Red Room

35: Peace

a/n: holy shit this book is currently #1 in buckybarnesxreader...THANK YALL SO MUCH I APPRECIATE YOU MORE THAN I COULD POSSIBLY EXPRESS AHHHHHH

As soon as you felt the impact of the wheels landing on the hangar, Bucky's feet hit the floor and the doors opened. Bruce ran in front of him, leading you to the med bay. 

As Bucky set you down onto an operating table, you clenched your eyes together in attempts to not yelp in pain. Bruce frantically spread out an array of scalpels and things as Bucky tried to get you to pace your breathing. 

"Hun, the heavier and faster you breathe, the deeper this thing digs. You gotta slow it down." he said, looking directly to your eyes. You did your best to steady it out, but it's kind of hard to keep calm when there's a foreign object in your chest. 

Bruce, without turning from the task at hand, spoke to Bucky, "Barnes, if she doesn't stop hyperventilating, that's either falling into her heart or central artery system."

His eyes widened before remembering that his fear reflected onto you, and he took a sharp inhale and composed himself. 

You felt yourself mirroring his breathing after a few minutes and finally Bruce was ready. 

"Y/n, this is a dose of anesthesia, one shot and the pain is gone and you can sleep and not feel this whole thing, but you need to let me do it, okay?". 

You squeezed Bucky's hand and aggressively nodded your head. 

And Bruce was right, the pain was gone. 

----------

"First of all, that's gross. Second of all, if she wakes up, she's not going to be hap-"

"When. When she wakes up." 

This felt, odd. You could identify each and every voice around you. Natasha was telling Bucky that he needed to shower. Peter was in the far corner on his phone. Tony had come in a few minutes ago to drop off breakfast and change your IV bags. 

No, this wasn't a coma. You were perfectly capable of moving. Sure, a little sore, but it's not like that's an unknown feeling. No, this was stillness in fear. You were afraid of moving because you felt some thing new- some power- coursing through you, and you weren't sure of this was Mercy or not. 

Your eyes were open, but that's the only thing that was different from where you were a few minutes ago. Nobody's really been looking at you, so they hadn't noticed- until Bucky sat back down next to you, grabbing your hand. The heart monitor picked up and he scanned you for a clue on what was wrong. 

Once he saw your eyes open, his lit up. You flashed a small grin, still cautious of moving too much. Peter dropped his phone and jaw simultaneously, "Why isn't she moving? Ms. Nat, why isn't she moving!?"

The three waited for you to respond and you took all self control as you did, "I don't think I'm all me." you strained. 

Bucky reached for the remote to hit the panic button and you had to force your hand to not clench his wrist. 

Steve, Bruce, Clint, and Thor all ran in and relief mixed with anticipation showed on them. 

"You rang?" Tony said. 

"She can't move. She said she's not 'all her'. "Nat clarified. 

You moved your arms to press yourself up and lean against the headboard, "I feel different, like I did right before we made me switch.". 

Tony chuckled, "That's the morphine, idiot. You're supposed to feel like you're on drugs. If you don't feel any pain and almost feel numb, it's working right."

"Oh.", you exhaled and put your hand to your chest, "False alarm then.". 

Bucky gave you a smile of appreciation and you returned it.

"Let's give them a minute." Steve whispered to everyone and they exited the room. 

You waited for them to leave and as soon as the door clicked shut, Bucky maneuvered himself into the twin-sized hospital bed, happy to just have you alive. 

"How long was I out?" you asked, scooting closer into his arms. 

"Couple days. They didn't know if you'd make it."

"Like I was going to let you dumb asses write my obituary."

He laughed and God, you missed hearing that. 

"Touche. Fury got you all cleared though. You're publicly an Avenger. No Hydra on the records, no Mercy." 

"Damn, he's good.".

A comfortable silence hung in the room. You were both just at peace, at least the most you've had in a while.  

Tony butted his head in, hand covering his eyes, "Stop making out- press conference in an hour. Y/n, try not to look like you've been asleep for 4 days.". 

You giggled at Tony's comment. "We weren't even kissing that time." Bucky muttered.  

"We could though...." you began.

But patted his hand on your thigh and began to get out of the bed, "Nope. You've got to introduce yourself to the world.".