Chapter 7 :

A gentle beeping was what began drawing Luna back to reality a few hours later as she burrowed further into her suspiciously warm pillow. It was the chuckle which emanated from said pillow a few seconds later which properly woke Luna up. Looking up through hooded eyes was all Luna needed in the form of confirmation that Bucky was indeed back and she was free.

"And I thought it was old men who were meant to take longs naps" joked the voice, husky with sleep above Luna's head.

"Well," she replied, "from the sounds of it your theory would be right grandpa". The gentle laughter that followed pulled on Luna's ribs, and now that she was awake again, and not convinced she had been experimented on again by Hydra, she decided it was time to take stock of her injuries, now in various stages of healing. She pushed herself up on her arms, lifting herself in an attempt to make it so she was sitting upright, but halfway through her rise, laughing as she went, Luna was a bit thrown off to notice a numbed, but still noticeable pain in her ribs and the drop in her laughter had Bucky sitting up in a much more aware manner. He helped Luna sit up as he remembered just why he was in the med-bay with Luna. After a quick grateful nod in Bucky's direction Luna tried to figure out where her aching body was hurting most. Her wrists and ankles noticeably stung when she moved them, the skin around them still a little raw from the restraints, but she knew that given perhaps another hour they would be fine. Her ankle was all strapped up, but with no cast on Luna assumed it wasn't broken or fractured. Her left thigh had a clean white bandage and Luna accredited it to the cut she knew she had received when she was forced into the chair. Her head was humming unpleasantly, and the room had swayed slightly when she had attempted to sit up earlier, so Luna assumed she had a concussion. Oddly, however, when she turned her head to look back to Bucky she felt a bandage running down the left side of her neck, and Luna's hand immediately sprang to it, pulling off the bandage to feel down the side of her neck, simultaneously her eyes darted to look at Bucky, lips wavering slightly, unable to ask the question. But Bucky knew what Luna wanted to know and so he gently pulled Luna's hand away from her neck with a reassuring smile forming on his lips as he said in a soft voice, "It's okay, we got it out, they cant hurt you anymore." And with those words Bucky could see some tension dropping out of Luna's body. There was another silence and Bucky knew what words were going to come out of Luna's mouth before she did.

"How did you um, how did you find me Bucky ?"

"Don't worry about that now kid, thats a tale for when you're feeling better and we've got the whole team with us" replied Bucky, knowing that soon enough Luna was going to become restless and would want to meet everyone and know everything, the kid could never sit still for five minutes. In fact Bucky didn't think in the entire time he'd known Luna, he'd seen her do just that.

Luna let out a scoff as she questioned "Feeling better ? Please, we both know I heal quicker than you do," and she hopped out of bed, as if attempting to prove her point, exclaiming a "see, I'm perfectly fine big brother, you worry too much!". However Bucky's knowing smirk was promptly proven to be a deserved one when only a few seconds later as Luna attempted to walk round to the side of the enormous bed Bucky was on, she fell to the floor, her sprained ankle weaker than she was expecting. In a second he was out of the bed moving to help Luna up, but when he stood in front of her, he was Luna stiffen with fear and sharply, she drew herself upwards, with a sharp "Im fine", looking downwards at the floor and unintentionally slipping to an at attention stance.

Bucky's heart broke a little as he realised what was happening. Hydra didn't like weakness, you weren't allowed to show vulnerability and it didn't matter that Luna wasn't under the Black Moons programming, some 'lessons' that Hydra taught you stuck. Hell when Bucky had first become a member of the team it had taken him months to be able to go to anyone after a mission if he was injured, programmed to mask the pain lest he be punished for his weakness, despite the rational part of his brain knowing that his team would never scold him for getting hurt. It didn't matter. It was what Hydra had instilled in him. Before that, Tony would literally have to make F.R.I.D.A.Y scan Bucky after missions so his team could make sure he way okay. So when he saw Luna slip briefly into her training, hiding her pain from her старший брат, it made his heart hurt. But he would help her, show her how to admit to her pain and ask for help, the way that Sam had taught him, it would just take time. Bucky raised a calm hand to Luna's cheek, drawing her head up to look at him as he looked into her eyes, gently reminding her "its okay, you're with me, you're allowed to hurt." But while Luna had looked into his eyes and nodded, her body loosening a little, Bucky knew she hadn't relaxed completely, and he knew she wasn't going to tell him she was in pain. They had been apart too long, Bucky thought in a sad realisation. But it didn't matter now, he was here and he would rebuild their relationship, their trust. So he slung an easy arm around Luna as he led her back to the bed, subtly taking some of her weight onto himself as he did so. "How about we get Bruce to come give you the all clear then we can take you up to my apartment yeh ? Get some sleep then you can meet the team tomorrow ?" And Bucky's mind was calmed a little as he got a calm hum in response from Luna, years ago, when they had been paired together on Hydra missions they had created their own kind of code, a mix of clicks, whistles, hums and hand movements. The realisation that Luna remembered it well enough to use it around him comfortably gave Bucky a little more hope about the amount of work he would have to do to help Luna recover.

