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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 21:41:27 GMT -5
Bucky's feet scraped on the floor as he tried to resist, but the men were strong. They didn't head back towards the elevator. They drug him down the hall, into a corridor full of rooms. He spat and kicked and tried to plow into the men holding him with his shoulders, but nothing worked. Had they given him something in the hospital room? He felt unsteady. Finally, they entered a room, and he was thrown into a steel chair, handcuffs connected to it. His hair had fallen into his face and mouth, and he shook it away, chest hearing as his eyes darted around the room, feet scuffing on the ground.
---
Natasha, with a deep breath, sat back down. So did Maria, and Sam. Maria, clearing her throat, opened a folder and looked at Madeline, asking, "Are you okay?" That, of course, was not one of the questions, but Nick wasn't here to be an ass about it. "Do want you some water, Madeline?" As much as she felt bad, her face remained neutral while she awaited an answer.
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 11, 2017 22:05:52 GMT -5
The agents stood retreated to the corners of the room, standing straight and waiting for orders. Nick silently dismissed them and it wasn't until they were gone that he spoke again. There was a slight triumphant smirk on his face. "Until you learn to cooperate. You will live out your days in our facility, here." Nick told him. "Do I make myself clear?" He knew Bucky would either not respond, or shoot something at him in Russian, but that didn't matter.
"No, I'm fine." her words were quick. She wasn't making any eye contact, instead focused on the wall to her right. After he had left, she'd gotten scared, praying the same thing wouldn't happen to her if she said something wrong, or couldn't find an answer. Although nothing would as long as she remained calm. She shook her head, rested her elbows on the table and rubbed her temples. "Please, let's just get through this."
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 22:16:49 GMT -5
Bucky looked up at him, gaze steady and his own mouth curved into a cocky smile as he said, "At least I know you'll be in your grave before I talk, old man." The smile dropped, and he looked straight forward. Nicholas J. Fury was weak. S.H.I.E.L.D. was weak, and even the lowest of the low in HYDRA knew that. Even the brainwashed super soldiers knew that, in fact.
---
Maria nodded. She understood. "Alright, what can you tell us about HYDRA's plans: past, present, or future, that you might know of. Take your time, and recall what you can. If you don't know anything, we can move on."
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 11, 2017 22:33:49 GMT -5
Bucky's words were like a smack to his face. But Nick was good at hiding his emotions that other people would otherwise display. He leaned over, far enough to stand a safe distance from the former HYDRA soldier, but able to make closer eye contact. "S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't play, Barnes. I hope you know who you're trying to resist."
Should she tell them what James had told her that night? Her mind was internally tearing her apart. The pressure was there. All these people were waiting in the room, waiting for her to give an answer. She would have to say something. Madeline sighed. "All I know is that they've been taking people for a very long time now. They have the more experienced ones train the new recruits. And once you're in the system, they wipe your memories, all of it." She knew they already knew all this, so it wasn't exactly betraying him, but it was all she knew, and perhaps by saying a bit, the attention would slowly begin to drift from her.
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 22:43:27 GMT -5
Bucky leaned forward as well, so that there wasn't too much distance between him and Nick. His eyes were hard as they bored right into the other man's, and he reminded, cooly, "I was around before S.H.I.E.L.D. was a thought in the back of someone's mind." And he leaned back again. His eyes steel revealed no emotion, and he had stopped struggling. He had steadied his breathing, told himself to be calm. He had to be calm.
---
Maria nodded as she spoke, writing silently. "Did you meet any other recruits while you were with HYDRA, or was it only you and Sergeant Barnes?"
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 11, 2017 22:57:19 GMT -5
He ought to have swung out an arm and knock Bucky in the face for his smart remark, but yet again, he wasn't that type of person. He'd let his agents do that dirty work. It was time to end this conversation. "Someone will be here later with your dinner." His words were laced with coldness. "You better get used to eating with your hands strapped down real soon." He checked his wrist on his watch. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be somewhere."
