Edelweiss || Bucky x Reader

Chapter Thirty Three (Content warning: torture)

1945
Day 795

I eat slowly as his eyes bore into my skull. There is silence in the icy cell, apart from an occasional impatient huff or the harsh tick of his watch when he checks the passing time. Eventually there's just one strip of dried meat left on the metal plate, maroon in color and curled up in an unnatural way. I reluctantly take it in my fingers, hesitant to eat it for the obvious reasons, along with the knowledge that it's the only thing keeping me from whatever they have planned.

"Oh, come now." He says suddenly in irritation. "I know what you think you're doing. But you stall nothing. You have five minutes to finish. Once those five minutes are up, we are leaving, whether you eat or not. So I suggest you do."

Outwardly I remain unresponsive, looking distantly at the cracks in the wall. In my head, I start counting.

300 seconds left.

What's he going to do? It can't get any worse than it is in here, right?

254 seconds left.

...yeah, yeah it can. You know it can. You know it will.

I feel a new wave of defeat throw itself over me.

There's no way out, and it's not going to get better.

Someone sighs, I think me. A trail of wet forms from my eye to my chin.

I've never been a believer, and I want Steve to be alive. God, I want him to be alive so badly. I need him to be. But maybe he's not. Maybe heaven's real and he's seeing all of this. So I want to talk to him.

Just in case.

I shut my eyes and another tear falls.

Here goes.

Hey, Steve.

I...I'm not sure what to say. I don't know. I really hope you can't hear this. But if you can...

159 seconds left.

Help, please.

Just... show me what I need to do. Show me it's going to be ok. And please keep Bucky safe.

Please let me see him again.

I open my eyes and break the silence with the softest "Thank you" barely above a whisper.

I'm not sure if it's noticed.

60 seconds left.

I feel my heart start to race. Though my mind has given in, my body remembers how badly their methods hurt.

30 seconds left.

My breathing becomes quick, deep, and uneven. My mind is full of too many voices, all screaming over one another.

He chuckles.

10

I cram the meat into my mouth.

5

I chew

4

I swallow.

3

Oh god

2

Steve help

1

STEVE HELP

With one final tick of his watch he quickly stands, crosses the room in one step, and grabs me by the back of the neck. His nails dig into my skin as he walks me to the door.

...

We stop. He opens the door after a moment of struggling with its weight. A much larger room waits for me, identical in hight and color to my former cell. It's empty. Completely, totally empty. Clean of dust. New. Something about it is very off-putting. Hydra's facilities have existed since the Great War, they shouldn't look this pristine. A door on the opposite wall mirrors the one we stand in front of. With his hand still gripping my neck he throws me inside. I stumble, trying to regain my balance, finding myself now at its center. He walks towards me, and though I am near paralyzed I feel myself taking a step back. He shoves me unceremoniously to a kneeling position by my shoulder. My legs  are weak from not being used in any real way for—well, years, probably—and don't put up much resistance.

"Stay on your knees." He says, his almost humorous tone changing abruptly to a dangerously unforgiving one. I stay still out of fear, gaze facing the front of the room, the doors turned to blurry gray rectangles in my peripheral vision. His steps move behind me, quiet, but still audible in the noiseless room. He takes plastic cord and ties it tight around my wrists and ankles, cutting into my skin. A black cloth is lifted in front of me. Very little of the light provided by the hanging bulb peeks through. Before I realize what's going on, it's wrapped twice tightly around my eyes, leaving me in the dark.

What the hell...

Then plugs are shoved into my ears.

Oh no.

Oh fuck no.

No, no, no.

Sensory deprivation. This is so much worse than anything I could have imagined. At least I can see a punch coming, even if I can't block it.

Now I don't even have that.

My legs have started to go numb underneath me, and they only continue to do so as I sit in blinding darkness, engulfed by silence. I only feel the cold of the air against my exposed skin and the cord cutting off my circulation. The fabric obscuring my vision quickly collects tears that escape me involuntarily.

I can only form one clear thought;

I'm scared

It's simple. It's childish. But I can't think of any fancy words to use in its place. I'm scared.

I begin to count to myself, accidentally out loud. Tape covers my mouth.

So I count in my head. I never make it past twenty.

I restart for the fifth time.

...7, 8, 9-

A screech that I cannot hear rips the tape off my mouth. His boot had shoved its hard sole into my chest, sending me flying backwards. The rocky concrete floor tears open my arms and legs as they skid against it. The air has left my lungs and it will not return. Kicks, fists, and stomps land all over my body. I feel myself contort, and I know that I'm screaming, but still I suffer in a void. I mouth the word 'stop', but it doesn't, until suddenly it does.

I ask no questions because I don't want answers. I just know that it's over.

Through the aching I pull myself into a ball. I've lost feeling in my hands, but someone has taken them in his with a soft touch, untying the cord. The plugs are removed from my ears. Strong arms pull me against a solid chest as he releases my ankles. My head pounds.

"Are you alright, sweet flower?" His voice asks above me, concerned and lovingly tender.

What...?

No, but... no, this was because of him...

I...

I'm confused

"You..did...this..to...me..." I say quietly, voice hoarse from heavy use.

"Oh, no, flower." He says sincerely as he removes the cloth from my eyes. As my eyes adjust to the light I see Bucky, standing by the door opposite the one we entered. Two men stand on either side of him, but they haven't got so much as a finger on him. He stands on his own. "He did."