Finding Memories

Chapter One.

Bucky asked one of the assistants to bring a change of clothes for their Jane Doe as they had done the last few checkups on her, making sure she was okay with being released within the next hour. Bucky made sure to stay close by through it all.

He seemed to be the only one with whom she had a sense of ease with being the only familiar face in her new environment. They didn't have much outside of that, keeping her from completely freaking out.

However, she seemed more relaxed now that she had been taken care of properly and wasn't in immediate danger like she was used to.

"Thanks, Stark," he replied through the phone before ending the call and turning back to the girl. "You have a place to stay here if you want," he smiled softly as she fidgeted with the plastic medical bracelet that hung loose on her wrist.

She nodded absentmindedly in response, monitoring her surroundings while anxiously picking at the laminated name, Jane Doe, they had put on her.

"Natasha, one of my teammates who helped us find you, said she's happy to help you get anything you need. We have an extra room down the hall from her, and she's already got you set up with all the necessities until we get you back on your feet," he explained as he watched her zone in on the beeping coming from the monitor, still hooked up to her blood pressure. "If you need anything outside of that, just let me know, and we'll figure something out."

She never gave any indication that she acknowledged him this time, but he knew that look on her face. The reality of the situation was setting in, and with it, harsh drowning waves of flashbacks.

She didn't know her name. She didn't really know where she was. The only familiar person around her was still a stranger. Who knew how long she had been at that torturous facility? And they knew nothing besides the little bits of intel they had recovered from the database, which was still in the process of being hacked.

"I know this is a lot," he started softly and carefully moved to crouch in front of her, making himself smaller. "I know what I say may be taken with a grain of salt for you, but I understand all this from where you're sitting. It's a long process of piecing things back together and coming to terms with all that happened and how. But from experience, I can promise you there is a way out of that dark tunnel that feels like it's closing in on you."

She looked at him, eyes still harboring a sense of anxiety but more so horror at the memories she knew would resurface now that she had to process them. And she had to process them. That was the only way she knew she could move on from this situation and figure out what the hell happened to her.

Breaking her eye contact from him, she adjusted on the edge of the hospital bed and straightened the hand-me-down sweatshirt she was given for the time being.

"H-How much longer do I have to stay here?" she asked. Her voice was still raspy, but with time and lots of hydration, she was slowly regaining it.

Bucky was happy she wasn't completely mute. It showed a strength in her that he knew would pull through with time. It was all a matter of how much time, though.

"Alma said within the next hour, if you're still ok, we can go ahead and get you moved. They want to make sure you aren't going to have a reaction to any of the antibiotics they gave you," he replied.

For some reason, she wanted to laugh at that thought. Antibiotics would be water compared to the things she had injected into her in the past. There wouldn't be any side effects, and she knew that.

At that moment, her stomach reminded the two that she hadn't had solid food for the whole time she was there. Who knows how long it had been before then, too?