afterglow - tony stark

28

           Everyone was perplexed about what had happened in the night with the freezing chamber. Valonkov was furious that the Soldier was awake; it just left more chance that he could remember.

        "It seemed to be an electrical fire, sir. The Soldier's chamber has been completely destroyed...."

            One of the guards explained to Valonkov and the man frowned, "How long until it's rebuilt?"

             "That's just it. We don't know. Even the pipes in the walls that supplied the air we're completely burnt to ash. It'll take months to fix."

           "An electrical fire did this?" Valonkov watched the camera monitor of Eira in the dark. She just laid there, petting the caterpillar. "No, I don't think that's true...."

            _____

              Valonkov had her brought to him at once. He considered her with a blank stare as he explained slowly that there was a fire that released the Winter Soldier.

               "Such a shame," she replied sarcastically.

       He smiled coldly and the shocks erupted in her neck that made her fall to her knees as she cried out. She gained an angry sneer as she spasmed on the ground.

        "See, that look of defiance..." he circled her like a predator. "We just can't have."

              He suddenly brought his foot down on her hand and she screamed so loudly she was sure it resonated throughout the whole facility. She was sure she heard cracks in her hand. She was sure he had crushed the bones.

            She was already crying but he wasn't done with her as he undid his belt. He whipped her with it and it slashed at her back. She tried to crawl away but he placed his boot in front of her hand, reminding her that he could crush it even more which made her stop. When she was sent back to her cell, the back of her shirt was covered in blood.

______

She felt like the weeks that followed were the longest point of her life. Sometimes, just moving an inch in her cell would make her fall unconscious because of the lacerations on her back. She even started up coughing and she thought maybe she had pneumonia but she couldn't be sure.

Sometimes, she even felt like dying or that her body was dying but then she'd grab the necklace around her neck. She would remember what she was living for and she would force herself to keep her eyes open. She felt like if she closed them, they would never open again and, god, if she didn't see Tony again...that couldn't bare thinking about.

        And she had no one to talk to in her cell again. Her caterpillar had wrapped itself in a cocoon and left her all alone. How she wished she could be in a cocoon, safe and unharmed.

_____

As the weeks passed, the Winter Soldier had become her guard that transported her around the facility. His mission was to keep her compliant. It was easy. She was very weak and she didn't put up a fight; he even heard her cough a lot which made him think she wouldn't last more than a week.

But she did.

She even got better as some energy started to fill her eyes. That was when she started to put her plan in action as the Soldier transported her to the lab to get her blood drawn again.

She looked back at him as she spoke. She noticed they had him wear that mask again; it made him look like a muzzled dog and it broke her heart.

           "I've been to the museum in Washington, you know..." she started quietly.

"Stop talking," he commanded blankly as they walked.

"They have a memorial on Captain America...." she said and the name made him freeze. He didn't really understand why it did.

"I know who you are. You're James Buchanan Barnes."

"Shut up," he said angrily; he would remember, wouldn't he? "You're lying."

"No, I'm..."

"Move forward," he pushed her ahead harshly to keep walking and she sighed sadly. She couldn't get him to remember if he didn't want to. She might very well be in here forever.

_____

After that, he kept staring at her whenever she was out of the cell and he was transporting her. He kept thinking. He'd never been able to think before, not really. But they couldn't put his mind on ice right now and halt all of his thoughts.

He had heard talk that she was the cause of him coming out of the chamber. He knew she certainly paid the price for it. He wouldn't say he was grateful to the enemy but he was glad he didn't have to go back in there for awhile.

He kept testing the names she gave him in his head. Captain America. James Buchanan Barnes. He repeated them in his head over and over and some things knocked loose the longer he did it. They were mere images in his head, not full on memories, but it made him curious.

He knew he had to be careful about his curiosity. HYDRA didn't like curious soldiers. But somewhere in his mind told him it was worth it. That it didn't matter what they did to him as long as he remembered.

It was a couple days later when he brought her back to her cell that he lingered in the doorway. She stared at him with furrowed brows and it was silent for a moment as he weighed the decision in his mind. An actual decision. He couldn't remember the last time he made a decision that wasn't an order.

Then he hesitantly asked, "What do you remember...about me?"

She smiled at him. It made his chest feel light. He couldn't remember the last time someone ever smiled at him. It felt odd to not remember something so bright, a smile. How long had he gone without one? He didn't know. But he wanted to find out.

Eira started with the beginning, "You had a best friend named Steve Rogers..."