Expecting the Unexpected

Chapter 19

"I'm on my way home." Thirteen year old Emily Stark told her parents over the phone as she made her way home one winter afternoon. She was bundled up in her coat and scarf to keep warm (Steve always got worried about them freezing when it came to the winter).

"Okay be careful." Steve's warm voice came through on the other end.

"I will." With a roll of her eyes, the brunette ended the call.

She had finally convinced her parents to let her walk home that day which took serious persuading given that she had broken her arm a week prior while ice skating with Ethan and Jason. Emily had assured them that nothing bad was going to happen if she walked home, even bringing up the point that they didn't live too far away.

But what she didn't know, was it was going to be the worse decision of her life.

She was walking home listening to music on her phone, not paying attention to her surroundings, which, in the winter was bad enough. But she knew her way around so to her there was no reason as to why she had to play close attention. Since she wasn't paying attention to those around her, she didn't see the two HYDRA agents come up behind her and knock her out.

When she woke up, she looked around the room to figure out where she was. She was strapped down to a table in some sort of lab as if she were an experiment. Emily tried to get out of the bounds but they were too strong for the super soldier. Not to mention that her arm still hurt from being not only broken but now restricted.

"Where am I?" She whispered.

"Ah, finally." A strangely familiar voice sounded. Emily looked around for the source of the voice but couldn't find it. "Miss Stark, glad you could join us."

"Who-" Emily shook her head. Who wasn't as important as where. "Where are you?" She asked. No answer. "What do you want from me?" The male voice chuckled.

"Your precious little brain." He responded. Emily was scared but masked it by confusion. She was a Stark goddamnit! And a super soldier, she didn't get scared. "You remember what we did to your poor Uncle Bucky, right?" Emily could practically hear the smirk in his voice. If only she knew where he was and wasn't strapped to a table.

What they did to Uncle Bucky? What is he talking about? Nothing has happened to Uncle Bucky other than. . . Emily's eyes widened.

"HYDRA." She spat as if the very word was poison. "You work for HYDRA."

"Very good. Yes, dear, I do work for HYDRA." He agreed as he walked into the light. Emily was surprised by who it was.

"I thought you were dead." She admitted. "I though you had died when you tried to use the tesseract." She let out a deep and slightly mischievous laugh. "Other men like you have tried to use that cube and have failed!" She mocked. "Now what do you wish to accomplish?"

"There are no men like me." Emily scoffed.

"They're are always men like you." She argued. "Now, do you want?"

"The same thing we all wanted with your uncle." He responded. "You are to be the next Winter Soldier." Emily rolled her eyes.

"You'll never succeed!" She protested. Red Skull laughed.

"I'd reconsider your words if I were you." He told her before turning lights out as he exited. There was a loud snapping sound before Emily was unconscious from pain.

3 hours later, when Emily finally woke up again, she had no feeling in her right arm; the arm that she had broke while ice skating. Frantically, Emily moved to sit up, forgetting that she was restricted. Instead, the thirteen year old had to be satisfied with just looking in the direction of her right arm. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the shiny reflection of herself in her metal arm.

"I see you have figured out what we have done to you while you were asleep." Red Skull's voice sounded throughout the room.

"Yeah. . ." She said, trying to tear her gaze away from the arm. "How could I not?" Red Skull smirked as he watched her. "Can I test it out?" She asked, trying to hide the smirk of her own. Red Skull sent in a guard to unstrap her from the table.

Emily jumped down from the table, flexing and unflexing her arm. Her smirk grew as she turned to the bodyguard still in the room. Before he could react, Emily socked him in the jaw with her metal arm then brought his head down onto her knee. Red Skull watched as she took down the guard with record timing.

"Enough." She stated. "I want you." Red Skull was pleased that she was trying to take him on so quickly. The less they had to do to perfect her, the better soldier she would become.

He made his way down to the room but left the door unlocked. Emily took note of that, already planning her escape. There was a door outside the room that led to the outside work and a fire alarm close by, she'd set that off before running out the door after she took down the man in front of her.

The two squared up before Red Skull made the first move. Emily dodged it. He attacked again. This time Emily caught it, twisting it then pushing it into his chest in order to break it. Red Skull chuckled. Emily did a back handspring, kicking Red Skull in the face.

Unbalanced, Red Skull took a few steps back. Emily rushed forward, making it seem like she was going to charge him head on, but as she got closer she dropped to the ground and slid, knocking his feet out from underneath him. Red Skull fell down. Emily did a front handspring over to the door.

"Thank for the arm, RS, but I'm afraid I should be somewhere else." She informed him before setting off the fire alarm and running out the door. Red Skull quickly stood up but was too slow, Emily had already left.

