Captured // A Winter Soldier Story

chapter seventeen // holding on

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"Don't care if he's guilty, don't care if he's not. He's good and he's bad and he's all that I've got. Oh Lord, Oh Lord, I'm begging you please, don't take that sinner from me."

-Devil's Backbone by The Civil Wars

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reyna's point of view

I was shaking violently, images of blood and my mother's broken form swirling in front of my vision. I could hear my father's snarling voice telling me I wasn't enough, his hands curled into fists as he hit me again and again.

My very bones were quaking as I stared at the note without actually seeing it, horrified by the words on the paper.

You thought you killed me, sweetheart, but you were wrong.

But I did kill him. I witnessed him taking his last breath, I saw the evil glint in his eyes go dark. I watched him die.

How on earth could he still be alive?

"Reyna? Are you alright?" Bucky asked, his voice sounding far away. He didn't understand what the note meant or who it was meant for. I could see the confusion and concern in his eyes, and I was touched that he would try to help anyway- but he didn't understand the magnitude of the situation.

Then Steve came into my vision, and I noticed his sagged shoulders and the caution in his steps. He knew exactly what that note meant.

I lurched forward suddenly and grabbed the paper, screaming with rage as I tore it to shreds. Hot tears raced down my cheeks. The shock was gone- anger had taken its place. I crumbled the pieces into balls and launched them across the room, slamming my fists into the wall when I'd run out of things to throw. I dented the paint.

"Reyna.." Steve coaxed sadly behind me, the tone of his voice sending a pang through my heart. I turned, and his sad expression made my anger dissipate. My shoulders heaved as I began to sob.

His arms were around me in an instant, his huge muscles encircling me tightly as my tears soaked his shirt. I was shaking violently again, the fear of my father causing my breathing to pick up until I was hyperventilating. I was having another panic attack.

"Shh Reyna, just breathe. I'm right here. Breathe," Steve whispered, and I pulled my head out from the crook of his neck, putting my chin on his shoulder and attempting to focus on something, anything, to distract myself. I noticed could see Bucky from where I was- I could see how dark his eyes were as he watched us. He looked concerned, confused and maybe even a little bit angry. I was in no position mentally to do much except cry, Steve even taking the brunt of my weight as my legs started giving out, but I managed to pull one arm out of Steve's embrace and reach towards Bucky anyway.

Bucky stepped forward, grasping my hand with his real hand and entangling our fingers. His blue eyes were locked on mine as he brought the back of my palm to his lips. They were soft, and if I hadn't been on the verge of fainting, I would've been shocked at the fact that he'd just kissed my hand.

"I'm here. I won't let anyone hurt you," Bucky whispered, his face only half a foot away from mine. My right arm was curled around Steve's waist, my left hand ensnared in Bucky's grasp. I clung to them desperately, needing both of them just to be able to stand on my own.

It was a while before I managed to get my breathing under control again. By the time my tears stopped soaking through Steve's shirt, it was nearly one in the morning. I peeled myself away from Bucky and Steve and stepped back, wiping my eyes and taking a deep breath. It was unnervingly quiet.