Rome, Bucky Barnes

twenty

"hey." Bucky greeted, as he walked into Makenna's room. "hey." she smiled, turning around in her chair. "what are you doing?" Bucky asked, lying on his side in Makenna's bed. "mission report from last week." Makenna replied, turning back to her computer.

"how you feeling?" Bucky questioned. "my stomach doesn't hurt, but my arm is still in pain." Makenna replied, "they said it's cause the bullet caused nerve damage."

"come here." Bucky said, flipping to his back and holding out his arms. "i'm busy, Buck." Makenna laughed, as she looked over at him. "just come here for a second." Bucky smiled, making the girl roll her eyes.

she got up, and walked over to the bed, laying on Bucky's chest. making sure to be careful of her right arm. "mmm." Bucky hummed in satisfaction, "i love you." "i love you too." Makenna grinned.

"i think..." Bucky took a deep breath, "i think it's time we talk." "i... yeah." Makenna nodded, sitting up. Bucky moved against the headboard, and Makenna sat on his thighs.

"i don't remember him." Makenna started, "that man, i mean. i remember everything else." "okay." Bucky nodded, carefully taking the girl's hands in his own.

"you know that i was kidnapped. i told you that, but i also told you there's a lot more that you didn't know." Makenna reminded him, "when i... while i was there they tortured me."

"like bad. well, you know." "i do." Bucky nodded. he could already feel his eyes getting cloudy with tears. "they put me through all sorts of tests, and well, you were there. he was there." Makenna explained.

"they had me fight him. like, everyday. but, one day, after days of testing, and no break, they had us fighting, and..." Makenna's voice broke, and her eyes filled with tears, "and, he killed me."

"my heart literally stopped, and i died. they had to shock me back to life, to... to get my heart to beat again. he... he killed me." Makenna choked out, as tears ran down her face.

"i... i killed you?" Bucky asked, barely above a whisper, as tears fell down his face. "no. no. he killed me." Makenna shook her head. "me, him, we're one and the same." Bucky denied, as Makenna tucked some hair behind his ear.

"i don't blame you." Makenna cried, "i don't blame you." "but, it was me." Bucky reiterated. "no. it wasn't. it was him. you and him aren't the same. you know why? because, i know you would never hurt me." Makenna sobbed, as she held her boyfriend's face.

"and, i need you to know that, okay? i need you to know that i don't blame you. that i have never blamed you, okay? just, tell me that you know that i don't blame you. that i love you, and you didn't do this, okay? can you tell me that?" Makenna's rambled, as tears streamed down her face.

"okay. okay." Bucky nodded, as he wrapped his arms around her. "okay?" Makenna croaked. "okay." he cried, as he ran his hand through her hair.

Makenna and Bucky just sat there crying in each other's arms for what felt like hours.

. . .

"how's your range of motion in your arm?" Ryan asked, as he inspected Makenna's sutures. "fine." Makenna sniffled. "can i take a look?" he asked, as he lowered the girls shirt. "yeah." Makenna shrugged.

she carefully removed the sling off her arm. her abdomen had healed quickly, due to the enhanced healing. on the other hand, Makenna's arm had taken a lot longer to heal, due to the damage of the nerves.

"okay." Ryan said, as he started his exam. "it's not normal for it to hurt this long." Makenna stated, as Ryan crossed her arm over her body, "ow."

"sorry." he apologized, "it's normal for a... normal person, i guess." "but, i'm not normal." Makenna pointed out. "right." Ryan nodded.