Butterflies (Bucky Barnes Daughter)

TWENTY FOUR

The blur of cars passing by made Mila feel a bit dizzy. Natasha noticing her in the rear view mirror asked, "You okay?".

Mila looked at the her in the mirror, rubbing her eyes. "Huh, oh yeah. I'm okay". Steve kept his eyes on the road but his mind was somewhere else. This teenage girl was an assassin, a murder and yet here she was, in the back of a pick up truck rubbing her eyes because cars were making her dizzy. He couldn't believe it.

Playing with the short strands of her red hair, Mila pulled the hood off her hat and removed the cap off her head. "Where did Captain America learn to steal a car?" Natasha asked, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Nazi Germany. And we're borrowing it, get your feet off the dash," his voice was soft yet stern. Mila looked at the two adults from the back. Blocking out whatever they were talking about to think to herself. Natasha was just using Mila, and Mila was using Natasha to get back to her papa. So why did she feel this way. A ball of emotions she had never felt before sat at the bottom of her stomach, bouncing around. The feeling made her want to throw up, and hug someone. She hated feeling like this.

After they finished their conversation, Steve looked at Mila in the mirror. "Where you from kid?".

Mila paused, she shouldn't say anything but they needed to think she trusted them. And besides, she was pretty sure her accent gave it away. "Russia," she said quickly. Natasha looked upset, and Steve noticed it.

"What?" He whispered to Nat, confused about why she was upset with Mila's answer.

Letting her guard down she asked the girl something. "Do you know about the Red Room?" She wasn't expecting an answer but it was worth a shot.

Mila froze. How did she know about the Red Room? She lied through her teeth, "No. What is that?".

Natasha knew she was playing a dangerous game. This could ruin the plan but at this point, she was starting to forget about it. This little girl was living a sad and dangerous life and she didn't want her to continue suffering. She looked to Steve with sadness in her eyes. "It's a horrible place," she took a deep breath, "Where they train little girls to be killers".

Mila understood what she was trying to do. Natasha was trying to get her to spill. "I've never heard of it before. How do you know about it?"

"I used to train there, when I was a little girl". Steve gave her a look of confusion. Why was she giving away this information? Her answer threw Mila for a loop. She sounded genuine about it, like she had no problem with telling her the truth. It was hurting her brain. Why was she being so nice to her and telling her all of this if her plan was to use her? This is not how a spy operates.

Steve wanted to know more about the girl sitting in the backseat, he remembered her reaction to him holding her wrist. "Mila, what's wrong with your arm? You flinched when I grabbed you in the store". He was just asking, also trying to get her to trust him.

Her cheeks were painted red with embarrassment. She didn't think he noticed that. "Nothing's wrong with it," she was a little too quick to defend herself. Her face scrunched up after hearing her response.

Natasha turned around in the seat to face the teen. "Mila, I need you to understand something". She threw her whole plan out the window. No longer caring about using her, she just wanted to know more about the girl she had heard rumors about for years, only to find out she was just a kid. Natasha knew what she was doing was stupid and reckless, so did Steve but he wasn't going to stop her. He knew better than to get in her way.

"What?" Mila asked. Confusion plagued her, along with thirst, and hunger and fatigue. Natasha had broken the wall she put between herself and Mila, but Mila didn't. She couldn't.