Iâm Echo, I like writing, and sometimes I write fanfiction which is the purpose of this side blog.
Iâm on A03 right here
My pronouns are she/her, I believe that love is love no matter what and that trans people, aromantic people, ace people, agender people, women, and everyone who isnât hateful deserves all the respect you can give them. I wonât tolerate hateful speech.
Iâm asexual (sex repulsed) and I like comfort or hurt fics best:)
I enjoy writing (obviously), reading, drawing, and Halloween.
Make sure to drink some water today/tonight and maybe have a little snack if you want one.
Sirens in Winter: Part Two: White Wolf: Chapter Eight: ConsideringâŚ
Pairings: Bucky x reader
warnings/info: slow burn, like sloooooowwww burn, Iâm talking villain (ish) reader needs to manipulate winter soldier, he escapes HYDRA, HYDRA falls to shit, many years, enemies now, forced alliance, then lots of distrust before they get together. That slow of a burn. Iâm talking embers. Anyway, canon typical violence, occasional use of âfuckâ but other than that canon typical swearing, no use of y/n because I substitute it with Jade for this story instead (otherwise it feels like a skip in my flow of writing, if that makes sense) no explicit stuff, lmk if I missed anythingâ¤ď¸
summary: Zemo trying to escape? Not on your watch. The first time, anyway. Then heâs not your problem.
A/N: Another short one, my bad you guysđ Iâm going to lock in soon I swear but I need to get my gpa back up for the nhs (national honors society, if you arent in the US)
âNice try,â you stand in front of Zemo. Heâd gotten out of the handcuffs Walker had put him in, exactly like you expected he would, and escaped, exactly like you expected he would. John had gotten impatient, Bucky had gone after John, the whole plan was going to shit, but you werenât letting this weasel get out of it so easily. âDonât shoot.â Heâd acted like he was putting his hands down in defeat but youâd seen that a hundred times over. You were ready when Zemo pulled out the gun at you, speaking before it was even fully drawn. Zemo didnât shoot. You could see the math running behind his eyes as he put it together.
âYou are a very good actress,â he began, careful now, eyeing you with much more caution than he ever had before. âEven I bought your dramatic performance.â
âWhat, did you think I was dumb enough for a toaster bath? Please. Give me one good reason I shouldnât have you killed.â
âI have a few, if you would be willing to listen, Jade.â
âChop chop, Iâm getting impatient and I really donât like people whoâve tried to kill me.â
âIf you bring me back to them alive it will gain you further trust, for one.â Fair enough, that was actually a pretty good idea. âFor two, I think youâre going to agree with what I want to do.â
âAnd what is that?â God, why did this guy need to act like some super villain all the time with his stupid cryptic language?
âYou were a part of HYDRA, in their advanced programs, I am sure. You must understand the terrible effect of super soldiers and super serums. I only want to destroy the ones Carly and her flag smashers have. I would be perfectly willing to return if you would let me do such an act.â
âââââ
There was an underlying tension now, between you and Zemo, that hadnât been there before. Before, it was just one sided, but now he was just as wary of you as you were of him. Now he knew that you could speak up and have anyone do whatever you wanted. Good you thought, lifting your chin slightly at him as you returned to the safehouse, no closer to convincing Karli of anything, and with two days left until the Dora came to collect Zemo.
He wasnât doing as well as he could be, barely acknowledging you before going towards the kitchen, looking around for something, maybe a rag to soak and put over his eyes after getting that blow to the head John delivered with the shield. Deserved, in your opinion, but you didnât say anything just in case he decided to run his mouth too about your little secret. Then again, it didnât matter. You were only here now because they promised you your sister back, and you could probably ask them right now and be on your way.Â
You moved to one of the couches silently, Bucky went off probably to the bathroom and Sam looked for and pulled out a computer. Tracking headlines? Messaging someone? You didnât know, and didnât particularly care. Who was the best person to ask about Rubyâs whereabouts? Sam, or Bucky? Sam. That was a very quick and easy decision to make. Heâd mentioned that he had sent Ruby with a friend of his, which meant he most likely had contact with that friend, and Bucky didnât. Also, he wasnât a super soldier. Bucky may have been easier to get to before, but he might not be now. In fact his mind would probably be really hard to get to without it being noticed now, because of the violating trauma of getting brainwashed by trial and error with electricity.
âSam?â
âHm?â He was focused on whatever he was doing at the table where heâd set up the computer. Maybe looking for any leads, maybe emailing someone important, maybe playing a video game, it was hard to tell when you couldnât see the screen and just knew that someone was typing.
âWhere in blip rehabilitation did you exactly send Ruby? You said she was safe and with a friend of yours, you never said you knew where she had come from, how would you know where to send her back to?â
âBucky went down a rabbit hole before we found her in a bunch of old HYDRA documents still on the internet and found a bunch of information on you and your sisters, including place of birth.â It looked like you could pull from him without him noticing just yet, the question was to push it about Ruby yet or not.
âWhere did we all come from? I need to settle a bet, Aea thinks that Velvette is Spanish but thatâs very clearly not the case and Ithink sheâs French, but we havenât been able to prove anything since we sort of got our backgrounds erased.â
âI have no idea about the rest of you, Rubyâs the only one I know about because she was the one we found and needed to move somewhere else safely.â Why were you dragging this out? This didnât need to be this long, you just had to tell him to tell you, tell Zemo to go fuck off, and walk out easy peasy. It was that simple. That. Simple.
But you didnât say anything. You argued with yourself in your mind while Zemo started a new conversation with Sam once sat down on the other couch, something about super serums, and frankly you didnât care. What you cared about was this sudden moral block that had appeared in your mind. Youâd never had any problems like this before, why now? Would it be easier if it was Bucky instead, you wondered, as the super soldier walked back into the room and towards the kitchen to get a drink. Youâd done it to him before just fine, right? But even that was tugging at your gut in the wrong way. Arg! What was the point of being a super badass girl with mind control if you didnât use it to avoid blackmail and leverage? There wasnât any! Therefore you shouldâŚ
âAlright, thatâs it,â the doors were slammed open, getting your attention back to the present as John Walker and his tag along buddy entered the room. âIâm ordering you to hand him over.â God, what was with this Zemo guy? Why did everyone want him and also hate him? Just kill him and be over it, at this point. Sam and Bucky, John, who else again? A spear whizzed through the air to cut off the menâs arguing just in time to remind you. Oh, thatâs right. The Dora Malaje.
So Iâm really not trying to be rude, but technically giving âreaderâ a name and features makes her an OC and can really take people out of what readers thought were a self-insert storyâŚ
I completely understand not wanting to use Y/N, but there are different ways to get around it. And if you are going to give reader a name and a physical description, it really should be tagged as such.
it is not an oc, though, and I actually avoid giving her a physical description other than when she looks tired or something in order to keep it that way. Giving a replacement name for y/n doesnt make the character an oc, itâs just a different word to replace another word, also all chapters in the readers perspective are exactly that, in the readerâs perspective.
Thank you for bringing this up, but I really donât see what the issue is. Iâm glad that you did, so I have the chance to explain it, but no, just giving y/n the name Jade isnât making her an oc, at least in my eyes, especially when the chapters are still in you/yourself perspective when in her eyes:)
Sirens in Winter: Part Two: White Wolf: Chapter Seven: Patience
Pairings: Bucky x reader
warnings/info: slow burn, like sloooooowwww burn, Iâm talking villain (ish) reader needs to manipulate winter soldier, he escapes HYDRA, HYDRA falls to shit, many years, enemies now, forced alliance, then lots of distrust before they get together. That slow of a burn. Iâm talking embers. Anyway, canon typical violence, occasional use of âfuckâ but other than that canon typical swearing, no use of y/n because I substitute it with Jade for this story instead (otherwise it feels like a skip in my flow of writing, if that makes sense) no explicit stuff, lmk if I missed anythingâ¤ď¸
summary: waiting is incredibly annoying, especially when, really, you had no reason to be. It gets even more annoying, though, when some random guy and his buddy show up to harass your new unwilling companions about laws and laying low and apparently Ruby had gotten kidnapped by the flag smashers before and no one told you.
