01
"Hey, wake up!"
"Ow!"
He jerks up with a growl, holding his nose.
"What the- what was that for!?"
"Come on, Barnes. We gotta- shit!"
Sam grunts, rubbing his pectoral after Bucky punches it.
He glared at his roommate.
"I hate you,"
"Guys. Come on,"
Steve stands in the doorway with an exhausted look.
"He punched me!"
"Don't be a child."
"Says you, you old bionic-"
"Sam,"
Steve sighs, shaking his head in amusement.
He turns to Bucky.
"Look, Tony finished whatever paperwork he needed to finish about the Sokovian Records and he found something."
"Yeah. He would say team meeting, but, no one wants to see your ugly face,"
"Says you, gap teeth,"
Bucky retorted, getting out of bed, only in his boxers.
Slightly sweaty.
Steve frowns.
"Nightmares again?"
"No... no, something else."
Bucky furrows his brows.
"Don't know if it's real or not,"
Sam frowns in worry.
He sits beside him on his bed, but not too close to cause discomfort.
"Memories?"
"I... don't know. I think so,"
"From HYDRA?"
"Yeah..."
Steve frowns.
"Are you okay to join the meeting, then? I can tell Tony that-"
"No, no. It's fine."
He stood, stretching, resetting his metal arm when he felt the old destroyed nerves stiff and flaring.
The other men stand, hesitant but respecting his wishes.
He grabs his clothes and gets ready.
Standing under the cold water, he stares at his feet.
"Soldier. Give us the girl. Now."
"She's... sick. She, needs help. She needs help."
"We won't ask again."
"No."
"Take her and wipe him as soon as possible."
He was struggling.
Angry.
Panicking.
They're taking her away.
They're taking her away.
She was sick.
Weak.
They were rough.
Uncaring.
He remembered fighting.
He remembered catching her gently after killing the man who held her.
He gently sets her down, cupping her face.
He shushes her when she wheezes and coughs.
He remembers hesitance.
He was threatened.
She was threatened.
He couldn't remember exactly.
But, they used that distraction.
He was on the ground, his body burning.
Watching her slip away.
He remembered screaming.
Begging.
Struggling.
Crying.
He didn't know why.
"Buck?"
He hears from outside the bathroom.
"I..."
He pants, blinking rapidly.
"I'm coming,"
He says loud enough for them to hear.
He pushed the memory away, getting dressed.
Was that a real memory?
Who was the girl?
Why was she important to him?
She didn't know him.
He didn't know her.
But... he had to protect her for some reason.
Why?
Tony stands in the middle of the room, frowning in concentration.
Strangely silent.
"Tony?"
He looks up from it, face seemingly relaxed.
All a facade.
"Come on in Spangles, Rocket Man,"
He turns to Bucky.
"Barnes,"
Emotions were a fickle thing.
Especially for a Stark.
Especially for Tony.
Especially towards Bucky.
But, he didn't hate him.
No matter how much he wanted to.
Blood.
Begging.
Dark, night.
Anger.
Betrayal.
Over and over.
He knew.
Everyone files in the room.
Tony snaps out of it.
"Wow. Tony, early to a meeting? Someone pinch me,"
"Haha, Rhodey,"
He rolls his eyes.
"Let's get this over with,"
____
"After Nat exposed all of SHIELD and HYDRA to the world, we found something in HYDRA's files that we've never seen before."
"They used Steve's DNA, trying to create their own super soldier. Breeding, experimenting,"
"They had 127 subjects. Two survived, well, one. They had to kill the other one. Became too unstable."
"The last one was deemed too weak. Had all of Steve's weak aspects. Before the serum. Respiratory issues, colorblindness, and easily getting sick. And really bad too,"
"Jesus,"
Steve frowns, fists clenching.
He remembered everything he went through before the serum.
Before modern medicine.
It was rough.
He couldn't imagine what they were going through.
With HYDRA with all organizations.
They weren't even people.
Too evil, heartless, selfish.
Cruel.
"Can we see this, tiny Captain?"
Thor asks.
Tony pauses.
"... you really want to see that?"
"Well, now I gotta see,"
Natasha says, leaning forward.
Tony frowns, spacing out a bit.
It was quiet at this.
No comeback or comment.
No quirk.
Just... silence.
Tony takes a deep breath.
Blinking rapidly and turning away.
"Your funeral,"
FRIDAY was silent as she opened the file.
The room was tense, silent.
Sickened.
