𝐀𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒━︎━︎B.Barnes ✓︎

𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
MAKE A DEAL

SHE HAD TO FIGURE OUT how to get to him, to see that he was okay. She couldn't stand being trapped inside the same four walls. They had brought her to a new room with the short scientist claiming he would wait until something else was done. Celeste didn't have the energy to question it and instead laid on the floor, her hair clean now that they let her take a five minute cold shower. They were keeping her on some drug, one that kept her weak and confused. They knew what she was, and they knew how to keep her there without getting in trouble.

Her blue eyes stared up at the ceiling, her face void of any emotion. She felt nothing. Her entire body felt numb, her emotions felt like they were currently out of service. The only thing that was really keeping her up at the moment was the fact that she didn't know what they were doing to Bucky. Despite everything her mission to keep Bucky alive was still hammered into her brain, almost like she was programmed to focus on that and only that. When she heard footsteps approaching, she forced herself from her thoughts, tiredly turning her head to face the door of her cell.

She listened as the key was inserted into the lock, the sound of the lock clicking echoed through the quiet space before the metal door was shoved open dramatically. Celeste didn't move. Her determination on finding Bucky always overtook the fear that she felt whenever she saw one of the men in the white lab coats. He looked down at her, silently questioning if they had to do this the hard way. With a soft sigh, Celeste forced herself into a sitting position before using her left hand to push her up from the floor.

The dull and stained white outfit she wore made it seem like she had been inside of an asylum of some sort. She allowed the man to grab her upper right harm, shoving her in front of him as he kept his weapon close to his chest. He had been warned that she was dangerous. They never came to get her without some kind of weapon in their hands. She walked down the grey halls, her eyes glancing quickly in every room that they passed, hoping for some sign of Bucky. She was disappointed but not surprised when she didn't find a trace of him.

She allowed herself to be shoved into the same room they always brought her to whenever the affects of the medication started to wear off. Celeste sat down, crossing her ankles and watching as the man placed himself outside of the door as if to guard it to make sure she didn't try to escape. She sat there patiently, hands interlaced as she placed them in her lap. She stared blankly at the floor, her thoughts pulling her in once more. She knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to figure out what she was, what she could do, and they wanted to experiment on her to make her a worse version of herself.

Celeste didn't want that, truly she didn't. She'd much rather let them kill her than to have unknown substances placed into her body. She didn't want to be cast out once her father and the other angels found out she wasn't purely an angel. And then the thought occurred to her, had she already been cast out? No one had come to save her. She knew how powerful some of the other angels were, so why was she still in here and not back home where she belonged? The answer: she had yet to complete her mission.

It made since. Angels had to make sacrifices sometimes in order to protect those they were assigned to protect. Was this her sacrifice? Either Bucky died and she lived, or Bucky lived and she died. The Angel clenched her jaw, frustrated with the cards she'd been dealt. The more she thought about it, the more she knew what she had to do. She loved Bucky, she hated that she'd allowed herself to do a foolish thing such as fall in love with a human that she was supposed to protect. Wasn't loving him protecting him?

Her head was starting to pound as the medication faded from her body. Slowly she could feel her strength try and come back. Celeste knew that if she truly wanted to, she could escape. She could. But she also knew that she wouldn't be able to escape with Bucky. She wasn't strong enough for that. As the door opened, Celeste knew what she had to do. She knew what her sacrifice play needed to be. She looked up from the floor, her eyes meeting those of Arnim Zola. He made his way over to her.

     "Your procedure will start today." The man simply stated, walking over to his mysterious vials filled with colored liquids. Celeste wanted to know how such a man could be in control of such an organization. HYDRA had already tortured Bucky once before and she was cursing herself for letting them do it all over again. Her head was really starting to hurt. Arnim Zola made his way over to Celeste, setting everything up. "The beginning is near. You should be excited and honored, Celestial." He looked at her.

     "Can I make a deal with you?" Celeste asked him, her voice soft as she spoke. She played with her hands for a moment before forcing herself to turn and look at him. He gave her the simple nod of his head, intrigued. "Let me see him. Just. . . just once. I just want to see that he's okay. I don't care what you do to me. I'm more valuable than he is. Let him go. If you have to get rid of his memories so that he forgets this place ever existed, fine. Just let me see him."

Arnim Zola said nothing for a moment, and Celeste didn't think he was going to accept it. And then, he nodded.