Soon enough Bruce Banner could be seen knocking on the now slightly open door and when Bucky notices Luna's slightly accelerated breathing he quickly, but subtly signed to Luna that all was okay, and sure enough she quickly calmed down.

"Hi Luna, its nice to meet you, I'm Bruce" said the doctor, smiling down at the girl in front of him, held in Bucky's arms. What he hadn't expected was for a sudden look of recognition to pass over Luna's eyes as she sat up suddenly, almost excitedly, which admittedly worried Bruce a little because someone in her condition, regardless of superhuman healing should not be moving around that quickly.

"You're Bruce Banner" Luna blurted out excitedly, a look of admiration in her eyes, "I, um, I'm a fan" she stuttered out now much more resigned "of your work that is. Your work in the field of nuclear physics has been groundbreaking." She finished a small smile on her lips.

Bucky didn't think he'd ever seen Bruce Banner blush, but evidently, there was a first time for everything. Equally he didn't think he'd ever seen someone look to confused and impressed at the same time, but after a quick look at Bucky Bruce knew not to press the matter any further, assuming he would find out how this 17 year old girl who had been in Hydra's captivity had even heard of his work, let alone understood it. "Thank you," Bruce eventually replied, continuing with "you were hurt quite badly when we found you, but your accelerated healing has to haling quicker than we would expect Steve or Bucky to. I'll give you some crutches to help you get around for a bit and I'm sure you don't need telling that you need to be careful of your ribs over the next couple of days, but as long as F.R.I.D.A.Y continues to monitor your vitals over the next 48 hours im happy to let you leave the med-day." Bruce, Bucky and Luna all seemed to feel visibly better at the news Luna could leave. "I'll get a nurse to come and" Bruce was going to carry that sentence on but before he could even finish, Luna had unaffectedly ripped out her IV and various other wires and tubes from herself. This startled both Bucky and Bruce, who caught each others eye, both with equal looks of concerns in their eyes, but after a subtle shake of the head from Bucky again, it was not mentioned. Now, Bucky was getting the idea that in the time had been with the Avengers, and Luna had been trapped with Hydra, a lot had happened to Luna that had changed her. A lot had happened to his little sister. But she was with Bucky now. With her big brother. And he was determined to help her.

Slowly, Bucky helped Luna, who was stubbornly refusing to take the crutches Bruce had offered, make her way out of the med-bay and up a couple of floors to Bucky's apartment, with a quick stop off onto the communal floor with the kitchen and lounge that the team all used to pick up some food for the two of them and slowly get Luna aquatinted with everything with the tower. Bucky had checked with F.R.I.D.A.Y before choosing to bring Luna to the floor, not wanting to overwhelm her with new people when she was still recovering and tired. The walk from the room Luna had been staying in during her time in the med-bay towards the elevator was a surprisingly quick one and Bucky could tell that Luna still wasn't completely settled in the tower, and was still masking some of the pain she was feeling. Bruce had told them earlier that he was in the process of synthesising a new drug that would work better with Luna's enhanced metabolism. They had quickly found out that Luna's metabolism burned through the medication they had on hand for Steve and Bucky a fair bit quicker than it would for them and so bruce was in the process of making a new one for Luna.

The elevator ride was too, uneventful. Bucky had mentioned to Luna that he needed to stop off before heading up to his floor and that there might be some new people on the floor they stop off on. Luna was anxious, but knew that 1) these were Bucky's friends, she could trust them, 2) they had all helped save her and 3) she had to meet everyone eventually. However; the second Luna stepped through the elevator towards the communal kitchen and seen who was in it all rational though had dropped from her mind. She had locked eyes with her almost immediately. She was stood in grey joggers and a black tank-top, but there was no mistaking in Luna's eyes who stood in front of her. It was the Black Widow. And suddenly Luna couldn't stop herself from moving, some form of deep embedded training from Hydra swinging into action. All Luna could see in blaring red lights was a file she had been forced to study for years, fighting styles she had been specifically taught how to overcome and fear. Fear of the woman stood in front of her, who Luna knew could killer her in less than a second. And her training had over powered her body. Luna shoved Bucky back behind her with a shout, determined to protect her brother, who clearly did not understand the danger they were in, settling into a defensive fighting position, with the Black Moon clawing at her mind, wanting to gain control as a result of the flight or fight sense that had been triggered. And Luna gave in, settled back into the part of her mind that gave her a kind of back-seat view to what she was doing. She knew Moon wouldn't hurt Bucky, and she knew she needed to keep him safe. She let go, and for the first time since Romania, The Black Moon came out to play.

