The Red Soldier | Bucky Barnes

one: the berlin wall

 Chapter One

The Berlin Wall

NOV 1991

There had to be something in the waste bin that could keep Sophia Dorcheiv warm. The ten-year-old was standing in filth, her skinny stiff fingers were digging through the garbage desperately. She had thought that if she searched through the bins of the big fancy buildings that she would find something to keep her warm during the winter. There had to be some kind of discarded cloth that a businessman had thrown away. Every time she tore open one of the fat black bags she would get a wash of warm air that came from the decomposing rubbish. If she was naive she would have slept in the giant box, using the sleek bags for cover against the Russian winter, but she had watched one of her friends, who had made that mistake, get crushed by the big truck with teeth. The good side to the cold of Moscow was that the cold numbed her senses, her blocked nose keeping her safe from the putrid stench that came from each steaming pile of rotting trash. Her search for a blanket was a failure, and she quickly realised that all she was going to gain from the fancy rubbish was some new kind of infection.

Just as the child was about to clamber out of the bin, the sound of voices approaching stilled her. She knew if someone from the glass towers found her in there they would hand her over to the police. Policemen cannot be trusted. The lid was open. But, it didn't seem to matter to the two men that had stopped to chat in the ally. Sophia slumped into the garbage and brought her hands to her chest, slowing down her breath. She made herself as still as possible.

"The Americans are stupid to believe that they have finished this war," a deep voice floated through the ally. The sound of a lighter being flicked followed after and quickly the smell of tobacco started to mingle in with the stench of rubbish.

"Ah, let them believe that, it will make it easier for Russia to get a grip of their balls," the second man spat, his voice a lot raspier than his companions. The two men laughed at his insult, Sophia could see a small cloud of smoke swirl up over the edge of the metal bin.

"The Berlin wall being torn down has blinded those Pindos fuckers, they are too caught up with their freedom that they think a wall crumbling is a victory," the deep-voiced man said, laughing with his friend.

"I spit on the Americans and their dreams. I look forward to watching HYDRA piss all over them." the two Russians laughed again, taking drags from their cigarettes. Sophia didn't really understand what they were talking about, how could she, she was 10. She had remembered the day when the wall had been stripped down, she saw it on the front page of one of the newspapers she had stolen, a good-looking American man had smiled at her and the word peace floated about the headlines.

The sound of a high pitch tone of a mobile phone caused her to jump. Her feet slipped causing her to kick one of the thick bags forward, glass bottles slipped out and clattered against the metal walls of the box.

"Who's there," the man with the raspy voice yelled, the sound of his phone ringing echoing after his words.

Sophia covered her mouth and held her breath, trying not to move any more. One of the men hit the side of the container, causing her to flinch. But she didn't move, she held her self tightly. She thought of her self becoming one of the black sacks of rubbish, thick and filled with warmth.

"It was a rat, Leon," his companion spoke, he sounded as if he was laughing at his friend's paranoia.

"Are you going to get that?" the deep-voiced man continued to speak, addressing the shrill chirping of his phone.

"No, it's just Marta," Leon responded declining the call.

"You really shouldn't treat your wife like that, what if it was an emergency?" his companion said critically.

"You are in no position to tell me how to treat my wife, Michael," Leon snubbed back. "I should get back, the press is probably going to want a statement."

"Ah yes, of course, you have a reputation to uphold, General."

With that, the two businessmen tossed their lit cigarette buds into the bin where Sophia was hiding and proceeded to exit the ally. Sophie relaxed the fainter their voices got, watching the lit cigarettes slowly burn through the plastic. She counted to 10 slowly before gently picking her self up from the base of the garbage bin. She clambered out of the bin as quietly as she could, her nerves keeping her ears sharp. As she jumped from the canister she looked to the end of the ally which exited onto the main road, she saw the two men. They were watching her, their long black coats making them look like shadows. She didn't hesitate at the sight of them, and ran as fast as she could to the other end of the ally, turning sharply onto the main road of the financial area of Moscow.

It was about 4 in the afternoon and the sun had started to set, the grey sky tainted by a pink glow, the light refracting off of the tall glass buildings that loomed over the child as she ran for her life. She managed to dodge and weave through the streets, only bumping into a few pedestrians. She saw the train station and before she descended into the subway she looked over her soldier to see if the shadow men were following her. Her eyes stuck on the entrance of the ally she had just sprinted from, her chest heaving with her warm breath curling in front of her as she waited to see if they had pursued her. Soon enough, the dark-cloaked men popped out. But they didn't seem to catch sight of her and proceeded to start yelling at each other. Sophia smirked and she smugly jogged down the stairs, keeping her head low, walking her way to freedom.

#

She was jolted awake. Rough hands were pulling her from the ground. The sound of the train announcements echoed around her as her attacker quickly pulled her up over his shoulder. She was screaming and kicking against him, trying to dislodge herself from his grip. The cold had taken most of her energy and thanks to her recent swim in sewage, she had been struggling with illness. Even with the weight of her fever pressing down on her head, Sophia didn't give up. She hurled insults that seemed to shock passers-by more than the sight of the man kidnapping a child. She didn't really understand what 'cocksucker' meant but she screamed it at the top of her lungs as the stranger took her up to the surface. She couldn't slip out of his hold when he pulled her off of his shoulder. He quickly stuffed her into the backseat of a sleek black SUV.

"Get off of me, you paedophile!" She screamed, hoping someone would help give her a chance to scurry away from her kidnappers, but as she was shoved into the vehicle she realised that the civilians around her weren't even paying attention to her. The man who had picked her up off the street slammed the car door in her face. She started to pound against the door, trying to open it only to find she had been locked in. A hand grabbed her neck from behind and pulled her away from the door.

"Little girls shouldn't have such foal mouths," said a man who was holding the back of Sophia's neck tightly, she recognised the voice. Her battle with her attackers was lost, her fever consuming her and all her energy. She panted heavily as she tried to claw the man's hand off of her. Her capture chuckled at her attempts to get free from him.

"I think it's time for you to go to sleep, rat," he spoke harshly. Before Sophia had a chance to dodge his attack, her captor jabbed a needle into her spine and she deflated into a heavy sleep. 

A/N:

Ahhh! I hope you enjoyed the start of this story, I hope I have you hooked :) I know there aren't many Marvel references going on right now but don't worry, we will get there! Please don't forget to vote and tell me what you think. I know that this is a pretty grim start but I think this story is going to be pretty gritty for a Marvel fanfic. 

I hope you are all happy and healthy! 

All the best,

- R.x