A/N: that last chapter was reallyyy long, apologies. But now, after twenty chapters, we finally start getting to the good stuff ;)
———
I'm not sure how long it lasted, or how long I passed out for after. All I know is that no one came in, and no one got hurt.
When I come to, everything is silent.
I like silence.
It takes a second for my brain to properly process my consciousness, but when it does, I realise I'm lying face down on a solid stone floor. When I roll over my whole body burns in pain.
A chill nips at my skin, refreshing in comparison to the heat engulfing me before. Goose bumps prickle along my body, hairs raised and swaying slightly in a gentle breeze. Shivers ripple through my arms, over my stomach and legs.
Over my bare stomach and legs.
I'm naked.
My heart convulses as I sit up, finally taking in the destruction around me.
The room is in complete disarray. All the gym equipment is broken or tipped over, the punch bags torn open and haemorrhaging tiny particles of sand which litter the whole floor. Deep gashes sink into the metal walls of the room and glass fragments glint in the artificial light. Where the windows should be are now black iron sheets, blocking anyone from seeing in, and anything from getting out.
I find my clothes in shredded piles on the floor where they must have ripped with the force of my transformation.
The feeling of vulnerability is overwhelming as I scramble back, pulling me knees to my exposed chest, my back pressed to the wall. I catch sight of my fingertips, caked in dry blood.
A sob escapes my throat, the memory of the chair and the computer rushing back to hit me like bullets, piercing my heart.
They all know.
They all saw.
Lucy's scream echos around my head and I feel the urge to vomit, barely containing the revulsion boiling in my stomach. Instead, I settle for tears, unable to stop the hot streams making waterfalls of my cheeks.
For the first time in five years I don't fight it. I bow my head into my knees and let the sobs shake my shoulders, the girl I couldn't save alive in every shuddering breath.
"I'm sorry." I whisper to her as she sits silently in front of me. "I'm so sorry."
*****
When the tears stop and my stomach only simmers, I start to look around.
As much as I could sit in this wrecked room, with only carnage and ghosts for company, the rational side of my brain recognises that I can't stay here forever.
The cold has started to envelop my muscles, tempting them into a frozen slumber. I need to get back to my room, but there's the small problem of clothes.
I am not about to run around the Avengers tower naked.
I glance around the space for something to cover up with, but come up short.
YOU ARE READING
The ghosts we hide (Winter Soldier x OC)
Fanfiction"I didn't mean to hurt you. I could never hurt you." He whispers into my neck. I stroke the back of his head with careful fingers, chin resting lightly atop his skull. "I know." I soothe, pulling him closer still. Sobs escape from his chest, rattli...
