Reaching Out | Bucky Barnes

16 |

My eyes flutter open and I'm faced with a dark room that I don't recognize. I wrack my brain to figure out what's going on, but the last I remember, I was watching tv with the team, then nothing. I sit up and feel an ache between my legs.

Did Bucky and I do something?

Why can't I remember?

I run a hand through my hair when I knock against something cold and hard.

"What the hell..."

I run my fingers along it, trying to remember—trying to figure it out—but nothing comes to mind so I wrap either side, yanking—

I'm stopped when my entire body is engulfed in burning pain. I cry out, hands slapping into the sheets beside me as my brain fries inside my skull, continuing until finally stops and memories flood my mind.

I'm... I'm with Hydra.

Then I remember what Doctor Hof said about my abilities needing to continue regardless of if I do—that she needed my eggs.

I suck in a breath, feeling sick at the realization.

She took my eggs.

Questions run through my head a mile a minute. I have no idea what that means for my future. And what if a child is born to them? How could she do something like that? Did she take all of them? Is it possible to take all of them? Are they going to make enhanced babies to raise as an army?

I feel violated.

My heart beats so hard in my chest I can barely think, and the suffocating feeling in my lungs doesn't help.

No.

Not this now.

No.

I brace my head in my hands, trying to calm my breathing.

What did Bucky do?

I try to think of his voice. Him telling me it's okay. That I'm okay. I suck in a breath and count to one before releasing it.

'You're doing great... Keep going.'

I suck in another and count to two.

Then to three.

Slowly my breathing returns to normal and I can think.

How long have I been here now?

Is it the same day that I last saw Doctor Hof?

My thoughts are interrupted by the door opening and light filtering in from the hallway. Without a word, the guard walks in and pulls me from the bed, hand tight around my bicep while I try to make my brain understand what's going on.

I'm still stunned when I see Doctor Hof standing in the doorway, a blank look on her face.

"Glad to see you're awake. You may feel some discomfort, light cramping, but that is completely normal."

With that, she turns and the guard pulls me forward on shaky legs.

I'm barely able to keep up as we rush through the halls, everything a blur around me until we take a sharp turn into a set of double doors. I struggle as I'm directed into a chair near the center of the room, fighting against the guard as he forces my wrists and ankles into metal bindings.

"Fighting will get you nowhere. Beaumont, get the serum," she nods to the man I recognize from the other procedure. He goes somewhere behind me before returning with a green bag of liquid. I watch as he attaches it to an I.V. pole when I catch sight of Doctor Hof picking up a needle.

"No! Stop!"

She let's out an annoyed sigh before reaching into her pocket and pain radiates out from my neck. She continues until spots cloud my vision and as the electricity stops, I slump in exhaustion, unable to struggle as she prods my arm before sticking the needle into my skin..

"You could have avoided that by just sitting still," she tsks as she tapes the needle down.

Beside me, Beaumont rolls a small gear, and the green substance begins dripping into the tubing. "If it makes you feel any better, almost everyone who gets the serum survives," he says, tone mocking beneath his accent.

My breathing gets heavier as it creeps closer and closer to my arm until it finally flows into my veins. Immediately a burning sensation begins at the injection point and crawls upwards, every inch agony until it reaches my chest where it lights my hammering heart on fire.

Oh my God, it hurts.

It's going to burn out of my chest.

My heart is going to burn up.

My body shakes against the restraints as I try to reach and pull the needle out.

Stop.

Please stop.

My heart is burning.

Stop—I'm going to die.

I'm going to die.

I jerk against the metal, trying to get out, trying to get someone's attention to help me get out, but my screams are muffled by a pounding noise. Every time it pounds, the pain increases.

It hurts.

Make it stop.

My throat is raw from screaming.

My entire body is raw.

This feels like hell.

Make it stop.

Make it stop.

Let me die.

I gasp in gulps of air, trying to stop the burn, but nothing stops it.

The pain just keeps going.