The moment his name left my lips, my head was flooded with blurry images of him and I. Conversations, interactions, him looking down at me with those crystal blue eyes while talking. I couldn't hear what he was saying though, like I was watching a very out of focus movie with it on mute. I could almost feel the way he held me and the feel of smooth metal against my bare skin
I remember the way he made me feel. Safe, warm, happy, protected... it was all too much to take in at once for my fried brain. Wires seemed to zap together and I felt like I got hit over the head by a truck
His joyful hope filled expression quickly changes to one of concern as I let out a pained gasp and grab the side of my head. He started to reach his arm out in a comforting manner to steady me but stopped himself short, unsure if he should touch me and further my mental overload. I instinctively place my hand on his outstretched arm as I start to wobble, my vision becoming even more blurry and not caring about the overstimulation I receive from touching him
"Amelia?" His voice fills my ears and suddenly that's all I hear. Every memory of him saying my name now floods my brain. Him jokingly saying my name, humor lacing the single word, a serious tone, a sleepy grumbly tone, a worried tone, a... breathy more intimate tone
"I- I don't feel-" before I could finish stuttering out my words I feel my body and mind shut down. I crumble into him as my eyes flutter closed. His arms instantly wrap around me to hold me up
"Hey, hey I got ya. Stay with me doll." His velvety voice sounds far away, like he's in a tunnel, as I fully lose consciousness.
"How's she doing?" A male voice speaks, it sounded like I was underwater, everything warbly and muffled. But I recognize it to be Steve's voice. As the ringing in my ears slowly subside, I can finally hear more clearly. A faint beeping sound from a machine can be heard next to me to which I recognize as a heart rate monitor
"She's stable, Dr. Banner did everything he could to help with her memory loss and we've contacted Shuri to help further the progress. For now she needs a lot of rest." The presumed doctor responds before I hear a door close
I want to open my eyes and look at Steve, it feels like years since I've seen him, but my eyes stay glued shut. It's as if someone had sewn them closed. No matter how hard I tried to will them open, they wouldn't budge. I wanted to cry out for help but my mouth didn't want to work either. I'm stuck in almost a comatose state. I try as hard as I can to do something, anything, and let whoever's all in the room with me know that I'm awake but my body doesn't even flinch
Steve, please for the love of all gods, help me. Notice that I'm awake PLEASE
But all I hear is a heavy sigh from him followed by a couple of footsteps and the sound of him sitting in a chair. Silence filling the air, the only noise coming from my heart rate monitor, and I'm left alone with my thoughts. A dangerous thing honestly
But I start thinking of Steve and the memories of us come at me like a tidal wave. Though the memories were hazy, I could remember all the things we did together. Training, eating, laughing, and our serious talk on the roof all that time ago. It felt like a lifetime ago. Then I started to think of the last time I saw him. A building crumbling around us and a grenade landing in the rubble between us as him and Bucky ran towards me...
Tears stung my closed eyes at the memory. All this time they must've been so worried about me. I can only imagine the pain and suffering I've caused them. All because I wasn't strong enough to keep my powers up
I wasn't ready
A gentle knock on the door snaps me out of my pitiful thoughts, as I now focus on the newcomer
"Any news?" A gravelly voice speaks. I almost want to start crying as I recognize it to be Buckys. He sounded so tired and drained. All because of me
"Doc says she's stable. Banner seems to have helped move her memory recovery in the right direction. Shuri was contacted and will help fix any loose ends."
Bucky doesn't respond but instead let's out an understanding heavy sigh. Steve lets out a sigh of his own, the room falling back into silence. They both sound ungodly tired. Like they haven't slept in days. Which, maybe they haven't. Too busy worrying about me
How long have I been like this anyways?
"I'm gonna get a drink, want anything?" Steve asks. For a moment I almost open my mouth to respond as my palette is bone dry and I'd love nothing more than a big jug of water
I don't hear a response but I do hear Steve get up from his chair and the door open and close once more. A heavy sigh fills my ears again, followed by the thumping of boots getting closer to me. Something grazes over my fingertips, making me want to instinctively flinch away but I couldn't. A hand gently entwines our fingers, using their thumb to rub the top of mine. My nostrils are filled with the familiar scent of a forest
Bucky
I want to squeeze his hand and let him know I'm here, I'm okay and awake. But again my body doesn't want to obey me
"Hey... doll... I uhm-" he spoke just above a whisper and I drank up every word he said
Doll
If I were able to I'd probably be a blushing mess right now. THE James Barnes is holding MY hand and calling me DOLL. Any woman would kill for this opportunity. Though, I'm not sure why he's doing this with me, last I can remember we were just close friends like Steve and I. Right?
"God this might be stupid but... I read that talking to you might help you wake up so- here goes nothing," he seems hesitant at his words but I'm thriving for them
"I just want you to know I-" he pauses to correct himself, -we never stopped looking for you. All of us. We never gave up on you. Please babydoll,"
My eyes start watering at the familiar pet name. I can't pinpoint why it's a relief to hear him say it but it makes me melt
"Please don't forget about me... I don't know what I'll do if you do." He sounds so heartbroken and I can only imagine tears in his eyes as well. Hearing him like this only makes me feel that more worse, knowing I'm causing my friend this pain only furthers my dark thoughts
Then, as if my entire body finally connected with my brain, I clench his hand in mine, shocking us both
Yes! Finally!
