VITALITY ↝ B. BARNES [1]

[20]

Elysia opened her eyes to a bright light blinding her vision, unable to make out anything other than a few hushed voices and the steady beeping of a machine to her left. There was a dull pain near her ribcage, and her throat felt dry, as if she hadn't had any water in days. She shut her eyes tightly at the blinding light, slowly opening them once more as the room before her came into focus.

In the chair to her left sat Steve, who looked as if he hadn't slept in a week. His hair was disheveled, his skin was pale, and the weathered look in his eyes threatened to give away his real age, regardless of the seventy years he'd spent under the ice. On her other side sat Sam, and in the back of the room was a pacing Tony, who stopped his movements as a sharp pain in her side caused her to let out a slight groan, her hands instantly moving down to reach for her side, which was hidden under a thick pad of gauze.

"There she is," Tony announced, but even in her hazy state Elysia could still make out his sigh of relief. "Welcome back, Sparky."

Elysia's eyes wandered the room one last time, searching for the figure she knew all too well was missing from the group. Her heart sank as she looked back up at Steve, the look in his eyes already giving away the answer to the question burning the tip of her tongue. "Where's Bucky?" she asked, her voice scratchy as she reached a hand up gingerly to where her windpipe threatened to scream in pain, her skin bruised from where the metal hand had threatened to crush her airway.

"By the time Sam and I made it into the room to find you guys, they already had him on a chopper." Steve said apologetically, Elysia's heart breaking further with each word. "We didn't stand a chance."

"Vision and I tried to track them as best as we could, but their trail ran cold once they hit the Atlantic." Sam continued. "Elysia I am so, so sorry."

Elysia's eyes shut tight as the tears began to fall, and she shook her head, willing their words away, as if by some miracle, she could open her eyes again and Bucky would be in the empty chair next to Steve, greeting her with the same warm smile he'd given her just the day before. Now he was completely off the grid, his mind thrown back into its blender as HYDRA prepared for his next mission somewhere they couldn't track.

And when she opened her eyes again, the chair was still empty.

"We tried to get back to you guys as soon as we saw them coming." Elysia explained, reaching up to wipe away the tears that trailed down her cheeks and forcing her voice to remain steady. "I just wanted to go for a walk, get away from the party for a bit, and we saw the force field drop. But then the stairwell collapsed, and they ambushed us when we tried to reach the front door. They said the fucking words, and then he was gone, just like that." she looked back up at Tony. "I failed, Tony. Whatever was in that microchip, breaking it didn't save him."

"What else do you remember?" Steve asked.

"I tried to make him remember." she continued, her voice cracking on the last word. "I tried reminding him who I was, who he was, but I couldn't do it. I thought I might've, for a moment. It was like Bucky was there, just a glimpse of him, and then he was gone again." her fingertips traced over the bruises lining her throat once more, feather light as his hands had been moving her hair from her face. "When the Winter Soldier attacked, I fought back. I can't hurt Bucky with my powers, I can really only just short circuit his arm for a bit, so I did that. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground."

"The bullet went through your ribs." Tony explained. "Cap got to you just in time, and got you up to Helen. The bones will need to heal, and you'll be sore for a while, but other than that, you'll be alright. Can't say the same for the HYDRA goons you fried before you passed out, though."

"Did I hurt any one of ours?" Elysia asked then, her voice growing small as the possibility crept into her mind, her eyes quickly moving back to Steve. "Steve, you were right next to me, did I-?" she asked, her voice breaking, but he quickly shook his head, reaching out a hand to rest on her shoulder reassuringly.

"No," he assured her, giving her a small smile. "We're all okay. I'm okay. You controlled it."

Elysia nodded finally back in Steve's direction, though she couldn't help still looking over the man for any sign of injury. Although, to her relief, she came up short as Steve appeared unhurt, the only signs of wear and tear being that of what they'd been through in the past couple of days.

"I should go tell the team you're awake," Sam announced, rising from his chair and nodding in her direction. "It's good to have you back, Sparks."

The reunions were bittersweet as, one by one, the team rejoiced in seeing their fallen teammate awake and on the mend, though the Avengers would be lying if they said the missing presence in the room had gone unnoticed. With each member passing through the doorway, Elysia found herself looking for Bucky, and feeling disappointed when he wasn't the face appearing at the threshold, all because she hadn't managed to crack the code in his brain.

Somber smiles and halfhearted jokes were exchanged as the hours passed by, but Elysia stared out the window, at the endless possibilities of where he'd vanished to. She knew the facility in Siberia was likely little more than a wasteland, and that she couldn't even begin to wonder where they'd taken him. He'd gone somewhere she couldn't follow, and though she longed for the day she'd find him again, she also dreaded the carnage that would ensue in order to give them a trail to begin searching. Like Elysia, Steve put up a brave front, but she couldn't even begin to guess what was going on inside her friend's mind, at his best friend having once again slipped through his fingers when he already had so much more looming ahead in his near future.

As the sun finally sank below the horizon, and the team had mostly retired back to their temporary new quarters while the west wing of the compound was being repaired, the recovery room was empty except for Elysia and Steve, the latter still keeping her company while a mindless comedy played on the television, even if neither of them were really paying attention to its contents. She watched the scene before her, hearing the jokes being told on screen, but her mind couldn't have been further away, the lines having vanished from her memory as soon as they were spoken.

"So what happens now?" Elysia asked, pulling Steve's gaze off the television, the faint light of the screen illuminating his face in the dark room.

"Now we figure out a different plan," Steve said. "We get back on our feet, and when the Winter Soldier moves again, we'll be ready. We'll get Bucky back, even if it's the last thing we do."

"I'm not asking about Bucky, Steve." Elysia pointed out, Steve's expression visibly crumpling as the realization set in.

While the rest of the team had yet to learn about Steve's mission as soon as Bucky had been freed, it was no secret to Elysia that Steve had been counting down the days until he could fly a Quinjet to go wake up his son, to finally meet the boy who had been on Steve's mind since the day he'd learned of his existence. Now, all of that was derailed in their setback, as the young super soldier's mission still remained unfinished as the trail to Bucky's whereabouts had vanished. The one thing that kept James Rogers encased in a cryogenic chamber of his own.

"I have to fulfill James's mission before I can wake him up." Steve said adamantly. "With everything going on, the last thing he needs to worry about is where Bucky might be. So we find Bucky, we save him for good, and then I go wake him up."

"Are you sure?" Elysia asked. "Steve, we don't have the faintest clue where they took Bucky."

"And I'm not about to put that stress on James's shoulders." Steve insisted. "He's sixteen and fifty-five years out of his time, the last thing he needs to be doing is trying to find him."

"And if he's anything like his dad, he won't stop until his mission's finished." Elysia summed up as Steve nodded sheepishly.

"I'd be lying if I said I thought the apple fell far from the tree." Steve agreed. "But what do you say, Sparks? Will you help me find Bucky?"

Elysia nodded, her gaze finding the window once more, and the dim lights of the compound illuminating the surrounding fields. Even if she hadn't wanted to find Bucky, Elysia knew she didn't have a choice. She owed it to him to fix her mistakes, to make sure that code was out of his brain once and for all. For Bucky to be able to roam freely without looking over his shoulder at all times, or to be afraid of a set of words causing him to forget the person he truly was inside. She owed him their dance, followed by a trip to the movies and a night, one night where they could pretend to be normal, and she wasn't about to give that up now.

Elysia looked back over at Steve, an incredulous expression crossing her face. "You really had to ask?"