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elladescent449-artspace · 3 years

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It Started With the Milk: Chapter 7 - Solution and Sacrifice

April tipped the delivery kid and shut the door. After setting the boxes of pizza and garlic knots on the coffee table she flopped down onto the sofa with a breath of relief.

“It was just the delivery kid, Leo,” she shouted.

A clatter from the kitchen rang through the small apartment before Leo re-entered the living room. With a disgruntled huff, Leo took a seat beside her. “Was it really necessary for you to kick me into the broom closet?”

“Uh,” Now that April thought about it, kicking him into the pantry may have not been as necessary as she felt at the time. “I panicked?” She offered with a shrug.

After a pause, he gave a dry chuckle. “Under the circumstances,” Leo sighed as he sank into the sofa, “you’re forgiven.”

April could feel Leo’s exhaustion. His humor was gone and he was practically deflated against the cushions. Straightening herself to close the gap, she said “I know that a lot is going on right now and it's scary… I’m scared too. Even I’m having a hard time understanding it, but don’t worry,” she placed a comforting hand on his arm and gave a light squeeze, “everything is going to turn out okay.”

Leo looked towards April. Mayhem jumped onto Leo’s lap, rubbing against his chest and licking his face to pull a smile from him. Leo hugged Mayhem, a small smile creeping into him as he pulled him close. “You’re right,” he smiled towards April, “thanks.”

“We’re going to figure this out, but for now,” she popped the box open, “let’s get you to eat something, okay?” The smell of warm cheese and spices flooded the room and April pulled out a cheesy piece for herself. She hesitated to pull a piece from the other half - the squirmy, blinking, vibrantly-colored-tentacle-covered half - but she did it anyway and held it out to Leonardo. “I got your favorite!”

The slice was tempting. It was his favorite. He and his brothers would share this pizza all the time, but now? The sight of the wriggling slice made him nauseous.

“Actually,” he reached into the pizza box to grab a slice of the cheese, “I think I'll stick with the classics today.”

April looked surprised by his answer but took a bite without a word. As she began to lower the creepy special back into the box Mayhem jumped over the table and snatched it from her hand.

“Mayhem no!” She jumped from her seat, “you can’t eat that!” Leo swore that he saw Mayhem smirk as he ran into the kitchen with April close on his heels. A crash followed by a bang bounced off the walls of the apartment, chased with April’s voice, “you’re on a delicate tummy diet!”

Leonardo took a bite of his pizza. It was good. Really good. While the crashing (and a few muttered curse words) echoed he began to eat faster than normal, quickly finishing his slice before grabbing another cheesy piece. He finished that too, and after he finished a third of the garlic knots he realized that this was the first time he’d eaten today. Mayhem ran back into the living room and ran across the back of the couch. April slid in before jumping onto the back of the sofa herself in a tackle maneuver and pushing Leo to the side, almost grabbing Mayhem in a hold before he poofed onto the top of the bookshelf, the creepy-special slice still clenched between his fangs.

“Mayhem not the bookshelf.” It was too late, he finished it in three bites, looking smug from his high place as he did so. April came back and plopped down next to Leo. That’s when he noticed a light dust of flour on her clothes.

Leo snorted, covering his mouth to keep the bready appetizer in. April glared a little, but as she looked up to Mayhem and then back to Leo she sighed with a giggle. “It’s not funny, Leo, he’s not supposed to eat anything but bland chicken and rice!”

“The soup?” He grinned.

“No!” A playful punch sent to his arm made him wince but he laughed along with her.

April picked up her soda and slice that had been dropped in the mayhem, leaning back with Leo as they tuned back into the TV. They had forgotten that it was on with the delivery boy scare and Mayhem. At forty minutes into “Jitsu for Justice,” Lou was on his seventh fight. Leo mindlessly bit into the garlic knots. The soda in April’s can sloshed quietly as she took a bite of her pizza. They both knew this movie, they had seen it a million times, seen it enough for it to be a comforting family favorite. Mayhem poofed into Leo’s lap, burping -towards April- before circling in his lap and curling into a loose ball.

‘Hot~,” April mouthed the script along with Lou on the screen, ‘soup!’ She heard a quiet thrumming and looked over towards Leonardo. He was drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair. The usual interest he displayed in the old Lou Jitsu films was gone, replaced with a new, horrific fixation on the bottle on the table. A pang of regret hit April in the chest. She should have moved it before they started eating. How could she forget?

