Chapter 6
"Well, someone's been having fun," Rumlow chuckled as he touched Darla's hair. "Red really is your color, sweetheart, but I have to ask, what did he do to make you blush like this? Something kinky? Come on, you can tell me."
Darla pressed her lips together; she was hoping for earth to swallow her. What the hell had she been thinking? He hadn't asked anything from her, why had she done it? She had thought that she should somehow repay him. What a great idea that had been. Idiot…
"What do you think, Anderson?" Rumlow asked.
The other agent smirked.
"Looks to me that the girl got a ride of her life," he stated.
"I'm not so sure about that," Rumlow chuckled. "I think our boy found some creative ways to use those metal fingers. Am I right, darling?"
Darla pretended that she couldn't hear a word they were saying, although she felt humiliated. For once she was actually happy to see her father.
"Gentlemen," he greeted the agents. "I'll take it from here."
"Yes, sir," Rumlow replied.
"Sweetheart," he greeted Darla smiling. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," she murmured.
"I trust that this time was easier for you?"
"Yeah."
"Wonderful. Tell me what happened then."
Darla gritted her teeth, forcing herself to sound calm. She had learned that the best way to lie was to keep things simple, so she gave her father almost the same story than last time.
"One vaginal intercourse, no touching you with his hands?" her father confirmed.
"That's right."
"Hmm."
Her father looked thoughtful. According to her experience, that was never a good thing. The agents had been taking Darla back to her room, but her father led her to the lab instead. Nurse Clarke was already waiting. She was a middle-aged woman who Darla had never seen smiling. There was nothing kind or nurturing about her, she was rough and rude.
"Take a seat," she ordered.
Darla obeyed, knowing what would happen next. First the nurse took her blood pressure, then blood tests.
"Very good, dear," her father said after the nurse was finished. "Here you are."
Darla's eyes widened as she saw what he was giving to her. A lollipop. What kind of a sick joke was this? Well, he did have very twisted sense of humor.
"Thank you," she murmured while taking the damn lollipop.
"You're welcome, dear," he replied smiling. "Can I see a smile? You're so pretty when you smile, princess."
And you're so disgusting that you deserve to be punched on the throat. Somehow, she managed to force a smile on her face.
"There, that's much better," he hummed and kissed her cheek. "My sweet girl. You look so much like your mother."
No. Don't you dare talk about her.
"She would be proud of you."
Shut up.
"I miss her every day. She was a very special woman."
All Darla wanted was to attack the bastard in front of her and keep punching as long as she could before someone would stop her. She didn't do that, instead she just sat there, letting him touch her hair. She hated herself for it. She was weak. A coward. Just the thought of being locked up in that room again was enough to break her spirit. She had let him break her. Make her sob like a baby. That room had almost taken her sanity. She couldn't go through with it again and he knew it. He knew all her fears and he wouldn't hesitate to use them against her.
"Do you miss her?" he asked.
"Yeah," she murmured.
"My poor girl. You know I'll always take care of you."
Burn in hell.
"Yeah."
"Good." He paused and patted her shoulder. "Alright, time to get some rest, we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow."
"Oh? What are we going to do?" she asked as calmly as she could.
"I just need to run some more tests," he replied smiling. "Nothing for you to worry about."
"Okay," she murmured.
She got up as one of the agents showed up and told her to come with him.
"Good night, sweetheart," her father said.
"Good night."
On her way out of the lab, she almost bumped into a muscular chest.
"I'm sorry…" she started and swallowed as she looked up. The Winter Soldier.
"No problem," he replied casually, but she could hear the amusement in his voice. "No harm done."
She certainly didn't like the way he was looking at her, it made her blush again.
"Ah, there you are," her father said. "Come in, come in."
"Let's go," the agent huffed at Darla.
"Excuse me," she murmured at the soldier and followed the agent.
"Take a seat," she heard nurse Clarke saying to the soldier.
They were testing him as well. Why? What were they hoping to achieve? What was this project? She had no idea, but she was extremely nervous. If her father would find out that she had been lying to him… He wouldn't settle for just killing her. No, he would make her suffer. Put her into that room again. Or something worse. Just the thought made her shiver. She needed to think and fast. There had to be a way out of this mess.