Caught in Storms

Finishing It

-Bucky-
Things are starting to get back to whatever normal we have as the whole team gets Emma ready to confront Rafferty. Her confidence is building up much more and she is standing up to everyone a little better since my rescue. I think her being in that uniform woke something up in her, and in that way I am grateful for it.
This week is a busy one, as we have to deal with Rafferty and check out some more wedding details that Emma really wants to make sure to get done before May.
We've set a date for July, wanting to make sure that rain won't attack at Alpine for the festivities. All the invitations are done and sent out, we just have tux fittings, dress fittings, flowers, cake, and the vows. Emma has already arranged for the decorations somehow, I'm assuming she knew someone, and even got a photographer lined up.
Because the Avengers are such a huge media sensation in recent years, she had to find people that wouldn't leak wedding details to social or news media so that we could have the day for us and our closest friends and family.
"I thinks it's really cool, like celebrities, but I don't want to have a flood of people screaming while we are trying to say our vows," she says as she is going over flower arrangements from a portfolio.
"I'm with you baby doll," I smile and kiss her softly. I watch as she eyes arrangements of daisies and red roses, traditional yet subtle and sweet. Daisies are her favorite and I'm more than happy to let her have them in the wedding.
"I think I'm going to make my bouquet and your boutonnière myself," she says thoughtfully.
"Why's that baby?"
"Because I know exactly how I picture them in my head and I want to be able to preserve them that way once the wedding is over," she smiles, staring off into the distance.
"I like that idea doll," I say happy. I can't wait to see what she does with them, she's so creative and does amazing work in whatever she does.
"I need to pick my something new, something old, something blue, and something borrowed too, which I have no idea where to look," she giggles. I smile and bite my lip.
"Well I have something old covered, but you won't get it until the day, if you're good with that."
"I can wait," she smiles and kisses me happily.
Emma finishes up with the flower arrangement choices and we both decide just to do a red velvet cake with light icing, neither one of us huge on icing anyway.
"We gotta talk to everyone about their parts in the wedding today, that way tux and dress fittings can happen," I say.
"You're right. Are you good with the arrangements I have been thinking of?"
"Absolutely, it'll be perfect and everyone will get to be included if they want to be," I smile. James wakes up in the other room and I stand up. "Let's talk to them all now."
"Good idea, I'll have FRIDAY call them into the conference room if you can grab James," Emma smiles.
"I'm on it doll," I smile and go into James' room. He is rolling around his crib happily, babbling to himself.
"Hey there buddy, what are you doin' huh? Come on let's get your diaper changed and daddy will wear you in that little wrap thing you like," I say to him and pick him up as he squeals happily. God, I love this little guy I say to myself as I get him changed and into a comfy onesie, then I find the wrap thing Emma uses. I get it on me and settle James into it and then head out, Emma already having gone downstairs.
As I am coming down the stairs, Sam is walking inside from the workroom and he leans his head back and laughs at me.
"What?"
"I never thought I'd see the day that grumpy, old James Buchanan Barnes would be wearing a baby wrap," he howls in laughter.
"Yeah, yeah. Yuck it up, Feathers," I say and shove him playfully.
"I only tease man, I think it's great," he chuckles and claps me on the back as we go into the conference room. When Emma sees me she blushes and smiles, kissing my cheek then James'.
"We wanted to bring everyone together today to let you all know how much we appreciate your guidance and support and friendship. We are coming up close to the wedding and we wanted to make sure to include everyone in on the experience."
Everyone looks around at one another then at Emma and I as they wait to hear what's going on.
"First off, Sam, it would mean the world to me to have you walk me down the aisle on my wedding day, as well as be Bucky's best man," Emma smiles. Before he looks like he can cry, Sam comes over and hugs us both tight, saying he'd love to and he's honored.
"This is great man, thank you," Sam smiles happily.
"Next, I would absolutely love it if Hope, if you would be my maid of honor. You've been amazing friend to me since I've been here and I don't know what I'd do without you," Emma says and Hope attacks her with a hug, crying happily. I chuckle softly.
Emma asks Kate, Yelena, and Cassie to be bridesmaids, and I ask Scott, Clint, Thor and Bruce to be groomsmen.
Emma and I also decided to see if Morgan would like to be the flower girl and Pepper, Happy, and Peter will be coming to the wedding too. Everyone we love will have a place in the wedding, and we've only invited the closest of friends, including Shuri and her mother.
Everything is falling into place and we are all coming together as one big happy family, something that Emma truly deserves and should have.