His expression was tight as he stared at the bottle. The bottle wasn’t shaking as much as it had before, but it still shivered every once and a while under their gaze. So that’s what’s in Donnie? It sounded so sci-fi, but April was friends with mutant turtles and Sunita, so it was kind of ludicrous for her to think that this sort of thing was improbable. “Do you know what it wants?”

“No.” The answer came without hesitation. “I don’t have a single clue, as far as I know It’s just… coexisted until today.” April felt Leo tense next to her.

“And it's violent?”

There was a quiet pop in Leo’s fist as his hand tightened. “Oh yeah.”

“And It’s in Donnie?”

Leo leaned forward onto his fist, covering his mouth as he shakily whispered, “yup.”

Donnie was under the control of some freakish worm thing, and now Leo got hurt because of it. April picked up her phone from beneath her, opening the search engine and typing in “parasite”. She paraphrased as she skimmed the wiki article. “A parasite is supposed to- a successful parasite is supposed to maintain a balance with its host. So that it can survive and reproduce.” She read through the passage, ignoring the message notifications that sat at the top of her screen.

Leo scoffed, “Yeah, I figured.” He pet Mayhem gently to hide the shake that had returned to his hands.

“So Donnie has a parasite, not... is the parasite?” She cringed at her own grammar but continued. “So we just need to get it out of him.” She sat up straighter as she clicked on an article.

“Yeah.” Leo straightened as well, looking over her shoulder to look through her phone with her. “But how are we supposed to do that?”

“You said it came out of his mouth?”

Leo swallowed uncomfortably at the memory, “yes.”

“Ok, so it’s probably in his digestive tract,” she scrolled down to skim the article, not finding a lot that she could understand, “like, his stomach.”

He said with a sigh, “I know what the digestive tract is, April.” Leo pushed into April’s shoulder as he read with her, not understanding it very much himself, “if it's in his guts, how is it controlling his body?”

“It's obviously not a normal parasite, maybe it's some mystic parasite?” She offered, running a hand over her scalp. Mayhem’s ears perked.

“So… maybe if Donnie eats something it’ll come out?”

She scrolled down further to see if there was anything in the article about diet. “Has Donnie-” April caught herself, “Has It been eating anything weird, or avoiding anything in particular?”

Leo’s eyes darted as he tried to find anything significant in his memory, “It’s only put milk in his coffee, but I haven’t really watched him eat all that much.” Mayhem huffed in Leo’s lap, his ears twitching as he continued to listen.

“Okay…” what else could they do? It’s not like they could take him to a hospital, maybe a hospital in the Mystic city? But they couldn’t just drag Donatello there. “Nobody else has noticed anything? Not even Raph?”

“I didn’t get a chance.” Leo groaned, “I told Mikey, he was the one that saw Shelldon, but…”

“But what?”

“I just made myself look crazy!” Leo jerked forwards and threw his hands up in frustration, scaring Mayhem into a rigid sitting position. “He didn’t believe me at all, and then “Donnie” came in and swept him off his feet with soft-serve!” Leo made air quotations at Donnie’s name.

“Okay Leo, okay,” April placed a hand on his arm, Leo held Mayhem in a soft hug as he sank back into the couch, his gaze returning to the bottle on the table. “So definitely a no on anybody else noticing.”

A groan escaped him as Leo sank back into the sofa. As much as he'd been grumbling and groaning, he should be buried in the cushions by now. What was he going to do? His brothers and Dad were still at home with that thing, and he needed to figure out how to save his twin, plus it’s not like he could hide out at April’s for the rest of his life.

‘Enough moping, Leo,’ Raphael’s voice was still quiet, but Leo could hear it clearly as it poked into his thoughts. ‘You need to save your brothers.’ The image of his oldest brother was comforting. As Leonardo closed his eyes, he tried imagining him in his mind. With a bit of imaginative work he was able to visualize Raph sitting in their home, lifting weights as he spoke.

‘Really, I had planned to leave them to get eaten alive.’ He scoffed at his own sarcasm. After a moment's pause Leo asked, ‘I don’t know what to do.’

