If that makes you happy, yes. But I don't need your past to care about you like I do. [Rumlow's fingers swept through Bucky's hair once more, grazing across his scalp.] Your programming is... difficult. I've been doing what I can. I don't know much more than that, but if it's what you want.

[And there it was. Throwing away his chance to ever truly control Bucky. The failsafe would always be there. Rumlow would know the words. He didn't think he'd have to use them, but faced with the idea now? He'd rather eat a bullet. Whether that was out of his growing affection for Bucky or his steadfast loyalty to the plan he had emplaced so long ago, Rumlow really didn't know. He didn't want to, either. Best to just let it lie.]

For as far as we've come, Bucky... I don't think anything short of us losing our minds would do that. I just. I don't want you to leave me because I've stepped away from HYDRA. I trust you, but the fear is there. It will always be there, ingrained in me, by them. You understand that better than anyone.

[Rumlow only hoped that it wouldn't come to that. That Bucky could accept the challenge and fight against his bonds like he had been. Rumlow would be there every step of the way, as he had been. He tipped his head up, nose nuzzling against Bucky's face until his lips found his temple. He kissed him, letting the touch linger. God, he hoped.]