the soul thief ↬ b. barnes

help

Tessa winced slightly as the cold metal straps dig into the raw skin around her wrists. She struggled against the restraints around her legs, panic rising with every breath. She knew she wasn't at Hydra, that Dr Volkov wasn't about to walk through that door for another round of shocks, but she couldn't stop the feeling of despair as she fought the straps that confined her.

The door slid open. Tessa's gaze snapped towards the doorway, and she knew Bruce had seen the terrified look in her eyes by the way he slowed his pace and softened his expression. His behaviour made her feel weak, which was something she hadn't experienced in a while.

"Let me go," she snarled.

"I'm sorry, Tessa," Bruce said, dropping a clipboard onto the table beside her and fiddling with a pen. "But until we know you won't harm yourself, I can't let you go."

"I won't," she pleaded. "Just let me out of these straps."

Emotion clouded Tessa's sentence. Bruce's heart broke, seeing the defeated look in her eyes. He knew that this experience could not be pleasant for her, but she had no choice. "I'm so sorry, Tessa. It's for your own good."

—

Although Bucky and Tessa were now on speaking terms, he still wasn't comfortable entering the room while she was awake. He couldn't stand seeing a reflection of himself, someone that he wanted to help so desperately but didn't know how. Instead, he waited until Tessa was sleeping before entering the medical room that had replaced her glass cell.

He inhaled sharply when he saw the skin that had been rubbed raw from the force of Tessa trying to escape the leather straps. Dried blood shone in contrast to the shiny metal, and the white bandage stained with red made his heart heavy. Bucky had seen horrific things, had done things that still plagued his nightmares, but seeing Tessa so defeated was far worse than anything he had experienced.

"Why do you only come see me when I'm sleeping?" A voice said.

Bucky startled, turning his gaze up to Tessa's face, where her eyes were now open and looking at him.

"What?" he said.

"You always wait until you think I'm asleep before you come into the room."

"I-I don't know," Bucky stuttered, caught red handed. "I guess I'm afraid."

Tessa looked down at her hands. "Of me?"

Bucky heart broke. "No, Tessa," he insisted. "I'm not afraid of you." He took a chance, and sat down on the bed. Tessa shifted slightly, but didn't object. "I'm afraid that I won't be able to help you."

"Help me?" she asked, still not meeting his eyes. "Why would you help me? I don't deserve it. I've done things, terrible things—"

"So have I, Tessa," Bucky cut her off. "Don't forget, I was you not that long ago. The things that i've done still haunt me, and I know I still haven't remembered everything. But I'm getting better."

Tessa looked up, and Bucky was shocked to see a tear falling down her face.

"I'm getting better because Steve was there to help me. Him, Natasha, Bruce, even Tony. They're all helping me get back to who I used to be.
I want to be that person for you, Tessa. Everyone you loved has gone, but I'm going to stick around. Because you can get past this, Tess. It will be hard, and it will never fully go away, but I will do whatever I can to help you remember who you are."