BLUE [BUCKY BARNES]

DON'T GIVE ME HOPE

"He figured it out," Elizabeth said even though she knew that Natasha already heard the news from Pietro. "Tony can do it, time travel."

"We'd still have to try it out first," Natasha spoke and looked past the words on the screen and locked eyes with Elizabeth. The white tips of her long hair tinted blue from the other side of the screen. "Do a test run and all that."

Natasha was still scarred from their recent test run turned failure with Scott and Bruce. Not exactly eager to have another one of her friends come back looking a lot different than when they left.

"We also need to get the rest of the team here," Elizabeth added as she jutted her chin to the screen. "We could use all the help we could get."

Natasha sighed and Elizabeth could feel her doubt creeping in slowly. "We don't even know what would happen," she thought aloud with a frown. "It could all fall apart."

"Maybe," Elizabeth agreed with a shrug. "But if there's one thing I do know, it's that Tony loves to be right."

***

Elizabeth unlocked the door to Emilie's apartment using the key she was given. As she walked inside the apartment was empty but the lights were on. She walked a few feet to the stove to see a pot of boiling water on the fire. The pot nearly overflowing.

"Emilie?" Elizabeth called out with her hands clenched by her sides. She got no response and immediately her heartbeat quickened. She turned off the stove and listened for any other noises in the apartment.

There was the sound of running water  coming from the bathroom and made her way over to the sound. Carefully, she leaned against the wall by the bathroom door as she tried to sense the emotions of the person inside.

Anger and sadness was evident in the person but there was no hostility so she relaxed slightly. She had raised a hand to knock on the door to check on Emilie but stopped when she heard a muffled male voice from inside.

She recognised that voice, Elizabeth thought and it all clicked why Emilie wasn't feeling too great. Knocking on the door, Elizabeth spoke. "Emilie?" She asked softly. "Emilie are you okay?"

There was a reply that she couldn't hear over the sound of the running water. Sighing, Elizabeth turned the door handle to find it unlocked. "I'm coming in!" She announced before opening the door, her free hand covering her eyes just in case.

Elizabeth heard a light laugh from Emilie. "It is not pretty," She began in her French accent that was slowly disappearing. "But you can open your eyes."

Opening her eyes, Elizabeth looked ahead to see the open shower curtain. The water running from the shower into the empty space. There was a thin layer of steam in the room as she looked around for Emilie.

Elizabeth's eyes softened when she saw Emilie sitting on the tiled floor with her back against the wall. She was fully clothed and had her knees bent up with her arms pressed against them. Her head was bent over the phone in her hand.

Reaching over, Elizabeth turned off the shower. Without the loud sound of water pattering on the tiles, she could hear Emilie's quiet sniffles and what the voice on the phone was saying.

"Hey, Em," Luke's voice came out through the phone and Elizabeth saw as Emilie smiled through the tears at the nickname. "Um, I don't know what kind of snacks you want and you're not picking up the phone. Meaning you've probably already started Clueless without me-"

The voicemail stopped when Emilie turned her phone off, looking up at Elizabeth with teary eyes. "That was from six years ago," she stated as she wiped at the tears in her eyes. "But it feels like a lifetime ago."

Elizabeth leaned her back against the wall and slid down until she sat beside Emilie. "You know, sometimes I think I forget what his voice sounds like," she began as she tried to keep her voice steady.

She thought of the last thing that Bucky had said to her and cursed when she remembered that it wasn't even a full sentence. She was to blame for that, she had been the one not ready to accept that that was their goodbye. The unspoken words driving her mad even after all this time.

"But then I go to sleep and it all comes back. So I don't think the people you love could ever really be gone."  Elizabeth finished with a sad smile knowing that her dreams were the only place where she could truly be happy. The place where they had managed to say goodbye properly or even one where they never had to say goodbye at all. But then she remembered their small one in a million chance.

She placed her hand over Emilie's knee, making her look at Elizabeth. "We might have a way of bringing them back," she said slowly and watched as the gears turned in Emilie's head. "We have a chance to-"

"That's what you told me five years ago," Emilie cut her off and Elizabeth saw the instant regret in her eyes. "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair," She immediately apologised when she saw the look of hurt that crossed Elizabeth's face.

"You're not wrong," Elizabeth replied as she recalled what she told Emilie over the phone all those years ago. "It's just, something is different now. Someone who was supposed to be gone, is right back at the compound."

Emilie shook her head as she held back tears in her dark eyes. "Please don't, " she began and Elizabeth could feel how tired she was. "Please don't give me hope."

"I'm sorry I'm so late to give it to you," Elizabeth said as she moved her hand to squeeze Emilie's one tightly. "We're gonna get him back."

Emilie let a small smile slip onto her face just as she pulled Elizabeth into a hug. And as Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Emilie, she knew the him she was thinking about was not who Emilie had in mind.