Sweet Like Arsenic (B. Barnes) ✔

22 | all sizzle, no beef

I reached the stuffy basement with the holding cells (and possibly even torture chambers, I can't be too sure), peering inside some empty cells before finding an especially guarded door—that had to be where the Winter Soldier was kept.

I walked purposefully towards the guards, my mind set on getting Bucky—the Winter Soldier—no matter what.

A guard turned in my direction, signalling for me to stop. "Miss, do you have the clearance..." he trailed off, recognising me. "Sorry, I didn't know who you were you at first."

   I waved him off dismissively. "It's fine."

"Are you here to see the Soldier?" A higher-ranking guard asked, nodding his head in the cell door's direction.

I nodded. "Yeah, I was told by Director Emerson to take him out."

"He only said that you could see him, not release him, Miss." the first guard said with a hint of fear in his voice.

"He failed to mention that, then."

The guard turned to his companions who nodded hesitantly before and unlocking the cell door.

I sucked in a breath when I walked in. Bucky had a muffle covering the lower half of his face and was fastened to a thick metal chair. His eyes were closed, and he didn't even move when the door banged shut after us.

"He was erratic and unresponsive when we brought him in." A guard behind me said carefully. "Said your name a few times. What the hell did you do to him?"

"I don't know," I replied curtly, hiding my confusion. Why did the Soldier call my name? Did Bucky manage to break through what brainwashing Hydra did? Is Hydra's technology that fallible?

I turned to face the guards. "The Soldier is in safe hands. Ungag him first, I want to see how unresponsive you say he is."

A burly guard chuckled but didn't move to assist me. "With all due respect, Miss, talking won't do shit. What that robot needs is a factory reset with those weird Russian words."

"What do you know about the words?" I asked, ignoring everything else that he said.

The guard shuffled uneasily. "I just heard from a few friends who saw what happened after Cleveland. Dude went psycho when he recognised his friend."

"Cleveland? What happened in Cleveland?"

The guard was about to answer before he shook his head. "I can't say, not in front of him. But it's no big deal, he just remembered shit and had to be wiped all over again. Fucking waste of time, if you ask me. As I probably said, he needs is a good ol' beating, that's what he needs. I've been dying to knock that fucker out."

I raised my eyebrows at what he said. "You're all sizzle and no beef, honey. I doubt that you can land a single punch on me, let alone the Winter fucking Soldier."

"You're just another overpaid girl with big tits, I'm sure that—" The arrogant guard paled and stopped abruptly. "Sorry, pretend that I didn't say anything."

I smirked in amusement. "Go on, say that you were going to say."

He paled even more than before and shook his head quickly. "No, no, no, please, don't... I'm so sorry, I was way out of line."

"Get out before I get your sorry ass fired," I said to the guard before returning my attention to the Winter Soldier, taking a step closer. He had opened his eyes and was watching me with rapt interest. Remembering that the other guards were still in our presence, I ushered them away after taking a pair of keys from one of the guards.

Walking over to the Soldier, I leaned over him and reached around his neck and he stiffened, a startled look in his eyes. When we—or when Bucky and I— were in the Avengers facility or whatever, he was never afraid of anything, well, apart from his nightmares. It was frightening to see such a drastic change the wiping had done to him, and I longed for him, the real Bucky, to be back.

"I'm removing the muffle now," I kneeled in front of him, undoing the buckle and feeling his veins pounding beneath my fingers.

I looked at him in the eyes, my nose almost touching his. "Relax, I'll never hurt you."

The Soldier nodded, glancing down at his locked wrists before returning his attention to me. Almost reluctantly, I moved my face away from him to start removing the straps from his wrists, fingers moving not as deftly as I hoped they would.

"I trust you to remain calm and follow my directions," I said, throwing his muffle on the grimy floor before continuing. "Do you know how long you've been here?"

The Soldier shook he head, matted hair sticking to his scalp as he did so.

"But you still know who I am, correct?"

He nodded his head, eyes flicking to the security camera above.

I had finished releasing him. "Let's get you out of here, shall we?"

"My legs." His voice was cracked and unused, probably from being muffled and alone for such a long time in the cell. The Winter Soldier gestured to his bound legs that I'd failed to notice, too busy focusing on his wrists.

"Oh," Using the other key, I reached down to undo his ankle cuffs.

"You know, if you were Bucky, not this... robot being, you would most likely be uncomfortable about the position I'm currently in." I looked up and grinned shyly, hoping to receive a reaction from him.

He furrowed his brows, not saying a word.

<A/N>
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