‘C’mon, this isn’t a test. The answer’s easy.’ Leo would’ve rolled his eyes if this conversation wasn’t taking place in his head. Mind Raph noticed it anyway, choosing an irritated tone to continue. ‘What do you do when someones sick?’

Leonardo mused, ‘put them in a giant hamster ball filled with pizza?’

Raphael stopped lifting as the thought struck him. ‘I could actually see that working, but no…’ Raphael let the inner gears of Leo’s head turn as the puzzle pieces fell into place ‘You give them medicine.’

“APRIL!”

“Ah!” The sudden noise caught her off guard enough to pull a yelp from her. Mayhem shot up, jumping to April’s lap. “What?!”

“You said the vet gave you something, right?” Leo turned to face her on the sofa, the sudden urgency causing an actual adrenaline rush inside of him.

“Uh yeah, the-” her eyes widened as it clicked. The snapped her fingers into a finger gun at Leo as the thought struck her. “The pills. The pills!” April repeated as she began to furiously rifle through her pockets. A blister pack fell out her pocket and onto the sofa cushion where she picked it up and flipped it over to reveal neat rows of pentagon shaped, white pills. She flipped it over again, to read the back where a paper note was firmly stapled. When her eyes met Leo she said, “this might work.”

A rush of catharsis flooded Leonardo. Speaking almost prompted tears from his eyes, his breath shaky with something other than the hopelessness he was feeling earlier, “if I can give Donnie this, he might- I might be able to get that thing out of him.”

Mayhem took the pills from April’s hand, reading over the instructions himself before handing them over to Leo.

The whole pack added up to about three thousand and six hundred milligrams of Praziquantel. Leonardo wasn’t a pharmacist but that seemed a bit overkill even with his current situation. He took a deep breath. He just needed to give him the pills, no big deal, maybe he could slip it in ‘Donnie’s’ food or maybe just get him alone and somehow trick him into taking them? It was pretty eager to drink after Leo yesterday, maybe he could dilute a few pills in a water bottle and fool him into drinking that.

“Leo…”

He looked back up to April.

“I’m suddenly hit with the implications of giving Don pills without his knowledge.”

Leonardo opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it. He took a deep breath before releasing it, forcing himself to relax. “I know, but…” She was right, this was sketchy, and in any other circumstance he’d take a step back and reconsider. Leo took the bottle from the table and held it between them. “This is real.”

Looking at it again made her insides squirm. Donatello was her best friend and if this was real… April tried to remember what the vet had said about the medicine but not much came to mind, what if it was too much, what if it hurt him in a different way. But if this was really happening… With a sigh she took the bottle from his hand, noticing how cold the bottle felt. “I trust you, just-”

A cheery electronic ring interrupted them, prompting April to pull her phone from her pocket. She flipped over her phone to reveal the hippopotamus turtle meme. Raphael.

The ringtone went off once before she slid the green button to activate the call, putting it on speakerphone. “Raph, hey what’s up?”

“April, something happened between Donnie and Leo at the lair.” Leo quietly grimaced. “Leo’s disappeared now and I think he might be hurt because I can’t get a hold of him and I have no idea where he might be.” They could both hear Raphael’s voice crack with that last line. Leo felt a stab to the heart before he was flooded with regret, of course Raphael would be worried. April looked at Leo, who nodded.

“Leo’s at my place, you wanna talk to him?”

“Wh- YES!”

Leo took the phone from April’s hand. “Hello?”

“Leo, where are you? Are you okay?!” The boom of the sudden audio jerked Leo's head away from the device. Raph panicked across the receiver.

“Yeah, Raph I'm fine, I just…” Leo hesitantly looked towards April. “I just got to April’s,” he lied.

“Leo you’ve been gone for hours, no phone call and you expect me to believe that you’re just fine?!” Leo could hear Raph pace from across the phone. “What happened? The lair was a mess when we got back.”

Ah. Right. The skate ramp must be in shambles after Donnie’s Tech bo threw...“Is ‘It’ there?”

“What?”

“Listen, Raph,” Leo stood and walked across the room to face the window, “you need to stay away from Donnie, it’s not Donnie it’s something else. There’s something inside of him controlling him, it attacked me when I figured it out.” The words fell from his mouth in a frantic hysteria the faster he spoke.

“Woah, woah, woah, slow down,” Raph’s tone softened. “I know that you might feel a little frazzled right now but you need to come home.”