There was a small copper-colored/brown-colored girl.
Dirty, skinny, weak.
Naked.
She's on her hands and knees, heaving and coughing heavily.
Blood surrounding her.
Filth surrounded her, most likely from herself if her body had anything to go by.
She gags as she coughs, a bucket of water essentially waterboarding her.
Causing her to hold her breath before coughing some more.
"Get up, 01."
A voice says.
The girl just heaves and wheezes, eyes closed.
She never once opened them.
Her head was poorly shaved, and her body was skin and bones.
She was so small, too small.
She was just a kid.
Practically a baby.
The voice sighs, walking in the frame and jerking her up.
"Useless,"
The girl heaves and coughs.
She suddenly punches the man in the face.
He steps back and lets her go to grab at his nose, laughing deeply as she falls to her knees.
"Ah, always trying. Ain't ya?"
She's grabbed by her neck and slammed to the wall.
She coughs hard, her head down.
Eyes closed.
"Try all you want. You're stuck here to rot. Or, maybe we'll be nice and kill you like we killed your broth-"
She bites the man's ear.
Hard.
Disgustingly so.
He screams, dropping her and stepping back.
Clutching his ear.
She spits out the chunk of flesh she bit off in his direction.
Opening her eyes for once, she pants and looks at him, brows furrowed.
She then grins shakily, cringing slightly, blood filling her mouth.
Or, lack thereof.
She then falls to her knees and throws up.
A star branded into the skin of her back.
The man stands on shaking legs, enraged.
He kicks at the brand.
She heaves and whimpers, her head in her hands as she curls into a ball.
In pain, weak.
Scared.
"You bi-"
Tony stops the video.
"That's the... tamest of all of the videos I could find."
He shows them images.
She was skinny, sickly so.
She was always dirty.
Rarely clothed.
Rarely fed.
The brand in her back, the star, was always the target of her pain.
Mostly.
The experiments were harsh.
Training cruel.
Bucky sits there, eyes wide.
Her.
That was her.
He never knew her.
But, he had to protect her.
Maybe that's why he tried, because of Steve.
The familiarity.
"I knew her,"
He muttered before standing and leaving the room in a rush.
Sick.
Sam followed him.
Everyone was silent.
Angry.
Sick.
Tony gulps.
"Last... last one,"
"Tony, that's enough,"
Bruce insisted, begged, fists clenched.
Looking sick and enraged.
Tony shook his head.
"No, no. This'll help us find her. Just look,"
He plays another video.
She was taken from a room, someone screaming inside.
Actually dressed somewhat (in a thin gown).
Sounded like Bucky.
She was dragged carelessly on the ground, weak.
She weakly grabs a crack in the wall with her small and weak hand, making the guard sigh in irritation when he suddenly stopped.
"01, I'm not in the mood for this shit. Let go-"
She ends up stabbing him in the eye with a rock before falling to the floor.
Unmoving and whimpering weakly.
Another guard (who ended up being Rumlow) growls, kicking her hard in the mouth, and picking her up by her neck.
"You're so lucky we don't kill you,"
She weakly smiles at him, cringing slightly, mouth bloody.
Eyes never opening.
This makes him angry, throwing the girl harshly on the ground.
She coughs, just lying there weakly.
Wheezing.
Too weak to do anything else.
She's dragged again, this time by her ankle.
"You'll be alone for the rest of your pathetic life. Underground, alone."
She just wheezes, opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling.
And eventually, the sky as she's dragged outside through the cold snow.
It looked like she couldn't feel it, or anything anymore.
"No one will be here to save you. No more fighting. No nothing. You're nothing and will continue to be nothing but a broken tool that belongs to HYDRA."
"You... talk a lot,"
She struggled to get that out, but did.
Rumlow growls as they come to some type of a hatch.
It looked like a dark pit of nothing.
More guards are there, waiting.
They opened it as the angry guard picked her weak body up.
"Any smartass remarks? Maybe if you beg I'll-"
She spat up in his face, it mostly being stomach acid and kinda looking watery.
The guard throws her in the hatch, wiping at his face angrily.
"Close it."
He grunts.
And they did.
The video is paused.
Tony gulps.
"So, we're looking for a base that has a hatch. A small one,"
The room was silent.
"We'll... talk more later."
Tony walks out in a hurry.
Many follow, many stuck in their seats.
Steve, stuck in his seat.
Staring into nothing.
Thor sits there with a frown.
"I... I'm sorry I asked,"