"Drink this," Strange says as he slides a mug across the counter in the kitchen. After a lot of bickering, the three men decided to change my location to the kitchen to make this easier.
I'm still left with the yellow energy, it's just more like a sphere around me, keeping me caged in. I glare at the mug as it slides through the line between the real world and whatever I'm inside of. I look back up to him and find him grinning at me.
"You don't have to if you don't want to. But you look pretty dehydrated to me," he mumbles with a shrug.
I huff out a breath, looking down at the mug and fold my hands in my lap. I eye the facial hair surrounding Strange's mouth, it looks a bit familiar but in a way I can't explain. My eyes dart to the entrance to the kitchen as Sam walks in, narrowing his eyes at me as he does.
"How's it going?" He asks Strange like I'm not even here.
Strange's expression doesn't change as he watches me. "To be completely honest, I have no clue," he mumbles and Sam lowers his head, letting out an exasperated sigh. He breaks his eyes away from mine and lowers his voice. "You said they used some kind of code words before? To drift them in and out of consciousness?"
Sam's jaw ticks and he pinches the bridge of his nose. "As far as I know, yeah." He folds his arms over his chest and I purse my lips. "Zemo knows more about this shit than I do."
"Zemo?"
Sam's eyes dart to his and he shakes his head slightly. "That's a long story." They're both quiet for a moment, as if pondering what to do with me next. I find myself feeling grateful that I can't hear their thoughts. "Nadya, if you can hear me, tell me how to undo this," he says, gesturing wildly to me as if I can't hear him.
I stare at him and blink slowly, acting as if I don't understand him. "Выпустите меня отсюда, чтобы я мог закончить свою миссию."
**"Let me out of here so I can finish my mission."**
"Mother-" He grits out before turning away and I glare at him.
"I'm not sure how I can help here other than keeping her like that," Strange chimes in with a flat voice, pointing a glove-covered finger at me. That's strange, he wasn't wearing those before.
"Buck!" Sam exclaims, looking over his shoulder. "Get in here."
I keep my eyes low as slow footsteps enter the kitchen. The last thing I want is to see him.
"I knew something was off with her boss." I hear him grit out angrily.
I roll my eyes to myself and look to Sam expectantly. "Aren't you supposed to be the 'star spangled man with a plan'? What's your plan to 'fix' me, Sam?" I quirk a brow at him, seemingly getting under his skin with my Captain America reference.
"Is there a tracker in that suit?" The soldier asks but I don't look his way, it's as if he's not even there.
I pick up the mug Strange gave me and finally take a sip of it, feeling the warm contents soothe the dryness that's been plaguing my throat.
"My plan is to help you, Nadya, not fix you." I hear Sam's self righteous voice stumble into my ears.
"Is there a tracker in that suit?" I hear the soldier repeat and I finally look his way, gritting my teeth together to keep myself from lunging at him.
I smirk at him and take a sip of the tea again. His lips quirk up at the corners, showing me how irritated he is. "If there was I think we would know by now, don't you think?"
He glares at me for a moment before smirking to himself as if some bright idea has come to his mind. He turns to Sam and nudges his arm, making him look to him. "I think I might know what the code words are." I hear him whisper and my eyes widen for a split second.
"Would that bring her back?" Sam utters.
The soldier huffs out a breath and scratches the back of his neck. "Temporarily, but if the words are used again it'll just turn her back into this."
"And you want a more permanent solution, I'm guessing?" Strange chimes in to their conversation.
"Yeah, that would be ideal." Sam quips.
"I have something I could try but it's dangerous." My eyes dart to Strange as the words fall from his mouth. "I've only read about the spell before, it could work but it might do more harm than-"
"Do it," the soldier mumbles.
"Buck, let's just think this through for a second-"
He shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose. "All those months spent looking for her, thinking she was dead, this was much worse." My heart pinches at his words for a moment but I push the feeling down and continue to eavesdrop.
"They turned her into someone she hates, someone she wanted to kill. Anything to reverse that is on the table."
"Yeah-Well let's just see what it is first," Sam says, looking flustered. He looks back to Strange and gestures for him to explain. "What is it?"
