Leave Me Bleeding [Winter Soldier] I

Grounded [Chapter 23]

"Do you know what it is like to actually need someone?"

-Gregory House from "House M.D."

                Ophelia whimpered as Bucky grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet. Stumbling as she got to her feet, she was caught by Bucky. His strong metal arm wrapped around her waist and helped keep the weight off of her wounded right hip, but it was her ribs that were killing her. Three bullet wounds, a few broken ribs, and bruises all over her body, Ophelia was in no state to be walking. She needed severe medical attention, and she feared that Bucky was bringing her back to HYDRA. Somehow, some base in the dark corners of Washington. A small part of her knew she had made a dent in finding Bucky in that head of his, but it was not going to be an easy task. 

                "Where are we going?" She groaned as she forced herself to walk, but was unable to keep up to his pace.

                "Don't talk," he demanded. "You'll... It'll hurt more."

                She  looked at him with wide, curious green eyes; this was what she was hoping for, some humanity that she could work with. He wasn't trying to kill her right now, and she didn't want that to change. This was something. This was a start into getting into his head. Being able to link with him back when she was drowning might have saved her, as he was able to find her quickly, and it might have broken down one of the many walls that had been put up in his head to stop her from getting in. She could only hope, and continue trying. His head was like a jigsaw puzzle, and she just had to locate the missing pieces. 

                "Wait..." She groaned, tripping over a rise in the ground below her. As she fell, Bucky did not catch her. Instead, despite her cries of pain, he knelt down beside her, dirtying his wet, black pants and picked her up. With one arm across her shoulder blades, as to not injure her ribs, and another under her knees, he lifted her up and began walking again. She could feel his human arm shaking in pain; his shoulder had been dislocated, and from the looks of it, he had popped it back in himself. When that happened, she wasn't sure, but presumed it was before he went in to save her from drowning. 

               The things he was capable of frightened her. 

               The sirens in the background were alarming; Ophelia had still not gotten used to the sounds of this new world. They walked for what felt like an hour, but Ophelia had lost consciousness more than once. When she woke for the fourth or fifth time, she was not being carried anymore. The room she was in was dark, dim orange light coming from the lamp across from her. Panic flowed through her like a river and she began to fight, the surface she was on was soft, and she scurried back as far as she could. Pain shot through her entire body and she whimpered, regretting her quick movements. Her bare back pressed against the cool wall as she looked around, trying to assess the situation she was in. 

                Where was she?

                Her initial thoughts was that she was back in some HYDRA base, ready to be tortured and maimed, brainwashed and erased. Erased from HYDRA, erased from the world. They wouldn't have bothered waiting for her to wake, would they? Wanting one final bout of torture before they killed her? When she realized that the wallpaper all around her was peeling, faded cream paint chipping behind that, Ophelia knew that she was nowhere near HYDRA, but she was also far from Steve, Sam, Natasha, Fury and the rest of the people she had learned to trust. Racking her brain for memories, she recalled that Bucky had pulled her along after saving her from drowning.

                Her eyes darted around to find him.

                There.