Bucky Barnes' Daughter

Chapter Five

Sunlight barely streamed in through my window when I woke up the next morning.  I cried myself to sleep again but this time it wasn't because of something someone else did, no this time I caused myself this pain.  I sit up and I feel the stiffness in my side.  Tomorrow, Banner wants to check my stitches and hopefully remove them but until then I have to take it easy.

I grab some clothes and I head towards the bathroom down the hall.  When I go to open the door, it swings open to reveal Wanda in a pair of grey pjs.

"It's a little early for you to be up."  She holds open the door for me.  "Couldn't sleep?"

"Not really.  I'm going out for a run, if you want to join me."  I offer and she nods.  "I should be out in a few minutes.  Meet you in the hallway?"

"Sure."  I watch her disappear down the hall before closing the door behind me.  I wash my face trying to remove the evidence of last night.  Wanda noticed but thankfully didn't comment.  I change into the sweatpants and t-shirt Nat got me being a little more practical than all the cute things Pepper insisted I needed. 

I stare at the mirror trying to fight the guilt that kept threatening to drown me.  Every day I would wake up fighting my own inner demons and now one of the main problems that keeps attacking me is in the same building.  It was so much easier when I was able to separate myself from Bucky now it will be so much harder since he's always going to be around.  

I shake my head, pull my hair into a bun, and I dash out the bathroom and back to my room.  I slip on the sneakers I already had and slip out the door.  Wanda was waiting for me in sweatpants of her own and I smile at her.  It was nice being around someone who knew what I was going through.

"So what's it like living here?"  I ask as she shows me out a back door.  I would have to make note of where all the exits are in case of emergency.  My brother had a habit of finding me and I don't want to be trapped when shit hits the fan again.

"It's nice.  Everyone treats me like I'm their little sister."  She replies as we start running.  The cool October air quickly wakes me up as she keeps up with my pace.  I seemed to have a knack for running and my powers inside of me threaten to spring loose but I doubt Wanda could keep up with me at that point.

"I wished my brother treated me like that."  I think back to all the suffering my brother has caused me.  Family was supposed to protect you but frankly my family keeps causing me so much pain.

"You're my little sister now and I'll make sure nothing happens to you. " She assures me as we continue our run.  I wished I could offer her the same but no one is off limits when my brother comes a knocking.

"On your left," Captain tells me as he runs past.  I wasn't about to let him leave me in the dust.  Wanda seemed to be tiring out anyways.  I chase after Captain and after a minute I finally caught up.  I pushed myself even harder and passed him.

"On your left."  I joke as I keep up my pace.  I would have been able to keep running forever but then I was dragged into my brother's head.  I tripped and fell down the side of the hill before hitting a tree.  But I didn't feel it at all.

"What do you mean you haven't found her!"  My brother screams at the man in front of him.  "How can one little girl escape all of your grasp?"  With a flick of his wrist he broke the man's neck.  I quickly become aware of the fact that  he knew I was there.  "I know you're in my head."  I try to pull out fighting back against the hold he was having against me.  I was taught at a young age that I needed to fight like hell to get out before bad things happened but this time I couldn't pull away.  He must be practicing and I'm getting rusty.  "I will find you and if you don't seem to remember what happens when you disobey, you might want to remind yourself what fire feels like."

I manage to pull out of my brother's head and suddenly I became aware of the ache that was engulfing my whole body.  The pain was manageable since I was so used to being someone's punching bag.  The next time I see my brother, I should probably give him a taste of his own medicine.  I take a minute to process everything that was going through my head.  The threat was there and honestly it won't be long before he pulls me into his head long enough to know where I am.  At that point, I should probably be far enough away from the Avengers to spare them the pain that my brother was reserving for me. 

"Are you okay?"  I snap out of my head trying to put the plans on hold as Captain studies me.  I nod as he offers me a hand up.

"I'm used to having flying lessons."  I flash back to the days I was taught how to defend myself instead of being abused.  My instructor didn't take any chances with me so we gave it our all.  I slip into my defensive mode.

"That looked like it hurt."  Wanda finally makes it down to us.  "What happened?"

"Nothing."  I reply keeping my face neutral.  There was no use in worrying them now about something that couldn't be fixed.  I would have to face my own demons in the end, I'm just hoping that I can minimize the damage.