Joana

13 years went by in the blink of an eye.
More or less.
She saw the time pass first in the Commander. His hair started to grey. Wrinkles appeared on his forehead and his cheeks. His usually brilliant green eyes went dull. He was slower, fatter. He knew he wasn't as young and agile as he once was. He once called in all soldiers and every single personel in the base to introduce them to a boy he was training.
"He'll be the head of HYDRA," the Commander said, patting the grinning boy on the back. "And the head of SHIELD at the same time. I have the most pleasure in introducing you all to Alexander Pierce."
The man looked cold, but he was hardly over 19-years old. He had ice blue eyes and long blonde hair. Joana didn't like him, but she knew the Commander's introduction of this man to be the sign of him getting old.
She despised Pierce. He was around for only a week, but he followed her like a dog. He would stand too close to her when she was training. He would breathe down her neck when she was studying. He was always around. She couldn't complain about it because if she did, that would mean a nasty talking to from the Commander, which was not something she wanted.
So she let him stand too close, she let him talk in the vulgar way he did, she let him do whatever he wanted, because he would be gone in a few days.
While he was there, she got to see Bucky. The Commander let Pierce accompany her so that he could meet Bucky, but Bucky was not happy when he saw how close Pierce was to Joana when he spoke to her.
Joana made sure nothing terrible happened until Pierce left, but when she saw Bucky two weeks after Pierce had gone, he would not stop fuming about how Pierce eyed her or how he wouldn't stop trying to interrupt them. Joana thought it was funny.
The doctor who used to run the tests on Joana (before she unceremoniously bit most of his nose off), died from a heart attack before Alexander Pierce came around. Joana since then had a new doctor, and she could already see him aging as well.
Aleksi saw her privately less and less. He too was getting slower. He bothered her less. He almost seemed kind sometimes. But he still made her life hell, her's and Danika's.
It was Danika's aging that hurt Joana the most. The undersides of her eyes were getting baggy. She couldn't fight off all of Joana's attacks when they sparred. She couldn't always remember how to respond when Joana talked to her in different languages. It took her longer to get places.
"How long has it been, Danika? How long have I been here?" Joana asked one day. Danika sighed and dropped her hands. She groaned, rolling the shoulder that Joana had just hit.
"A very long time."
"How long?"
Danika sat down on the mat and scooped up the bottle of whiskey Joana had snuck in. She took a long swig.
"Years and years, Joana." Danika looked over at Joana. "How old was I when you came?"
"You said that you were 27."
"How old do I look now?" Joana tilted her head.
"Late thirties, early forties."
Danika smiled.
"I am 43, Joana."
Joana swallowed.
"I've been here for 16 years. And Bucky's been here for longer."
Danika nodded slowly, taking another long gulp of whiskey.
"And you've managed to stay strong through that time," Danika said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "That is true bravery, Joana."
They say and talked about life and love and death for the rest of their time. They drank and were merry.
Joana didn't sleep that night.
It had been 16 years since she joined this terrible place. 16 years since she had been taken from her family. Winnie was 42.
Joana was surprised how little she thought of her family these days. It was too hard, she guessed. But now that Winnie's name popped into her head, she could not shake it away. Winnie was a grown woman. Maybe she went back to college. Maybe she got married. Had kids. Maybe she was now one of the most influential people in America. Think of it, a poor black girl, changing the world. Who would have thought of it?
And Grams. Well, Grams was already old, so there was a small chance she was alive. The thought of her grandmother's endless generosity and her unsurpassable boldness being gone from the Earth made Joana's throat swell. The world was already dark, and without Grams, it would be so much darker.
And what became of Robert? Was he able to stay with Grans? What happened after she died? Was he turned out onto the streets? Or was he allowed to stay? There was too many questions, questions that Joana wanted answered.
For the first time in 16 years, Joana knelt on the floor, her hands folded against the bed. She lifted her eyes to the sky and she prayed.
Tears leaked from her eyes as she asked God for forgiveness. She asked for the salvation of Danika and those she was surrounded by. She asked for her sister's safety, and her Grams' rest. She asked to keep Robert safe. She asked if Steve was happy. She asked for strength for Bucky. She thanked God for the life she was given, and thanked him for helping her stay strong.
When she had finished, she crawled into bed and shut her eyes.
It wasn't until she woke the next morning that she realized she had fallen asleep. She dreamt of her sister and what her life would have been like if she hadn't been taken by Hydra, if Bucky and Steve had come home.
She sat up, trying to keep the tears from her eyes. She shook her head, as if that should shake the dream from her memory. And she began her day.
Life went on. It continued as if nothing changed. But everything changed. Danika continued to slow. Aleksi continued to be absent. The Commander made plans for Hydra after he was gone.
1 more year passed when the Commander dropped to his knees suddenly. Danika and Joana were by his side in seconds, as he clutched his chest.
"Tobias, what's wrong?" Danika asked. The Commander seemed as if he was trying to speak, but he couldn't.
"Heart attack," Joana said, her voice flat and unfeeling. She looked up at Danika. Her blue eyes were looking over the Commander's sweating face with frantic movements. Her nails dug into his back, like she was the only thing keeping him upwards.
The doctors ran into the room.
"We need to see him," one said calmly. Joana stood.
"Danika," she whispered, but Danika didn't respond. "Danika!"
The blonde haired woman looked up at Joana, her eyes glittering with tears. She slowly stood and let the doctors heave the Commander on to a stretcher. After they had run out, Danika and Joana followed behind.
"After everything he's done, and you still care for him." Joana's voice was laced with anger, as if she didn't understand. If anyone would understand, it would be her.
Danika shook her head.
"No I don't! Yes, I do. It's not...I can't...it's not that simple, Joana," Danika replied, her voice strained. Joana let her anger soak away and looked at the older woman.
"I'm sick, Joana." The tears were still in her eyes, but Joana didn't think those tears were for the Commander anymore. "We both are. We hate them with every inch of our being for what they did, but who would we be without them? After everything he's done to me, I can't help but think of everything he's done for me. He's taught me so much. How could I not be grateful? How can I be grateful? How can I love someone who is nothing but evil? We're sick, Joana. We are deadly ill and the Devil has come to collect his prize."

