𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓷𝓲𝓪𝓬 ❖ 𝓫. 𝓫𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓼

C H A P T E R (44) - S O L D I E R

Cassie, Steve and Sam had all been transported in the back of an SUV alongside T'Challa who had been the mysterious man she couldn't recognise.

"How long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?" T'Challa pondered.

"Longer than you can imagine." Cassie said bluntly, her eyes focused on the dog tag around her neck.

As they arrived, they were practically dragged out of the van and Cassie's eyes travelled to where Bucky was being kept prisoner inside of a glass box like an animal. Her eyes met his, and there was a look of sadness on his face before he placed his head back against the seat he had been strapped in. She went to open her mouth to say something, but was ushered out of the room before she could.

**

"What the hell is wrong with you Man-Eater?"

Tony stood at the front of a large table, disciplining Cassie for working with what he deemed criminals.

"I wouldn't advise you use that name for me right now, Stark." She assured calmly, tapping her fingers on the table she sat at.

Steve was sat across from her with Sam next to him, both of their eyes set on the camera that was monitoring Bucky's cell.

"What I seriously don't understand is why you're trying to save a man who tried to kill you."

"Watch it, Stark."

"No, no, seriously. What do you see in him?"

"Enough!" She yelled, raising from her chair with her hands calmly kept on the table. "You have no idea why I do what I do."

"Actually, I think I do know."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Because you love a man who is incapable of loving you back."

They were the only words she needed. The only provoking, angering words that could set off a switch in her mind that convinced her she wasn't wrong in this situation. Tony was. Not her.

Before she could even let any of her frustrated words out, Tony left the room and Sharon entered. She cautiously pressed a button which granted access to the audio of the footage to Bucky's cell. Cassie offered her a small smile as she sat back down in her seat, watching the monitor.

"I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions," a man on the monitor began, "Do you know where you are James? I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."

Cassie smiled to herself, only briefly, but it was there. James.

"My name is Bucky."

Her head shot up with her eyes glued to the screen. If he remembered his nickname, what else could he remember?

Steve threw the photo he had been holding and studying onto the table, crossing his arms as he evaluated it. Cassie recognised the photo as the one that had been on the news - the blurry photo of Bucky in Vienna where he had claimed to not be.

The three others began to converse, but Cassie wasn't listening. She was only focused on Bucky when Sharon's voice caught her attention.

"You're saying someone framed him to find him."

Cassie's interest was peaked as she sat up in her seat, balancing her head on her palms and listening more intently to the conversation.

"Steve, we looked for the guy for two years and found nothing." Sam chimed.

"You didn't bomb the UN," Cassie interrupted, attracting all three of their attentions considering she hadn't spoken much, "That turns a lot of heads."

"Yeah." Steve agreed as all of their attention turned back to the monitor as Tony quietly re-entered the room.

"It was Alexander Pierce to give you your name, correct?" Tony mused, catching Cassie's eye.

"Technically-"

"I'm not talking about technicality, Man-Eater."

Cassie opened her mouth to say something else, but when the lights suddenly cut off, her attention was drawn away from the ignorant asshole giving her a headache.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked in the darkness, managing to see Steve as a red light flashed on every few seconds.

"Stay here." He muttered before taking off with Sam, Tony also leaving but in another direction.

Cassie scoffed as she turned to watch the monitor as it suddenly flashed back on, only for a few seconds, but enough to understand.

"Soldier?"

"Ready to comply." Bucky mumbled, but it was not him. It may have been his body, but in no form was that the caring man Cassie knew. The man who had saved her life multiple times in the apartment in Bucharest.

She turned to the one guard that had been left to make sure she didn't leave the room, which had been a bad mistake on Tony's part - only having one there. She glared at the guard and clenched her jaw.

"Let me out."