Leo scoffed at that. “It’s not Donnie, Raph!” Leo shouted. There was a pause across the line, Leo could practically hear Raphael thinking. A thought struck Leo and his mouth went dry. “Is it… Is it there with you?”

Raph took another moment before he replied, “Donnie is-”

“You guys need to get out of there,” Leo cut him off, “if it’s in the lair you guys need to get out now!”

“No, no... No,” Raph continued to speak gently. His soft tone beginning to calm Leo from over the phone. “Donnie left, okay?” “Are you sure?”

“Yes Leo.” Leo tried listening from across the phone, trying to find any indication that his brother was lying. But he wasn’t. As he always was, Raphael was telling the truth. “You’re at April’s? I can come pick you up,” he offered.

“No, no it’s fine Raph,” he turned towards April, locking eyes with her as he spoke. “I’ll- I’ll come home.” He was doing this. He was really going to do this. Everything suddenly became overwhelming as he tried to think of what exactly he needed to do and say in order to make this work, how it needed to go so that nobody got hurt, including himself and Donatello. Leonardo released a shaky breath, “are you sure that… thing isn’t there?”

“Yeah, Leo, I’m sure.”

“I just-” he laughed as he rubbed a hand over his head. “I know that I sound crazy but…” there was a hesitation, “If I started from the beginning I’d just sound more crazy than I already feel.”

Raphael hummed, “It’s okay Leo, we can talk about it when you get home,” well that was a conversation that Leo was now dreading, “are you sure you don’t want me to pick you up?”

Leo closed his eyes. “Yeah,” he forced himself to tense before relaxing again. “I can- I can make it home just fine.” Before Raphael could say anything else he added, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I’ll see you soon.” A sigh of relief could be heard from over the phone. “I love you.”

A genuine smile appeared onto Leo’s face, “I love you too.” And then he hung up.

Alright, there’s no time to wait. He went to the bathroom where he reattached his Odachi to his shell, April followed him from behind, abandoning the bottle on the sofa. “Leo, are you sure about this?”

They exited the bathroom to go back to the living room, where Leo retrieved the pills from the couch, “sure about what?”

“How do you know that those will even work?” An irritated bark snaps them both back to Mayhem as he stares them both from the table, his tail tapping the hardened wood in irritation. April ignores Mayhem, looking back to Leo, “how do you know that the pills will work?”

“I-” He tried to find true conviction, “I don’t.” His hand gripped the door handle, hesitating to turn. “But it’s what we’ve got.”

The silence that ensued was almost painful as April tried to offer any other suggestions. She looked to Mayhem, who only looked with sympathy before nodding.

“I just…” she breathed in before releasing with a heavy sigh, “I just want you to be okay-”

The rapid knocks on the door made them both freeze. Leo held a hand out to April in a stopping motion. The rapping came again and he released the door handle, stepping away quietly.

The knocks came again, louder this time. “April.” Oh no. “It’s Donnie.”

April grabbed Leo by the wrist. He stumbled after her as she dragged him away from the door and around the corner. She opened the door to her room. With a loud whisper, “go out the window.”

“What?” He replicated her volume. The pounding came again. “April, I am not leaving you alone with that thing!”

“You need to go home.” She opened the window, poking her head out and scanning the alleyway for anything or anyone. “I can handle this.”

“I can’t leave you.”

“Don’t worry,” she smiled confidently as she gave him a tight hug. “I got this.” And then she shoved him out the window.

The door opened before his fist could hit again. Mid-air and ready to knock. Donatello’s hood was off, odd for someone who kept his hood on even during late night basketball. He was startled by the sudden opening of the door, and he stood frozen, a little confused as he stared at her.

April straightened, brushing a loose strand out of her eyes as she smiled, trying to fight the pants of air that was leaking out of her lungs. “Donnie! Hey!”

Donatello stared at her, presenting a look of confusion that April didn’t recognize. Her smile faltered as she waited for him to respond.

In the awkward silence her eyes went up to his fist. There was a bandage around his hand and her eyes narrowed. “What happened there-”

Recognition flashed over his eyes and he smiled. “April,” his curt response didn’t match his expression, “where’s Leo?”

“He, uh” her eyes almost looked over her shoulder but she fought it to keep her eyes on him, “haven’t seen him.”

