Flesh and Bone ◇ Bucky Barnes ◇

Chapter VII: Eyes of Gold

Joana

Jo's eyes snapped open.
"Stop, please," she begged. "Please."
She hated grovelling. She hated begging. She hated pleading. She hated being here. She just wanted it to all stop.
"Ah, ah. Don't think thoughts like that, Ms. Kegley. We might be forced to put you under stricter supervision," the Doctor said. Jo growled at him, but he could hardly take her seriously with the tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Get out of my head!" She screamed.
He was surfing through her private memories, mostly memories of Bucky.
"Nothing's private, Ms. Kegley. Not here."
"Get. Out. Of. My. Head." She ground out through her teeth.
"Not just yet, Ms. Kegley. We've got a few more memories to visit before we're finished."
Jo screamed as he slammed his finger down on a button, enveloping her in utter darkness as she fell into the abyss that is her own mind.

"So, whatcha think of Joana?"
"She's sweet."
Joana remembered this day.
"And she's quiet a cookie," Bucky added, "Isn't she?"
"I guess so."
"Would you ever think about going out with her?"
Joana hid behind a curtain of dresses, nervously awaiting a response.
"Listen, Barnes, I know she's your friend and all, but nobody wants to date a black girl."
Nobody wants to date a black girl.
Nobody wants to date a black girl.
Nobody wants to date a black girl.
The words rang in her ears, pulling at the strings in her heart. She sat on the floor, covering her face with her hands, trying to stop the tears. She didn't hear the rest of the conversation, her ears still ringing with the sound of the cold, hard, truth.
Nobody wants to date a black girl.

Jo screamed in rage as she came forth from the memory.
"I've had enough!" She tugged and struggled and writhed, doing everything she could to get free. A monitor beside the Doctor began to beep out of control. The Doctor ran over to her, holding a needle. Jo didn't want to know what was in it.
As the Doctor leaned towards her, she lashed out her teeth, taking a chunk of the Doctor's flesh from his nose. In disgust, she spat it back out. The Doctor staggered backwards, screaming in pain. He fell against one of his tables. He was in too much shock to do anything but hold his nose.
A few of the soldiers placed outside must have heard because three of them came running in. One went straight to the Doctor, who was speaking in rapid fire Russian. Jo pulled out a few swear words as the other two soldiers pulled off her restraints. They tried to hold her down, but she was in too much of a rage, thrashing, screaming, and throwing punches wherever she could.
She knocked both of them over, but not two seconds after, the third soldier slammed his finger down on the red button that sent wave after wave of electric shock through her body.
Jo seized on the table, resembling a beached fish. She clawed at her head, trying to pull the machine off her head. She tried to scream, but her jaw hung slacked, no sound passing her throat.
"Turn it off! Turn it off!" The Doctor screamed. It was only after this that Jo finally fell back against the metal table, her head lolled back and forth until unconsciousness consumed her, and everyone breathed a breath of relief at last.

Some say that this was this moment that finally broke the esteemed Joana Kegley, that this moment in unrecorded history was when the Joana Kegley who saw herself as a horse or gazelle died, and Joana Kegley who was a chained, rabid dog came to life.

"Joana? Joana? C'mon, Joana, please wake up."
Joana felt something cool and damp press against her forehead. She winced and groaned, her eyelids heavy as she pulled herself back to the land of the living.
"Danika?"
"Yes, Joana, yes. I'm here."
"Where's Bucky?"
The room fell silent, prompting Joana to open her eyes.
The room was dark, and it looked small, but it wasn't any of the rooms she was used to, which were usually a pale, gross yellow. She was laying on something soft and firm, but not hard and cold like the tables and chair she had found comfort in the past two years. Sitting in front of her, she could barely make out the figure of a human body, but the blonde hair was a dead give away on who it was.
"Danika, where's Bucky?" Jo asked again, but this time in Russian. Danika didn't move.
"He's...he's fine." Her voice sound hoarse and thick. "It's you I'm worried about."
Jo sat up, trying to hold back a serious of groans that went along with the utter pain in her body.
"Have you been crying?" She asked. Her vision was getting used to the dark, so she could see the face of the woman before her.
"I was just...I thought you weren't going to wake up."
Joana managed a small smile. She leaned over, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, she hugged her. Danika returned the gesture. Both women were stiff, obviously unsure of how to hug someone after so long. Joana pulled away from her.
"How long was I out?"
"A week and a half."
Joana sighed an lay back down.
"I'll tell them that you still haven't woken," Danika said, rising from the bed. She was met only with Joana's snores. She smiled a soft smile and left her bedroom.