{Song: War of Hearts by Ruelle (Slowed and Reverb)}
~Edited~
My brain feels all fuzzy, and my body feels like it has been stuck in a blender that was then set on fire. I could tell I was coming back towards consciousness but while my senses started to grow and become more aware, my eyes remained stuck closed and my body would not move.
"Her temperature and pulse is spiking again, sir" I hear a female with an irish accent comment.
"Are there any other changes, Banner? It's been three days." A deep male voice laced with concern asks. There was a sudden sensation of something small, cold, and circular being pressed against my chest before I hear the scratch of a pen on paper.
"Brain function and heart rate has gone back to normal, and her eyes have finally stopped glowing. She's stable. I just don't know why she's not waking up." Another male voice replies, closer to me than the other.
"It's because she nearly depleted her core energy. The tsunami should not have been able to affect her this bad, even with the opposing energy creating it. Something else must have caused her to lose focus on it." A new voice calls out, the ending of his explanation was more of a question than a statement.
"Yeah Strange, it's Bucky-" The first voice was cut off when a machine started to beep loudly, it felt like my heart had leapt out and stuttered as memories of the fight came back like a flood gate had opened at the sound of his name.
HYDRA, the tsunami, I had reversed it. But Bucky, he had been there to protect me. Bucky was with HYDRA. Again. And I was the reason he was back in his personal hellhole. I need to fix this. But how?
"I think we should talk elsewhere, she is aware of our conversation and does not deserve to find out this way." The third voice, Stephen's voice, tells the others. "Yeah, alright. The others should be at breakfast right now so we can go to the kitchen to talk." Another male voice mentions, sounding tired when he replies to Stephen. I hear multiple feet walk out and the sound of footsteps fade away to leave the room in near quiet, the only sound now was the drip of some liquid and the soft and rhythmic beep of a machine.
It feels like only seconds later that my eyes finally peel open, but the view I was met with told me it had been much longer. The soft light of the moon shines through a window of the infirmary and the lights in the room were shut off, a soft glow coming from the crack under the door that leads out into the hall helps my eyes adjust to the darkness. I slowly shift my head to the other side and see my siblings sitting in chairs, both of them asleep in uncomfortable positions.
If my soul didn't feel dead and empty right now, I would have smiled at the image of Wanda curled up on the plastic chair and Pietro with his legs slung over the metal armrest while his head was resting on Wanda's knee.
I tried to say something but my voice just turned into a harsh breath as it came out. I move my arm towards them achingly slow and finally get close enough to flick Pietro's ear. He smacks his lips together a few times and swats at my hand but remains asleep. Luckily, Wanda seemed to have sensed my new alertness as her eyes fluttered open and she met my eyes. It took a few beeps of the monitor for her to fully shake herself out of the groggy sleep state, but as soon as it registered that we were making eye contact she leapt to her feet and ran over to my side.
"What the fu-" Pietro starts to yell as his head bangs down and hits the other chair's armrest after Wanda's knee disappeared from under it but he saw what had caused the interruption in his resting and with a blur was on the other side of me and clutching my hand tightly.
"Buck-" My voice cracks out and turns into a wheeze after just one word, but it was enough for them to answer what they must have thought I was wondering.
"He was taken by HYDRA during the fight." Wanda says cautiously, gently petting my hair back from my face while she is perched on the side of the bed. I look at them both before I nod and hang my head, clearing my throat and forcing the words out, "I know," I cough but push through it, "It was... my fault." I finally get out and before I could blink Pietro was holding a glass of water which I gratefully drink, soothing my burning throat.
"I told the others that you were awake, they'll be down in a moment." Pietro mentions after I had finished the glass and he set it down on a table next to the bed. "None of them were sleeping anyways. You kept flatlining, then you would burn up or turn cold rapidly." He adds.
"It was terrifying, I thought you were goin-" Wanda's voice cracks as her eyes fill with tears. I slowly lift my hand and pull her towards me to embrace her, "I didn't. Wanda, I'm okay." I whisper roughly in reassurance. Pietro met my glance and the silent agreement to not tell her how close I really might have been to death was passed between us.
The sound of footsteps started to echo from down the hall and then the overhead light was turned on as the entire team crammed into the room. I avoid looking at Steve and Sam, and surprisingly meet the eyes of Stephen.
I can hear Tony asking questions but I ignore that as I stare straight at Stephen, "This wasn't supposed to happen." I say, strength is starting to grow in my voice. Whatever Tony had been saying was cut off as he fell silent and everyone watched the interaction I was having with Stephen in curious silence.
