Piece By Piece

Part 10

I woke up in a hospital bed, with wires taped to me in various spots, and an IV drip stuck in my arm. The sterile white walls were unsettling, and the smell of rubbing alcohol invaded my nostrils.

"Take it easy, the bullet hit a lot of your organs and lodged in your lower back muscles. You took a lot of damage. It's a surprise you lasted as long as you did." Bruce spoke softly from where he was standing behind my head, soft enough to resemble the way one speaks to try to not scare a wounded animal. I opened my mouth to ask for water, but nothing but a croaking sound came out. Bruce walked around to my side, and I made a drinking motion. He nodded and left the room.

A few moments later he returned with a clear plastic bottle full of water, and a straw poking out the top. I accepted it gratefully and sipped in slowly, letting the water hydrate my sandpaper mouth. I cleared my throat, and sound finally came out.

"How long have I been out?" He looked at me, and I swear I saw a hint of pity, or compassion in his eyes.
"About a week. You were consistently crashing for the first 24 hours, and then occasionally the next 48, so I kept you in a medical coma for the week to let your body heal without too much stress."

"I think that's the most considerate thing anyone here has ever done for me. Thanks Brucey." He looked down at his crossed arms, and chuckled lightly.

"Let's stick to Banner or Bruce for now." I nodded, grinning. The door opened, and a surprise entered the room. Or multiple surprises. Steve, Natasha, and Barnes entered the room, filing in one after the other.

"I must be hallucinating from the meds- Bruce, please confirm, do I, Y/n Maximoff, actually have some visitors? Of their own free will? Somebody punch me because there's no way this is real." Bruce shook his head and gave me a tired look.

"Pinch me, Y/n, somebody pinch me. Not punch." I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"I know what the saying is, Brucey, I just wanted to add a supposed Avenger spin on it. Don't kill my poetry." I heard him sigh and watched as he walked to the door.

"I'll be back in an hour to check her vitals, until then she's all yours," and with that he closed the door behind him.

"How are you feeling?" Steve asked.

"Like I got shot Steven." He pinched his lips together, and crossed his arms to match my other two welcome guests. "Why are you guys even here? I mean don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the gesture, but I know you want to leave so you don't need to be here to pretend you care about my health, or that bullshit." Barnes blew out a large puff of air.

"Want to add something, Barnes?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Don't complain about the team disliking you if all you're going to do is talk shit when we make an effort."

"The day my sister gets over herself I'll do the same." Natasha cocked her head and shrugged in mutual agreement. Steve gave her a look.

"Steve, I love Wanda as much as you do, but we only ever heard her point of view. And I don't think it was a one time occasion that Y/n completely forgot how to protect herself and other people."

"I can't tell if I want to love you for kind of backing me up or be insulted at your observations of me." I was truly appreciative to her though. She shrugged.

"Just take it as it is." I nodded in acceptance.

"You took a bullet for us. I don't know why, but you did. I didn't think you would," Barnes finally spoke up. I tried to ignore the burning behind my eyes. I can usually keep my tears to myself, but when someone acknowledges something I did, or shows appreciation to me, I get teary.

"Is that a thank you?" I ask in a whisper.

"Yes." I smiled.

"You're welcome." I paused. "So when do you go back to hating me?" The three of them all frowned, barely, but the frown was there.

"When do you give us reasons not to?" Natasha countered.

"When have I given reasons before?" I felt the heat behind my eyes again. It's hard to confront, truly confront the people who have done you wrong. The Steve looked at the floor, Natasha took a deep breath, but Barnes just stared at me.

"Wanda said-"

"Wanda told me hydra was to help my mental health. Wanda signed me up for their torture without even asking me if I wanted to be special. Wanda, out of the three of us, was the only one who was all in. Pietro was on the fence, and I didn't even know what was going to happen. Wanda stood with the Hydra soldiers and watched as they gagged and sedated me before loading me into the back of a truck. Wanda says a lot of things." I looked away. "Don't tell anyone that. I'm mad, and doped up on meds. Keep that to yourselves. Please." I felt a tear fall, and wiped it away immediately. I hated this.

"We didn't kno-" Steve began.

"You didn't know because you never bothered to ask. You didn't know because Wanda didn't want you to know, and she was the only one you were speaking to. It's not like it's documented in my file that I was forced to be a weaponized test lab by my own sister. The nights where I was kept chained to a metal table, barely clothed, as they injected me with all this shit, and poked and prodded me with that bloody sceptre aren't in that file. You know what's in that file? 'Let her brother die out of cowardice.' That's what's in that file. Because none of you asked. None of you ever asked." I wiped more tears away. I was losing it.

"I didn't get one word in before you all turned your backs on me, like I was a villain. I was scared when I saw that plane, with that gun aiming for Pietro. And I didn't sit and watch. I ran to jump in front of him, but I too slow." I twisted and pulled the robe up enough to show them the scar. "One of the bullets from that monster gun grazed me. I was a second late. Wanda found me crying and holding his body. She assumed that I had done nothing." I let out a shaky sob, and pressed a hand over my mouth.

"Please leave." I said quietly. I rolled onto my side, facing away from the door and let the tears fall. Once I heard the door shut I let out the sob I had been holding in for ten minutes. I let the sobs fly out, one after the other for a solid two minutes until I head footsteps. I whipped around on my bed so quickly I felt the tug of my stitches. My eyes mer a pair of sad blue ones. Barnes.

"Why are you still here?"

"I carried you. From the room where you got shot. I had your blood all over me. And I was nervous that you would die, and I would never have the opportunity to apologize for treating you the way I did, and for calling you the names I did." I blinked at him and remained silent, urging him to continue. I was embarrassed that he heard me cry. "I don't know you very well, but we sleep on the same floor. In fact my bedroom is very close to yours. I hardly know you and your cries at night break my heart to listen to." I looked at the ceiling, praying that the flash flood that was about to burst from my eyes would stay in place.

"I forgive you. For the things you said. You barely knew anyone here, and I had a shady reputation with the team. I forgive you. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for saving my life." I whispered at the end.

"Thank you for saving mine." His eyes trained on my watery ones, and he took a seat on the rolling stool, and pulled himself to my bedside.

"Sleep. I'll just stay here for a little while." I was surprised, but the agony clutching on my heart let go just a little for a moment. I nodded and opened my palm to him. He stared at it for a moment.

"Please Barnes, it's been so long since I had peaceful contact with someone. Please, just until I sleep." He hesitated, but eventually he placed is flash hand in mind, and rested his eyes on my face, until I nodded off.

-Bucky's POV-

I felt horrible. I felt guilty, and scared. Her heart had stopped so many times those first two days. She could have died thinking it was for the best. She could have died and I wouldn't have had the chance to apologize to her. The last words she would have heard from me would have been about how I thought she was spineless and a possible traitor. Or how I said she had to thank me for not leaving her there to bleed out. She could have died and I wouldn't have had a chance to make her want to live.