to mankind’. If Bucky did what they asked of him, then he wouldn’t be punished – and since HYDRA was Bucky’s entire life, doing their work was the ‘right thing’ because Bucky didn’t see the aftermath of his actions; he only saw how HYDRA reacted to them. He complied, they were happy, so it was Good.Brainwashing is a scary thing.
So fear was a huge part of this brainwashing, to take Choice away: if Bucky didn’t do what HYDRA asked, they would likely kill him (or worse). It’s directly shown in the scene where Bucky’s handler puts a gun to his head and tells Bucky to get him out of the cage of SuperSoldiers, no matter what. It leaves him no option but to follow their demands.
I’m assuming that both of these elements will be explored if Marvel ever decides to venture into Natasha’s storyline, because they were likely brainwashed with the same method. It’s not foolproof, but it’s very, very effective, and importantly, the individual is still their self: it just forcibly alters their perceptions. They know something about the situation is wrong, but they don’t feel like it’s wrong, because they’re simply doing what was asked of them.
So, this popped into my head this afternoon – first as Captain America: Civil War meta – but then it morphed into a ficlet. If anyone feels like expanding on it, be my guest… (Civil War Spoilers, natch)
It takes so much out of him, so much, but it’s not his choice to make and he thinks he can hear a sharp, British voice snap at him from the darkness, ‘Allow Barnes the dignity of his choice,’ and his throat closes up because she, too, has left him. Not like he’s ever had her, not really, but it was a glimmer, a glance, a – something.
This. This is different. This is real and red and blood hot and all consuming, like he’s 16 again and he feels his heart stuck in his throat when his palms run down two day’s worth of stubble. Bright blue eyes, so quick to smile.
They’re darker now. And heavy. And he can’t do anything – he’s tried and he can’t protect him, he can’t fix him, he can’t undo what’s been done to him.
It’s not a happy ending because even if Bucky is alive, even if he’s managed to snatch him away from the government and from Zemo and from Tony – he’s not safe. He won’t be. Not for awhile. And Steve can’t promise him that, and he would die rather than lie to him, not now, not ever again, and he just wants five more minutes, just a beat, just a moment where they can be –
He’s sure. He’s sure of it, and the days and nights he spends with Wakandan doctors and under Tchalla’s counsel only cement his resolve. They can’t take out what Hydra put in him. But they can –
He doesn’t want to say it. The words feel hard in his mouth, too big, too sharp. He doesn’t ask because he doesn’t know how. Bucky doesn’t look at him as he steps in the crystalline white chamber and the glass sizzles closed. He looks up and sighs and closes his eyes and he stares at Bucky, a desperation that’s alive in his belly, but their eyes never meet and in a matter of moments he’s asleep.
Asleep in the ice, and he shivers, his spine locking under Tchalla’s heavy gaze.
He moves on autopilot. He speaks and says the right things – he hopes. The forest is impenetrable, and Wakanda is an isolationist country. It all makes sense. He should be grateful.
Bucky’s alive. Bucky made a choice. Bucky is –
not there.
Alone, he watches the sun set behind the dark black panther statue rising above the royal palace. He doesn’t move, and nobody asks him to.
When the only light comes from the cryostasis chamber, he turns and steps closer. Lies his forehead against the glass, and lets the tears fall.
Bucky’s Apartment thoughts – and a plum tangent Every set is dressed a specific way for a reason.
We only saw glimpses of Bucky’s apartment as Steve is going through it and then finds the notebook. We can surmise that it’s a one room apartment with a bathroom and 2 entrances (front door to the stairwell and then one to a balcony/fire escape).
What I gathered most from what we see in the film is that Bucky is trying his hardest to stay low but also he’s trying to live. There’s clean dishes by the electric stove, candy bars and snacks on top of the fridge by the notebook. Most importantly the apartment is empty, Steve got there while Bucky was out…out grocery shopping. We know after this scene that the backpack is hidden under the floor boards. Why would Bucky hide it? Would having what’s in the backpack (notebooks of written memories and thoughts; his most prized possessions) be too dangerous or to precious to be left out in the open.
The apartment scene is full of symbolism and it’s one of the saddest scenes in the entire movie. Steve is walking back into Bucky’s life, quite literally, to protect him at the very place that Bucky is trying to protect himself.
I like to imagine that while in Bucharest, Bucky is piecing together his mind, he’s trying to survive, and he’s trying to be normal. Buying plums at a local market is the most normal thing anyone can do, that exchange of a transaction is a choice Bucky can make and control. It may be a simple scene but it is the most important scene.
It’s the first scene we see Bucky making a choice.
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