Cold Sea // Marvel

Chapter Seven.

"And what is that?"

The man holds the picture of an animal. I think it's a dog.

"Dog?" I say, uncertain.

"In French," orders the man.

I don't know. I can't learn these languages. I'm only starting to get to the English one, I've never spoken before. I didn't know I was capable of it; I only knew how to scream and growl. It was enough to live in the Arctic and North Pole.

"I want home," I say in a small voice, my eyes looking down.

"Your home is now HYDRA"

No. I want the cold, the ice, the whales and foxes. I want to swim back and forth to the North Pole alongside the whales and sometimes dolphins. I want to feel free again, I don't want to stay in here.

"In French," repeats the man in a firm voice.

"I want home"

"In French!" He screams, hitting the table with his fist.

I look up to him and close my hands.

"I want home!" Ice comes out of my mouth and throws the man away from me. I stand up, freezing the ground under my feet.

The guards surrounding us aim me with their weapons, and my gaze meets the one of a new one. His long hair falls behind his ears and his blue eyes are staring at me, his gun aiming at me. He looks confident, fearless, but his eyes are blue like the ocean. It reminds me of home; he is home.

And so, I smile with all my teeth and sit back on the chair, now covered in ice.

"With these guys, he could do it. They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilise, They can take a whole country down in one night. You'd never see them coming," it's Bucky's voice. It sounds like he is very far away from me.

My eyes remain shut as I hear other voices. Who are they?

"No, he won't believe us," states a voice that isn't familiar to me.

"Even if he did-" I know who this is. It's Steve.

"Who knows if the Accords would let him help," interrupts the other voice which belongs to a man.

"We're on our own"

"Maybe not. I know a guy"

"Steve," calls Bucky.

I hear footsteps. Why aren't my eyes seeing anything? Are they closed?

They are. But I can't open them. Why can't I? What's going on? Where am I? Where are we?

"She's with me"

"How do we know we can trust her?" Ask the unfamiliar voice.

"Because I do," replies Bucky. "And if she wanted to kill you, believe me, she would have"

"Who is she?"

"She doesn't have a name. But we call her Cold Sea"

"We?" Repeats the unfamiliar voice.

"HYDRA"

"She was there with you?" Asks Steve. He is curious, he wants more information.

"Yes. Since the beginning"

"What did they do to her? How come she has those powers?" Demands Steve.

"She always had these ice powers. And what they did to her is... It's different from what they did to me"

"What do you mean?" Asks the unfamiliar voice.

"They did not make her a Winter Soldier. They wanted to 'tame' her, but they couldn't"

"Tame? Like a tiger?" Says the stranger.

"Sam"

"What? I'm asking"

His name is Sam.

"Like a tiger," repeats Bucky. These words aren't easy for him to pronounce, I can feel the pain coming from him. Is he hurt? Who hurts him? "They did things to her Steve," adds Bucky in aversion.

And no one answers. Is he talking about the flames? The bombs? The surgery of my head being opened? Or the one where they opened up my arms, legs and chest to see what was inside me? Maybe he's talking about the time when they threw me into flames. That was fun. I remember that HYDRA thought that fire could defeat me.

"Is she your friend?" Asks Steve.

Bucky does not immediately answer.

It's only now that all my senses reappear. My wrists are covered in something metallic, and so are my legs.

"She's with me," answers Bucky firmly. "And wherever I'm going, she's coming"

I pull on whatever is restraining my hands and a metallic sound comes to my ears.

"Sea," murmurs Bucky.

I hear footsteps running in my direction. Then, Bucky's hands hold my face while his thumbs caress my cheeks.

"Everything's okay," he whispers to my ear.

And my eyes open.

The first thing I see is Bucky's face. He's smiling. He never smiled like that, this smile is full of joy and relief. He's happy to see me, even excited. Bucky never looked like that, especially when looking at me.

His hands fall on my body and he hugs me tight against his chest. I break the chains and hug him back, my head falling on his chest.

"I'm sorry," I murmur.

"It's okay, everything's okay," replies Bucky.

My head against his heart, I can hear his heartbeat getting louder and faster. I put one of my hands on where his heart is and smile. I like listening to his heart beating, I always do that when he's sleeping because it's the only moment where he is peaceful.

Bucky backs away from me and grabs the metallic bracelets on my left hand to break it. He does the same with the right one, and then breaks the one on my ankles. He grabs my hand and I stand up when he does.

I look at Steve and his friend and when I remember that Steve doesn't know what I did, I feel remorse.

"I'm sorry," I say.

"It's okay. You didn't hurt anyone," replies Steve.

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the Arctic"

Steve frown his eyebrows.

"What are you talking about Sea?" Asks Bucky on my left.

"I froze Steve in the Arctic"

"You what?" Says Sam, shocked.

"You are the one who put me in ice for seventy years?" Asks Steve, surprised.

"I only did it because I didn't know what you were. And sharks were trying to eat you alive"

"You're the reason why I'm alive," sighs Steve.

I do not answer and turn my head to Bucky. He is not mad at me, I even feel gratitude coming from him.

"What's gonna happen now?" I ask.

"We're gonna go back," says Bucky.

"To Romania?"

"No. To HYDRA"