Winter Sun •Soldiers Series• [Bucky Barnes/Avengers] *Sequel to Soldiers*

Chapter 6: Fairy Tales

Bucky:

Having been tortured, brainwashed by Hydra, I think it is acceptable for me to say that not many things can hurt me. No one can make me suffer the way that Hydra did. I mean, they have literally saw my left arm off, screwed a metal one in place with whatever techniques they had. Even though my memory is still patchy, but I still recall the hot ball of pain underneath my skull whenever they wiped me. Hydra has done some pretty impressive damage to me, I'll give you that.

But the moment when I was surrounded by unexpected Hydra men, I saw Charlotte being pinned onto the boxing stage. My chest heaved like I was drowning in acid. "Lottie!" I remembering shouting like an animal, cursing under my ragged breaths in Russian as I tried to fend off the damned bastards. I had to get to my girl. 

Her cry reached me when I had thrown another agent over my shoulder. Snapping my head up, my heart threatened to leap from my throat when I caught glimpse of the bastard kneeling on Charlotte's chest, his firm grip tightened around her throat. 

I growled. In that moment, I had retreated to the Winter Soldier's mindset. I felt like an animal, trapped and helpless as I fought off the stubborns agents. My eyes could never tear themselves away from the horrid sight that was unfolding in the middle of the boxing ring. My love, I thought and chanted in my head. My love. 

And there underneath some bastard's knee, my love was rasping for breaths. Her stiffened whimpers tore my world apart. As if to torture me further, the Hydra man pushed the tip of his blade into Charlotte's chin. Her eyes grew wide, and tears rolled off her cheeks along with her blood. 

And I wasn't myself anymore. Somehow, I had managed to get rid of the numerous agents around me. I couldn't remember who I was. I glared at the damned bastards. And I longed for my girl to be safe once more. 

I remembered dashing onto the boxing stage. The blasted agent was grinning up at me as if it was all a game. Behind him, Charlotte was shivering on the floor. Her eyes were bright red. 

Without a second thought, I jerked the guy away from my girl and locked my metal arm around his neck. I remembered feeling heavy, almost like I was drugged. The sight of Charlotte suffering was too overwhelming. Days ago I had nearly lost her. I wasn't prepared to let this happen again.

So there I was, out of my mind, merely a lost man, and under Charlotte's glassy gaze, I snapped the guy's neck like a twig. It was effortless, and I dropped him like he was just another breeze lost in the wild. 

The others had finally finished up their battles too. Matron, the first to reach the boxing ring, leaped over the bands and knelt next to Charlotte, as I had done. I still couldn't quite trust her, after what she had showcased with Steve. 

But my mind was elsewhere. I reached for Charlotte, because in that very instant, I needed her touch, I needed her to tell me she felt safe with me, and then I could proceed to tell her everything was fine, even though it was a false hope for our imaginary fairy tale. 

But my girl never looked at me once. She trembled and moved away from my touch, leaving my hand hanging in midair. I could feel Steve's and Natasha's weary eyes on me but I couldn't care less. I was terrified of what this could mean.

"Lottie?" I tried, but my voice broke when I saw how she was shaking in Matron's embrace. Her shoulders were tensed and squared. I swallowed. 

Peering at me hastily, Matron shifted so she was between Charlotte and I. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. For as long as I could remember, ever since I had run away from Hydra, Charlotte was the only one that I could go to, knowing that I would be safe. But now that she had turned away from me, I didn't know if there was a place that I could run to anymore.

Then, like a hopeful fool, I saw that Charlotte was slowly turning towards me, her eyes peeking ever so timidly over Matron's shoulder. My stomach churned anxiously as I longed to look into her eyes, even though they were burning with bloody redness. That was the Charlotte that I knew of. Maybe when she would look at me again, she would realise I was harmless, and that I was just the kid from Brooklyn, her Bucky. 

We locked gaze, and all I could see was fear and distrust. Suddenly, I could feel a black hole growing within me, and I was collapsing on my own. I should have known, I was never the white knight in his shining armours in Charlotte's fairy tale. All along I had been the monster, bathing in my victims' blood even though I was only trying to keep Charlotte sound. And like how fairy tales go, I, the monster, the ghost, was bounded to be forgotten by the love of my life. 

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I know this is a short chapter but it's an important build up to the next chapter! The next chapter will be up tonight or tomorrow:) Stay tune!