The Seventh Avenger: Memories Never Die// Bucky Barnes

SEVEN: TRAINING BUDDIES

Unfortunately for me, finding out if I was right would take time.

In the week and a half that followed the conversation between Sara and I in the cafeteria, I had attempted to find myself alone with the winter soldier numerous of times to discuss possible ways out of this facility. But this was easier said than done. As the days passed, it quickly became clear to me that getting alone with the soldier would be more difficult than I had initially believed.

Each time that I attempted to approach the table where he sat, he would gather his tray in his hands and take off before I had even made it halfway across the room. Neither Riley or Sara knew where exactly it was that he resided after the day ended, which made it impossible for me to corner him outside of the bustling cafeteria as well. Doing so in training sessions was impossible to. Not only because he didn't show up to half of them, but also because Williams and countless other guards were in the room at the same time. Which meant that sneaking across the room towards his usual corner unnoticed, wasn't possible either. Especially when Williams watched everyone in the room much like a hawk would. Too closely for anyone's liking.

With neither Riley or Sara having anything else to offer me, I was no close to figuring a way out then I had been on my first day here. And with each day that passed and as I found myself quickly falling into the routine of this place, I began to feel as if I would never have the chance to talk to the soldier alone. Or find a way out of this place.

But little did I know, that this was all about to change.

***

The routine that I was quickly falling into was a simple, if not brutal one. At the start of each day, a guard would come barging into my cell at what felt like an ungodly time in the morning to wake me up. If I wasn't quick enough for their liking, they reached down and yanked me from the bed while I kicked and screamed in protest. They would then inform me that I had exactly two minutes to change into one of the grey dresses I had received before they would turn their back on me and give me some privacy to change, rather than doing the preferred option of leaving the room altogether.

When some had tried to watch me change, I had put my foot down and refused to move another muscle until they gave me the privacy that I both needed and deserved. When they proceeded to threaten me if I didn't cooperate, I only raised my fists threateningly. It appeared that each of them wasn't brave enough or liked the idea of getting into a fight when they didn't have the support of numbers behind them, as they would each begrudgingly turn around and mutter insulting words under their breath as they did so.

Once I was ready, I was escorted to the infirmary where Doctor S'yan would be waiting for me. The two of us would converse and make small with one another, as he injected the drug into my body. I had quickly learned that any of my complaints about this only fell upon deaf ears and that they would do absolutely nothing to stop the injections from happening in the first place. They would proceed whether I liked it or not. Making small talk and pretending that it wasn't happening didn't make things easier, but it was all that the two of us could do.

A quick and light breakfast would come next. Each day I sat with Riley at our table in the far corner of the room. Sara occasionally joined us, though most of the time it was only Riley and I. Much like how things had been with the Doctor, Riley and I would make small talk with one another as we ate the food given to us. The topic of conversation ranged from her time in Europe and what her family was like back home. We talked about the things that we missed the most while we were trapped here. We talked about anything the could distract us from the harsh reality that we found ourselves in.

And then training would begin after breakfast.

The whole process was almost the same as it had been during my first day. Everyone would break off into small groups and complete different training exercises on their own. Some of the guards taught the younger 'students' and you could imagine how nice they went about it. To the extent of barking orders, pushing the kids around and hitting them with the wooden weapons if they were too slow or made even the smallest of mistakes.