Edelweiss || Bucky x Reader

Chapter Twenty Seven

Day 14

I don't remember what happened after he kissed me. I don't want to. I just know that eventually I fell asleep and now I'm awake again. I haven't yet opened my eyes, choosing rather to listen, and let anyone else in the room believe that I'm still asleep. I even hold my breath, just incase I can't hear them sleeping. But nothing. Not even a heartbeat. I let out the breath. But now my mind is trying to process.

He thinks I'm dead

Steve...

God, what would I say to you?

I think I'd tell you I'm ok, because that's what matters the most, right?

So on the off chance you can hear this;

I'm ok, Steve.

I'm ok.

I just hope Bucky is t-

"Y/N!" My eyes shoot open as the scream rips through the air. His scream. My Bucky. He's alive.

We've lived this before

I couldn't save you then

I will now

"That lying son of bitch!" I spit, the surge of emotion giving me enough strength to tear my wrists from their bindings. I rip IVs out of my arm as my bare feet hit the cold concrete floor. My eyes are still adjusting to the dark, but I can see that there's nothing stopping me from leaving. No doors, no walls, no windows. Nothing.

Seriously? I thought they'd learned. This isn't careless, it's stupid.

"Y/N!" He calls my name again, desperation painfully clear in his voice. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

I'm coming, love

With heavy, uneven footsteps I run towards the sound of his cries with the half of myself that I have left. Turning corners down unfamiliar hallways until finally I see him huddled in the cell at the end of the hall. My heart shatters seeing him like this, scared and hurting, his left arm wrapped in a blood soaked bandage.

"I'm here, Buck." I say as I fall to my knees on the other side of the metal bars, gasping for breath. "I'm here."

"You're alive." He reaches his right hand through the bars, holding the back of my neck with a gentle touch. "Oh god, you're alive."

I rest my forehead on his.

"I'm alive."

"Tell me you're real." He whispers, his breath warm on my lips. "My mind is playing tricks on me and I need you to be real."

"Buck, I'm real." I choke. "I'm real and I love you so much."

The second he hears my words he starts to break down, shaking against me.

"I promised they'd never hurt you again." He sobs. "I promised and now look."

"I promise myself things all the time." My own tears have started to fall, slipping down my face and hitting the floor with small inaudible splashes. "A promise doesn't mean that you can do it, just that you'll try." I hold his face in my hands. "And Bucky you have tried so hard. Harder than I could have ever asked for or imagined."

He raises his head just enough to meet my eyes, an incredibly sad smile dawning his lips. His face shines with uncharacteristic tears. My left hand still on his cheek, I reach out with my right to try to hold his hand. He just shakes his head. I look to where it should be, but it's gone. His whole arm is gone. My eyes widen, more tears falling to the ground. He opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by many sets of feet pounding at the floor, all running our direction.

"NO!" I screech, holding myself against him through the bars.

They're getting closer

"Y/N I love you so much." He says quickly. "I always have and I always will."

"No, no stop!" I cry. "This isn't the end!"

"I'm sorry, my love." He's crying again. "I'm so sorry."

"NO!"

Hands grab my shoulders. They pull, trying to pry me away from him. I still have him by his right hand. But our hands are slipping.

And then my grip is torn from his. He grows smaller as they carry me away. I writhe. I kick. I scream. I beg like a dog. They might as well be deaf.

We stop in a room lit in dim yellow light. What looks like an upright metal coffin with a clear window stands before me. I struggle as they walk me up to it, both my feet flailing off the ground. They throw me inside and shut the door. Something makes a hissing sound next to my head, freezing air filling the chamber.

The last thing I remember feeling before I black out is every cell in my body turning to ice.

...

Day 774
Two years later

What was that noise?

Who...

Where?

Bucky...

They still have him

I...

I need to...

The seal on the door cracks open and my limp body falls into two sets of hands.

"Let...go." I breathe, which is about as loud as I can mange. They laugh.

"If they let go, lab rat," Says the voice that I know belongs to Arnim Zola. Arnim Zola, who's supposed to be in Allied custody. "You will not be going anywhere."

"Where...is he?" I try to demand. My voice grows slightly stronger.

"Where is who?" He asks.

"You know exactly who." My words are pointed like daggers, and even now I drive them into his chest.

He nods to the men holding men up. They turn me so that I can see the chamber next to mine. The glass is frosted over, but you can still make out the man inside. My Bucky. His brown hair is frozen around his face, several inches longer than it was a few minutes ago.

It was only a few minutes, right?

Right?

"He is of little use to us at this time." Zola waves his hand dismissively. "He needs repairs. You, however..." His face lights up in a wide grin. "You are to be the new face of Hydra!"

A still frigid breath escapes my lips.

Here we are again. Weak, tired, beaten, and at his mercy. They weren't being careless, they were being tactical. They knew I'd run to him the second they left me alone.

More time has passed than I know. Lots of it. And we haven't been found.

I still have hope.

But not much.