Emma asks Clint if he would be willing to officiate the wedding too and he seems to like the idea of it.
Hill breaks the fun up by coming in and approaching Emma.
"I'm really happy for you, Emma, but we think it's time to get you in front of Rafferty. We think if we can get some more information from him then we can start lining up more missions for after the wedding and honeymoon. Are you okay with this?"
Emma looks up at me and I take her hand gently, moving my thumb over her knuckles. Emma nods reluctantly and Hill gets things prepared. I have Cassie take James, who is beyond thrilled to have him, and Sam, Emma, Hope, and I all go to the cell blocks. Rafferty is taken into an interrogation room with a one-way mirror to an observation room. Hope, Hill and I will be staying back here, while Emma and Sam are going to be going into the room. I grab Emma's wrist before she goes in.
"I love you, please be careful. The moment something doesn't feel right I want you to leave or call one of us in, okay?"
"Yes Bucky, I will," she says and hugs me tight. Sam opens the door to the interrogation room and lets Emma in first, then he goes in too.
Rafferty is quiet and observant as Emma walks in and has a seat at the table across from him, then Sam does the same.
"I was wondering when you would finally come and talk to me, I've been looking forward to this," Rafferty says in a gross, unsettling voice.
"Why's that," Emma asks, her tone cool and collected as she watches him curiously.
"I wanted to see what my little experiment has become! Working with the Avengers and kicking more ass than I could ever hope to. You put on a really good show by the way, putting on your assassin boyfriend's little outfit. Did you need that to hype up your courage to face me?"
"Shut the hell up," Sam says getting annoyed.
"And you. The protective big brother. I wonder why you have him here instead of your boyfriend."
"Because if he comes near you he will want to kill you. He's a good person and you seem to bring out the worst in people."
"Oh yes I excel at that, and I was extremely excited when you turned on me at the warehouse facility. Seeing you lose yourself to anger was...incredible. But you were designed and meant for something scarier, I liked what we were getting you ready for more," Rafferty says, his voice dripping in perverted nastiness that makes me want to slam him into a wall. I see Emma's hand flinch under the table but she makes no other signs that she's bothered. At least not to Rafferty.
"I don't like the way he said that. I hope to god he's not—"
"Yeah and if he has, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now we need to stay focused on Emma and what she gets out of him, she's fine right now," Hope says, trying to ground me. She puts her hand on my shoulder to try to comfort me as we continue to watch them.
My mind drifts to the scars that Emma has all over her body. She grows her hair long to hide the ones on her head, she will never wear anything backless or see through without design because of the ones on her back.
The ones that make me feel sick now are the ones on the inside of her thighs, looking like someone was hitting her with barbed wire or something. I feel sick to my stomach again, fearing what she's been through.
"I want to know more about you, Ben. Why Hydra?"
"Hydra found me, they needed weapons, and I provided them. It's as simple as that."
"No it's not. If it were I would not be here the way that I am."
"Yeah that might be true," Rafferty sighs and looks at her curiously. "You were supposed to be like him, an assassin that could be used for the dirtiest of work that us in the real world didn't want to deal with. Hydra told me to find a young kid with no real future and they provided me with the serum. I had fun with you first. We would torture you and inject some of the serum, watch you heal, then start all over again. I don't remember what your ages were and didn't care. But we did not get to finish the process. Someone called in and police raided the warehouse as we were set to put the finishing dose of serum in. Apparently there are three of you that were supposed to be the golden children once you were all grown up but one of you couldn't be swayed to change back in the day and you, Emma, were rescued too soon."
"What have you been doing since?"
"Just mercenary work for Hydra, helping them grow their heads back."
"Who was the third person besides me and Bucky?"
"I don't know, they never told me, but it was a person that was around when they were first starting out as Hydra."
"Interesting, super soldier?"
"Yes, he was the one they always wanted. Schmidt left notes about him before he died."
"What was the reason to kidnap Bucky?"
"They want their favorite toy back, and I was hoping to get him to use as leverage to get MY toy back," Rafferty says. The word he emphasizes makes my skin crawl and it takes all my strength not to slam my first through the window.
Emma is starting to spiral, her knee bouncing under the table from him speaking like that.
"Well that definitely won't be happening Rafferty. You done fucked up enough and you're going away for a long ass time," Sam says and he gets up to leave, but Emma doesn't budge.
