the soul thief ↬ b. barnes

capture

Hydra had taken it's punishment to a whole new level. Along with countless hours in the chair, Tessa was experiencing more beatings then ever before. They also had introduced some new methods of torture, including burning, days in an ice room and new injections that hurt even more than the serum. They'd also given her a tattoo, similar to the one that the man had who had kidnapped her all those years ago. A red octopus.

———

Tessa was thrown into a room, lip bleeding, face bruised. In there stood Dr. Volkov, holding her metal arm, which had been taken from her after the failed mission. "I have decided to give you one more chance to complete your mission." The scientist stated, his accent thick. "If you return, and James Barnes' heart is still beating, you understand what happens, yes?

Tessa nodded, slowly and painfully rising up from the floor to face Dr. Volkov. He raised an eyebrow. "Yes, sir." She corrected. He nodded, satisfied with her response, and called various guards into the room. Handing the arm to them so they could re-attach it to Tessa, Dr. Volkov left the room.

———

Back at the Avengers tower, the Captain was explaining the plan. "We can assume she will try again," Steve said, "So Bucky's protection is our number one priority." When he was spelling out the elaborate game plan, everyone was listening intently. While Bucky had a rocky start to the team, he was now fully accepted; one of their own. And they would protect the White Wolf with their lives. "And remember; we don't want to kill her. If we can, knock her out or render her useless, but the plan is not to kill." Steve finished.

"But we might have to." Natasha declared.

"Yes, but let's hope it doesn't come to that. We want to rescue her, just like we did Bucky." Steve replied.

———

The Soul Thief crashed through a window. Although she had taken the silent approach last time, Tessa figured that they were waiting for her. She was right. As soon as she had landed, she was attacked by no other than Bucky Barnes himself. The fight was much more even the second time around, because Bucky was prepared. But Tessa was that little bit faster, that little bit stronger than he was.

The sound of metal clashing filled the room, and the rest of the superheroes that were waiting in the shadows winced. They had all agreed to let Bucky have a go at her first, and see if he could contain her. But Tessa was slowly getting the upper hand, and soon Bucky was doing more blocking than attacking.

Steve made a hand signal, which told Nat to fire the gun. It was a tranquilising gun, filled with tranquilliser dart rather than bullets. Natasha let off a shot, but Tessa heard it. She turned around and grabbed the dart before it could lodge itself in her neck. The Avengers stood dumbstruck, amazed that someone's reflexes could be so fast and accurate. But Bucky didn't freeze. Instead he pulled out his own needle full of knock out serum and slammed it into Tessa's neck, injecting it into her. She went slack, and would have hit the floor if Bucky didn't grab her.

They had caught The Soul Thief.