[It's a fair enough question, really. Bucky knows everything about Helena, and she only knows what he's told her. And no, he doesn't want to tell her, but he finishes peeling and dividing his orange into sections, and uses that as a distraction to try to find the right words.]

They, uh- [He has to stop again, letting out a short breath, looking back out at the stars again.

The orange helps, and maybe it's because the smell is grounding him in the here and now that he just says it. The words are still a little disconnected, like he's talking about it happening to someone else, or describing something he saw happen in a movie or something. Something unreal.]

This guy Zola experimented on me. [Another beat, and then:] Tortured me, did a lotta medical tests. I don't really know what they were doing, but it kind of worked.

[He's faster, stronger, heals faster, maybe he even sees and hears better. And that's all well and good, but suddenly he hears Banner's voice again, telling him that the only thing worthwhile in him had been given to him by a Nazi.

Bucky knows that isn't true, but it's still like ice down his spine.]

They did it to a lot of other guys, too. I was the only one who survived.

Steve got me out.