"What did you do to me," she asks harshly, being very pointed and forward. Sam goes to grab her arm to stop her and she shakes him off. No, Emma baby please get out of there. You don't need this right now. Emma steels herself in the chair, crossing her arms and demanding answers from Rafferty as the stare angrily at each other for a few moments. Sam stands at the door with his arms crossed, prepared to grab Emma and haul her out of there if it gets bad.
"I did a lot of stuff, princess. Water, electrocutions, beatings...and some more. Tell me, does he make you scream the way I did," Rafferty turns his voice into a low whisper, leaning over the table a little bit as he speaks to Emma. Emma grabs the back of his head and slams it onto the metal table, a good sizable crunch sounding in the room from his now broken nose and possibly teeth. Rafferty let's out a pained scream as his face makes contact with the metal table.
"Struck a nerve did I," Rafferty asks, being pinned to the table by Emma and Sam.
"You are disgusting, low life trash and I hope you rot for all eternity. The only reason you're still alive is because I'm not like you. I will never be like you, and I'm going to enjoy watching you rot in hell while I make something better of myself and my family takes down your Hydra friends...one-by-one-by-one," Emma says angrily and then kicks his chair out from under him so that his chin hits the table and knees hit the floor.
"Cut off one head, two more shall takes its place," Rafferty spits out, blood spraying all over the table as he does. There is a bloody and toothy grin on his face as he stares up at Emma.
"Hydra is a cancer, and eventually, cancers can be treated," Emma says with such venom in her voice that it scares even me.
"There is no cure though, only treatment. And boy will I enjoy watching it kill you slowly from the inside. If you only knew what they have planned for you and your little friends."
"Why don't you tell me then?"
"It's more fun to make you all squirm. Honestly I wish your boyfriend was in here with us. When he sees who is going to be coming for you two, and that little boy of yours, he's going to lose his fuckin' mind," Rafferty threatens and laughs manically.
Emma punches him hard and grabs him by his hair.
"I will kill whoever the fuck comes near my family. No hesitation, no regret, no mercy," Emma growls angrily and slams him into the table again.
There is so much blood pouring from Rafferty's nose and face that he might pass out here shortly. Emma storms out of the interrogation room and out of the cell block before I can even get to her.
Sam looks at me and shakes his head. He wants to go in there and kick Rafferty's ass as much as I do, but Hope stops us.
"You two go find her, Scott and I will handle him," she says and pushes us off in the direction Emma went.
We hurry off to find Emma, when we hear noise in the storage room at the far end of the compound. We go in and find Emma digging through a box of her things, tossing papers everywhere.
"Emma what are you doing?"
She emerges from inside a box with a thick file that looks like medical documents. She slams it on the table and flips through it quickly and starts to read.
"Emma, please say something," Sam says coming over to her. She stops him and keeps reading and she starts to laugh hysterically after a few moments, scaring both of us.
"He didn't touch me. He didn't touch me! He didn't fucking touch me," she hollers out, laughing at first then it devolves into angry crying and sobbing. She gets even angrier and seems likes she's going to haul herself back into the interrogation room, throwing the papers down on the ground and heading into the hallway. I catch her and hold her against me tight, rocking her back and forth a little. Sam sits with us and just rubs her back as we sit there and let her get it all out. She cries hard and desperately for a good long while.
After awhile, Emma is able to calm down and is just sitting quietly between Sam and I as we lean against a wall. I can tell her mind is racing but she is just needing to work through it slowly.
"I had to get confirmation. I had to know," Emma finally says.
"Of what honey," Sam asks.
"That he didn't take that last bit of innocence from me, that I gave that to someone I loved and trusted."
"Emma he knew exactly how to get in your head, that's all, and he never will again," I say and kiss her forehead. Emma relaxes a little bit more and just breathes deeply.
"I don't know what I would do without you guys, my brother and my partner. I'm finally feeling free and starting to feel at peace, thanks to you boys and your support."
"We both will always be here to back you up, Emma," Sam smiles and hugs her tight.
"There's only a few things left to do now," she smiles softly, holding one of each of our hands.
"What's that," I ask confused.
"Let's get his ass the fuck out of our house and get this wedding planning finished," Emma replies happily. The three of us burst into a fit of laughter and get up to get the paper mess cleaned up. I make a move and demand that Hill get Rafferty put away. There is nothing more that we can get out of him that we can't find out on our own. Emma doesn't need him anymore and neither does the team.
We still need to figure out who that third person is that Rafferty mentioned, but I'm sure that is in a file somewhere and we just need to look further.