Flesh and Bone ◇ Bucky Barnes ◇

Chapter V: The Hand That Feeds

Joana

Joana had never been good at routine. But that was her new life with Hydra. She woke up in the morning, was hand fed by the same soldier, went to testing, where she would eat lunch, and then she'd return to the room where she would sleep, wake up to eat her final meal, and then fall asleep again. Sometimes, the routine was changed up and she was dragged from the room after her third meal and had some time alone with the soldier who fed her.
She hated those days the most. She always fought him, the hardest she could, but he was a trained soldier, and she was just a girl from Brooklyn. There was no helping her.
She didn't know how long this went on for; weeks, maybe months. Time lapsed in the Hydra base. She never saw the sun, never the moon. She never felt the wind or the touch of grass. She never had a pillow nor a blanket. She never got closer to Bucky. That was the worst kind of torture; to be so close to him after so many years and being unable to touch him. He understood how she felt.
But one day, after the experiments, which were shorter than usual, she was escorted to a padded room. Standing in the middle of said room was a female, leaning against some kind of stick. Jo's escort pushed her inside and shut the door. Jo sighed.
"Look, I'm really tired. I just came back from getting branded for the millionth time. Do you mind if I take a nap?" Jo asked the woman, who did nothing but stare straight at her, blue eyes stone cold.
"Oooookay. So, I'm just going to sit here-"
The blonde haired, blue eyed woman picked the stick up and marched towards Jo. Jo recognized the move as a threat and prepared herself for a beating. But before the woman got to her, Jo saw another stick laying on the ground a few feet away. As the blonde beauty drew closer, Jo ducked under her swing and rolled towards the stick. She crawled the rest of the way, but found that the woman was just behind her. She grabbed the stick with both hands and flipped on to her back, holding it up like a shield. She effectively protected herself from the Blonde's blow, but the woman hadn't given up yet.
She proceeded to jab the stick downwards, aiming for Jo's stomach. But Jo saw the attack coming and she rolled to the side. Before the woman could attack again, Jo kicked her legs out from underneath her. With the woman now on her back, Jo stood above her, stick at the woman's neck. Both women breathed heavily, but the woman began to smile. Jo's eyebrows furrowed together.
"The boys said you liked to fight," she said, her British accent almost as thick as the Russian accents. "But you've got a long way to go." Jo considered herself confused. The woman held out her hand, asking Jo for some help up. Unsure of what else to do, Jo pulled her off the ground.
"I'm Danika Stark. No, I'm not related to Howard Stark. It's a common last name," she said, flashing a grin which showed off her perfect white teeth.
"Who are you?" Jo asked.
"I'm your trainer. You want to beat up these boys someday? Well, they've been training here since they were 12, so you've got a long way to go," she replied, adding an amused chuckle at the end. "We can also say, I'm just about the only friend you've got in this godforsaken place."
Jo scowled.
"I don't need any friends."
Danika scrunched up her nose.
"No, of course, you don't. Because you can survive years of endless torture without one. Let's see how that goes for you."
The two stood at odd ends, staring coolly at each other for a good 5 minutes.
"Fine. What do I do with this stick?" Jo tossed the stick back and forth between her hands.
"It's not a 'stick', Joana. It's called a Bo staff. It's the first weapon you're going to learn to use." Danika rested the Bo Staff on her shoulder and strode towards Jo. She flinched, to which Danika sighed.
"I'm not going to hit you, Joana, not unless we're sparring. I see no point in it," Danika said with the most genuine smile Jo had seen since she arrived from anyone outside of Bucky. Jo nodded once.
Danika began her instructions, telling Jo where to put her feet and how far apart her hands should be on the staff. Jo listened to all her directions to the best of her ability.
"Good!" Danika praised. "Now, do it again."
Jo spent hours in the training room, building up a sweat until Danika told her to rest.
"The boys will be back any minute. They won't approve of me letting you rest, so as soon as you see that door move, jump onto your feet and hold that Bo like I told you," Danika ordered. Jo nodded, breathing deeply and chugging on the water her instructor provided.
The door opened and Jo did just as Danika said.
"How was she?" The soldier that Jo hated asked. Danika grinned.
"She'd whoop your sorry zhopa," Danika said. Jo swelled with pride. The soldier glared at the pair of them.
"She comes with me," he growled and turned to leave.
Danika dipped her head.
"What's his name?" Jo asked before leaving.
"Crestostum. Aleksi Crestostum," Danika told her. Jo sucked in a deep breath and followed him.