He's stunned at first but gently places his metal hand on top of our entwined fingers as I scrunch my face, prying my eyes slowly open. The bright light in the room blinding me as I do so. I raise my free hand to shield my eyes and notice just how shaky I am with my movements and I let out a discomforted sigh
Why do all medical rooms have to be bright fucking white? Don't they know it only blinds the patient when they wake up?
As my eyes adjust to the lighting I lower my hand to lay across my stomach. I turn slightly to look at Bucky, almost shocked to see he wasn't crying like I thought he'd be. Instead his face was blank of all emotion which threw me off. I figured he'd be overjoyed that I'm awake but it was like I was looking at a brick wall
"Uhm... hey." I grumble out, my voice raspy and dry. At my words, his expression lights up like the sun. Had I not felt like I just got pummeled by the Hulkbuster I'd smile at his new reaction
"Hey," he breathes out again in a whisper. "How ya feelin'? Do you want me to get the doc?" His concern rising to the surface. I shake my head, instantly regretting the semi-fast movement as it rattled my fragile brain around
"No, no.. I'm okay. Just a headache." I croak out. Bucky notices my voice and quickly reaches behind him, grabbing a glass of water on a tiny table that also had a couple bottles of pills I'm assuming to be mine
"Here, you sound like you need it." Amusement trickles from his words and I shakily take the glass from him. I resist the urge to down the glass to quench my thirst and instead slowly sip it, allowing the delicious liquid to coat every inch of my mouth and throat
It's when I hand him the half empty glass I notice a band around my wrist that I don't recognize. It was thin and wide, pure black, some sort of metal material and clung to me comfortably. Both my wrists had them. I furrow my brows as I release Buckys hands and examine the bands
What the fuck? I don't remember these
As if he read my thoughts, Bucky clears his throat and I look away from my arms. "Stark made those to neutralize your abilities until him and Banner know what they're dealing with. Figured it would be nicer than what you had before." He motions to my neck
I raise a hand to my neck and realize that the heavy torture device was nowhere to be seen or felt. I let out a sigh of relief, dropping my hands back to my sides and fluttering my eyes closed once more. We sat in a comfortable silence as I collected more and more of my mind the best I could. Bucky understood to be silent and let me relax to which I'm thankful for
"How long have I been here?" I finally ask and hear Bucky shift in his seat before answering
"Four days." He states
Fours DAYS?! I've been unconscious for FOUR DAYS? It only felt like minutes since I was on the jet with everyone!
I groan at his response
"I'm sorry-"
"What are you apologizing for? You did nothing wrong." Bucky interrupted. To be honest, I'm not even sure what I was apologizing for. It was just the first thing that came to me
"I guess... I guess for making you all worry about me." I respond more as a question than a statement. His hand grabs mine once more and I flinch at the sudden contact but immediately accept his small embrace
"Don't be doll. We're a team, it's what we do." He gives my hand a gentle squeeze before the door to the room slowly swings open. I flick my eyes open to see who's entering and land on a pair or beautiful blue/green eyes
"Steve..!" A smile spreads across my face as he enters holding a cup of steaming coffee. His face softens and his eyes light up at the sight of me finally awake
"Hey, how're you feeling?" He places his cup of coffee on the table behind Bucky, standing next to him and the bed I'm currently in. I slowly shrug, not wanting to move much before I regain enough strength
"I'm fine, just a killer headache." I look up at him, gloom creeping it's way into my mind as I take in the sight of them
They both had bags under their eyes from lack of sleep. Bucky looked slimmer than the last time I remember, but that's all a mild blur so I can't trust that judgement. Truthfully they both looked like they could drop at any second from either starvation or exhaustion
I'm afraid to see how the rest of the team looks...
"Well hey, you take some meds, get some more rest and we'll let the team know you're awake. Deal?" Steve raises his eyebrows at me towards the end of his sentence, giving off a dad vibe. He grabs a bottle of medicine from the small table and pours out two tablets into my hand for me before handing me to glass of water
"If I'm getting rest, then so are you two. You both look like hell." I pop the pills in my mouth and gulp them down with the last of my water. They both simultaneously smirk at me, Bucky letting out a huff in amusement
"Did somebody call for a genius?" A new voice speaks as the door is once again pushed open, revealing Shuri. She steps into the room, wheeling what looks like a suitcase behind her and smiles at Bucky. "Good to see you again White Wolf."
Bucky dips his head in a greeting before Steve clasps a hand on his shoulder. "Looks like that's the queue to leave pal. Let us know when you're done Shuri." He looks to the young woman as she nods and shoos both men out before closing the door and turning to me. She smiles as if she genuinely enjoys prodding at people's minds which makes me hesitant but, I know she's the best
"Ready?"
.