âHeâs bribing⌠children⌠with candyâŚâ you say slowly, as if double checking what youâre seeing is whatâs actually going on. âTo get information about another refugee.â
âIf you arenât going to try to help, just donât say anything.â Bucky muttered back, which you responded to with a wounded expression, though you said no more. You had not yet said anything about the damper being broken, nor done anything with your abilities. As far as they needed to be concerned, now you hated Zemo for trying to murder you. Really, you werenât all that upset about it, you had expected as much, and it wasnât even that hard of an attempt, especially considering heâd apparently straight up shot whoever theyâd been looking for in Madripoor. And they didnât need to know you had your abilities. It would make them more wary, more suspicious, more dangerous. You couldnât very well mind control a person or two all the time, forever, but breaks would leave room for error or paranoia, and then everything would get wayy too messy.
So, you stayed quiet. You were patient, if you wanted to be, and listening was quite the skill that was often overlooked. You listened while Sam and Bucky talked about how Karli, she seemed to be the one in charge of these Flag Smashers, was right, in her own way, in fighting for these people sick and lost in the camps. All over the world, after the blip, people forced out of countries and jobs and homes. Youâd half the mind to agree, say that they were completely on to something. Breaking promises was one thing, but offering shelter and then ripping it away was another entirely, especially when they didnât actually do anything to help.
You only actually clocked back in to making a plot of your own when you heard Sam making a phone call. âSharon.â Someone named Sharon was a trustworthy pair of eyes? Sharon like⌠the Power Broker? The one running Madripoor, with former S.H.I.E.L.D. connections? Sharon who hired you for Selby to hire you so you could keep an eye on things for her? That Sharon? Or a different one, and you were putting too many dots together that werenât really there?
âââââ
âKarli Morgenthau is too dangerous for you guys to be pulling this shit.â
âAh! Howâd you find us this time?â
âOh God, this guy? You know this guy?â You complain as you, Sam, Bucky, and Zemo stop to be apparently yapped at by the brand new Captain America. In your opinion, the shield should have stayed with Sam. A new world deserved a new Captain America that actually understood things like wealth inequality, not some soldier pretty boy with tons of awards.
âNot by choice,â Bucky muttered back with a slight eye roll, clearly not actually interested in what John (you thought that was his name? Maybe it was Jeff, who knows. Some normal white guy name, that was all you remembered from the news.) had to say about two avengers getting noticed.
âStop keeping us in the dark,â John snapped, âQuit whispering with whoever your new girlfriend is about whatever lie youâre about to tell us, and start not keeping us in the dark by telling me why you broke him out of prison.â
âHe did that himself, technically.â You stifled a snicker at Buckyâs technicality, innocently blinking at John when he made a face at you.
âRight, sure. And whoâs this? Another criminal friend of yours?â
âNo, not friends. I canât believe you would get that mixed up,â clearly Bucky really enjoyed pissing this guy off. Which was perfectly fine by you! Especially if it meant you got a front row seat to the entertainment, âno, I donât like her at all. Frankly, neither does Zemo, which is a problem because it means I have to baby sit and make sure they donât try tearing each otherâs throats out.â
âThat did almost nothing to answer my question.â
âIâm another HYDRA experiment, you can call me Jade,â you finally butt in. âIf that helps you think more about the truths he just told you. Heâs helping me by being the big strong man that saves the day,â
âDonât say that ever again. I donât trust her so Iâm keeping her around until this is all over, then Iâll tell her where her sister is and weâll be on our separate ways.â
âI could be out of your hair a lot sooner if you just told me where to go.â A little bitterness slipped into your tone but you smiled brightly anyway at the looks it got from all the men. God, wow, they were all. Men. This new John guy, his friend, your companions⌠were were women when you needed them?
âJade, you said? Looking for a sister? Thatâs funny, wasnât the girl we saved the other week looking for a Jade?â Bucky was making a clear effort to not be looking at John, but now he had your attention.
âSaved? Who did you find?â
âA korean girl, said her name was Ruby. Real long hair, faded dye, claimed to have gotten dusted and that she was looking for her family.â Johnâs friend finally spoke up, âYour âbig strong manâ stopped us from getting her to a proper channel then refused to elaborate.â
âSheâs in a proper channel right now, probably already at her old home.â Sam said, clearly sensing where you were starting to take this conversation.
âWho did she need to be saved from?â You ask, a little sharper than before. Who had hurt Ruby?
âThe Flag Smashers who weâre trying to stop.â John answered, rather sharp himself with the looks he was casting to all three other members of your company.
âThey didnât hurt her,â Sam was already trying to reason with you. âShe said they caught her accidentally listening in then tried to convert her to the cause. She looked like she was telling the truth, and we had my friend Joaquin make sure she was alright while we were getting to somewhere better suited for finding her a path back to Korea.â Keep your head on, Jade. They didnât hurt her. Actually, she probably would have joined their cause if she was with them for more than a few minutes, so they couldnât have done anything that bad or had her for that long. You canât ruin things by lashing out because otherwise youâll never get to find Ruby. You took a breath. Fine, it was fine, you could live with it and Ruby could handle herself⌠buuut maybe if there ended up being a fight with these Flag Smasher guys (which seemed likely given the current situation) youâd be able to get rough about it without it looking too bad.
Sirens in Winter: Part Two: White Wolf: Chapter Six: Shocking
Pairings: Bucky x reader
warnings/info: slow burn, like sloooooowwww burn, Iâm talking villain (ish) reader needs to manipulate winter soldier, he escapes HYDRA, HYDRA falls to shit, many years, enemies now, forced alliance, then lots of distrust before they get together. That slow of a burn. Iâm talking embers. Anyway, canon typical violence, occasional use of âfuckâ but other than that canon typical swearing, no use of y/n because I substitute it with Jade for this story instead (otherwise it feels like a skip in my flow of writing, if that makes sense) no explicit stuff, lmk if I missed anythingâ¤ď¸
summary: electronics and water tend not to mix well. In fact, electronics and water and a person usually end in death because of how electricity works. Luckily for you, you happen to be smart enough to figure that out before a toaster in the bath situation occurs and Zemo gets what he wants.
There wasnât any soap in the bathroom, thatâs what you first noticed with relative annoyance. There was a small bottle of hand sanitizer next to the sink, but that was about it. The room was also suspiciously drafty, making you cold as you started to strip down and run the bath water. At least you were alone now. A little break from interacting with three men you didnât really know or care about was nice.
Wait, was the draft of cold air coming from under the bath? That was⌠strange. Moving down to try and peek under the bath resulted in quite the find, you realized, when you were greeted with a black hole in the ground strategically covered up with the bath. A way out? Could you use it? Where did it go? You stopped yourself from getting too curious, standing up off the probably disgusting floor quickly with a sigh through your nose. Theyâd hear if you moved the bath, that was certain, and you still needed to know where Ruby was. You couldnât escape even if you wanted to. And if you did you wouldnât be shocked if the dampit around your neck had a tracker or something in it.
Oh thatâs right, the dampit! Could it even go in water? It had to have some kind of tech in it, what if it electrocuted you? Your eyes narrowed slightly at the thought as you stopped the water running in the bath before it overflowed. For a guy who hated enhanced peoples, heâd been quite willing to tell you about the bathroom after youâd complained about feeling unclean. Then again, he did seem like a polite manâan annoying one, yes, but a polite man nonetheless. How could you figure this out without causing yourself a toaster in the bathtub incident?
After a long moment of thoughtful silence filled with the murmuring of voices out in the other room, you reach a finger towards the bath and dip it in the water. Lifting that finger that now came with a drop of water to your neck you let the moisture fall onto the dampit. Nothing. Did that mean it was safe? Surely not, you werenât that dumb to try something once and then decide it was safe if it threatened your life to be wrong. So, you dipped your finger in the bathwater again and let the drop fall on a different part of the dampit. Then you tried again, and again, and again, until you finally felt a sharp spark at your throat and froze. It wasnât safe, and you couldnât risk submerging yourself in water on the off chance it might splash up a little too much and get you electrocuted.
