Flesh and Bone ◇ Bucky Barnes ◇

Chapter IV: Lost Cause

Joana

She went from being strapped to a chair, to being strapped to a metal table. The table was cold against her bare skin. She pulled against the restraints on her wrists and feet, but it was no use. She made small grunting sounds as she pulled, small, desperate tears gathering in her eyes.
When she finally fell back against the table in defeat, she examined her surroundings. The room she was in wasn't much different from the room she had previously been in with Bucky, except there were rows of cabinets and other similar tables. Some of the tables had supplies on them, some of them were covered in blood. The cabinets had other supplies such as cotton balls, needles, and other surgical things you'd expect to see in a surgeons office. This realization sent a cold shiver down Jo's spine. She groaned, the reverberating sound causing pain to shoot through her throat. Her stomach throbbed and she felt as if she was going to throw up.
It was then that the door opened. Jo wanted to scream and fight. She wanted to go home.
Only one man entered the room. He was tall enough that Jo could see his face, but he wasn't much taller than that. He held a small stack of papers attached to a clipboard. He readjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"Joana Eleanor Kegley, aged 24." Jo was getting really tired of the Russian accents. "Born on the 24th of November. Twin sister is Winifred Sasha Kegley. Older Brother, aged 31, is Jackson Julian Kegley. Parents are Jasmine Samantha Kegley nee Borrus and Judas Elizaer Kegley. Last contact was...12 years ago. Now that's a long time. Lives with paternal grandmother, Esther Kegley and Robert Merrick, no relation. Winifred goes to a University in New York, studying for a degree in Mathematics. Wait, sorry, went to school in New York. After she learned that her sister was missing, she moved back in with 'Grams'. Dropped out of college."
"Why are you saying this?" Joana asked with difficulty. "To prove how much you know about me?"
The Doctor looked up as if he hadn't realized that Jo was there. He set his clipboard down on one of the tables.
"No, no! That's not the reason at all. Every good doctor knows everything about his patient." He picked up a needle full of some clear liquid and flicked the top of it. "Now this is going to hurt," he walked back over to Jo, who struggled to get away from the needle. She hated needles. "This is going to hurt a lot."
He stabbed the needle into her neck, causing her to release a pained scream.
"Now, now. Don't be like that," he whispered, "This is just the beginning of our fun."
He pulled the needle out and covered the small wound with a cotton ball.
Jo was amazed at how quickly the liquid spread throughout her body and how quickly it started to work. She didn't know what it was, but the pain in her throat slowly faded, as if the pair of hands was being magically removed from about her neck. She could finally breathe again and gasped in a deep breath. Not only that, but the splitting headache left, the swelling in her eye was gone without a trace. Every single ounce of pain throughout her body was suddenly gone. She no longer felt like vomiting, nor did she fell like she'd been hit by a bulldozer. She felt more alive than she had in a very long time.
"That's good then," The Doctor said.
"What's good?" She ground through her teeth, amazed at the sound of her own voice.
"You didn't explode." The Doctor went back to the table and grabbed another syringe full of blue liquid. "You see, these aren't mine. They belonged to a scientist named Zola. Before him, they belonged to Abraham Eirksein. Both German, both taken by the SSR. Now I'm here, with you. A different doctor is working with Barnes."
At the sound of his name, Jo pulled against her restraints, surprised at how much strength she had.
"This one," the Doctor said, returning to the table, "will hurt a lot more."
The Doctor stabbed the needle straight into Jo's chest. A shriek left her mouth, but she felt immobilize, completely unable to move. She felt the blue liquid seep into her heart, which then pumped it through her bloodstream. After the needle was empty, the Doctor pulled it out, covered the second wound.
"Now, this isn't permanent like it is in Mr. Rogers, however, if you come to me once a month, you'll be forever young." With a cruel smile that looked almost happy, he patted her shoulder. Jo breathed deeply, unsure of what had been done to her.
The Doctor then proceeded to do a normal check-up on her, checking her mouth and her ears and her eyes, for what reason, she was unsure. He tore a few pieces of hair out of her head and stuck them in a vial.
When he tried to put his fingers in her mouth, she snapped her teeth at him, to which her tsked his tongue.
"I was warned that you have a habit of biting, but I'd hoped that you were far more civilized than that," he mused, roughly grabbed her chin and forcing her mouth open. She groaned and grunted and tried to pull her face away as he stuck the swab in her mouth. After he got what he needed, she spat on his face. He sighed and used his sleeve to wipe the saliva away.
"Very mature."
As he turned away, Jo continued to struggle against her bonds.
"Let me go! Let me go, you son of a-"
"Ah, ah!" The Doctor slammed a tool down on the table. "A proper lady doesn't swear."
Jo scoffed as the Doctor attached small circular things to her temples.
"Proper lady my a-"
"What did I say?" He slammed a finger on a small red button and immediately, volts of electricity shocked their way through Jo's body. Her body spazzed, a scream ripping through her throat and echoing off the walls of the room. He released the button and Jo's body sagged, her breath heavy.
"That," seethed the Doctor, "you can expect every time you disobey any of my commands." He smiled once again, turning back to the table. "You see, I'm trying to develop something that is small and easy to insert into your head so that if you ever misbehave, anyone with a button can just-" He slammed the button down again and wave after wave of electric shock ran through Jo's body. She didn't scream, for she felt unable. When he released the button, her breaths were ragged and she gasped for air.
"This is going to be so much fun, Da?" The Doctor grinned, waving the button around in the air.
Jo did everything she could to keep the tears from falling from her eyes.