He sighs with a sly smile on his face. "It's not as simple as that."
"Dumb it down for us, then," Sam retorts.
"I essentially, pull a memory from her subconscious. It could be one with the both of you or it could be one before she was part of the team. But, it would play on a loop until the cycle breaks." He lets out a breath after he finishes explaining and I purse my lips together, feeling a sense of deja vu.
"W-what cycle?" Sam questions, "and how could that reverse what they did?"
"It won't," Strange quips. "It's a bandaid, a temporary one until we can figure out what they did and I can reverse it. I'm pulling at straws here." A breathy chuckle falls from his lips as he explains his plan.
"What about the words?" The soldier chimes into the conversation with his ever-so angry voice.
"They'll just be words...temporarily," Strange trails off, looking flustered. "She'll be back to herself, I can't say for how long but it has to be long enough to get the information we need to reverse this."
"So, all we have is some temporary solutions?" Sam scoffs and rubs a hand down his face.
"That's your plan?" I scoff, taking pride in how they all whip their heads around to look at me when they hear my voice. "Pull a 'happy' memory from my mind, make me relive it, and I'll be back on the job?" I chuckle to myself as I take another sip of the tea. "That sounds a little risky to me."
Sam quirks a brow at me. "What? You think we won't still take precautions?" I roll my eyes when he gestures to his neck, reminding me of the immensely annoying disk of metal etched into my own. He turns back to Strange but the soldier keeps his eyes on me, though I can't decipher what emotion lies behind them. "When do we start?"
⩔ ⩔ ⩔ ⩔
I wiggle my nose in the sterile room, the smell of alcohol swabs and plastic floods my senses every time I take a breath. My eyes stay fixed on the ceiling above me while my arms slide around on the leather reclined chair beneath me.
"Hey." I look to my side and see Sam take a seat text to me in a simple office chair. "I know you've never been in here before but this is where the magic used to happen, literally."
He laughs to himself as his eyes wander the room and I follow. The many advanced looking computer screens, medical equipment, and other things I can't even name.
"I hope this works." I hear him sigh and I squeeze my eyes shut when I hear Strange's voice. "I know you're not my biggest fan right now but... I miss you, Bucky misses you."
I let out my breath, feeling nothing but the anger that his name stirs up inside of me. "You shouldn't have left me there, then," I grit out.
"Nadya, it wasn't that simple-"
"If you want me to do this, I have to do it now." Strange's cocky voice echoes around the room. "Are you ready, Nadya?"
I open my eyes to see Strange standing over me like a surgeon standing over his patient, waiting to make the first incision just as soon as the anesthesia sets in. I give him a simple nod as if it would matter if I had said no. His gloved hand slips through the gold energy washing over me and gently touches my temple, I don't fight against him or what they're trying to do.
There's no point.
I flinch when I feel a burning sensation start to heat up in my head, seemingly coming from his fingers. A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead, and I begin to feel like my brain is being cooked. I let out a breath and close my eyes, trying to think of anything else than my brain essentially being caught on fire by the strange man called... well, Strange.
⩔ ⩔ ⩔ ⩔
"Nadya!" I open my eyes suddenly and flinch at the blinding sunlight scorching my eyes. "What, are you falling asleep over there?" I look over and furrow my brows, finding Sam standing over a leaking pipe, holding an arm out to me.
"W-what?" I stammer, feeling disoriented and confused.
He rolls his eyes. "Can you hand me the damn wrench?" He over enunciates every word, sounding like an adult speaking to an illiterate child.
I turn around and shuffle through a tool box like it's muscle memory until I find the wrench. I take slow steps towards him and drop it into his hand. He smiles at me and turns to tighten whatever is leaking.
I remember this.
I step out onto the deck of the boat, seeing the sun begin to set on the horizon, feeling the warm breeze cool my sweat covered skin. I look up to the white sails flailing in the wind, the boat rocking gently with each wave that passes under it, it's peaceful. It almost brings a smile to my face, almost.
