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“It’s the day before Christmas Eve, why are we out here in this dump again?” Sam grumbled.
“Because Hydra doesn’t stop for the holidays, Sam.”
“But couldn’t it have waited a couple of days?”
“Anxious to get back home to your witch?”
“Hell yeah I am, shouldn’t you be just as anxious to get back to yours?”
That was fair, but Bucky knew Hermione understood and would be patiently waiting when they got back. They had been surveilling an abandoned Hydra facility, one that Bucky had recognized, so they thought it best to check it to be sure that it was really abandoned and to look for any intel that might have been left behind.
They were finishing up and had reached the medical wing, an area that brought back so many memories for Bucky. They were going from room to room when an item in his peripheral caught his eye. Sitting on an abandoned desk, wearing years of dust and neglect, was a snow globe. As he approached it, the memories associated with this seemingly ordinary object began to awaken.
The snow globe had belonged to a young doctor. Young, beautiful, and kind-hearted. Looking back now, he knew she had no place there, in an organization full of cold, unfeeling individuals. She was a ray of bright light in the darkness, one that unfortunately did not last long. Now he could see why he’d been so drawn to Hermione; she reminded him so much of this lovely young woman. He could not even remember her name, but he’d never forget her face as long as he lived.
This young doctor treated him like a person, unlike almost everyone else he encountered during his time with Hydra. The rest of them treated him like an animal, an experiment; an expendable thing to be stored away out of sight until he was needed to carry out their dirty work. The first time he felt her warm, delicate hands touch him, he could tell she was different. She took great care in her treatment of him, and not in a hesitant, nervous type of way. She truly prioritized his well being in a place where no one else did, a dangerous position to take.
The first few times she spoke directly to him, he had refused to look at her. Too many times he had made eye contact with his handlers, and they took that as a sign of aggression for which he was punished. It took her several tries before she was able to get him to look at her when she spoke. She addressed him as Soldat , just like everyone else, but it was the way she said it that was different; gentle and sympathetic.
He turned the snow globe over in his hands, rubbing the layers of dust and grime from the glass. A trio of ballerinas danced through the swirling snow inside. She had loved the Russian ballet… he remembered asking her about the dancers, and when he did, it promptly recalled a long-buried memory. He had saved up money for months to take his little sister to see a performance of The Nutcracker one Christmas.
This recollection had shocked him, for Hydra had spent decades breaking him, stripping him of his own identity and obliterating his memories, to the point where he struggled to remember if he had ever had a family. This memory reminded him that he wasn’t just the soldier, the asset; he was someone’s brother, someone’s son. He had held onto that memory with all his strength until they put him in the machine again and it slipped from his grasp.
“What’s that?”
Bucky hadn’t even heard Sam come in behind him, he’d been so lost in his thoughts.
“Something they left behind,” he replied, not ready to share the details of its origin.
“Looks a bit out of place for a Hydra facility.” Sam shrugged. “Probably wasn’t valuable if they left it here.”
Bucky nodded in agreement, but the small trinket was indeed valuable to him. Once Sam turned to leave, he quietly stowed it away in one of his pockets and followed him out, ready to leave the dismal place behind.
He never knew what became of the young doctor, but he could probably guess. Hydra didn’t like loose ends and they definitely did not like compassion. He had returned from a mission one day to find that she had been replaced. It still bothered him, because he would never truly know if it had been his fault, but he was inclined to think it was.
When they arrived back at the Avengers Facility, Bucky went straight to his room with the snow globe still tucked away in his pocket. He set it on the counter. It was dirty from sitting untouched for so long, but miraculously, it was not broken in any places. He cleaned it until the glass globe sparkled like it was almost new. Finally, he found a box for it and wrapped it up neatly.
He was just deciding whether to take his motorcycle or his car into the city when FRIDAY informed him that he had a visitor. Hermione, of course. He smiled to himself. As usual, she couldn’t wait for him to get there, and more than likely, Sam was already over at the apartment she shared with Pansy. She arrived and practically bounced through the door, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
“Oh I missed you!”
“I was only gone for two days…”
“Well, I missed you just the same. I always miss you when you leave.”
“I have something for you.”
Her face fell slightly.
“Oh, but I thought you didn’t want to exchange gifts...”
“You’re right, I didn’t, but this isn’t exactly a Christmas gift. It has a very special history.”
They sat down together on the side of his bed, and he handed her the small box. Hermione carefully unwrapped it, and when she lifted the snow globe from inside its box, she gasped.
“It’s beautiful!”
“As I said, it’s special…”
Hermione sat attentively as Bucky told her the history of the snow globe resting in her hands. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she listened to the story of the only kind soul that he encountered, during the darkest years of his life. And it touched her heart that she reminded him of someone who was so significant in his memories.
Gingerly, she set the snow globe on the nightstand and dried her eyes.
“I’m honored that you want me to have this. I promise to treasure it always.”
He took her hands in his.
“Merry Christmas, любовь моя.” (my love)
“Merry Christmas, James.”