Bucky’s triggers are removed, he’s handling his trauma reasonably well, and he’s starting to really like thinking about himself as a person again. Naturally, he and Steve are captured by former WS handlers and they make it super clear that they fully intend to rape Bucky.
And Bucky shuts down. He can’t handle the idea of being forced to be someone’s toy, not after he’d finally convinced himself that it would never happen again. He freaks out.
Steve catches on and tries to spare Bucky the trauma by getting their captors focused on him instead. It works. They leave Bucky alone and have a Cap centric trash party instead.
Steve means well, but watching him take the punishment meant for Bucky isn’t really helping Bucky’s mental state.
Steve tries to protect Bucky
And Bucky shuts down. He can’t handle the idea of being forced to be someone’s toy, not after he’d finally convinced himself that it would never happen again. He freaks out.
Steve catches on and tries to spare Bucky the trauma by getting their captors focused on him instead. It works. They leave Bucky alone and have a Cap centric trash party instead.
Steve means well, but watching him take the punishment meant for Bucky isn’t really helping Bucky’s mental state.