Adopted Assassin [COMPLETED]

Chapter 31

"You are a teenager," Thor pointed out.

"Not yet." Dad retaliated.

"Come on Dad, it's two freaking weeks away. I'm basically a teen," I complained as Clint helped me off of the ground.

"Nope."

Wanda grinned. "You do know that your father said the same thing to her?"

Dad looked confused. I patted his back. "I'll explain it to you when you're older." Everyone laughed again. "Alright, everyone out. I need sleep. Shoo." I waved them out and got back into bed, starting to dream.

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THAT NIGHT

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Caleb was standing alongside HYDRA. He attacked me and stabbed me. "Don't believe them. I'm a good guy." He begged as he stabbed me again. "I can't control myself. Tessa, help me!" Caleb rolled off of me with a pleading look. "Oh wait, this was your fault." He smirked. "You're the one who got me captured in the first place."

"No, Caleb, it isn't like that!" I shouted.

"You can't protect anyone without your powers. Not even a helpless innocent person like me."

I woke up sweating. I looked at the clock. It was midnight. I quickly got out of bed and ran to the elevator. "J, training room, stat," I panted, rubbing my temples.

"May I ask why?" JARVIS asked politely.

"I have to figure out if I got my powers back." The elevator stopped and opened at the training room. "Thanks."

"Anything for you, Miss." I stepped out and looked around me. Nothing had changed in the past month, except the fact that I was down there. I started to work my powers. I did a little at a time, not wanting to pass out, and soon enough, they became one with me again. They flowed quickly and smoothly, obeying my every command. I sighed in relief and closed my eyes. I was too hyped up to go back to sleep, so I formed daggers into my hands and played with them, throwing them at the walls and targets.

I heard something all of the sudden and I, out of excitement, threw it at the source, aiming it centimeters from their head. I heard a muffled man's gasp that I have definitely heard before. "James Buchanan Barnes," I said sternly. Bucky walked out of the shadows. "What are you doing up at this ungodly hour?"

"I heard something in the training room," he replied. I raised my eyebrows.

"Nope. Try again."

"What?" Bucky looked startled.

"You're lying," I stated.

"Wh-What? No, I'm not."

"You see, I also have the superpower to tell when people are lying." I smirked. "What are you really doing down here?"

"Nightmare," he whispered, looking at the floor.

"You don't have to be embarrassed, Buck. I had one too. It happens to the best of us. Wanna talk about it?" I walked over to where he was standing.

"I-I don't think that you'll understand," Bucky stammered and sat on the hard floor of the training room.

"Hey, we just fought Dark Elves from another realm. I died and came back. Being a human being isn't about fully understanding everything. It's about what you can do about it." I sat next to him. He smirked.

"When did you get so inspirational?"

"When you finally got a sense of humor," I replied. We both laughed. "Now, tell me what your nightmare was about."

"I-I was on the train again." He gulped. So did I. If this was really a touchy subject for Steve, for Bucky, it might be a lot worse.

"Buck, if you really don't want to -"

"No," he cut in sharply. His face softened. "I want to."

"Okay. Go on." I said softly.

"I was on the train." Bucky said again. "It all happened again, except it was —" His voice cracked. "It was Steve that fell."

"Oh, Buck..." I sympathized, rubbing his back.

"I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't stop it. I felt so useless. I – I was scared. For him. I've been protecting him his whole life. I felt so defeated. I felt so vulnerable. I felt so miserable. Then I watched him become who I - who I used to be. That he was brainwashed by HYDRA. I couldn't even do anything to prevent it and I — I feel so terrible for Steve because what if that's how he felt when I fell? What if he felt so bad that he almost jumped after me that day? Killed himself for me? Got taken? I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't able to forgive myself." He rested his head in his hands. "I've been having it every single night for months. I don't know how to stop them, so I – I take out my anger here in the middle of the night. I haven't had a good night's sleep since the 40's. Before the fall. And the worst part is that I don't know how to tell anyone. You're probably the only one that could ever understand, with the HYDRA thing and all. You understand how bad your dad felt when you got taken. But I don't know how to talk to Steve about it. About how he felt that day." Bucky took his head out of his hands and looked at me with red eyes. "I can't go back to being the Bucky Barnes that I used to be. But I feel like he wants me to. I feel like he needs that Bucky Barnes. But I can't go back. I—" He trailed off, staring at some point in the room.

I felt really bad. Yes, Dad explained his pain to me. Steve, on the other hand, gets choked up on the thought of who he used to be and what happened before the ice.

"Buck, look at me." He turned to me. "Listen, okay? We can't be happy, carefree, no worries people. We've seen all of the tragedies that someone could ever imagine. We have seen the real world out there. You and I have seen what it's like to be manipulated and tortured. None of us can go back to being the people who we used to be," I said softly. "But the good thing is that we don't have to be those people anymore. We can be whoever we want. Not who anyone else wants." Bucky looked back at the floor. "Hey, we've both done things wrong. We've both done things that we might regret. But that's the past. The past should be put behind us, okay? Focus on the good things now. Focus on what could happen in the future."

Bucky laughed softly. "You are really mature for a teenager. More mature than Tony."

I nudged him playfully. "You learn stuff when you're alone. No one to talk to. You work things out in your own head." I heaved him off of the ground. "Come on, old man, let's spar."

"You sure? I don't want to crush your feelings," Bucky said jokingly.

"The only thing you'll be crushing is your dignity," I teased. " 'Cause you're going to lose."

He slapped a hand over his heart mockingly. "Ouch."

"Is the old man having a heart attack? Should I call life alert? Should I get your walker?" I said sarcastically.

"That's it. You're going down." He chased me into the ring and we sparred until the sun came up.