Chapter Text
The hydra detention center had been the biggest the Avengers had come across. The area you were in was a prison block. There were three floors of cells and it was currently crawling with Shield agents. It was clear from the moment the team entered that the place was used to keep their ‘experiments’. It was too easy to identify prisoners from hydra scum. Anyone would be sick to their stomach just seeing the filth all of the detainees were being kept in. Most of them seemed to have been used and abused beyond reason.
The crackling sound of your earpiece gave way to the voices of your team and friends. They each checked in as they cleared the area they had been assigned. Although you were enhanced and trained for combat, your main job was to be the team’s on site medic. So many times during missions you would be the one running from one place to another. Currently you were standing in a cell checking in on someone.
“They’re gone.” You say to Steve as you hear him approach the cell door.
“Let’s keep moving.”
You give a curt nod as you stand and start to walk out of the cell but Steve puts his hand up.
“If this gets to be too much for you, let me know.”
“I will Cap. Come on, we have a lot more cells to check.”
Steve moves his hand to his right ear and presses down on the earpiece. “Any updates?”
A chorus of all clears rings through but one voice is missing. You look up at Steve worriedly before the last person checks in.
“I found another lab in the basement. I really need a medic down here.”
“Y/L/N is headed your way Buck.” Steve says as he watches you jog toward the elevators.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The elevator doors slide open and you’re greeted by Bucky. The hallway is dimly lit but you can still see his panicked expression. He grabs your hand and pulls you down the hallway.
“I wasn’t sure what to do, I thought it would be better for you to take a look.” He says as you follow him into a viewing room. The huge windows are facing an operating room. In the center there’s a heart monitor that’s beeping steadily and all sorts of abandoned equipment. It seems that when the team stormed the facility they were in the middle of an experiment. But it wasn’t the place that gave you chills, it was the test subject.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Most likely. That seems to be the only entrance.” Bucky points at a door at the other end of the room and you run towards it.
Bucky is right behind you. It feels like it takes ages for the first door to close and the second to open. Once it does you rush to the operating table and have your worst fears confirmed.
Unconscious on the table is a child. They look no older than two year old but considering how malnourished they look they could be older. You run over a few quick checks to make sure you’re able to move the baby.
“It’s a girl.” You say softly after lifting the sheet that covered the lower half of her body to check for other injuries.
Bucky stands by feeling angry and helpless. It was one thing to use and torture adults but what had this innocent life done to deserve such treatment. It took you calling his name a few times before he snapped out of it. You ask him to relay information for what you’ll need once you’re on the jet and begin to remove everything that had been attached to the child.
As carefully as you could, you wrap up the little girl in the sheet that had been covering her and then you take her in your arms. You look at Bucky and nod to let him know you’re ready. He leads the way back out to the viewing room and then to the hallway, his gun up and ready to fire if needed. Once you’re in the elevator you take a moment to look down at the child in your arms to make sure she’s still breathing.
“What could they want with her? She’s a baby.” Bucky asks, his back to you.
“Knowing hydra, a lot of things. I just hope we weren’t too late.”
“She’s in great hands I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
You can’t help the small smile that appears on your lips. The elevator doors open and Steve heads over to you. He opens his mouth to say something but the words are lost on the tip of his tongue when he sees the little bundle that you’re holding. You don’t wait for him to say anything, instead you rush past him and toward the main entrance where you see Bruce with the supplies you needed. The others kept their eyes on you as you rushed by, unaware of what’s happening.
“What’s going on Barnes?” Nat asked as she and some of the others approached the pair of super soldiers.
“Hydra was experimenting on a child, a little girl. Hopefully Y/N and Bruce can save her.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You and Bruce rushed off of the jet and onto the medical area of the helicarrier. It was a fight against time to be able to stabilize your small patient. In a comfortable silence you both work alongside each other, only speaking when necessary.
There’s a small whimper that comes from the child and it stops you in your tracks. You look up at Bruce and he also stopped what he was doing.
“That’s good. She’s responsive, we still have a chance to save her, right?”
“Absolutely.” He responds with a hopeful smile.
