POV SWITCH: WINTER

I exhaled heavily after I'd eaten, I'd come to the conclusion that the food hadn't been drugged.

I crawled in the space under the bed, curling up in a ball on the cold floor.

I was almost asleep when the door opened. I didn't move, I kept my face covered by my tail, watching the figures through my fur.

It was the bowman, he had an arrow nocked.

I slowly lifted my head, giving a loud huff.

He visibly tensed, watching me warily.

I blinked slowly before laying my head back down.

He was still tense, the door opened again and another person entered.

It was another one of the five. It was the taller blond male, the one who had talked to the soldier back at the base.

I breathed in the pairs' scent, the taller blond male smelled... wrong... like the soldier.

I tilted my head at him. "How hard do you think it's gonna be to move her to Simmon's? Or at least collect what she wanted?" The bowman questioned.

The tall man sighed, taking a few steps closer to me.

I watched with flattened ears, no labs. Not again. I growled a deep rumble in my chest.

The bowman took what seemed to be a subconscious step towards the door.

The other man took a step back as well. "She seemed to be fine until you mentioned Simmons," the blond observed, watching me.

My head was raised, intently staring right back at him, I was still growling.

"Hey... hey, it's okay," the blond tried to soothe.

My growl slowly tapered off, but I continued to eye the pair warily.

"Do you think she understands English too?" The tall man asked, crouching down.

The bowman tensed, "Be careful Steve, she might or she might be picking up on tones or key words,".

'Steve' hummed in thought for a few moments before deciding to sit on the ground, "Bucky said your name is Winter,".

The bowman sighed exasperatedly as Steve sat on the ground.

I stared at him, my ears removing themselves from their place pinned against my skull.

"Are you still hungry Winter?" Steve asked, looking back at the bowman. He sighed and opened the door, grabbing another bucket.

I moved my head, my nose peering out from under the bed.

The bowman gave Steve the bucket, Steve grabbed a handful of the meat cubes. He extended a hand towards me, "Bucky trusts you, so I do too,".