Leaving the horrible place behind, she ran until she her legs couldn't carry her any farther in the snow. As her knees buckled, she fell down into the snow. HYDRA had taken her coat and scarf away when the kidnapped her and she really didn't feel like running back to get her backpack. She was cold, scared, and defenseless if anyone were to find her.

"Alright, alright. You'll get through this." She mumbled to herself. "What do I still have on me?" Emily wondered as she patted the pockets in her pants. Smart girl and shoved her phone into her pocket when she ended the call. "Great I still have my phone." She whispered, her breath clearly visible. "JARVIS, you still with me?" She asked into phone.

"Always, Miss Stark." The A.I's voice greeted her. Emily smiled faintly.

"G-great. Wh-what can you d-do to get me h-home?" She was freezing and that was clearly visible in the way she spoke.

"I have already sent one of your father's suits your way." Emily smiled, mentally thanking her father for being so protective over her before she was born.

"Thank you, JARVIS. You truly are a lifesaver."

She didn't have to wait long in the cold for the suit to arrive and when it did, Emily quickly (and clumsily) rushed over to it and got inside. The warm interior in the suit was a heaven to freezing teenager.

~~~

Emily didn't see the reason to knock when she got home given that it was her house and she didn't need to knock in order to enter. The living room was like a ghost town which the brunette found odd, almost always there was someone there. She felt a lot better when she heard voices come from the kitchen. Making her way over there once she got out of the suit, the voices got louder and more distinguishable.

"Steve, don't you think you're overreacting a bit? I mean, the police can only do so much." Natasha's voice, Emily had spent so much time throughout the years with the redhead that it easy to recognize her voice.

"Natasha, this is my daughter we're talking about. There is no such thing as overreacting." That was unmistakably her mother's voice that had disagreed with Natasha's claim. Emily close enough to see shadows of the people in the room.

"Well. . ." Her father started but never finished. Emily assumed her mom had shot him down with a look. "Steve, she's thirteen years old. You have to start trusting that she'll make her way home safely. If we never give her the freedom, she'll never be able to protect herself." Emily laughed softly, oh she had protected herself alright.

"I know you're probably worried, and I would be too if I were in this situation, but you have to give her and the police time." Bucky. "She'll be alright." She could hear Steve sigh as she inches closer.

"I just- I just want to make sure she's safe." He admitted.

"Knowing who her parents are, I'm sure she is." Clint commented. Emily sneaked into the room.

"Cold and probably frost bitten, but she's alright." She stated, gaining everyone's attention. Steve and Tony gasped. "Hi." She said softly before her parents rushed over and engulfed her in a hug.

"You're okay!" Steve exclaimed. Emily nodded as she pulled away. "Are you hurt? Injured? What about your arm?"

"No, no, and, well, look for yourself." Emily held out her right arm. Tony grabbed it and started looking it over. "They, um." She shook her head. "I guess they didn't like the idea of me having a broken arm so they fixed it themselves."

"Who's 'they', Emily?" Natasha asked. Bucky's jaw clenched, he knew exactly who did that to his niece.

"HYDRA." They said at the same time. Everyone looked to Bucky.

"They wanted to make me the next Winter Soldier. Guess they thought it would hurt you worse than finding out Bucky was." Emily explained, staring straight at Bucky. "How'd you know it was them?" He shook his head.

"James?" Natasha asked. Bucky made his way over to the thirteen year old and brought her in for a hug.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered into her hair, trying his hardest not to cry. "I'm so sorry." He repeated.

"For what?" Emily asked, trying to get out of his grasp but he just held on tighter.

"For putting your life at risk. HYDRA wanted you because they knew it would hurt Steve and bring me out of hiding." Bucky explained, tears falling down. "Emily, if I had just stayed out of your life none of this would've happened. But I can make it right. I'll- I'll stay out of your life, I'll run away again. Anything to get you untangled from my mess." Emily shook her head, finally getting out of his grasp.

"No." She stated. "No!" She yelled, tears streaking her cheeks. "You're stating here!" She argued. "This isn't your fault!" Bucky choked down a sob. Emily grabbed his hands. "This is your home, like it or not, and this is your family. We love you, Bucky. Please, don't leave just because HYDRA, an organization that has been after my parents ever since they became superheroes, got the best of me once. And hey, I made it out didn't I?" Bucky nodded. "Which never would've happened if you were never in my life." Emily brought him in for a hug. "Please stay, Uncle Bucky. Not just for me but Aunt Tasha and mom too. They need you." Natasha and Steve shared a half-smile while Tony was beaming; they'd raised an amazingly compassionate young girl and he couldn't be prouder.

"Alright, alright. I'll stay."