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

Chapter 14: Pins and Needles

Steve:

Sometimes, a simple lie can cause less damage than the truth. There is a very thin, grey line between the truth and words of a mouth that I'd hate to cross. Yet, here I am, lying to my best friend.

"She's staying out with Matron and her aunt," I mutter, keeping my eyes on the documents in my hand. I can feel the burn of Bucky's eyes on my neck. Fortunately, I'm not alone in this.

"Didn't Lottie tell you about her plan, Metallica?" Tony chips in helpfully, his trained eyes are glinting with mischief. Bruce is unusually quiet in the corner. He is as bad a liar as I am. We both are better with our mouths shut right in this moment. 

"Shut up, Stark," Bucky growls and throwing one last glance at me, he leaves the room with a moody scowl. Once he's gone, I can feel the taut atmosphere in Tony's workshop relaxing. Tony groans in pain and leans back in his coach at once. 

"We should check on the arc reactor more often," Bruce comments with a frown. Waving him off, Tony feels his chest with a dismayed expression. 

"I need Matron with this thing." Tony gestures towards his arc reactor and grumbles. "Where the hell are they?" Bruce exchanges glances with me wearily. The scientist looks like he will need a cup of black coffee soon. 

The trouble is, we have lost contact with Lottie and Matron since the evening. Tony was the first one to notice their absence when he was trying to reach Matron multiple times to check on his arc reactor. Being the sensible one, Bruce takes off his glasses in exhaustion and chimes in, "Look, maybe they're stuck in traffic and her phone ran out of battery."

"They were only out for lunch, Banner."

Frustrated, Bruce abandons his paper work at the desk and begins pacing around the room, earning an annoyed grunt from Tony. "There are many reasons as to why Matron isn't picking up her phone, Tony. One of them being you're an asshole for a boss!" 

All colours drain from Tony's face when the man jumps onto his feet in rage. "Are you serious? I'm the best boss someone could ever work for!"

"What kind of boss makes their employee pokes around their chest?"

Flustered, Tony attempts to approach the scientist. But I get into their way before things get out of hand. "Guys!" I raise my voice and place a hand on each of them to hold them back. "You need to calm down!"

"She gets the best pay, Banner! Have you even seen my bank account?"

"Not everything is about money, Tony!"

Feeling the hint of a headache banging at my skull, I turn to face Tony. "Stark, shut up."

"You shut up, grandpa."

Behind me, Bruce heads for the door in a storm. Before I can say anything, the scientist has already slammed the door in our faces. "Great," I sigh and drop my hands. Tony, still heaving in anger, turns to his coach again. "You do know this is the worst time to split the team up, right?"

Tony is silent, and it doesn't matter because I haven't expected an answer from him anyway.

Matron:

The first thing I feel is the dampness in the air. It's so thick I can almost taste it on my tongue. I keep my eyes shut while all my senses perk in alarm. I can feel the coldness of metal cuffs around my wrists behind me. As far as I can tell, I'm dumped on the floor against a rough wall.

Once I have decided it's a good time for me to start checking out the room for real, I peer out and see that I am alone. "Shit," I cuss and tug at the cuffs. They are bounded tightly behind me to the wall. What the hell. 

Where the hell is Lottie? Where did they take her? I gaze around me in panic, trying to figure a way out of this small confinement. The sharp edges of the cuffs cut into my flesh bluntly. Grimacing, I pull at it in frustration, growling when I can only hear the clinks of chains behind me. 

They tied me up like an animal. How did we even end up here?

Before I can do any more damage to my hands, the lock in the door from across me clicks open. I still instantly, my eyes weary on the man in military outfit. A long gun is stripped across his front. From the way he stands with his feet wide, his posture upright, I can tell he is trained.

Another man walks in from behind the first guy. Guess he's a guard then. A glower masks his face when he glares down at me. "Your friend is safe." I am so taken back by his comment that I gape at him. "For now," he adds, the corner of his lips lift. 

Anger boils within me. Leaping to my feet, I try to launch myself at me. The chains behind me pulls me back, tugging at my arms cruelly and I can feel a tickle of blood sneaking down my wrist. A laugh erupts from the man's mouth before he comes closer. "Look," he spreads his hands out as if he means no harm. "I don't want to hurt you. Nor your friend. But you will have to work with us."

"Go to hell," I spit and snarl at him. This piece of shit. I'm going to make him pay when I'm out of these chains. Before I can say anything else, however, the man's guard comes forth and smacks down on my cheek with the butt of his gun. My lungs squeeze with the impact. I can almost taste metal at the roof of my throat. Kneeling on the ground, I try to steady my breaths while glaring up at the man. "Come fight me yourself, you puss-"

The man is faster than I have anticipated him to be. I have only understood what has happened when my head hits the ground. A tackle of blood creeps from my nose. Sniffing, I spit and growl in my pain. The man hovers above me with his lips tight. My cheek is burning where his knuckles have impacted. I open my mouth to throw at him another witty comment, but he beats me to it. Like literally.

I can see stars when he is done. My arms are tied behind me as he thrusts punches and strikes on my head and stomach. "Untie her," he hisses in rage. His guard hesitates before complying. I grit my teeth, feeling every burn and cut in my body. 

My eyelids are swelling, I can tell. I have to squint to see properly. The guard leans in as he unties me. Once he has lifted the chains off me. I strike.

I smack my head into his, causing him to stumble back. "Hold your fire!" The man in charge roar when his guard levels the gun at me. I ignore him completely and dive for the man. A punch has somehow managed to land on his nose. A sickening crack sounds from underneath my knuckles. He flings his arms at me wildly but I leap back, narrowly missing his reach. 

I should have heard them. But I was so consumed in my own rage. The guards fill the room by the time I have landed another strike on the man. None of them is charging at me. The man in charge is determined to take me on. "You will regret this," he gnarls and throws himself at me. Before I know it, he has me in a headlock, cutting off my air supply completely. 

I can barely see through my heavy lids. My chin feel sticky with blood and cuts. In the reflection of the the guard's masks, I can see my face. He has really beaten me up bad. Wheezing, I claw at his arms but when I feel the contact of a sharp needle against my throat, I freeze completely. 

"That's it, bitch," he whispers and pushes the needle further underneath my flesh. "You can't win." With my body numb, he drops me on the floor. His guards don't even need to move a finger. I stare across the floor and watch the polished boots blankly. My body is failing and I know I will be slipping away soon. From above me, I can hear the man's faint voice growling, 

"Hail Hydra."