Blue || Bucky Barnes

10. Make It Worse

"Hello." I say quietly.
"My name is Arnim Zola." His smile gives me the creeps. Something clicks in my brain when he tells me his name. Zola!
"What can I do for you Dr. Zola?" I ask with a small smirk.
"I'm glad to finally meet the second of Dr. Erskine's experiments." He says and I just nod.

"Can I see Bucky now?" I turn to Köler asking him for the millionth time.
"Eventually." He says like always.
"I have done everything you've asked of me for the last four years and you don't even have the decency to let me see my only friend who's still alive!" I raise my voice slightly at the slim man.
He doesn't say anything and it suddenly dawns on me. "He's dead..." I start. "You killed him!" I jump up and dive over the table reaching for Dr. Köler. He catches my hands and pushes back.
"Your friend is not dead." Dr. Zola's voice breaks through my efforts.
"What?" I sit back down.
"Sergeant Barnes is not dead." Dr. Zola repeats.
I feel the tears well in my eyes. "Can I please see him. Please, I need to know he's okay. I promise I'll do anything you want. I just need to see him." I break down in front of the two doctors hoping at least one of them has a heart.
"You may see him." Dr. Zola says and I sit up straight. Did I just hear him correctly? I can see Bucky?!
"When?!" My voice is hoarse.
"Now if you'd like."
"Oh yes please!" I wipe more tears that escape my eyes.

I see Köler's eyes wide as he looks at Zola disapprovingly. Dr. Zola stands up and walks to the door, I spring up and follow him closely. We walk out the room and are met by two guards. Zola holds his hand up dismissing them as he scurries down the hallway, me hot on his heels. After a short amount of time we arrive at another room where two more guards stand by the door.
"How long can I be with him?" I ask.
"Until the evening." He says simply. I steal a glance at my watch and see that's at least four hours. Oh my god.
Dr. Zola again dismisses the guards and they step aside. He swipes the card and opens the door. The room is very white and there's a small bed in the corner. Along the adjacent wall is a skinny window that looks out upon the snowy Swiss alps. Dissimilar to my room which is darker and holds more things.

"Sergeant Barnes." Dr. Zola says and that's when I see him. He's curled up in the corner of the room looking extremely disheveled. He looks up slowly and looks over Zola before his eyes settle on me.
I watch as he scrambles to his feet. "Leia." He says.
"Bucky." I feel more tears spring to my eyes as we meet each other in the middle. His arm wraps around my waist while mine hug his shoulders.
"Oh my god." I breathe out sobbing into his shoulder.
"You're okay!" He pulls back looking over me.
"So are you!" I say hugging him once more just wanting to be as close as possible to him. After a moment I hear the door click, capturing my attention. Zola has left the room.

"I was so worried about you. I thought they were going to hurt you." Bucky cries in front of me.
"No I'm okay. Hey, I'm alright." Tears escape my eyes too as I pull him in again. Neither of us say anything for god knows how long, we just cry holding each other in a tight embrace.
"So what've you been up to?" I ask him after a moment. We sit down on the floor as close to each other as possible.
"I don't want to talk about that." He sighs. I agree that was a stupid question. I rest my head on his shoulder and take his right hand in mine, fiddling with his fingers just glad to be near him.
"How's your arm?" I ask.
"Great thanks to you." He says.
"Good." I smile lightly.

"Will you show me your magic, like you used to do." His request makes me tear up all over again.
"Yeah, of course." I say raising my hand. I feel the small tingles and the hazy bright blue fog starts to emerge from my fingers. I concentrate on making different shapes with the fog. I feel his thumb graze against the back of my hand as he watches my movements intently.
"That's so cool." He mumbles. I look up at him as I draw the energy back into my hand. He grins a broken smile down at me and it breaks me heart. I see the sorrow behind his eyes and no doubt mine look the same. I bury my head in the crook of his neck and he wraps his arm around my shoulders. A heavy sigh escapes both our lips as we revel in the peaceful feeling for as long as possible.