the soul thief ↬ b. barnes

bad things

"What the hell were you thinking, Barnes!" Tony shouted, as he had been doing for the past hour. "You threatened the safety of you, me and everyone in this building!"

"She's not a bad person, Stark," Bucky said quietly. Tony saw the look on his face, and his rage began to lessen. "She's just done bad things."

Tony started to think that maybe Bucky wasn't talking only about Tessa. He sighed. "Considering she hasn't left her cell since you opened the door, we can leave her out for now. But as soon as something happens—"

"I know." Bucky stood suddenly, an expression of urgency on his face. "Somethings wrong. I have to get to her."

Tony started to follow, but Bucky stopped him. "I think it would be best if you stayed here. I don't know what she'll do without the glass."

"Smart. Now go check on her."

————

When Bucky entered the room, the first thing he saw was Steve, hands out in front of him as if trying to tame a wild animal, bleeding from the lip. The next thing he saw as he looked around the room was Tessa, slamming her head against the wall over and over again.

Steve looked desperately at a Bucky. "She won't stop," he said. "I tried to get near her and she punched me."

"Tessa!" Bucky calked, turning towards the girl. "Hey, it's okay. What are you doing?" He asked, moving closer and closer, although he already had a faint idea.

"They are going to kill me," she said quietly, continuing to bang her head. "I failed my mission. They're going to kill me."

"No, Tessa," Bucky said. "We're not going to let anything happen to you."

Blood began to appear on the crisp white wall. "You can't say that. They will find me, and they will kill me."

She turned to look briefly at Bucky, before returning to her self-inflicted torture. That small look was all he needed. Her eyes were ones of a lost child, without the innocence. Tessa was stuck in a dark place, and Bucky knew that getting her out would not be easy.

He knew that all the bad things in her life had finally registered in her mind. Tessa remembered her little brother, and how she couldn't save him. She could still feel the pain of living at Hydra, the endless trainings and the ruthless beatings. She knew about the things she had done, and yet had no recollection of doing them. Her body says kill, but her mind isn't sure anymore.

The fact that she didn't want to hurt anyone, but her instincts had been wired to inflict pain, left a wound that isn't easily mended. That, Bucky knew, was the hardest pill to swallow.

He could see in her eyes, as clear as the sky after rain, that Tessa believed she deserved to die.