Remember Me

Chapter 5

Steve is pacing back and forth, Natasha slumped into a large chair with a PJ sandwich. "How are you so calm? This is exactly the thing he did not want to happen. What went wrong Nakia?" He turns to Nakia who is still processing the data of what just happened. He feels angry, but he is not sure why. Must have to do with the responsibility he feels for his friend, that's the whole reason he brought him here in Wakanda.

"I'm sorry Nakia, I didn't mean to fall out." He apologizes.

"I'll survive." She replies with a small smile.

"Stop your self-pitying. He agreed to this himself, Steve. stop blaming yourself." Natasha said strict.

"Just tell me how you did that!" Steve looks at Natasha, needing an explanation how she handled the situation.

She hesitated for a few seconds, trying to think of something to tell him. "Well.. I heard from someone.. somewhere that they did not only program him with the words to activate him, but also a failsafe. For when he got out of control." She shrugs, taking another bite from her sandwich.

Natasha stands up, turning towards the one way mirror that hangs in the room where they brought Bucky to recuperate. Bucky is lying on a bed, still passed out. Natasha feels happy and guilty at the same time. She knew Bucky recognized her. He called her Natalia. That was how he called her when they first got to know each other almost 20 years ago. He snaps out of her thoughts.

"That word is used to knock out the Winter Soldier. But that is something we should keep to ourselves. Let's just hope he wakes up soon so he can tell us if it worked."

-

Bucky opens his eyes, not knowing at first where he is or what happened. He turns his head to look around the room, it's almost empty except for a chair, table and the bed he is lying on. When he slowly sits up straight his head begins to throb. He rubs his eyes and massages his temples before he opens his eyes again.

Memories start to come back. He knocked out Steve and Nakia and almost chocked Natasha to death and later blacked out. He gets up, sitting on the edge of the bed. He lays his head in his hand and closes his eyes.

His head won't stop throbbing. He sees flashbacks from several moments he is starting to remember. People he has hurt, people he has killed. Choking. Bleeding. Fighting. His head hurts so much. He grabs the chair that is standing next to the bed an throws it violently across the room. It falls in pieces against the concrete wall.

Steve comes bursting through the door. "Buck! What's wrong?!"

Bucky looks up. "I'm remembering" he mutters.

Steve puts his hand on his shoulder and squeezes it. Pushing him back to the bed. "Calm down buddy. Do you need something?"

"Yeah! For you to fuck off!"

Steve sighs, he knows he doesn't mean it. He's tries to comfort him.

Bucky is just trying to organize the thoughts in his head. Memories he already recovered, and new memories flood him and makes him scared. It's so much information in a too short period of time.

Bucky is stuck in his memories. He remembers every time they have wiped his mind and the pain that came with it. Every time they forced him in that pod to freeze him up again. Every time he almost broke free. Every time he remembered enough fragments of memory to cause a small smile on his face again, even though he didn't really know what was real and what was not.

He rubs his temples one by one trying to ease the pain. "I'm sorry Steve. I hurt you, and Nakia." He looks up shocked. "Where is Natalia? Is she alright?".

"You mean Natasha?"

"Yeah, yeah. That's what I meant. Don't know... Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she will be fine. Both are going to be fine." he replies "Just some bruises".

Steve grabs the glass with water that is standing on the table, with some pain killers. Bucky looks at the unknown pills and grabs them, he pops them in his mouth, then pours them down with the water.

Steve can't contain his curiosity, he knows something is off but is not sure. "Have you met Natasha before? She seems to know more about you than we think.

"I.. I'm not sure" Bucky replies. "Do you mean at that fight on the bridge years ago?"

Steve shakes his head. "No before that." Bucky shakes his head. "I don't think so... I don't know..."

"I'll let you rest for a while." Steve gets up and leaves the room.

Bucky is still sitting on the edge of the bed. He is being tormented by the memories. They are coming back in waves. All of them are bad memories filled with pain and torment, except for one memory. One series of memories to be precise. Filled with joy, laughter and... Love.

He is not sure what to think about these memories. He tries to remember what they are about but he can't, not yet.

Nakia enters the room. Bucky stands up straight. "I'm sorry Nakia. Did I hurt you?"

"No I'm fine. Just some bruises. Don't worry about that." She smiles. "I have something for you." She places a case on the table. "Check it out!". Bucky walks up to the case and releases the clasps. When he opens the lid he is amazed by the object inside. A brand new arm, made from Vibranium. It is very shiny and sits in a lining of satin. The colour is dark grey, almost black with golden embellishments. But not too extravagant. Gone is the big red star he hated so much.

"When you have rested enough we can see how we can give you back your arm."

"Do you trust me with that?"

"Yeah, we do."