Flesh and Bone ◇ Bucky Barnes ◇

Chapter III: Dogs

Bucky

"Bucky?" The name passed her lips as smoothly as her own passed his. She had not forgotten him. He was almost afraid that she would. His heart pounded against his ribs as he stared in horror at the girl across from him.
He was not happy to see her. She struggled harder against the leather around her wrists. She was trying to reach him, he knew that.
"Jo, don't-"
Before he could continue, the Hydra Agent slapped the back of his hand across her face. A crack echoed throughout the small room. Bucky jumped in his seat, instinctively pulling against his restraints.
"Don't touch her," he growled. The man turned to him, face set in stone. Bucky breathed heavily, his teeth bared like some kind of animal. He was not afraid of the soldier, he had no reason to be.
Jo breathed just as heavily, her eyes swimming with tears and mixed emotions. She looked horrified, terrified beyond belief. She looked betrayed, as if he had brought her here on purpose. She looked almost delighted that she was seeing him again. It was hard for him to look at her face for long before his eyes wandered down to the purple bruise about her neck. He pressed his lips together as the soldier turned to him and gave him a similar blow. He hardly flinched.
"Control your tongue, soldier," the man said, his Russian accent thick.
"Leave him alone!" Jo's voice was in no place to make any kind of remark, let alone one in a raised tone. Her voice was hoarse and cracking. She winced in pain as she spoke. However, she glared up at the man as he turned his attention back to her. He raised his hand, but she didn't cower. Bucky almost cracked a smile. That was the Jo he remembered.
The soldier smirked, lowering his hand. He grabbed her chin and Bucky could tell her was squeezing just a little bit too hard from the way she sent a pained look his way. Bucky leaned forward, pulling with all his might against the seat the trapped him.
Jo's eyes went back to the soldier's.
"You'll do quite nicely," he said, his voice low like a whisper. She eyes narrowed. He let go of her face and as soon as he did, she snapped at his fingers with her teeth, snarling, her eyes shooting fire. Bucky couldn't tell if she had managed to bite the man or not, but by the way he cradled his hand to his chest, she must have grazed him a little. He spat on her face, to which she only shut her eyes in disgust.
"Dog," he sneered. Just for effect, she snapped out again, causing the man to jump away. Bucky was horrified to see an almost psychotic grin cross her face as she bared her teeth, but as soon as the man left the room hurriedly, the smile, the glare, the enter facade fell away.
She turned back to him, eyes filling with water. Her jaw hung slack and a bruise began to form underneath her eye.
"Bucky-"
"Jo, don't talk. You'll just strain yourself more," he said, his voice breaking as he spoke. He wanted to put his metal arm to use to snap the ties around his wrist. He wanted to run across the room and break her free. He wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her lips and run his hands through her hair and tell her he loved her into her ear.
But he couldn't do any of that.
Instead, he looked deep into her eyes, trying to communicate with her without words. They were always watching. Always.
"You have a million questions," he finally spoke aloud. She nodded her head. He could see her pulling against her restraints. He swallowed, his throat dry and thick.
"I don't know why you're here, but it's probably my fault. I'm so sorry, Baby Doll. I'm so sorry." Tears rolled down her cheeks at the sound of her old name. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. He wanted to wipe those tears away and kill whoever brought her here.
"I know it's hard, I know. But you have to be brave, Jo. Be brave. Don't let them break you. They'll do anything to break you," Bucky continued talking. She lifted her face to his again. Brown eyes met blue, and, after a few moments, she nodded. The door opened again and two soldiers walked in, followed by one of the commanders that Bucky had seen before. He fell silent and tried not to look afraid in front of Jo. The commander stood completely still, cold eyes watching Bucky closely. Bucky struggled to tear his gaze from the man.
"Bring her," he said, his voice monotone and dead. Bucky snapped his head towards Jo, who was trying hard to follow his advice. He could see the fear in her eyes, but she kept her face straight. The soldiers walked over to her and unbuckled her bonds, pulling her to her feet. She looked to Bucky for help. He pulled against the restraints.
"Take me. Leave her. Let her go!" His cries were met with a hard punch to the face, but it only made him angrier. Jo walked complacently from the room, her head held high.
"Jo! It's okay, it's okay!" He called after her. He didn't hear a response. The metal door closed with a terrible bang! that made Bucky jump. He snapped his head towards the Commander with a glare. He tried to lunge at the man, but was held fast to the chair. The Commander came before him and crouched down, reaching eye level with his prisoner.
"You know why we brought her here, don't you Barnes?" The Commander asked, his voice soft, smooth as silk, nothing like you'd expect from a military officer. There wasn't a single sliver of a Russian accent, either. Bucky said nothing, but fidgeted with the straps on his wrists.
"Well, she's here because you were stupid enough to fall in love. It's your fault, honestly," the Commander stood and started to pace back and forth. "What? You thought that when we got you back, you'd just be able to keep all of your past safe? Sorry, that's not how it works here." The Commander put his hands on the arms of Bucky's chair and put his face just inches away.
"We will hurt her in every possible way, Barnes. Soon, you won't be able to even recognize the girl you once knew. Soon, she'll be one of us. Until then," a wicked smirk grew across his face, "My men have their own...how should I say...desires to attend to with your Baby Doll."
Bucky's blood boiled. A roaring fire started in his stomach. He felt the terrible urge to rip the Commander's heart out. The Commander broke into a devilish smile.
"All that rage, Barnes, that's what we want. Keep it there," The Commander said. Bucky took a page out of Jo's book and lashed his teeth out at the man before him, but the Commander saw it coming. He backed away, tsking his tongue.
"Sorry, Barnes. My men said you'd try that. The pair of you really are animals." The last comment was more to himself than to Bucky, but it filled him with more hatred than ever before. The Commander left the room with a bone-chilling laugh, leaving Bucky alone to think about what he had been told.

