Bucky Barnes' Daughter

Chapter Seventy-One

"That looks painful." I gingerly touch the large bruise covering Jason's side. He grimaces as my fingers graze the surface. "I'm sorry." I pull my hand back, hoping to avoid causing him more pain.

I rest my hands in my lap, knowing I shouldn't try touching him again. The last thing I want to do is hurt him. He's trying to learn to protect me when I should be the one keeping him safe. This wasn't something he signed up for.

"Stop apologizing." He lifts my chin so our eyes can meet. My breath catches in my throat as my eyes meet his. He always looks handsome but today, he's making it harder to breathe. "I love you, tsarina." He whispers as he leans forward and places a soft kiss on my forehead.

My heart stops the second his lips make contact. No one has ever made me feel this way. My mouth feels dry as I try to say the words in return. I can't seem to bring myself to say the words back.

"Let me take care of you." I finally tell him, hoping he would understand why I hadn't said those three words back. His eyes study me worriedly as he tries to decipher the statement.

"What do you mean?" He inquires as the warm feeling from my powers starts to spread throughout my body.

It continues to consume my senses until I'm overwhelmed with the urge to take his pain away--no matter the cost to me.

"Let me show you." My voice barely comes out above a whisper.

At first he tries to move away from me, as if was worried I was going to hurt him more. My hand hesitates as it stays in the empty space between us. Was I making the right decision healing him?

"It's not that bad, promise." He lifts his arms to put his shirt back on and I immediately stop him.

"It wasn't a request."

I lay my hand on his side as I close my eyes. The warm feeling becomes an intense pain as I focus channeling it into my hand and then into his body, ultimately healing the injuries he had sustained while learning to protect me. Like a wave pulling away from a shore, my body starts to feel drained as every ounce of energy I had left leaves in a giant rush.

"Stop, I'm better now." Jason pulls away from me. His eyes were wide with shock as he tries to comprehend what had just happened.

A stabbing pain sets in as the pressure within my skull increasingly gets worse. A wave of nausea accompanies the pain as my stomach pitches dangerously.

"Serenity, what did you do?"

I shake my head as I take a few deep breaths. I couldn't bring myself to speak as the pain starts to creep up on the pain scale, making me wonder if I had over done things.

"You look like hell." Jason's voice softens with concern as he puts a hand gently on my forehead as if he was testing for a fever. "Come here." He opens his arms and I snuggle against him. He strokes my hair gently.

After a few minutes of silence, he decides to speak again.

"You need to stop worrying about me. I'm supposed to be taking care of you now." I knew from his tone of voice that he was now more concerned with my long term well being than the event that had just transpired.

Was he worried that I was going to get myself killed trying to protect him?

"No, I'm supposed to." I feel my eye lids growing heavy as my final burst of energy diminishes.

"Shhh," he whispers as he continues to stroke my hair. I feel myself giving in as I realize just how drained I was. "Sleep here tonight."

I nod knowing he would keep me safe through the night.

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

I adjust the computer screen as I wait for my parents call to come through. Jason had woken me up sometime around midnight when their text first came through. Apparently, SHIELD caught wind of a new threat against me. You would think things couldn't get much worse after being told that people were hunting me down to use my body for their experiments but I guess things can always get worse.

The skype call comes through just as I start to worry that something had happened to my parents.

"Serenity?" Nat worriedly studies me through the computer screen.

"I'm fine, mom." I assure her, realizing I probably looked like hell after my healing session. "I'm safe..."

"You're not safe, honey." Bucky replies making my heart rate speed up. "Someone purposely planted a false lead to get us away from you. If our intelligence is correct, they should be at the house any minute now."

"What do you mean?" I tense up at the possibility of being taken or of anything happening to my boyfriend and his family. "Who's coming?"

"We don't know. Just get somewhere safe and push the button Dima's collar when you're there. SHIELD will come and get you." Nat holds Bucky's hand tightly. I've never seen her look this scared before.

"Mom...Dad...I don't want them to take me."

"We love you, Serenity. We'll find you. We promise." The screen goes black before I can tell them that I loved them.

Ryan races in the room, followed closely by my boyfriend. They were both armed and I realize how real this threat was. Before Ryan can give me any directions, I pull Jason close and kiss him as if this was going to be the last time I would be able to.

"Stay alive." I breathlessly tell him.

"Serenity, we need to get you out of here." Ryan commands as he pulls a bullet proof vest over my head. He tightens it before pressing a hand gun into the palm of my hand. "There's three magazines on your right side. I know you know how to operate this one."

I nod numbly as we hear the sound of tires on the gravel driveway.

"Jason, take Serenity to the caves.   Keep Dima close and promise me that you won't come back here until another SHIELD agent arrives."

"I'm not leaving you."  I argue but Jason doesn't wait to hear what else I have to say.  He pulls me towards the back door.