girl ― saved by captain america

[twenty nine] the real bucky

[Steve]

"Willa, please... can we just talk about it?" I try desperately, now on at least my tenth attempt at calming the child down. Willa's been crying for the past hour or so since I broke the news to her about Bucky coming later; up until now, she's been too upset to even have a conversation about the matter. This time when I ask, she just slumps her shoulders, miserable tears continuing to trail down her whitened cheeks.

"Please, please d-don't. 'm sorry. W-will do anything," she whimpers.

"Sweetheart, hey. He's not coming here to hurt you, Willa. Let's just talk about it, okay? I know this is really scary for you, but there's a lot about the situation that you don't understand," I try to reason.

I've moved us over to the couch in hopes of getting a little more comfortable. Willa's pressing herself against the cushion she's leaning on, looking absolutely inconsolable at the news. I sigh, my heart breaking a little bit in my chest at the sight of the panicked child. I hate to put her through so much stress, but I think that healing this relationship between her and Bucky could be really beneficial for both of them. The more safe, supportive relationships Willa has, the better. And I know that making amends wherever he can is important to Buck regarding the things he did when the Winter Soldier took over.

"You know how I told you that I was frozen in the ice for a really long time?" I begin, not sure how much my story will ease her fears. Willa nods, her gaze cautiously meeting mine. "Well, Bucky and I were friends even before that happened. All the way back when we were just two teenagers looking to enlist in the army. He protected me whenever I would get bullied on the streets," I explain. The girl blinks, still not saying anything. "Bucky was always a good guy. The only reason he ever hurt people was because he was forced to. He was captured by Hydra, and they controlled his brain to make him do things he would never do willingly. He never wanted to hurt you, sweetheart." By the look on her face, I can tell that what I'm saying is having little to no impact on how the child feels about the man. "Remember when you said he would come in and take care of you before he became scary?" I ask, earning a silent nod. "That's the real him. He did that before he was fully under their control. And now, he's completely free of Hydra. He's back to his real self."

"Not safe anym-more," Willa mumbles, a tear still falling from her reddened eyes every once and a while. "Too scary."

"He's safe, doll. I promise. I pinky promise," I try, offering her my little finger, but she recoils back from it, refusing the commitment. "Please, Willa. I know you're scared now, but you'll see when he comes; he's a really good guy. And he misses you, too. He was so excited to hear that we found you, that he could see you again."

"To hurt m-me more," she whimpers weakly. Fighting back tears, I shake my head.

"No, that's not what he wants," I restate, knowing that unfortunately, nothing I say at this point is likely to change her mind.

"Mornin' guys," a familiar voice chirps from across the room, breaking Willa and I out of our conversation.

We both gaze over to see Peter approaching, shuffling through something on his phone. After another moment, the teen clicks the device off, shoving it in his pocket and looking up with a smile.

As his eyes fall on Willa, though, his expression quickly turns to worry, and in an instant he's made his way over to the couch, asking, "Oh no- what's wrong, Willa?" Peter sits down on the other side of the child, reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder. She turns to face him, and before anyone can say anything more, she completely crumples into his arms. The boy holds onto his friend steadily, looking up at me in total alarm. "Wh-what's going on, guys?" he asks, probably looking for a response from me more than Willa at this point, given her current state.