𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐑 - MCU

V. SHITTY FORMS OF ESCAPISM

V. SHITTY FORMS OF ESCAPISM
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The room Barnes was in was bare, a single desk in front of his bulletproof cage. The man himself sat chained to a reinforced chair, his hair slick with sweat as he struggled against the confinements across his chest. Luna didn't know how to feel. Bucky Barnes was innocent, she believed this, but The Winter Soldier was inside his mind and ready to pop out at any given moment.

Luna stood beside Tony and Natasha in front of the many screens that showed the entire live feed of Barnes' cell, government lackeys working around them.

The doors to Barnes' cell opened and his psychiatrist, Broussard, walked inside, taking a seat at the desk, laying a file on the table in front of him. He took a moment to set up his tablet. He looked like a man in his thirties, with a small scruff on his chin and neatly kept brown hair. There were no guards within the room, which made the entire scene eerily quiet. Barnes kept still, his hair like a curtain in front of his face.

"Your first name is James?" the psychiatrist asked.
          
Barnes didn't reply.
          
Broussard sighed, opening the file. "I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions," he said. "Do you know where you are, James?"

A man typing on his keyboard next to Luna filled the silence.

"I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."

Luna noted Broussard's accent; she couldn't quite pinpoint where it was from. His name was French and his nationality was American, but his accent was neither.

"My name is Bucky," Bucky said, his voice filled with gravel, probably dry from dehydration.
          
Broussard nodded thoughtfully, scribbling in his notebook as he continued asking questions.

"There's something I don't understand," Luna spoke up, talking beneath her breath just in case the suits in the room weren't as 'trustworthy' as they had thought. "Those photos of Barnes on the news... why release them?"
         
"Barnes has been going under everybody's radar for years," Natasha replied. "Get the people on the ground to keep an eye out for him too, better chance you find him."
          
"But Bucky's innocent," she stated, keeping a wary eye on Everett Ross, who was standing off to the side. "These pictures were faked... Maybe someone wanted to get him out of hiding?"
         
"Fake security tapes and get the entire world knowing The Winter Soldier's face," Natasha figured. "Someone framed him to find him."

A light flickered on in Luna's mind. "That's why they bombed the UN. They needed global attention so they'd be able to get him anywhere he went. Except they don't have him, we have."
          
"You think they're gonna try something to take him?"
          
Luna shook her head slowly, turning back to the security feed. "Yeah... maybe."

"Tell me, Bucky," Broussard said, "You've seen a great deal, haven't you?"
          
Bucky's voice was rough when he spoke, "I don't wanna talk about it."
          
"You fear that if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop." He looked on his tablet for a second. "Don't worry," he said. "We only have to talk about one."

The room went dark as the electricity was cut. The screens in front of Luna flashed off as the alarm lights began flashing red. Immediately everybody was on high-alert.

"Come on, guys," Ross said into his walkie, "get me eyes on Barnes." He looked at Tony, Natasha and Luna, motioning stressfully at the door.

"The psychiatrist," Luna said as she and Natasha followed after Tony. "I knew something was off about him."
          
"This was their plan," Natasha realized. "Get us to capture Barnes and then take him for themselves."
          
"How the hell is one guy going to break out a super soldier?"
          
Natasha's eyes widened. "He's not." The two of them quickly fell into a fast pace beside Tony. "Please tell me you brought a suit," she said to him.