Connections

32: Memories

"You okay?" He asked. I kept my sight on the ceiling and nodded my head.

"Yeah, the memories they suppressed are flooding back all at once." I took a deep breath as another sharp pain came through. I rolled my eyes and squinted a bit as well all fell silent.

I took another deep breath and leaned my body over my knees.

"I remember everything now." I said quietly. My heart felt like it was breaking as began thought back to everything, "I was there with him at the Hydra base. They used him a leverage so I wouldn't try to escape. Then erased any memory I had of him being there before Tony got me." I leaned back again and looked back down on the floor. I shook my head and closed my eyes. I felt the tears beginning to develop. I tried my best to swallow them back.

"He's been trapped there for so long and I forgot." I said.

"You didn't forget. Your memory was wiped. You can't blame yourself for that." Sam spoke up. I shifted my eyes over to him as he gave me a stern look. I felt the tears falling down my cheek. My lips twitched as I tried to hold my emotions back.

"I still should've remembered. How does someone forget the love of their life didn't actually freaking die." I said, "Out of all the memories I regained, that one I didn't?" I scoffed and shook my head. I felt Steve reaching his hand out from under the large cuffs on his wrists and grabbing mine. He squeezed it tightly as I rubbed my eyes against my shirt. I heard a slight soft moan in front of me as Steve let go of my hand.

Both Sam and I looked over at Natasha as she leaned her bead back. My eyes focused down to her shoulder. A red liquid was flow out and stained her jacket. She had been shot and was bleeding tremendously. Sam quickly turned to the guard next to him.

"We need to get a doctor here. We don't put pressure on that wound she's gonna bleed out." Sam demanded. The two guards just stared as we all waited for some sort of assistance. Sam began to become annoyed. Before any of us could react the guard next to Sam pulled out an electric rod. They slammed it into the other one and neutralized him before knocking him out. We all stared in silence as the guard lifted their hands to their helmet. They pulled it off and let out a long sigh.

Agent Hill sat by us shaking her head.

"Ah, that thing was squeezing my brain." She said as she closed her eyes then opened them to refocus on us. Sam looked at her confused as I let out a sigh of relief. She looked over at Sam then back at Steve and I.

"Who's this guy?" She asked. Sam being the new guy had been throwing people off. Sam shook his head as I let out a soft chuckle.

Agent Hill manages to break all of us out. When we escaped she took us into a abandoned secret facility. We walked through the dark concert covered halls as Steve held onto Natasha. Her wound had gotten worse and she was close to passing out. Two doctors ran up to Natasha getting ready to take her.

"She'll want to see him first." Hill responded. She walked us towards a door and opened it up. We all walked in slowly.

I took a sharp breath as I muttered to myself, "You're kidding me." I stared up as Fury laid in a bed in front of us. A doctor sat on the side as they sat Nat down. He began looking at her wounds as Fury just stared at us.

"About damn time." He said casually.

We sat around as Fury began to explain how he was alive. All the injuries he had gained from everything before. Natasha sat as the doctor finished stitching her up. I leaned against the door frame, my arms crossed.

"Why all the secrecy?" I asked.

"Any attempt of the directors life had to look successful." Hill answered. I shook my head and glared.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust." He finished as he looked over at me.

I scoffed, "You trusted me warning me about Shield, but not you being alive?"

"I wasn't sure how deep it ran. I needed to be sure you still followed my orders even after I died." Fury replied back. I rolled my eyes and just kept glaring. All this was getting to me. I felt the anger begin to boil. I quickly turned around and walked out of the room.

"Why is she so angry." I could hear Fury ask. I walked away before anything else was said. This was all too much. Another person close to me still alive. My head was spinning. Bucky being at that bridge. Being the Winter Soldier once more. I leaned against the wall. I took a deep breath as my body slid down against it. I wrapped my arms around my legs tightly before burring my head into it.

The headaches were returning once more. Along with the tears. I took deep breaths trying to make sense of everything. I heard footsteps come up beside me before stopping. I pulled my head away as Steve stood beside me. His hands shoved into his pockets.

"I guess I should've listened to you." Steve began to speak. I didn't say anything. Just kept my stare to the ground. Steve could tell I was beating myself up. "Layla don't blame-"

"He remembered." I stopped him before he could finish. I turned my head to him. I could see the astonished look on his face, "He remembered...when we were at the beach house in Florida."

Steve walked closer to me, "Layla..."

The tears fell. My nose began to run a bit. I took a deep breath and leaned my head against the wall. I looked up at the ceiling. Remembering our short lived love story at the beach house. I shifted my gaze over to Steve. The pain in his eyes matching mine.

"I told him we'd get us both out." My voice was cracking and shaking, "I made him promise not to let them know he got his memories back. I made him stand there and do nothing while I was tortured. But when they wiped my memories he snapped."

Steve looked down at the ground and nodded his head. He took a deep breath and sat down next to me. I looked back down at my hands. I clenched them together to stop them from shaking.

"He risked his life...freedom from Hydra. Just to get me out."

Steve said nothing. Just let me cry it out. He wrapped his arm over my shoulder. He pulled me close to him as I leaned my head against his shoulder. He just let me sit there and cry. Let it all out all at once.

I knew I needed to go back and figure things out with Fury. Figure out what our next plan was. However, I needed this moment. Steve being the man that he is was letting me have it. I could tell he needed it too. The love of my life, his best friend, was alive. We both couldn't believe it.