BATTLE BORN ; Bucky Barnes

eleven ;

normally I won't put a/n's at the start of a chapter but this deals with graphic descriptions of violence.
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Screaming. All that filled the air was screams, violent, pained screams. The blade had been sharpened and sterilised and how it was glinting under the surgery lights. The girl had been lay on her front, her eyes screwed shut as she looked at the ground. Her hair had been shorn and the tattoo was enough pain for her small body to handle in one day but they weren't done. The knife cut into her skin, the tiny line of red blood surfaced and bubbled. She writhed against the leather cuffs that held her arms and legs in place as the pain blinded her senses. He cut again. And again, blood was now spilling down her back and onto the floor, the cuts started at one shoulder blade, they went up, then down again, and finally rejoining at the shoulder blade to make the shape of a single angel wing. The girl passed out half an hour in. As she was no longer crying and screaming, he began manically cutting the second wing into the skin of her back. Others watched on in horror as there was nothing they could do to protect the bloody child from the torture. Even after her skin had gone pale and cold, almost death-like, he continued to slash at her back, and bleeding began to clot on the first wing, leaving terrible and painful scabs that would be re-opened every time she tried to run or talk back. The man had cut her so deeply that the scars would never fade.

Scout woke up. She pressed her hand to her forehead as the echoes of the dream bounced around. James was still asleep, lay like the soldier he was on his back. Aching for body heat, Scout swallowed her pride and moved closer to him, curling up with her head on his chest and closing her eyes. Maybe there wouldn't be another dream. Maybe the nightmares would stop haunting her. It was less than likely, but still, she hoped and she steadied her breathing and fell back into sleep. She woke again to the sound of another nightmare, however this time it wasn't her.
"James, James wake up, Bucky." She said, shaking his shoulder gently. He was having another nightmare and there was nothing Scout could do about it. "Bucky." She said again, slapping his face lightly. "James, wake-" her voice was cut off by his metal arm closing itself on her neck. Her vocal chords were trapped, she couldn't yell, and even if she could, what use would it be, there was no one there to hear her, just the ghost of Bucky. She could still breathe, luckily, and decided that because they had already discussed him having nerves in his metal arm, she would heat up. She started by simply warming her own body temperature, until it was uncomfortable for him, he began to squirm more, and muttered a few phrases in broken Russian, German, French and English. His grip finally loosened until she could wriggle herself out of his grip. Then, with her hot hand on his chest, she dropped her temperature to be freezing, hopefully, the dramatic change would wake him up. It didn't work, but he was sound asleep, no nightmares, no struggling. She seemed it safe enough, so she got back into bed and decided if she were to die tonight, at least she'd die as a civilian.

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It was four in the afternoon when they woke. They were jet lagged and disoriented. Bucky woke first, and froze. Scout was curled up to his side, her head resting on his chest and her breathing synced with his. It was the strangest feeling. Warmth, wherever her skin touched his, he felt warm. Physical contact hadn't been something he was comfortable with, but this feeling, he was sure, was going to change that. This feeling, warm and pure, was what made him scared. He had nothing to live for before Scout invited him in, but now they had grown close and he was scared. If they found him, now he had a weakness. Then he remembered the way Scout had fought to get him out of the apartment in Manchester, the way she held her own and was calm through the entire fight. He knew she was strong, but he carefully moved her arms from around his torso, and lifted her head off his chest and onto a pillow. It wasn't safe, but Scout had accepted that. She had made her choice. He moved into the kitchen as Scout woke. She was still tired and confused and not sure where she was. The last thing she remembered was reading files and then waking up from her nightmare. Everything flooded back, chased out of Manchester, watching her friends fight a battle in Sokovia, escaping and exploring the bunker and the files within. It was a new day and strangely she felt as if it signalled a new time, a new start almost. A new city. A new start. A new name. She'd have to set up names and identities for herself and James later, she wondered absentmindedly if the bunker below had any computers she could use. She also needed to get in touch with Natasha, see if she and the team were alive and okay. And explain everything to Bucky. That was at the very bottom of her to-do list. She didn't want to betray his trust, but he deserved to know about her past, how she grew up, how she got her powers, and how she entered SHEILD and The Avengers, he deserved to know who she was. She created a mental checklist. First she'd make breakfast, then wash and get dressed, then she'd explore the bunker further to see if there were any laptops or computers that she could use to get herself and James a new identity. After that would be lunch, and attempting to contact Natasha, and finally, if she had time, explain everything. With a deep breath, Scout pushed the covers off her freezing body and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, she walked into the kitchen and turned on the stove. It was time for breakfast. She wasn't sure what they had, but she wanted something warm to heat herself up, the nightmare had made her blood run cold and the tiles were making the rest of her body the same. Searching the cupboards that they stocked last night, she found some porridge sachets, and decided she'd make warm porridge, with fruit if they were lucky. Bucky emerged at around 11, rubbing his eyes and pulling his fingers though his hair to decrease the number of tangles, it failed miserably and he ended up with more tangles than he began with. Scout served them both porridge in bowls that she'd found, and they sat together on the sofa in soft silence, eating and thinking to each other.
"I need to explain." Bucky said eventually, ten minutes after he had finished his porridge.
"Explain what?" Scout asked, a mouthful of breakfast stifling her answer somewhat.
"Explain who I am. You need to know why people are after me." James said, but Scout already knew, she didn't want to have to explain that to him though.
"Okay, go for it." Scout turned her entire body towards him in a manner than she hoped was comforting.
"It began in the Second World War." He started. "I enlisted as soon as I could. Accepted right away, my buddy Steve, wasn't so lucky. Anyway, I was sent out to the front lines, and captured by the enemy. I was rescued by Steve and it was all okay for a little while, then I took a fall."
"I- you don't need to tell me everything, James, we can save it for another day if you're uncomfortable." Scout said, having seen the way his metal arm gripped the sofa, it would be for the best if they slowly opened up about their lives. That would hopefully give Scout enough time to figure out how she would break the news that she'd been lying to him ever since she had met him. It was tough, but one day she would have to explain it to him, and it would have to be delicate to make sure he didn't snap at her. James nodded.
"I think that's for the best." He said, relaxing under the knowledge that he didn't have to tell her about all the atrocities he'd performed. All of the deaths he'd caused and all of the damage he'd done to families, cities, governments and more.

