Chaos (Sequel to Agony)

Chapter 13

||"He was in pain, and he was trying his best to move forward, but she knew that nothing would change him except the love she was willing to give him."||

Her hands came up to his head, and her eyes glowed as her magic slithered out of her fingers, filling Bucky's mind.

Everything went silent as she entered his memories, and the apartment shifted, turning her surroundings translucent.

Memory after memory passed through her, showing her images of Bucky as a little boy, then as a young man, and then as Sargent Barnes.

She saw Steve, and she saw them laughing and hugging and crying. Their friendship crossed her vision like a movie, showing her every important moment in their lives, from the day they met, to the day Bucky fell off of the train. She saw all of it.

That word—Sargent—kept appearing, and then she heard a voice, one that was thick and accented, speaking it. She'd heard that voice before.

Zola.

She didn't know how she knew him, but she did.

"Sargent Barnes," she heard him say, and suddenly she felt cold, as if she were covered in ice. "The procedure's already started. You are to be the new face...of Hydra." The memory bounced around, and her senses were heightened as she followed Bucky through the memory. "Put him on ice," Zola said, and she could hear Bucky's ragged breathing and his fear and his anger.

She shuddered, watching through Bucky's perspective as the ice covered everything in his sight.

Wanda moved through the memory, looking for the instances when they fried his brain, and with the ease and carefulness that Nik had taught her, she pulled the memories out. It was like sifting through laundry, taking out the ruined clothes and throwing them away. She did it gently. so that he couldn't feel it happening. Painless.

One by one, she raised the memories, taking them with her, discarding them. She could feel herself crying, and even if she couldn't see Steve, and even if she couldn't help the tears, it still hurt.

Seeing his memories, feeling them as if they were her own, hurt her in ways she never thought was possible. She could feel the ache in her left arm; she could feel the coldness of the metal; she could taste the blood in her mouth, and she could smell the snow. Everything from his time as the winter soldier—the blood, the guns, the sounds—was now a part of her.

All of it was now hers.

When she finished wiping away the memories he wanted gone, she sorted through the ones he had left, making sure they fit so that he couldn't feel the emptiness. And then, she dropped her hands on her lap, feeling lightheaded and cold.

The room reappeared, and she felt Steve's hands on her face before she actually heard his voice. Her eyes were hot with tears, and her throat was burning up, but she was okay.

"Is this supposed to be happening?" Steve asked her, and she furrowed her brows and shrugged her shoulders.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're bleeding," he told her, and she stood up, holding onto his arm as she felt the room spin. "Sit down, I'll get some towels. Wanda, sit down," she felt him push her shoulders down, sending her back onto the couch, and she groaned in retort.

"It's fine," she mumbled, rubbing her nose. Her blood smeared all over her hand, and she took a shallow breath and forced her mind to relax. When she attempted this with Nik, it wasn't on erasing memories, it was on bringing them back. This—erasing memories—was new. It took a toll on her body, and she would need more practice if she wanted to prevent the nosebleeds and exhaustion.