Red Winter [Bucky Barnes]

Chapter Three: The Transformation

I sighed as I looked up at the moldy ceiling, trying to find images in the clusters. I tilt my head to look at Barnes, who was stationed outside of my cell. I didn't know how long I had been in here, given the amount of times they changed my IV fluids, I imagined three to four days.

My body needed to be purified before I could be given the serum. At least that's what Nikolai said, though part of me imagined that this was just another way to torture me. There was something terrifying about that man, one look into those blank eyes caused my blood to run cold.

"Barnes," I speak up, tired of the endless silence, "do you know any good jokes?" He remains silent, his back turned coldly to me. I groan as I sit up, making sure not to disturb my IV. I roll the pump with me as I walk towards Barnes, a smirk on my lips. "Come on Barnes," I whisper into his ear, pressing my head up against the bars.

He continues to look forward, his face frozen. I roll my eyes as I turn around, leaning my back up against the bars. "You know if the two of us are going to become partners, we should at least get to know one another," I continue to speak, hoping that I could break him. There was something enigmatic about him, which only made me more interested. 

"Not interested," he finally speaks up as he eyes glance at me, locking with mine for a brief moment. Despite his cold exterior, I could sense a spark of curiosity, I just needed to find a way to bring it out. 

My smirk grows as I move closer to him, "Come on Barnes, you've been guarding me for three days. You're telling me that you're not even the slightest bit interested about me," I ask, my eyes locked on him. I had to have been the most interesting thing to have happened to this place in years. If our positions were reversed, I would certainly be curious. 

He turns to look at me, his face cold, but I could sense a glimmer of interest in his eyes. "No," he answers, but I could sense that it was intrigued.

"Such a shame," I pout as I turn away from him, resting my back against the metal bars, "you see I'm quite interested in you, Barnes." I watch from my peripheral vision as a slight smile creeps onto his lips. I smirk proudly; so there was something hidden deep below that frozen exterior.

I glance him up and down, my eyes lingering on his metal arm. "How does someone like the Winter Solider end up here," I ask, my eyes tracing the outline of his face, examining his features. There was something classic about his face, I could almost picture him in military uniform. He certainly must have been quite the charmer back in the day. 

"It's classified," he answers curtly, his face still turned away. He definitely had his guard up, but I was determined to break it down. If he was supposed to be my mission partner for the foreseeable future, then I needed to know that he could at least have a little bit of a personality.

I sigh loudly as I roll my eyes, very annoyed at the situation, "Come on Barnes, we're gonna be buddies. Buddies don't keep secrets from one another do they," I ask as raise my eyebrow. None of my usual tactics appeared to be working on him, so I needed to shake things up a little bit. 

He finally turns to look at me, his faced showing obvious signs of frustration, "Are you always this annoying?"

"Only when I'm curious," I quip, a slight smirk formed on my lips, "when I was in Moscow, I heard whispers about you. It was mostly gossip from the other girls, ghost stories of secret Hydra solider. When I was a little girl, I thought you were an actual ghost," I laugh softly as I tilt my head towards him, our eyes locking.

"I wonder what that young girl would think if she were here," I whisper as I step closer, finding myself drawn to him. My eyes glance him up and down, pausing when our eyes met again. "What would she say when she learned that she would be working alongside that ghost?"