Hey, but⌠didnât water break electronics? Most of the time, at least, and if it was sparking out given water⌠could you break the dampit? Get your abilities back? Your eyes slide towards the doors that led out into the room where Bucky, Sam, and Zemo were still discussing something. Hmm⌠the sparks might burn you noticeably and they could catch onâŚ
âââââ
âYou tried to kill me!â You burst out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, pointing an accusatory finger at Zemo with your free hand. Youâd carefully dipped your hands in the water, standing in the tub so as to not spill it all over the floor, to cover the rest your body with water so it at least looked like youâd gone into the bath before you came storming out to accuse someone of murder.
âWoah woah woah,â Sam was quick to jump in, to keep the peace or something, as he stood with furrowed brows and took a step between you and the felon, holding out his hands like he was stopping a fight.
âHe tried to kill me!â You repeat, moving as if trying to step around Sam, who moved between you again.
âWhat are you talking about?â He asked, glancing back at Zemo who, you note, has remained innocently surprised and quiet from where he sat.
âThis thing,â you gestured sharply at the dampit still around your throat, âCanât go into water without spazzing out and trying to electrocute me!â You change your gesture to bring attention to the now kind of in pain burn you had around the area youâd figured out was dangerous. âIf Iâd had myself and this stupid necklace under the water at the same time I would have been dead! He had to have known that, or at least suspected something! He tried. To. Kill. Me.â Sam turned to look at Zemo over his shoulder again.
âThat true?â
âI will admit I had some suspicions that the prototype device I found in my search for the red book years ago may not be waterproof,â He said, in that infuriating calm voice that didnât seem to have any range at all.
âYou tried to kill her?â Bucky finally said something from where he sat on the couch. He didnât look too upset or surprised at the idea, but he didnât sound very thrilled about it either.
âNot the word I would use,â Zemo reasoned.
âSheâs our only chance at leverage if her sisters do find us.â
âYou know of where their other sister is, Iâm sure it wouldnât be as terrible as you imagine to not have her around weighing down options or trying to flirt with you.â
âEveryone weighs everyoneâs decisions down!â You snap, âYou weigh them down by having an expiration date until Wakanda comes for your ass! Jamesââ
âAlright,â Sam interrupted you before you could make your next point that you didnât actually have, thank goodness. âWe get the picture. You have every right to be upset,â
âDamn straight I do! First he kidnapped me, then cuts off my abilities, then he tries to kill me? Where are the Wakandians you talked to, James, they can come get him right now. I hope they support torture in Wakanda.â
âThey donât, and theyâre probably long gone by now.â
âLook, go get your clothes back on, calm down, do whatever you need to do.â Sam said, placing a hand on your shoulder and forcing you to meet his calm brown eyes. âThree days, and heâll be gone. Until then, weâll keep an eye on him, after this is all done, weâll bring you straight to Ruby so you know you arenât getting set up to be arrested and are going to the wrong place.â You stare at him for a long moment, hoping you look like youâre seething with enough anger before you turn sharply to march back to the bathroom.
âFine.â You kept your response short, slamming the door behind yourself before you let a slight smile twitch across your lips.
Sirens in Winter: Part Two: White Wolf: Chapter Five: Safe House
Pairings: Bucky x reader
warnings/info: slow burn, like sloooooowwww burn, Iâm talking villain (ish) reader needs to manipulate winter soldier, he escapes HYDRA, HYDRA falls to shit, many years, enemies now, forced alliance, then lots of distrust before they get together. That slow of a burn. Iâm talking embers. Anyway, canon typical violence, occasional use of âfuckâ but other than that canon typical swearing, no use of y/n because I substitute it with Jade for this story instead (otherwise it feels like a skip in my flow of writing, if that makes sense) no explicit stuff, lmk if I missed anythingâ¤ď¸
summary: youâve made it to a safe house, and are decidedly not part of their plans to stop some group of anarchists. With a dampit on that stops your abilities, you canât get what you want without actually playing along, so at least you can try to have a little fun while you wait for them to tell you were Ruby is.
âHas anyone ever told you youâre really hot?â So far all youâve figured out was fun was flirting with Bucky, who apparently did have morals and was just grumpy, so the most he would do is push you out of his space if you got too close. That and joining him and Sam in yelling at this Zemo guy.
You had all made it to that safe house or whatever, and Bucky had (rather suspiciously, in your opinion) hung back saying he was going to check the perimeter. Youâd been trying to convince Sam to take off the dampit since he agreed that it was suspicious so you could get him to tell you all what he was up to but Sam refused. Apparently âBuckyâs had enough people messing with his mind, and I trust him more than you.â So youâd dropped the topic, going to instead sprawl dramatically across a couch until Bucky returned taking off his leather jacket. He ignored your comment.
âThe Wakandains are here for Zemo.â Huh. Apparently this guy was just open to telling everyone about his suspicious activity.
âGreat. We might still need him, did they give us any time or was it like a warning?â Sam asked, crossing his arms.
âThree days.â
âThat canât be enough time.â
âWell, itâs the time we got.â
âArenât those the ones who got their king killed by that guy?â You ask, twisting to lay on your stomach and propping your chin up on your fingers. âPretending to be you? And then there was that whole problem in Germany, and SiberiaâŚâ
âYes. Theyâre also the ones who helped fix what HYDRA did to me, so I owe them a lot right now.â
âDo I count as what HYDRA did you you~?âÂ
âNo.â
âI feel like youâre ignoring me.â You pout, frowning at him and rounding your eyes pathetically, âThatâs not very kind of you.â
âUsing loneliness against a man whoâs been a prisoner for seventy years to pretend to be innocent and like you arenât violating his mind to grain trust because you work for those people who captured him also isnât very kind.â Well then. Rude. Someoneâs been holding grudges.
âOh, come ooon, I didnât have a choice, you donât even know who I actually was back then. And I didnât know you! Oooh, letâs start over, James, that wayââ
âYou can lie again?â He raised an eyebrow, âHow about no. How about we focus, you donât do anything to mess us up, and then we show you where you can go to find Ruby after weâve done what we need to.â You narrow your eyes at him slightly.
âFine. As long as you donât leave me alone with that one.â You gave a pointed look towards Zemo, who had the audacity to widen his eyes innocently.
âWhy not?â
âBecause Iâm pretty sure he wants to kill me.â You answer flatly. âEnhanced person, guy who hates enhanced people, guy who apparently previously knew of me and my sisters and assumed I was the one survivor they dragged out not Ruby, guy who had this weird dampit in the first place⌠guy who probably intends to use me to get my sisters⌠what could possibly go wrong?â
ââŚFine.â Well you got one win out of this. Maybe if they left you completely alone you could find something to cut off the dampit. If it could go on it should be able to come off, right? That made sense.
âLovely. Now I donât know about you but I feel gross wearing the same clothes for more than twenty four hours and there was totally a market I saw nearby so how about you guys discuss⌠whatever it is youâre dealing with, the flag⌠fuckers? Smashers! Thatâs right, and IâŚâ Bucky moved an arm in front of you as you tried to step towards the door.
âYouâll survive.â He said bluntly.
âBut this is so boringggg, come on, James, let a girl take care of herself. I donât care about your dumb saving the world issues. I wouldnât even be shop lifting, I have my wallet with me still because apparently you guys donât think it necessary to take away a prisonerâs things. Iâll come right back, I still need to find Ruby.â
âYou will be just fine.â He repeated firmly, narrowing his eyes slightly at you when you sighed dramatically.
âIf it helps, there is a bath in the room over there if you would like to clean yourself up.â Zemo offered politely.
âThank you. At least someone cares about other people here,â you cast another look at Bucky when you start moving to the room Zemo had pointed towards.
âGuilt tripping doesn't work if I donât feel guilty about it.â He replied, moving to sit on the couch you had previously been lounging in.
