Sunshadow

Old Scars

Kiki practically skipped out of the room. She had seen the dress in a small shop in an alley of New York and immediately started crying. The shopkeeper, a lovely woman in her early 40s,had comforted her and fitted the dress, saying she had once made one for a little girl, which had only made Kiki sob more. She really needed to visit that little shop again, check on her.

She could hear Bucky laughing behind her as she twirled and bounced all the way back to the main hall. Sol, Azeria and Rosa were hovering beside the door, giggling like little girls, and Kiki felt...

Happy.

She had the biggest smile ever on her face, a genuine, truthful grin that warmed her to her core and lifted her soul in a little bubble above her head.

Sol turned and waved at her, noticing her dress. She would never forget the details of that day either, but maybe they could finally move on. Forgive, not forget.

She stared to run to her sister, knowing Bucky was behind her. There were so many people she could trust now, for the first time in almost 14 years she felt safe.

And then the bullet ripped through the air.

She was never safe.

☾

Bucky heard the gun go off and he watched the bullet fly straight to Kiki. Everything was in slow motion.

"No!" He heard himself yell. He made a split second decision and dived towards Kiki, pulling her towards the side. But he was a split second too late to save her completely.

He felt the impact as the bullet tore through her skin, splattering blood over her pretty pink dress. He had seen the scar before when she spun and the skirt flew up. He had guessed it was a bullet wound. But he had never thought she would be shot again.

He still didn't know what had happened that awful day twenty years ago. But he could guess it went a little like this. The case file had described in such excruciating detail what the girls had seen that he had stopped reading. If they wanted him to know, they would tell him themselves.

But, even as he skimmed through the papers to find the things he was looking for, a different photo stuck out. It was a little girl, about nine, covered in her own blood, a makeshift bandage pulled tight over her leg. She was sat in a corridor, an old woman covering her, as if trying to protect her from the horrors of the real world.

It didn't work.

So as Kiki got shot in the old scar from the last time she had celebrated a birthday, all he could think was how that old woman hadn't been able to save the little girl.

No one had been able to save Kiki.

☾

God, that hurt like hell.

It was even worse than last time. She stared down at the blood on her leg and laughed. It seemed she would keep getting shot, but no one could kill her. Bucky made sure of that.

Shit, Bucky. She twisted around to check him for injuries. He seemed to be fine. He had saved her life, again.

"Thank you," she whispered into his ear next to her. Then she sat up to examine the entry wound.

It hadn't gone too deep. It had missed an artery, not even touched the bone. It seemed Hydra had very bad aim.

At least, she assumed it was Hydra. That would make sense. The Whitehalls definitely wanted to kill her. And Marx especially.

They still didn't know how many there were of them. There could have been an entire family of Whitehalls and they would have no idea. She snorted, the adrenaline starting up.

With her fingers she fished into the hole in her leg and pulled out the bullet, wincing as it grazed her nerves.

"Somebody grab me some cloth. And get outta my way. I'm gonna kill this dickhead." She stood up shakily. Everyone around her just stared as she waved her hands and said, "Well go on, then."

Bucky muttered something behind her about not using her powers since she would be weak, and she rolled her eyes and took the strip of dress Sol was holding out.

"I'm not stupid enough to do that, Barnes," she told him as she tied a tight knot to stop the blood. "I'm gonna fight them the old fashioned way."