The Winter Wraith (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Chapter 25 - Reluctant Sacrifice

Shadows, skulking around the flickering pools of fluorescent lights, pouncing on their pray only to be thrown off with the erratic bursts of electricity that provided the only light in the miserable room. Echoes, haunting you with keening cries as you relive the past hour, pounding against the cage of your mind. Whispers, slightly behind and to your left, a man muttering to himself or a into microphone you can't see. You snap your eyes shut, regulating your breathing and pretending to remain unconscious.

Your mouth feels drier than the sands of the Thar Desert you had visited on a past mission, and every blink is like rubbing sandpaper over your eyes. Cohesive thoughts dance out of your reach like a kite in the wind, so you try to reel them back in. You begin the count backwards from one hundred, remaining still so as not to alert the man you are awake. 100, 99, 98. You are sitting in a large metal chair, and subtle tests tell you that matching bands strap you down at the neck, wrists, hips, and ankles. Even the relatively smooth restraints set your skin alight, a burning after effect of having your mind scrambled alive. 65, 64, 63. Your eyes edge open, trying to glimpse any useful information. You don't see any guards or any more of those torturous sound weapons, but that didn't mean they weren't on standby. 36, 35, 34. Your skin is slick with sweat, your hair sticking to your face. You keep your head bent against your chest, waiting for the figure to enter your line of sight so you can determine who you are dealing with.

The man continues to make adjustments to the machine and computers surrounding the dank room, and he shuffles into your right peripheral vision. You glimpse black hair peppered with grey, a man of short stature bustling around the machines, and as the voice finally works its way through your muddled thoughts, you know exactly who stands before you.

The laugh escapes from your lips before you even know what you are doing, bubbling up from your chest and erupting in a rasping, discordant crash. The figure's head whips up, steely grey eyes widening in surprise. No. With dull satisfaction, you realise it's fear. He opens his mouth to speak, or maybe to call for guards. It doesn't matter, his words are lost in the flood of laughter pouring out of you. You knew your laughter was absurd, the smile grasping at your face unnaturally wide, but to you, it seemed the only possible way to deal with everything that had happened. It just seemed so fitting that Lenkov, of all the members of Hydra, had been the one to betray you. Especially considering you had been working out how to help him escape once you were free of Hydra. The laughter grates at your throat still horse from screaming, and the metallic taste of blood spatters your mouth. Regardless, you were sure would be doubled over in laughter if weren't for the metal clutching your throat.

As your hysteric fit of laughter subsides, your head lulls back against the unrelenting metal chair, any lingering energy flickering away with the room's feeble lighting. Lenkov remains still, hands clutched tightly in front of him. It does little to mask his shaking. Another burst of laughter threatens to tear out of your chest, but you settle for smiling at his discomfort. Regret, poisoned by the urge to forgive Lenkov, laps at the edges of your mind, but you push it down. He takes a small step towards you, palms turned upwards in what is clearly meant to be a placating manner; the way you'd approach a wild animal. "Please, Wraith, listen to me."

Your eyed drift past him, to the outline of a barred door against the far wall. "Why should I?" The words are a whisper on your tongue, and you curse your traitorous voice for morphing the accusation into a plea, practically begging Lenkov to find some logical reason for betraying you. 

But his next words are a sorry excuse. "I had to do it."

Your glare turns as flinty as the metal beneath you, your body just as rigid and unyielding. You could be a statue of stone as you stare down Lenkov. "Don't lie to me." Not again.