âNot yet it doesnât.â You counter lightly, winking at him even though he couldnât see you. âI guess Iâll have to keep trying. Or figure out something else! Hey, question completely unrelated to the topic at hand, are you seducable?â
âEither go have a bath or stop talking.â He said, without looking back at you as you started pulling off your leather jacket. âAnd no, Iâm not.â
âIâm going, Iâm going.â You mutter, rolling your eyes. âSo inconsiderate, telling a lady to stop talking.â
âWe can all still hear you.â
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Poll because I canât decide what to do next and Need Your Help->
Sirens in Winter: Part Two: White Wolf: Chapter Four: Revelations
Pairings: Bucky x reader
warnings/info: slow burn, like sloooooowwww burn, Iâm talking villain (ish) reader needs to manipulate winter soldier, he escapes HYDRA, HYDRA falls to shit, many years, enemies now, forced alliance, then lots of distrust before they get together. That slow of a burn. Iâm talking embers. Anyway, canon typical violence, occasional use of âfuckâ but other than that canon typical swearing, no use of y/n because I substitute it with Jade for this story instead (otherwise it feels like a skip in my flow of writing, if that makes sense) no explicit stuff, lmk if I missed anythingâ¤ď¸
summary: Youâre now a captive of two super heroes and a felon they broke out of prison who somehow had what they needed to damp your abilities out. Which is especially annoying when you really really want to get back to your sisters but canât mind control them into making it happen.
Text
âStop that.â Bucky said, eyes closed and leaning his head back on the seat in the private jet this Zemo guy owned.
âStop what?â You didnât waste a second in responding as sweetly and as innocently as you could.
âI can feel you staring at me from here. Itâs not going to work.â You roll your eyes but do look away, lifting your feet to take off your heeled boots so you could curl up more comfortably on the seats. Unfortunately for you, it was only you kidnapped by three men you barely knew, and one of them somehow had a damper for your abilities. How does that even work? Who even was this bitch? You didnât even get an explanation, one moment you were digging your abilities into the brain of a guy you used to know and the next you had gotten electrocuted and woke up with a simple choker necklace that you couldnât get off that muted your abilities.
âWhy did you people even grab me.â You complain after a moment, âI have⌠stuff⌠back there, itâs not like Iâm going to try and hunt you down or something, I couldnât care less about all of you!â
âWe werenât making that risk.â The one you didnât didnât know said reasonably, Zemo, that was his name. âIf someone with abilities like yours is selling work to Madripoor, where I have many enemies, you can imagine my being careful.â
âYeah, great job, random man,â you say sarcastically, ânow thereâs only three people with abilities like mine selling work in Madripoor.â That got his attention.
âThere are more of you?â
âSure. HYDRA didnât just make one good result and toss everything out of the window, my sisters are still there and once they figure out what happened you will have to deal with âpeople like meâ hunting you down on purpose.â
âYou say sisters and act like youâre all dating.â Sam, Falcon, former avenger, muttered probably just to himself, but it still got your attention and you narrow your eyes at him slightly. The urge to say âmaybe we areâ just to fuck with everyone was strong. Especially because it might actually be the case. You had never sat down to talk about labels but you were all certainly very close, you flirted with each other all the time for fun, complimented each other every chance you gotâŚ
âAt least there arenât four morally unstable women with mind control after us.â Bucky mused, supposed to be an offhanded comment, but you latched on to it.
âHow do you know were missing someone.â
âI could have just said that meaning you, but glad to know youâre still not over that topic.â He replied.
âI think it unfair for you to call me more of a bitch in person when you make comments like that.â You grumble, almost embarrassed by how quickly you had assumed he knew about⌠about Ruby. Except hey, wait, he just said ânot over that topic.â He did know! âAnd how do you know about her?â
âBecause we ran into Ruby about a week and a half ago.â He replied, opening one eye to look at you. You felt the world slow down.
âYouâre lying.â
âI may be an asshole but Iâm not an asshole enough to lie about someone somebody else cares about to get a reaction.â He replied.
âRubyâs alive?â You said so softly you were almost sure he couldnât hear you, as you sank back against the wall and your eyes flicked to the floor in horror. âSheâs alive and we left her? We left her behind? Where is she? Is she okay? Did she talk about us? Does sheâŚâ
âShe missed you guys a lot, actually.â Sam spoke this time, shooting a look at Bucky that you didnât care to think too hard about. âSaid you guys were her family and that sheâs been looking for you since the blip.â
âDo you know what happened? Why we didnât see her? We searched for⌠we stayed in the rubble of that building for days, weâŚâ
âShe said she got evacuated before the building was blown up. That HYDRA decided one siren was good enough but that she would have chosen to stay and find you if she could.â
âOh my GodâŚâ you move a hand over your mouth before dragging both hands through your hair. âOh my God, where is she? Please, please tell me where she is, let me go find her, please, Iâll stay out of your hair forever, Iâll make sure my sisters leave you alone, whatever, where is Ruby?â
âWe convinced her to go into blip rehabilitation in Korea.â Sam replied, his voice much gentler than it had been moments before, âWe said weâd find out what we could about her sisters for her. Weâll get you to her as soon as we can, but we do have other things going on. It wasnât my idea to kidnap you, for the record, both of us were opposed to it, but we canât really turn the jet around at this point.âÂ
You move your hand down from your head, still staring at the floor in shock, and subconsciously hook a finger through the dampit around your neck. If only you could rip it off. You could make them turn the jet around, go back, get your sisters, and find Ruby before⌠what if she finds her actual family? You feel a stab of something, first jealousy, then a little bit of self loathing for being so selfish. What if she likes them more than you and your sisters? What if she finally sees how terrible you all are? What if she doesnât actually want to see you at all?
You can feel all three of them just watching you, too. You know itâs happening. Sam seems concerned. Zemo just looks interested and it makes you hate him more, and Bucky⌠you donât know what heâs watching you with. It wasnât a cold look, it wasnât an annoyed look, it was⌠weird. It was something else you couldnât quite name, but you didnât have the time or care to bother trying to figure it out because Ruby was alive and they would get you to her if you just played along.
Sirens in Winter: Part Two: White Wolf: Chapter Three: You Again
Pairings: Bucky x reader
warnings/info: alcohol mentioned, slow burn, like sloooooowwww burn, Iâm talking villain (ish) reader needs to manipulate winter soldier, he escapes HYDRA, HYDRA falls to shit, many years, enemies now, forced alliance, then lots of distrust before they get together. That slow of a burn. Iâm talking embers. Anyway, canon typical violence, occasional use of âfuckâ but other than that canon typical swearing, no use of y/n because I substitute it with Jade for this story instead (otherwise it feels like a skip in my flow of writing, if that makes sense) no explicit stuff, lmk if I missed anythingâ¤ď¸
summary: While trying to get information from Selby about the Super Serum being tossed under the table, Bucky has to come face to face with⌠you again.
âHe will do anything you want.â
Bucky hated this. Pretending to be the Winter Soldier. Following Zemoâs orders. It felt like ice was cutting him from under his skin. He was uncomfortable, he kept getting reminded of when he actually was the Winter Soldier, and that little voice in the very back of his mind kept pointing out ever so helpfully how easily he did it. Slipped back into being a mindless order following assassin.
âAlright. Iâll tell you what you want to know. But first I want to make sure heâs the real one.â Selbyâs words made Bucky tense, barely noticeable under the leather he wore. Why was he concerned about that? He was the Winter Soldier. Had been. Past tense. He could do whatever it was to convince her, and then theyâd get the information they want, and the plan would keep going smoothly.
âOf course. Anything you need, I can prove it for you.â
âOh you arenât going to need to do anything. I happen to have my own expert.â From the corner of his eye Bucky saw Zemoâs eyebrows raise.
âDo you? And who would that be?â
âOh, sheâs fun, youâll like her,â Selby flicked her hand and tilted her head to talk to one of her goons. âGo grab her, tell he we actually need her for something that isnât a bar fight.â He nodded and walked away, disappearing from the room and leaving them in an uncomfortable silence where Selby and Zemo forced small ânot forcedâ calm smiles at each other. No one spoke. The door to the room  opened again and Bucky heard the extra pair of footsteps before he saw who was entering the room with Selbyâs guy.
