Darkened Shadows

Chapter 8

How was I supposed to have dinner with the people who saved me? I was raised by their enemy, taught to kill. Except for Natasha and Wanda, none of them trusted me, and I wasn't even sure that they truly did. Wint - Bucky, would know the most about me, but that was ten years ago. He's completely different, and so am I. He's had time to reclaim who he once was, Shadow is all I've ever been. 51437, that is my identity: a number.

"I, I'm not hungry." It's a total lie, I'm fucking starving. Literally.

Natasha rolled her eyes, "well that's utter bullshit. Also, you don't have a choice. We've managed to prolong this for as long as we could, but we really do need to question you now."

I could tell by her tone of voice that this was the first, and only time she'd tell me.

I was going to dinner with the Avengers.

—

Natasha and Wanda didn't say anything as they led me to the kitchen, and neither did I. I didn't know what was going to happen. Sure, they said that they were all going to question me, but what exactly did that entail? I've been in this facility for nearly 6 hours and I've only been around four completely new people, and one who is nothing like how I first met them. I think I liked Wanda and Nat. They showed me what I think is genuine kindness over the past hour and a half to two hours. Bruce was also kind to me during the examinations, but that might have just been professionalism. Tony is interesting. He doesn't trust me, nor I, him, but I can tell that he pities me. I can't tell right now if I think that's sweet, or irksome.

And then there's Winter. Except, he's not Winter. He's Bucky. How he was able to go from a mindless, order following killer, to this sweet, kind, and frankly kind of shy man, is quite astonishing. I guess that's what time and healing can do to you. I hope I get to experience it for myself someday.

The other Avengers didn't seem to be that threatening, I just didn't know how they would try to interact with me. Our introduction wasn't exactly formal, but what can you do when you're transported to a secondary location while unconscious?

We get to the sitting area that Nat had originally dragged me away from to initiate 'girl time'. There was a large opening on the left wall to what I assumed was the kitchen. I could see cabinets from where we were, but no people. I knew they were in there from the sounds of idle chatter coming from that room. It was similar to whenever I was led past the mess hall back at Hydra: mixed male voices.

I hesitated behind the two older women.

It seems like that's all I've been doing since arriving with the Avengers: hesitating, the exact opposite as I was trained to do. Hydra was all about no hesitation, but I wasn't with Hydra anymore. I was with the Avengers. Well, not technically. I wasn't with them persay, more, around them than anything.

"What're doing back there?"

I look at Natasha with an almost unreadable expression, but she still catches the slight wariness in my eyes.

"Are you seriously scared of having dinner with us? You, the one who grew up as a lab rat and experienced actual scientific torture and experimentation? Scared? Of dinner with a group of adults?"

My expression turns into a glare.

"It's not just dinner though, it's an informal interrogation designed to lull me into a false sense of security so that I'm more willing to tell you everything without a fight. Plus, you aren't just a group of adults, you're the Avengers, a group of, what appears to be, really good people. I think I've heard a couple of scientists and guards at the facility use the word 'superheroes' before to refer to you guys too. While Hydra was so blatantly awful and didn't try to hide any of their shitty intentions, what if you all are just pretending to be this nice and once you get what you want, all of this ends? The kindness, the professionalism, and just you all tolerating my being here?"