RAISON D'ÊTRE ( bucky barnes ) 一 under editing

SIXTH

RAISON D'ÊTRE
SIXTH

THE MOMENT THE DOOR FLEW open, Rome had never moved quicker in her life. Her eyes were wide and alert with surprise, lips parted just in the slightest when she caught sight of Pierce walking through the now open doorway. He looked too casual, acting as if he didn't just catch two of his underlings 一 his prized possessions, as Rome believed. Just past him, Rome could spot two guards standing outside the door, one of them holding something in their hands. She couldn't make it out, but that didn't matter as she looked back at Pierce.

"Well, what do we have here?" Pierce taunted as Rome glared at him. Her fists were shaking at her sides. "I thought I made myself clear, Miss Kingsmill. And yet here you are 一 falling in love. How pathetic."

If it weren't for the current predicament they were in, perhaps Rome would have blushed crimson. The idea of her falling in love sounded too childish for a person like her, but it was still a nice idea. Sine she was a child, all she's wanted to do was fall in love and get married, live that sweet simple life she's dreamed of for so long, but after what her mother and aunt had done, she'd given up on it. That kind of life belonged where it started 一 in her dreams. Rome crossed her arms over her chest, taking a defiant step towards him. "I'm not in love," she protested. "And I am doing my job, the job that you gave me."

Pierce gave her a smile, one that sent shivers down her spine. He tossed a glance over his shoulder, looking at the guards behind him. "Prep him," he ordered, "and wipe him."

Rome's eyes widened. Wipe him? No, they couldn't! If they did that, all his memories of her would be gone, all their time together just flushed down the drain. Besides, doing that would only cause him more harm if anything. She told him that the process was violent, turning his own mind against him, and they'd only hurt him more. But the next words that Pierce said terrified her, her jaw dropping in shock.

"And make her watch."

"Hey, wait 一"

Her shouting was in vain as the guards stormed in, one of them charging her quickly and not allowing her any time to retaliate. Something cold and metallic clamped around her wrists, and her eyes widened once again. It felt like the energy, all the magic she held within her body, was sucked dry and Rome nearly fell to her knees. To this day, she still has no idea how they got a hold of these dark objects, and she swore she'd kill whoever gave them to HYDRA. Because of these, she was rendered a weakling, human as human can be. The guard gripped her by her upper arm, pulling her to her feet as she started to shout. "Stop it, let me go!" she yelled, trying to punch him but to no avail. The blonde looked over her shoulder to see the Winter Soldier looking at her sadly, before allowing the other guard to lead him down the hall. She didn't stop fighting or struggling even when they made it to the room. If she had her magic, all these guards would be dead within seconds and she'd run with her soldier as fast as she could.

A door to her left was open and she was easily tossed inside, her knees scraping against the harsh ground. The guard that had been guiding her pulled up, and she managed to bite back the groan as his harsh touch. She examined the room, eyes narrowing as she spotted a lone chair sitting in the middle, a large machine attached to its back. A stool was beside it, a spectacled man sitting in it already with a few tools in his hands.

The Winter Soldier made no protests as he was directed into the chair, his gaze down at his lap. He couldn't bear to look at Rome, for her to see him at one of his lowest points, and yet he wanted to see her. Just one last time, before she was ripped away from his mind. He wanted to fight back, to kill them off and hold Rome in his arms, but he couldn't. These people, they knew how to manipulate and reform his mind 一 they had power over him and he hated it.

Rome watched, tears in her eyes, as he was prepped. Why wasn't he fighting back? Why was he just letting this happen? He could stop this all, she knew it! She'd never seen him fight in person, but she'd heard whispers of it 一 he's a killing machine, he's ruthless, he's dangerous and violent. Please, fight back, she thought, blinking rapidly so her tears wouldn't fall. She looked back up at Pierce, shaking her head. "Don't do this," she begged, her lip quivering as she spoke. A tear had fallen down her cheek but she didn't bother trying to wipe it away. "I'm, I'm sorry. Please, don't do this!"

Pierce didn't bother sparing her a glance, instead looking on at the Winter Soldier. He doesn't see them as people or even as assets 一 they're his toys. He spoke to the man on the stool. "Do it now."

The man did as he was told, placing a mouth guard in her soldier's mouth, which he begrudgingly took. Rome started muttering to herself, shaking her head as she watched the machine start up. Cuffs secured themselves tightly around his arms, and she watched as his chest started to heave up and down. He's panicking, she realized. He's scared.

"You can stop this," she said to Pierce, moving to glance at the blond man. "You don't have to do this."

"No," Pierce immediately said. "But I want to."

Someone's hand gripped her chin, holding it forcibly between his fingers. Rome tried to shove him away, but failed as she watched the machine lower onto the Winter Soldier's head, covering half of his face. When he started to scream, she fought even harder against the guard's grip. It felt like a nightmare, one in which she was completely helpless. Why were they all just watching? Why weren't they doing anything? She hadn't realized that his screams started to mix with hers until she started to sob, her face red and tears down her face. "Please, just stop it! Stop it!" But it didn't. Instead, Rome was forced to watch as the machine seared into his brain and wiped his memories, as his yelling escalated to the point where she thought her eardrums would burst.

And when it finally ended, the guard released his hold on Rome. She collapsed onto the ground, hand over her mouth as she continued to cry. Everything in her felt so numb and so wrong, why did it feel this way? Why did it hurt so much like this? She'd seen plenty of people hurt and killed before, torturing beyond belief, but this felt so different. Rome didn't want to admit why it felt so bad, she couldn't face the truth, because this is what the truth did. If she admitted to it, then this would be because of her. This would be her fault and she couldn't live with this.

Rome didn't have the energy to fight back, no matter how badly she wanted to. She watched to punch and kick and scream, to hurt them as badly as they had hurt her. She couldn't even force herself away when Pierce kneeled beside her, moving to whisper in her ear. "Now, Miss Kingsmill, you know what happens when you disobey me."