Longing •Bucky Barnes•

•Twelve•

I woke up on a hard surface under bright lights. I pushed myself up and rubbed my eyes to see I was in the round enclosure I had been prior. I took a moment and ran through everything I remembered. My shoulders fell when my memory seemed to get fuzzy around the 5th word. I knew I had switched into the super solider mode, but I had no idea what happened.

I looked around and saw everything at peace and nothing broken so I was thankful for that much. I was free of my restraints and I was laying down on a long slab. It reminded me of my cell at HYDRA's base, but I quickly removed that thought from my mind. I had a soft blanket draped over me, but other than that not a scratch on any thing or even myself.

I sat up and crossed my legs and my head felt a million pounds. I tried to rub out the tension, but it didn't work. Frankly, I hadn't expected it to. I groaned in frustration because I knew I had failed. I only hoped I didn't make a fool of myself anymore than I already had today. That thought I could only be hopeful for.

"Tony?" I said in a strained small voice. Silence followed. "Bruce?"

"Are you awake?" I heard Bruce's voice over the intercom in my cell.

"Yeah." I said with an exhale.

"What's your name?" He asked me.

"Uhm, Valerie?" I replied confused.

"Who am I?" He asked me.

"Bruce?" I replied back not understanding his line of questioning.

"Am I an enemy or ally?" He asked.

"Depends what color you are." I said resting my elbows on my knees. "Can I go home now?"

"Alright give me a second and I'll let you out." He said and I just looked down.

I played with my fingers desperately hoping I would get an explanation as to what happened. I wanted to ask, but I also was exhausted. Whenever they would use those words I would be tired for days after even if they let me actually rest. I heard the door unlock and I saw Bucky standing there looking stolid, but his eyes told a different story.

"Let's go." He said flatly and I couldn't read his tone.

"Where's Tony?" I asked getting to my feet with shaky legs.

"He went home." He said coldly. "Let's go."

"Why did he go home?" I asked softly trying to read his emotions.

"Valerie it's 4 AM. Let's go." He said coldly.

I stared at him knowing he was upset about something. I wanted to ask what, but I wasn't going to do it here. Not only did I not want to have this conversation in front of everyone, but much less in front of Tony's equipment. Clearly, I made enough of a mess of myself today, I didn't need to make it any worse.

I followed and walked out of the chamber and out onto the outside portion and Bucky followed behind me. Without a word he led me to the elevators where we got in and he pressed the floor to the lobby. I got in and stood with my back pressed against the far wall and he just stood in front of the buttons. He wouldn't even look at me he just stood coldly with his arms crossed.

I watched as we descended down to the lobby and we exited the elevator. People watched us as we left, but didn't say a word. The doorman opened the door for us and I could hear the sounds of rain. I looked to see the streets around us covered in a heavy rain.

I stopped in my tracks for just a moment to look at it. Things were dry on the sidewalk due to the large overhang. Things were quite warm and I had realized I had no idea what season this was. I had no recollection of the day either. I watched the news, but not necessarily the normal news. I wasn't getting the news that gave you weather and the lotto numbers, I was interested in the global crisis news.