Injured - Bucky Barnes Fanfiction

Chapter Four

Because of the lack of food in her life since she ran away, even when she could get her hands on some, she was barely able to eat it. When she was at home, even if she was full to the point of being sick, her parents would physically force her to finish her unreasonably large portions, by pinching her nose and covering her mouth until she swallowed bite after bite. So, yeah, he was scaring her.

When he came around the couch with the food and caught sight of the look of sheer terror on her face, he was both confused and concerned. She'd looked afraid before, but this was taking it to a whole new level.

"Please.... Please, no... I... I-I-I c-can't...." She whimpered softly, tears springing to her eyes in her fright. "I-I can't eat much.... P-Please d-don't m-make me!" She pleaded, appearing as if she were trying to melt into the couch. She was trembling horribly, looking up at him with terrified, pleading eyes.

Bucky was quick to set the food down on the coffee table, allowing him to kneel down in front of her. He understood what she meant rather well, and he felt awful. He had guessed she wouldn't be able to eat all that much, which was why he had only grabbed a little bit, but it was quite clear she thought he was going to force feed her. Once again, he wondered what this little girl had been through.

"Hey.... Kiddo, I'm not going to make you eat anything." He promised her softly. "I mean it, you only eat as much as you want to, okay?" He told her, waiting patiently with a kind look on his face as she tried to tell if he was lying or not.

It actually took her a good minute or two of Ava glancing back and forth between Bucky and the food before she finally decided that even if he did force her to finish it, there wouldn't be too much. She gave him a small, shaky nod, still nervous. Suspiciously, Wanda had yet to reappear in all that time, so Bucky knew she knew something.

He offered Ava a gentle smile, reaching over and grabbing the plate. Ava tensed up, but what she hadn't been expecting was for Bucky to slowly hold the plate out to her. Yet again, she found herself wondering if he really was telling her the truth. Though she knew he could still be tricking her, her hunger was getting the better of her.

She hesitantly reached out to take the plate of fruit and what she thought were crackers from him, quickly withdrawing her hand with the plate. She gave him one last wary look before bringing a small peice of fruit up to her mouth and eating it quickly, then another. Buky had sat down on the floor, watching her with concern as she ate. When was the last time the child had gotten food? And why oh why was she afraid of him forcing her to eat? He would never do that, but she didn't know that yet.

Wanda still hadn't returned with the blanket, but what neither Bucky nor Ava knew was that she was watching the two of them from behind the corner of a wall. She smiled softly to herself; it would take time, yes, but she could tell Ava felt even just the slightest bit more comfortable with Bucky than herself. It had been an experiment, and her hypothesis had been correct.

Ava ate desperately quickly, as she now feared that perhaps his trick would be to take the food away too soon instead, but she was quickly becoming full anyway. She had kept her gaze on her food in case it would anger Bucky in some way for her to look at him, but as she swallowed the last bite she thought she could handle, she did look up at him nervously. She didn't know what the rules were, so she was even more afraid of breaking them and making him mad.

She hadn't even touched half of what she had been given. When she opened her mouth to whisper another shaky plea not to make her finish, Bucky spoke first. "All done?" He asked softly, offering her an understanding smile. She bit her lip and swallowed thickly, nodding slightly before mentally bracing herself for whatever would come next if that was the wrong answer. But all Bucky did was nod, still smiling softly, and reaching over to gently take the plate from her and set it back down on the table.

Ava didn't know whether or not to believe that he was sticking to his earlier words. It wasn't like she had anything good to compare with, only the trauma and horrors of her past.

"D'ya want some watter kiddo?" He asked gently, to which Ava nodded. She took the offered glass and downed half of it before handing it back to Bucky. It was then that Wanda decided to make her appearance, Ava noticing before Bucky did and tensing up once more. Wanda smiled at her but gave the blanket and pillow to Bucky, as to freak the little girl out as little as possible.

Bucky set the stuff down on the couch beside Ava, before Wanda touched his shoulder and asked to speak to him again. Once more, they moved out of earshot to speak.

"Bucky, I'm going back to my room."

Bucky opened his mouth to protest, but she didn't give him a long enough chance. "It's late, Bucky. The poor thing is far too afraid to let me touch her, and we can work on that tomorrow. You've got this, just let her try and rest for the night, alright? She seems to be trusting you, use that to your advantage. But be patient, she's obviously frightened." Wanda instructed him, and Bucky just sighed and ran a hand over his face and through his hair before nodding.

"You're right."

"Always am." She smirked playfully, before adding, "Just give her time. I'll be back down later, at a more reasonable hour." She didn't even bother to tell him to try and sleep, because she knew it would be pointless. Bucky sighed and nodded again, understanding. He just hated seeing the girl in her current state.

Wanda assured him once more that she would be back to help them, before exiting his apartment. She did go back to her room like she'd said, though only for a few minutes. She stayed long enough to get into some better clothes and grab her purse, before leaving again. This time, she exited the tower, sudddenly glad for the fact that the city never seemed to sleep.

Bucky turned back around to look at Ava, only to find she hadn't moved an inch. His expression was once again pitying as he came back over to her slowly, counting it as a small victory when she didn't flinch from him crouching down in front of her.

"Ava," He started softly, "Are you cold sweetheart?" He asked, seeing as she hadn't so much as touched the blanket. She didn't respond right away, trying to figure out if it was a trick question, but he was patient. After a few moments, she responded with a small, albeit nervous nod of her little head. Bucky smiled softly and picked up the blanket, this time extending his arms a little to give it to her. "This is for you kiddo, go ahead." He encouraged, watching her reach up but pull away again.

She cautiously took it from his hands, never taking her eyes off of him as she wrapped it around herself. She was freezing cold after all, and the temptation of the heat was just too enticing to pass up. When she recieved no negative response from Bucky at her actions, she pulled it a little tighter around her small frame. Granted, it was much warmer in his apartment than it was outside, but she couldn't help the fact that she had a near constant chill.

After a moment of silence and her holding eye contact with Bucky, the latter finally spoke again. "Are you tired, Ava?" He asked gently. "You can sleep if you'd like." She tensed again, always wary, but he only smiled softly. "I can leave these here for you, if you decide you're hungry or thirsty." He offered, motioning at the plate and cup on the table beside him. He was assuming that giving her some space for the rest of the night might be a good idea.

She just sat there staring at him, her confusin ever growing. What was going on? Bucky could see her clear confusion and uncertainty, and he wasn't expecting an answer. She was rather quiet, but he didn't blame her. Fear was a good way to silence someone.

"I'll be in that room right over there, alright?" He told her, slowly rising to his feet. Ava nearly flinched, but he'd moved slow enough that she coud tell what he was doing. Still, she was just waiting for him to lash out and hit her. All he did, however, was slowly step back with his sad, sympathetic smile on his face.

"Goodnight, Ava." Bucky murmured quietly, reaching the dial on the wall and dimming the lights. He wasn't going to shut them off completely, in case she was afraid of the dark, but he wanted it to be dark enough for her to sleep if she wanted to.

Giving her one last smile, he walked over to his room and shut the door softly behind him. He sighed, sitting down on his bed and putting his head in his hands. He didn't know what he was getting himself into, but he did know this:

He was going to help this little girl as much as possible, no matter what struggles lied ahead.