CHILD | james b. barnes

| 56 |

Aftermath

56

Avenger's Compound

I ROLLED OUT OF BED at 6:00 in the morning, barely keeping my eyes open as I brushed my teeth. I was extremely tired, for reasons I didn't really understand. I bent down to grab my hairbrush- which I'd dropped conveniently to the ground- only for a sharp pain to travel down my spine.

Wincing, I shot back up to my feet, lifting my shirt and turning around to check it in the mirror. There were hundreds of scars on my back anyway, but that long cut Rumlow had made the other day was still bright red- not bleeding by any means- but a burning fiery red that managed to hurt longer than it should've.

Frowning I pulled my shirt down, and stepped over to my laptop, pulling open my school's page. I found Mr. Wolmur's email easily, and started to type.

'Hi Rumlow-|'

I shook my head.

'Hi Mr. Wolmur,
Meet me in-|'

I deleted that too.

'Hi Mr. Wolmur,
I'm having trouble with the chemistry homework, could I come in for early help? 6:30 am.
Angelika.'

I clicked send, before getting dressed. I stepped out of my room, a backpack pulled over my shoulders. I walked into Steve's room, only to see it was completely empty. Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion, I walked into his walk-in closet, but he wasn't there either. I frowned, walking over to my papa's room, his door cracked open the slightest.

I pushed it open fully, and my face morphed with confusion.

Steve was sleeping on the left side of my papa's bed, snoring softly as he slept. His hand was held captive by my papa, who was curled up to one side of the bed, both of his hands clutching onto Steve for dear life. I stepped over to Steve's side, deciding not to question the two, before poking him in the face. He continued to snore so I poked him about ten times before he woke up with a tired yawn.

"Angie?" He said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

He seemed slightly confused as to why he couldn't use his left hand. I watched as his eyes trailed down his arm, then to his hand, and he scratched the side of his head.

"I was wondering if you could drive me to school, a bit early, and then drive me back home." I said and he raised an eyebrow.

"You're going to skip school?" He questioned and I fiddled with my fingers.

"I was hoping you'd understand why after you see what happens." I said and he frowned.

"You kept papa's secret- about killing Mr. Howard and Ms. Maria- can you keep mine?" I asked hesitantly and his eyes softened.

He pried his hand away from my papa, who reached for something else to hold onto. Steve put a pillow between his arms and pulled the blanket right below his chest. I knew my papa didn't like pulling the blanket higher than that- sometimes the blanket would cover his face and he'd feel suffocated- but I wondered how Steve knew that too.

We stepped out of his room silently, and I looked at Steve with a look.

"Bucky had a nightmare last night and he was hurting himself while sleeping, so I woke him up." He explained. "He tried to kill me, but fortunately the other guy isn't too strong."

I blinked, and raised an eyebrow.

"You're kidding right? I'm pretty sure the Winter Soldier is just as strong as you." I said and he gave me a mischievous smile.