She was returned to her previous room hours later.
She was strapped back into her chair, but she didn't really see the reason for it, as she felt like her bones were made of jelly.
The Doctor had been testing her 'durability', to see how well she could do with certain amounts of pain. Scalding water was not something she could withstand, neither was burning metal, but she could hold her breath underwater for more than three minutes. She could do well under extreme cold, but not heat. She was okay with small prickling things, but not needles. She only screamed a little bit when he dragged a knife across her arm. She was only shocked three times more for biting, kicking, and swearing.
All that experimenting and Jo had no idea what it was for. At the end of it, he had given her the first serum again and all her wounds closed up, only the scars remained.
Now, she sat back in her original prison, tired beyond belief. All she wanted was sleep and maybe a sandwich. But as her eyes fluttered shut, she realized that Bucky was gone, and she jolted awake.
"Bucky?" She called. No reply. She mentally scolded herself. She pulled against the leather around her wrists and feet, hoping that the serum would give her some kind of super strength, but it was of no use. She finally gave up. She felt useless. How was she supposed to protect him if she was strapped to a blasted chair?
After a while, her eyelids became heavy, and she fell asleep.
She didn't know how long she was asleep for, but when she woke up, she had a horrible crick in her neck. She groaned and lifted her head. Bucky was back in his chair, but his head was slumped forward.
She had no doubt they were running tests on him while he was out. For the time being, she examined his arm, the metal one.
Peggy Carter had told her that Bucky had fallen from a train. She assumed that his original arm had been torn off on the way down. That simple thought alone was enough to make her cringe and turn her face away, eyes filling with tears. When she finally managed to lift her eyes again, she noticed that, even in his sleep, the knuckles of his metal hand were flexing slightly, moving back and forth. She noticed that there were three extra leather straps on his metal arm, telling her that it was three times as strong.
She didn't know how long she sat there, watching Bucky sleep, before the door swung open. Jo expected the Commander or the Doctor, but, instead, it was a few of the soldiers. She recognized one of them from her first day and immediately went ridged. He smirked at her, a wicked smirk. She was looking at a human being, but all she was an animal.
He held a cup in one hand and a plate of food in the other.
"Relax, Sweetheart. I'm not here for pleasure. My Princess has to eat," he said, his eyes glowing with something evil. The door had awakened Bucky, who was now glaring at the back of the soldier's head. He stood in front of Jo, holding the cup to her lips. She sealed her lips and turned her head to the side. The soldier smirked again. He set the food and cup on the floor and put his hands on the arms of her chair, his face too close to hers. He leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
"You'll want to do what I say." His breath was poison. "I can make your life a living hell."
As he pulled away from her, with his grin still on his face, she glared daggers at him. Before he got too far away, she pulled her head backward and slammed it into his. He cried out in pain and fell backward. Bucky let out a burst of laughter, coughing on the water in his mouth. His soldier glared at him.
"Don't ever call me Sweetheart. Don't ever call me your Princess. And don't ever think that you can control my life," she sneered, glaring down at him. When he fell he had knocked her water into her food. He stood up, glaring back at her, but it wasn't nearly as terrifying. He punched her across the face, to which Bucky madly protested. She turned her head back to the soldier and spat blood on his shoes. He sneered, but she remained stone-faced.
"I hope you starve," he snarled at her. He turned towards the door and stepped on her food on the way out.
"I hope you choke on your own ego!" She called after him as the other soldier closed the door. She turned to look at Bucky with a shy smile.
"That was nice," he said, a small smile of his own on his face. "But try not to antagonize them too much. They do control our lives now."
Jo shook her head, looking forlornly at the soaking, squashed food at her feet.
"Only God controls my life. These are the children of the Devil."

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AYYYYE. Hey so I actually really liked this chapter. Jo is my smol savage child and I love her.

Anyway, comment your ideas and opinions so I know what you guys want!

I'm always ready to fight, so if someone is bothering you, come to me and I'll fight them.

I can't ever thank you enough for the comments, reads, and votes. I also can't thank those of you who read my weird Author's Notes enough because it really means a lot to me.

I love you all dearly.

Go with faith,
authorsbane