Soldier's Pet

She woke up with a slight headache, and everything sounded extremely loud. The waves were horrendous. Wait, waves? Opening her eyes, Adelaide saw that she wasn’t in the room where her father was being kept anymore. She sat up and looked around. “Hey, Adelaide,” a voice said, sounding a bit too loud. She winced. “Oh, sorry.” This time, the voice was quieter. “Are you alright?” She nodded at Steve and covered her ears. “Is everything a bit too loud for you?” She nodded. “Don’t worry. That will go away in about two minutes. Come on. I assume you’ll want to see Bucky.” She brightened up and hurried to her feet, only swaying a bit. “You okay there?” Adelaide nodded again. Steve helped her to another area of wherever they were, and she saw her dad, slumped against a piece of old machinery, his metal arm in a vice. She gave Steve a sad look. He seemed to understand. “After you were knocked out, Bucky went Winter Soldier mode on most of the agents there. It’s safe to say we are the world’s most wanted men right now. And you? You’re the victim of kidnapping, though they are still trying to find your family to alert them.” She nodded and gave Steve a bittersweet smile. She went over and sat down at Bucky’s feet, resting her head against his knee before closing her eyes. She vaguely registered Steve telling Sam to watch them before he walked away again. She heard a faint groan, and Adelaide looked up.

“Kotenok?” he asked quietly. She beamed up at him and jumped into his lap, hugging him tightly. He started to hug her with both arms, but he realized he couldn’t use both and settled with just holding her with the one.

“Hey, Cap!” Sam yelled. Steve came from around the corner.

“Adelaide, be careful.”

“I wouldn’t hurt her,” Bucky said.

“Which Bucky am I talking to?” Steve asked.

“Your mom’s name was Sarah,” Bucky said, then he laughed. “You used to wear newspapers in your shoes.”

“You can’t read that in a museum,” Steve said to Sam.

“Just like that?” Sam asked. “We’re supposed to be cool?”

“Well, if you need more evidence, look at Adelaide. She’s been with him for two years. Don’t you think she knows when he’s dangerous?”

“I would never hurt her,” Bucky said again, much more firmly. Then, he sagged beneath her. “What did I do?” he asked solemnly.

“Enough,” Sam said.

“I knew this would happen,” Bucky said forlornly. “Everything that Hydra put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say those da—darn words.”

“Who was he?” Steve asked.

“I don’t know.”

“The bombing. The set up. The doctor did all that just to get ten minutes with you. I need you to do better than ‘I don’t know.’” Steve said.

“He wanted to know about Siberia.” Adelaide shivered violently at the thought. Bucky shushed her and rubbed her back a few times. “Where I—we—were kept.”

“Whoa, wait, you were with her?” Steve asked.

“You didn’t think I picked her up on the side of the road while I was on the run, did you Steve?” Steve shook his head.

“Keep going,” he said, motioning him on.

“He wanted to know exactly where.”

“Why would he need to know that?” Steve asked.

“Because I’m not the only Winter Soldier.”

“Good job,” Sam said.

“Get me out of here,” Bucky said. “I want to hold her.”

“Who were they?” Sam asked, making no move to free him.

“The most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in the Hydra history. And that was before the serum.”

“They all turned out like you?” Steve asked.

“Worse.” Adelaide shivered again. “Please, let me out. Let me hold her. Please.” She pushed her face into his neck.

“The doctor, can he control them?” Steve asked.

“Enough.”

“He said he wanted to see an empire fall,” Sam said.

“With these guys he can do it,” Bucky said. “They can speak thirty languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They can take a whole country down in one night. You’d never see them coming.”

“This would be a lot easier—”

“—if we call Tony,” Steve cut Sam off.

“Oh, he won’t believe us,” Sam said.

“Even if he did, who knows if the Accords will let him help? We’re on our own,” Sam said.

“Maybe not. I know a guy.”

“And I don’t suppose you have any idea where they are?” Sam asked.

“We will.” Steve released the vice on Bucky’s arm, and he wrapped both of his arms around Adelaide, holding her tightly.

“Eto khorosho seychas, kotenok. Ya tebya ponyal. Vy budete v poryadke,” he said to her gently, rocking a bit to soothe her. (It’s alright now, kitten. I’ve got you. You’ll be okay.)

“Ya skuchal po tebe, papa. YA byl tak napugan.” (I missed you, Daddy. I was so scared.)

“Razve ty ne ostalsya so Steve, kak ya vam skazal?” (Did you not stay with Steve, like I told you?)

“Da, no mne bylo strashno za vas. Ya ne doveryayu etim lyudyam. Kak my znayem, chto oni na nashey storone?” (Yes, but I was scared for you. I do not trust these people. How do we know that they are on our side?)

“My mozhem doveryat' Steve. On ne pozvolit chto-nibud' sluchitsya s nami, vy men'she vsego. Ne volnuytes', malen'kaya zvezda. Vse budet v poryadke.” (We can trust Steve. He will not let anything happen to us, you even more. Do not worry, little star. Everything will be okay.)