âIâm actually kind of drunk right now, just so yâall are aware. Itâs great out there tonight, have you seen those women? All out, itâs wild. Iâve gotten soo many free drinks tonightâwho do I need to tell you isnât the real Winter Soldier? God this happens a lot more often than you think it doesââ she cut herself off when she actually opened her eyes and noticed Bucky. Bucky had already figured out who she was, and was trying to keep his face from changing or giving anything away. That was impossible. This was ridiculous. First remembering things a few weeks ago, then Ruby, and now this?
Jade didnât speak for a moment, just watched him with raised eyebrows. She wore a small, strapless, glittering gold top that Bucky himself would barely count as clothes considering it covered almost nothing but some of her rib cage. She wore long black flare pants and a black leather jacket to balance it out, along with gold eyeshadow and accessories.
âJade.â She blinked and looked at Selby, tipping her head slightly in an apology.
âYeah, sorry about that, no, this is him.â It was Selbyâs turn to be surprised.
âThatâs actually the Winter Soldier?â
âYes. Iâm just as shocked as you are, wow, whereâd you find him?â
âI have many resources.â Zemo replied.
âHow cryptic,â Jade came closer. Bucky avoided her eyes. He didnât need to get stuck in those again. âWhat are you doing with these two, Kitty?â Sheâd turned her attention for a brief moment to Sam while she circled Bucky who stayed perfectly still.
âOur agendas collided.â Sam stayed in character. Spoke firmly. Didnât leave much room for conversation. âFigured we could use each other instead of starting anything dramatic.â
âYouâre sure itâs the Winter Soldier?â Selby interrupted. Jade was so close Bucky could smell the slightly fruity alcohol on her breath but she turned away when Selby spoke.
âOne hundred percent, donât worry about it. Thatâs him.â
âThen get back over here, you donât need to be breathing in his ear, I donât know if youâre going to mess up his programming if youâre drunk and donât know what youâre doing.â
âIâm only a little drunk! Tipsy, at most!â She protested, but did back away, casting a flirty smile back over her shoulder at him that Bucky pretended not to see.
âNow that you know itâs the âreal dealâ how about that information on the super serum, hm?â
âThatâs the Zemo I remember. Glad I didnât kill you immediately. The super-soldier serum is here in Madripoor. Dr. Wilfred Nagel is the man you wanna thank. Or⌠condemn, depending on what side of this youâre on. The Power Broker had him working on the serum, but⌠things didnât go as planned. Donât get too cocky, though, you wonât be able to find him without me.â Selby was cut off by the sound of a phone vibrating. Buckyâs eyes flicked towards the phone. Towards Sam. The entire room seemed to freeze.
âAnswer it. On speaker.â Selby had gone from fake friendly diplomacy to suspicion immediately. Thatâs when everything went to shit. It had been Sarah. Sam had tried to play it off, and failed.
âJade! Be useful!â Selby shouted over the fighting to the woman who was watching from the edge of the room with a vaguely interested expression that was otherwise unbothered.
âFine, fine. So rude.â She muttered, walking forward and swinging herself over the couch to get into the conflict. âHi!â She greeted brightly when she got in Buckyâs way and be almost backed off before reminding himself that she was, in fact, working in a criminal empire. After working in a criminal organization. âSo you arenât the Winter Soldier right now? What are you actually like? Whatâs your name?â She kept dodging his hits, making it look almost too easy.
âMy name is James Bucky Barnes.â He muttered, managing to actually get in a hit to her stomach. âAnd Iâm a lot less murderous and a lot more in charge of what Iâm doing.â
âAre you, now? You know, Iâm sure I could get you on the ground like a dog in seconds if I wanted to~â she purred, blocking one of his hits this time and leaning over his arm to be only a few inches from his face.
âWow youâre kind of a bitch when you arenât pretending to be innocent.â Bucky commented, trying to grab her and throw her out of his way, but she slipped out of reach before he could manage. She fake-gasped and placed a hand on her chest as if injured.
âName calling! How hurtful.â She moved forward, zig-zagging before managing to grab onto his arm and swing around him, knocking him back into the wall with the momentum and getting one arm against his throat, using her free hand to grab his jaw and forcing his face towards hers, making him meet her unnaturally hypnotic eyes. He remembered them having a pull. He didnât remember them being so hard to get out of. âTake it back.â He could practically taste the poison she was filling his ears with, and clenched his jaw in in an attempt to not speak, almost loosing the battle when she let go with a sharp yelp, jerking for a moment before crumpling to the floor. Zemo had managed to get behind her with a taser.
âI had her.â
âAnd I helped. We need to leave. Grab her while youâre at it.â
âExcuse me?â
âWe canât have her an enemy on the run, grab her, letâs go.â
âCome on you two, get moving! I canât move in these damn heels but we need to get the hell out of here!â Sam shouted from where he was trying to get out the door.
Sirens in Winter: Part Two: White Wolf: Chapter Two: An Uncomfortable Ride
Pairings: Bucky x reader
warnings/info: slow burn, like sloooooowwww burn, Iâm talking villain (ish) reader needs to manipulate winter soldier, he escapes HYDRA, HYDRA falls to shit, many years, enemies now, forced alliance, then lots of distrust before they get together. That slow of a burn. Iâm talking embers. Anyway, canon typical violence, occasional use of âfuckâ but other than that canon typical swearing, no use of y/n because I substitute it with Jade for this story instead (otherwise it feels like a skip in my flow of writing, if that makes sense) no explicit stuff, lmk if I missed anythingâ¤ď¸
summary: Sam and Bucky try to figure out what to do with Ruby
Text
ââŚMay I speak?â Ruby finally asked, well after they had taken to air and they had sat in cold silence with Joaquin looking between the three of them confused but unwilling to break it.
âI donât know, are you planning on saying anything magic?â Sam replied, but his voice was not as icy as Buckyâs would have been. Ruby shook her head, but kept her mouth shut until Sam noticed that she actually intended not to speak unless one of them gave her the okay and he nodded at her, eyebrows raised.
âYou know Jade.â Were her first words, blurted out quickly before she could actually articulate anything and Buckyâs jaw ticked slightly.
âI doubt I actually knew her at all, but sure.â
âYou said one of us had a long term with you, Jade had one of those, she was the one of the only ones of us to get long term projects, and you said her name first.â Ruby pressed while her eyes focused solely on him and he made sure to keep his out out of hers. He remembered that pull, he just hadnât recognized it when it happened years before, he wasnât about to be stupidly enough to let that happen again.
âYes, that sounds about right.â He grit out.
âAre you the Winter Soldier?â
âNot anymore.â
ââŚWho are you, then? What can I call you?â
âBucky.â
âOkay, Bucky. Can you help me find her? Jade, or any of my sisters, if you donât want to see her. Please. Theyâre all I have, all I had.â
âWhy werenât you there when the base collapsed? How are you alive?â He changed the subject, finding a better question to ask her. âI went back to that base where they were. No one was there. No bodies, no anything.â He watched from the corner of his eye as she practically glowed with that information. Like maybe she had been running on the lie that they had to be alive for so long knowing it was a thread bare possibility that hearing it confirmed that no bodies had been found was all she needed to keep going. âWhere were you?â
âI was evacuated.â She answered, and she sounded truthful. âThey were testing me when they got the information that something happened and decided one of us was good enough and ran, I didnât have a choice, I wouldnât have left if I did. I barely got out anyway though, they had been leaving when the bombs had already been set off.â Ruby lifted the right side of her shirt up and Bucky let his gaze flick over to her, seeing the burn scar up across her side disappearing under the rest of her clothes.
âWhat if I helped you find the people you knew before HYDRA.â He offered. There was no telling what any of the other âsirensâ had gotten up to in the past years, and he was sure that it wasnât good and that he didnât want to go anywhere near anyone who would try to get into his head. At least Ruby seemed to be trying to not do so, for now anyway.