The Commander didn't leave the medical bay for days. After the third day, Joana and Danika knew that the next time he left, it would be as a cadaver.
That day, Joana walked into her training room with a smile on her face. She shut the door and blocked Danika's "surprise" strike.
"There's no time for that, Danika," she said. Danika scowled.
"What do you mean?" she tried to hit Joana in the ribs, but the punch was blocked by Joana's palm.
"You said there were no security cameras in here, right? They can't hear or see us?"
Danika raised her eyebrow.
"Yes, but-"
"Good, because we need to talk."
"I'm getting nervous."
"No need."
"What are we talking about?"
Joana pulled Danika to the floor alongside her. There was a grin on her face. Danika wasn't sure if it was a happy grin or a sadistic one. She wasn't sure how she felt about either of them.
"What's going on, Joana? Just tell me."
Joana grabbed her hands.
"We're getting out of here, Danika. We're finally escaping."
Danika didn't know how to respond. Her jaw fell open and all words left her mind. She felt numb, as if the comment had passed through her.
"What...what do you mean?"
"The Commander is literally on his death bed. He won't be around much longer. Neither of us can think of anyone who would succeed him. At his funeral, we can cause enough mayhem somewhere so we can sneak out of the service and find Bucky. If he's already at the funeral, that gives us less to do. Either way, we get to the exit and we run. We run out of this place. You, me and Bucky. Between the three of us we might have enough skill to get out of here. Think about it, Danika, we can leave."
Danika's brain was't processing this. The idea of escaoing had never crossed her mind before.
"But you always said you had to get Bucky out. I didn't know you were planning on taking me with you."
Joana's smile fell. She Reached out and put her hands on Danika's shoulders.
"I would never ever think about leaving this place without you. I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you. What kind of friend would I be if I just abandoned you after everything you've done for me?" A smile cracked across Danika's wrinkled lips. The bags under her eyes quivered. She pulled Joana in and hugged her. Her tears filled with water.
"Thank you," she whispered into Joana's thin tank top. She pulled away and Joana wiped her tears. "Now, how do we get out of here?"

