Paranoia (Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader)

☠️|Chapter 3|☠️

You stood outside a separate lab room, the name 'Strucker' on a nameplate beside the doors. You begrudgingly stepped inside, flinching as the doors slammed shut behind you. Strucker was seated at a desk in the corner, furiously typing away at his computer.

"Sit down, Ms. Maximoff," he ordered.

You sat on a long examination table, squinting as the light from a singular lamp above blared into view. Your mind drifted as he walked around you. You felt something prick you in the back of your neck. A pressure was applied as a scalpel was pressed into your skin. You felt your whole body slowly growing heavier.

"Clench your fist for me."

You did as you were told, shaking your head. Black dots had slowly started to form in your peripherals. Looking down, you thought your skin had started to rot. Your palm had turned raw, and it itched. Looking around, you felt a wave of confusion wash over you. When did you even get here?

You noticed Strucker speaking, but you couldn't pick up on his words. You felt lightheaded, nauseous even, as he continued talking. You felt the strange urge to get up and run, escape. You had no idea where you were, who this man was, or even who you yourself were. Until upon blinking, you noticed everything returned to normal.

Strucker walked around to stand in front of you, taking off his gloves. "Ms. Maximoff, are you still with me?"

"Huh?" You jumped at the sound of his voice, "Oh, y-y-yeah."

His hand pressed over your heart as he clipped an oxygen meter to your finger. "Hm, your heart rate is through the room. Fascinating."

You watched the Baron scribble something onto a paper before filling a syringe with a blue liquid. "This should help slow it down," he didn't even give you time to react as he inserted an IV into your forearm.

"Against my better judgement, and my wishes, it appears Mr. Pierce has placed you on an upcoming mission."

"He...did?" You glanced around, noticing Strucker begin his examination of a petri dish under a microscope.

"Yes, and quite an important one. Unfortunately," he frowned. "I'm sure he'll give you a briefing on it later today. Or tomorrow, who knows."

You nodded slowly, "A-Anything you need me to do to prepare?"

"Not off hand. You'll be assigned with the Winter Soldier you're currently working with."

"And, Zemo?"

Strucker glanced up at you with a cocked eyebrow, "Helmut? He'll be stationed here, working the comms. His, eccentric, way of thinking will surely jeopardize the operation."

You didn't ask any further questions, mostly because talking seemed to take much more energy out of you than usual.

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You rubbed your neck, ignoring the sharp pain that crept through your veins. You had no idea what Strucker injected you with this time, you stopped asking questions a long time ago. Exiting the his lab, you strolled down an abandoned corridor in silence. You usually did this after each experiment, mostly to clear your mind and try to relax. You dropped to lean on the wall, tired and fatigued.

You barely registered the pair of arms that helped keep your balance until the smell of chocolate hit your senses. You slowly looked up, Pietro's blue gaze meeting yours. "Hey," you mumbled.

"Are you alright?" He carefully slung one of your arms over his shoulders, "You look like shit, no offense."

"I feel like shit," you spoke slowly, your words slightly slurred.

Pietro's brow creased and he shifted beside you to let your weight lean into his. He lead you down the hall and back towards the main hub. You mumbled something under your breath before you stumbled over your own feet. Pietro opted for just hauling you off the ground bridal style, to which your eyes immediately widened.

"If you start running, I swear to God, I just ate lunch."

"Relax, the lounge is just around the corner."

Truth be told, a bunch of voices came into range as you both entered the biggest area of the compound. Wanda was off to the side, chatting with some other women. Pietro dropped you carefully on a long couch, before grabbing a small pouch from the front pocket of his hoodie. He plopped a chocolate into his mouth while extending the open bag out to you.

"Aren't you sweet," you said sarcastically, grabbing a candy for yourself.

"There you two are," Wanda waved to the women as she made her way over to the both of you. "Geez, Y/n, you're pale."

You draped an arm over your face, "I'm fine. Strucker just gave me sedatives and shit."

Pietro sat down on the arm of the couch beside you, kicking his legs up on the long table in front of you. "So, how's your project coming along?"

Wanda leaned over the back of the couch to gaze down at you. You peered at her from between your fingers, having to take a moment to think about what she said.

"Oh, it's alright," you hummed. "He's...I dunno, what?."

Wanda pulled out a nail filer as she glanced at you, "She's definitely out of it."

Pietro peered down at you, plopping another chocolate into his mouth. "How many have you had of those?"

"Seventeen," he blinked.

Wanda snatched the bag from him, "Okay, that's enough." She snatched the bag from his hands, "Last time you had a sugar high, it took six men to restrain you."

"It did not!"

"He's right," you let your arm slump off the sofa. "It took seven."

The silver speedster gave you a frown, his brows creased. He feigned an offended glance as you sided with your sister. "You know, I am older than both of you."

"By twelve minutes," Wanda made air quotations with her fingers. "And three years than Y/n. Either way, we're all adults here. So we have free liberty to pick on you all we want."

You grinned sheepishly up at him from your position on your back, "Suck it, roadrunner. I have youngest sibling superiority."

"That's not a thing."

"Yes it is~"

"You two are so immature..."

"You two are so immature," you whined. "Okay, mom."

"I feel like her," Wanda rolled her eyes. "I'm starting to believe I'm adopted."