A knowing smile crept on his face as he looked over her head into the apartment. “Uh huh.” He lowered his fist. Slowly placing it back into his hoodie pocket where his other hand lies.

“Well, I mean I saw him earlier when he came and picked me up, but after that… didn’t really-” a hand firmly pushed her to the side as Donnie entered her apartment. He didn’t look at April as he crossed the threshold, his eyes only flicking from side to side as he scanned the room. She scoffed in disbelief, stumbling back at the unexpected push. “Okay,” she laughed angrily, staring him down as he ignored her. “Why not just come in uninvited.”

Mayhem appeared on the sofa briefly before teleporting away again, taking something with him too fast for Donatello to see. His brows furrowed at the spot where Mayhem had been. “So you’re saying that he’s not here.”

The abrupt nature of his voice caught her off guard. “Yup,” she slammed the door shut before leaning on it and crossing her arms. “Leonardo is not here. Meaning that you can leave.”

“Uh-huh, just want to make sure.” Mayhem appeared back onto the coffee table, a low growl emitting from his chest as he watched the turtle take slow steps further into the apartment. “He hasn’t really been acting like himself lately.” Donnie smiled and approached Mayhem, reaching a gentle hand out as he whispered something that April couldn’t hear.

Mayhem snapped at him, causing Donatello to retract his hand sharply. Mayhem’s hackles raised as he bared his fangs, emitting a harsh growl prompting Donnie to take a step back. Donatello looked to her, sending a cold gaze that quickly died under her piercing stare. She looked from Mayhem to Donnie, “he’s not the only one.

Donatello sighed. “April, it’s very complicated.” He turned towards her, waving his hand dramatically. “It’s mutant stuff, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Excuse me?”

He ignores her as he opens the pizza box on the coffee table. “Creepy special?” She says nothing as she watches him. Mayhem stops growling long enough for him to hop off the sofa and race over to stand by April’s feet.

‘Donnie’ enters the kitchen and she follows. Post and pans cover a majority of the counter and a light layer of flour dusts it all. He considers it for a moment but huffs as he slowly leaves the kitchen.

April kept close behind him. “So what was that other thing?’”

“Pardon?” He doesn’t look at her as he speaks, only gazing around her apartment carefully as he goes down the hallway.

“Y’know, that thing that came up? The thing that kept you from picking me up? Like you promised?” She put an emphasis on the last part.

A quiet chuckle escaped him. “Mikey needed my help with something, y’know how he is.” He shrugs, only glancing into the bathroom as he went farther into her home.

“Oh,” she feigned belief,“and what was that thing?”

Donatello waved a dismissive hand over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

She spoke a little louder. “Well, the thing was so important that you couldn’t pick me up, so it must have been serious.”

He opened the door to her room, “I said don’t worry about it.”

“Why are you acting like this?” She wanted to yank him back by the ponytail. He wouldn’t look at her and now he was in her space. “I was out in the rain for close to half an hour, you said you were going to pick me up, and you didn’t, I’m going to worry about-”

“April,” he half-chuckled-half-shouted as he got near the open window. “Stop talking.”

She heard Mayhem gasp at her feet. Leo was right. This was not Donnie. Any doubts that April had promptly said their goodbyes and threw themselves out the window along with Leo. This was not Donnie and now April knew it for sure.

“Get out of my apartment.”

A response didn’t come from him as he stood stationary. After a moment he slowly moved his hand to shut the window. It fell closed with a click.

“You’ve got until the count of three to get out of my apartment before I-”

The bones in his neck cracked as his head turned with a jeering smirk. “Before what, Ms. O’neil,” his body turned to face her, his head not moving and his eyes not blinking as he did so, “what will you do if I don’t leave your apartment?” Aprils skin prickled as the hair on her arms raised. She opened her mouth only for ‘It’ to sharply bend forward to come closer to April’s face. “You’re just a human, and humans are easy inside and out.” She took a step back as it took a step forward. Mayhem’s growls raised in volume as he placed himself between them. “Self absorbed. Unreliable. Cowardly. And weak.” Her back touched the wall and it placed a hand above her head. “So what could you, April O’Neil, possibly do.”

