ʜɪꜱ ꜱᴀᴠɪᴏʀ ━ Bucky Barnes/Avengers

02. the duo out of time

Present

There's this dream that I keep having every night. If you can call it a dream. It's more like a bad memory that keeps replaying in my head.

I'm in that plane again, but I wasn't in the air anymore. My body was weak, unmovable, and cold. I could barely open my eyes, but I managed to see Steve unconscious on the ground, off of the chair he was sitting on. Everything felt so surreal, but I knew it all happened.

I knew the risk I was taking when I followed Steve to that plane, and I still did it.

When it felt like I was going to lay there in pain forever, we were going down, getting buried deeper in the snow. I have flashbacks of him again and how he tragically left this world. A drop of tear rolls down my numb cheeks. As I try to open my eyes one last time, it's too late. The next thing I knew, everything went black.

Now I'm awake, startled from my dream again, in a room where I don't belong. I wipe off the sweat from my forehead and take deep breaths. After calming myself down, I went to the bathroom to wash my face. I stop in the middle of washing and let the water drip down as I stare at my reflection in the mirror.

You think after almost a month of being here I'd be used to everything, but that's wrong. I'm not even used to the same dream I keep having.

I quickly finish up and made my way to my bed and sit back down. The radio I always listen to has been broken for days, and I've read all of the few books in here they told me I could read if I wanted to catch up. I've done everything I could do to try and occupy myself alone. My sight made its way to the door, which was the last thing I would want to look at.

When I leave, I enter the kitchen/bar to eat breakfast. Tony was already there, skimming through his hologram of information while eating an apple, alongside Natasha, whom I haven't seen since the first time I met her. They notice me come in and Tony waves.

"There's the Ice Queen!" He greets me with a pat on the shoulder, "Did you sleep well?"

Natasha nudges him, "Stop joking around," she grabs an apple from the counter and hands it to me, "Want one?"

My hand went forward to get it, but I hesitate. 

She sees me stop, "Change your mind?"

I don't answer, which encourages her even more. Instead, she takes my hand and places the apple on my palm.

"It's okay," I look at the apple then back at her, "an apple never hurt anyone." She smirks.

Tony was there the whole time, watching everything, "Wow, you can joke around but not me?" He places his palm on his chest and acts shocked, "I am offended."

Suddenly, we hear light footsteps behind us and spot Tony's girlfriend, Pepper, walking our way in her work uniform. "Good morning, everyone." She greets as she kisses Tony on the cheek. She smiles at Natasha, then looks over to me. "Hey, Diane. How are you doing?"

All eyes were on me as they wait for me to reply.

I force a small smile, "Good." I say.

She smiles back, "Good!" She looks back to Tony and Natasha, "It's almost time for your meeting, so I suggest we leave now. Also, the Captain is on his way up."

As soon as she says that, the elevator opens and Steve walks out. I'm relieved to see him here. I don't think I can stand anymore socializing. He strides towards us and goes to me for a hug.

"How have you been?" He asks genuinely.

I close my eyes and let myself sink into his hug, "Fine." I say to him as quiet as I could.