The Silent Shadow || marvel

14- brooms: the ultimate weapon

Bucky was worried about Lana.

On the weeks they've been on the road she's had nightmares almost every night. During the day she also seemed... off.

She was still talkative, and couldn't sit still, but it was different now. It seemed forced.

When he asked her about it she said she was fine and nothing was wrong, but he knew she had lied- he always seemed to understand.

The thought of her baby being unspoken felt like someone physically squeezed his heart while he drove and thought about it. 

He wanted to help her more than anything, he just didn't know how.

The thing about Svetlana Barnes was that she was the most closed-off one could get. If pushed too far to reveal information she would push herself away from you.

And the small amount of distance that had already started to suffocate him nearly drove him insane.

He wanted it gone, so he left her be.

As the days flew by they grew nearer and nearer to their destination. It was still a ludicrously large way away but the distance was no longer so great.

Lana's skin started to lose its sickly pale tint and melt into a healthy ivory color. It pleased her father beyond belief to see her begin to shed off the film HYDRA had wrapped around her and blossom into an actual child- even if she would never be normal.

✪

The car was silent as they drove across the traffic-filled highway. For once, Lana decided to be a law-abiding citizen and sat in the backseat. The air conditioning made the familiar sound of air being pushed out of the vents, but other than that it was quiet.

To quiet.

Instinctively, James peered into the rearview mirror to check on his suspiciously quiet daughter.

The sight was of a calm Lana who peered down into her lap and sat crisscrossed apple sauce with something that rested in between her knees that he couldn't quite make out.

He veered his head to the side to inspect further but had no such luck.

"Whatcha doin' there Sunshine?" He asked.

"Reading." She replied without bothering to look up.

James's head pulled back slightly as his brows furrowed. He didn't recall purchasing a book at their recent stop, and last time he checked the girl barely knew how to read in English.

"Where'd you get that?" He questioned further.

"Back in Missouri, I stole it."

"Well yeah, I figured since I didn't buy it."

She didn't reply.

"What's it called?"

"Magic threehose."

Who the hell would write a book about a magic treehouse? What the hell even was a treehouse?

James racked his brain for a solid five minutes before he remembered the girl's lack of literacy in the English language.

"Can I see it, Lana?" He requested.