Prodigy

Chapter 23

I began testing my simulations as Bucky trained a group of widows. At this point, Bucky has been wiped so many times he became emotionless and only called me 'Prodigy.'

The simulation started running smoothly so I decided to test with a widow. "Send one in." I told the guards.

The man brought in a young teen with blue hair. "She's one of our best, I'm sure she'll be perfect for the simulation."

The young girl walked in and looked very familiar. "Do you speak English?" I asked.

"Yes, miss." She answered.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Natasha Romanoff, miss." She answered again.

"Ah, Romanoff. I remember you. Do you remember me?" She nodded her head. "Good, you know my name but from now on you must only call me 'Prodigy' okay?"

"Yes, Miss Prodigy." She responded.

I stepped back as she stepped to the center of the room. I ran up the simulation of many men attacking to see how she does.

After some time she had defeated many of them perfectly. I decided to dial up the difficulty slowly to see how she adapted. As the difficulty went up she made more errors with her form but was still undefeated. Then she lost the simulation.

"UGH!" She shouted "Fucking failure." She mumbled to herself in Russian.

I approached her. "Natasha you were undefeated almost the entire time. You are no failure, you did perfectly." I comforted her.

"My form got sloppy, then I was defeated." She explained.

"But you kept going. That is what matters, you never gave up. As it got harder you kept trying no matter how many mistakes you made." I explained.

She shrugged slightly. "You remind me of myself when I was your age."

"Really?" She asked.

"Oh yes. I strived for perfection every single time I failed. I had somebody down my throat pointing out every flaw." I began explaining and I saw a bit of hope in her eyes, hope for herself. "Until eventually I realized that perfect or not I was undefeated. So are you, you are strong Natasha. Don't let people tell you any different."

"Thank you, miss." She smiled.

"You may return to The Winter Soldier now." I instructed her and she marched off.

One of the Hydra men walked in. "I like that one. She's strong."

"Don't get attached, prodigy. The next time you wake up she'll most likely be closer to her thirties with no memory of you." He bluntly told me.

"Yes, I'm aware." I sighed. "Is it time to return then?"

"Yes."

I followed him to the helicopter with Bucky. He sat next to me and just stared blankly the whole ride. "Do you need any repairs on your arm soldier? Maybe some stitches?" I offered.

"No, he doesn't." A guard answered.

"I was not asking you I asked him. Last I checked The Winter Soldier is my priority therefore I make the executive decision about his injuries." I quickly informed him. "He looks to have injuries on his flesh. I'll be taking him to the surgical area, without any of you to distract me."

The man huffed. "Very well, prodigy."

We returned to our base and I took Bucky back to the surgical room. Thankfully they left just me and him alone in the room. "Bucky." I spoke calmly.

"What?" He looked at me with confusion all over his face.

"Your name. It's Bucky." I told him sternly. "If you escape one day you deserve to know your name."

He sat in a state of shock, unsure of what to say. "And what's your name?" He asked.

"You don't need to worry about that right now." I sulked at the realization that he no longer remembered life before Hydra.

"You remember my name but now your?" He asked.

"I remember my name Buck, but it can be dangerous for you to know it" I began as I continued tending to his wounds. "If you call me by my real name they'll know I'm helping you. You can only know me as prodigy."

"But you'll tell me when we both get out of here and live our lives right?"

"Yes, Bucky, if we both make it out of here I'll tell you my name. The only thing we need to worry about now is each other." I explained. "We just need to care for each other and work together. Everything we do, we do together. Now, come, let's return to the chambers."