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Adelaide sat in the backseat of a blue Volkswagen next to her dad while Sam sat in the front passenger’s seat. All three of them watched Steve talk to Sharon Carter in front of their car. She didn’t know exactly what she was supposed to expect, but there was a tense silence in the car. Obviously, Sam Wilson didn’t trust her father like Steve did. He liked her well enough, though. Actually, most of the people she had come into contact with since meeting Steve Rogers seemed to like her, except for King T’Challa, that is. “Can you move your seat up?” Bucky asked Sam.

“No.” With a long-suffering sigh, Bucky scooted over and put Adelaide in his lap. She giggled a little bit, hiding her grin behind her hand.

“Vy dumayete, chto eto smeshno, varezhki?” he whispered into her ear. She stopped laughing and glared at him. Bucky returned her glare with a smile, then looked back out the window. She followed his gaze and started smiling again at the sight she saw. Steve pulled away from Sharon’s lips, and the two exchanged a few words before going their separate ways. Steve saw the three of them looking and smiling, and he took on an exasperated look before climbing into the car. (You think that’s funny, mittens?)

“Not a word,” he said warningly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Sam answered. “But if I did—”

“You know what, Wilson?” Adelaide giggled again and settled back against her dad’s chest, watching the scenery blur by as they drove to wherever they were going. Steve parked the car next to an unmarked van in an empty airport parking deck, which would be suspicious in and of itself, except the airport was still being built. The four of them climbed out, and Adelaide stood next to her dad, watching two people climb out of the van and start talking to Steve. One was a man with short brown hair and brown eyes who had a quiver strapped to his back. He was dressed in all-black attire too, but he had a nice air about him that made her trust him, which was a first in her life. The other was a woman, who was shorter than the man, with long black hair and dark brown eyes. She had an accent of some kind, but Adelaide didn’t know from where. She was dressed mainly in black except for a crimson coat she wore. The man opened the back of the door, and another person climbed out and started talking animatedly to Steve and Sam. He was the tallest of the three new arrivals, and had spiked black hair and green eyes. He apparently had met Sam already, but Adelaide wasn’t paying too much attention to the new people.

“And who’s this?” the first man asked, looking at her suddenly. Steve looked to Bucky to explain.

“This is Adelaide,” her father said. “She’s my daughter.”

“Hey there,” the man said, crouching down to be on her level. “I’m Clint.” She nodded and shook his outstretched hand. “That’s Wanda and Scott.” She gave them all a small smile, which was returned. “How old are you?” he asked. Bucky nudged her gently in the back.

“Twelve,” she whispered.

“Wow! I’ve got a boy about that old. His name’s Cooper. I’ve got a little girl too. Her name’s Lily. I bet you’d like them. When all this is over, why don’t you and your dad come visit me and my farm, huh?” Adelaide nodded again, a large smile on her face. She liked this man a lot. She looked up at her dad with large eyes.

“Sure, myshka, we can go,” he said, smiling down at her. Suddenly, a voice came over the intercom system. Everyone looked to her dad for a translation. “They’re evacuating the airport.”

“Stark?” Sam asked.

“Stark,” Steve agreed. Bucky turned to her and looked her right in the eye.

“Listen, Addie. These people mean business. They want to take us back to the place we just left, okay? You need to hide somewhere safe until Steve, Clint, or I come and get you, understand?” She nodded.

“Da, papa.”

“Good girl. You stay safe, and if the battle comes close to you, you run. I don’t care where you go, just get to safety, alright? I’ll find you, no matter where you go.”

“I will help you hide,” Wanda said, coming over to her. “Come.” She held out her hand to her and smiled. Adelaide looked at her dad.

“Go with her, i moye serdtse s vami.” He hugged her tightly and kissed her head, then stood up. (and my heart goes with you.)

“Ya lyublyu tebya papochka,” she said as she took Wanda’s hand.

“Ya tozhe lyublyu tebya, kulka.” (baby doll) With that, she and Wanda took off, Clint following behind them to cover their backs. Wanda took her to the bottom floor of the parking deck.

“Kneel down and cover your head,” she said to her. Adelaide nodded and did as she was told. Various creaking and cracking was heard and Wanda moved boxes and crates around and above her to create a kind of bunker for her. There was a tiny opening at the back of it that would let her escape if she needed to.

“We’ll come back for you, Addie,” Clint said to her. “And we’ll have your dad with us.” With that, two sets of footsteps took off, leaving her all by herself. Nervous energy pulsed through her, and the only way she kept calm was thinking of the song that she and her dad had danced to for her birthday a few months ago. She heard the sounds of lasers being fired and things blowing up, but she didn’t feel anything that told her she needed to move. Suddenly, something flew overhead and took the top of her little place off. Yep. Time to go. She crawled out of the little space and took off in the opposite direction. She skidded to a halt when she saw the man in the gray flying suit that had first taken her in fly in front of her. Spinning on her heels, she ran in the other direction. She saw Bucky and the people who had sided with Steve fighting Tony Stark, King T’Challa, and a few other people she didn’t know. She didn’t know how to help or what to do. One side of her told her that she could help, and should, but the other side of her wanted to obey her dad. He only ever wanted to keep her safe, and she loved him enough to do it. Finally, she got an idea. She hid underneath a group of smashed cars and watched the battle. When a shot went right towards Steve, she shot out a tiny barrier and made it blow up prematurely. She wasn’t very good at her little barriers. They only happened when she was really scared, but she was actually very scared right now, so hopefully this would work. She watched as her dad and Steve took off towards a plane while Scott was suddenly humongous. The car to the right of where she was hiding got knocked away, so she climbed out. A tower next to where the two men were running started to fall, and she saw Wanda fighting to hold it up and let them through. That did it. She knew what to do. Running as fast as her tiny little legs would take her, she reached Wanda’s side and held up her hands.

