Bucky Barnes' Daughter

Chapter Sixty-Five

The room falls quiet as Bucky leads me inside. I couldn't help but feel like I was about to be lead to my execution as my parents stand on each side of me. There doesn't really appear to be any friendly faces in the crowd but how could I ever expect the world to be kind to me. No, that would be too much to ask for after everything I've done. I should expect to have the world turn against me as I fight to prove I'm not the bad guy that Hydra wanted me to become.

"Let's sit you down before they start asking any questions." Bucky tells me as he puts a hand gently on my lower back.

I attempt to keep my face neutral despite the amount of pain radiating from my knee and the racing heart that threatens to make me break down.

We take a seat at the head of the table as everyone else takes seats around the table. I quickly scan all the faces, trying in vain to put names to each of them. My heart stops when I see one of the CIA agents that had interrogated me.

I feel myself start panicking as I flash back to when they were torturing me. I couldn't breathe as my body recalls ever feeling from my torture sessions.

"Honey, I know." Bucky turns my chair towards his as he tries to pull me from my flashback. "Look at me and only me."

Tears slip down my cheeks, which I quickly wipe away knowing they were looking for any signs of weakness. Bucky takes my hand in his as I turn back to face the people around the table. I couldn't look towards his general direction and instead look towards the back of the room and over their heads.

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

I numbly went through the motions as everyone discusses my past and asks me questions when my parents can't answer. I can't tell you what they asked me. It's almost as if I wasn't there in the moment and was instead a bystander in the whole event.

That is until he spoke.

"You lied to your interrogators while you were being detained. How can we be sure you're telling the truth now?"

My heart skips a few beats before I force a shaky breath into my lungs and prepare to put up a fight for my life.

"By interrogation, you mean your torture sessions. I told you everything I knew and because it wasn't the answers you wanted, you decided it was better to carve my skin until I felt weak from blood loss." My emotions start to leak into my words.

"I begged for mercy but that wasn't enough. You decided to tear me down because I wasn't going to give you what you wanted. Yes, I'm a monster but compared to some of the vilians out there, I'm practically an angel. I'm trying to make up for my past crimes and move forward as a better person." A single tear falls down my cheek.

"You offer solutions that end my life before I even had a chance to prove my worth. Not one of you is innocent and you know that. However, it's easier to cast blame on someone else than to look inward."

"You don't know the kind of people we are." Someone growls in response.

"No? Tell me what kind of person you would have to be to tell my parents to put me down?"

A thick silence ensues as everyone exchanges worried glances. No one wanted to agree with me but as they thought about my question it becomes apparent that we were all monsters here.

"I just want a chance to prove myself as the hero I've always wanted to be. I want a chance to fall in love and to finish high school. I want the childhood I was never given. How can you expect me to fix my mistakes without giving me a chance to amend my ways?"

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

Bucky's POV:

I felt the atmosphere change as my daughter stands up to face them. I could see her pain reflected in her eyes but her words sounded strong.

Compulsion starts to leak into her words as she pleads with them to let her live. This is one of the rare times she's managed to harness this mutation and on such a large group of people. Her eyes grow darker as weakness starts to take over her body.

"So, I implore you to think about what I've said and to think about the person you see in the mirror every morning. Could you really live with yourself if you ended my life without offering me a chance?"

I watch as my daughter leaves the room. I leave Natasha knowing she would be able to handle the aftermath of my daughter's speech. Instead, I knew Serenity would need me more.

I slip out the door and watch as my daughter crumples to the floor. I couldn't get to her in time as her head hits the ground.

"Serenity?!" I cry as I kneel next to her.

Blood trickled down her face as her nose bled heavily. She used her powers too much and in her weakened state, it caused her to lose consciousness.

I scoop her up in my arms and race towards Banner's lab.

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

"Serenity, we need you to wake up." Nat's voice manages to pull me back to the conscious world. My eyes open slowly as I try to remember what happened. "Do you remember what happened?"

Extreme pain radiated from my knee making it nearly impossible to remember anything before entering the conference room. I can't even find the strength to speak instead, I just shake my head no.

Dr. Swanson and Banner chose this moment to enter the room. I glance between the pair wondering what they had come to tell me. The worried look on their faces made me anticipate bad news.

"Serenity, how are you feeling today?" Dr. Swanson asks as he makes notes on his clipboard.

"In pain." I reply quietly, even though it hurt me more to admit I was feeling like this.

"What's your pain level right now, but don't compare it to other injuries. Instead tell me how bad it is compared to normal." He waits for me to respond but I'm scared to voice my pain aloud.

Part of me will always be that child Hydra controlled--always afraid that I would be punished for showing any sign of weakness. I want to tell them but what if they turn out to be like everyone else? I can't help but worry especially when my mind constantly drags me back into my own personal hell.

"It's about a seven."

I can't look up at any of them as I pick at the edge of the blanket. A single tear falls down my cheek despite how desperately I wanted to hide it.

"Can I come in?" Ryan's voice causes me to look up.

"Of course." Natasha replies before leading the doctors out of the room.

Ryan hesitantly makes his way over to my bed and I scoot over so he can get on the bed next to me. He wraps his arms around my shoulders as the tears start to fall in steadier streams down my face.

"He was there." I whisper as I flash back to my interrogations. "He looked at me the entire time, but no one said anything to him."

"I know." Ryan strokes my hair gently, knowing I didn't want him to try to offer words of wisdom. Just having him near me is enough.

Guilt creeps into my mind as I think about Jason. I should want him to be here to comfort me right now, but part of me knows he'll never truly understand me. He tries so hard to help me but unlike Ryan, I have to constantly tell Jason what's wrong. I don't want to voice every thought I have especially when I'm like this.

"Jason's worried about you." Ryan's seemed unsure how he wanted to proceed. "He's seen the footage that's being played on the news, and he wants to understand but doesn't know what you need right now."

"I don't want him to do anything right now. I just want to pretend to be normal when he's around."

"Tsarina, I'm not sure you'll ever be able to be normal, not after all of this." He motions to the room around me. "What are your classmates going to say now that they know the truth? Do you really think they'll keep your location a secret now that the media is on their witch hunt?"

"I can't keep running." I respond despite sharing his same fears. "If they're my friends, they'll help keep me safe."