âYou⌠could do that?â
âI have a lot of experience finding people. I found the files for you and the other âsirensâ a few weeks ago, so I already know your name, it shouldnât take much digging.â She actually seemed to be considering it.
ââŚBut⌠what if they think I abandoned them? What if they hate me, I need to find them and explain everything.â Ruby insisted, anxiously twisting a strand of her hair. Bucky just sighed to himself and leaned back, moving his gaze to the ceiling of the plane.
ââŚAm I allowed to know whatâs happening?â Joaquin finally asked, looking almost too nervous to do so.
âApparently HYDRA tried making people who could manipulate people with their voices, and Bucky has a past with one of them. Not this one, evidently, but he had trust issuesâreasonable ones, in this case,â Sam made sure to stare at Bucky for emphasis, âBut she was separated from the other four when HYDRA fell and wants to find them. We still need to decide what to do with her.â
âBlip rehab.â Bucky interrupted, sitting up straighter again with the idea, turning his eyes to Ruby. âWe can get her to a blip rehab in Korea, Iâll give her all the information I found on her so that she has it, and she should be able to go home. Iâll look into what I can find on the rest of them and tell her if I find them.â And then turn them in to the police, if theyâre doing the illegal things Iâm sure they are he added mentally.
âThatâs⌠actually a pretty good idea,â Sam mused, glancing over at Ruby sitting off to his side. She looked incredibly concerned about this proposition and was playing a little faster with her hair compared to a few moments before. âAre you alright with that? Try to go home and find anyone of your old life while we work on finding any information we can about more âsirensâ from HYDRA?â Bucky didnât like the way Sam stressed that word âweâ but didnât mention it yet. He could probably shake him later. But for now, if Ruby agreed without a problem, they could actually focus on the problem at hand involving the flag smashers and the super serum that seemed to be floating around.
âI⌠I donât know, I mean, Iâve just, Iâve been gone for⌠I havenât spoke Korean in a whileâŚâ
âItâs going to be alright. Joaquin can help you find your way around, he speaks a few languages. Weâll get back to you about your friends.â
Sirens in Winter: Part Two: White Wolf: Chapter One: Ruby
Pairings: Bucky x reader
warnings/info: slow burn, like sloooooowwww burn, Iâm talking villain (ish) reader needs to manipulate winter soldier, he escapes HYDRA, HYDRA falls to shit, many years, enemies now, forced alliance, then lots of distrust before they get together. That slow of a burn. Iâm talking embers. Anyway, canon typical violence, occasional use of âfuckâ but other than that canon typical swearing, no use of y/n because I substitute it with Jade for this story instead (otherwise it feels like a skip in my flow of writing, if that makes sense) no explicit stuff, lmk if I missed anythingâ¤ď¸
summary: There was actually a hostage situation, when Bucky and Sam first find themselves dealing with the flag smashers, and Bucky quickly recognizes who exactly that supposedly innocent hostage is.
âWe might have a hostage situation.â Bucky didnât waste time when Sam said those words, and started running after the trucks, Sam close behind. Being a super soldier had its perks, he was willing to admit that, as he was able to easily catch up with the two trucks and jump onto the back of the first one and use his vibranium arm to pull the doors open. Inside there were two people, a woman, who looked frightened and was sitting in the furthest back corner, and another person, who barely looked old enough to be an adult, with curly hair and freckles.
âI found the hostages,â
âââââ
Bucky didnât like John Walker. The way he pretended like he knew Steve. Like he was good enough for the shield. Sam shouldnât have given away that shield he thought, while glaring and keeping quiet as they rode with John and his companion to the airport. There had actually been a hostage, one, not the girl. That girl had had super serum and kicked their asses. The woman though, she had barely spoken once they got her out.
She had black hair, long, almost waist long, with faded red dye on the ends. She looked Korean, she had to be, but something was off with her eyes. They werenât brown, or dark, or any of the regular colours. They were blue. A darker blue than usual, sure, but they were blue, and they shouldnât be.
âAnd whatâs your deal? How did you get caught by those guys?â John asked the woman, the conversation about the fact that those people theyâd just fought were super soldiers to wards the woman, who blinked as if having not been paying attention.
âMe?â
âYeah, whatâs going on, did you know them? Have any idea why theyâd take you hostage?â
âNoâI didnât know them, at all. I accidentally came across them having a conversation. I didnât hear much of anything, I just noticed that it sounded suspicious and was going to back away and leave, but⌠they noticed me first.â
âDid they hurt you?â
âNotânot really, um. I mean, they kidnapped me, but I think they tried not to hurt me, weirdly enough. They tried to convince me to join their cause, actually.â
âWhatâs your name?â
âItâs⌠Ruby, my name is Ruby.â Bucky felt his blood freeze. Subject 812: Min-ji Song. Civilian (life guard) kidnapped. Success. Has renamed self âRubyâ most concerns for empathy.
âWell itâs nice to meet you, Ruby, Iâm glad you aren't hurt. Do you have any family nearby? Do you live around here?â Sam had taken over asking the questions now, and Ruby shook her head.
âIâm looking for my⌠family, thats why Iâm here, Iâve been looking for years, we got separated about five years before the blip, I think, I just got back from being dustedâŚâ
âJade.â Bucky interrupted, looking at her sharply. âYou had four friends, one of them was named Jade, right?â She just stared at him in surprised for a moment before replying, perking up quickly.
âYes, yes, actually! Jade, and Asyani, and Velvette, and Aea, do you know them? Do you know where I can find them?â
âNo, I donât know where they are, but I know who you are, and now I donât trust you.â Her face fell so quickly it almost made him feel bad about it. Almost.
âWhat? Who is she, do you know her?â The man sitting next to John asked, looking between Bucky and Ruby with the same confusion on John and Samâs faces.
âWho are you?â Bucky countered, tone almost too prickly but he didn't care. He had no reason to explain this to them. Theyâd ask too many questions. Questions he didnât want to answer in front of John of all people.
âLook, I... I get it, okay? I get the attitude, I do. You didn't think that the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Bucky. And I'm... I'm not trying to be Steve. I'm not trying to replace Steve. I'm just trying to be the best Captain America I can be. That's it. It'd be a whole lot easier if I had Cap's wingmen on my side.â John tried to reason, but Bucky was already leaving, scoffing at that last line.
âYouâre coming with us.â He said to Ruby, ignoring John and making long eye contact with the woman. She looked a little frightened but nodded anyway and followed him and Sam. At least she hadnât tried anything yet.
âHey, you canât just take a former hostage! Weâre better able to get her somewhere safe and find information on her.â
âYeah, and Iâm better able to not be an idiot. Iâm not going to hurt anyone, I donât do that anymore. Besides, Sam has communications too, and I have better questions to ask her than you do.â Eventually, John got the message and drove away, leaving Bucky, Sam, and Ruby in an uncomfortable silence with Bucky glaring only at the road ahead of himself.
âIf it helps,â Ruby offered after a long moment, âI promise I wonât do anything.â Bucky just snorted
âHavenât heard that before.â
âI donât know you, I donât know why you know me, and you have every right to be suspicious, but Iâm telling the truth I swear. I wonât do anything, I wonât use any of my abilities, I wonât even look at you. I can stop talking, right now, if that helps.â Bucky didnât answer.
âBucky.â Sam said, after a moment, his tone serious as he looked over at the super soldier. âWhat is going on. Is she HYDRA? Have you met her before?â
âI havenât met her before but I met one of her âsistersâ before. And yes, as far as Iâm concerned, sheâs HYDRA.â
âThey like you?â
âDifferent project. There were only five survivors of the tests, her and those other four she mentioned. They called themselves sirens because HYDRA gave them the abilities to manipulate people with their voices. One of them was assigned to me long term a few weeks before HYDRA crumbled with the helecarriers, I just remembered her name a few weeks ago and managed to find the files still online after everything got released.â He answered frostily. From the corner of his eye he saw recognition on Rubyâs face and she looked like she was about to say something before remembering she had just said she wouldnât talk.
