She's Afraid and Forgotten - Winter Soldier

Overwhelming Chapter 17

Bucky turns onto his side, glancing at the clock on his bedstand. 3:00 am. 

His thinking had kept him up, once again. 

Deciding a walk might help his thinking, Bucky gets up. He starts walking down the halls aimlessly like many nights before, discovering new rooms and new gadgets he'd never seen before. 

Bucky turns down the hallway, quickly realizing there was a light on at the very end. A dim light, but still enough to outshine the barely lit hallway. 

Bucky glances at the hospital wing's sign, wondering if he'd get in trouble for walking here at night. 

Deciding he didn't care if he did, Bucky starts walking towards the light. Bucky raises an eyebrow when he sees Dorothea feeling along the wall. 

Dorothea taps on the perfectly smooth cream wall, trying to find a weak point. She smiles slightly when she notices a crack near the sink. She tightens her grip on the small knife she'd snatched from the dinner tray and starts digging at the crack, forcing out chunks of wall.

Bucky watches as Dorothea huffs in annoyance when the plastic knife snaps. 

Dorothea looks around for something else that could help her escape. It was time to leave, she needed to get out of here before something was done to her. These people had supplies and weapons, they could kill her at any moment. 

When she was at home, she had papa who protected her. Here, Papa didn't remember her so he probably wouldn't help. 

She tosses a jar of cotton swabs on the ground, grunting in anger. She flinches and retreats to the corner when the glass jar shatters and glass flies everywhere. She covers her head, knowing exactly what's going to happen next. Someone was going to come in and hurt her. She should've been more careful. 

Just as she expected, the door opens. Dorothea curls up as tight as she can, covering her head with her small arms. " Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! " She apologizes, obviously in distress. 

" Hey, hey. It's alright. " Bucky says while holding his hands up in surrender to let her know he wasn't going to hurt her. He'd come in as soon as the jar had broken, typing in the code he'd seen a nurse use to enter the room when Dorothea had fallen asleep one of the times he'd come by to check on her. 

Dorothea's head snaps up at his voice. " Papa? Papa! We need to leave. " Dorothea stands up, running towards him. " We need to go! Go home! Before they find out we left. They're going to be so mad. So so mad! " Dorothea says, hoping he remembered her and that's why he came back. 

Dorothea runs towards him, almost reaching the glass when Bucky stops her. " Wait! There's glass you're going to cut yourself. " He holds his arms out in a stopping motion. 

Dorothea pauses. 

" This is dangerous. Don't move. " He instructs, eyeing her carefully to make sure she doesn't take a break for the door. 

He starts picking up the bigger chunks of glass, placing them in the trashcan near the sink. " What are you doing? Why are you running around like a mad man in here? " 

" We need to leave! If they find us-they'll, they'll kill us both. We need to go home before they notice we're gone. Papa, I missed you. Why didn't you come home? I was scared. Papa, you said you'd only be gone a little while! " Dorothea panics slightly. 

Bucky, a little overwhelmed by the emotional child, backs away. 

" We need to go, papa. People are going to come after us! " Dorothea rushes. 

" Stop! " Bucky says, very stressed out. Her panicking and talking about the people she's worried about, start to trigger Bucky, making his head fill with unwanted memories and emotions. 

His sudden outburst startles Dorothea. He'd never yelled at her before. Never ever. Not even in the past when he didn't remember her. 

" Stop calling me 'papa'. I'm not your father, okay? I don't have a child. I-I don't know you. You've got me confused for someone else. " Bucky argues. 

Dorothea blinks. " You really don't remember me? " Her voice cracks obviously hurt and upset. 

" No. " He says quieter feeling a little guilty. " I don't. I'm sorry, but you've got me confused for someone else. " 

" Why can't you remember me? This never happens! You always remember me! Always! " Dorothea says with tears brimming. " You always remember me. "

Dorothea looks away from Bucky, slightly backing away from the big male. 

Bucky's heart breaks slightly as he watches the girl's heart gets crushed. He hadn't meant to make her upset. " Look, I'm going to find your father. I'll do my best to get you back to him. " 

Dorothea's remains silent, wiping away a tear. She backs into her corner, sitting down and curling up tightly in a defensive pose. 

" I'm sorry for snapping. I'm not your dad. I don't...maybe we look similar, but we're both different people. " 

Dorothea tucks her head into her arms, blinking furiously.

Bucky stands awkwardly in the room, not sure how to make the girl feel better. Within a span of a day, she'd gotten ripped out of her home, thrown into a new environment with people she doesn't know and was shown what the world is like outside of a cell for the first time in her life. Everything's probably freaking her out. He'd been alarmed and confused when he was first exposed to everything. The world was a new place he didn't know. At least he'd know what it was like before all of the advances that've happened over the years. This poor girl wasn't given the chance to experience anything. Her entire life was based in a cold cell with nothing but the bare minimum and a parent she seems to think is him. It's probably going to be way harder for her to adjust to life. 

" Do you...do you need the doctor? " Bucky asks, a little alarmed at the deafening silence. 

" No! " Her head snaps up. " No. Doctor's are bad. Really bad. They hurt you. " Her eyes are wide in alarm. 

" This doctor's a good guy. He's not like the other ones you know. He's a good guy. A good person. " Bucky tries to reassure the child. 

Dorothea shakes her head. " There's no such thing as a good person. Only a liar. " She mumbles. 

It's not her fault that she's scared. The trama she's endured makes her afraid, just like Bucky's trama has messed with his head. There are good people. His friends have proved that. Bucky'd just have to show Dorothea there are. She deserved a chance at the life that had been taken away from her selfishly when she was so young. Bucky would do his best to help the girl find her father as well as stop her from getting taken away by S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury's agents wouldn't do any good for her. He knew what their interrogations involved and how they purposely triggered unwanted memories to get whatever they wanted from you. No child should have to go through that. This girl had already been through so much. She didn't deserve to go through that. 

Why was he attached to this girl? Why did he want to help her? 

Bucky wasn't sure. Maybe it was because he knows what she went through-at least partially. Or maybe it's because it's the fact that she's a child. An innocent child. 

Bucky didn't know. What he did know is he'd try to help her. It's the best he could do.