A Game Of Hide and Seek - A Bucky Barnes Short story

Chapter 15

Cassidy was unconscious for three days now, and the team were all seated in the throne room to discuss what Wanda had seen. Wanda came to realize after talking with T'Challa's mother that her knowledge of what she had seen could help Cassidy's recovery and help the team understand how to help her. Bucky's knee kept bouncing up and down anxiously, he was scared of what he would learn and he was scared if something happened with Cassidy while he was gone. He had not left Cassidy's bedside at all, except for showers, sleeping haphazardly on a chair and the medical bed. Shuri had volunteered to sit with her while everyone was meeting and it took a lot of convincing to get Bucky to leave. But he was curious about what had happened.

Wanda sat quietly in her chair, ready to share her information. Steve prompted her to start once everyone was seated and quiet. Slowly she began recounting the images she had seen by projecting the images and voicing explanations. Going through horror after horror, she finished and wiped away stray tears.

Everyone was shocked into silence. They processed all that they had been told and shown. The beatings, the waterboarding, the electric shocks, the starvation, the coldness, the cuts, the bruises, the hallucinations, the pain, the suffering, the torture. It was all worse than what they thought. It was enough to kill someone, or make them go insane.

Bucky pulled in a shaking breath before abruptly standing and walking out. He walked all the way back to the labs, going straight for the bed Cassidy was in. Shuri could tell by his face that he wanted to be alone, so she quietly left while nodding to him.

Once the doors closed and the lab was quiet he allowed himself to cry. Sobbing he covered her hand with his, covering his eyes with his other hand. He was supposed to protect her and he failed. He cried harder than he had ever had in the past two months.

He stayed there for a while, crying his heart out for the pain the love of his life had gone through. Sometime, when the sun started to set, he managed to stop crying and he sat there looking at her. Almost trying to get her to wake up by his staring, mentally willing her to wake up.

The color in her face had returned some, the swelling in her eye had gone down, and her body was gaining weight at a snail's pace due to everything they were pumping into her. But the bruises, God the bruises, were what hurt him the most. They had turned her body into a jigsaw puzzle of black and blue. When they had changed her clothes, out of the dirty ones she was in into a soft gown with socks, Bucky had wept on his knees at the sight of her broken and battered body. Only Bucky, Steve, and Natasha were in the room when they changed her clothes. Bucky sobbed, Steve cried while sitting on a chair, and Natasha had tears falling from her eyes as she helped to change Cassidy's clothes and clean her.

The entire team was shaken, but they knew that Cassidy would recover and be with them again.

As Bucky was lost in his thoughts, he felt movement under his hand. Abruptly standing he grasped Cassidy's hand.

"Cassie?" He whispered, hoping he had not imagined it.

He watched with joy as her eyes slowly blinked open as she groaned. She sat up slowly in the bed and took in her surroundings, her hand slipping from his to prop herself up.

"What?" she breathed out hoarsely as she looked around.

"Cass?" Bucky gently got her attention.

What was not gentle was the way her neck snapped to him.

"A-Are you really here?" Cassidy whispered.

"I'm here, sweetheart," Bucky nodded, "we are all here."

"Bucky?" her lip wobbled, "Bucky what happened?"

"We rescued you," He laid his hand on hers, noting the way she flinched, "You're okay now. Shuri helped to get whatever hallucination drug was in you out and she patched me up."

"You mean...you were there? Stevie and Nat too?"

"Yeah, Sunflower. But you are going to get better, okay? It wasn't you attacking us."

"Attacking-wait," Cassidy shakily held up a hand, "You mean...that wasn't...a hallucination? I actually," Cassidy's breath stuttered as the realization came upon her and her head swayed, "I almost...killed you?"

"No, no," Bucky gently took her hand, "It wasn't you, okay? Yeah, you stabbed me, but I'm better. I'm right here."

His words did not seem to help her, and he realized that he maybe should have phrased that differently. He watched heartbroken as she pulled her hand out of his and held it close to her chest. She seemed to shrink inside herself as she shrank away from him.

"Get Natasha," she whispered, her sad eyes focused on the blanket in her lap.

"Sweetheart-"

"Get. Natasha."

"...Okay," Bucky slowly walked out of the room.

Before he fully walked out of the door he heard her start to sob, he leaned against the wall to gather his emotions before going any further. He wanted to hold her so bad it hurt. He was desperate to have her with him after more than two months apart.

Taking a deep breath he went to find Natasha. He found her talking to Steve in a hallway.

"Natasha," Bucky called quietly, "She's awake and wants you."

"What's wrong?" Natasha immediately noticed that Bucky was more depressed than happy about his girlfriend's awakening.

"I think she feels guilty about almost killing me," Bucky felt a tear start running down his face as he stared into space, "She flinched when I touched her. She won't touch me."

Natasha's lips formed a thin line and walked quickly toward Cassidy's room.

Steve came up to him and hugged his best friend, who started sobbing into his shoulder.

"Why won't she touch me, Steve?" He choked out, "I just want to hold her! I should have protected her and we wouldn't be here."

"You can't dwell on the fact that you didn't protect her," Steve comforted, "Just like she can't dwell on the fact that Hydra made her try to kill you."