She didn't shout or scream. Mother- or Mama when they were in the privacy of their own home- had always said it was unladylike to shout and scream. Well- unless she was actively being hurt or kidnapped.
But she already been hurt and kidnapped in past tense, so crying wasn't acceptable now. She had to hold her nerve until Mother came to save her. So she would not shout or scream at all.
Oh, how she missed Mama.
The seven-year-old held tightly to the bench. She didn't want them to think she was scared, so her face remained impassive. She could almost hear Uncle Howard taunting her with what used to be a simple tease- "Your daddy wouldn't have been scared." She would always narrow her eyes in annoyance and amusement. Of course it might have been true- but her daddy was a grown super soldier. She was just a small child- a baby super soldier.
The evil men came back soon after that. They grabbed her and purposefully hurt her and threw her around, carrying her a little too roughly toward wherever they were going. She wasn't scared, she was angry. How dare they do this- in general- for fun!?
They pushed her toward the lab, where they were keeping Uncle Bucky, a friend of her father's. He was prisoner as well, and everyone at HYDRA was working toward erasing their memories.
She promised herself she would never forget Mother's face. Her soft, gentle eyes that turned stern whenever her daughter was being unladylike, her subtle smile that made the seven-year-old feel so at peace and at home. She was scared of that. She didn't want the evil men to take those memories from her. She wanted to always remember Mother trying to stop her from running around, being chased by Uncle Howard, but Mama could never stop the small smile she cracked. She always wanted to remember the small hugs her mother would give her when she was upset. She didn't want to forget.
At least she had the photo. It was taken of her mother, in uniform, Uncle Howard, in a tux, and herself when she was four, wearing a blue dress with a red ribbon and a matching sweater. She looked exactly like Mother, except the blonde hair and blue eyes.
It had been Stark Convention day. They were going to go and support Uncle Howard and honor her daddy's brave death, and Mother had dressed her up in a pretty blue dress with a red bow and a matching red sweater. Mother had done the girl's hair in perfect little curls to match her own. The six-year-old looked exactly like her- except the blonde hair and blue eyes. Someone had asked if they wanted a picture. Mother had put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, holding in place her pride and joy. Howard had reached down to his surrogate niece and had given her his hand.
She remember very clearly, both of them saying, "Minicap," As was her deemed nickname from Howard, "I think you look positively gorgeous tonight."
"While I'd like you to refrain from calling my daughter that," her mama had jokingly frowned, "yes, I agree with you that she is the bell of the ball."
The now seven-year-old girl had written her family's names on the back of the card so she wouldn't forget that. She also wrote the words, "Positively gorgeous", "Bell of the ball", and, of course, "Minicap".
At least if she forgot everything she would know she had once been loved by two people who had always showered her with compliments, and had even given her a silly nickname.
The evil men threw her to the floor next to her Uncle Bucky. Uncle Bucky being alive was a shock- but he was the only thing keeping her going. He told her so many stories of her father before they had done the experiment to him, while her mother had not.
"Once, we went to see a movie, because your daddy was sad. But then he got in another fight. So I had to come in and get him and save him again."
"You know your daddy used to put newspapers in his shoes to make himself taller?"
"Your daddy enlisted five times for the army, did you know that? Well, I caught him doing that again before I left. So I told him, 'Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone.' And your daddy gave this witty comeback, 'How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you.' I always called him a punk, he always called me a jerk... Your daddy was my best friend."
As she came up to him now, she gave him a small smile before putting her head down. She wanted him to know she cared about him and no matter what happened, he had her. She took a deep breath, and then they began.
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She was only seven. That was the only thought coursing through Bucky's head as he watched the little girl- his best friend's daughter- be hurt and beaten brutally.
The worst part was there was nothing he could do for her.
In the past few days that they had met by unfortunate circumstance, Bucky had found the little girl to be his saving grace, the only light in a very bad darkness. She had shocked him to his core when she had announced she was the daughter of Steve, but over time, she had won him over with her sweet and childish influence.
If he knew anything, he knew this girl was a definite win for HYDRA- a child, who hadn't been taught right from wrong yet, who was a Super Soldier? It was almost too good to be true for HYDRA that they had her in their possession.
It made Bucky sick.
The funny thing is, knowing this was Steve Roger's daughter and seeing how small she was, Bucky felt protective of the girl the same way he did when Steve was small.
Finally she sat up, and their "handlers", as HYDRA called them turned to the both of them. The first one said something in Russian, and the girl, in a calm tone, said, "We don't speak Russian, sir. We're English and American."
The handler slapped her across the face. She gasped, her hand going up to her cheek. "Da means yes. You speak only when spoken to. Understand?"
She froze. Bucky knew what she was supposed to say. "Da."
After being shoved back into their cell with another round of serums in their bloodstreams, Bucky looked at the girl's cheek. "It doesn't look too bad. You will be okay."
And he could see in her eyes, she really didn't believe that.
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Word count: 1.1k
A man could be rich in earthly materials , but without his identity, he is nothing.
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Fanfiction"I go by many names, sir. Some are good, some are bad- the most common one feels like it's both." "I highly doubt that." "Oh, but it's true. Come on, now, you didn't really think that being known as Captain America's daughter wouldn't be a burden, d...