April threw the first punch. A half-fist, to be more precise, right into his throat. It reeled back in shock and she followed up with a left hook before grabbing It by the color of it’s hoodie and dragging it’s stomach into her knee. She flipped onto Its back, immediately applying a rear-naked choke. She’d have to thank Splinter again sometime for teaching her this stuff, after the whole “parasite” situation, that is..

“Y’know, when I first saw you, I almost didn’t believe him.” It leaned forward, picking her up off the ground as it tried to shake her. April wrapped her legs around Its waist. “That smile was perfect. The way that you stood, the way that you composed.” She heard it cough as she increased the pressure “And then you opened your mouth.”

Both her arms were gripped as she was slammed into the dresser. She yelped but kept her grip. It repeated it as it stumbled around the room until her head came in contact with the doorframe. Her grip loosened enough for It to pull her over Its shoulder, slamming her into the ground enough to rock her consciousness.

Mayhem screeched as he lunged forward. ‘It’ pulled something out of Its pocket, and a loud pop cut Mayhem’s cry short. April lifted a leg, sending it square into Its jaw. It reeled back again as April rolled over onto her feet near the bed, swiping her bat from under the bed frame.

“Get out of my apartment!” She swung downwards but it stepped to the side as it gripped her shoulder, harshly pushing her back. It raised its arm and a loud pop sounded again. She felt something hit her chest and a web of sick green folded over her vision. She lost her balance and fell backwards onto a rounded surface. She was inside of a transparent ball.

It straightened and spat something black onto the carpet before rubbing a fist over its mouth. A dry chuckle came with a grimace, “well… I did ask what you would do.” She tried to stand only to slip on the slick surface. The ball was a green akin to the color of a swamp, with purple veins gripping the inside and outside of the ball. She looked to her right, where Mayhem was trapped in a similar ball. He vanished in a flurry of blue, only for him to appear inside of it again.

She banged on the transparent wall, “what is this? Let me out!”

“Oh,” it brushed its sleeve and cracked its neck, “you can hear me, but I can’t hear you.” A dark smile, too big for Donatello’s face stretched across ‘It’. It waved a small metal oval, akin to a dog clicker. “Should’ve minded your business O’neil.” It took a step towards her only to step on April’s cellphone, which had fallen in the skirmish. It looked down, then back up to her before smirking and reaching down to pick up the device.

It tapped the screen before It began to pace theatrically, announcing every word it typed. ““Hey… Mom.” It glared at April mockingly, ““just letting you know that I’ll be at Sunita’s tonight.””

“No!” April’s bat was with her. There wasn’t enough room to stand, even if she could, but she got up to her knees, bat in hand, and slammed the pommel into her prison wall.

““Love you, ttyl.”” It threw the phone over its shoulder, leering as it took a step towards April. “You humans say that kind of garbage nowadays, right?”

She hit harder, the shock from the bat starting to crawl into her shoulders with the amount of force she was sending into her prison.

“Y’know, I wanted to do this differently. Take my time, enjoy myself, have a little fun, but no~ The blue one just had to screw it all up!” ‘It’ twisted back before planting a punch to the surface of her cage. The force of his punch sent her prison into the wall, where she lost balance and slammed into the side full force. Her head reeled from the impact and she fell to her stomach before she could brace herself. “And now,” the thing gripped one of the many plant-like veins that clutched the sphere and jerked it down, sending her tumbling onto her side. She heard It laugh viciously. She looked up as the lights were switched off, still reeling from the impact. Grey lighting from the rainfall flooded her room and the monster that wasn’t Donnie was transformed into a dark silhouette. It locked her door from the inside as it walked out. Just as the door shut, it finished: “it seems that I’ll just have to speed things up.”

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #writing #fanfiction #It started with the milk #chapter 7 #fanfic #leo #leonardo #april #april o'neil #mayhem #agent 64 #tmnt #my writing

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msmarvelwrites · 4 years

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The Winter Ghost - Part 2

Info : A devestating carcrash causes you to lose your memory and start over. The only thing left in the wreckage was the horrific nightmares which plagued your mind. If you knew what today would entail you would have just stayed in bed. But you didn't and because of that,everything you knew was about to change.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes - y/n

Warning: PTSD, memory loss, swearing, anxiety.

