Antedate | Bucky Barnes

Chapter Two

The room is silent as I look between my father and the man standing next to him. The man next to my father stares at me, his gaze unwavering and intense. I keep my hands clasped in front of me, waiting for something to be said. My father clears his throat and stands from his seat. 

"My dear Adalyn, it is time. Agent Winthrop here volunteered himself to do the honors. Today, you finally take over the program. Two years we have waited for this, and now we can finally be rid of the Zola name. It's time for the reign of Averina." I see Agent Winthrop smile as my father announces he will be killing Leopold today. I put on a fake smile and nod my head. Silently, I say a prayer for Leopold. 

"Thank you, father. It's an honor." I speak. The two men walk around the desk and my father walks out of the room first. Agent Winthrop and I walk side by side behind my father to the laboratory. I bite the skin on the inside of my cheeks and try to dissociate from what I know is coming. I had managed to delay this moment for about six months, but I could no longer stall.

As my father enters the room the scientists all stop what they're doing. I see some of them look amongst one another. They know nothing good is going to happen. I've had to keep this secret for two years, I couldn't risk them knowing what my father's intentions were; though I suspect some already knew. I take a quick breath and focus on the door in the back. I stare at the bright red words and try to tune out whatever my father is saying. 

 Out of the corner of my eye I see Agent Winthrop reach for his gun. I clench my fists at my sides, digging my nails into my skin. I see Leopold walk up to my father with shaking hands and tears streaming down his face. He knows. My heart breaks for the man, though he was never particularly nice to me, he surely doesn't deserve death. I cast a quick glance over to him and hear his pleas echo throughout the room. 

"Please, sir, you don't have to do this." Leopold is on his knees, begging for his life. 

I hear my father chuckle and step aside. I hear the click from Dane's gun and I intensely focus on the red words in the back of the room. I taste blood from biting my cheeks so hard. The gun goes off and I fight the urge to jump back. Instead, I look to Leopold's now lifeless body leaking blood all over the floor. 

The rest of the scientists in the room look horrified, but they mask it well. My father pokes Leopold's body with the end of his shoe and runs a hand over his face. 

"Agent Winthrop, get this cleaned up. I don't want the floor to be stained." My father walks out of the room. Agent Winthrop holsters his gun and drags the body out of the room, a dark crimson trail following him. I can't make eye contact with anyone else in the room, I exit quickly and quietly. 

I go to my father's office, I know he probably has more to say to me. I knock and enter quietly. My father is staring at a photo on his desk. He quickly looks from the photo to me and smiles. I fight the urge to get sick all over his office. 

"Have a seat. We have much to discuss." I sit in one of the chair across from his desk and cross my ankles to make sure I'm sitting properly. 

"Now that you're in charge of the neuroscience division there's something I want you to work on. Privately." He says and pulls a file from one of the desk drawers. I grab the file and look through it, seeing a dossier on someone named James Barnes. I look up to my father, not understanding what he wants from me. 

"We have a special weapon that I would like to use again. However, the weapon needs a little update. That's where you come in. You're going to perfect the algorithm that Arnim Zola created. You will not disappoint." He says and excuses me from his office. Still confused, I hold the file at my side as I exit. 

I go back to my room and place my shoes by the door. I sit on the armchair by my bookcase and open the thick file. I see a photo of a man in an American uniform, a smile on his face. I look at the other photo, seeing a man in a large metal contraption, covered with ice.