The Commander died the next morning. Danika cried when they got the news. So did Joana, but not because she was sad. This was it, her chance to escape. She would take Bucky as far from this place as she could.
"What do you think is outside of here?" Joana asked. Danika shrugged. She was born in this base, she was raised in this base, and she was sure as hell not going to die in it. She'd never seen the sun or felt the grass beneath her feet. She had never seen the sky or felt the wind on her face. She lived those moments through Joana, but soon, soon she would know them for herself.
Joana, after 17 years, was finally given a new set of clothes. She was given a black dress that matched Danika's. She rubbed her blanket under her eyes to make them look irritated and red and dabbed water under them to make it look as if she had been crying.
She and Danika walked to the funeral, heads bowed in respect. Just as planned, the met Aleksi on their way there. Joana burst into fake tears and ran to him. Him, being the loving and kind person he is (dearest reader, please take note of the bitter sarcasm used by myself when writing this), took her into his arms. She pretended to wail and sob into his 45 year old arms, feeling the unavoidable urge to vomit and punch him simultaneously. She put her arms around him as Danika stood beside her. Danika put her hand on her shoulder. Joana slipped her hand into his back pocket, sobbing loudly and clutching at his black silk shirt with her other hand. She pulled out his security clearance card from the pocket and slipped it into Danika's hand.
"Shh, shh," Aleksi whispered. "Come, let's get you to the funeral."

Joana stood by Aleksi 's side not 30 minutes later, eyes scanning the room for any sign of Bucky, but it was obvious he wasn't there. Danika stepped next to Joana without making a sound.
"We're all set. Is Bucky here?" Danika whispered to her. Joana shook her head.
"Plan B then."
Joana and Danika stood quietly and listened to the man beside the Commander's body talk. He seemed to drone on forever, but they only had to wait thirty more minutes. Thirty minutes seemed to last a life time.
Danika's mother went up next. She had just finished talking about her husband's funeral when a bomb exploded somewhere in the base and shook the ground. Aleksi grabbed Joana's arm.
"What was that?" She asked, trying to fake a scared tone. She had remembered recently that she had always been able to get Steve and Bucky out of the worst situations by playing the dumb, scared little girl everyone thought she was. Turns out, her talents were needed yet again.
Aleksi looked around as soldiers filed out of the room towards the bomb.
"We need to find Barnes, make sure he's stable. You can control him?" He asked Joana. Joana seethed inwardly at the way he spoke but nodded.
"Good. Danika, you wait here."
That wasn't part of the plan.

_________________

Here we go again.

So my friend Sarah just had her appendix removed and she's in the hospital if yall wouldn't mind praying for her. (Shell probably be out by the time the bulk of you read this but it makes me feel better to know that there are people out there who care). Anyway, she's doing very well.

Thank you all very much for your time. I appreciate you all reading this and maybe liking it! Your comments and votes mean a lot even if there aren't any at the moment that's okay because I haven't even published this chapter yet. Anyway, you mean the world to me.

If you ever need to talk to me about anything because you'd rather talk to a stranger about your problems than a friend, I am always open. Never be afraid to ask me questions or for adivce, even if my adivce is pretty crappy. I just would love to give back to you, who have done so much for me.

Love to all
Peace to each
And may everyone find a good boy or girl who will watch a LotR marathon with you

authorsbane