W/c: 2k

A/n: thank you to @cutie1365 for proofing and editing this chapter for me. If you haven’t read her work yet hope on over. Trust me, you’ll be addicted like I am 😂

You shut the overhead lights off to the empty coffee shop and grabbed your keys. Swinging your backpack onto one shoulder you crossed the room. You reached for the door but a sudden shuffling caught your attention. You looked back at the dark shop one last time and felt your stomach sink. Two dark figures sat at one of the tables in the far corner. You dropped your keys and a scream fell out of your mouth.

"What the actual- oh my fuck!" You blurted, grabbing your chest and trying to calm yourself. They didn't seem nearly as startled as you were, sat in the dark unmoving, like statues.

Taking a deep breath you tried to steady your voice "I'm sorry, I didn't see you guys there... Uh- we closed about 15 minutes ago, so..." You spoke as calmly as you could. When they didn't respond, or even move, you continued "I gotta' ask you guys to leave now." Still, nothing. Finally the smaller figure stood, causing you to take a clumsy step back, tripping a little over your feet as you did so. As she stood the moonlight illuminated their face. It was the same redheaded woman from before.

"Why don't you come take a seat, y/n." The woman spoke. Her voice surprised you. She was small in stature but her words came out sleek and bold. She tapped the seat beside her and the other mystery figure. You looked at the empty seat and back up at the woman.

"Who the hell- um, no? No, i- if you don't leave right now I'm calling the police." You tried to sound as confident as the woman but your voice cracked. You reached into your pocket for your phone only to find it wasn't there. You looked back up at the possible serial killers now hopeless. You could always scream, You thought. But then again this was Brooklyn, and it was late. Your screams would only blend into the city's usual rattle.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, kid." The larger figure finally spoke. You looked over to where the voice came from. There, in the figures hand, was your phone. It flashed awake and for the first time you saw the man's face. His lips were pulled tight across his mouth but his eyes gleamed with interest. You couldn't help but notice his sharp bone structure. Chiseled was the word. His soft blonde hair was perfectly placed and cropped on the sides. You thought he looked too handsome to be a serial killer. But then again that's what they said about Bundy.

"How the hell-" you started, but cut yourself off when you realised that wasn't the question you really needed answered right now. "Who are you people. What do you want?" You spoke, a little more clearly this time.

"That's on a need to know basis. And you don't need to know, y/n" The handsome killer spoke. "As for what we want, why don't you come take a seat. We just want to talk." He continued.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" You were surprised by how clear your voice sounded. Their only response was the small redhead tapping the same seat as before. Hesitantly you crossed the room and pulled the seat out. It screeched on the old wooden floors. You sat and placed your hands in your lap, wishing you had taken Emily's advice and invested in self defense classes when you first moved to New York.

"Alright," the woman started, looking at the man beside her. "This is progress." She spoke, sarcasm oozing from her pink lips. "I'm Agent Romanoff, and this is my friend Captain Rogers. We-" The Captain cut her off harshly before she could finish.

"Agent Romanoff, the kid does not need to know that." His voice was authoritative. Okay, serial killers don't call themselves captains and agents, you thought. But you still weren't sold that these two wouldn't hack you up and shove you in the walk in freezer.

"We're not here to hurt you, y/n" Agent Romanoff suddenly said. Completely ignoring Captain Rogers glare. You shot your head towards her. That's weird. It's like she read your mind.

"The opposite, actually. We need your help. The organization we work for has been compromised and we believe you have important information that may be of use to us." She smiled warmly at you. She was much nicer than Captain Grumpy.

"Romanoff..." He warned. Both you and the Agent ignored him. "My name isn't Y/n. It's Jane. I'm sorry, really I am, but I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I just work here. I don't know anything." You felt like you were pleading, which made you feel small and weak in their dominant presence.

"Jeesh, they really did a number on you huh?" The captain spoke, only this time he sounded almost concerned.

"I have no idea what you're talking about but you guys should really leave. I need to-" he cut you off yet again.

"Tommy Benson." That stopped you right in your tracks.

"Tommy Benson." You repeated the name like it was a foreign language. "He's- was your fiance. Before..." He cleaned his throat, obviously uncomfortable.

"For fucks sake." Romanoff huffed, glaring at the Captain. "You're name is y/n. Y/n L/n. When you were 19 your family died in a horrible a house fire. You were the only survivor." You nodded. You knew this. You relived this every time you closed your eyes. You remember waking up in that cold hospital room, cords and tubes attached to every part of you. The monotone beeping of the machine as the only reminder that you were still alive.