"We were mainly isolated. I know there were others. You could hear them yelling and training outside the cell sometimes. But I was taken out by myself alone when they were put away. I think it was for focus purpose so that I couldn't be distracted. The only time I can remember now seeing another person was when James was being punished and your team ran in."
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2017 1:02:25 GMT -5
And Bucky, not surprisingly, said nothing.
Now, meanwhile, back in the room as Maria was asking Madeline: "Did you know who this other person was to Bucky, or to HYDRA?" Sam was making his way over to Steve. He nudged the man gently with his shoulder, as to not draw too much attention, but whispered quietly into his ear, "Hey man, can we step outside and have a chat?" Without even waiting, he grabbed Steve's elbow, guiding him out the door and into the hallway, where he stood with crossed arms. "Do you know what Fury plans to do with James?" he questioned. Sam was concerned. As cocky and troubled as Bucky was, well, there was a man down in there somewhere. Sam had seen it. But they were looking at years of conditioning and beatings and god knows what else. Isolating and threatening the man wasn't going to do anyone any good, especially him.
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 12, 2017 10:18:28 GMT -5
Madeline shook her head again. "I can guess that he was of a higher rank than him, based on what he was allowed to do to us. But I couldn't really tell if he was one of the people they had captured, or part of the group that runs the organization." She felt like her answers weren't being very helpful to them.
Steve shrugged. "You know as much as me." he sighed. "But if I had any guess, I'd say he's just trying as much as he can to intimidate Bucky into getting into shape, obedience-wise, that meets his standards. You know how he can be sometimes." Fury was good at getting people what he wanted to do using his strict tongue and threatening words. It was no wonder he was frustrated with Bucky, who was a different kind of situation. Steve was starting to wonder if Nick's tactics were ever going to work on him, his friend was still deeply under the influence of HYDRA, as anyone could see. He wasn't normal.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2017 11:03:46 GMT -5
Maria nodded, scribbling something on her paper again. "And Sergeant Barnes, what was he like? Did he ever tell you what his rank was, or did he strictly stick to training you?" She figured the latter, but this was Madeline's time to talk, not Maria's time to assume things about her, or what she had experienced while she was with HYDRA.
Sam sighed, shaking his head and running a hand down his face. "Steve... we have to talk to Nick. I'm not a doctor, but why do you think Bucky's so adamant about not talking? We have no idea what they've done to him, other than the electrical burns on the side of his head and the massive amounts of scarring and brain damage on his body. Keeping him in a cell and or torturing him isn't going to work. He needs psychological help. He needs you to be there for him, even like he is now."
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 12, 2017 11:31:21 GMT -5
"He mainly stuck to training me." she told them. "I tried asking sometimes what they were doing, but he never gave me an answer. And there was one time where I tried to ask what his name was, he couldn't remember at that point, but that was before..." Before the other man beat him. "He remembers now."
"Alright, I can try to reason with Nick later." It would be very hard to do. And this was coming from the man who wanted Bucky to be normal again more than anyone else. "But I can't promise anything." Sam was right.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2017 11:43:45 GMT -5
"Before...?" Maria prompted, dark brow furrowing as she folded her hands in front of her paper, leaning across the table a bit. She heard Natasha shift next to her, but she didn't turn to look at her.
"No, don't try," Sam said, raising a finger, "do, cause Steve, that's your friend in there, and if you want him back, you're gonna have to get him help. I know you don't like it, but there are some things that you can't do on your own."
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 12, 2017 12:05:17 GMT -5
"Before the other man took us in that room to beat him. Before S.H.I.E.L.D. Before you strapped him down in that little hospital bed." she squirmed in her chair for a second. Couldn't they see how uncomfortable she was having to recall all this, how uncomfortable and unhappy James had been when he'd arrived?
"Then, you'll help me? Because your right, I've tried doing this by myself, and I can't." his voice sounded defeated. "I know you're not exactly Buck's favorite person, but I would appreciate it. And anyone else."
