𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓷𝓲𝓪𝓬 ❖ 𝓫. 𝓫𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓼

C H A P T E R (42) - M U S E U M

Cassie sat at her brothers hospital bed side, watching his chest slowly heave up and down - small reassurance that beneath his blue and beaten skin, he was still alive.

His face was stained with bruises, and she sighed as she knew that it had been Bucky to inflict those injuries on him. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't blame him. If he had been brainwashed, then surely it wasn't his fault. He had no control over it - she understood that the Bucky she knew would never do those things.

Was it still the Bucky she knew?

Sam sat in the chair opposite her, reading from a book when he caught a glimpse of Cassie, obviously upset.

"Hey Wilson," Cassie began with tear-stained cheeks, "Mind taking me to that museum?"

Sam gave her a small smile as he knew what she wanted to go for, knowing it wouldn't be herself.

"Of course."

**

Considering Sam had visited the museum before, he had been the one to show her around. She wanted to skip over her own part, she didn't need a reminder of the traumas she had been through that were on display for all to see.

That wasn't what bothered her, but as she sauntered past her section, she caught a glimpse of a photo of her and Bucky - dated 1944.

They were smiling, basking in each other touch with their arms tightly wrapped around one another.

They were happy.

A small tear slithered down her rosy cheeks before she wiped it away and turned around, only to be met with Bucky's section.

She read through the small paragraph written next to his photo, succumbing to the sad smile that had been tugging at her the entire time.

She thought back to her memories with him, dancing in the bar and sleeping in the others bed. Her throat hurt from the fight, her heart hurt from him, and her eyes hurt from lack of sleep. She hurt all over, for different reasons.

She felt the presence of someone behind her, and thinking it was another person reading or Sam, she kept her place. The person had gotten so close she could feel their breath on her neck, a sudden chill running down her back. She didn't even need to turn around to know who it was, and with widened eyes, she looked at the reflection in the glass she stood by.

She saw him. His reflection, looking at her face. There was a small amount of fear she felt before she finally met his eyes, finding comfort like many times before. She pressed her lips into a thin line and turned on her heel, being met with air.

He was gone.

She saw him walking away within a large crowd, pulling his cap down over his face in attempt to hide it.

"Cassie? You good?" Sam asked as he approached her from behind and placed a hand on her shoulder. The sudden contact made her flinch, placing a hand on top of his when she had relaxed.

"Yeah..." she sighed, her eyes still glued on the large crowd of people, "I'm fine."

And she was, partly. Knowing he was alive and out of the Winter Solider mindset was all she needed to be okay.