Winter's Revenge [winter soldier//Bucky Barnes AU]

Chapter Nine

*Steve's POV*

I tugged Sarah down the hallway, pulling her behind me. She kept trying to freeze me, but she was in a awkward position, and couldn't muster much. And what she did muster I could easily break through.

"Why am I here?" She asked again. I rolled my eyes and turned around. Usually I am a lot nicer, but right now I was extremely pissed at Hydra, pissed that they took her, and pissed that she wasn't cooperating.

"You are here because we saved you. Those people you were with? They did this to you. They tortured you. They changed you. I honestly don't care what you believe, Bucky didn't do any of that to you. He has saved your life before, he would never hurt you." I told her, my firm on her arm tight. She frowned and touched her forehead, as if she had a headache.

"What's wrong?" I asked, concern taking over. She bit her lip and put her hand down. But her frown remained.

"Nothing, Steve. I'm fine." She said. My eyes widened, noticing the fact that she knew my name, but I didn't comment on it. At least she wasn't totally wiped, but it was almost worse; she knew who we were, but thought Bucky was evil and had done this to her. It was upsetting that she had no clue.

"C'mon, Sarah, let's get you to the medical ward." I said instead, pulling her towards the makeshift hospital. We walked down the hall in silence, and I opened the door at the end of the hall, revealing a few empty hospital beds and a million beeping machines.

Suddenly, a certain Dr. Banner appeared.

I smiled in shock and held my hand out to him, which he gladly shook.

"Dr. Banner, I didn't know you were coming aboard?" I started, frowning a bit in confusion. He laughed nervously and shook his head.

"Me neither, but when Fury landed a plane on my doorstep and said he was going to need my help, how could I refuse?" He asked, grinning and fixing his glasses. I laughed lightly.

"Look while you two are reuniting over there, can I leave?" Sarah asked, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. I looked at Banner and he took a deep breath, as if preparing for a pain-in-the-ass patient.

"Hello Ms. Connors, I'm going to be your doctor, ok?" Bruce told her. She nodded, and he gestured to a hospital bed. She hopped up onto it, sitting with her feet dangling over the edge. She didn't fully get on the bed.

Banner walked over to the table, standing in front of her. She looked at him uneasily, and he gave her a reassuring smile. I leaned against the door frame, staying, purely out of curiosity.

"Sarah, I need you to tell me what was done to you at the Hydra base, ok?" Bruce asked her, receiving a short nod. She sighed and began.

"Um, well I woke up today when it was still pretty dark outside, and I was alone in my cell for the first time in days. Then after a while a man came in and hauled me into a room, and they did more tests on me like usual and injected me with things. It really hurt. They've done it to me everyday since I was kidnapped. After that they took me to a new room, and...this room was the worst." She said, whispering the last sentence. She looked terrified. "T-they put me in water until I couldn't hold my breath anymore, and then lifted me out, telling me over and over again that Bucky did this to me, they did it until I was so dizzy from a lack of oxygen that I passed out. And when I came to, it wasn't long before you guys found me."

She glanced between me and Banner, waiting for our reactions. I looked at her with sympathy, wishing we had the old Sarah back, and Bruce just cleared his throat and nodded.

"Ok. Do you remember what they put in you in the beginning?" He asked her, and she shook her head no.

"Can you describe your powers please?"

She looked down at her hands, and a tiny ice sculpture appeared on her palm. I frowned, baffled. Bruce got a sciency-look to him as he sorted through different things that could cause that in his head.

"I can summon ice, control ice, shoot ice and destroy it, all with little movements like flicking my hand towards the wall." She replied, demonstrating. Ice shot from her fingertips, encasing a lamp in solid ice. Banner's eyes widened, scribbling something down on a piece of paper.

He talked to her more and more about her powers, doing different tests to figure out what was in her system. Most of what he said about drugs and medication was barely even English, so I just tuned them out, looking out the window. Then he captured my attention.

"Sarah, you need to listen to me, ok?" He told her, and she nodded eagerly. He took a deep breath, putting his hand on her arm in a soothing, brotherly way.

"Bucky didn't do this to you." He said. She instantly tensed up, staring at Bruce. She began to frown.

"Yes he did. He did this to me." She insisted, nodding her head at her own words. I looked away. It was scary that Hydra could do this to people, toy with their minds and make them puppets. It's one of the worst evils that has ever been created.

"No, he didn't. Bucky has been searching tirelessly for you for thirteen days straight, never sleeping or resting, constantly training to fight Hydra to save you." Bruce pressed on, looking at her earnestly. She hesitated for a moment, before the hard gaze returned.

"No he hasn't! He caused me to be like this!" She exclaimed, raising her voice. I clutched my shield just in case I would need it.

"Sarah, listen to me! You need to snap out of it. He didn't hurt you at all. What makes you think he hurt you?" Banner asked, taking short, shallow breaths, trying to control the rage inside of him. I stepped forward, my shield on my arm, and grabbed his elbow.

"Come on, Bruce. We need to get you out of here." I told him, and he nodded. I started across the room with him in tow. Sarah stayed silent, watching us as if we were pets at a zoo that she was mildly curious about. I dragged him out of the room and handed him to Fury before heading back to the room. Sarah had now laid back onto the pillows, tears running from her eyes to her ears.

I walked over to her bedside and wiped her hair from her face (not in a romantic gesture) as she closed her eyes.

"Bucky hurt me." She whispered, eyes shut tightly. I sighed and looked at the floor.

"No he didn't, Sarah. You have to believe me."

--

*Sarah's POV*

My eyes were shut tight as I dreamed.

Bucky.

He hurt me,

...didn't he?

I wasn't so sure anymore. Everyone I've come into contact with today has told me that he didn't hurt me, but all my brain said was that he did hurt me. He was the cause of this all. He stabbed me, broke my bones, injected me, suffocated me.

...didn't he?

Nothing was making sense.

The world was falling down, swirling about, shaking. I didn't know what to believe anymore. I didn't know who my friends were and who my enemies were. I was completely lost.

I suddenly saw a man enter my dream. He had long hair, to his shoulders, and it was dirty. His stance was menacing, a gun in his right hand, his one real hand. I had a vision of shooting someone who was attacking him, and receiving a curt nod and a thanks. A glance from the blue eyes that killed me.

But when I tried to remember what I was doing in the dream, it went away. I couldn't remember what I had even dreamed about, or if I'd even had a dream.

I just remembered the eyes, the eyes that for some reason gave me hope.

--

-Jordan💕