W I N T E R

Gibberish

Learning Bucky's language was not easy for her. Then again, his attempts to learn her's were also nearly in vain. They each tried hard, respectively. She soon could hold a choppy conversation with the metal armed human. She saw him nearly every waking second that she was in that holding room. He helped to adjust to her to her new home, without her being so aware of it. He understood her, in a way many others never had. With her anger dulled, and Bucky's help, she began to settle into the life with this team of super humans. The language-English, Bucky called it-started to come easier to her as time progressed. She used less and less of her own clicking tongue. Along with this change in speech, she followed through on her idea to severe her ebony tendrils. The long strands had gone limp as she cut them, and the energy that left with them was almost a relief. When Steve saw her next, he was taken aback by the sudden change in her appearance. She'd smiled grimly at him, judging him for the first time as a friend instead of a foe. She called him Captain, refusing to call him by his first name. She didn't know him that well yet, and it seemed rude based on what Bucky had told her. He was there to ask her questions. He took a seat, then, in the corner of her room. He was there for a long time, asking and asking. At first, she was at ease with his intentions, but once the interrogation turned to her time on her planet and as an assassin, she became uncomfortable. She became upset, shaking her head every time she spoke. Her English became watered with the accent of her own language, so that Steve strained to understand. Her gray fists clenched and unclenched at her side. Wanda, in another room, could feel her cover on the anger that raged through the alien slipping. She rushed for the cell, warning Steve. He heard her, and quickly left the room. He did so just in the nick of time. The metal door that closed on his heels became heavily indented only seconds after he closed it. The metal chair he had been sitting in had been hurled at the door, though not by the alien's hands. She was flustered, it had been a self-defense move. Her mind had flung the chair, much like Wanda was able to do. As the girl beside Steve strained to regain the foothold on the anger in the being behind the wall, she frowned. Her face contorted, and she fell to the ground, letting out a shriek. The same power that had knocked Wanda senseless slammed into Steve's mind, then. He himself fell, bowled over by the rage, anger, and sadness that flooded his mind. He knew, without having to question anymore, the pure power that ran hot through the gray-skinned being on the other side of the metal. She was completely in control of his mind, throwing around things. It felt like a migraine, her digging through his memories. It was terrifying. Not even Wanda was able to do this, and the alien did it so easily. She knew his thoughts, knew his weaknesses now. Her hold on his mind was so strong. He opened his mouth, tried to yell to Bucky, Thor, or anyone. She silence his words in his throat, and immediately withdrew from his head. Shakily, Steve stood. The commotion had drawn Bucky, and he had ripped the deformed door from its hinges. He stood in front of the silver-skinned alien, fists clenched. She was curled up on the ground, head in her hands. As Steve watched, Bucky crouched in front of her. He reached out, placing his hand on her shoulder. She flinched, but didn't pull away. He asked her something, too low to make out. Steve heard her response, and his blood turned cold. 

"It's too powerful, the minute I get agitated it takes over. The damper helped, but without it...I can't control it for much longer." 

Steve tripped over a chair leg as he made his way into the room, and the noise caused Bucky to look up. He gaze was unreadable, but Steve could have an idea of what he was thinking. As Steve moved towards her, Wanda regained her consciousness behind the crumpled door. Her groans drew Steve's attention to her, and he turned to help her to her feet. Bucky did the same to the alien in front of him. She struggled hard to control the buzzing in her head. It had been too long since her barriers had been put into use, and the pure power behind the anger in her head shocked her. Too long, she knew, too long since she had had to control it. That was showing now, and she felt weak. It had taken over her, slammed that chair against the door, invaded Steve and Wanda's minds. It had taken information from both, knew things that she could have never learned on her own. She knew their weaknesses now, could best them in any fight. Her dark mind had been good for the work she had been put to so long ago, but now it was dangerous-not only to her, but everyone around her. She made a pact with herself, told the small section of her mind that was able to defend itself from the darkness that she would change. Her days as an assassin were over, and she would make sure they were. That would mean working on controlling the darkness and anger, following the rules and instructions that Steve and the others gave her. Her English was better, too. She would change. Perhaps, she could even join this elite task force that she had found out about. Steve's mind had told her the entire history of it, though some of the English in his brain had still sounded like gibberish to her. She would train like she had before, for she wanted to a part of this team. She wanted to do good on this planet, wanted to save the humans that ran like rats over it.

She wanted to become an Avenger.