The Witch He Loved

Chapter 8

The day seemed to fly by. 

After showering and wrestling a brush through my hair I had headed back down to the kitchen to get myself some much needed food. By that time everyone was already up and about, welcoming me back after the initial shock of seeing me walk around. 

It was strange, for me it had felt like no time at all but for them I had been gone for two weeks. I wouldn't have believed them if it weren't for the way my body felt. 

The day had been mainly spent around the others, catching up and explaining things before settling into the regular banter. It turned out that Tony had spent most of his time at my bedside while I was asleep, threatening the others whenever one of them spoke about waking me. 

"Oh come on, I did not"

"You literally threatened to put me in a box and drop me into the Lake" Nat scowled at him.

"Well it's not like I did it." 

"Only because we both know you wouldn't stand a chance" She grumbles as she looks back down to her book. 

He looks at me with an exaggerated eye roll and I stifle a laugh.

I thanked him for looking after me when it was just the two of us. 

As the evening drew closer I had decided to go down to the training room and spend some time building my muscle back up. After losing my shapeshifting ability and being passed out for two weeks my body looked skinnier than I would have liked. 

I had taken it relatively easy, starting out with some stretches before taking a short run on a treadmill, I still felt drained by the time I was finished. Crawling into my bed and collapsing onto it that evening, I quickly got pulled into unconsciousness. 

I dreamt of my friends and family, happy in a past memory of laughter until a scream broke through. 

Bolting up in bed I looked around my room, listening for a moment, everything seemed to be quiet, I began to relax and lie back down until I heard it again. Jumping out of the bed I ran to my door and threw it open, taking one step into the corridor I heard a grunt from the door opposite mine. 

Bucky...

I take another step forward and open his door, looking through the darkness I can see him on his bed, tossing and turning violently. 

Walking over to him I chew on my lip nervously before sitting on the edge of the bed next to him. 

"Bucky, wake up, it's just a nightmare." I call to him.

He doesn't respond to me but continues to whimpering and claw at the sheets. 

"Dammit" I curse quietly. 

Taking a deep breath I clear my thoughts and extend a hand toward him, watching as my magic weaves down my arm and over to him. 

Closing my eyes I step into his dream. 

The first thing I feel is the cold on my cheeks, opening my eyes I see I'm surrounded by snow, mountains stand behind me and in front of me is a thick forest. I look to my side as I see a man running past me and into the forest, he isn't moving very quickly though as he keeps tripping and falling over himself. I start to follow him carefully, feeling the rocky terrain under my feet. 

At some point the man notices me following him and he turns on me, looking like a frightened deer, I put my hands up, showing I am unarmed. 

"Stop following me! You need to run, he coming!" His face is panicked and his eyes look past me. 

Looking over my shoulder, I see Bucky walking towards me but he is moving differently. He stands tall and is walking with a purpose, a gun in one hand and a frown on his face, this is the Winter Soldier.

"Stop" I hold a palm up to him, turning my body to face him now. 

He moves his eyes from his target for the first time and looks over me, confusion on his face as his steps slow. 

"I must complete my mission." He says with determination but stops two meters away from me, his guard up. 

I look at the man behind me before looking back to the soldier. "You mean this guy?" I thumb over my shoulder. He just nods at me. 

"Huh" I say nonchalantly. "Well I'm sorry about this, but I have a friend that doesn't want to see that."

As soon as I finish speaking he raises his gun and starts to move forward but I quickly change the landscape. 

Everything surrounding us fades away into a purple fog before changing. Now we are both stood beside a lake, surrounded by green grass and wildflowers with a little cottage in the background.

Bucky's weapons are gone as is his gear. He's dressed in casual clothes and I'm in a flowery dress. 

He looks at his surroundings with confusion before turning to glare at me. 

"What have you done to me?" He asks menacingly. 

I smirk at the difference for the Bucky I know. I step towards the water and kicking of my shoes.

 "I've done nothing to you, I merely changed the dream" Sitting on the bank I dip my feet into the water, sighing with a smile.

He watches me with a frown on his face before walking over. "I know someone that does that" 

"Yes you do, maybe you should try it. It might help you remember" 

He stands near to me now, hesitating for a moment before sitting, taking of his shoes and putting his feet in the water. 

We both stay quiet for some time, so I close my eyes, giving myself a chance to explore his mind to try and find a way to separate Bucky from the Soldier. My minds catches on a golden knot, the threads looped tightly together. 

"Where have you brought me?" 

I keep my eyes closed, focussing on unravelling the knot. "My home" 

The threads come apart and I open my eyes, looking over at him. His body visibly relaxes, the vacant look in his eyes disappearing, he looks more human. 

"Kathy" He breathes out. 

Softly smiling at him I reach over and give his hand a squeeze. 

"Don't worry Buck, I've got you." 

A sigh of relief leaves him and he manages a smile. 

"So this is your home, huh?" 

"Yeah, this is my home in England" I look back over to the cottage and smile sadly. I miss it here. 

"It's peaceful here, is it like this in real life?" 

"Yeah, yeah it is." Looking back at him I see he was watching me. "Ready to wake up?" 

He nods at me and I smile. "See you on the other side" 

I let go of the dream and wake up back in my own mind, feeling something warm underneath me, I let out a groan as I shift my body feeling an ache in my side. The feeling of movement underneath me makes me open my eyes slowly, As I notice his smirk I realise that I must have fallen against him whilst in his dream.

I stand up quickly and take a step away from the bed, embarrassment sinking into me. 

"Sorry about that" I mumble at him. 

His face quickly turns sincere. "No it's ok. Thank you for helping." 

"I'm going to go get changed" I say sticking a thumb towards the door "We can start after breakfast if you want to." 

He nods "Ok, I'll be there." 

I give him a quick smile before walking out of his room and back into my own, shutting the door behind me I head straight for the shower to wake myself up. Today was going to be tiring.