For the next few hours you work together until you're able to keep her stable. Once you’re done you head out of the small room to find the rest of the team waiting. Bucky and Steve walk towards you first.
“How is she doing?”
“Bruce and I are confident that she’s going to pull through. She’s a fighter.”
“Told you she was in good hands.” Bucky says proudly, making you smile.
Steve stands beside you both and rolls his eyes, amused at how oblivious you both were. He clears his throat to get your attention.
“Do we know what they were testing on her?”
You shake your head. “No, we were stabilizing her. Once we are able to push some fluids and she’s able to stay stable for a longer period of time we’ll start doing an in-depth physical. Bruce is doing some x-rays and we’ll go from there.”
“Ok good, Tony is looking through the files to see what we find on her. Keep us updated.”
“Sure thing.” You watch as Steve informs the others before they disappear into other parts of the helicarrier.
“Do you need me to get you anything?”
Your eyes moved from the hallway back to Bucky. He looked tired but as handsome as ever as he stood there waiting for an answer.
“Yeah, if it’s not too much trouble could you get my go bag. I want to change out of this.” You motioned towards your uniform. “I wouldn’t want to scare her if she wakes up.”
“You got it. I’ll be right back.”
You returned back to the room where Bruce was busy reviewing something on the computer. When he heard your footsteps he turned.
“Come take a look at this.”
You come to stand beside him as he pulls up the scans he’d done while you were talking with the others. Bruce begins to point out multiple healed fractures on her arms, legs and ribs. As you both tried to figure out how old the fractures were there was a knock on the door. Bucky popped his head in and opened the door more once you waved him in.
“Here you go.” He hands you your bag and you excuse yourself to go change. Bucky takes a moment to look around the space before his eyes stop on the girl. “Do you know if she has a name?”
“Not yet, Tony’s looking through the files though. I’m going to meet up with him now. Can you let Y/N know?”
Bucky nods and Bruce excuses himself. He gets slightly closer to the stretcher, taking in the tiny body wrapped up in clean sheets. They had shaved her head, it was evident by the tiny scars on her scalp from where they used a razor. She was incredibly pale and malnourished. If he wanted to, Bucky could count her ribs.
He takes his gloves off and grabs one of her hands in his right one. Bucky smiled slightly at the huge difference in size. Although she wasn’t awake her little fingers wrapped around one of his. He was so focused on her that he didn’t hear you walk back in. You observed the scene before you with a small smile.
“Where’s Bruce?” You asked quietly.
“He went to meet up with Tony.”
You hum in acknowledgement as you grab the chair Bruce had been using and move it towards the stretcher, sitting down in the process. There were no words exchanged for a few minutes, just the two of you watching over the little girl.
“What’s going to happen to her?”
“I’m not sure. I’m going to talk with Fury and ask to keep her under my care until we’re at least able to determine what hydra was planning. After that I’m not sure.”
“Well if he objects I’m sure the team will back you up, myself included.”
“Good.” You smiled and you were about to say something else when Jarvis announced that you were a few minutes away from Shield’s headquarters. So you get up and start preparing some of the equipment and your little patient for transport.
When it was time to move Bruce and Steve appeared at the entrance of the room. Both men along with Bucky escorted you out and into a jet so that you could fly directly to the compound while the others handled the other people they had taken into custody.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was turning into a long night. Once you’d set foot into the compound you were relieved to find that some of the nurses had been appointed to help you with your patient, Angel, as they had nicknamed her. One of them even had previous experience in working with kids. You weren’t surprised when you walked into the medbay room that had been assigned to her and found a crib along with the medical equipment needed for someone so small and other necessities such as diapers and clothes.
The nurses had insisted you go get some rest but you weren’t ready to leave Angel alone just yet. You took some time to clean her up and get her dressed. Jenna, one of the nurses, stepped in and helped with the diaper. After that you did finally go to your living quarters, took a shower, changed into some pajamas and finally took a nap.
About two hours later you wake up to the smell of food and you make your way out to your kitchen to find Bucky at the stove. He turns his head to look over his shoulder and smiles.
