Longing •Bucky Barnes•

•Four•

"Eat." I heard him say firmly as he slammed a plate down in front of me.

I looked up at him as a I sat down at the kitchen counter. He had woken me up quite abruptly this morning and forced me to come out into the kitchen. I came out to see pots and pans around the kitchen indicating that he had cooked this. I was nearly in a drunken state for several moments confused on why he had ripped me out of bed so urgently. He was lucky I didn't try and fight back out of habit by his harsh alarm.

"No." I said looking down at the plate emptily.

It looked delicious. Eggs, toast, fruit, bacon, and grits. All foods I had frankly forgotten existed. I was used to eating dark colored bricks of food that frankly tasted like nothing, but kept me going. I hadn't had real food in probably 5 years or so. Seeing food prepared like this looked like it was out of a dream.

"You need to eat, you skipped dinner last night. A gust of wind could practically knock you over at your size." He said and I glared at him out of the corner of my eye. I had been pretty thin but the serum only let me thin out so much.

"Want to test that theory out?" I asked him challengingly raising my eyebrow.

"Eat." He said and I just lowered my eyebrow and looked back down at the food.

I thought about taking a bite of it, but he was just staring at me. It reminded me of the times that I would try and go on hunger strikes to try and take a stand against my abuse. I got uneasy as I sat there and remembered how they would give me nicer food when I would refuse to eat it. They'd leave me in there for days and the instant I caved and decided to eat they'd drag me out of my cell and torture me. They'd deprive me of the thing I fought so hard against.

"Don't just stare at me." I said angrily avoiding eye contact.

"Gladly." He said storming out of the room.

I thought I was going to be alone, but his presence was almost instantly replaced by Steve. He walked in dressed in normal clothes and he came around the counter as I bit of an end of bacon. I didn't say anything, but he watched me intently as I ate. My mouth watered at how good the food was, but I refused to let that show in my emotions.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked me as I slowly picked at my food.

"Didn't Robo-Bitch tell you?" I asked avoiding eye contact.

"Bucky told me you had a nightmare." He said nodding his head slowly. "You can talk to him you know, he's been through this too."

"I do talk to him and it's not an enjoyable experience." I said tensely. "He's not exactly friendly."

"And you are?" He asked me and I just glared at him from my plate. "Listen, Tony really wants you back on your feet. SHIELD wants you locked up otherwise. You and Bucky both were criminals when under the influence of HYDRA. We have to make sure you're okay before they'll leave it alone."

"They'll lock me up again?" I asked looking at him as I took a bite of egg.

"Not like HYDRA did, but yes. You're dangerous while HYDRA still has the upper hand on your mind." He said and I could tell he was just trying to help me understand. "You'll live comfortably if they can't find a way to trust you, but never free. We don't want that."

Not that I liked anyone here, but Steve was at least kind and honest. Natasha seemed worried, but cold and distant, as if she didn't trust me. Tony seemed caring, but I could tell he took a lot of personal responsibility for what happened to me. I didn't like anyone, but I felt like I had a distant connection to him, like I had remembered him from a dream, but nothing more.