[It's hard to miss the burden of the silence hanging at the end of Sam's words and even harder to ignore the firm impression of another mind on his own. The gates are down and Bucky quietly observes Sam's mental drawings of a Bucky that smiles and sasses and emotes a hell of a lot better than the mess sitting in front of him. Someone more like the peeks he's seen in Steve's memories: a charismatic, well-oiled man.
Bucky's jaw clenches tighter, though not in a clear sense of anger. Sam wants more from him and Bucky's sure Steve does too, but... there's nothing well-oiled about him. He's missing an arm, doesn't look anything like anything remotely charming, and on his best days, he's more vocal, but not a chatterbox.
And yet, Sam's desires mesh well with the programming. The Soldier was built to be a machine with replaceable parts. If he couldn't measure up to certain standards, he would be retired. After all, he helped train those who would eventually take his place.
Compliant, flexible, patient. Those were qualities that kept him in the service of HYDRA for seventy years and would serve him well here.]
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Bucky's jaw clenches tighter, though not in a clear sense of anger. Sam wants more from him and Bucky's sure Steve does too, but... there's nothing well-oiled about him. He's missing an arm, doesn't look anything like anything remotely charming, and on his best days, he's more vocal, but not a chatterbox.
And yet, Sam's desires mesh well with the programming. The Soldier was built to be a machine with replaceable parts. If he couldn't measure up to certain standards, he would be retired. After all, he helped train those who would eventually take his place.
Compliant, flexible, patient. Those were qualities that kept him in the service of HYDRA for seventy years and would serve him well here.]