The Break of Winter ▸B. Barnes

Chapter 12

Liv's POV

"What's going to happen to your friends?" I ask, not daring to look up at my two best friends. I had lost track of how long we had been in the air. They both remained silent for a moment. Finally, Steve sighed.

"Whatever it is, we'll deal with it," Steve assures.

"I don't know if I'm worth all this, boys," I sigh.

"What you did all those years..." Bucky says. "It wasn't you. You didn't have a choice."

"I know," I say. "But I did it." This caused them both to go silent, as well as the rest of the ride. This made the ride dangerous, because I was left to my own mind and all of my thoughts.

Flashback

I screamed as Bucky threw me into the water. We had been spending the day at Rockaway Beach. Steve was sat on the beach while Bucky and I were a little over waist deep into the ocean. Steve usually didn't go very far out into the water, it was too easy for the waves to drag him under.

Bucky and I were heading back to shore when a guy catcalled me. "What's up, princess?" He smirked. "How about you come spend the rest of the day with me and I'll show you a good time." Bucky opened his mouth to say something, but I held my hand out to stop him. At this point, we were in about ankle deep water.

"Deal," I smirked back. I walked up to the guy. He went to put his arm around my shoulder, so I took the opportunity to grab his arm and bend it back, forcing him to bend down, before kneeing him in his lower zone. I drop my smile. "Don't call me princess." I dust my hands off before walking back to Bucky who was now standing next to Steve. "So, boys. I was thinking, how would you two feel about hot dogs for lunch?"

End of flashback

         When I snapped back to reality, Steve was landing the jet. I grabbed my bow and Bucky grabbed a gun from a drawer labeled Romanoff. We stood at the ramp to exit the jet, dreading what we were about to face. "You guys remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?" I ask, both to break the silence and to reminisce on the memory.

"Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?" Bucky laughed lightly. 

"You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for Liv," Steve pointed out.

"At least I won it," Bucky pointed out.

"After wasting your money," Steve added.

"I used to sleep with that bear every night," I laughed.

"That bear is about a hundred years old right now," Bucky states.

"So are we, pal," Steve reminds him, patting his back.

"Damn, we make 100 look good," I smirked. We walked off the quinjet and towards the entrance to the base. My body tensed up and I took a deep breath, memories of the place haunting me. What made the scene more chilling was the fact that the doors were already wide open. "He's here," I mutter, stating the obvious.

"He can't have been here more than a few hours," Steve says, trying to be hopeful.

"Long enough to wake them up," I mutter. Bucky put his hand on my real arm, causing me to flinch. He shot me a look that asked if I was ok. I took a deep breath and nodded. We all entered the base, Steve leading the way. A few yards in was a small elevator that we all squeezed into, taking us down to the level where the soldiers were frozen. The closer we got, the more my heart started to race. Not only could we be facing HYDRA's most elite squad of super soldiers, but this man had the power to turn me back into the Winter Soldier.