They all saw the shift. One moment a small young girl was stood in front of Natasha, with a shocked and scared expression on her face, and then the expression dropped. Her face dropped all emotion and became frighteningly blank and quicker than a whip could crack Bucky had been thrown behind a woman, whose eyes had become pure black and a silver glow had taken over her hair, she crouched low to the floor, looking like a tiger ready to bounce, a look so sharp in her eye it could only be described as dangerous. Nat froze, Clint froze hell even Bucky froze momentarily.

"Natalia Alianovna Romanova, I've been waiting to meet you for a long time. I hope you are prepared to die"

Luna's voice had changed pitch and tone with her switch to the Black Moon, paging her considerably and taking on a heavy Russian accent. Nat's face dropped to a stoney expression and she held her arms out in a mock surrender "Who am I speaking to?" Was Natasha's simple question. It was left unanswered. All at once in a flurry of movement the Black Moon leapt towards Natasha, landing in a low crouch she swept Nat's legs out from under her, sending the ex Russian assassin tumbling towards the ground. Within 3 seconds Black Moon had her pinned and immobilised on the ground. Nat's head snapped in the direction of Bucky and then to Clint and on the silent count of three Natasha threw Black Moon over her head, who twisted mid air to ensure she landed in a defensive crouch, as Clint yelled out a "Don't hurt her." Bucky briefly wondered if Natasha would even be able to. But before the fight went any further Bucky did something which hurt him in his soul. "солдат. Встань" He barked out. Internally he flinched at the look of panicked confusion in Luna's, the Black Moon's, he reminded himself's face. He detested this. That Hydra had programmed this poor child into such a machine all it took was a commander or comrades command to control her. Forcing a steely appearance to his features Bucky stalked forward to where Black Moon was still crouched in a defensive position on the floor. "Стоять с вниманием" (stand to attention) he commanded and in a heartbreaking moment of submission Luna did just that. Bucky moved closer, now softening his features as he stood in front of the Black Moon and did something he had hoped to never have to do again in his life. He had to break Luna out if her own mind.

"Luna" he started "Your name is Luna. We first met when you were 12 years old when Hydra decided to pair us. We worked together for years. We broke through out programming. I learnt you love science. You dance. Your favourite flavour of ice cream is mint choc chip. For your 16th birthday I stole you a copy of Lolita. You got out. We got you out. You're safe. You're at the avengers tower. And you are Luna.

All at once the black that had infested Luna's eyes began to fade away and the silvery glow of her hair dimmed, returning to its natural blonde state. She fell backwards, looking around the room in a confused manner, eyes finally landing on Bucky, who was now crouched in front of her, arms resting gently on her shoulders as he gauge how present Luna was after her 'episode'. He knew from experience how out of it a sudden change could make you, but thankfully Luna seemed surprisingly present. With a grim tone Luna looked up at Bucky, eyes showing clearly the inner turmoil the teen was facing as she whispered out a horse "What happened."

When Bucky didn't answer straight away, a different voice spoke up. "I think" it started as Luna's head snapped to lock eyes with Natasha Romonov, "I did." She continued, moving slowly towards Luna, despite the cautious Clint's apprehension, voiced in a simple "Nat". But the fiery red head continued moving forwards at a slow but steady pace. Bucky had placed a metal hand on Luna's chest, and one of hers on his own respectively, trying to calm the ragged breaths tearing their way through Luna's lungs which he knew would be agony for Luna after breaking them less than 72 hours ago and then getting into a fight with the Black Widow.

"Hi, Im-" Nat started

"Natasha Romonov, yeh I know" spoke Luna softly, not able to meet the older assassins eyes. "Im so sorry, I dont know what happened, something in the Black Moons programming recognised you and I-" broke off Luna, unable to finish, a heavy feeling of guilt and embarrassment settling on her chest.

"Hey, детская луна, (baby moon), never feel guilty for what someone else has done to you. That was not your fault. Remember that. You know, I think we are going to get along just fine" smiled Natasha as she placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder before nodding to Clint and the two of them moved from the kitchen, giving Bucky and Luna a moment in private, but not before Clint sent a reassuring nod and smile towards Luna on his way out.

"Don't start младшая сестра," began Bucky swiftly once the two super spies had left the room, "you have no idea how many times I tried to kill Steve when I first got here. They get it, and won't hold it against you. Hell I think it made nat like you even more" he chuckled, "although we will have the conversation at some point about why you wanted to protect me, we know it should be the other way round" Bucky joked and before he could register what was happening Luna had reached up, pulling Bucky into a hug, whispering "I missed you big brother," and after another moment filled with a long hug Luna asked "can we go to your floor please?"

"Of course," Bucky replied, "and I'll get Bruce to send up some pain meds for your ribs while were at it."

And thats exactly what they did.

-AN-

OH MY GOD I CANT BELIEVE I WROTE 3000 WORDS ! :))))))) must admit im quite proud of that ! im sorry if this chapter feels a little rushed again, im trying my best, and am currently baffled at the fact ive updated... every day... since i started this story ! i really hope you liked it, ive had the most lovely reviews through recently so thank you all so much for that and keep them coming !

love as always

ERS x