"Hey." I snatch my arm away when I feel cold fingers brush against it. "Sorry, did I scare you?"
My lips part when I see him, the soldier, smiling widely at me as he maneuvers his way around me to the cooler sitting on the deck. My hands begin to shake at my sides when I feel the same burning sensation come to my eyes that I've felt before.
"You okay?" He asks as he twists the cap off of a bottle, furrowing his brows at me.
Every instinct inside of me is telling me to do one thing, murder the murderer. I shake my head at him. "I'm fine," I mumble and lean against the side of the boat, keeping my distance from him.
"You sure?" He takes a step towards me and I visibly tense, feeling every muscle in my body recoil from just the sound of his footstep. He narrows his eyes at me before peaking inside the cabin at Sam. "What's going on?" He gets closer again and I force a slow breath out through my nose.
"Don't come any closer," I warn in a small voice, confused at the emotions stirring inside of me. He looks at me with a more than confused expression on his face. "Just-please don't." I try and force a smile but I'm sure it looks like I'm trying not to cry from his view.
"Everything okay out here?" Sam asks, walking out of the cabin with a rag in his hands.
I break my eyes away from the soldier and look at Sam, feeling relief that he's in the middle of us now. "Everything's fine."
He wipes the rag over his hands, getting all the grease that's muddled on them off. "Alright," he mumbles and looks between the two of us. "You guys are so odd," he chuckles as he walks away to the cooler, leaving the space between us empty.
I squeeze my eyes shut when footsteps thunder towards me and a cold hand brushes against my arm again. "What's going through that pretty little head of yours?" He whispers and I chew on my lip, feeling the last of my restraint begin to slip through my fingers.
I ball my hand up at my side, reluctantly, and raise it up while opening my eyes but my hand collides with... nothing.
I thrash around, finding myself back in my bedroom at the compound. I brush my hands over my hair before pushing the comforter off of me. I push out a slow, calming breath, trying to force my heart back down into my chest. I swing my legs off the bed and make my way down to the kitchen with the intent on making some coffee.
I blow the steam coming off the mug away as I sit down at the island in the kitchen, taking in the silence and the serenity. "Morning," Sam basically sings as he struts into the kitchen, wearing his falcon uniform. "You ready to go?" He looks over his shoulder at me and smirks.
I look down, seeing I'm in my old uniform and furrow my brows. I raise my hand and fawn over the unique patterns of cerulean immersed in the black fabric. "Earth to Nadya!" I suck in a breath as Sam takes a seat across from me. "Are you ready for the mission?"
I nod a few times. "Yes," I mutter and bring the mug to my mouth.
He chuckles before looking down to his forearm, scrolling through the small tablet. I chew on my lip, feeling on edge but calm at the same time. A strange mixture of emotions to feel. "Morning, Buck," Sam says without looking away from me and I freeze.
Silently, he moves into the kitchen and pours himself a cup of coffee. My eyes trail him as he takes a seat next to Sam, avoiding my eyes and drinking his coffee. I tilt my head at him, confused at why he's acting the way he is. I rest my head on my hand, taking in his presence. It doesn't feel angry or hateful this morning, it feels different, lighter maybe. He raises his eyes to mine and I dart mine away quickly, looking back to my coffee.
"Good morning, Nadya." I hear him say, my name rolling effortlessly off of his tongue.
I feel a blush heat up my cheeks from my neck before I look back to him over my mug. "Good morning, Bucky," I mumble.
⩔ ⩔ ⩔ ⩔
I gasp for air, feeling the same burning sensation I felt just moments ago from the spell Strange has put me under. My eyes open slightly and I cringe at the amount of fluorescent light seeping into my eyes. I look to Strange and find him staring at me, his brows knitted together and his lips pursed. His whole face locked in a form of concentration. I blink a few times and his face melts. He pulls his hand away and looks away from me. "I think she did it," he says with a smile.
I think I did it.
⩔ ⩔ ⩔ ⩔
•I am sooooo sorry for such a late update. I got really sick out of nowhere and have been catching up on school. I promise another chapter will be up soon! for now, please enjoy this one!! much love.•