Bucky Barnes' Daughter

Chapter Thirty Seven

Two Weeks later:

Nat and Bucky didn't come back after a week or even two.  I was still waiting for them every night to come back to me with the key to my memories.  I knew it would take them a while to hunt down the man who destroyed my life, but part of me hoped he would want to redeem himself and return what he took.  But it's never that easy.

"Why do you have nightmares?"  Jason asks as we eat breakfast.  I glance towards Ryan hoping for a way out of this but he offered me no escape.

"I had a rough childhood."  I reply hoping that would be enough to change the subject.

"You keep telling me that but the screams in the middle of the night tell me another story."  He replies as he leans forward.  "Who's Winter?"  My heart skips a beat when I realize how much I have been giving away in my screams.  "You can trust me."

"I don't trust myself."  I reply losing my appetite.  I stand up and Ryan grabs my bowl from me.  My hands are shaking as I make eye contact with him.  He nods towards the door and I knew this was my way out.  "I'm going for a run."

"Give me a few minutes,"  Jason replies as he shovels cereal into his mouth.

"I need to go by myself."  I grab my sneakers as Dima bounds down the stairs.  He would keep me company while I tried to forget my troubles.  

The cool autumn air greeted me as I picked a challenging pace to start off my run.  My knee screamed in protest, it never fully healed after my brother tried to end me.  Dima barks at me telling me to slow down but I couldn't stop.  I pushed myself harder.

My knee gave out on me and I'm thrown forward.  I probably shouldn't have been running downhill but it was too late to change this fact right now.  I rolled down the hill before being thrown into a fence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ryan's POV:

Dima came bounding up our driveway, blood covered his muzzle.

"Where's Serenity?"  The dog barked frantically and took off down the driveway.  I chased after him knowing the dog was trained to keep her alive.  I follow him for two miles before I find her.

Her body is a crumpled heap at the bottom of the hill.  Dima kept pushing her with his nose but she didn't respond.  I didn't want to assume the worst, but she didn't look like she was breathing.

I made my way over to her as I hold my breath.  I put two fingers to her neck attempting to find a pulse.  A weak one is found and I breath a sigh of relief.  I pull out my cell phone before dialing my father's number.

"Serenity is unconscious at the bottom of Cherry hill.  There's a weak pulse but she's unresponsive."

My father showed up in about five minutes with his truck.  He got out and brought his first aid kit. 

"How long has she been like this?"  He asks as we move her ever so slightly.  Serenity doesn't respond to the pain stimulus.  "Call 911."  My father quickly realized he couldn't assess her injuries without professional assistance.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Child the more you fight me, the worse this will be."  The man tells me as he straps me to the table.  I fought everything he tried.  Finally he tightens the restraints until pain shot up each of my limbs.  "Please, I don't want to hurt you."

I start screaming as he sets up an IV in my exposed forearm.  I couldn't fight back enough to escape.

"You told me she was fourteen."  The man accuses Winter.  "She's clearly around six." 

"Minor details."  Winter replies coldly.  I searched his face for the kindness I was used to experiencing.  "Will this make her compliant?" 

"It depends.  This is the first time I've worked with her."  The man administers a sedative through my IV.  I feel my body relaxing against my will.  The man forces my mouth open and puts a rubber guard between my teeth.  "If this works, she'll be compliant.  If it fails, well she won't be a problem any more."

He puts two metal rods against my temples.  Within seconds, electricity is flooding my body causing it to convulse.  I scream into the mouth guard but even I couldn't stand the pain.

My body goes slack as I fell my life painfully drift away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Fourteen year old, head laceration.  Found unconscious upon arrival.  Responded to extreme pain stimulus."  The EMTS speak above me and I attempt to fight my way to consciousness.  The pain radiating from my head wouldn't allow me to open my eyes.

"Serenity, can you hear us?  If so squeeze my hand."  Someone takes my hand and I manage to move my fingers enough to let them know i was still here.  "Hold on for us, sweetheart."  She urges me.

Someone injects something into my IV line and I feel myself slipping from consciousness again.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You must be Vera."  The red head kneels in front of me.  She smiles kindly at me before reaching out her hand.  I glance at Winter wondering what I was supposed to do.  He motions for me to take her hand.  The woman shakes my hand and I tilt my head to the side confused.  "I know I never understood this either."  

Winter puts a hand on my shoulder gently and I look up at him adoringly.  He was my protector.  He wouldn't let anything happen to me.

"Can I go outside?"  I ask as the woman gently strokes my hair.

"You know you can't.  Natasha is going to watch you for a few hours.  Be good."  Winter leaves me with Natasha and I watch him walk away.  He's never left me before but I guess he assumes I'm old enough for him to leave.

"Come on, Vera."  She offers me her hand and I take it knowing Winter would want me to be obedient.  She leads me to the mat room and I have a feeling she would be teaching me some self defense just like Winter usually does.