Redemption ||Bucky Barnes||

14. The Last of Us

He nods solemnly. "Agent Hill watched it go down as she escaped." He rubs his face and moans tiredly.

"Did they assign me a roommate?" I gesture to the empty cot.

"That would be me."

I scoff. "Is that a good idea?"

"We all mutually agreed that I'm the best person to be in the room with you right now." He shrugs. "I got you a change of clothes too. Might need them, especially the shirt."

"Right." I gently roll my left shoulder. He walks to me and puts them in my lap. "Thanks."

He takes a seat beside me, looking as though he's debating on what to say. What is there to say anyway?

"I never got to really bond with her," I say absently, staring down at the floor. "I never really got to get along with her." My voice is cracking. "She was the only thing I had to my pre-Hydra past. Now I have no one." My brows come together, an angry beast shoots out of me. "Why did she have to die, Buck? Why her? Why can't Hydra just leave S.H.I.E.L.D. in peace and let us hide like we've been doing?" I leap off the cot, begin pacing around the windowless room, never meeting his eyes. "What have we done to deserve this? Why can't it be the other way around?" My blood is boiling now. "I hope that bitch bleeds to death in the woods, but knowing Hydra, I'm sure they've got her all patched up and fine now! I can't say the same for Vanessa, because they murdered her!"

"Danielle—"

"We've got to fight back!" I roar. "We can't just let them steamroll us like this! We'll be nothing if they continue to hunt us down like dogs!"

"Danielle, listen to yourself. You're not thinking straight."

"My sister was murdered, of course I'm not thinking straight, Bucky!" I throw my hands up exasperatedly. "In fact, they've severely traumatized me. They've made a new enemy today, which is a big mistake on their part. If I find a Hydra agent, I'll show them no mercy. They didn't spare my sister, so why should I spare them?"

"You need to settle down." He gets up from the cot.

"Why? If you were me, would you be taking this calmly?" I'm sure I look hysterical and wild to him, but I've got every right to be. He watches me pitifully. "Hydra took away my only family I've got close by!" I pale. "Oh God...my parents. Oh, it'll kill them when they find out!" I gasp loudly. "Are they even going to know?"

"Danielle."

I cringe at Bucky's stern tone and look at him. I watch him warily as he comes to me and grabs me gently by my arms. I'm shaking in his grip, not because of his metal arm, but because of the emotions. The pain. The anger. The grief. The helplessness.

"I—I never even got to say goodbye," I whimper. "I never got to be reunited with our parents with her. I'll—I'll never see her again, Bucky." A hiccup of a sob comes out of my throat. "She's gone."

The sob does me in: my legs give out. A new batch of tears begin to fall, new cries come out of me, some of them so high that I almost don't realize that I'm making those noises. Bucky catches me before I hit the ground. I cry into his shoulder, don't hold back on releasing the floodgates.

He doesn't say anything comforting, he just holds me, lets me stain his attire. My throat is dry now, my head hurts, and my arm is beginning to throb again. I feel mentally wiped out, like I've just gone through a war and survived.

He strokes the back of my head—his method of calming me down, I assume. Just when I think I'll stop crying, a fresh batch of pain washes over me. I don't know how I'm still producing tears, I've shed far too many for my sister already.

Vanessa Finley. The woman I barely got to know. My sister. The sister who knew the real me before my memory loss.

The woman who gave her life to protect her baby sister.

I owe you everything, Vanessa, I think. It's like Hydra knew what you were trying to do. They took you away too soon. I'll never be able to repay you for sacrificing yourself. I wish I could remember every detail about you like I did in the past, before my life with Hydra began. I want to remember all our girl talks and whatnot. I want you here with me, Ness. I want you still breathing, still alive and with S.H.I.E.L.D.

I feel orphaned, having Vanessa taken away from me so suddenly. I haven't even dug deep enough into Hydra, and already I know I hate everyone in it. I hate what they are. How could I even be a part of such an awful organization? How could Bucky?

All Hydra breeds, in my eyes, are monsters. How could Bucky and I have agreed to let that happen?

"Bucky."

"Yeah?"

"Don't leave me alone," I plea. "I don't trust myself."

His embrace tightens. "I'll make sure you don't do anything stupid."

I choke out a laugh. Despite the grim reality looming over my head, I feel just a tad bit better. A tad bit safer.

If I had to trust anyone outside of my sister to watch over me, it'd be Bucky Barnes. 

**'Rue's Farewell' would have been another good song for this chapter.**