Valorous (Book Three)

Chapter: 1

DAY: 105

Lark

About two months ago I was saved by Bucky. Two months ago I was laying in a cot, staring up at a ceiling of pipes hoping for the pain to end. Two months ago I saw no end, saw no light to help me get on. But two months ago Bucky stayed with me, he kept himself by my side and took care of me. Of course, there was a little romance involved, probably what most people would think, but that romance was short lived when Bucky started getting more and more transmissions from Fury. I didn't know what they were for or if I needed to concern myself with them.

But I moved on from it, got better, through my own methods of healing. I kept training myself with my arm, I kept pushing myself to go faster and to do better. I wasn't just going to lay around in a depressed ball of flesh and  metal like someone out of a story book. I was going to kick Hydra's ass and bring back our world. I had people who were going to help me and I wasn't about to give up on anything just yet.

For the past two months I had been secretly receiving antidotes. More like I was secretly sneaking out and getting them from someone when I had enough strength. The sneaking made me weary, afraid that I wasn't alone whenever I left. I felt this dread that I'd be caught and reprimanded, told to never venture out again, or worse, forced to stop taking the antidote. It was the only thing keeping me alive.

I waited in the shadows of an old gas station, my hood covered over my eyes, my hands deep in my pockets; shaking with anxiety and from a little withdrawal. The last time I had been given an antidote was a little over two weeks ago, usually they last for three but my tolerance was weakening the effects.

Down the street I see a dark figure approaching, I prepared myself just in case it wasn't who I was expecting. The sunlight barley penetrated through the thick clouds and misty rain, casting dark shadows across the pavement and dark hollow buildings.

"How's the withdraw feeling?"He asked me, a hint to a laugh on the edge of his words. Aidan was the benefactor, the one who I was receiving the antidotes from. But there was always a catch for everything he did for me. I knew that getting out of that Hydra cell, with his help, was only the tip of the iceberg in his plans.

"Do you have it or not?" I asked him. Aidan pushed back his hood and pulled his hands out of his pockets, holding a syringe.

"Why a needle?" I asked him. "More convenient or more to make it look like I'm doing drugs?"

"More convenient." he answered with a grin. "And more enjoyable for me if you get caught. You'll just look like a druggie. I suggest between your toes, less likely anyone will see."

"You just like making me suffer."

"Kind of true, but then again I hate to see you in pain." Aidan reached out and tried to touch my face but I stepped away from him, snatching the syringe and shoving it into my pocket.

"What is it going to cost me this time?" I asked him. Aidan had been previously asking in the past for information about SHIELd and where our base was hidden, but I had been giving him false information. I didn't trust him enough to think that he was asking because he wanted to come back, something about his motives wasn't right. 

"I want to know about Steve Rogers, anything you know about him or his relationship to SHIELD or the Winter Soldier." he said.

"I've already told you about Steve." I answered him. "You already know just as much as I do."

"Stop lying. There's more you're not telling me." Aidan said, pulling his hood back over his head. The way he did it reminded me of Jack, who had escaped SHIELD custody about a month ago.