Hours later, after Bucky had been wallowing in his own hatred, anger, and fear, the door creaked open and two men dragged Jo's limp body back into the room. Bucky pulled and struggled and strained against his bonds, trying desperately to get to Jo. His anger melted away at the sight of her and all that occupied his thoughts was whether or not she was alive. They threw her back into her chair and tied her restraints back on. They left with a maniacal laugh.
Bucky's eyes were glued to the unconscious form of Joana Kegley. 
Her clothes were torn and blood from some unknown place was splattered over her body. She was pale, deadly pale. She had what looked like claw marks on her face. She looked as if she'd been mauled by a bear.
"And they call us animals," he breathed.
At the sound of his voice, her head snapped up and she let out a sound that was almost like a scream.
"Jo! Jo, hey. Jo, can you hear me?" Bucky called out to her. She breathed in short gasps, her eyes wide, but completely dry. Her eyes darted back and forth, as if she was looking for one of the soldiers. When she finally realized that it was just her and Bucky, she let out one, long, shaky breath. And another.
But she couldn't bring herself to meet Bucky's eyes.
"It's not your fault," he promised her, his voice soft, "It's not your fault. Look at me, Jo. It's not your fault."
She met his eyes, as she shook visibly. He managed a small reassuring smile.
"It's not your fault. We're going to be okay. We'll get through this. Steve will find us." He knew that, as soon as he said those last few words, that he had said something wrong, because the fear drained from her eyes and a long-settled sadness took its place.
"Jo?" Bucky's voice shot up an octave. She lowered her head and shook it once. The war veteran slumped back in his chair, his eyes glossing over in tears.
"I'm sorry," came the girl's raspy voice from the chair across the room.
"It's not your fault," was Bucky's reply.
It's mine.

He didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until the scraping of the metal door woke him up. He bolted upright, his eyes shooting immediately towards Jo, who sat with her head hung, eyes open and staring at the floor at Bucky's feet.
"Did you sleep?" He asked as the men entered. She shook her head once. "Keep your head up, Jo. Don't let them break you."
She stiffened, straightening her back and lifting her head. She pursed her lips and put an almost cocked smirk on her face, but her eyes remained the same- dead.
The Commander stepped into the room, another pair of soldiers behind him.
"Take the girl to the Ward. The Doctor knows what to do," the Commander said. Jo set herself, as if she was preparing for something. As soon as the leather buckles around her ankles and wrists were undone, she lashed out, throwing her fists and legs out in the way she had learned from fighting on the streets, but these men were trained professionals. She was no match for them. Before Bucky could make any attempt to call out to her or to ask them to stop, she was on her hands and knees, the men kicking her stomach.
"That's enough!" The Commander yelled. The men froze her. "The Doctor needs her in as good a condition as possible, otherwise this won't work."
They hoisted her onto her feet. As the dragged her from the room, Jo smirked at Bucky, as if this was almost fun.
That thought terrified him.
"Your girlfriend's not the same, Barnes. She'll never be the same. And after what we're doing now, you won't recognize her. Trust me." Bucky glared at the back of The Commander's head as he left the room. When the door shut, Bucky let out the heart-wrenching scream, moving so violently, that he shook the entire chair and almost tipped it over.
He didn't know what the Commander meant, but whatever it was, Bucky did not like it, not at all.

______

So there's the first day of torture. I hope this chapter wasn't too awful. It gets pretty dark from here on out, so if you don't know if you can handle that, please don't read. I don't want anyone to be triggered by any of this at all.

Thank you for the reads, votes, and comments, they mean so much to me.

If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm all ears. I love listening to people and trying to help them through stuff so please please please don't hesitate to come to me.

Thank you all so much for your time and patience.

Go in self-control,
authorsbane