The Soldier of Summer: Book 1

Chapter 25

   Bucky's P.O.V.
   Warning: This chapter contains self harm, I won't make it super graphic.

   It took approximately twelve hours for the guards to return, but it wasn't as great a number, and they definitely weren't as loud either. Five men walked in surrounding a girl.
   The same girl I buried a month and a half ago, and the same girl I saw die a couple hours ago.
   "Alright," Auriana moaned when she saw her and dropped into a fighting stance. "Let's get this over with."
   The leading guard grinned. "Oh no, you two won't be fighting today," he said in a German accent. "She'll be watching you guys."
   Auriana stood straight up, dumbfounded. The guards left Clara behind and took that other guy that was typing really loudly. What was his name? David? No Dimitri!
   All of us were exhausted. None of us slept, and none of us had been able to use a bathroom either.
The door closed and Clara stood between Natasha and Sam, her hands behind her back. 
   "Clara?" She said her name cautiously.
   No response.
   Not even a blink, or altered breathing.
   "Clara please where you, I don't want to have to do this," she pleaded.
   "Wait you can't do the plan now," Steve said. "You're not fighting."
   Auriana scrunched up her face in confusion.
   "That wasn't the plan. Who thought that was the plan?"she asked everyone.
   All of us except Peter raised their hands.
   "Peter what did you think the plan was?" She asked him.
   "Well I thought that you would hurt yourself in front of Clara in hopes that it would bring her out of the mindless state."
   He looked around at our horrified faces and wide eyes and added on.
   "But I don't support this plan."
   I was terrified that this was the only plan that we could come up with in twelve hours, until I realized that it was probably the only plan that could possibly work.
   And that scared me even more.
   "No, Auriana," Steve ordered. "We're not going to let you do this."
   "I told you to come up with a better plan hours ago, and I didn't hear one," her voice cracked.
   "Clara please," she barely managed a whisper. Clara seemed to be completely unresponsive, not even batting an eyelash at our conversation.
   Auriana eventually stopped trying to get through to her. She slid off the sleeve that covered her flesh arm, then discreetly pulled the knife out of her pocket with her metal hand.
   "Auri, what are you doing?" I yelled.
   "Don't call me Auri..."
   She was on the verge of tears, and she was only looking at her friend.
   "Clara I know you won't let me die, I know it." She lowered the blade down to her flesh arm.
   "Auriana!" I screamed and tried to get to the door of my cell, but I couldn't because I was overwhelmed with fatigue. The same went for every time else in cages. Everyone struggled to break the chains.
   "Auriana, don't do it I know what you're doing you can't!"
   She slowly turned her gaze toward me, and somehow gripped the knife tighter.
   "It's okay," she mouthed to me. Then she turned to Natasha and did the same. Natasha shook her head in terror.
   "Steve do something make her stop!"
   Steve continued to fight his chains.
   "Auriana, you don't know if it will work," Steve gasped.
   She didn't respond, but instead slid the knife down her arm. Perpendicular to where she cut it open to get the tracking chip out. The same spot where the bullet lodged. Blood trickled down her arm, to the floor. I roared, flailing my arms, doing everything I could to get out.
   I looked at Clara, hopeful that it would work, because I was exhausted. But wait.
   I saw something.
   She moved.
   Auriana dropped the knife, weakening by the second.
   "Cover your arm, Auriana!" Peter tried to say, but it ended up being just a small whisper.
   Clara moved forward cautiously, unsure of what was happening.
   Auriana did nothing.
   She did nothing until she fell to the ground, dying. Sam screamed at Steve to do something, but Steve couldn't do anything.
   It was then that Clara gasped and rushed forward, finally remembering. She gingerly picked her up, all the while mumbling.
   "Auri, oh my god, why would you do this," Clara whispered in a high pitched voice. One would not think she was an assassin by her voice. She took the sleeve that had fallen to the ground and wrapped it around the wound.
   "What's her blood type?" Clara asked no one in particular. When no one answered, she screamed.
   "WHAT'S her blood type?"
   "O negative?" Natasha added a question mark to the end of that.
   Clara nodded. "That's right. Auri, I'll be right back, it's going to be okay."
   With that, she placed Auriana on the ground and sprinted out of the Ring and into the hallway.
   Everyone stopped fighting the chains, but I kept going.
   "Buck, her friend is going to save her. She knew this would happen, and she's not dead," Steve tried to calm me down, but it only ended up making me more mad.
   "But that's my daughter," I whimpered and finally gave up, collapsing to my knees. "She's dying."
   Clara came back, sprinting in with a bag of blood, a needle, and a tube.
   "Auri, I'm coming, stay with me okay," she gasped as she gently inserted the need me into the major vein.
   Soon, Auriana had come back into consciousness.
   "Never do that again you idiot," Clara laughed nervously. Auriana shook her head and chuckled.
   "I can't make any promises."
   After a while, Clara left again to go get stitches for the wound and left Auriana lying there.
   She breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes.
   "Auriana?" Peter squeaked.
   "Yeah?" She shifted into the ground, but stayed lying down.
   "Are you okay?"
   She smiled.
   "Yeah I'm fine," she said softly. "A little light headed, but fine."
   Clara came back with a stitch kit.
   "Stay lying down," she ordered.
   "Couldn't you do this while I was still unconscious?" Auriana asked.
   "You wish you big baby," Clara laughed.
   I couldn't help but notice how Auriana was still chained by the hands. The one on her right arm was thicker, but her metal arm was fully functional. Why hadn't she broken free before?
   Clara removed the needle when there was no more blood to give and put pressure on the injection sight.
   "Hey," Auriana grunted as she sat up. "I found my parents."
   Clara lit up. "Really? Who are they?"
   She pointed with her metal hand to Natasha.
   "That's my mom."
    "The Black Widow?" Clara asked with wide eyes.
    "That's not the craziest part." She pointed to me. "That's my dad."
    Clara gasped. "Winter? I'm so sorry."
    I grunted.
    "It's not as bad as you might think. And his name is Bucky."
    "Bucky?" Clara scoffed. I narrowed my eyes at her, but my heart swelled when Auriana said my name.
    Clara helped Auriana stand up and spoke to her softly for a bit. I couldn't hear them, so I looked at Steve to see if he could pick up anything. He shrugged.
    "Go," Auriana said. Clara nodded and ran out of the room. The second the door closed, Auriana collapsed again.