11th May 2015
The next week was weird, no doubt about it. Her guardians had a meeting with the principal, and it was decided that Elizabeth would move classes at the beginning of the next school year. Until then, teachers would keep a close eye on them. Despite this, Elizabeth still managed to escalate things in the most subtle ways; it seemed she was taking her father's advice to do her best not to get caught.
Jayden had every opportunity to tell her guardians about it whenever they asked her how school was going, but she never did. It felt silly to tell on Elizabeth. It wasn't like she was harming Jayden, only being mildly irritating.
It didn't help that she had nightmares every night, and when she awoke in the morning, it was to a splitting headache and Terries being the first thing on her mind. No doubt it was a message from the Superior. As much as she tried to follow Bucky's instructions, she found herself constantly distracted by persistent headaches throughout the day. Something else, she suspected, was the Superior's doing.
It was tiresome, so eventually she buckled and announced to her guardians she wanted to see Terries per his demand.
"I don't know," Pepper murmured as she brushed her sleep-tangled hair.
"I need to know what he wants, and anyway, without the information he's offering, we'll never get anywhere with the rest of Hydra. We don't have a choice," Jayden argued, picking at a loose string on her jumper.
"Jayden..." she sighed. "You don't need this. You've already gone through enough as it is."
"Not to mention you're still getting accustomed to Caroline," Tony added, from where he fiddled with the TV.
Caroline, her new therapist. Pepper had finally found someone whom Jayden didn't immediately reject and even got Oliver booked in too. While Oliver immediately responded well, she was having a much harder time. As Tony told Steve, she was having difficulty talking about the heavier stuff, so much so that Pepper would often need to take her home by how distressed she would become. She wished to quit, but she had promised Pepper she'd try a full month before deciding. She just had to stick with it.
"That has nothing to do with this." She shook her head. "Let me do this."
"You'll be completely alone with him," Pepper warned. "Nobody would know if you needed assistance."
"Maybe we can sneak something in," Tony suggested. "Like a bug under the table."
"No, I need to do it alone."
Theo nodded and stepped forward from his place at the table. "I'll be there. Terries never said anything about me in his conditions. As soon as we're in the room, I'll come out of the pendant."
Tony and Pepper shared a concerned look before Pepper sighed. "Alright, I'm trusting you."
"Ditto," Tony nodded.
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15th May 2015
"Sign here to show your acknowledgements of the risks of allowing the child in your care to speak with prisoner 2351 unaccompanied with no digital supervision. The prison is not responsible for any or all harm, physical or otherwise, that may occur during time with the prisoner," the head warden drawled, handing Tony a pen.
Tony tapped the pen in his hand and looked down at Jayden, bouncing her foot against the marble floor. She glanced away as their eyes met and squeezed Steve's hand tightly to her chest as though he could rip the butterflies swarming inside.
"Hey," Tony murmured, kneeling before her and lightly pinching her chin. "You sure you want to do this?"
His tone was solemn. His hand was firm when she tried to look away. Her teeth chewed into her lip, her hand clenching Steve's.
YOU ARE READING
Unforeseen¹
FanfictionJYD2641 had enough. In her seven years, she's only ever known the cruel hands of her doctors, who were determined to make her the next Winter Soldier. All she'd ever known was death, pain, and fear. Instead of a parent's loving embrace, she had the...