“Adelaide, what are you doing here?” Wanda ground out.

“Helping.” Focusing as hard as she could, she bit back a scream as she sent out another shockwave much like the one she had done when Steve came for them. Wanda, Steve, Bucky, and herself stayed upright, but everyone else got knocked back or down. Bucky stopped and turned to look at her, eyes wide with shock and fright. Adelaide shook her head and motioned for him to go on. “I’ll be alright,” she said, knowing he somehow heard her. With a sad nod, he took off again. Wanda cried out suddenly, and the tower dropped. Adelaide hoped that they had made it through. She turned and saw Wanda cradled in a red and blue man’s arms.

“As I said,” the man said in an accented voice to Wanda, “catastrophe.” The man turned and shot a beam of light from his head suddenly, and a man began to plummet to the ground. Adelaide couldn’t see who it was, but it looked like Sam or the gray man. She wasn’t strong enough to try to slow his fall with her powers, but she did try. Looking right at the man, she held up her hands and focused.

Stop, she thought hard at the falling person. She saw them slow for just a minute, and she refused to let herself celebrate. She had to focus. Slow down. Her energy was slipping. She couldn’t hold him.

“Adelaide, let him go,” Wanda’s weak voice said to her.

“Have. To. Help.” Her voice shook horribly, as did her hands.

“You can’t hold him. Not even I am that strong.”

“No!” she yelled as she focus broke and the man raced towards the ground. She saw two other people diving to catch him, but she couldn’t watch anymore. Gentle arms surrounded her as she fell to her knees and started crying.

“It’s alright,” Wanda said gently. “You tried. That’s what counts.” Adelaide shivered and sobbed. She had lost her dad and failed to save someone. What did it count for anything? Rough hands came and tore her away from Wanda.

No. They had found her. She thought she was safe, but they had found her. She and her dad were foolish to think that they were rid of them. They never would be. Cut off one head, two more will take its place. She was done for. They would kill her now.

“Let her go!” a voice cut through her panic-filled mind. “You’re scaring her!”

Come on, pet.

What, tired already?

“—she was in Hydra! You’re scaring her!”

Do it again.

The Soldier will never know.

Again!

“Put her with me. I’ll keep her calm.”

Tighten your arms. Go for the legs.

Again!

You thought you were done? Again, until you get it right ten times in a row!

“She’s just a girl, Stark!”

“A girl trained by Hydra! She’s just as dangerous as Barnes!”

You are only here for our amusement.

We can kill you whenever we want.

The Asset doesn’t need you.

You will be the next Winter Soldier.

“Give her to me. There’s no other—”

“Shut up, Barton!”

Nobody cares about you. Why should they?

Your parents sold you to us for money. They don’t love you.

“Tony, look at her. She’s terrified. Let me help her.”

“No!”

“She tried to save Colonel Rhodes. You owe her that much, Stark.”

You can’t save anyone. You’re only here to kill them.

You’re a monster, child. No one will ever love you.

“Hey, hey, Addie. It’s me. You’re safe now. Come back to us, Addie. Come on, it’s Clint.”

She will be called the Soldier’s pet.

“Adelaide, you’re safe. Hydra’s gone. It’s just us.” Adelaide came back to herself to a cold, empty feeling that almost set her off again. “Hey, hey. Easy there. It’s just me.” She looked up and saw Clint’s kind eyes. “Hey,” he said gently. “You alright there, Adds?” She looked around a bit, but nodded. “Good. You had us all worried there for a bit. You hungry?” Another nod. “Here. I saved you some breakfast.” He handed her a roll, letting her nibble on it.

“Wh—where are we?” she asked quietly.

“The Raft. It’s a prison for dangerous people. That’d be us, as of right now.” She looked at him suddenly, eyes wide. “Relax. Your dad’s with Steve, as far as I know. They’re safe. You, me, Scott, Sam, and Wanda are in here. They’re out there. It’s actually the safest spot you could be in right now.”

“’M scared,” she whispered.

“I know, Adds. I know. You were shaking so badly and so far in your own head not even Wanda could get you out. Scott and I begged for you to be kept with one of us. Tony finally relented when Wanda told him what you did for Rhodey.” She was quiet again, and Clint held her tightly. “I know I’m not the same as your dad, but I’m trying here, okay?” She nodded and curled up against his chest, slowly nibbling on her bread. “I’ll keep you safe, alright? While we’re in here, I’ll protect you.”