"I saw it, I told you exactly how it would go so you could explain it later. But it didn't happen. I did something, this happened because of me." My voice gets slightly more aggressive as I harshly poke my chest accusingly.
Stephen was eerily calm when he replied, "You saw this after you went through the universes. What did you do after you saw it that would have this big of an effect on the future?" He asks me, his hands folded neatly behind him as he lets me draw to the conclusion he found. My eyes scanned the bed sheets as I replayed the events that happened afterwards, they all pointed to one major change.
I sent a brief glance at Pietro, he had obviously come to the same conclusion but everyone else was still clearly confused. "You mean that because I-" I look back at Pietro before bowing my head again, "Because I did that, they took him instead of me?" I whisper, my voice laced with shame.
There was a single second of silence, Pietro's eyes were burning into mine with the knowledge that the two of us accidentally changed the line of events.
"How long has it been?" I ask, again interrupting a burst of questions from multiple people in the room. Tony gives me an exasperated look, flinging his hands up into the air before crossing them in front of his chest like a pouting child.
"Four days." Steve responds, I can tell he had his questions but he was also worried about stressing me too much and causing something to happen again. My eyes widen as they start to burn with tears, "He's been with them for four days?" I breathe out mostly to myself, my hand coming up to cover my mouth.
"I think it would be best if we leave her to rest and come back in the morning." Banner speaks up from where he was near some machines that were connected to me. No one fought this suggestion, Nat gives my leg a small squeeze as she and Barton leave, dragging out Tony who was still bursting with questions he wanted answered. Bruce followed and Sam stepped towards the door before turning back to wait for Steve.
He hadn't taken his eyes off of me, he seemed to be thinking of what I was planning. He knew I wasn't going to rest, I could tell from his mind. As he finally turned to leave I could hear in his mind that he was still battling himself on helping me get Bucky back or forcing me to stay in bed.
But he didn't think I would try something so soon, he was wrong.
"You guys don't have to stay here. I know the chairs are uncomfortable. At least go sleep in your beds for a few hours." I tell my siblings when neither of them made a move towards the door, making sure not to mention how I wouldn't be here when they got back, we had promised to never lie to each other.
Pietro nodded but Wanda was more reluctant. I gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand before faking a yawn and fluffing the pillow behind me to make it seem like I was going to sleep as well. I waited for the sound of their minds to fade towards the residential wing before I swung my feet off the bed and slowly tried to stand.
I take a moment to stand straight and after failing to pull up my ability to blend with my surroundings without feeling a wave of dizziness, I cautiously slip out of the room and make a beeline for my bedroom, avoiding any area that had any mind present. When I get to my room I shuffle through my closet and grab a bunch of clothes before walking back out and pausing.
"I know you're there, might as well come out." I say as I turn towards the doorway, my arm heavily leaning on the bed frame. I watch as a woman dressed in a SHIELD doctors uniform walks into my room, she nods at me with a small smirk.
"You're not SHIELD." I state but she nods in confirmation as if I had asked her, "HYDRA then. So you must be here to kidnap me." I continue as I stand up straight and study the articles of clothing I had grabbed from my closet without turning on the light.
"Not so much, we thought giving you a choice would be easier." She responds, the tone of her voice made it sound like there was no choice. I finally decide on pants and a long sleeve shirt, shoving the other pieces of clothing to the side.
"Right, a choice," I force a breathy laugh before turning towards her a bit, "Let me guess, me for Bucky?" She nods again in confirmation, how original. I look away from her and focus my gaze out the window, closing my eyes and breathing deeply before grabbing the clothes off my bed.
"Where?" I whisper, my eyes still closed tightly.
"A warehouse not far from here, there is a car waiting one mile down the road out of sight that will take you if you can get out of the building without alerting the others. If anyone else follows, your lover won't see the morning." She smiles with a sick satisfaction.
"I want a promise that if I willingly come with you then he won't be harmed. And he will be delivered back to the Avengers." I negotiate, she seemed to expect a little push back and acquiesced to the demands, "Of course, as long as you come willingly and cooperate." She adds in.
I nod but don't respond, when she doesn't make a move to leave the room I turn on her with my eyes blazing, "I'll be there in a moment. Now I'm about to change so unless you're going to pay for the show, leave." I nearly snarl at her, my patience has run dry and if Bucky hadn't been at HYDRA's mercy I would have snapped this woman's neck without a second thought.
She rolls her eyes but slips outside, the door clicking closed behind her. I can feel the slight fear that shrouded her mind as she walked farther away from the door, she was good at hiding it though. I change as quickly as possible, my limbs still feel stiff and my stomach is aching since it hasn't had anything solid in four days.