âDo you know if they got their memories wiped?â
âThe file said they did but it wasnât taken as seriously as with me and their other assassins.â Sam was looking at Ruby more warily now, but not enough for Bucky to be sure that he understood the situation. To be fair, Ruby was acting as innocent as could be. Frightened, considerate, and trying to help and stay out of the way. A lot like someone else he could name who did those exact same things to earn his trust.
oh ho ho? What is this? A sneak peak into what may happen in the coming chapters of Sirens in Winter: Part Two? (Bucky x reader fic but Extreemely slow burn)
For the record rq this is for a Bucky x reader fic, for those seeing this without context, and the red head is not the reader (I try to avoid a reader description as best I can so as many people can do whatever w the idea)
oh ho ho? What is this? A sneak peak into what may happen in the coming chapters of Sirens in Winter: Part Two? (Bucky x reader fic but Extreemely slow burn)
warnings/info: slow burn, like sloooooowwww burn, Iâm talking villain (ish) reader needs to manipulate winter soldier, he escapes HYDRA, HYDRA falls to shit, many years, enemies now, forced alliance, then lots of distrust before they get together. That slow of a burn. Iâm talking embers. Anyway, canon typical violence, occasional use of âfuckâ but other than that canon typical swearing, no use of y/n because I substitute it with Jade for this story instead (otherwise it feels like a skip in my flow of writing, if that makes sense) no explicit stuff, lmk if I missed anythingâ¤ď¸
summary: HYDRA had fallen before you even got that chance to get back to Pierce, or say goodbye to the Winter Soldier. It had happened that day. You were training with Velvette, Asyani had been watching, when suddenly yelling took up the halls. In the chaos Asyani, of course it was Asyani, took charge. Found Aea in the room and demanded where Ruby was. The labs. But the labs were gone before you could get there. The whole building was being blown up, the labs were the first to go, to cover their tracks. You escaped with your sisters and searched the wreckage for days, didnât leave the wreckage for days. She had to be there, she couldnât be gone. But you couldnât stay, couldnât wait forever. You and your still living sisters would starve. So you went into the world, with no information of latest news, your pasts, or any expectations of what would be to come. And now? Well, working for the power broker in Madripoor wasnât half bad. Meanwhile Bucky Barnes was trying to get his life back together again after the battles with Thanos, the blip, losing Steve, cutting his hair, getting pardoned, and being forced into government mandated therapy.
He didnât remember much, after he trudged away from dragging Captain America from the water. He remembered he was hurt. He was confused. He couldnât trust HYDRA anymore, thatâs what part of him was saying, but he dragged himself back anyway. He didnât know why. But he did remember only being greeted by rubble and ash. They had burned it down. To hide themselves. But he was so sure, so sure there was something there that he was looking for. He remembered⌠he thought he did, in his fracturing brain, a voice. A calm, gentle voice. He had aimlessly looked around in the rubble for a while, confused, alone, before leaving. Going off on his own.
It was now, in the dead of the night, that he remembered. Years later, his mind back, his name pardoned, alone in his apartment, jolting awake from another nightmare. The thing was, this one hadnât exactly been a nightmare at all. Just a faded, older memory of when he was the Winter Soldier, in a cell after a beating disguised as training, when his head had been resting on someoneâs lap. Someone gently playing with his hair with, and murmuring quiet things to him he wasnât even sure he heard. She smelled nice, he knew that he just couldnât remember exactly what she smelled like. She wore only a doctorâs gown, like one they might have someone put on for an X-ray, and she must have been in HYDRA for a while, but still she smelled nice, and sounded nice, and he remembered a name, after sitting awake for hours wondering if he even had remembered that or just made it up in his depressingly lonely mind. Jade.
HYDRAâs information had been released to the public, that day when the helecarriers had crashed and heâd saved Steve. It was still out there somewhere, he was sure of it. And he was right. All it took was a few good google searches on his phone, and hours pouring over the sickening files HYDRA had kept. There. Jade. Ruby. Asyani. Aea. Velvette. Five women who named themselves after they had been experimented on, succeeded in surviving and maintaining the abilities given to them, and gotten their memories erased. Noted calling each other âsisters,â they were part of Project 825161415195, whatever that meant, and the name âSirenâ had been given to it as a shorter code.
Subject 809: Nicky Dunavar
Former U.S.A marines
African American
Notable Medical History: Lung Cancer Survivor
Health: good
Status: Volunteer
Report: Success
Notes: Has renamed self âAsyaniâ appears to have taken charge among the group after they were put together.
Cell Change? (To be determined)
Return of Lung Cancer: Survived
Subject 810: Raja Ali
Former Fashion Model
Indian
Notable Medical History: Eating disorder, possible OCD
Health: Good
Status: Volunteer
Report: Success
Notes: Has renamed self âAeaâ does not do as much physical training, trains abilities often.
Allergic to ? (To be looked into)
Subject 811: Juliette Animair
Red Room Assassin
French/Italian
Notable Medical History: None
Health: Good
Status: Drafted (Drekov)
Report: Success
Notes: Has renamed self âVelvetteâ retains her former Red Room training, does not seem as keen to use given abilities but remains useful and continues to practice with them.
Subject 812: Min-ji Song
Civilian (Life Guard)
Korean (South)
Notable Medical History: Allergic to blueberries, diagnosed with severe anxiety.
Health: Good
Status: Drafted (kidnapped)
Report: Success
Notes: Has renamed self âRubyâ repeatedly asks to keep her hair dyed red, surprisingly good at physical combat, most concern about empathy
Subject 813: Angelica Swanson
Civilian (Jobless)
American (no clear ethnicity)
Notable Medical History: Former meth addict, severe depression
Health: Medium
Status: Volunteered
Report: Success
Notes: Has renamed self âJadeâ appeared most insecure with the others at first
Physical training caused many improvements in health, was the one to start referring to the others as âsistersâ
Cell Change? (To be determined)
Least likely concern for Empathy (?) next to âVelvetteâ
Given long term project; paired with the Winter Soldier: Successfully gained comfort and trust with the Soldier, reports are well.
âAnd the nightmares, how were they last night?â Doctor Raynor asked, tone as even as usual as she looked across the room to Bucky.
âI didnât have any.â
âBullshit.â
âItâs not! Normally, sure, but no, not this time.â He defended, exasperated a little but other than that just as sarcastic and cold as usual during these sessions.
âYou had to have dreamed.â It was an accident that he hesitated, but she caught onto it immediately. âBarnes.â
âEveryone dreams.â
âIf it wasnât a nightmare then what was it.â
âJust a memory, like the rest of them. I just wasnât killing people.â
âWas it about Steve?â
âNo.â Silence stretched on between them again. âCome on, the notebook? Really?â
âIf you donât talk, I write, weâve gone over this.â
âOkay, fine, whatever.â She paused and he let out a long sigh. âIt was about a girl.â
âBefore the war?â
âIn HYDRA. They sent her to my cell every day for weeks. I just remembered her name, I tried looking her up and finding the HYDRA files online, it turns out she was a willing participant in an experiment. A bunch of people died from it, she happened to survive.â
âWhat was she to you?â
âA liar, as it turns out.â He said, almost too sharply, then avoiding the look the therapist gave him. âShe was part of a project code named âSirenâ where they tried to make people who could use their voices to be persuasive. Their eyes and skin were affected too, and they didnât need to eat much after they had survived the changes. They brought her to me in order to see if they could get the Winter Solder to come back to HYDRA on his own even if he broke protocol if he thought someone there meant something, and she was one of them with the least risk of getting âemotionally attached.ââ
âDid it work?â
ââŚYeah..â he didnât like to admit that, or the way his voice got quieter. âRight after I saved Steve that day when everything got released. They wiped my mind the night before but I still went back to the base. It was gone before I got there and I didnât remember why I even went back until later.â
âDid you know any of the other âsirensâ?â
âNo. She talked about them though, at least I think she did. I only remember one of the names, Asyani, she got sick or something and it really wrecked her.â
Sirens in Winter: Part One: Chapter Nine: Alexander Pierce
Pairings: Bucky x reader
warnings/info: slow burn, like sloooooowwww burn, Iâm talking villain (ish) reader needs to manipulate winter soldier, he escapes HYDRA, HYDRA falls to shit, many years, enemies now, forced alliance, then lots of distrust before they get together. That slow of a burn. Iâm talking embers. Anyway, canon typical violence, occasional use of âfuckâ but other than that canon typical swearing, no use of y/n because I substitute it with Jade for this story instead (otherwise it feels like a skip in my flow of writing, if that makes sense) no explicit stuff, lmk if I missed anythingâ¤ď¸
summary: Youâre finally sent to do your job. Calm the Winter Soldier when heâs unstable. And meet the leader of HYDRA Alexander Pierce for the first time while doing so.