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2017 12:26:41 GMT -5
Maria nodded softly, writing again. She hoped that Madeline knew that she didn't feel good about any of that, but they had done what they'd thought to be best, and safest. "What kind of training did he give you? Just physical?" she questioned, clicking the pen off of the table, then putting it down again as she waited for another response.
Sam smiled softly, nodding. "Of course, man. You're one of my best friends, and Bucky's your friend too, so of course I'm gonna help the two of you. But I think the first step we need to take is getting him out of here, to somewhere where he can heal."
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 12, 2017 12:45:00 GMT -5
"He taught me a little hand-to-hand combat." And I sucked at it."We tried some gunmanship to, but didn't get so far into that either." she answered. She thought back to when they had sparred on the mat, and then to the previous night when he had been so gentle, it was hard to believe James had been both those people.
Steve gave a small smile back. "Thanks, Sam." he said. "I don't know where Fury is now, I thought he was going to come back. But I'll go look for him again and see if I can get him to change his mind."
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2017 21:48:40 GMT -5
"Did you have any sort of personal relationship?" Maria continued, not looking up from where paper as she questioned. Well, not at Madeline at least. She looked over to Maria, who was currently texting under the table. Texting Barton, actually. He was in England right now though, so she turned away. Too bad he couldn't be here to help with any of this.
Sam shrugged with a, "I can help you look, if you want. I don't mind." He didn't have anything better to do. He'd only been in the room for the purpose of talking Bucky down if he got rowdy, but there was no chance to do so, and now he was gone.
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 12, 2017 22:01:57 GMT -5
Madeline felt glued to the chair. Natasha had already warned her about this when they had walked here. At first, she too, looked over to see if she was listening and maybe provide some assistance, but Natasha was occupied with something on her lap. "No... we were too busy training. There wasn't time for anything else." she lied, hoping that it was enough to hide the truth. "There wasn'tanything else."
Steve put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "Why don't you go grab yourself a coffee or something. It's only a little past the afternoon, and you look beat. If I hear anything, I'll contact you."
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2017 22:59:13 GMT -5
Maria could tell she was lying. For one thing, the girl wasn't good at it. She looked scared, and her voice nearly quavered. She even had to make a clarifying statement. "Okay," she said, deciding to let it go, ignoring the twitch of Natasha's head. She knew there was more. She didn't need Agent Romanoff to tell her. "Madeline, is there anything else you think that we should know?"
Sam paused, and then gave him a small nod. "Alright man," he said, pulling him into a quick hug before slapping him on the outer arm and turning to head down towards the elevator, calling a, "let me know!" over his shoulder before he disappeared around the corner. Man, he hoped Steve was successful, and that he didn't do anything brash.
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 12, 2017 23:14:18 GMT -5
She leaned into the back of her chair, and tried to steady her voice. "I've told you everything I know." she said quietly. Her hands were down at the sides of the chair, gripping the edges of them nervously, she could feel her nails scraping against the plastic.
Steve watched him leave. His smile disappeared once Sam was gone. Now to find Fury and convince him to take it easier on Bucky. First, he would wait for Natasha and the girl to come out, and see if everything had gone as planned. He had thought about going back inside the room, but if he came in during the questions, she might hush up if he was there. It was better to just wait until it was over.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2017 23:53:27 GMT -5
"Then I guess we're done," Maria said with a small sigh, "alright. Natasha, anything else?" The redhead shrugged a no, so Maria turned back to look at the other woman in front of her. "You can head back to your room. Thank you very much, Madeline. If you need anything, Natasha can give you my information." She stuck a hand across the table with a small smile, for the young woman to shake.
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 13, 2017 0:10:57 GMT -5
Madeline took her hand and shook it, passing an awkward smile back. It was hard to do that when the person you were talking to had just tried to get into your head, sort of. But that was Maria's job, and she'd been friendly enough at least. She looked over to Natasha with a "ready to leave" look on her face. She began to get out of her chair hesitantly, pulling down the ends of her shirt self-consciously.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 0:15:20 GMT -5
Natasha got up as Madeline did, patting Maria's arm with a friendly, familiar smile, before she picked her way around the table and walked slowly towards the door. The wall was glass, so she could still see Rogers, and as she walked out, she asked, "What's up, Rogers?" It was obvious he'd been waiting around for them to finish up.
