Soul Stealer ~ (A Bucky Barnes Love Story)

The Devil's in the Details

It was hard to gauge time in a room devoid of clocks, but I was fairly certain two days had passed since we arrived at the tower.  So far I'd been given six meals I could barely stomach, and escorted to a shower once a day.  I spent the rest of my time in the interrogation room and that was by design.  They were trying to wear me down.  If I felt better I'd have told them they were wasting their time.  HYDRA spent decades attempting to do the same and failed miserably.

Natasha had been back twice since her initial attempt.  Just like the first time she showed no emotion when I declined to answer any of her questions.  This was a game to her and not one she took personally.  The more I resisted the more she wanted to solve the mystery, but she was making no progress so on the eve of my first night they changed tactics.

The man with the bow whose name I learned was Clint came in after dinner on the first night.  He was much more animated than Natasha.  He sat casually across from me like he didn't have a care in the world, like I wasn't dangerous and he wasn't my captor.  He laughed at his own jokes and offered me something called Nerds with a kind smile.  My only response was to stare at him blankly.  I didn't know what Nerds were and even if I did my head was pounding far too hard to form a coherent reply.  Not that my lack of response bothered the archer.  He simply shrugged and continued to pop the small, pink candy into his mouth.

"You seem to really like looking at the wall."  Clint turned slightly to examine the wall behind him.  "They say taupe is very soothing so I get it."

Taupe was, in fact, not soothing.  It was boring, mundane even.  Clint roared at another joke I didn't comprehend causing my headache to flare behind my eyes, my stomach swimming with nausea so potent I was afraid I might puke on the box of Nerds sitting discarded on the table. 

The ache in my body, the pounding in my head, and constant churning in my gut terrified me, not that anyone seemed to notice.  Like Bucky I didn't get sick.  I couldn't.  The serum made me immune to such trivialities, a benefit I hadn't truly appreciated until now.

By the time Sam sauntered in on day two with my breakfast and a warm smile I'd given up trying to hide my steady decline.  I was still in bed, struggling to work up the energy to sit up.  My bones felt brittle, ready to snap like dry twigs, every movement as excruciating as it was difficult.  I was sweating by the time I fell into the chair across from him, trying to get my labored breathing under control. 

He looked concerned, sliding my tray across the table, but the mere sight of food made my stomach recoil.  Pushing it to the side I opted for the glass of tepid water.

"You're not looking so hot E."  My heart warmed at the nickname, not that I would ever tell him that.  It made me feel like I belonged which was ridiculous considering I had a suppression collar around my neck and six sets of mechanical locks on my door.  "You sick?"

Keeping my mouth shut had nothing to do with winning the game I was playing with the Avengers.  It was all about not puking on Sam. 

Sam accepted my refusal to answer as if it was completely normal for someone to ignore you.  He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest then abruptly changing subjects.  Instead of asking questions or probing my intentions he told me about Bucky.  It was difficult to keep my face blank listening to him explain how much the Soldier was struggling.

"He's being an asshole," Sam muttered with a head shake.  Hearing that made me happy on the inside.  If he was being a dick he wasn't that bad off.  "Only person he doesn't outright attack is Steve."

The topic strayed away from Bucky to Sam.  I was surprised to learn he was in the military, even more surprised that he shared such a personal detail with someone he considered his enemy.  I had no idea why he would do something like that, and it threw me for a loop.