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Scout found a laptop in the bunker, it was old, possibly from the 1990's but she could easily use some of her training to make it work. It had even more files on it, and she had to refracture the hard-drive to make space for simple coding. Quickly Scout realised that there was no internet, but had a thought, what if the lowest level of the bunker, the most modern level, had its own network. She told James her idea, then descended the many levels, to the very bottom. Scout was right, it had it's very own network. She attached the computer and began working on getting a connection through TOR, otherwise she would never find sites selling fake passports and other forms of ID. It wasn't like she was new to the darkweb, for years she'd been using it for intelligence and networking, under a strict alias. As she entered the domain names she knew and was used to she was reminded how much she missed this side of being an Agent of SHIELD. The digital side of things had always been her favourite, but her 'gifts' meant that Director Fury wanted her in the field. She smiled to herself as she ordered Ukrainian, Romanian and Russian passports and drivers licences for both of them, she had a plan to work her way east if they were being followed. The names she ordered them under were Jake Jones and Arabella Williams, they seemed like common last names and normal first names. They were expected to arrive quickly, as she paid extra for shipping, using a card number that she'd memorised in case of emergencies. Once that was checked of her mental to do list, she walked back upstairs and smiled at James.
"I ordered us passports and drivers licences for three countries. You're Jake Jones, I'm Arabella Williams, we were born in which ever country's passport we use, to American parents and now we're hunting down our Ukrainian, Romanian or Russian ancestors, again, depending on the passport we use at which time, did you get all that?" Scout asked and James nodded. Next on Scout's to do list was making lunch. That was quickly and easily done, because neither of them were a fussy eater, she could make anything and they'd be happy. Scout boiled some vegetables and baked potatoes. She couldn't see any meat in the stores, not even dried, and so she had to go with just the veg and potatoes. They ate in silence again, each wolfing down their food, neither really wanting to start a conversation. Finally Scout broke.
"Let's not be silent. I'd like to consider us friends, if that's okay?" She said.
"I'd like that, a lot." James replied.
"Then as friends, we should do something like... build a fort and watch movies!" Scout suggested.
"I don't wanna be a downer on your plans but, how on earth will we watch movies?"
"Okay... erm.... I could code the computer, it has a disk drive and I think I saw DVD's in the bunker somewhere." Scout problem solved on her feet.
"I'll find blankets and move the mattress to a more suitable place." James said, the ghost of a tiny smile on his face.
"And I'll go get the laptop and DVD's." Scout grinned. Progress. Definite progress.

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I feel like I keep apologising for the chapters being short, but here's another apology!! I'm trying to move the story forward I promise, but I need more cooperation from Scout and Bucky first aha :)
love,
rainey xo