You had regained consciousness about 45 minutes into the flight, you tried to fight the straps keeping you in your seat, you needed to leave. You didn't know these people. But that 'Bucky' guy kept you held down until Tony injected you with something, knocking you unconscious again.
Next thing you knew, you were in a hospital bed. Much nicer than the ones you remembered at the HYDRA base, this one was clean and tidy, and quiet. And that same 'Bucky' guy was sat next to you in your seat.
"Hey, y/n." He said, helping you with the cushions behind you to make you more comfortable.
"I don't-"
You didn't understand, why you where here, who this man was, or what was happening.
The last thing you remembered was fighting Captain America.
—
Before you woke up...
Bruce walked up to Bucky, dressed in his usual doctor gear, lab coat and converse shoes.
"Bucky, hey." He said softly, sitting next to him.
Bucky was next to you. He had been for hours. Everyone else had warned him that you were dangerous, that you were too unpredictable. Everyone said that Bucky should stay away from you until you were back to your old self, but he had to be near you, he just had to be. Bucky had lost you once and those few weeks had been the worst of his life. And right now, sitting in his chair watching your unconscious body, he vowed that he would never leave you again.
"Hey, Bruce." Bucky replied, a soft, but sad smile on his face.
"How are you coping?" He asked nicely.
"I've been better." Bucky nervously laughed.
"I got this formula from Wakanda." Bruce said, getting straight to the point. "As soon as she's awake, she needs to drink it. We can't waste anymore time."
Bucky agreed, and held the cup of purple liquid in his hands, waiting on you to wake up.
—
"Y/N." Bucky said, once he noticed you were sitting comfortably.
You didn't know how to answer, you were just waiting on commands from HYDRA agents- that's all you knew... That's all you remembered.
"Y/N, I need you to drink this."
He showed her the glass of purple liquid, you looked at it, and cautiously took it from him.
"Good, come on, drink it- please." Bucky said, keeping his voice calm and collected.
Bucky had an idea of how to act in this situation, after all a few years ago he was on the receiving end.
You took the cup, and downed the glass, watching as Buckys smile grew wider.
He had hope again, for the first time in 3 and a half weeks Bucky was smiling, but that smile instantly faded when you fell unconscious again.
"Banner?" He asked, standing out of his chair next to you and running to the door, "BANNER?!"
He was panicking now, was he losing you again?
"Bruce, she's not moving. She drank it and passed out." Bucky burst through the doors of Bruce's office.
Bruce looked up, adjusting his glasses, and stood up ready for Bucky to lead him to you.
—
"Y/N," Bucky was sitting in the chair next to your bed again, it had been 24 hours since you drank the cure sent from Wakanda, and he hadn't let since. He was holding onto your hand tightly. He couldn't let you go, you meant too much to him. "You gotta wake up, love."
Bucky was holding back his emotions as much as he could, he just needed you back so much. Bruce told him you had more chance of waking up if he spoke to you consistently, so he did. Bucky told you stories from his childhood, ones that Steve would have scolded him for telling due to them containing embarrassing moments (embarrassing for Steve, of course.)
"I love you so much. I never told you, because I was scared, I was scared were moving too fast, or that you didn't feel the same. But that... That doesn't matter anymore, I love you and I know that now. And I think, if you feel yourself again, that you might feel the same way. And if you don't then that's okay. But I really do love you, and I think I have for a while now, I just bottled up my feelings for you and hoped to forget them and never talk about it with you, but when... When I found out that you could possibly feel the same way about me all of these thoughts about you came pouring out again. I will never let anything bad happen to you again. I promise."
Bucky kissed your hand lightly and placed it on his forehead, resting it there and closing his eyes, praying to himself that you would wake up, praying that you would remember him, remember the relationship that you two could have had.
Suddenly he felt your hand move, and ever so slightly squeeze Buckys hand.
"Cat?! Y/N, come on, you can wake up, I know you can." Bucky said, getting hopeful now.
Your eyes fluttered open and stared directly into Buckys crystal blue eyes, which you noticed were swelling up with tears.
"Barnes?" You asked, tightening your grip on his hand.
"Y/N, oh my god." Bucky said, smiling widely, letting loose his tears and ignoring them as they slid down the sides of his face.
"What- What happened?" You asked, sitting up and moving the hair out of your face, "Why the hell is my hair short?!"
You brushed your newly cut hair out of your face, questioning everything, why were you in the hospital? How long had you been unconscious?
"Love, don't worry about it." Bucky said as you sat up.
"Am I okay? Our mission, what happened? Did we get what we needed?" You asked worriedly, you couldn't remember anything since the explosion, you remembered telling Bucky you loved him and then-
"I love you." You quickly blurted out, your inner thoughts getting the best of you.
"God, I love you so much." Bucky replied, pulling you into a tight hug.
You just stayed like that for what felt like hours, but realistically only a few minutes. You just sobbed into his shoulder, every now and then apologising for how wet you had made it.
Bucky knew that everything was going to be okay, he had you back.
—
When you finally got out of the hospital, Nat ran into you hugging you so tightly that you couldn't breathe.
"Jeez, Nat, lemme breathe a little." You joked.
"Sorry, sorry." She smiled, "I'm just so glad to have you back."
"We all are." Steve said, "You've been through hell these past few weeks, let us know if you need anything."
You had been filled in on what had happened, on how everyone you believed you were dead for weeks, and how upset everyone was, on how you were captured by HYDRA, on how they fought for you to get your life back. You were beyond grateful for these people, this family you had.
Luckily you didn't remember anything that happened while you spent your time as the Winter Soldier, so side effects like PTSD, or extreme nightmares were less likely to happen. If your memories did come back from that timed Bucky promised that he would help you though it and that he would get you all the help that you needed.
You hadn't managed to spend much time with Bucky alone since you got out of hospital, you were constantly surrounded by everyone who missed you while you were gone, you didn't mind though. You loved your family more than anything.
"Hey." Bucky said, walking up to you and Wanda, who were sitting chatting in the living room. "Can I borrow Cat for a second?"
Wanda nodded and grinned at you, you rolled your eyes at her jokily as Bucky led you out of the room and down a quiet corridor.
"What's up, Barn-"
You were cut off by Bucky pressing you against a wall and bringing his lips to yours, your shocked gasp for air made Bucky smile into the kiss. You wrapped your arms around his neck, and he pulled you closer to him, if that was possible, by pulling you from your waist.
When you finally pulled apart, you once again were both grinning like lovesick teenagers.
"What was that for?" You asked, still smiling and blushing slightly.
"Nothing." He replied, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. "I just missed you so fucking much."
"I missed you too, Bucky."
His smile widened when he realised you called him Bucky, and he pulled you in for a kiss once again.
"I gotta go back to Wanda." You said, pulling apart.
"But I'll miss you." Bucky said, giving you fake puppy dog eyes, which made you giggle slightly.
"We will continue this later." You smirked, kissing him on the cheek before walking back into the living room to Wanda.
You loved him, and he loved you.
Everything was the best it had ever been.