ignis | b. barnes

| 11 |

ONE BY ONE SOLDIERS WERE PUSHED INTO CAGES. Brendon stood tall in his tan nurse scrubs, Bucky right behind him. Dum Dum Dugan was in front of Brendon and the rest of the group in front of Dum Dum. The German soldiers pushed Brendon to the side and shoved Dum Dum and Bucky into a cage with at least ten other soldiers. Brendon looked over to Bucky nervously as two German soldiers grabbed his shoulders roughly.

Brendon easily shook their hands off which resulted in one throwing a punch at Brendon, who squatted down to dodge the punch. Multiple soldiers raised their guns and Brendon could just make out a loud clanging noise. Looking to the side Brendon saw Bucky had practically ran into the metal bars of the cage terrified for Brendon's life.

Brendon quickly stood up again and raised his hands in surrender, knowing there was no chance for him to win. The soldiers took his arms and started dragging him away.

"Buck." Brendon grumbled looking back.

"You'll be ok, Donnie." Bucky whispered as he watched his friend get pulled away.

—

"I'm afraid my times experimenting are over, Mr. Marshall. No worries I should have you back soon." A man by the name of Zola told Brendon, who was tied to a chair. Zola waved soldiers in and they untied Brendon.

He let out a cry of pain as the soldiers grabbed his shoulders and forced him off the chair. The soldiers were practically dragging him to the cages, his legs to weak to move themselves. The walk to the cages was long. But the further they walked the more strength Brendon seemed to be gaining, but the tighter the soldiers grip tightened.

Walking into the area of cages, Brendon's head dropped, no one was there. There were no prisoners to greet his arrival. As they came up to one of the empty cages one soldier swung the door open while the other shoved Brendon in. 

In the distance, Brendon could hear angry shouts in German. They were fast to close the door but neither locked it. Brendon noticed but just ignored it. He curled up in corner of the cage as his head started to pound with every little sound.

"Bucky! Bucky!" A voice called out. Brendon could just make out a thump and someone letting out a small 'ow.'

As his head started to pound more he tried not to listen, for ever little sound was like a hammer to his head. It became hard as the creaking sound of the cage door opened and shuffling feet entered the small area.

Curling up as small as he could, Brendon tried getting away scared it was another scientist ready to inject a needle into his skin with some liquid that made every inch of his body burn. It didn't help when a pair of hands cuffed his face. As the hands came into contact with his skin, Brendon flinched hitting his head on the metal bars of the cage, making him let out a cry of pain.

"Brendon Donnie, it's alright. It's Bucky. It's James, James Barnes," Bucky whispered frantically.

"Bucky?" Brendon whispered softly.

"Yes!" Bucky chuckled, relieved he was remembered. "Yes, it's Bucky, are you ok? What did they do to you?"

"I-I'm fine. My head just. . . Just hurts." Brendon answered slowly, still trying to rest his migraine.

"Rest your head on my legs, it'll be better than the ground," Bucky suggested. Brendon nodded and situated his head on Buck's lap.

The other men around them didn't question why Bucky was letting Brendon rest his head on his lap, but wondering how the two got comfortable so quickly. When Silas was dying Brendon had put the boys head in his lap but it took them a minute to get the boy comfortable. But Bucky and Brendon. . . . It was almost as if they practiced.

The next few weeks Brendon slowly recovered. The German soldiers were kind enough to allow Brendon to stay in the cage while the other soldiers went to work.

The prisoners were fed daily but with horrible. Bucky made sure to force feed Brendon just to get food in his system. After a week, Brendon started throwing the food up.

It became hard for the prisoners to have high hopes. Their only doctor was tortured to the point he couldn't think and was getting more sick as the weeks flew by.

After what felt like months Brendon started getting better. He was able to sit up without getting dizzy and his migraines were  beginning to become less frequent. The only thing that still was a problem was the fact he couldn't stand up without throwing up, falling over, or getting dizzy.

Bucky played doctor with Brendon, always checking to see if he had a fever or telling him not to do something because 'it would make him feel worse.'

Once, when Brendon tried eating the chunky soup given to all the prisoners Bucky stopped him and took his tray away only to give it back with only two stale pieces of bread.

Eventually the soldiers deemed Brendon well enough to start working with the other prisoners. Times became tough, Brendon wasn't fully recovered, he could barley walk. He could take a few steps which turned into limps which eventually turned to him falling over in exhaustion.

According to Dum Dum, one night while Brendon was asleep the soldiers came back to the cage. (They had been appearing at the cages to take prisoners, Brendon is the only one who came back.) Bucky, who thought the soldiers came back for Brendon again, stood up and walked to the door of the cage. But the look on one soldiers face told them all, they weren't there for Brendon.

They wanted Bucky.

~

Authors Note

I wrote this chapter in my reading seminar class when I should have been reading a memoir but oh well I think it turned out ok.