I slowly make my way through the building, luckily there was a back exit away from the living room and kitchen so no one heard or saw me as I exit my room. The alarms have been deactivated and I have a feeling the HYDRA agent was responsible for that. I silently trudge across the lawn towards the road that leads out, the outline of a small car was soon visible as I made it farther from the compound.
I look back at the compound as I get to the edge of the treeline, there was a light on in the living room and I could see a solitary figure looking out towards me. I knew it was Stephen even though I could not see him clearly.
'Don't tell them yet, I still don't know where they are taking me. I will try and contact you once I know the location.' I send to him mentally. I don't hear a reply but as I turn away I think I see the figure raise a hand as a sort of wave before the light is switched off and I turn to get into the car.
There was only a driver, the woman who had met with me was not inside the car as it started down the road. I was sitting tense and never moved my eyes from the window, the driver's mind was wide open and I found out which warehouse we were going to but that wouldn't help me until I was sure Buck was there.
The car pulled up a gravel driveway and stopped beside a deserted warehouse with faded paint on the outside that read 'Jet Corps: Manufacturers of Engines Since 1936'. The driver never moved, so I opened the door and stepped out into the night air. I looked around me, studying my surroundings, before making my way into the warehouse.
There was one large open room with several smaller office-like rooms on the side, in the center of the main room were two men, waiting patiently with a light sending their distorted shadows across the walls. One of them clearly held out dampening cuffs while the other was taller and stood with an air of authority with his hands folded in front of him. They were both armed with guns, not hiding that fact from me.
"Thank you for coming, Alika." The taller man nods as I step into the pool of light.
"Where is he?" I ask right away. He raises one of his hands and beckons with two fingers, a rustling was heard from one of the side rooms as two large men dragged a slumped figure towards us. They drop him a few paces from me and I rush to his side, kneeling down on the dusty ground as I run my hands lightly across his face to make sure he was unharmed.
"Now, to ensure you will comply and keep your end of the deal, please put the cuffs on." The man says, motioning for the other one to throw me the cuffs. I caught them easily and with a death glare centered on the tall man, I clicked them into place on my wrists.
His mouth twists into a sick smile before he turns and whistles loudly, a large truck rumbles into the wide room. One of the large men swing the back doors open and the tall man gestures for me to get in the back.
"You said Bucky would be delivered to the Avengers." I remind them, the man sighs heavily before plucking a phone from his pocket and tossing it towards me, "Call them. Tell them where to get him. He will remain here, unharmed." He promises, leaning against the side of the truck as the other small man hops into the back along with one of the larger men.
I quickly type in a number and bring it to my ear, I feel Bucky start to stir next to me and place my hand against his cheek, tears slowly rolling down my cheeks. I hear the phone ring and pray that he picks up and doesn't let it go to voicemail.
"Hello?" Steve's voice was groggy from sleep, I can hear what sounded like Nat in the background but ignore it and push on.
"Steve, it's me." I pause and he lets out a confused, "Ali what-" but I cut him off and continue, "Listen, get to Jet Corps in Highland as fast as you can. It's an abandoned warehouse near the Hudson." I tell him before ending the call and sliding the phone back towards the man who picks it up and easily breaks it in half, throwing away the remains.
I leaned down and lightly kissed Bucky on the lips, his eyes fluttered open but he still wasn't totally coherent, "Ali.. what?" He mumbles as he tries to wake up completely.
"I'm sorry. But you weren't supposed to go through this. I hope you will understand in time, but this was always the path that had to happen." I whisper softly as I bury my face in his chest, taking a large and steadying breath in.
"Let's go." The man grumbles impatiently.
I kiss Bucky once more before pushing away, my tears had fallen onto him and glistened against his skin, "I love you, James." I tell him softly before turning away, wiping my tears away from my face, and heaving myself into the back of the truck.
The second large man slammed the door closed before lumbering up to the front and getting in the driver's seat while the tall man got in the passenger seat. I watched sadly as Bucky was left in the circle of light, getting smaller as we got farther away.
The last thing I saw was him flipping over to his stomach and turning his head to watch the truck leave into the night. I press my hand against the window, hoping Steve gets here soon. Once I can't see the warehouse anymore I lean against the side of the truck and let out a heavy sigh.
I fiddled with a bracelet on my wrist, the single bead was a reassuring beacon in a dark future. I hung my head, letting my hair act as a curtain between me and the men in the back with me to hide the small smirk that was playing at my lips. Stark's tracking bracelet securely strapped to my wrist as we got farther from my family and closer to the unknown.
~A/N~
HYDRA stands for Human Youngsters Dancing Really Awkwardly