Winter's Daughter

Chapter Seven

Nadiya's outfit^^

Another gust of wind comes at me as I run throughout the forest. The thick, cold snow slows me down, but I never stop. I can't stop. I won't stop.

I lost count of how long I've been running for. Four, five hours? The only thing that's keeping me going is the intense fear of him catching up to me.

I've already lost one person today. I don't plan on making it two.

Suddenly, all the emotions I've been holding back finally surface. My knees buckle from underneath and I collapse into a tree. I begin to sob.

My body shakes out of fear for what's to come and sadness for my long lost friend. He didn't deserve what happened to him.

You could've saved him!

This is all your fault!

You're so weak!

You couldn't even save your best friend!

You're just pathetic.

Those thoughts scream at me over and over again. Eventually, I learned to except it. Except that it was all my fault. That I was too weak. That I failed him.

"It's not your fault, you know."

I snap around to see the metal armed man standing right in front of me. Why can't he just leave me alone?

"Why are you here?" I snap.

"To remind you that what happened wasn't your fault." He says. "And to possibly be a shoulder to cry on."

"I'm not crying." I say as bring my knees to my chest and rest my chin on them. "Oh right, my bad. You're eyes are just sweating." He says with a light chuckle.

I just glare at him. He sighs.

"Jonathan Westbrook. That was a kill I will always remember." He sighs. "It was about, oh I don't know, ten years ago? I killed him in front of his two kids. They were fifteen and twelve. Mom came home to two crying kids and a dead husband. The worst part was that they didn't make me do it. Oh, no." He says as he shakes his head. "I did it out of fear of HYDRA."

He walks over to me and crouches down to my level. He gently grabs my chin so I'm looking him in the eye "No matter how many times I got my memories wiped, I still felt the pain. The guilt. And you're going to feel it too. But if you allow someone to help you through all the pain, it makes it that much more bearable."

I give him a small, slightly noticeable, smile. I open my mouth to respond, but I hear a twig snap.

I look in the direction where I heard the sound, but I see nothing. My breath starts to quicken.

"Steve, can you hear me? Nat? Tony? Can anyone hear me?!" He yells into his earpiece. "I've got Nadiya, but we've been spotted. We're going to need backup! Hello?!"

"Bucky.." I whimper. He looks at me. "We gotta get out of here." I press.

"I know." He answers shortly. After a minute of medaling with his communication system, he lets out a frustrated sigh.

"We've got no signal. We're going to have to do this the old fashion way."

"And what night that be?" I ask a little panicked.

"Run like hell and pray this doesn't go south."

"That's what I do best." I say with a smirk. Just then, we heard a stomach turning growl. We look at each other for a split second, then start running.