The Break of Winter ▸B. Barnes

Chapter 10

Liv's POV

When I open my eyes, I'm now in what looks like an abandoned building and my metal arm is in some kind of contraption that holds it in place. I could easily escape if I tried, but I wanted the guys to trust me.

"Hey, Buck, Cap!" I hear a man call out. Seconds later, Bucky and Steve walk into the room.

"Yeah, Sam?" Bucky says before he notices I'm awake.

"Buck..." I say weakly.

"Which Liv are we talking to?" Steve asks.

"You used to pull all the girls in Brooklyn, but none of them ever lasted much more than one night," I teased, looking at Bucky.

"None of them until you," He smiled back.

"And your mom's name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes," I turn my head towards Steve and he smiled as well.

"Can't read that in a museum," Bucky said.

"So just like that we're supposed to be cool?" The man from before, Sam, asks in disbelief.

"What did I do?" I ask, scared of what the answer would be.

"Enough," Steve replies. My heart drops.

"Oh, god. I knew this would happen," I drop my head and stare at the ground. "Everything HYDRA put in my head is still there. All they had to do was say the goddamn words."

"Who was he?" Bucky asks.

"I don't know."

"Liv, people are dead. The bombing, the setup... the doctor did all that to get 10 minutes with you. I need you to do better than 'I don't know.'" Steve says.

"He wanted to know about Siberia," I admit, thinking about my next words. "Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where."

"Why would he need to know that?" Bucky asks. I finally look up from the ground and make eye contact with Bucky.

"Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier."

Flashback

     I get thrown against a wall by one of the trainees. A group of soldiers had recently received the serum and they had to train by fighting me. However, something changed. The group of super soldiers started to fight the HYDRA agents. One of them grabbed onto my real arm. "Get me out of here," he ordered. I obeyed and led him out of the room, throwing people out of my way until we escaped and shut the cell-like door behind us.

End of flashback

"Who were they?" Steve asks.

"Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in HYDRA history, and that was before the serum," I explain.

"They all turn out like you?" Sam asks. I turn my gaze to him.

"Worse." I confirm.

"The doctor, could he control them?" Bucky asks.

"Enough," I sigh.

"He said he wanted to see an empire fall," Bucky recalls.

"With these guys, he could do it. They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight. Infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They can take a whole country down in one night, you'd never see them coming," I explain. Sam and Steve walk off and start talking about some kind of accords. Bucky walks over to me and frees my arm. "Thanks, I was starting to feel more and more like a prisoner," I mumble, moving my arm around and recalibrating it. "What are they talking about?"