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 13, 2017 0:54:17 GMT -5
"You done?" he asked casually with his hands in his pockets as he leaned to one side. He ignored the girl when she walked out behind Natasha. "How did it go?"
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 1:22:45 GMT -5
"We're done. It went went fine," Natasha replied, glancing over her shoulder at Madeline with a sincere smile, saying, "she did great. I'm going to take her back down to her room for some rest. You okay?" She could tell that he was shaken over Barnes. Now, she wasn't the biggest fan of the way he was handling the whole thing, but she did feel a sort of pity for him. Maybe she'd never met the real Bucky, even when they'd known each other in Russia, but she didn't like it either, seeing him like this. Steve had been Bucky's friend since they were boys, which was a long time for the both of them. She couldn't imagine how jarring this was.
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 13, 2017 1:30:20 GMT -5
Madeline scuffled her feet while they talked, she stared at the tiles on the floor.
"That's good. I'm fine. Gonna see if I can talk to Nick about Bucky, Sam and I agreed that he's treating him a bit too unfairly." He told her. At the mention of Bucky's name, Madeline looked up, realizing that Steve had seen her do that. She gave a small gasp and looked back down again.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 1:33:42 GMT -5
"He's staying on the next floor up. S.H.I.E.L.D. can't get a plane out here until tomorrow, so that might be where he's at," Natasha informed cooly, ignoring Madeline's gasp, and keeping the rest of her thoughts to herself. A bit unfairly was a gross understatement of how they were treating a very ill man right now. It peeved her off, but she kept quiet. She didn't want to upset him further.
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 13, 2017 1:42:10 GMT -5
"Thanks." Steve said. Her information would help narrow down where he would have to look. He was really trying his best to keep himself from breaking apart. If they couldn't get Bucky back, what would he do? He had coped until now without him, but that was when he hadn't even known that his partner had been around.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 11:51:27 GMT -5
Natasha, after a moment, reached out and patted his arm. "Let me know if you need anything," she said, dropping her hand back to her side, "I'm going to go and take Madeline back to her room. Come on." She gestured for the girl to follow her, stepping around Steve to head to the elevators.
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 13, 2017 11:59:49 GMT -5
"Right, I will." he promised. He felt a little better knowing that he had both her and Sam behind his back to help him if he needed it.
Madeline stepped around Steve cautiously, her eyes flickered towards him and she squeaked a small "Goodbye." Just to be friendly. She wasn't expecting any response, knowing he didn't exactly like her that much, for whatever reason, she couldn't think of right now. At first Steve ignored it, but then he was reminded of Bucky again. He liked this girl, Steve didn't know why, he just did. The first step he could take in trying to help his friend, was by respecting what he liked, and so he said a small "bye" back before he walked off.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 12:07:18 GMT -5
[[ wanna skip to after he talks to nick or whatever? ]]
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Post by Darkshine Laufeyson-Barnes on May 13, 2017 12:20:43 GMT -5
(Sure.)
It was much later in the evening, Steve was just leaving the Director's office. His face was light red. There had been some frustration and arguing that had went on earlier. But it had been worth the fight. He had talked Nick into removing Bucky from where he was at, and he would be back in his other room by tomorrow morning. It had barely worked, Steve could tell he was still hesitant to do that, and that he was still on the brink of decision. But he also trusted Steve after everything he had done so far. Now the next step was to keep on trying to bring him back to normal. He didn't know what was harder; doing that or speaking to Nick. Getting him to change his mind was like trying to get a toy away from a persistent bulldog. He pulled out his phone, starting a group chat with Natasha and Sam over text. "Settled things with Fury." he started.
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