• Winter Widow • 1

'Chapter 18'

Turns out for once he wasn't wrong. Melina, the woman we were trying to find was running a pig farm, or so I thought. We heard the oinking of the pigs and then I saw a girl with a gun, typical. We walked down to a fenced off farm and Alexi greeted the woman simply.

"Honey, we're home." He smiled. I stood further back and saw as the woman stared at me. She welcomed us inside and then into a cute little cabin that was obviously her house.

"Welcome to my humble abode." She said, marching us inside. "Make yourself feel at home. Let's have a drink." She sighed. I followed Yelena into the dining room and sat down at the opposite end of the table. Natasha and Melina sat at the table as we waited for Alexi who was in the bathroom. I heard his shouting, gasping and grunting for who knows what.

"Let's drink." Melina sighed as she poured out some shots for us.

"Uh hum." Alexi coughed. We all turned to see Alexi in a bright red costume with white stripes.

Melina and Alexi did who knows as Alexi walked to the table and sat at the head.

The reunion to say the least was, awkward. Natasha wanted to keep it clean, Melina and Alexi were constantly interrupting and Yelena was just trying not to punch someone in the face. While I was sitting at the head, quietly listening and not doing or speaking a word. Then Natasha got her point across and Melina brought over her tablet thing and pressed a button, we then heard a click. We looked up and saw as a large pig walked inside.

"Did that pig just open the door?" Natasha asked.

"Yes, yes it did." Melina answered, oddly proud of it. "Good boy Alexei, good boy." She congratulated.

"You named a pig after me?" Alexi asked, offended.
"Don't you see the resemblance?" I tried to contain my laugh, covering my mouth to the smiled that was wiped across it. I looked back over to the pig.

"See, it sits just like dog." She showed. "You see, now watch." She pressed a button on her screen. "Stop breathing." The pig immediately stopped. My eyes widened as te pig sat there, not breathing.

"We infiltrated a hive for SHIELD Scientists in Ohio, actually it was HYDRA scientist at the time." She corrected herself.

"In conjunction with the Winter Soldier project," Yelena and Natasha turned to me as she continued.

"They had dissected and deconstructed the human brain, to create the first and only cellular blueprint of the basal ganglia. Was the hub for cognition." I looked at the woman, hair black and braided neatly behind. He words faded out of my head, she knew about the Winter Soldier Program and so much about it she had to be one of the people who worked on me.

"We didn't steal weaponry or technology, we stole the key to unlocking free will." I turned to Yelena as the conversation went quiet. The pig fell to the floor after not breathing for about two minuets now.

"I am just explaining that the science is so in just that a subject can be told to stop breathing and has no other choice than to obey." No other choice than to obey, people, experiments, assassins, Bucky, me. I had been just another experiment, one that worked and this is how the scientists talked about them.

Natasha looked at me, somewhat sympathy inside her eyes. I stood from the table making everyone turn to me. I grabbed my bag walked off, not tucking in my chair. Leaving the conversation, I didn't want to rehear the horrors they did to me. I walked outside where the air was cool and the thickness was wiped clean. I walked around and plucked myself down beneath a tree.

I took a breath and then felt something in my bag vibrate. I grabbed out what was sending the vibrations. I looked down at the number, it was unknown. I slid the answer button across and held it up to my ear.

"Hello," I asked into the phone. "Who is this?" I heard a relived sigh from the other side of the line.

"Doll, it's me." I gasped, the voice so clear and personal. It was Bucky, my Bucky. He was okay. I had hoped for weeks to hear his voice, the last I saw of him he was surrounded by men with guns.

"Where are you? Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm okay," He chuckled. "The charges against us, they have been dropped. We're free. We don't need to run anymore." My eyes opened and my lips formed a smile. 'We were free from the police and other people that were after us.'

"Somehow Stark figured it out and changed their minds. Where are you Lily? I want to come and find you, I wanna bring you home." He asked. 'That sounded like my dream, being home with him safe and protected.'

"I uh, I'm safe, for the moment." I answered.

"For the moment? What do you mean?" He questioned.
"I'm with Natasha and Yelena, we are on a mission." I informed him.

"What kind of mission?" He asked, his voice sounding confused.

"We are taking down the Red Room." I explained.

"Your taking down the Red Room?" He asked, his voice questioning.
"Yes," I pause. "I don't want to go home yet, I want to finish this. Prove to myself that I am free from them once and for all." Bucky listened closely.

"Doll, I just want you safe. Please just come home."

"Can't you hear me, I'm not coming home." I paused.

"Lily,"

"I've changed my plans." I heard him sigh.
"Promise me this, promise me you will be safe, don't do anything stupid." I looked up at the sky, when I came out it was sunset but now, the sky was dark. I looked up at the stars and saw movement in the sky. I then heard an engine, someone else was out there.

"Of course I won't." I chuckled.

"Promise," He insisted.

"Bucky, I uh, I promise." I felt something grow in my stomach, a pit of uneasiness.

"Bucky there is someone here, I have to go."

"Just wait," He paused. "But I hope you know, I belong with you you belong with me your my sweetheart. I care deeply for you Lillianna and I owe it to you to keep you safe so please." I smiled.

"I love you too Bucky," I smiled. My back was against a tree. I then turned around to see agents with guns stalking around in the woods. I gasped, quickly ducking back behind the tree. I grabbed my gun out and quickly turned around, ready to shoot when instead a cloth wrapped around my mouth and nose.

I scream but no sound came out, I gripped onto the hands that held it in place trying to claw or scratch them off anything. I kicked my legs and tried to crawl away but nothing worked. I saw my vision around me start blur and I felt my body failing. My movements took too much breath. I struggled against the hands and slowly blinking was harder and harder to do, harder to open my eyes after shutting them for a split second.

I could hear a voice and looked down I was still on a call with Bucky, he was hearing my struggle. I could hear him calling my name, over and over until I could not see out or hear him anymore, my vision turning to blank along with my mind.

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