âYou get to actually do your job today, Goldfish.â You tip your head slightly at agent Kose as you walk down the concrete halls of the HYDRA facility.
âAnd what do you mean by that, agent?â You ask, curious, and noticing that you donât make the regular turn to the Winter Soldierâs cell. Not only that, but this visit had already been strange as, simply, you had already seen him that day. A shorter visit than usual, sure, but one none the less.
âYouâve gotten his trust, youâve gotten him talking to you, now we need you to actually use your pretty voice and get him to calm down. Heard heâs been violent. The boss wants him stable before he getâs here.â The boss. Pierce. That had to be who he was talking about. Youâd never met him before, just heard his name a few times. Would you get to see him today, you wondered, as your eyes look around the new hallways further down underground in the base. You had never been down here before, it was less clean than the rest of the base, the lighting almost a sickly yellow rather than the blinding white youâre used to.
âCalm him, yes?â
âThatâs right. Donât make him go unresponsive, though, Goldfish.â
A metal mesh gate is pulled away before someone with a keycard actually opens the door to the room. Itâs a lab, it has to be, of some kind, and youâre fast to change your face before itâs seen by anyone inside. Agents with guns pointed at him like an animal, a scientist crumpled on the ground across the room, and him, the Winter Soldier, sat on a harsh looking metal chair looking lost and afraid more than anything, the yellow-green light of the room making him look almost too pale, too sick. Youâre fast to fit into the situation, get into character and rush forward with the concern of a widow looking to the body of her husband, freezing and allowing yourself to flinch to a stop when his eyes move to you and he tenses, like a gun about to be shot.
âHey, itâs me, itâs just me,â you say, making your voice as soothing as possible without using your abilities. âYou know me, remember? Itâs just Jade.â You see the recognition flicker in his eyes and the way he warily leans a little away when you slowly take a step closer, crouching a little to get to his level.
âWhy are you here?â He sounds almost suspicious, like he doesnât trust that itâs really you as you make your way a little closer.
âThey want me to calm you down.â You answer honestly, but start sewing in the persuasion of your abilities into your words while you do so. âThey made me special, remember? You asked me just the other day why they wanted me to talk to you, itâs because they want me to get inside your head without the machine. Iâm not going to do that, I donât want to violate you, but if you lash out again theyâre going to hurt you,â youâre close enough now to hold out a hand to him, making it tremble slightly to make the situation more believable. âI donât want them to hurt you. Can you please, please calm down. For me, just for a little while.â
You can see the conflict in his eyes when you speak, the way his eyes flick to your and then to your eyes and back again a few times before he grimaces slightly, starting to nod when the door of the room is opened again. You spin around fast, backing further away from the door and the man who walked in quickly only to stop beside the metal chair with one hand on the Winter Soldierâs shoulder. The man wore a gray suit, and looked old. Not elderly, but his face you were sure had seen younger years, with faded hair and sharp dark blue eyes. This had to be him, had to be Pierce. There was no other explanation, and you found yourself holding your breath.
âMission report.â He says, and the Winter Soldier doesnât answer. He still looks lost, too lost, and Pierces eyes flick to you, somewhere between a âis this your faultâ and ĂĄ âwell, Iâm waitingâ face, and you give the tiniest shake of your head and an almost unnoticeable shrug, but you squeeze the soldierâs shoulder. He still doesnât respond. âMission report, now.â You flinch accidentally, raising your eyebrows when Pierce actually slaps him, the Winter Soldier, HYDRAâs best assassin or so youâve been told, and this man just slaps him across the face. But it did work;
âThe man on the bridgeâŚâ His voice is unused, like youâre used to hearing, and he looks at the floor like a confused and sad dog, âWho was he?â You tilt your head, letting your facade slip a little out of your new interest in the conversation. You didnât get to leave HYDRA at all, and now you wanted to know who he was talking about too.
âYou met him earlier this week on another assignment.â Pierce replied, after a moment of considering his words carefully.
âI knew him.â The Winter Soldier said softly
âYour work has been a gift to mankind.â Pierce said, sitting in front of him. He sounded like a politician pretending to be empathetic. âYou shaped the century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves.â That was curious. What did he mean by that? What had been going on while you spent years without seeing the world.
ââŚBut I knew him.â That was actually kind of sad to hear him say that in the tone he did. Suddenly he wasnât a frosty assassin without a brain. He was just a man without his memories, trying to remember someone who meant something to him.
âPrep him.â Pierce said after a moment, standing up.
âHeâs been out of cryo freeze too long.â One of the scientist said, not quite arguing, and in fact looking nervous to bring up something that seemed like a valid reason to ignore the order.
âThen wipe him, and start over. You, you can come with me, I want to talk to you.â You feel your stomach drop when he points at you. What would he want to talk to you about? You couldnât argue, that would be idiotic, so you quickly follow him when he starts walking back out of the room without waiting for a response, glancing back over your shoulder to see the Winter Soldier being clamped down to the chair with metal, a mouth guard being given to him while the chair was leaned back.
âââââ
âItâs nice to meet you, Jade.â He finally spoke after walking through the halls of the building for what felt like forever, waving off the agents that were going to follow them. He pulled out a case of the ear pieces they used to avoid getting affected by your and your sisterâs voices, âIâm sure you donât mind the precaution.â
âNot at all.â You actually find it a little harder to get back into your usual skin while talking to this man, especially after hearing screams echoing behind you after leaving the vault-like room you had just been in, but you manage. âAnd the pleasureâs all mine.â
âI hope you also donât mind that I needed to have your friend back there erased. Itâs disappointing given the progress youâve made, but necessary. Weâll probably be laying him off after we get this latest plan into action.â You blink,
âReally? I thought you all liked having him around. I heard he was a prized assassin, but I donât have many sources to go off of.â
âHe is a prized assassin. Some of HYDRAâs best work, in my opinion, and heâs done some great things for us as you heard me mention in the other room, but once this plan is carried out we wonât need to worry about it.â
âWhat is this new plan, if you donât mind me asking, sir?â
âNot at all. Itâs a little complicated in the details if you look too hard, but weâve convinced the governments of the world to let us release three next generation helecarries connected to satellites, weaponized to kill whoever we need to. Weâve convinced them itâs for criminals, but, well we all know thatâs not the case. Zola, the scientist on HYDRA before our lovely Yeva, made an algorithm to locate every possible threat to HYDRA before they even become one. We can kill them thousands at a time, and then HYDRA will be able to make sure the world gets its new world order. A peaceful order, without wars.â
âThat is⌠very cleverâŚâ you say slowly, mulling the idea over in your mind. Sure, murder of millions might not be great, but it was actually really smart.
âisnât it? Hereâs the thing, thatâs going to cause a lot of messy chaos that weâre going to need to put a lid on. Iâve been watching you and your fellow women lately after getting the good reports about your progress with the Winter Soldier and I want to offer a new job for you. You won't be needed for calming assassins anymore, but you could be important for keeping the people of the world calm. You and your sisters, that what you were made for. Pass the offer along to them for me tonight, will you? Think about it, Iâll talk to you again tomorrow night after everything is all dealt with.â
