Leave Me Behind [Winter Soldier] III

Behind [Chapter 30]

"Tonight

You just close your eyes

And I just watch you

Slip away

How close am I

To losing you"

"About Today" -The National

There was so much left to be said, but no words came out. Half an hour later, T'Challa, M'Baku, Wanda, Sam and Shuri came in, quietly, all together. Shuri was holding them back, having seen that Ophelia and Bucky were talking and not wanting to disrupt them. After an acceptable amount of time, Shuri decided she had to run some tests and take a look at some things, and the suspense was killing her, she needed to know how things went with the stone.

M'Baku was the one who barrelled through the room, passing Shuri quickly. His massive frame took up so much space by the bedframe, and made Ophelia look even smaller than she already was. Both her and Bucky looked up at M'Baku, his face contorted in something between anger and despair.

"Little Wolf," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You must fight."

"I've been fighting my whole life, M'Baku," she said to him. "I can't do it any longer."

"Tsk," he grunted. "Life is a battle; one we fight every day."

"You're a good father, and a good friend." Ophelia sighed, sitting up even more, the pain ebbed for a moment and she was able to breathe without feeling sick to her stomach. The pain had been so unbearable that nausea was coming in short burst waves.

"T'Challa," M'Baku said, turning towards the King. "Can you wed them?"

Bucky and Ophelia looked at one another, a moment forgetting what was going on, a moment of gentle laughter. This union meant more to M'Baku than anyone else, and Ophelia would go through with it, she decided. The stone told her she was Ophelia Ivanova, but she did not accept that. The name meant nothing, the name was associated with those who did not care about her, a name associated with HYDRA.

She would be Ophelia Barnes when she died.

There was a sick feeling when she realized she was going to make Bucky a widow.

"As King, it would be my honour," T'Challa said, walking towards the end of the bed. "If you two want this."

Ophelia cocked her head to the side as she looked at Bucky. "Yes."

"Yes," Bucky echoed.

"I'm not quite marriage ready, my hair's a mess and I know I have dark circles under my eyes," Ophelia offered a sad attempt at a joke. Her words were hoarse, too soft to offer real humour.

But Bucky understood. 

"Just like Romania," Bucky joked. "Just how I will always remember you. Beautiful."

Ophelia flushed, a flip flop sensation in her stomach. Surrounding them now were the rest of them. Sam stood with his hands folded in front of him, the occasional flicker of his eyes glancing at her; she could see the sadness in them. 

It was Wanda who looked serene; she couldn't stop what the stone was doing to Ophelia but knew she had helped Ophelia to the best of her ability. After suffering so many brutal losses, Wanda was hard as a rock. Ophelia envied her, but for once, was not in someone else's head. Had she been, she would have known that this moment would be the final straw that broke her. Had Ophelia glimpsed inside Wanda's mind, she would have seen just how fragmented she was. How close to desolation.