"Okay, you remember. Good. That's good. Okay, so shortly after you graduated from MIT. And early too, really impressive may I add. I've never heard of anyone as young as you with a electrical engineering degree." You looked at her, stunned. "I- I just work here." Your voice was hushed, and broken.

"I know, hon." She began again "When you graduated you were picked up by an organization. They called themselves S.H.E.I.L.D. but they lied. They told you that you were developing a weapon that would keep the world safe. But after a while it became clear they had a different motive." You wanted to argue again. Maybe you didn't because, more than anything, you wish you were more than just a broken girl with a wicked case of ptsd.

"Tommy Benson." You spoke his name again. Romanoff nodded reassuringly while Rogers just rolled his eyes and huffed. You paid no mind.

"You met Tommy when you were 22. You had been working for what you thought was S.H.E.I.L.D long enough to figure out they were really Hydra. I think Tommy helped you realise you couldn't stand by and watch them use your invention for bad. So, you backed up your blueprints on a drive, destroyed everything else and left. You two moved to New York, changed your names, and started a new life." She paused, just long enough for you to ask. "Where is he?" She looked at Rogers, but when his expression remaind the same, she turned back to you. Her eyes were softer now.

"Y/n... Shortly after you moved here, hydra found you. They threatened that if you didn't give them your blueprint they'd-" you cut her off this time. "They killed him?" You spoke calmly. It came out as a question, even though you already knew the answer. You began to feel nauseous again but quickly dismissed it. You had no right to grieve a man you never knew.

"Y/n, I'm so sorry." You couldn't look at either of them. You couldn't remember this girl they spoke of. You couldn't remember anything. Everytime you tried your mind went blank and stung with another headache threatening to consume you.

"How?" Your voice was emotionless. You could tell that both of their eyes were on you now. You didn't care. You just stared at the table, calming your breathing. You could feel another panic attack bubbling up from deep in your chest. I am calm. I am okay. Just breathe. You repeated over and over in your head.

"You were supposed to meet on the Brooklyn Bridge. There was nothing you could have done y/n." She reassured you but all you could do was grit your teeth. Trying, desperately to remember a moment in time that never happened. Taking another deep breath you repeated, "how?"

Romanoff blinked at you, and then to Rogers. She opened her mouth and then closed it. Then he spoke. "One of hydras assassins was waiting for you both there. You tried to stop him, but it was too late. He was shot y/n. He's dead." You're breath hitch as you clutched the table so hard your knuckles began to lose colour. The image of the man on the bridge flashed through your mind. You closed your eyes and tried to breathe but your lungs felt like they were filled with smoke.

"No! Please, stop! Please don't." Your mind was screaming, but it really came out as a raspy whisper as you gasped for air. "y/n!?" Romanoffs voice rang through your mind but you couldn't focus on her words. All you could see was the man from your nightmares. "STOP! Please don't do this. Don't hurt him! Please, PLEASE! NO!" you screamed so hard your mouth began to taste metallic.

"requesting backup. I need a sedative. NOW!" a woman's voice boomed through the shop. You couldn't tell who it was. Or if it was real or not. You heard the door burst open and footsteps thundered closer to you. You opened your eyes and came face to face with the man that haunted you every night . Standing on the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge he pointed his gun at you and fired 3 times. The bullets rocketed through the air in slow motion ripping through your chest. You stumbled back tripping over your feet and like a puzzle piece missing from your memory, you fell. You watched as the monster on the bridge turned and walked out of eyeline.

Your body hit the ground hard enough to shock you back to the coffee shop floor. You began to flail and kick, but it was no use. 3 large men in black tactical gear held you down as you screamed. "Please! Stop! D-don't do this. Please!" A man with a large needle approached you and there was a sharp sting to your neck. "Please, don't do this." You cried, choking on sobs. You blinked hard as your vision became blurry. "I am calm... I am okay... Just breathe" You whispered over gasps for air.

And then everything went dark.

................

A/n: Thanks you for reading!! I’m having so much fun writing this 💕 as always, any and all feedback is welcomed!

@projectcampbell

#marvel fanfic idea #marvel fanfiction #marvel #bucky barns x reader #bucky barns imagine #bucky x y/n #bucky fic

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