Necessary Good, Unnecessary Evil | No rest For Wounded Souls [Bucky Barnes]

Clean Clothes

"Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it."

-Michel de Montaigne

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Nova's POV

Rain falls on my head, soaking my clothes and making them stick to my skin.
I feel my throat burning, but I can't hear a sound leaving my mouth.
My feet kick the air as a tall man brings me to a black vehicle.
I can see his face in the dark, and he pushes me into the van, and before he can lock the door, I glance at my house.
The door is open, and I can see through it.
I see my mother on her knee, crying and looking at me.
A man is facing her, and his hand is stretched forward.
The metal of a gun shines under the light, and then the van door is closed.
I hear a gunshot and nothing more.

My eyes snap open, and it takes me a few seconds to remember where I am.
I scrunch my face and roll over in the bed, facing the window.
The blinds are down, shielding the sunlight.
I glance over to the alarm, noticing it's only 7:05am.
I don't know what time I used to wake up, but I'm pretty sure I haven't had a full night's sleep since 2010.
The smell of coffee invades to my nostrils, and my brain immediately picks it up.
I sit on the mattress and scratch my neck, noticing the collar is missing.
Thats' weird.
My eyes fall on the pillow, and I see the collar peeking from under it, unlocked.
I've no idea how that happened, but I'm definitely happy it's off.

Running footsteps and giggling outside the door attracts my attention, and I get out to check what's going on.
No one is outside, but I can hear talking and faint music from downstairs.
Following the noise brings me to the common room, and I see some people sitting at the breakfast table, and someone is cooking pancakes.
A girl with red hair looks up and smiles softly at me.
"Hi!" She greets me, and I can tell she's a little perplexed.
The other heads turn to me too, and I can't help but feel uncomfortable.
They keep staring at me, and my stare automatically gets more harsh.
"Do you want pancakes?" the kid sitting next to her asks, and I tilt my head. He looks very young.
"Oh, you're awake." The man at the stove says, looking at me.
"Tony is in his laboratory, but I think he was looking for you." He informs, serving a plate to a blonde guy.
"Do I have to go there or...?" I hesitate, not sure how to act.
I've never met these people before. Do they know who I am?
"No, he doesn't let anyone down there when he works. Have some breakfast. He will come get you when he's done." He states, handing me a plate and nodding to a chair next to the others.

I hesitate but decide to do as he says. Damn, it's a handmade fresh breakfast. It won't hurt.
I sit down and glance at the other people sitting around me. It feels like being the new girl in the school cafeteria. And I've never liked the feeling.
Maybe if I give them my death-stare, they will just ignore me.
"What's your name?" The kid asks hesitantly and immediately breaks my hopefulness.
"Nova." I croak, trying to remember the last time I said my name out loud. They never called us by our names at Hydra.
"So you can speak." The blonde guy scoffs in a thick Slavic accent, and I look at him.
He chokes on his food, and I look away, realizing it was my fault.
The redhead looks at me with wide eyes and turns to the guy.
"Pietro, are you ok?" She asks, and he nods while taking a sip of milk.
The younger one looks at us confused while continuing to eat his breakfast.
"Are you a friend of Mr. Stark?" He wonders, and I stop with my fork midway to my lips.
"No." I deadpan, biting down on the pancake.

No one speaks for a couple of minutes when I see a glass falling by my side and instinctively stop it with my powers.
The glass floats up to my hand, and I leave it on the table.
I look at the redhead, who is still holding up her hand, red energy hovering around her fingers.
"Good reflexes!" The kid bursts, but I ignore him, more interested in what's just happened.
I wasn't expecting to meet someone else with these kinds of abilities.
"Yeah, how did you get them?" She asks, with the same accent as the other guy, Pietro.
Now that I look at them closely, they look very alike.
I feel my head grow heavy and weird for a few seconds.
"He thinks he's prettier." She smirks, and I look at her, surprised.
Did she just read my mind?
"Yeah, you're pretty weak up there." She observes, and all my bells start ringing. I can't let her in.