“I went by the medical wing and Jenna said you came to rest. Thought I’d make you some food.”
“Thanks,” you say as you sit on one of the barstools that line the kitchen island. There were two plates and coffee cups. “What is the chef preparing this evening?”
Bucky turns with the pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. “French toast. I know it’s your favorite. And some coffee because I’m pretty sure you’re going back down to see Angel.” He says as he places a few pieces on your plate and then a few on his. Then he moves to fill your coffee cup and sets some sugar and creamer. Finally he sits down next to you.
“Thank you.”
“You are very welcome.”
“Are the others back yet?”
He shakes his head. “Nat called to check in, said they were still dealing with all the detainees and Stark was in a meeting with Fury. Steve headed back there to join them.”
“Is it about the baby?”
“Yeah, but Steve said not to worry about it. He isn’t going to allow her to leave anytime soon.”
Hum as you flick your wrist, your fork and knife begin to work on cutting up your French toast while you add cream and sugar to your coffee. Bucky shakes his head while he chuckles.
“What’s so funny?”
“Your little party trick.”
“You’re just mad you can’t do it.” You say before taking a sip of your hot drink. Bucky hides his smirk behind his own coffee cup.
You both sit in silence as you start to eat. It’s easy for both of you, not needing to fill every single minute with conversation. Once in a while you look at Bucky out of the corner of your eye. It still amazes you that he felt so comfortable with you, how much he had changed from the first time he came to the compound. How at ease he was around you. Even after all he’d been through he had shown you that he could trust you and you trusted him too. It’s why you didn’t mind when he just came into your apartment and vice versa. There was nothing hidden between the two of you.
You stood and grabbed your now empty mug and plate, taking them to the sink.
“I’ll wash the dishes if you want to go down and check on her.”
“But you already made food.”
Bucky waved you off before walking towards the sink with his own dirty dishes. “I know you want to check on her, go. Really.”
You reached up and kissed his cheek before thanking him. He stood there with a pleased smile as he watched you go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There wasn’t much for you to really do down in the medical wing. But you went anyway. Normally when you helped someone on the field, you would help get them on the jet and once you arrived at the compound you’d tell the medical team what happened and what you did so they knew what they were dealing with. Now you have a feeling that you’ll be spending a lot of time here, or at least as long as it takes for the sweet Angel to recover. The nurses had informed you that there was no change in her condition and she was still unconscious which was starting to worry you. But still you dragged a chair and sat by her crib. There wasn’t much to do but you wanted to keep an eye on her. You grabbed your phone and searched for fairytale stories, once you found one you liked you began to read to her.
Every once in a while there would be a small whine or whimper coming from the crib. In those instances you’d stop reading and stand up to get a better look at her. You’d grab her hand gently and tell her that it was ok that she was safe.
“And they all lived happily ever after. The end.” You finished softly and you looked up to the crib. A small gasp leaves your lips as you realize that not only is your patient awake but she’s looking right at you.
You get up slowly and you move to stand by the crib. She follows every move you make. The closer you get though her bottom lip begins to wobble and her eyes close.
“It’s ok sweet girl, I’m not going to hurt you.” You coo softly as you try to grab her hand. She flinches at your touch as she begins to cry. Without many options you carefully pick her up and bring her to your chest, letting her head rest over your heart. You do what you’ve seen your mom do with your younger siblings which is to sway slowly and hum a lullaby.
Once the crying dies down you turn your head to look at the baby in your arms and find her looking up at you. Stunning bright blue eyes. Eyes that you’ve looked into before. You move to the other side of the room and open a few drawers until you find a sealed off q-tip.
“Ok sweet Angel, I’m going to get a sample from you just to check something ok?” You said as you sat her on the counter. She wobbled a little before settling down, blinking slowly as she looked up at you. You rip open the package and take a sample of her saliva. When one of the nurses comes by to check in on both of you, you hand her over and head towards the lab.
With some help from Friday you manage to run the sample and compare it to everyone in the Avenger’s database. You sit back as the monitor mocks you by displaying the result you were almost sure you’d see.
Hydra’s newest test subject was Bucky Barnes’ daughter.