Captured // A Winter Soldier Story

chapter twenty // trigger

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"If I told you what I was, would you turn your back on me? And if I seem dangerous...would you be scared?"
-Monster by Imagine Dragons

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bucky's point of view

The second Reyna said the word father, my assumption about the man's identity was confirmed and my heart plummeted. There was so much pain written in her features, so much desperation and fear leaking into her movements. I could see her hands shaking from here.

The man laughed cruelly, and as he walked closer and I could see more of his features, I found it hard to believe that he was related to Reyna. He had greying hair, a cold demeanor and hollow cheeks, with dark shadows visible under his eyes. While Reyna looked young, strong and beautiful, he looked old and frail, like he was already starting to wither away. I couldn't imagine a scenario in which he was Reyna's father.

"Yes, Reyna, it's me. Your little stunt in Sacramento hurt like hell, sure, but it didn't kill me."

Reyna looked very far away and I wanted to reach out and comfort her, but I also didn't want to make her appear weak in front of her father, so I stayed still. She blinked and frowned after a moment, looking up at her father in confusion.

"But...you were dead. You stopped breathing. There...there was so much blood," she stammered, clenching her fists. Her father just smirked.

"Hydra has the most advanced technology on the planet, darling. It wasn't that hard to bring me back," he replied. "I do have to admit, though- I'm a little upset that you tried to kill me. Surely I wasn't that bad."

I growled at his words. He knew damn well why his daughter- hell, even the entire world- wanted him dead. I wished he was close enough for me to wrap my hands around his throat, but he was still halfway across the street, having paused on the double yellow lines painted in the middle of the asphalt.

I was tempted to say something. But then I caught a glimpse of Reyna's face and the red-hot, raw emotion behind her eyes that threatened to spill out, and I immediately knew she was more than capable of handling this herself.

"You fucking deserved it. In fact, you deserve a much worse death than I gave you," she snarled, taking a step forward and crossing her arms over her chest. Her chin tilted up a little as her confidence grew.

"Now, Reyna. Let's not say something we'll regret," her father simply chided, shifting his eyes suddenly to mine. He gave me an unsettling smile that made my skin crawl. "We don't want anyone to suffer from your bad choices."

Reyna followed his gaze and paused when she realized who he was referring to, fear shooting through her grey eyes as she stared at me with worry. I tried to convey to her that it would be alright, but I wasn't sure she got the message.

She turned back to her father, the terror that was written in her features before now dissolving into strength. Her hands grew steady again. It was one thing to mess with her- it was a completely different thing to mess with people she cared for. Her eyes were dark and stormy, like the edge of a hurricane. I was glad that I wasn't in her path of destruction.

"Don't even think about touching them," She seethed, her voice terrifyingly quiet. Her father simply smiled wider and locked eyes with me again. I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"I don't need to touch them to hurt them. Especially when one of your friends is the Winter Soldier."

Just hearing that name, the name of creature I was forced to become, was enough to send me over the edge. I was careful to not react to his words, but I couldn't stop the flicker of pain that coursed through my chest when he called me by the name I had been forcedly given.