Invisible, Not Invincible

Chapter 30: The Raft

Over the next few days, I didn't see Bucky.

I had been out with Wanda and Nat the entire day after we talked, just having a girl's day. I tried to put on a brave face, but the thoughts of Bucky lingered in my mind.

Wanda didn't ask, but she knew. She always knows.

She knew that when I was ready to talk to her about what happened with Bucky, I would.

The following day, everyone got called out on a mission, so I was left alone.

I don't know if he was purposefully avoiding me or not, I wouldn't blame him if he was though.

Most of the team knew some of my past, and they weren't bothered. But none of them had actually been there, experienced it, as Bucky had.

I think besides Bucky, Steve was just as shocked about my past when he first found out.

I was wary of him for a long while after I left the raft, more so than usual.

When I had warmed up to him and told him about my history, he just seemed, sad?

He remembered me though, he remembered the little girl that helped him find his friend.

He had told me that he looked for me after he got Bucky. And he had always wondered what happened to me, who I was, why I was there. He told me that he questioned a lot of Hydra agents asking about 'the little girl' but no one knew anything. And if they did, they didn't say anything.

Steve had apologized to me. He said that, in hindsight, he should have grabbed me, before he got Bucky. That he was so sorry that he didn't save me, save me from the years of torture and abuse.

I forgave him, easily. He was looking for his lifelong best friend. In the midst of all of the chaos, his judgment was impaired.

I think once Steve and I talked about all of this, I saw him differently.

Not as Captain America, but as Steve, a kid from Brooklyn.

I had hoped that maybe after telling Bucky my history, it would be like starting over. No hiding, no lies, nothing.

Maybe I was wrong.

Wanda's POV:

I knew something had happened between y/n and Bucky, neither of them had to say anything, and I didn't need to look into their minds to know that.

It was on the fourth day after whatever had happened that I finally saw Bucky alone. He was sitting in the kitchen, lost in his thoughts.

I was just going in to grab a granola bar, I wasnt going to interrupt him.

I had turned to leave the kitchen.

"Wanda?"

I turned to look at him. Surprised that he even noticed me.

"Can I ask you something?"

I nodded and made my way over to where he was sitting at the kitchen island.

"Sure," I said, taking a bite of my snack.

"How do you– How do you trust y/n?" He said, not even looking at me, then he looked up to see my confused expression.

"I mean– you were used by Hydra, they hurt you... How do you trust someone that was raised by a Hydra elite, has Hydra running through their veins?"

I did my best to not be annoyed by what he was insinuating about y/n, I sighed.

"Hydra used me and my brother. We were consumed by grief, and revenge, and they used that to their advantage. They used y/n too."

Bucky seemed to think about what I was saying.

"When I had met y/n, it was between a wall on the raft."

Bucky seemed surprised by this, not knowing we found y/n there.

"I had only seen her for a second, then I was placed in the cell next to hers. I was trying to get out of the power-suppressing shock collar, and she spoke to me, surprising even herself when she did so. It took a long time to even get her to talk to me, and even longer for her to trust me. She'd been on the raft for about 4 years, she was defeated, but I don't know, content? She'd spent so much of her life locked up by Hydra, but now she was locked up elsewhere."

"... Why was she put on the raft?" Bucky asked,

I shook my head, "That's her story to tell, I can't tell you that."

Bucky sighed.

I had gotten up and begun walking out of the kitchen, I turned to tell him one last thing,

"But I can tell you, despite everything. Despite her past, the things she was forced to do, and the things she did after, she came out of it still filled with so much kindness. I trust y/n more than I trust myself, and I would happily lay my life down to protect her."

I walked out of the kitchen, leaving Bucky to think.

Our Pov:

I was sitting on the balcony, staring out at the sky, sipping on some hot tea.

I heard the sliding door open and then close.

Whoever just came out, didn't move from there.

"Why were you on the raft?" I heard Bucky finally speak up. Getting straight to the point.

I looked over at him, and then back out at the sky.

"I killed him," I said without looking at Bucky, taking a sip of my tea.

"Killed who?" Bucky said, tension in his voice.

I looked over my shoulder at him, a neutral expression on my face,

"My father."